Yeah, I put no stock in it myself. It's just a hoop we have to jump through, unfortunately. Thanks for the recommendation!

DD14 needs to take the CogAT or another aptitude test to qualify for a program to which she's applying. I have no idea where to have testing like this done and am hoping not to spend a small fortune to jump through this hoop. Any suggestions? We are open to online or paper, as well as suggestions for other similar tests.

I'm thinking this is as likely as anything. But maybe that's just because I don't want to believe anybody could be dumb enough to use a pic of their adulterous lover on their lock screen. IMO, she should try to get another look. If it's still there, there's got to be a pretty good chance it's nothing.

We are doing Eastern Civilization this year at dd's request. We are using Foundations of Eastern Civilization from The Great Courses, along with a college textbook, East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, as spines. We are also doing a separate coordinating credit in Asian Literature. I'll list resources we're using from both; maybe some of them will be useful for you. (Note: Some of these deal with Japan and/or Korea, as well as China.) Literature: Prentice Hall Literature: World Masterpieces -- This is our spine fore Literature. It contains a variety of Asian poetry, prose, and drama selections. You can find it used for cheap (beware: it is HUGE!). "The Ballad of Hua Mu Lan" -- we did a fun comparison between the poem, a Chinese opera version from the 50's, and the Disney version "Yugao" from The Tale of Genji in Anthology of Japanese Literature by Donald Keene Monkey: A Folk Novel of China by Arthur Waley The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korea Defector's Story by Lee Hyeon-seo Japanese Manga Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan Nonfiction/Primary Sources: Samurai: The World of the Warrior by Stephen Turnbull Chairman Mao Talks to the People When Asia Was the World by Stewart Gordon Documentaries and Films: Secrets of the Forbidden City BBC Warriors: Shogun One Child Nation Snow Flower and the Secret Fan The Last Emperor Websites (several of these have lots of good lesson plans, including primary sources): www.morningsun.org Invitation to World Literature -- sections on The Tale of Genji (Japanese) and Journey to the West (Chinese) Asia for Educators Carolina Asia Center Education About Asia Five College Consortium for East Asian Studies UT Chattanooga Asia Program Teaching Modules The Korea Society Hope that helps!

So I talked to her... and she doesn't seem overwhelmed at all! She was actually super excited and said she already had some ideas, but she's going to take a few weeks to get her thoughts together. I'm not sure where it will all lead, but we are definitely going to take a look at the site @square_25 linked and see if we can start putting something together. Thanks y'all!

She can code some. To the rest, I'm not sure. I'd have to ask her. Like I said, this is so far outside my wheelhouse as to be a foreign language. I haven't discussed it with her yet because she gets overwhelmed if things are too open-ended. I'm hoping to have at least some idea of what I'd like to see before I bring it up to her. But obviously I... don't. 🙂 Maybe I should have started by looking at some projects to try to get an idea of how these things are structured.

Yes, she knows probability. I think something applied would be her preference.

She will finish trig/precalc sometime this fall. After that she will dual enroll for calculus but not before her junior year. Hence, the time to possibly work on a project. She has done some work with statistics but hasn't completed a full course yet. It doesn't have to be a stats project. At this point I am just trying to gather enough info that we could begin the process of determining *what* kind of project it could be.

My dd14 is leaning towards an eventual degree/career in applied statistics or actuarial science. She's an advanced math student, and we have some time in her high school schedule, so I've been kicking around the idea of taking a semester off from her regular curriculum and pursuing a math research project of some type. I have no idea what this would look like. I was an English major. 😳 She has a current fascination with personality types (particularly the MBTI) and I wonder if we could incorporate that somehow? Any advice or resources for how to get started designing something like this?

We've done this several times. (Ahh, the joys of multiple layoffs!) It gives us some breathing room while dh looks for a new job but leaves us with a fallback in case something catastrophic happens. Of course, if you're fairly certain you will be going for more than 60 days without new coverage, then it probably makes more sense to go ahead and pay when you elect coverage.

Well, to be fair, nothing I read said that they went straight to random person testing without first using an engineer. Only that the service they used for testing didn't allow for nearly as many users as they knew they would have, all accessing the app simultaneously. Apparently they could have paid to upgrade the service to test at the appropriate number, but they chose not to do that. Like I said, cheap and careless. Of course, app development isn't anywhere close to my wheelhouse, so I could be completely missing something here.

Something I read claimed that they tested the app through some free service that only allows at max 200 users. When they knew that they would have 1700 users, all accessing the app at nearly precisely the same time. That, if true, was a major FAIL. My tin foil hat-wearing side would love to see a big juicy conspiracy here. 😄 But it seems like it really just comes down to being cheap and careless.

The pharmacist advised 5-10mg of melatonin for our 14yo who has trouble sleeping (both falling asleep and staying asleep). She is of average height/weight for an adult female.

Sigh. Normally I'm knee-deep in planning by this point but I've worked so hard pulling 9th grade together that I haven't thought much about next year. A lot will depend on whether/how much we allow dd to dual enroll next year. But, tentatively speaking... Math: Finish Saxon Advanced Math and move into Calculus Science: Biology, probably Novare History: We are planning a fall road trip through NE, so maybe American (she's not a fan but it's more or less required for most colleges we've looked at, might as well get it over with) English: Interest-led, probably will work through They Say/I Say for writing Foreign Language: Probably Spanish, DE Electives: Interest led, probably something with religion, possibly a math elective like Counting & Probability PE: 10-12 hours/week crew practice To be continued...

Our YMCA allows kids to attend adult group ex classes without an adult at 11. Is that an option? Would she enjoy putting on some music and dancing? Yoga videos on YouTube? Do you have a local rowing club? Rowing has been a great fit for my non-athletic dd (full disclosure: she doesn't have any health/weight issues, although she does have social anxiety and is a bit immature socially). It's a low-impact but full-body workout. Team atmosphere so there are opportunities to socialize but much of it is very individualized. DD's team competes but it's optional. They are on the water much of the year (don't know if she'd be comfortable with that) but they also row indoors, especially in the winter. Is she open to brainstorming any ideas for herself? I know that I wasn't at that age (I was quite overweight and in poor shape so I hated everything). I'm sure you know that if you can help her find something she enjoys it will be much easier. Hugs -- I admire how hard you're working to help her!

My parents' church, which I grew up in but left long ago due to its issues, is rapidly becoming a cult and everybody seems to be just peachy with it. Except for a few folks, like my mom. She is so angry and my dad is in a position to do something but refuses. And it sucks. Plus she is dealing with a new and potentially troubling medical diagnosis and just doesn't need this right now.

Nope. Not a dinosaur. All the kids in the performance have worked hard, and it is disrespectful to get up and walk out, especially without a pressing reason. And yes, I've sat through my share of miserable first-year music performances. If it is an exceptionally long event, an intermission should be held to allow the audience to take a break, and perhaps leave if necessary.

Mindfulness meditation and breathwork have been instrumental for me. I needed a lot of practice recognizing my thoughts before I could do anything to challenge them. Ultimately I have learned that I do not have to accept a thought/feeling just because it enters my head. They will pass on by if I let them. But it's definitely a practice!

NYE is my birthday, so our tradition usually involves going out for dinner or away for the holiday, just me and dh. My kids have spent pretty much all their NYE's with their grandparents, lol! But today we went out for lunch instead, and dh is grilling steak and shrimp kabobs and asparagus for dinner, and then we are going to the service at church as a family. I like the idea of this becoming a new tradition, but those one-night getaways with dh are awfully hard to give up!

Outlander. Also Outlander. Oh, and Outlander. Seriously, that book should have been 100% right up my alley. I even tried the show, thinking maybe it would get me over the hump. But geesh, it was awful. I'm generally not that picky. I appreciate the classics, even if they aren't the most entertaining things I've ever read, and I can enjoy cotton candy pop fic without needing them to be quality works of literature. But that one, just no. However, the worse books I've ever read are the Divergent series, hands down. They aren't even worth the paper for kindling.

This was my experience as well. I can distinctly remember one professor who called my dorm room to check on me when I missed class because I was sick! I hate that as a society we generally have replaced warm, caring, human interactions such as that with metadata and numerical analysis. I realize that it's not possible to have that kind of atmosphere in a classroom with hundreds of students, but I think overall we'd all be better off looking for ways to foster real human community rather than continuing to charge full-steam ahead into technological "solutions" that turn human beings into metrics. Wishful thinking, I know. This is another reason I am glad that dd is leaning toward a tiny college that accepts zero federal funding and is exempt from some of the reporting that goes along with that. But there is no way to escape it altogether. Companies have been doing this kind of thing to workers (and governments as well -- especially to teachers) for years. In the early 2000's dh's employer installed GPS on all its company vehicles. He hasn't had a job since then (and he's had many) that allowed him to make decisions using his experienced, although flawed, reason and judgment. Everything has to be measured by numbers and charts and graphs and benchmarks. IMO, the monitoring we see here is just a continuation of this line of thinking. The technology is almost incidental, except that it has made tracking all these things infinitely easier.

My eminently practical kiddos loved their new bathrobe (ds9) and potted bamboo plant (dd14). DS also spent a long time playing his new Lego game on the Switch. And also reading his new books (yay!!) Add me to the list of very pleased new weighted blanket owners. FIL bought mine and made fun of me the entire morning ("It was so heavy the UPS guy walked away with a limp!") but it was totally worth it. Thinking I'll be getting one for dd's birthday.

I don't come on this board much anymore, but boy am I glad I sauntered through tonight! I've been looking forward to using Treasured Conversations with ds for a couple of years now but had put off purchasing until he was ready. Homeschooling at the Helm was a game-changer for our school a few years ago. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us, 8! I am hopeful that you can find a partner and continue reaping the well-deserved rewards of your labor.

We've used AirBnB once in Washington, DC and once in the Outer Banks. We also used VRBO in Norfolk. We have had good experiences every time. I do read the reviews very carefully, and I only rent entire houses. I don't think I would be comfortable sharing a home with strangers, even if we had a separate entrance. But since the listing indicated a separate entrance I'd be sure to point that out in your feedback and review.

The year ds was 6, he asked for a real mailbox. He stressed the REAL. That was very important. 😂 So there I was, at Lowe's, buying a mailbox for my 6yo. It's still in his closet. I think he still stores stuff in there. I have no idea what we will do with it when he no longer wants it!