I think of a cover school or umbrella school as being an entity to keep your homeschool legal without having the curriculum dictated to you. If the school is dictating the subjects, textbooks, tests, etc. then it is a school (not a cover or umbrella). I'm in Tennessee and register with a cover school who lets me choose what subjects to teach, what books to use, whether to test, etc. They simply keep a record of the legal stuff for me: attendance, grades, etc., and provide formal transcripts and diploma when necessary.

Interesting! Topics must vary widely between schools. DD took music appreciation as one of her first dual enrollment courses and she didn't run into any of these issues. She did have to listen to a lot of music pieces from different time periods and had to attend at least 3 community music events and write a short summary paper for each. DD's very first dual enrollment course was called "College Success" and covered how to study, career choices, how to use the tutoring center and the testing center, etc. I think a similar course would be a great start for many students.

This is a great question and, of course, the answer is "it depends." There is no blanket appropriateness, IMHO. Each family must make their own decisions. As long as it is within our family budget AND the student is making adequate progress in their studies, I plan to continue covering the basics and have the student cover any wanted extras. So, I'll buy groceries and the student can pack lunch or use their own money to buy lunch. My answer is still hypothetical though, since DD is still job searching.

Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings, completed in full as written, would be a fairly light 1 credit high school course. We added other readings and a full separate writing curriculum, separate vocabulary, and still just awarded a total of 1 credit.

DD18 was also very resistent to learning to drive. It wasn't until FIL was having a health crisis and DH was needing to leave town at a moments notice that DD accepted that DH wouldn't always be around to drive her places and she needed to learn to drive herself.

DD joined a student club today. She is not very outgoing and not usually a "joining" type but DH and I have been encouraging her to find some campus activities outside of her courses. She was very chatty this evening about the first club meeting that she attended so I think she's found some people that she can relate to. The club has a long name: Sci-fi, Ultima-anime, Role-playing, Games, & Everthing else :laugh:

Backpack - Jansport. She's been using it for the last 3 years through dual enrollment and now starting college. It appears to still be in perfect condition. I agree with the previous posters. He should definitely ask his instructors if it is necessary to bring the text to every class. DD used to carry every book to every class but is now asking and can usually leave about half of them at home. The text is often used only outside of class for reading/homework problems.

One thing to keep in mind is that even if the student gets some merit scholarships, they will usually reduce the need-based scholarships by the same amount. So, merit doesn't help reduce the out-of-pocket costs unless the student gets HUGE merit based scholarships. A few schools generously allow merit to first reduce self-help (student loans/work study).

Great thread! DD started classes last week at the same community college where she was dual enrolled last year. So, a bit of same-old same-old for her. She is taking only three 4-hour courses: calculus, computer science, and engineering science (essentially calculus based physics). She is thrilled not to be taking any writing intensive courses. These technical/math type courses are right up her alley so I'm not anticipating any major problems. She seems fairly happy with the instuctors she has and the class sizes seem reasonable. As for commuting, we don't have an extra car so I drop her off on my way to work and DH picks her up in the afternoon when she is finished with classes. Just as well because parking does look much fuller this year with extra students attending due to the Tennessee Promise scholarship.

I agree, I'm just very pleased that this is now a topic for discussion, debate, and research, instead of assuming that we already know what needs to be known!

I didn't intend to mislead with my post. Of course, you are correct. I do think that LCHF, the diet encouraged by Dr. Eenfeldt on dietdoctor, is very similar to paleo or primal, with an even greater emphasis on lower carb and increased fats.

Be sure to also check out the dietdoctor website. High quality dietary advise from a physician in Sweden. I've lost a lot of weight with no hunger/suffering following this plan. It is similar to primal/paleo in that it eliminates sugar, grains, etc. but it also emphasizes increasing the amount of healthy fats you eat. This is what increases satiety and keeps you happy. Honestly, I'm pretty upset that the standard diet advice given to Americans for many years (low fat, "healthy" grains, etc.) is so wrong and hurtful. Just start reading and you will find many rabbit trails to follow.

We pay $80 per month for weekly 1/2 hour lessons from a private instructor. We rented the first couple of months and then the music store applied what we had paid in rental towards a new instrument. We had the instructor "ok" the instrument before we bought it to be sure we were getting high enough quality to meet DDs needs but not spend too much. We had to take the new instrument back into the shop a couple times the first few weeks since we didn't know what we were doing (once for a broken string and once because the tuning pegs seemed loose). I'd worry about buying online and not having someone to take it to for maintenance/repairs. Since then, it has been trouble free for the last 15 months. We have bought a couple of books but they were inexpensive (less than $10 each) and the instructor usually just provides music that he has written out and copied. We do provide DD with binders and page protectors for these sheets so that is a modest cost. Oh, a music stand is extremely helpful. We were lucky and got a very sturdy very old one from the in-law's shed. They can be pricey and flimsy new (music stands, not in-laws).

My eldest DD didn't really start talking at all, beyond just a handful of words, until she turned 3. However, she remained mostly unintelligible for the next year so we sought private speech therapy. She tested over the 90th percentile for receptive speech and 4th percentile in expressive speech. So, yeah, just about as bad as you can get in being able to speak even though she understood speech perfectly. In less than a year of weekly therapy sessions, she was caught up to age level and they "graduated" her from the program. She's 18 now and the only holdover from the whole speech issue is that folks think she sounds British when they meet her. :laugh:

I agree that OYAN is pricey but it was a hit here. DD used Cover Story 2 years ago, OYAN this past year, and will be doing "Other Worlds" this year. I think it is a great program for students who enjoy creative writing and are interested in tackling a novel. The videos are high quality and instructive. I did have a few quibbles (mainly with the world view) but they weren't show stoppers for us.

DD's first day of classes today. Here's what she learned: --The online code that is bundled with her math text from the school bookstore is not actually required by the instructor. So, a student could save some money by buying just the textbook elsewhere. However, if a student chooses to buy the code bundle and use the online portion for homework/quizzes, it will count 15% towards their grade. Otherwise, the in class exams will be worth more of your grade if you choose not to use the online portion. --The e-book/online code is required for her science class. It is $60 thru the school bookstore or $35 if purchased directly from the provider online. The instructor did advise buying it directly and even recommended one student who already bought it from the school to take it back if they had the receipt. This instructor also strongly recommends the students buy the hardback textbook as many students find it easier to use/flip through than the e-book. I just ordered a cheap previous edition of the textbook for DD ($12 including expedited shipping). I did warn her to check the e-book for actual assigned problems but the previous edition should be fine for studying. --The textbook we rented through Amazon will work fine for another class. Yay! This book is only used for the first semester and rental was much cheaper in this case than buying and trying to re-sell.

Congratulations on your new cat! What a cutie. We had a very neglected dog show up one time, years ago. She was so covered in fleas that she was missing half her fur. She was skinny and had an ear all crumpled from an untreated infection. We had ZERO interest in returning her to her owner. We nursed her back to health, which took months and plenty of vet bills. Once she was healthy, gained weight, and re-grew her fur, she was a beautiful german shepard and the sweetest most loyal dog I've ever owned. One day, as we were out walking her, a car pulled over and an eldery woman stepped out and asked to see our dog. She petted her and called her by name, and asked how long we had her. She then turned to us and said, "She looks so good. I'm not going to tell my son what happened to his dog."

Good tip! DD also received an email about a scholarship/internship opportunity and inviting her to set up a meeting time to discuss it.

I do use cream. . .so maybe more primal than paleo. However, I slowly cut back on sweetener until I tried it completely without one day and it didn't taste any different. I think it helps if you don't eat/drink anything sweet. Then, something like cream actually tastes sweet!

Always a good tip. DD has one class this semester where the NEW edition will turn out to be cheaper. She has to buy from the school bookstore because they bundle the text with an online code (no need to say how much I dislike this ploy). They are still selling the old edition right alongside the new edition, with only about $15 difference. However, it looks like she'll be able to sell the new edition back to Amazon at the end of the year for $100+ whereas no one wants the old edition. Something to consider!

So, my older DD has been job hunting. She has applied for several different positions and been to two interviews. I have no expectations from the applications; I understand that those hiring can't take the time to contact everyone. However, is it too much to ask to hear back after an interview? DD does try to follow up by phone about a week after the interview. One woman was never available to come to the phone and didn't return DD's calls. The second simply said that DD would be receiving a letter in the mail. It's been a few more weeks now, no letter. It's been a long time since I've had to do a job search. Is this the new normal? Should DD continue to bother to try to follow up after an interview or just assume that "no word" means she didn't get the job? Appreciate hearing from those with recent experience. Thanks!

If you are just wanting to have him practice taking standardized tests, why not get a copy of the "Real ACT" book and have him take the included exams (I think there are 4 complete ACT exams in this book) at home under real timed conditions? I'm not as familiar with the SAT but I imagine there are practice versions of these exams as well.

It sounds much more difficult than it used to be. I first signed up as a teacher on their successnet about 4 years ago for my eldest DD. My account was dormant for 3 years and about a year ago, I was able to sign right back on to use it for my younger DD. I hope you get this resolved. I would be very unhappy if I had paid for new materials and then couldn't use all the advertised features.

I seem to be the only one updating this thread. :laugh: Just wanted to add that the Hope funds finally showed up today in DD's student account. They correctly backed out the same amount in Tennessee Promise funds for a balance of $0. She has most of her textbooks and is ready to start class on Monday.

One simple alternative would just be to have your DD ask another classmate to copy their notes afterwards. She can then focus on listening during the class. She should look around and find someone who scribbles notes furiously. I was this person when I was in college and in one particular fast & furious lecture class, I had several classmates borrow my notes regularly.