Hoping for some friendly brainstorming

[Orthodox6]

nt

Edited March 6, 2010 by Orthodox6

[JennW in SoCal]

I have graduated and launched out into the world my "Aspie", so I understand the special needs your ds has. I think yours is a trickier decision to make than it would be with a "neuro-typical" teen.

 

What does your ds want to do? Not just with high school, but with life? Does he know what kind of degree and career he wants? So many Aspies have strong and focused interests which is to their advantage -- they will do what ever it takes to get there.

 

I would start your thinking there -- the end result, and would continue to give strong consideration to his current happy situation. Change is probably not his strong suit, just as it isn't with my ds! Talk with your ds about his goals, talk about what he needs to do to get there. Offer homeschooling as an option that would include community college classes, especially any that are in his area of interest. Don't assume that just because the academics are not great he will suffer because of it, but do think of the next couple of years as the first step towards his goal. If coming home will be detrimental, grin and bear the bad academics at the school -- he will do what he needs to do to reach his dream.

 

It is hard to let go of our notions of quality academics, but it in some circumstances it is liberating to do so. My ds didn't have a very traditional high school, but he thrived in pursuing his interests and enough academics soaked in that he isn't hindered as he moves into the adult world. He isn't Ivy material either, but he doesn't want to be. I had grand plans for grammar and latin and higher math -- at some point I realized he would get nothing out of my pushing certain subjects and just let go. It was agonizing, but in retrospect it was such an obvious decision.

 

If the decision to bring him home makes the most sense, build his courses around his needs. Again -- don't just think of the ideal high school sequence, think of where your ds is heading and work towards that. Tighten up his Spanish, start where he left off in Algebra and work from there. And consider having him transfer from community college in to a 4 year college in order to avoid the whole standardized testing rigmarole.

[Orthodox6]

nt

Edited March 6, 2010 by Orthodox6

[mcconnellboys]

I agree with what Jenn said about discussing all this with your son. It is a very difficult decision to make.

 

If you do decide to homeschool, here is what I think I would do regarding academics:

 

"Would we be best off to "redo" all of the math, just to provide the expected high school grounding? Do this even though it means a transcript showing only two years of math ?"

 

Did he understand the lessons that were completed? If he did, then I would tend to start where the school left off and work through a sampling of lessons (perhaps every other; or do fewer problems in each lesson, etc.) from the remainder of both books to truly complete Algebra I and geometry (one more semester of each). Then I would look at perhaps doing at least Algebra II his senior year. Our state now requires 4 math credits to graduate. If yours does, too, then what sorts of maths are acceptable? For the fourth math, you might not need to do trig/pre-calc. You might be able to do statistics, accounting, or other sorts of math courses. You could cover two different math courses during his senior year if you had to.....

 

"History and English credits already issued, I can wincingly roll with, and provide better coursework for these last two years."

 

Does your state require 3 history credits for graduation? Do you need to cover government/civics? If so, I guess I would do that, perhaps during his junior year. You could also do one year of world history and one year of American history to get him better grounded if you felt that necessary. Whatever you can do to remediate grammar/writing and lit for those two years would also be great.

 

"He has had two years of "Joke Spanish". He can't communicate with anybody at a baby-level, given what he has been taught. Do we teach him a different language for two years, so that he will, at least, have acquired a passable acquaintance with a foreign language?"

 

Why would you go with a "different" language? If he at least has some grounding in Spanish, why not continue Spanish and just re-do it? I guess you're thinking about what shows on the transcript. If you decide to go with another language, you could perhaps keep him working on Spanish on the side to help bring him better up to speed in it. I'd choose another Romance language so that they are at least similar in construction.

 

"What about science? No can do chemistry without algebra 2 going on simultaneously, is my understanding. (please correct me, if needed) He never even had "physical science". I easily can remedy that, using Hewitt's Conceptual Physical Science."

 

What sorts of science are required by your state for graduation? Is physical science okay, or must he take physics? If physical is okay, then I think I might go with Hewitt for his junior year and perhaps do Hewitt's Conceptual Chemistry, along with the Algebra II, during his senior year. Many schools today don't really do any significant lab work with their sciences, so he is not necessarily behind other kids at least in that regard.

 

So for junior year, that might look like:

 

1) Math - remediating Algebra I and Geometry - not counting it on the transcript

2) Spanish remediation - also not counted

3) Another language

4) English

5) and maybe 6)any required social studies course, such as Government/Civics, and/or another history course

7)Conceptual Physical Science if that's an okay class for your state requirements to enter college

 

That would be a full course load. What courses did you have in mind for him to do at cc? Could he handle this course load?

 

For senior year, it would look like:

 

1) Algebra II

2) Conceptual or other Chemistry

3) English

4) perhaps a history

5) Spanish remediation perhaps continued - not counted

6) another language

7) another math course?

 

Are there any other state requirements you need to fulfill for him to graduate and move into college?

 

If doing the history, I'd title the courses differently than what he's already had or title them as honors courses, etc. and cover info accordingly.

 

I'm assuming the school he's been in grants 7 credits per year. Some schools now grant 8 per year. I'm not sure how many credits he needs to graduate in your state. Would this give him what he needs for graduation?

[Orthodox6]

nt

Edited March 6, 2010 by Orthodox6

[Starr]

Commit to paying before financial aide? Isn't that crazy? One thought I had was that you might want to consider having him do one more year of high school since he can take cc classes. That way you could get his education up to college standards. As far as science goes you might want to do Conceptual Physics instead of Conceptual Physical Science. While change is hard I do find new things avail themselves. Once he's home more you could help guide his interests and find some kind of outside activity. I wish you well.

[Chris in VA]

My son is undiagnosed Aspie, who is now in college. You are in such a tough spot--mine was devastated to move in 4th grade to another school, and even more hurt when we left Texas and came here. He tried public school for 4 years, then asked to come home--that's how we started homeschooling, with a K'er and a high schooler!

 

I am a solutions-seeker--I try to think out of the box to find a solution. Here are two ideas--

 

Could you go to the head of the school and discuss why such a small part of the curriculum is being finished? I'm actually remembering that you did that before and posted about it--pls refresh my memory as to what she said. I would call her on it, if you haven't already. How can they give credit for a course that isn't even half finished? Actually, I'd be pissed. But you are probably more gracious than I am! lol Saying you want to keep him at the school, but the standards are now so low that you feel the transcript will be a lie might be a good strategy--IDK what her answer could possibly be. I'd just badger until I got a good answer, or found her incapable of giving one.

 

Could you ask for part-time enrollment? He could maintain some social contact that way, but either come later or leave earlier. It would require some convincing on their part, of course--but if she is so generous, and has the kids' best interest in mind, perhaps, perhaps she'd be amenable to that arrangement.

 

When we left the Montessori school in 4th grade, ds was invited back the next year to participate in the cub scout troop. It was so sweet--and helped ease the pain of leaving the school. Is there some sort of social activity he can do with the kids from the school? Something to keep him connected.

 

As far as what to teach if he does come home, I'd pick either algebra or geometry (probably algebra, honestly, because you need to get to algebra 2) and see where he tests, and then just go from there. If you consider Apologia Chemistry to be an option, rest assured it's not that difficult--mine has some difficulty with math, and was able to do it--it's clearly explained, and all he really needs is basic algebra and fraction work.

 

So, for 11th, I'd do

Algebra, as far as he can

SAT prep work--a little every day, both math and grammar

some sort of science--Chem might be better in 12th

any other subjects he needs

 

12th--

continue algebra to get to 2, continue SAT prep

strengthen his writing skills--use something easy and clear, like Lively Art of Writing or even IEW--practice writing essays for the SAT

any other subjects

 

My child has a foreign language problem--can't really seem to learn it. Had a ton of trouble, but we used a program that helped and were able to squeeze out credits for him. It's almost a disability for him but I don't know if it's connected to his Aspie/automatic processing disorder. Latin was good for him because of the non-pronounciation--I'd switch to that if you don't want to do Spanish.

 

Most importantly for choosing--see what is required by the colleges he is thinking about. If he isn't really choosing a college yet, go ahead and see what's in state and affordable, and see what the common courses are. Working backwards, as others have said, is really helpful.

 

My heart just goes out to you--what a tough decision. We did let our son take some cc classes--it was hard for him b/c of being in the regular classroom and having to make so many inferences. But he got an A in his psych class, and he's doing brilliantly in his college courses at VCU now. You never know!

[Orthodox6]

Can't thank you all enough for the kind and detailed replies ! I know it took time for you to write them, and I so much appreciate this ! :grouphug:

 

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Edited March 8, 2010 by Orthodox6