You moved to London, had a baby and put her in school. That's a ton of major transitions. Her distress right now may have nothing to do with her overall ability to function in a school setting. I don't have any advice other than to be gentle with her and yourself. I moved from CA to London in college and it was a big deal. I think it takes a full year to transition to a new city/country. You are still adjusting. It's hard!

https://www.amazon.com/G-Goat-Patricia-Polacco/dp/0142405507 G is for Goat. Gorgeous pictures, sweet story.

I want to throw up. Florida is breaking my heart this weekend.

I'd keep the internship. It will still be a line item on his resume. Is there anything he could self study during his extra time to get a leg up on next semester?

In my experience as a student, taking Physics is how you get to very strong Algebra. I imagine AoPS is more than adequate preparation for algebra based physics.

Dd 2.5 can now sing the alphabet backwards. We've been practicing, but it was her idea. And Dd 9 months is hitting all her developmental milestones, despite being born 5 weeks premature. I have no idea if she will be as precocious as her older sister, but I couldn't be more thrilled with her achievements.

Is there anything you can decide to let go of to create more space in your day? For me it's cleaning. We have dust bunnies so big my daughter thinks they are pets, but I need time at the end of the day to read and study for my own sanity. So cleaning is basically just laundry and dishes. Everything else fends for itself. Cooking isn't much better. We cycle through the same four dinners. Because Latin makes me happy and meal planning doesn't. Can you use the 2E diagnosis as a permission slip? "I have a kid with special needs, therefore I don't XXXX..." With XXXX being whatever you are throwing overboard for this season.

I chose our church because the music was good enough, the liturgy good enough, lots of families with young kids, close to home and easy parking. I also really liked the trees out front. The doctrine? Eh. Close enough. We can agree to disagree on a few things...

Does the foreign service feel like a compelling enough reason to justify going back to work? Because maybe you just need to go back to work. It doesn't have to be sexy work to be justified. Some people (myself included!) don't do well staying home. Are there options outside of law where you are?

Are there other ways to be a lawyer in your town? I'm in government, and at least where I am the hours are reasonable and there is real gender parity. Alas our hiring has been anemic for the last few years, but I wonder if there are other options. We need a whole separate thread on being a lawyer and a mom...

My preschool Dd is suddenly very aware she is a girl and is pointing out boys and girls in all our stories. She feels she can only identify with the female characters. We've been reading a lot of bible stories, which she loves, but they tend to skew male in their protagonists. I think she would really respond to some stories about historical women. I'd love a book that covers a range of women from various cultures and eras who did big things. She has a mid elementary attention span for read alouds. Any suggestions?

I'm pretty happy in Seattle. West coast people, mild weather, interesting food, truly amazing healthcare. If only there was a medieval village hiding around here somewhere, I'd be in heaven.

I knew two physics and philosophy double majors at Berkeley. It can be done. Both came in with a lot of credits, which certainly helped with the unit cap. I've never heard of a required minor at the UCs, so I don't think that will be an issue.

My parents fought over custody and child support when I was a toddler. Consequently I have a huge need for stability and I absolutely loathe any conflict or uncertainty about money. Therefore I will probably stay at my government job for life... It's more than just the steady paycheck. I never have to ask a client for money. I never have to negotiate my salary or ask for a raise. I know that my colleagues make exactly the same amount as I do. My inner Toddler loves it. Grownup me daydreams about a fancier job with more money. Or quitting to homeschool. Or any kind of change at all. So far my inner Toddler always wins.

I think I know where the gig is. (My dad plays there frequently.) What a wonderful location! Hope you have/had a great time! And great food!

Deep Survival is fantastic. Thanks for the reminder of such a great book.

I had hospital based midwives for my first birth. I pushed for four hours before my section. My kid had a 99.99% head and she had been wedged against my pelvis. I lost a lot of blood and had a rough recovery. My second child was premature and breech. Another section. Turns out it's way easier to recover when you don't push for four hours first. If I had a do-over I wish my first section had been scheduled. I wish someone had ordered an ultrasound and explained to me that based on my age and the size of my baby's head I had a 50% chance of a cesarean anyway. This study on fetal head circumference and fetal outcomes is fascinating: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/13/106

I just wanted to clarify that there are two possible routes for a homeschooler. 1) Satisfy each a-g requirement by either using an accredited provider or by testing out of the particular requirement or a mixture of both. 2) Admission by examination. You don't satisfy the a-g requirements. Instead you submit test a mixture of test scores to establish eligibility. Here is the link: http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/freshman/minimum-requirements/examination/index.html

You have until April 18th this year. Can someone help you this weekend?

Geometry. I don't think you can test out of the Geometry requirement since the SAT reduced the geometry content in their test.

I think you are vastly overestimating the awesomeness of UC students. The kids from my high school who went to Berkeley all had great grades and test scores, but our ECs were fairly standard. A sports team, and something else like student government or journalism. The kids with spectacular ECs went to Stanford. I know things have gotten more competitive, and I encourage your son to participate in activities he loves, but I think he is going to do just fine with the UCs.

Please keep us posted! I'm looking forward to enjoying this adventure vicariously!

Okay, some quick and dirty back of the envelope math. According to Berkeley the average SAT score of an admitted CA resident in 2015 was 2124. According to the SAT that's the bottom of the 97th percentile. Also according to SAT 236,923 students from CA took the SAT in 2014. Subtract the bottom 96 percent. That leaves 9,476 CA residents who scored 97th and above. Berkeley admitted 8,737 CA residents in 2015. Clearly not all the Berkeley admits are from this top CA SAT pool (because obviously GPA is also a huge factor) but if you have average Berkeley SAT scores the admit rate starts looking pretty darn good. Way higher than 20%. You are competing with a only a certain number of CA kids at the top. This isn't like Harvard where they could fill a freshman class with identical statistics over and over and over again. Assuming your sons stats line up on paper, I don't think it's crazy to dream big with the UCs.

Big flagship campuses can start to feel pretty small once you are nestled in a specific program. You start circling around the same few buildings and seeing the same faces in the hallways. That said, I would also look at UC Davis. Smaller than some other UCs. A dear friend of mine from Berkeley did his math PhD there. It's such a lovely college town too.

Just brainstorming here. You said you have geographical limitations because of your husband's job. It sounds like your son would have enough units for junior standing, even if he starts as a freshman. Could you and your son live somewhere for two years while your husband stays home? Crazy, but I'm trying to think outside the box. Or maybe son does four years but you live with him for first two? Sigh. No good answers!