Jump to content

Menu

shage

Members
  • Posts

    346
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by shage

  1. Another funny story about dual enrollment. I listed English I, II, III on the transcript instead of English 9, 10, 11. This meant ds has to be evaluated for ESL because the course listing was "not standard." He trucked over to the assessment office and chatted with the (student) receptionist. She signed a piece of paper and sent him back. Apparently the conversation went well enough that he did not have to take the TOEFL or some such. Second semester: I changed the course titles on the transcript (and explained why in the course descriptions in case it was ever questioned). No trip to the assessment office. I think ds was disappointed. The receptionist was cute.
  2. Lol. We had this same issue with our local cc. The first time ds enrolled, he had a printed transcript in hand. They were not amused when he asked for an envelope. ðŸ˜
  3. Thanks for the suggestion. Will try that.
  4. Our EFC is over 50%. :-( Back story is dh purchased inexpensive acreage with a fixer upper tiny farm house prior to our marriage. Eventually we converted it to a rental because we needed a plan to help financially support his parents. For many (personal and complicated) reasons, we need to hold on to the property and not transfer title to them. Problem is, value has quintupled due to the shrewdness of his decision and dumb luck. Value is on paper only. We have not figured out a way to shelter that from EFC as there is no break for elder care. The assumption is that you financially support your children not your parents. (If anyone has a possible work around to this, I am all ears.) It is frustrating because the formulas make sweeping generalizations that don't account for individual situations. My son got his first acceptance this week for a private school with enough merit aid (thus far) that makes it approximately the same price as an in-state school. He will have the opportunity to interview for more merit scholarship in January/February. I am guessing that is the route he will take. If the numbers work out like I think they will, it will be tight but doable. Such is life.
  5. Nobody likes rehab. I would do what you can to make bearable but expect that this will be challenging no matter what.
  6. Oldest has worked for a contractor part time since age 13, plus seasonal work in retail and repairing bicycles. Second child babysits and tutors, would like to work retail but needs to be 16 to have much of a chance. Current 13 year old works sporadically for a contractor and has a swim teaching gig.
  7. The admissions counselor at the university my son is applying for early admissions was willing and able to call CB and get the scores over the phone. Apparently CB does do that at the school's request, assuming the student has already paid the reporting fee.
  8. Of course. You own your home, not the street or property surrounding it. But I would humor a cranky neighbor if it didn't impact me one way or the other.
  9. It depends on window size, distance from window to street, angle of house to street, size of trees, etc. I have posted on this thread mostly in jest. I care less where people park and I live in a laid back part of the country. Yet neighbors have flared over this issue. Years ago we had a request from a woman caregiving for her elderly mother in a front room not to park on the street because of the view issue. We happily complied. However, our neighborhood has become increasingly congested because of home based businesses and subleasing of rooms. I would count myself in the home based business category because of activities and classes hosted at our home. For several years there was a lawn based business (truck plus trailer) in the neighborhood. Also a day care, an accountant who has clients come to the house, several eBay based ones which require frequent deliveries, and a religious leader with frequent home events. Then there are houses with 2 or 3 tenants, and one with an AirBnB. Late afternoon and evenings, the street is pretty much a parking lot. And yes, periodically someone will kvetch or leave notes or call the city. There are no city or HOA rules, so it is perfectly legal to park anywhere. Only thing city will crack down is if they suspect a business is not properly licensed or not paying appropriate taxes. This became a big hairy deal last summer. A neighbor complained to the city about cars in front of her house due to the AirBnB and the city responded not to the parking complaint, but by sending out an attorney to demand the hotel tax. I would not in a million years call our city over a parking issue because of how this ties into the home based business issue. I am a-okay with people working to earn money within their homes even if there is minor inconvenience to the neighborhood as a result. But I also avoid parking in front of neighbors' houses unless I ask first. It honestly bugs some people and, for the most part, there is no reason I can't use my own driveway or curb space.
  10. I have a theory that it is easier to ignore a car in front of your house if most of your living space is toward the back and you rarely look out the front windows. It is harder when your grand sweeping vista is....the side of a car. Granted, there is no way to test my theory. And I am pretty sure my neighbor who run an AirBnB would disagree. She is a parking stickler based on the deep rooted fear that someone will again turn her into the city for not paying hotel taxes. it wasn't me, people. I have illegal chickens and prefer to mind my own business. :-P
  11. I think you have gotten good feedback regarding concern (a), that it is possible to homeschool and carry the feminist card, and what matters is finding a balance for your family regardless of what anyone else does. It seems to me that concern (b) relates to workforce re-entry. IMO this is something worthy of attention if you plan either to begin or return to a professional career in your 40's. It can be done. It is often not done. I think the statistic is only like 20% of women who step out of professional careers end up going back to the career they left. Some happily move on to other careers. But that leaves a segment of women who end up frustrated and blindsided by the realities of workforce re-entry. I have seen some moms who intentionally don't worry about the professional world at all for a period of time, but then expect there to be a long time period (2+ years) as they ramp back up. For some professions this is a decent option. Another option is to keep your foot in the door now, not necessarily by working but by joining professional organizations and attending networking opportunities, doing a few CEU's a year, reading up on the industry, participating on professional message boards, etc. One of the hardest things to recreate from scratch is the network and people connections, and that is something that you can dip your toe in even without paid employment. I wrote the above not knowing if you already have the education to meet your professional goals. Obviously if you need more education, attending school yourself part time when the kids are older may be more manageable than you realize. Work force re-entry is not for everyone but I think it is wise to map out options. I ended up back in the workforce sooner than expected because of spouse health issues. It happens. I love my career so working is not a burden, but the honest truth is that getting back up to the point where I left off has proven challenging.
  12. Now that's the spirit! Parking is a competitive sport in our neighborhood and parking in front of someone else's house when your own is open will bring down wrath. Like trashcans lined up in front of your place. Or skateboard jumps accidently left on your sidewalk. Oh...my favorite...Notes! Yes, life is too short for drama. But sometimes it's both annoying and hilarious.
  13. My husband attended a small rural school in the Ozarks. The counselor was also the math, shop, and driver's ed teacher. His kids attended the school also. Years later he tried to sell my husband and I an insurance policy and we discovered he was still bitter that my husband was valedictorian instead of his son. This made me giggle. Which is, apparently, the exact wrong response when you are trying to cut a deal on insurance.
  14. Guidance counselors at our large public school do all of the listed, but in group settings not 1:1. (I get the emails because we used to have an exchange student there). If a student is not sure what career to pursue--there are career interest inventories and the like offered during lunch times. There are times for students to bring in college choices and counselors will review and make suggestions. There are seminars for financial aid options. So no, definitely they are not giving the 1:1 attention but they are expected to provide a level of expertise through the process. Part of the certification/continuing education of the job would also mean they maintain some level of contact with local admission officers and have their ear to the ground with changes such as common application. I am providing the 1:1 attention but no way would I pretend to have their level of expertise of how this works.
  15. Somewhat related. I am seriously thinking of offering a seminar on how to write a letter of recommendation to our local homeschooling community. Because some of the people who seem in the best position to write letters seem stressed about it. It's not something they do very often and I wonder how helpful their efforts are? As in, talking about how hard working and kind a kid is may be nice, but it's not the information critical to a highly selective school.
  16. It's a beast. JMO. The writing part is easy for me because I write psych report for a living and have cranked out letters of rec in academic settings for years. It's advising a student who has a completely different skill set and out look on life. And giving serious thought to very real financial parameters. And balancing the gig with homeschooling the youngers and working. Oy.
  17. I think the Algebra 2 course is here: http://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/products/algebra-2
  18. The directory (location) is not the only data. Enrollment counts by grade are there (which is different from attendance). As are staff counts. As are school type (eg coeducational vs single sex), and if state special education services are offered. There is also voluntary additional info such as religious affiliation. Otherwise I think you and I are saying the same thing. It's impossible to count the private/independent homeschoolers.
  19. Yes, most of the homeschoolers IRL believe this. I understand why. Shrug. I happen to think it is misguided given the winds afoot to regulate homeschooling. If that is the political direction that ends up happening, I would rather see oversight determined at least somewhat based on what is really happening within the homeschooling community rather than what legislators THINK is happening. Most of the legal writings I encounter express frustration at the lack of information and, in absentia, seem ready to believe the worst. In my professional life in mental health/criminal justice world, some of the most egregious abuse cases involve parents who invoke the homeschooling claim. And that is what sticks in the mind of the professionals even though this is a statistically tiny segment of the population. I think some very basic data would go a long ways to correcting the negative perception. But that only happens if homeschoolers are willing to participate. And, for the most part, they are not willing.
  20. Yes, they are filed centrally with CDE. I think that has always been the case? There are various statutes though that guide CDE in how the data is compiled. Per the CDE website, data for 5 and fewer schools cannot be compiled or released. I am sure somebody sees it, but it's never released to the general public. There is data that seems to go back to local jurisdictions (county office of education makes more sense than the districts) but not that particular data set. It seems like the state has a vested interested in the directory and some overall interest in the total numbers, but the more detailed analysis seems to be happening at the local level. Minus the 5 and fewer data. And then there is no way to extrapolate back from the local data to statewide summaries. Or at least I think that is what is happening. If someone has information to the contrary, I would really like to know. Out of weird curiosity I have been trying to piece this together. Many of the previous generations of homeschoolers like the fact that there is little reliable demographic data (and given the political climate of previous generations, I understand why). Personally I find it a little crazy making. I mean, the data points on this thread are that between 10-90% of families are using charters. Pretty sure none of us are lying, we are reporting what we know. There are huge sampling issues. :-)
  21. Yup, submitted to CDE but then sorted by district. Or so I am told. I found a CDE document online awhile back that emphasized the need for district based data to make predictions for enrollment figures and thus predictions of distribution of state funding. I have no idea where I saw that though and readily admit this could be incorrect. I have not seen a way for lay people to access the 5 and under data. ETA I think CDE has zero interest in private school enrollment but much interest in enrollment trends. If that makes any sense.
×
×
  • Create New...