homeschool ? Please help.

[CraftyMouse]

I also must add that spelling is not an indicator of intelligence. DH is very, very smart, holds two degrees in engineering and can't spell worth beans! He wears his "Bad Spellers of the World...Untie!" sweatshirt proudly!

 

[LadyShiva]

I also must add that spelling is not an indicator of intelligence. DH is very, very smart, holds two degrees in engineering and can't spell worth beans! He wears his "Bad Spellers of the World...Untie!" sweatshirt proudly!

I would disagree, but you already know that!!!

But I also write professional documents and talk to managers who are frustrated with their inability to get their team members to communicate intelligibly!

Brandie

 

[MushyMushy]

I also must add that spelling is not an indicator of intelligence. DH is very, very smart, holds two degrees in engineering and can't spell worth beans! He wears his "Bad Spellers of the World...Untie!" sweatshirt proudly!

I totally agree! I think a lot of it comes from some kids who were taught the whole language approach to reading as opposed to phonics. My husband is absolutely brilliant, but can't spell a thing.

Trust me. My intelligence is by no means superior just because I was blessed with the ability to remember how to spell every word I've seen or written. I can't balance a checkbook.

 

[disykat]

I'm not a big fan of homeschooling and thought the spelling error in the title was sort of comically unfortunate, but I hardly think one typo and "ance" instead of "ence" disqualifies someone from being a teacher.

OP, I think teens really need to have input into their education and unless there are pretty severe reasons he shouldn't attend school you need to let him.

 

[Hannathy]

I think at 13 his point of view should hold a lot of weight in where he goes to school. I don't blame him for wanting to go to school. I would think homeschooling for highschool would be very lonely and they would miss out on a lot of the social side of school and learning to deal with a variety of teachers styles and also different people. He may also be craving a bit of independence from Mommy which is natural with a teen and a critical component to growing up. As far as the notes from school, Highschool is very different from elem. or middle, they really don't send any notes! They rely on the students to be mature enough to keep track of things and anything super critical like school fees or medical forms are usually mailed, or on the schools website.

 

[maelstrom]

I homeschooled 11th and 12th grades through the American School of Correspondence, after having gone to public school all my life. It was my decision, and I had to convince my mom that it was the right thing to do.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. It sounds like your son wants to go to public school. At 13, I think he's old enough to decide that for himself. Don't force homeschooling on him. If you have kids who are real social butterflies, homeschooling just isn't really a good option. Some kids like being around other kids all day.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Lifepacs are God-awful boring. I homeschool, and believe that you can make it a wonderful experience even for a child/teen who has reservations. Sitting and doing workbook page after workbook page, though would kill me. I was in a private school that used the lifepacs for geometry. I lasted all of 3 weeks. My mom hired a tutor to teach me! And that was only one class.

That all said, every situation is unique. I hope that you and your son find the right one for your family.

 

[Brier Rose]

OP-
My DD is currently using Keystone National High school, and we have been very pleased with it.

They offer a lot of help where college issues come into play by offering Honors and AP classes, as well as letters of recommendations, transcripts, etc.

I'm very happy to have found them because I know I'm certainly not the best when it comes to many of the classes DD needs to take.

What some people fail to realize is that when it comes to home schooling there are more choices than just the parent teaching here!

My DD is home schooled, because she does her school at home..lots of times in her PJ's , BUT, she has access to 5 different teachers as well as myself.

She also has a private French tutor. I don't know any French at all, but there was no reason to let that stand in the way of our decision to home school!

There are just SO many options out there. Believe me, you don't have to be perfect in ANY subject to home school.

Just recognize where your weakness lie, and seek help accordingly. It doesn't have to be all or nothing!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'm happy to help in any way I can!

 

[nhrenee]

I also must add that spelling is not an indicator of intelligence. DH is very, very smart, holds two degrees in engineering and can't spell worth beans! He wears his "Bad Spellers of the World...Untie!" sweatshirt proudly!

I will have to tell dh about that sweatshirt. He is the same way!

 

[disneymom3]

Lifepacs are God-awful boring. I homeschool, and believe that you can make it a wonderful experience even for a child/teen who has reservations. Sitting and doing workbook page after workbook page, though would kill me. I was in a private school that used the lifepacs for geometry. I lasted all of 3 weeks. My mom hired a tutor to teach me! And that was only one class.

That all said, every situation is unique. I hope that you and your son find the right one for your family.

Amen, homeschool sister! And yes, Lifepac is spelled correctly, boring as they are. I have looked into them because honestly there have been tired times in my homeschooling journey that I thought having everything laid out would be soooo nice, but then I realize that DD would hate me and the boys would hate me even more! BORING is an understatement. I would be begging to go back into school too!

OP, look into My Father's World, Sonlight or WinterPromise and see what you think. Or have him decide some topics he would be interested in learning about and help him create his own unit study. For instance, a friend of mine has a very reluctant learner and yet was able to get him on fire for Ancient Egypt. He used mapping skills, language, history and science like crazy and then all she had to fight him on was math.

However, I will agree-if he has good reasons for wanting to go and is one who will make life miserable for everyone around him, I would strongly consider letting him go back to school.

Homeschooling is beyond a full time job and it takes a lot of commitment. For me, the point is to make it more interesting than just sitting at the table doing bookwork and to light my children's passion for learning. Honesltly you are not going to get that out of a box.

 

[disneymom3]

I don't know much about high school homeschool expect for the fact that entrance into college becomes tricker.

Here is a site that may help your direction. Your son will have to take many standardized testing things in order to gain entrance into certain colleges.

Do your homework on the end result first. That may change your direction.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17

What does your son want to do for a career? Why does he want to go to public school? Is their a HUGE reason why he cannot go?

I am bitter about it because most "high school homeschoolers" I know do not "graduate".
Parents get in this struggle and then hold all the strings and then the kid loses.

Make sure you are not setting your son up for that.

I wanted to ask after checking out this site why you referenced it. From what I am reading it is primarily various people voicing their own views and experiences. You have the one side of clearly anti-homeschooling folks (Like the guy making fun of the boy who won the Scripps Nat'l Spelling Bee) and then some students and parents. There are a few colleges that do require some different hoops to jump through but many that do not. I guess I don't get the validity of the link? Is it something you use often or am I missing some authoritative info on there?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I wanted to ask after checking out this site why you referenced it. From what I am reading it is primarily various people voicing their own views and experiences. You have the one side of clearly anti-homeschooling folks (Like the guy making fun of the boy who won the Scripps Nat'l Spelling Bee) and then some students and parents. There are a few colleges that do require some different hoops to jump through but many that do not. I guess I don't get the validity of the link? Is it something you use often or am I missing some authoritative info on there?

You don't get the validity of the link?

It is just a link to help others gain info.

Just like any message board there is good and bad stuff.

When I did research for my nephew, I found there were hoops. So if you are planning to go in a certain direction with your child you really should plan the end goal.

Do you have a child in High School? Mine isn't even homeschooled and a JR this year.
You have to be knowledgeable if your child has their sites on something specific.

 

[sha_lyn]

My 13 yr old son (who will be in 9th grade) and I are battling about school. He wants public school and I want him to homeschool. Last year we did Alpha Omega Lifpacs and he didn't really like them. I'm not sure what to do for high school. Any suggestions would be great.

My next question is-has anyone used James Madison High School or Keystone National High School as a correspondance course for a high school diploma? Any input good or bad would be appreciated. Thanks.

We've had a horrible experience with James Madison. I am speaking of their textbook/correspondence program, not their much more expensive online program. JM received excellent reviews prior to the start of the online program. It seems they have put all their resources into the online program and neglect the textbook program.

They lose assignments all the time.

The turn around for grading hand written assignments is very long (6-8 weeks)

In their literature they say the will send out the next course when a course is 3/4 (perhaps 2/3?) finished. However we always have to call repeatedly to get the next course(s) sent out.

I really wish we had stayed with American School. We switched because JM was suppose to better prepare them for college. However with all the headaches we've had, I would rather spend the time/money on a yr or 2 of community college.

 

[SplshMtn99]

I will admit that I know nothing about homeschooling, and that what I'm about to say is not meant to be rude or insulting, but I just couldn't let it go and don't know the best way to say it, so here it is: Besides all the reasons stated above by previous posters, and solely based upon all the misspellings in your original post (including the word "homeschool" in the title) I'm not sure that homeschooling is the best option in your case. I'm sorry and I'm truly not trying to offend, but it bothered me a lot.

I was hoping someone was going to mention it. You did it alot nicer than I would have.

You are only as good as your teacher.

 

[sha_lyn]

OP-
My DD is currently using Keystone National High school, and we have been very pleased with it.

They offer a lot of help where college issues come into play by offering Honors and AP classes, as well as letters of recommendations, transcripts, etc.

I'm very happy to have found them because I know I'm certainly not the best when it comes to many of the classes DD needs to take.

What some people fail to realize is that when it comes to home schooling there are more choices than just the parent teaching here!

My DD is home schooled, because she does her school at home..lots of times in her PJ's , BUT, she has access to 5 different teachers as well as myself.

She also has a private French tutor. I don't know any French at all, but there was no reason to let that stand in the way of our decision to home school!

There are just SO many options out there. Believe me, you don't have to be perfect in ANY subject to home school.

Just recognize where your weakness lie, and seek help accordingly. It doesn't have to be all or nothing!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I'm happy to help in any way I can!

To read some of the opinions of HS'ing on the DIS, you would think we homeschool from a cave with only a rock to scratch onto the cave wall.
I hate to burst anyones bubble, but there are things such as books, co-op classes, tutors, online classes, correspondence courses etc. There are homeschool groups that organize field trips, proms, sports, choir, band etc

 

[sha_lyn]

I was hoping someone was going to mention it. You did it alot nicer than I would have.

You are only as good as your teacher.

It is apparent that several here did not have teachers who were good at teaching manners.

 

[barkley]

the biggest complaint i hear from now college students/former homeschoolers as well as college professors is that unless the homeschooling program incorperates a variety of competant individuals reviewing of the student's written work (spec. essays and compositions) over a period of time, the student has a greater degree of difficulty when they are subjected to this in college or the workplace. the reason i have heard given is because with only one 'teacher' there is no opportunity for a variety of reviews/levels of performance/expectations to take place with the student's submissions. this is not only a problem for homeschoolers. i've seen the same issues in the school system my children are in. they had the same teachers for k-3 and then for 4-8th, and in both cases i could review their work prior to submission and after some time predict exactly what their teachers would mark down and what their tolerance level would permit.

 

[rie'smom]

At 13, he should have input. My daughter was home scholled and it was fantastic,however,she wanted to branch out socially and get involved in clubs,etc. She's been back in traditional schooL (Catholic) for a few years and has done well.

 

[aprilgail2]

At 13 he should have some say in if he wants to go to public school or be homeschooled. By high school there was no way I would have missed the high school exprience. For a teenager being at school with all your friends is as much of the day as learning is. I couldn't imagine having missed that.

 

[CraftyMouse]

At 13 he should have some say in if he wants to go to public school or be homeschooled. By high school there was no way I would have missed the high school exprience. For a teenager being at school with all your friends is as much of the day as learning is. I couldn't imagine having missed that.

But, again, that is a personal choice. DD is extremely social yet has no interest in going to school with her peers. She chose to stay home through high school and we supported that. She has great homeschooled friends (along with her traditionally-schooled friends) and the local homeschooling group has a yearly semi-formal along with regular social activities. Just because it isn't the traditional way doesn't mean it isn't equally valid and just as rewarding.

As for not being able to get into the college of their choice...DD recently went to a highly selective summer engineering program at a prestigious New England engineering school. They had more than 200 applications and only took 10 girls from each of the 4 high school grades. There were two or three other homeschooled students there. At the admissions talk they were told that schools are very aware of the homeschooling movement and that being homeschooled is not an issue when it comes to enrollment.

(On an unrelated note, did you know that many schools, beginning in 2008, are no longer going to require SATs? The consensus is that they don't give a true indication of what a student knows or how well they learn. It's about time. There is nothing I detest more than standardized tests!)

I always find it humorous to hear the anti-homeschooling arguments. In most cases it is clear that the posters have little knowledge of what homeschooling is really like.