Pre-Algebra is always a tough one. What is it about Horizons that bores her? The repetition? I haven't used it so I don't know how it's set up really. I'm trying to think of other pre-algebra books you could look at... College of the Redwoods Pre-Algebra Lial's Did you take a look at Fresh Approach Algebra 1? It's very uncluttered which I see you mentioned as a plus. You could see if she's ready for it. I think it does some pre-algebra stuff at the beginning. I haven't used it yet but I've looked at it and plan to for my daughter who needs straightforward and uncluttered. VideoText Module A has a lot of good pre-algebra concepts that help solidify everything before Algebra. I'll let you know if I think of more

I will never understand this. How can they expect anyone to commit to something without knowing the financial picture? One of our most prominent state schools has binding early decision. If you are accepted you have 10 days to put in your deposit which is required because you applied early decision and they don't provide you financial information for months after that. People still do it.

Are you looking for pre-algebra or is she ready for Algebra? I can't quite tell from the various conversations.

How about Christian Light until you are ready for Algebra and then Fresh Approach. They are both 'to the point' .

PM me if you decide to try it. I bought it and it's not going to work for my daughter. I didn't use it and I'm going to list it.

Wonderful! Thanks. I do the same thing with teacher's guides - I usually wait. We have about 30,000 science encyclopedias too but my daughter is the same. I'll check amazon!!

Did you order the ScienceSaurus book and the Teacher's guide too or just the Daybook? I can't figure out what is necessary.

If it's not then that's just cruel. Congrats!!

Actually this is what most of the kids we know experience. They live in the dorm the first year and then move off campus which requires a lease, their own food etc. No - she isn't fully financially independent. She does pay for some things with her wages. We provide money for other things. She's responsible for making sure the bills get paid regardless of where the money comes from. We pay the tuition directly. Between tracking her scholarships and money from college savings accounts it's easier to do that ourselves.

Well my college student lives in a house with other girls her age. She pays her own rent, buys her own groceries, cooks her own food, deals with car maintenance, gets herself to class, gets herself to clinicals, gets herself to work, cleans her house, pays her utilities...... that sounds like real life to me.

This is how I think my daughter is as well. It takes her a long time to know people too. She would never ask someone for a place to crash, a ride, to eat lunch with her, to hang out and do something etc. If it happens organically because of time spent, then she's good. She's been a competitive gymnast since she was 6 so the large amount of time she spent with girls gave her the time to develop relationships and have a natural progression into time together outside of the gym. I think college would be similar. Living on campus would provide a similar environment to develop relationships without having to be bold about it. Lori D - I do appreciate your comments. It is something to consider and make sure she has the environment she needs. It's yet to be determined if this will even be an issue. She has several schools that would require her to live on campus as they are hours away so it might not even become a question but I will definitely keep your feedback in mind.

My daughter is considering this for one of the schools she's looking at but I'm against it. Her commute would be difficult because the traffic in this area is horrendous. But more than that, I want her to go and have the college experience. She's a serious introvert and I think being a commuter student would allow her to opt out of having to participate in social situations or make friends. She is considering the school because of a program they offer but I think she is weighing it more heavily because she could live at home. I told her if she goes there I want her in the dorm. She isn't afraid to leave home at all. She just wants to live alone. I think she needs to experience the college living.

FaithManor - could you update my daughter's acceptance please? The school is 'West Virginia University' not West Virginia State University THanks!

YIPPEE!!! I can so relate to the 'I didn't screw up her life' feeling.

Well you have other recommendations so that's good too. And I'm sure there are some schools who are fine with mom recommendations. It's just that the schools I've dealt with who want recommendations both with my oldest who is now in college and now with my 2nd daughter want one from someone other than the mother.

All of my daughter's school choices have housing shortages so we will be doing multiple housing deposits. They are only $250 and refundable as long as you tell them before May 1 which is the national 'you have to tell the school you are coming' day anyway. I figure we need to make sure she gets housing and we get the money back so why not.

Oops - apparently I was supposed to post here, not on the other list. My daughter got her first acceptance - West Virginia University with invitation to the Honors College (scholarships to follow) Big relief for me. As a forensic science major she only has a few choices and when we made the decision to let her graduate a year early I started having panic attacks that she'd be turned down for being young and I ruined her for life LOL

Are you finding your colleges want a letter of recommendation from you? So far those I've had talked to want me to fill out the counselor section but not with a recommendation and get someone else to write a letter of recommendation. In my daughter's case it will be her gymnastics coach since she's been a competitive gymnast for 11 years.

My dd's first acceptance West Virginia University - with scholarships and invitation to Honors college

Greta - I should also add that they have been very supportive of us as homeschoolers. They didn't have a problem with it at all and have answered all of my questions. Like I said, we haven't dealt with the fine arts program but everyone we have dealt with has been terrific. We will be doing the application soon so hopefully they are just as nice then :-).

VCU is one my of my daughter's top choices and we visited there a few months ago. I was wondering how I would feel about Richmond. I was pleasantly surprised. They have an extensive security program right down to a program where a student can call for a ride any time from dusk to the next morning even if they just don't feel like walking. Just like anywhere else kids need to be smart about not going anywhere alone at 2am but I feel completely fine with my daughter going there. I really liked the campus. Also they have a very good honors program that includes their own internship opportunities, their own advisors and the first right for class scheduling, even before seniors. My daughter loved that the major of the dorms, including the honors dorms were singles with your own bathroom :-) I don't know how the honors program works with Fine Arts. I know they have a different type of program. We know a few kids who are at VCU right now and they love it.

I would consider a business degree in addition to the culinary training. She may want to have her own business some day and it would be very helpful to have that kind of training.

Others can give recommendations but I do want to point out that if you like the auto grading etc of Teaching Textbooks you won't be getting that with Pre-calculus. They don't have an automatic grading version of Pre-Calc.

Yes - our public schools use Night in the 8th grade.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.. Special thanks to cbollin for the great recap. I didn't realize the samples were up so I'm going through those now. I have a 7th grader so it seems right on the edge. Night is an excellent book and would work really well for us this year since we are doing Modern. It is dark obviously but I don't remember anything over-the-top graphic considering the subject matter. That said it's an interesting choice for a literature analysis program. Decisions, Decisions....