In-person lessons and homeschool band were the first step. As the kids improved (and took their instruments seriously), more lengthy and serious lessons followed, youth orchestras, university-level orchestras (that have let the kids participate so long as they can keep up with the music). Lessons have varied wildly from $10/hour (from a wonderful, older teacher who gave my kids lessons until they "outgrew" him musically) to $40/hour. My kids' current teachers are either recently-graduated with their master's degrees, or currently earning their degrees (bachelor's or master's, depending on the instrument), and they are all excellent, excellent. :)

What a wonderful update! What a relief!!!!

To the OP --> Yeah, 9th grade kicked dd1's backside. It wasn't as bad for dd2 (mainly because I was distracted with dd1s senior year and wasn't as on top of dd2 as I wanted to be! lol). DD1s output slowed to a snails-pace and she never really recovered her old get-up-and-go after that. She was pokey all the way through her senior year. She started out college like that, but -- I think she's learning that the system there isn't going to be very forgiving or accomodating, so I am seeing her become more efficient in her output as the weeks go by. In our case, I allowed it because I didn't want dd to be unprepared for the rigors of college life. As it turns out, there STILL are elements of college life that are kicking her butt due to their unexpectedness (and our inability to really "recreate" the scenario here at home). A "flaw" in my system was that - if dd was REALLY busy with non-school activities (she was a varsity athlete as well as involved in several extracurricular activities) - I would reduce her school load during that time. She would pick up the pace when things would slow down and cover the lost ground. Well... in college... you don't get to do that. So she's had a rough week or two trying to balance it all. She's learning quickly though - and it's made me wonder if I should've let her "learn that lesson" while at home? Or if it's good that I gave her some breathing room and let her learn it in college? I dunno. I'm doing things differently for the next two (trying to eliminate any schoolwork that isn't absolutely essential) - but I'm often conflicted as to which things to change, and which to leave alone!

I am so incredibly sorry. Prayers for all of your family during this time - the not knowing has got to be awful. I hope that there are answers that come very soon.

So - if you are working on an AP syllabus and don't want to wait a week or longer for it to be approved, apparently now is a great time to send it in! lol The two previous syllabi I sent in (last year) only took a few days for them to approve, but this one was 5-10 minutes, tops. lol I'd barely had time to log out of the account when the email popped up! :)

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Summer courses aren't a great option for her. She goes to school about 26-hours away from home, and we want her home, home, home! for the summer! :) That sure would make things simpler, though! She may end up considering getting her "regular" bachelor's degree, and then taking a year here at home to cover the remaining grad-school requirements at a university close to home. . . hmmm... we've discussed this briefly, but haven't really put it "on the table." I'll bring it up to her tomorrow to gauge her thoughts.

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Robin and Slytherin. On the old site, I was sorted into Slytherin and never visited the site again. 😄 So I went through the questions on the new site (I'm Ravenclaw, goshdarnit!) aaaaand... Slytherin again! Giving up. 😂

Thanks to you all for the recommendations!! MUCH Appreciated!!

Has anyone put together an AP US Govt course on their own? Was it successful, or do you wish you'd signed up to an online class for the topic? :) Any recommendations for texts to use or plans of study are very welcome!! (I swear that I have read several threads on this very topic, but my search-of-forums was fruitless... :o ) Our original plan was to schedule "regular" US Govt this year, but a slight schedule shift has allowed some flexibility, and now we are considering her taking the AP course after all. DD2 is already going through the Thinkwell course. I just ordered the AP-prep books from Princeton Review and Barrons, as well as the Barrons flashcards. She will also be studying for Biology CLEP & AP Computer Science A (which she started last year, but abandoned when we had computer issues, ugh!!).

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Oops! Wrong forum!! ☺ï¸

I don't *think* I would... BUT... if I was visiting my kid's dorm... just sitting around while his friends milled in and out of the room... just sitting there sounds like torture. So, I could see busying myself so that I could bustle in-and-out of the room, chatting with him and his friends while I had my hands busy doing something else.

Oh, wowwwww. These roommate stories!! :sad: :scared: That stinks!!! Hope that your dd is able to find a happy middle-ground and that hopefully the new roommate is just overly-excited about organization right now and will chill out big-time as the days turn into weeks.

No words of wisdom, but {{hugs}}. That is a really tough situation to be in! :/ I hope that he is able to move to the other dorm ASAP and has a harmonious relationship with his new roommate!

In our experience, no - not one college cared (my dd did not have a PE credit on her transcript - but she was in a varsity sport). DD applied to 8 or 10 universities (how quickly I forget those kinds of things!) The only time *I* would have cared about the PE credit was if PE were a district, or state, requirement for graduation. Since my dd fulfilled all of OUR state/district requirements for graduation, I added to the transcript a notation that our homeschooling was in accordance with this-or-that state law and her diploma states that she fulfilled the requirements for graduation in our state (I used more sophisticated language that that obviously, lolol! But it's been a while and I can't clearly remember...)

*gasp* DD's 1 custom textbook for this semester was only sold as loose-leaf! I didn't mentally connect those dots yet! They won't buy it back! Well. Huh. :glare:

It's maddening! DD has one university-specific textbook this semester. DD is learning and asking a lot of questions to the upperclassmen about which professors REALLY require the books and online codes. As of now, she has a $280 Biology textbook with the online code. Her first class was yesterday - and she found out (from other students who aren't freshmen) that she didn't *really* need either because the professor tests off her lectures and covers everything in class. She'll need the book for Bio II, but I'm figuring that that online code probably is only good for one year?

Thanks! Talked with dd and she has a really healthy outlook, so we're all good. :) She's not internalizing roommate's worries and is generally a really easygoing person, so she says she'll just go with the flow for now and it will be what it will be. :D

N/M ðŸ‘😊 thanks!!!!

DD and her roommate decided on two colors, then they each bought two-of different things. So roomie bought two coffee mugs and two travel coffee mugs. DD bought two smoothie cups (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0142JQ422/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and two Corningware microwavable soup mugs (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00LGLHFPK/ref=twister_B00OQ07SJQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) & some luncheon plates from Pier One. They also have some plastic bowls/tumblers that came in a set. Roomie bought a set of flatware. Right now, they have a bathroom sink, dish soap, and a scrubbie thing to wash dishes with. It's only cereal, oatmeal, or fruit that they're eating in their room, so it shouldn't be too bad. . . hopefully. lol