National consensus doesn’t equal data showing effectiveness -

Still, I have never seen any data from them, just a recommendation. How can there possibly be any legitimate data? No one from certain circles accepts anything positive unless it comes from an randomized, etc, etc trial - how can that even be possible for masks??? You could test some individual mask, but it is hardly like everyone is wearing an n95 respirator...the masks I see in common use (they are required here inside public buildings) are a cotton pickin’ joke. Most fit like a sloppy sweatshirt-gaps all around, the fabric isn’t designed to stop a virus even if it happens to fit well, people pull them down because no one can understand them speak, and they are constantly adjusting them or shoving them in a pocket or a purse to be reused later. Don’t even get me started on bandanas and scarves. There is no way on God’s green earth that they are doing any good IN PRACTICE even if (and that’s a big if) you could find some data that a homemade cotton or store bought nylon number does any good at all. I wear my mask and pray that I am not causing myself more harm than any potential good.

Here university or community college courses have to be submitted. AoPS classes in certain circles would carry more weight than many of the multitudes of places offering homeschool classes because they cater to (really smart) public school students as well.

This is very much my situation. My daughter has used MPOA and some other providers - some as is, some with supplementation - and I guess I view it like a tutor or curriculum I buy to make my life easier. I know one school doesn’t require course descriptions, not sure where all she will be applying. So many people seem to make a big deal on sample transcripts about outside classes and I was wondering if I was missing something. Thank you for your help.

I understand, however, before you posted it had really never crossed my mind that national test sites would be that far apart. That really stinks. One more reason that I don’t like the college board...

Ahhh...that makes more sense. I guess I always assumed that schools administer tests that I don’t expect to attend and even if they choose the SAT instead of a state designed test, that is their business. I always assumed everyone just goes online to the National dates. I would never have said that states that didn’t use SAT for everyone or private school students were excluded from testing since online is available. PSAT is different because of National Merit and I really wish college board would acknowledge that and offer open registration for that as well.

I have been starting to work again on my daughter’s transcript (she is a rising senior) and I have a question on unaccredited classes on the transcript. So far she has not done any dual enrollment - obviously that requires acknowledgment and an official transcript sent. The question is whether classes with outside providers need acknowledgement on the transcript. I see many people say they label the class with a provider code on the transcript, but to me that looks unnecessarily messy as I enter it, and I cant believe colleges even care. I know Lukeion is tough, but colleges don’t. Derek Owens with self-grading doesn’t seem any different to me than buying a streaming video subscription with math lessons. If you hire a tutor to teach a subject, do you include that on the transcript? I live in Michigan which says the parent is responsible for assignments, grading, and transcripts and it says that we can purchase any curriculum we choose (nice way of saying you’re on your own if you don’t enroll). Is there really anything to be gained by cluttering up the transcript with who taught the class? I can see including it in course descriptions, but wondering about the transcript itself. anyone have any thoughts on memoria Press online academy accreditation? They say they are accredited by the Classical Latin school association, but that organization appears to be created and run by people from memoria press so it doesn’t seem like accreditation that colleges recognize. They offer a diploma program, but then claim you are still homeschooling so it doesn’t seem to jive with me. I have more kids coming along so I am trying to figure some of this out for them as well ahead of time.

How can the school block homeschoolers when the registration is online through the college board? I have only heard of PSAT issues because only schools order those exams.

My 17yo dad loves musicals as well. Hamilton is her current obsession. We were planning a trip to see Hamilton related points of interest this spring. I don’t know that I am talented enough to come up with a class about musicals either, but I can’t wait to hear ideas.

When I was in high school our world literature class rotated in a three year cycle. The year I caught was French and Russian literature. I can’t say that I loved it, but I did read enough to get a feel for each. We did a combination of novels, shorter stories, and poetry. World literature is so huge that I don’t know how you narrow things down and pull it together without some sort of underlying link/theme.

I need to come up with an American History course myself for my rising senior (plus I have a rising freshman). Has anyone ever based a course on Ken Burns history documentaries? I have always found them very interesting, but I have never attacked them in chronological order of topics. I feel like we would need some sort of book to fill in the big overview. They have quite a bit of exposure to early American history already, but nothing that I have documented.

I think the problem isn’t the coloring sheet, but the bag of crayons. Our parish (NO or TLM) has never done Coloring sheets, but my husband’s church back home does. They have a clipboard with the sheet (so they have a surface to color on other than the pew) and a pencil case full of used crayons. I never cared for it even before coronavirus -icky- but I gave in for the occasional visits to church with grandma. I imagine that isn’t happening now. I must say Mass today was wonderful - except for the masks - so annoying, but we dealt with it. I saw one or two without a mask, but everyone else had one, Basket at the back for the collection, no congregational hymns, every other pew was taped off, we had three professional singers plus the organist for the choir. Normally people sing the ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, etc), but they performed a beautiful polyphonic Mass setting so it was very clear not to sing along. We had 50-60 in a chapel that looked like it has an official capacity of around 500. The priest has celebrated Easter Vigil for us before, but this time it was at the Polish high school/seminary in town where he lives. He was a seminarian in Poland during communist rule and tied it in well to today’s gospel. As I said, everyone was super thankful to be back, and seemed significantly less dangerous than my trips to the grocery store.

I agree that I have many friends (not that I do much with them) from the church I attended before I got married. My parents are still there, but ironically the ladies are almost all older than me and most are more my mom’s friends, but they have known me for 30+ years. After marriage I made a few friends at church, but mostly through a small group we belonged to. I would say I stay in touch with one since we started attending Latin Mass. I have some friends from AHG, but I haven’t stayed in touch too much during the stay at home order so I don’t know how long those will stick around after my daughter graduates next year...probably two because they also have boys. My best friend came the day after one lady “dumped” me...long, irrelevant story, She walked up to me as I was waiting to check out at the library and asked if I homeschooled. We are both introverted and have kids about the same age and similar educational priorities for our kids. We have a comfortable, non-pushy sort of friendship...we might get together three times one week and then go three months without seeing each other, but it works for us. I met one other really nice lady at story time at the library and we did a ton together, but then they moved to Idaho....boo. My problem is I am more introverted, I enjoy being around people, but I am not typically the one to initiate much with a group. There are also very few homeschool families around us and I find it is hard to find people that aren’t always busy with school functions. I am not a fan of co-ops so that doesn’t help.

I think what you have to consider is that there are minimum standards in the United States...all must meet them, but some exceed them...just like with most things in life. Some countries have higher standards and some manufacturers try to come closer to those standards. I don’t know of any seats that don’t meet the US minimums, but here are a few considerations 1. If I had to pick between a Navigator and a smart car to be sitting in during a crash, I would pick the Navigator every single time. Both meet standards to be sold in the United States, but physics says size matters when two objects collide. That is ultimately what car seats are for, collisions. The Clek seat I purchased had a steel substructure, it was heavy, but it had significantly less plastic and was very sturdy. One feature I liked that I didn’t find on any other seat sold in the US (Britax now appears to have it now) is an anti-rebound bar for use rear facing. If you have ever tried and struggled with installing a seat rear facing especially with a LATCH connection, there is often an issue with the top of the seat popping up since the only connection is down at the bottom. The anti-rebound bar makes a huge difference in the stability of the seat installation. It helps with side impact protection. It helps with getting the proper angle rear facing on the seat. 2. Some seats are easier to install than others and not every seat is going to fit well in every car. I always recommend every one find a certified car seat installer to show you how to get it properly installed in your specific vehicle. Common things people miss are not adjusting the shoulder straps as the child grows and using the LATCH connectors too long (they have a weight limit and heavier seats and longer seat usage means eventually you will need a seat belt install). Ease of adjustment on the straps is something to look at, particularly if you don’t want to have to remove the seat to adjust the strap height. 3. Most important to me was the desire to rear face my kids as long as possible. I know it is harder, kids like to see, their legs are long, etc, etc, but I have never been one to rush the switch to forward facing or the switch to a booster or to a seat belt. It is so much safer to be rear facing because in a collision (even side impact you are moving forward) the child is pushed into the seat instead of into the straps or the seat belt. I only made it to about 2 years with my older kids because all the seats were too short. I have tall skinny kids (I am 5’9” and my husband is 6’5”) and many would still be too short for my kids. The Clek seat I mentioned is designed for extended rear facing (up to 43”&50lbs) and I was able to keep my son rear facing until about three months before his fourth birthday. My husband humored me and I did cave and allow him to sit forward facing on a trip we took to Arizona to visit my MIL three months before his birthday. He could have gone a bit longer, but he was very close to the height limit so I called it good. Just walking into a store and buying the cheapest seat there would not have accomplished my goals. The seat I bought was expensive and I am glad to see some other models are coming along to provide some choices at lower price points. The Graco seat suggested looks pretty good for the price especially if the mom is petite and they don’t expect bean pole children like I have (my 14yo is 6’2” and wears 28x36 jeans). I would say all of the seats on the market now if properly installed are safer than the ones I bought 17 years ago for my oldest. Just my 2 cents...

It is a really long piece of often double weave fabric. Sort of like a Moby wrap, but not stretchy. The lack of stretch allows for the support needed to carry all size kids from newborn to toddler. I preferred the tie that allowed me to have it already on when I went shopping and slip the baby in and out when I got to my destination. It has come in handy when the baby woke up in his carrier and the back of Costco and started screaming bloody murder to get out. At age 2 1/2 I carried my youngest through the Mammoth Cave tour up and down all the steps and tight places in that same wrap with my hands free and him asleep on my chest. wrapyourbaby.com was the lady whose videos I used to figure it all out. I actually bought my wrap after baby two after watching a mom from Germany at one of my daughter’s classes use it. I could kick myself for not learning to use it better early on and I never became confident with a back wrap, but I was so sad when baby four outgrew it that I seriously thought of having another kid so I could keep using it. I decided to save it in case my daughter ever has kids.

As I said some of my concern is about how much the new mom can afford, but it is also about what makes you happy as a gift giver 😉I am a practical person, but that doesn’t always have to be a deciding feature. I will say most people buy their infant carriers in conjunction with their stroller since usually it snaps out of the car and into the stroller. Does she have a stroller picked?

I used a infant carrier for a few months, but honestly they are even heavier (Albeit safer for it) now than they were previously. My back was done pretty quickly. If you want to give one of those then we can give recommendations for those. My decision would be based partly on her finances...infant carriers are handy, but a convertible will be necessary by 4 or 5 months and will last your friend for several years. She can get both, but she can’t get by with just an infant carrier longer term. I do wish I knew about my woven wrap earlier in my child raising years, that was so great once I learned how to use it (thanks YouTube!). I carried that last load of a kid until he was 3 or 4 in my storchenweige wrap....but that is a different discussion.

I would concur with this recommendation. I appear to be unable to link things on this forum, but thecarcrashdetective.com is my go to spot for car seat recommendations. This seat was not available when my youngest was born and I did all my research, but the recommendation I just pulled up shows it has all the qualities I was looking for in a seat. 50 lb rear facing weight capacity, high height limit rear facing (I have tall skinny kids), and a 10 year expiration date so you can comfortably use it again for any later children. His downsides are that it is fairly wide so it would be hard to put three across in a vehicle and he thought a premie would need a dedicated infant seat because he thought it was too hard to adjust down at the 4lb weight. I had to forward face my older 3 at age 2 because they exceeded the seat height, but I was able to rear face my fourth child until four years old even though he started out at 10lb, 7oz. I had a Clek Fllo (I probably didn’t exactly tell my husband the price), but the qualities above were very important to me and it was one of two options available. The last few years have greatly improved the options the allow longer time rear facing. I am a bit of a car seat nut and rear facing as long as possible is so important.

The Henry Ford Hospital system in Detroit has an ongoing trial for hydroxy as a preventative for front line doctors, paramedics, etc, but as the NPR article linked a few posts up states, it has had trouble enrolling enough participants because of the constant negative press.

I am just like you. I would love to get rid of the weeds, but the weed killer is not something I am willing to do. I am eager to hear the responses.

Statewide it shows Michigan reported 435 new cases and 102 new deaths statewide. Apparently, many of the new cases are due to expanded testing in jails. On Sunday the City of Detroit reported no deaths. I think some of it is if parishes are allowed to decide for themselves then the people will just go to parishes that are open. That isn’t fair to those priests who are offering Mass, those who are trying to clean between Masses, those trying to maintain social distancing if they have an influx of people from other areas.

I don’t remember the details, but I believe our archbishop did allow for more masses per day. The suggestion for more masses came from the Archbishop.

One option which hasn’t been popular in Novus Ordo parishes is having a low Mass - no music, fewer “bells and whistles” but they are much shorter. One priest at our parish of record can say daily mass in 20-25 minutes at 6:05am - at that time of day, he does not include a homily.

Here is the Archdiocese of Detroit public Masses were allowed starting today with all parishes required to hold them by Friday, May 29th. The Archdiocese requires no more than 25% of capacity, requires face masks, spacing, and cleaning. Our parish of record is not starting this week, but our local Latin Mass Association will meet at a seminary chapel this week. We are a very small group so spacing won’t be a problem. The Traditional Order in the Archdiocese started today and I hope to attend on the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday. They have multiplied their Masses to 3 on weekdays and 4 on Sundays at least until all the parishes are open to handle any extra crowds. Another parish where we attend Trail Life is offering some of their Masses outside -bring your own chair- to up capacity and cut down on cleaning. The Archdiocese did extend the dispensation of the Sunday Mass obligation to Sunday, September 6, 2020.

This is us (minus the service academy bit). We have hardly visited any schools, my daughter was trying for one of the levels of the congressional award but the trip she planned was canceled in April, and her Stars and Stripes project for AHG is on hold. I think Stars and Stripes is the hardest for her because they have not been very forthcoming about accommodations or extensions due to the virus and she turns 18 early in her senior year. At least the congressional award can be completed up to age 23 (somewhere in that area at least), but it won’t help for college applications.