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I'm definitely leaning homeschool for at least a year and see how it goes. DH still wants to investigate a few more options. I've just come to the conclusion, we would be much better homeschoolers that advocaters! When the school drops the ball more than a few times, it is so discouraging. And it buys us some time to really get a feel for DS's needs. We also have a couple possible longer term travel opportunities that would be much easier if we were homeschooling!

Makes sense. And I think you're smart to view it as a grand experiment. Worst case: you do something different next year. <shrug> No biggie. This is reality, not some theoretical statement you're making about education. Do whatever works for the time being; you can always change to something else later.

The bright side of HSing ridiculously bright kids is that it's hard to do worse than the schools were, assuming you're not pulling the child out of a great school situation. (And no one I know has ever done that!) If you do better than the school, then it's an improvement, and you've hit a "best worst option"!

I know I've shared this many times, but because it was so pivotal to my willingness to HS, I can't help reminding you yet again of my DH's wisdom: "Give DS6 a developmentally appropriate book and let him play the rest of the day and he'd be better off than he was at school."

It really took the pressure off!

Let me know if you want to talk method or curriculum or whatever.

from the website

:Prohibited Calculators

These types of calculators are prohibited:

*
Texas Instruments: All model numbers that begin with TI-89 or TI-92
*
Hewlett-Packard: hp 48GII and all model numbers that begin with hp 40G or hp 49G
*
Casio: Algebra fx 2.0, ClassPad 300, and all model numbers that begin with CFX-9970G
*
calculators with built-in computer algebra systems
*
pocket organizers
*
handheld or laptop computers
*
electronic writing pads or pen-input devices�The Sharp EL 9600 is permitted.
*
calculators built into cellular phones or other electronic communication devices
*
calculators with a typewriter keypad (keys in QWERTY format)�Calculators with letter keys not in QWERTY format are permitted.

Calculators Permitted with Modification

These types of calculators are permitted, but only after they are modified as noted:

*
calculators with paper tape�Remove the tape.
*
calculators that make noise�Turn off the sound.
*
calculators that can communicate wirelessly with other calculators�Completely cover the infrared data port with heavy opaque material, such as duct tape or electrician's tape (includes Hewlett-Packard HP-38G series and HP-48G)
*
calculators that have power cords�Remove all power/electrical cords.

I have read this looong thread and have a quick question. My DD is taking the EXPLORE on January 24th. I found the list of prohibited calculators but there are so many choices. Does anyone have a calculator they can recommend a to me? I'm looking for the exact name, model number so I don't get the wrong one. My DD is 9 and in 4th grade. I would like the calculator to last her a few years but don't want to spend a lot of $$$$.

Thanks so much!

FWIW, DS7 doesn't have a graphic calculator yet. He has a cheap (8 pounds IIRR) scientific calculator which is all he's going to need in a test situation for some time, and for graphics exploration he uses Geogebra - which is free, and which I highly recommend. Maybe graphical calculators do a lot of other stuff I don't know about (I've never owned one!) but the stuff I hear people talk about can all be done in Geogebra, and surely it's better to have it on a full size screen... So there's another option to consider.

[ETA: Ah. Very old thread, resurrected by spammer. Sorry! Regardless, I still recommend Geogebra :-) ]

Thanks for the recommendation.