I would be very confused. I know that maize/corn was native to South America and very unlikely to be in ancient Mesopotamia. But it would not occur to me that corn is a generic term for anything. For me corn is corn and wheat is wheat and the two are not interchangeable.

I agree with everyone else. Middle school is a time to explore passions and take advantage of whatever resources and opportunities are available. High school can be a different problem. In California added complications come in the place of a-g requirements for high school. And if your daughter is going to be interested in division 1 athletics in college then the NCAA rules will make things messy too. But neither of these is a problem until at least ninth grade. For now, just enjoy the time and the horses.

What state are you in? Some states have testing requirements and other things that will change what might be suggested. (I wish you and your daughter the best. Riding sounds wonderful!)

My dad is a photographer and was in college getting his degree in photography when I was very little. I grew up getting my picture taken endlessly. At every occasion and for any reason my dad was there with a camera. I got used to it and don't even notice cameras unless they are being super duper annoying. Mostly I just don't pay attention to them. Most photographers like me because I ignore them and do whatever it is I was doing before they showed up. They get better pictures that way.

I don't think I have ever lived in anything other than a big city. That is where my parents' jobs were when I was young and where my husband's job is now. I might like to try something smaller, but I would have no clue how to go about doing that.

No clue. We are much closer to San Jose than Vallejo. But welcome to the area.

I had that talk but it was to myself. It went something like. "It is the child's life. It is not your decision to make. He/she is choosing to do this thing and not that thing and while it will limit the choices in the future, it is still not your life. You need to step back and let the child do this. Now is the time to make mistakes. Now is the time to practice letting go. Really."

Once you file the Private School Affidavit you are a very small private school. You get to choose whatever curriculum you would like. You can choose whatever days off or hours of school you would like. You can choose your own graduation requirements. You can make any educational choices you would like. Depending on your destination in California there are people on the boards that can help you find park days and other ways to meet people.

I could have attempted the Japanese, but my knowledge of kanji is not up to the task. Survey done.

The community college that my older kids attend still has all of its Wednesday classes happening as usual. My kids only have Tuesday/Thursday classes so the only class they are missing because of the thanksgiving trip to visit my parents was the Tuesday class yesterday. The instructors, all four of them, were very accommodating of our travel plans. (We left on Saturday morning and will be back on Sunday. So they were gone about a week, but only missed the one class.)

Maybe the Dick King Smith books. Favorites in our house were Pigs Might Fly and Babe the Gallant Pig.

My older kids took the test when they were about that age, but it didn't turn out to be helpful. The classes were horribly expensive and we didn't use any of them. So be sure you are aware of the costs of the classes before going to the trouble of taking the test.

No. And our house didn't have many books in it either. My mom thinks books are 'dust collectors' as opposed to her pottery and art pieces which are important. She still does.

My daughter suggests Dragon of the Lost Sea by Laurence Yep. One of the main characters is the monkey king.

I agree with talking to the department secretary. My advisor freshman year went missing and I didn't know what to do so I asked her. She sent me to the department chair who could advise and sign off on my form. It turned out that my advisor went on sabbatical and a whole group of us had the same problem. A note was placed on the original prof's door that sent everyone looking for him to the department chair for advising. Ultimately the department chair kept the group of us as advisees and it all worked out.

Daughter age 17 says she wants to be an engineer, but spends all her time writing, learning foreign languages, and editing Wikipedia. Son age 15 wants to be a computer programmer. He spends all his time doing computer stuff and math. Son age 11 says he wants to build things. He spends his time designing boats, planes, and spaceships online. And writing role playing games for his friends. And swimming.

If you are in the LAUSD the district policy is so that parents that can not afford private testing have equal access to gifted programs. The policy has been in place for many many years. I grew up in that area and it affected me as a child in the 1980s.

Yes. It is more that you can't get the a-g requirements done for admission to a UC or CSU as a freshman. You can still go to a community college or someplace that doesn't have that requirement, though.

You let them try things that are hard and fail. Because failing now is of fewer consequences than failing later. Yes, not getting the grade in a class in high school might mean they don't get into a certain college. But it is still better to fail in high school than fail in college. And better to fail when there are parents home to help pick up the pieces and provide support than fail when they are on their own and three states away.

In the SF Bay Area there is an extreme shortage of affordable housing. Property owners can afford to be choosy when picking renters because there are far more people that want to rent than there are properties to rent. So property owners choose renters that have good credit histories and no pets. Because they can. This is a supply and demand problem and nothing short of increasing supply will make it better.

Done

Almost all. 13.5 miles is a long walk for most people not even considering proper shoes or medical conditions that would make this a bad idea.

We go to the Farmer's Market and then lunch on most Sundays. The kids are old enough to be home alone for a while and we can talk about whatever we want to. We very rarely go out in the evening because of kid activities or work obligations.

No. They are accurate as far as mathematical knowledge, but there is so much more to the AOPS method than that. They do not account for the level of challenge or the necessary amount of failing and trying again in the books. Many many kids are used to the explain, example, practice problems of the same type method of teaching in other books and find the discovery method to be horribly defeating. They struggle with the fact that the problems are hard and can not be solved by just applying the method previously taught. Some kids live for the thrill of figuring out hard problems. Some kids just want math to be done so they can do what they really want to be doing. AOPS is definitely for the first set of kids.

Drive on freeways without panicking. Oh would like be easier if only.