We expressed doubts about the initial math placement months ago when applying and were repeatedly assured that it would be fine. After several weeks the instructor decided that actually it wasn't fine, so this was really on the school. They claimed they were familiar with my son's math qualification but were not. The instructor was, as it turned out, and realized that the placement was wrong after teaching my son for a few weeks. I did not say that we expect the school to tutor my son to make us what he missed; he has reviewed the material himself and has some "normal" questions that he wants clarification on, nothing more than he would have had he been in school. This is a private school that has told us repeatedly that they provide support outside of the classroom to students and encourage students to contact teachers with questions. Apparently that's what we're paying for. I asked the teacher and the school whether we should ask the teacher, learning support or an outside tutor for help, and made it clear we were happy to hire outside help. The head of the program, when we asked if we should get an outside tutor to help my son catch up, specifically told us to ask the teacher for help first. Had she said to hire a tutor, that would have been okay too. If the teacher would have said that he has no time and recommended we hire a tutor, I would have been fine with that too. My objection is to being told that my son should just teach himself from YouTube. The professor has not provided videos, merely told my son to look on YouTube. My son would have been very happy to review class videos but wasn't offered these (these are supposed to be provided because this school has a lot of kids who regularly miss class and they cater to this group). As it happens, my son has been able to catch up on 5 weeks of homework in the last five days. He merely wants clarification on a few points that are somewhat unclear to ensure he has a solid basis going forward.

Not entirely college related but thought the college group might have more suggestions. DS17 joined a MV calc class five weeks into the term and is trying to catch up on the work. He's good at math but thinks he needs some extra help with a few of the problems. We've asked a flaky relative who is a math teacher but haven't heard back and poor DS is worried about the hw. Does anyone's math kid have a bit of time for some (paid ofc) tutoring? I know the logical response to this is to ask why the instructor cannot provide DS with some catch-up help and the answer is that the instructor refuses to help and says DS needs to learn to teach himself using sources like YouTube. Fancy-pants expensive school has been notified of this response and I am planning to throw a figurative fit as appropriate. If anyone has suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.

In the UK and in quite a few other countries in Europe, school holidays are coordinated. So in London the fall break is likely to be the same week (or weeks) for many different schools. In NL most of the breaks are nationally mandated, so the breaks are assigned by region. The prices for flights and holidays go up in that week, sometimes quite significantly, so parents would prefer to take their kids out of school for a holiday at a time that is affordable. That's what the fines are generally aimed at, not so much kids being ill and missing school. My son missed a fair bit of school at his UK school due to medical issues and we never had a problem. Although of course there's always schools that are annoying. I think but am not sure that US schools are not as coordinated in terms of holiday dates. Sometimes parents will figure that, hey it costs me x dollars to take my kid out two days early, but the holiday costs y dollars, so paying the fine makes sense.

DS (17) is in an online class (online school) and was assigned his first ever group project. We told him that he should expect to do the project on his own and that if his partner helped him it would be a bonus. DS sent several emails attempting to work together, other kid did nothing. DS did everything and turned it in. He did send the teacher an email say, hey I'm not snitching, but I did the project and don't want to be penalized for not having worked with F, because I tried. My kids have been through enough group projects to realize that it's not possible to count on others to do their share. Just do all the work and cover yourself with the prof. Apologies if I've become a bit too cynical on this.

Is there an asynchronous AP Calculus BC class online that has a set up similar to that of ChemAdvantage? DS did ChemAdvantage last year, and it worked well for him. This year he is doing IB Math HL but it overlaps considerably with the math he did last year, so I'm looking into whether Calc BC might be an option for those sections of the HL course that he has already done. I don't want a live class because of scheduling, but something that is "more" than just a self-paced class like Khan would be great.

Maybe this: https://www.1jour1actu.com/ Here is a site that has some links: https://www.defransejuf.nl/1jour1actu-nieuwssite-voor-kinderen/#more-2364 It links to a number of sites, some of which include video. The relevant ones are: http://education.francetv.fr/ https://www.rtbf.be/ouftivi/niouzz https://www.actujour.fr/ (doesn't seem to have videos) Seems to be a mix of random topic videos and news-related videos, but maybe something in there is useful.

Some random thoughts: Spyrix is expensive but allows you to get screenshots and recordings of the monitored laptop so you can just check later. You might also want to look into employee monitoring software rather than looking for kid software. IME kids can find a way around pretty much anything; if you do a Google search, you'll find some reviews of monitoring software that focus on that aspect. I found Qustodio didn't really work well. Also disable incognito mode. Doesn't help that much but make it harder to mess around. I f it's a Mac, I find the screentime pretty useless tbh. What has worked here is lots of monitoring, lots of discussion about work time and play time, and a complete ban on certain distractions like Minecraft because my kid cannot just play for 30 minutes.

I am looking for an online French lit class for DS, who has done French AP already, as our plan for the year may have fallen through. Recommendations? I know that online is not the greatest option but I don't think we have anything near us that would work. Or maybe a French lit teacher to do an independent study with? Thank you.

My son has had a French speaking conversation teacher through Preply for about three years now, and we pay less than $10 an hour. Italki is also a good source for inexpensive but good tutors. Not sure what your budget is but my daughter has been tutoring French and Italian for several years now and apparently gets good results since she keeps getting more tutees. For exchange programs you could look at Education First (no personal experience of the though) or the Centre International d'Antibes in France, which my son tried one year.

Second Avenue Deli. No longer on Second Avenue Deli, but still the same. Soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai Veselka for Ukrainian Wayan for French/Indonesian Economy candy for lots of candy

DS took AP French this year, and his score is still not available. His other two scores were available on 5 July, on time. I have been checking in with the College Board every now and then and was finally told yesterday that his "case" had been resolved and he'd get the score yesterday or today. Of course he didn't (DS is at Philmont backpacking and gave me access to his account, plus he hates dealing with stuff like this so I do this for him). I've called again and apparently the case officer had left for the day already but I was finally given her email. I emailed and got an out of office that shows she works for ETS, the Office of Test Integrity. So now I'm worried not just that the test went missing but that DS is being accused of a lack of integrity or something! I know there was something odd about the administration of the test at the school because they were sent one audio cd that had to be used for both the "regular" kids and the "irregular" kids (in this case, only DS, who gets extra time, especially for listening due to hearing loss). So they apparently were walking the cd back and forth between rooms or something. Since I won't be able to get a hold of anyone until Monday, can anyone give any insight and tell me to calm down?

Thanks! I was so proud of him. He's a cleft kid so has had more doctors' appointments than most kids (although not nearly as many as some), and I've been encouraging him to be able speak for himself. He'd had a November appointment a few years ago with an audiologist who said, if the results are the same in six months, you should get a hearing aid. Six months later, a different audiologist in the same service, with the same results, said, no you're fine. Well DS was NOT happy and pushed back. It took a little while to sort out as we were going away for a while, but he really stood up for himself and decided that he needed the headband aid and told the doctors what he needed.

We've had a similar issue. DS trialled a hearing aid around the age of 8 but refused to wear it. The ENTs and his cleft team generally agreed that he was doing okay with the level of hearing loss he had, until the loss worsened over the last couple of years. At this point DS (15 then now 16) decided he needed a hearing aid and began to advocate for himself with the audiologists involved. He decided on the headband and is still getting used to it. He might get the bone-anchored aid but right now is adamantly opposed to all surgery so that won't happen. The audiologists generally said that, if DS had been in school and in a classroom, they would have recommended a hearing aid, but as he's homeschooled, thought it could be left up to him. This was UK and a bit in the US.

This is how conversations with my dad generally go. Repeat twice or thrice so he gets the words, then another time or two for the processing. Potentially more if the subject is something he's not familiar with. English is his second language, although he's spoken English as his main language for the vast majority of his life, and I think it's possible that this partly explains why the English processing is becoming harder. My mother may or may not wear her hearing aids, so conversations with her are either me speaking too loudly and annoying her, or me speaking normally and her missing bits, or, most of the time fortunately, a match between me speaking and her hearing. DS has mild to moderate unilateral hearing loss that he copes with quite well, except when he's in larger groups, watching tv, or missing visual cues (language listening tests eg). Most of the time he's okay. BUT his speech is mildly affected so he can be mushy-mouthed, so my parents have a hard time understanding him on occasion. Living with all three of them at the moment can be a bit of a challenge.

She wears them reasonably often and has had them for a while, but insists they don't help much. Apparently they're very good hearing aids and she received very good service when getting them, so I don't understand the problem! It may well be that she's not wearing them enough for her brain to learn to interpret the sound. I'll try mentioning that.

Is there a particular type of hearing loss that is more easily helped by hearing aids than others? Asking because my mother has hearing aids and says they don't help much due to where in the register her loss is; my dad has hearing aids and refuses to wear them, quite possibly because the loss is processing rather than hearing; and DS just got a headband with hearing aid for conductive hearing loss (thank you NHS) and might eventually want a bone-anchored hearing aid. Trying to figure out whether there are better options out there.

We do a lot of dogsitting for my dogphew (dog nephew) when my brother is away/stays here. The dog was older when this started, but he seems to be very happy travelling between both houses. He knows who he's looking for when he gets here, has his favorite place to sleep, favorite place outside and favorite enemy in the form of a large German shepherd next door.

She might be interested in the info here: https://yiddishsummer.eu/ They also have TikTok/Insta info in German, Yiddish and English. One of mine is working at the festival (running social media so I know the social media side will be okay to visit even if you don't like sm) so if your DD is interested in more info please lmk and I can ask my DD.

You may already know this, but in the UK students apply directly to a major rather than applying generally. The required APs will depend on the major chosen, so your DD will need to be sure to take the APs that match that major. I think Cambridge may be more highly regarded for STEM (but that of course depends on the major). Students apply through UCAS, which is basically a personal statement and grades (including predicted grades). Students may or may not get an interview, and, depending on that, may or may not get an offer. When my DDs applied a number of years ago, they applied to a major and were invited to a weekend of testing and interviewing. They applied directly to the college of their choice. It was possible to get offers for a slightly different major or from a different college than applied to. That was not for STEM, though, so it could be different for STEM. It also seems that the personal statement may be changing in the next couple of years, in terms of format and requirements.

5 for chem here but no score yet for French! We have tried calling and the live chat but cannot get an answer as to what the problem is. DS does get extra time and the use of a laptop, so I think it may be that, but there was also an issue during the exam with the listening portion (College Board sent one cd only, so the school had to figure out how to share this between DS and the "regular" kids). Now I'm worried!

@MercyA I haven't noticed any increase in anxiety, although it's a bit hard to tell. It could also be related to emotional (dys)regulation, and this DC is better able to manage their emotions when medicated, because the meds slow them down, giving them time to process, think and reflect before reacting emotionally to situations. We just increased the ADHD meds dose because of increasing age/size, and I have noticed a big difference in evening behaviour -- much calmer and much less stressed, even when not dealing with academics.

I was going to say that the Friend sounds like one of my DC with ADHD. DC can be academically competent when properly medicated (and rested and fed etc) but when not, DC comes up with the weirdest most illogical notions and seems like a different kid academically. I also suspect that this DC has anxiety and the meds help with that.

DS had a very good experience with CLRC (history and poetry) and ChemAdvantage (not live classes but still very good). We are going to try a fulltime online school in the fall for the IB program.

You would be able to find good resources by looking at the UK courses and exams for history. These tend to be modular, so a two-year course in history could include a section on any of the countries you've mentioned. DS, for example, had the choice this year of studying colonial rule and nationalist challenge in India, or dictatorship and conflict in the USSR, or Japan opening up to China and the west, among many others. The advantage is that there are many many materials out there on these topics, including (usually) helpful YouTube videos, supplemental materials prepared by teachers, and several textbook options. You could also select from the GCSE (sophomore year intro level) and the A-level (senior year more advanced level). I've been able to source the textbooks in the US too. No need ofc to take the exams to use the textbooks and so on. The disadvantage is that you'd have to piece together the modules to get a complete "set". Textbooks tend to be aimed at the specific requirements of the exams and are helpful/useful but not fascinating lol. Happy to look for some links to send you if that would be helpful.

Another reason not to do this is, should the company end up in legal trouble, you could be required to turn your personal phone in to lawyers for review. Happened to a friend of mine who used his personal phone for work (mostly messages). After the company had a high-profile meltdown and was investigated, he was asked to turn over his personal phone to the lawyers. I guess it would not be as big a deal if you were just taking voice calls rather than receiving/sending messages.