OK, as a quick follow up...LOL...the abyss was my student's email. She mentioned this morning, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got an email from LET...". Duh. We did the application last week-ish, sent in the transcript, and she had the acceptance within a week. So far so good. Super responsive (she has done DE with a local university, so I'd say they have both been great do far). Thanks for all the help and we'll keep y'all posted.

Thank you!! We're currently in the abyss of sending stuff in without reply, so I'll get following up. Thank you!!!

Big loads of crock pot food - vegetarian chili (cheaper that way, and you can freeze leftovers), chicken and dumplings, etc. I'd use small bowls to manage portions, then lots of finger foods.

Saxon with Art Reed. Really. He's fabulous.

Mouse trip...bait with Peanut butter...placed in a lunch sack. When it's caught (and it will), you just pick up the sack and chuck it all.

Excellent observation by your scout. I completely agree.The

Nothing. My son is an Eagle and after moving and not finding a good troop, he's done. Dd is too old to care. FWIW, as a scout leader (former cub master, wood badge, blah, blah...) I'm not a fan of the decision if troops HAVE to integrate girls. I think there's a TON of value in boys being about to learn, grow, and fail in adolescence without girls/women watching/critiquing/upstaging. It was one of the last places boys could grow into manhood under the mentorship of men and I think it'll be a huge loss without that model. (When my boy became a scout I moved to admin leadership- committee chair, etc. I never went on any trip for the reasons stated). Honestly, I'm just sad for the boys who really NEED Scouts and now won't have that same opportunity.

Amazon. The best and cheapest I find there.

Lion King from Broadway (I saw it touring) was SPECTACULAR. LK at Disney was cool, but not even close. The music, the costumes.... Broadway was so worth it. Yes, it's basically the movie, but wow. Just wow. Nemo at Disney is fabulous and there's no Broadway comparison. Well worth seeing if you haven't before. Beauty...it's a high school version/cliff notes of the movie. Nothing to plan around (IMHO).

No phones at youth group and definitely not in Sunday school. Interestingly, when we started our youth group the kids wanted it that way - so they could actually hang out together.

I got a free one with two months of Sling. We pay $25/ month during football season. It was a good deal.

We used Schmoop for some test prep....my student hated it. Lots of flash, not enough content. I had to consider it a loss (we were going to use it for my other kid but the back of content was troubling). I'd definitely recommend going through any samples.

100% agree, but it is helpful for the students to use the same calculator throughout. I think using an app and then switching for the high stakes tests can be hard for some students.

Why OR? Why not BOTH? :confused1:

The only issue I would see with the apps is that you cannot have a phone for the SAT/ACT/PSAT. I would look for used locally or on ebay.

DD is a DE student at a local 4 year university, so we put a little on her card for snacks and lunch. What was shocking to me when we lived in a college town were the local restaurants that took the college cards. It stuck me that meals plans should be for reasonably priced, healthy, available options on campus - not high priced, super junk fast food. Apparently my eyes will be opened this time next year when DD is a senior!

I'm looking into LeTourneau for some DE online classes - comp, history, etc for my junior. We need asynchronous, and self paced with some structure (deadlines) ideally. LeTourneau is accepted for transfer credit at a school my student may end up at, and they're reasonably priced. Please, I'd love any reviews or "been there, done that" stories. Thank you so much!!!

I'd find a good "independent study" mentor at the high school and see if they'll manage it that way. It'll still need to be cleared up on the common app for college, but it's easier to manage that way.

The Harry Potter Loot Crate is AWESOME, too. (I'm ashamed to admit how many of the shirt/sweater/sweatshirts I had from the first list.)

With those options I'd look at thinkwell. They offer AP calculus AB and BC, and a tutor if necessary.

That's perfect. Thank you!

My dd is thinking of taking comp 1 and maybe a history with them next semester. She's already DE locally and doing great. But, we want to travel more. I see the Bluefield classes meet online a few days a week - so what happens if you miss? Are the videos available online to watch later? If you turn in everything on time, does class attendance (live) matter (assuming you can make it up on a recording)? I'd love to learn more about the actual mechanics of the online classes. Thank you!!!

The big red ACT PREP book is a good one and worth buying. Systematically go through it and track what your student is missing. Review that. Practice timed tests.

I also recommend Siggi yogurt. Less sugar than most out there, real ingredients, super tasty. The drinks are high in sugar, sadly.

My daughter wants to build one as a senior project. I think it's an awesome idea. She plans to take it to college and live in it. We've had a blast researching and going to tiny house shows. Some are just dumb. And $100,000 - That's idiotic!!