“The study of Latin is also the study of history, art, music, theatre, philosophy, law, literature, laboratory science, ‘and more!’†Teresa Hudkins, Willamette University “The study of Roman culture which typically accompanies Latin study informs the study of any Western literature, art, or culture as well. [. . .] If Latin were dead, every Western culture and language would be also bereft of life.†Matthew Potts, Admissions Counselor, University of Notre Dame “Latin trains abstract thinking, provides a key to all modern Romance languages, is a model for interdisciplinary study (language, history, culture) and can be a lot of fun.†Michael C. Behnke, Vice President for Enrollment, University of Chicago “Vocabulary and grammar of the English language can be mightily improved through the study of Latin.†Kathy Lindsey, Associate Director of Admissions, Middlebury College “A background in Latin provides students with a stronger English vocabulary. Open any SAT prep book and you will see a crash course in Latin in the vocab section.†Andrea Thomas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Hamilton College Sounds pretty practical to me. + “Students taking Latin are typically scholarly. They pursue academic study in the purest sense, they are not simply fulfilling a requirement.†Matthew Potts, Admissions Counselor, University of Notre Dame “We value the study of Latin very highly, at least on par with other languages.†Steve LeMenager, Director of Admission and Associate Dean, Princeton University “We add on extra ‘weight’ when we see Latin on a transcript.†Philip Ballinger, Dean of Admissions, Gonzaga University “That’s a student who is willing to step away from the crowd.†Ray Brown, Dean of Admissions, Texas Christian University “We consider students who study Latin seriously (with strong, steady performance) to be excellent candidates for Bryn Mawr.†Elizabeth Mosier, Acting Director of Admissions, Bryn Mawr College “This year, I was particularly impressed by a student with average test scores and grades who had taken Latin throughout middle and high school. We ended up offering the student admission, and I think it is fair to say that it was his commitment to Latin that tipped the scales.†Andrea Thomas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Hamilton College “This student is likely to be disciplined, have a strong basis for further learning, be a little more creative toward intellectual pursuits than most.†Michael C. Behnke, Vice President for Enrollment, University of Chicago “Classical languages on a transcript indicate seriousness of purpose and true devotion to a rigorous program of study.†Fred Zuker, Vice President and Dean of Student Services, University of Dallas

I wouldn't push someone to say I love you if they don't mean it, but saying you're welcome is basic manners. Being introverted is not an excuse for not saying it. I'm painfully shy, hate speaking to people I don't know and even with the people I do know it's a struggle. It's not hard to say a quick you're welcome, and if it is then I deal with it because it's nice to be polite to people. I don't see how it's confusing either? Someone says thank you, you respond you're welcome. The conversation is obvious and can easily end there.

If you do decide to take one but you're still worried about this, I'd take a test you can divide up easily. We did the cat5 which has different sections so you can split it up.

Yes, she has a right to choose each guest herself. I still find it rude to invite 2 sisters you hang out with and leave out the third. I'd think of something fun to do and invite the older dd's and younger dd. If the older ones didn't want to come I'd let them go to the party and focus on something fun for younger dd while they're gone.

One of the pinned threads on this forum has a lot of things that can help you with transcripts, record keeping, etc. Dd and I tried to do US history first but found it was difficult to find where something stopped being US history and was more of a world topic, so we're doing world history first.

http://academicearth.org I don't know if http://www.saylor.org counts but I like it.

It's not free reading if it's required and has rules. So I think calling it free reading is silly, but I don't find the actual expectations overreaching. It's just another homework assignment.

Are these common core standards or something else? It'd be nice to know what the actual expectations are. Usually I think the standards are too low. Not meeting the current ones isn't always entirely the kid's problem as the teaching I've seen has been horrendous, but dd was constantly put in group projects with 6 other kids where none of them had listened to anything and didn't try at all. In elementary/middle/high school those same children have all been considered smart.

I hate the Journey books and new badges because /everything/ is focused on friendship and teamwork and whatever other group thing. My dd is a Juliette, and helps with a troop of younger girls. Every single badge/journey activity says go do something and then share it with your troop. Dd can't do this, so we tweak it, but I know it saddens her. Even the older girls I know who do have troops don't want to do the oh make a card and give it to your school friends thing. They were obviously all made by adults who apparently don't remember how hard high school is already without asking your friends to stop talking about boys so you can do some weird trust activity for your Girl Scout journey. I still have her brownie vest with so many badges that we had to put them on a separate thing, and I miss that considering now each one is a struggle for her. To the Gold Award thing- I don't understand the comparisons to Eagle projects. Every Eagle Scout I know has done something like building a few wooden things in a park. That honestly is nice, but I don't want my dd to spend 100+ hours planning something unique and sustainable to make a big impact on the community, and then have people say it's the equivalent of some boy's eagle project where he built a picnic table. I suppose it's possible we've been surrounded by Boy Scouts that aren't the norm, this is just what I've experienced.

If it was an adult treating your dd badly you wouldn't hesitate before going to the owner. High schoolers are mature enough that they shouldn't be rude to little kids, especially if they're paid.

Oh, she hasn't liked me since I first met her, which was in elementary school. He's been telling her to be nice to me for over twenty years. She's still his mother though and I'd never let him stop talking to her for my sake.

We're going to dh's family this year. Yes, I'm a grown up and can make my own choices, but I'm not going to ruin his and my daughters Thanksgiving. That means I get to hang out with my terrible mother-in-law for a few days while she gives me dirty looks and talks about how she wishes dh would've married a pretty jewish girl.

I've never seen that before. Here the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have separate food drives, and the Girl Scouts (I don't know about the boys) make thanksgiving boxes.

Dd got one when she was 11 and still has it now that she's 15. Right now there are some on sale at toysrus so they're only $4.99.

I put extremely happy. I wouldn't describe my whole life as extremely happy as a lot of the time I'm very unhappy, but that's not at all because of my marriage. Dh has been the best part of my life for a long time. I'm pretty sure people know our marriage is good considering we're usually the annoying pda couple.