We have not filed our taxes yet because I am still trying to figure this out. The only income my daughter has is the scholarship she received, which is for more than the cost of tuition and fees. So if we claim her as a dependent, does she need to file a tax return and claim the scholarship amount (the taxable part) she received as income? The only form she received was the 1098-T from her University.

We do the PASS test through 8th grade and start the ACT in 9th. The first year I have them do it without writing. It gives them a good opportunity to practice the college entrance tests in the testing center atmosphere and gives me a good idea of where to focus going forward. As a bonus it fulfills our state testing requirement. If you are going to go that way and your kid does not have a driving permit, I recommend going to the DMV and getting a state issued ID.

When I search on Amazon all I see is the Blue Book that was published in 2009. Could someone either post the ISBN of the new one or post a link?

My 11th grade son had planned to take Trig at the Community College this spring. Due to scheduling conflicts that is not going to work. He prefers to have an actual teacher, as opposed to just DVD's and a solution manual. Does anyone know of a one-semester Trig course that starts in January. The plan is to do that for a semester and take calculus next year.

My son is a junior this year and is interested in studying engineering in college. He took Algebra 1 in 8th grade, Geometry in 9th and Algebra 2 in 10th. Starting this year he will do a 3 math course sequence (pre-calc/algebra, pre-calc/trig and calculus) at the community college. Since a 1 semester CC class counts as 1 high school credit, should I give him 6 math credits for high school or leave out the Algebra 1 since it was taken before high school? For admission to NC schools they are required to have Alg. 1 and 2, Geometry and 1 higher math. Will it just be assumed that he took Algebra 1?

I cook lots of Indian food so most everything has turmeric in it but also make capsules with a machine I got at Amazon. I can get the organic turmeric powder and make them a lot cheaper than buying them and it is really easy (my 6 year old can do it). I was having a lot of lower back pain that ibuprofen wasn't helping but since taking the turmeric is has almost completely stopped. For magnesium, I found a website that has a DIY magnesium supplement you can make that is supposedly more bio-available. It is on the gwens-nest blog and is really easy to make. Since taking that my muscle spasms that I was having in the arms have mostly stopped.

Have you looked into trying turmeric? It is a natural anti-inflammatory

My daughter, a senior, is applying for the Ronald Reagan Foundation Scholarship. Has anyone had a student apply for this? For the first round they want the name of her counselor and her principal. Any suggestions about what she should write since her mom is the counselor and dad is the principal? They also said they don't want a relative. Thanks!

I have never posted here but I have a question that maybe one of you experience moms can help me with. My oldest child is a senior so we are working on college and scholarship applications. I need to fill out a counselor letter for her and the question regarding AP classes is: Are students limited in the number of advanced courses they are allowed to take? If yes, please explain. Should I fill anything in this question. As a homeschooled student she is not technically limited to the number of AP classes she can take but I don't want to write "no" and have it look like she is a slacker who did not take very many high level classes. She has taken 2 AP classes scoring 5 on both exams and a few outside honors courses. Thank you!

We had a Yukon XL for 5 years. I really liked the space but it suddenly died at 159,000 miles. We were told they will easily go over 200,000. When we were looking for something to replace the Yukon XL we went with a Toyota Sienna. For the same price we got one that is much newer and they are more reliable.