Joining the ranks, well 1/2 way

[swellmomma]

My teens have decided they want to go to the public highschool in the next town over for high school next year (they will be starting grade 10 which is when highschool begins here).  The timing worked out well because the high school is doing the parent information night for rising 10th graders on April 9th and the kids will pick their courses that night. We have a meeting with the counsellor an hour before that to tour the school (most of the kids registering already attend the junior high wing of the school so they don't need a tour), and discuss both their learning issues but also the courses they have already completed through distance learning that they would have normally been registering for.  The teens are excited, I am mostly at peace with it though have no issue bringing them back home to homeschool if they start dropping grades, skipping class or otherwise acting like fools.

We will be before schooling mostly. They have topics they are behind in that won't directly impact their highschool learning but would impact their over all cultural understanding.  Also a few areas they are weak in that they really could use the extra supports.  So since they have to come to town with me 90 minutes before school starts each morning next year they will do their before schooling at that time for about an hour with 30 minutes to have a bite to eat and relax before going to school.  Afterschool they are expected to either be doing homework, be part of a team/club, be studying a topic of their choice or have a job for the hours I am at work since they would have to wait for me before they could go home (no bussing between towns).  

I am hoping this will help salvage our relationships and push some more independance and maturity on oldest son.  My biggest hurdle will be letting go of my own control issues over what their education should be etc.  

The younger kids will still homeschool, though I am debating 1st grade for youngest at the school I work at, and then just focusing on ds10 who needs a lot of help with his list of learning issues.  We will see.  I step at a time.  

Now to focus on enjoying the ending of this year as it will be the closing of a chapter with my teens.  Thank goodness both go away to cadet camp this summer and I can learn to let go before the first day of school (though a part of me knows I will want to walk them to their first class and kiss them good bye I will save that embarassment for a day when they really need it lol)  Also hoping them attending will help oldest get that paper trail needed of his issues so he can get supports needed in post secondary. 

[PollyOR]

Good luck!  My 15yo started public school this year and my 18yo started community college.  It was strange to have them gone much of the day.  My girls have been super responsible.  I don't ever have to ask them to study which has been a relief.   

 

I also don't afterschool.  15yo is swamped with school work each evening (she's trying hard to be an A student), and she doesn't have much down time.

[LLMom]

That will be a big change for all of you.  I hope for a smooth transition.  High school has been the best thing for my 2 oldest still living at home.

[swellmomma]

DD14 is now officially excited for next year.  She had her first date last night to a school dance at that school, and she said when she came home she never realized how many people she knew that went there.  You'd think she knew since it is a small town and there is only 2 high schools, this on and the catholic and they combine for dances.  At any rate everyone she knew was excited to see her there and she loved it.  She was the one waiting to see what the tour and meeting on april 9th would bring and now she can't wait.  She told all of her friends and acquaintances there that she was enrolling for the fall and apparently there was a lot of jumping up and down and hugging lol  

[Soror]

Good luck, I hope it works well for your family.

[kiwik]

You may find they have too much homework to after school much. Good luck.

[swellmomma]

You may find they have too much homework to after school much. Good luck.

 

I was already assuming that which is why I never planned to afterschool.  They will be before schooling simply because they will have to go to town with me when I go to work which is 90 minutes before school begins, 60 minutes before the school even opens, so they will have to sit around in the hallway or library of the school I work at for those 60 minutes, and rather than being bored, or playing electronics I want them working on things they need to bolster, or things I think are important but the school doesn't cover (like logic) etc.  I fully anticipate they will not be afterschooling, but they will have 3 hours a day to kill waiting for me to be done with work and so they are expected to either join clubs/teams at the school, get a p/t job or go to the library and work on something at their own leisure or on their homework.  It's not ideal but it is what we have to work with.  The school at the end of my street that would allow them just to go home is really not a good school at all and I want better for them, so to town with me it is.

[kiwik]

By afterschooling I mean any schooling in addition to regular school, homework or test prep. When it takes place makes no difference.

[swellmomma]

Good grief.  So as wednesday approaches and we get ready to talk with the guidance counsellor before the registration night I have been talking with my kids about their post secondary goals, what they are hoping to get out of the school experience etc so that we are prepared with questions for the counsellor etc.  We have also been talking to others that have previously graduated from this school (I have practicum students at work attending the local college that graduated from that school) and ones currently attending (kids talking to them).  Turns out this school has not done a cap and gown graduation ceremony in about 5 years (#1 reason the kids wanted to go to ps), they do not offer most of the electives they want, they would have to do them through distance learning on top of doing a full course load at the school itself and keeping up with homework etc.  And if students are struggling with subjects tutoring is not available at the school, they recommend students do those courses at teh outreach school instead where they are doing distance learning with a tutor (I guess it helps the school look like their students have good grades and no drop outs).  Now both kids are saying there is no way they are going to ps, they want to keep hsing through our current board and then for grade 11 switch to the board that does essentially ps at home and has a travel club where they can do an overseas trip with other homeschoolers with educational tours with teachers from this board chaperoning, AND they do a cap and gown graduation with all the graduating students they monitor across the whole province. 

 

We are still going to meet with the guidance counsellor Wednesday and get the full details and answers to our questions from the horse's mouth so to speak, but as it stands if what we are hearing is true I guess I won't be joining the afterschooling ranks after all.  Then again if the kids keep sloughing off the work I assign they won't have a choice, a crappy ps education is better than none at all.  It will suck if that is the case because it would not be what I feel is the best education over all, but if they won't work for me they will have to do it there even if they can't take the courses they want, or have the graduation they want, etc

[kiwik]

They may be newly inspired. I never understood the cap and gown thing. when I was at high school (in NZ in the 80's) most kids left before the last year (there were 8 in the top class) and when you finished school you just, well finished. It wasn't a big drama you just went on to the next thing. It has probably changed now but you still don't "graduate" or get a diploma.

[PollyOR]

....but if they won't work for me they will have to do it there even if they can't take the courses they want, or have the graduation they want, etc

 

Boy, is this familiar.  Good luck!

[swellmomma]

They may be newly inspired. I never understood the cap and gown thing. when I was at high school (in NZ in the 80's) most kids left before the last year (there were 8 in the top class) and when you finished school you just, well finished. It wasn't a big drama you just went on to the next thing. It has probably changed now but you still don't "graduate" or get a diploma.

 

really? That would seem weird to me.  My graduating class was over 300 students.  We had grad pictures done in the cap and gowns for the year book, ordered class rings, and then the big day, we had a huge ceremony with caps and gowns and each student getting called up to get their "diploma" (it was actually a blank rolled up paper, the gov't mails you your diploma after the final marks are fully submitted and they have checked that you have met all requirements).  You invite all your family to come to this.  Then you go home to celebrate with family and get ready for that evening.  In the evening there is a huge formal dinner and dance, the girls get their hair done, and buy fancy dresses, the boys wear tuxes (well not all, but most), you arrive with your date or friends by limo and your family meets you there.  Following the dance which usually includes a slide show of the last 3 years etc, you leave with your date and/or friends for what every after party celebrating you are doing.  

 

Now the schools out here still do the dinner and dance, but no limos (hard to come by in a rural setting), and apparently no cap and gown ceremony. Grad classes in this area are between 9-20 students depending on the year, so different from the one I had.  

 

For the kids it is important to them because they want to invite their dad and his side of the family to celebrate such a big accomplishment.  Ds15 in particular not only wants to invite his dad and extended family but also everyone who ever said he would never be able to learn and even graduate in the first place.

Frankly I don't care one way or the other what kind of ceremony they have, if they have one, but it is important to them so I want to try and make it happen through the options we have.  They don't care about missing out on sports teams/clubs from homeschooling, they don't care about missing out on shop class or pe with others, they don't care if they miss out on dances etc.  But they care about this. So we will see what happens when I talk to the guidance counsellor on wednesday 

[swellmomma]

I have never met such a close minded person in the public school system. So tonight we met with the guidance counsellor at the high school to see about enrolling the kids for next fall. She kept saying she didn't think they could enroll in the fall without a grade 9 report card they would have to do entrance exams etc. Then could not wrap her head around the fact they are already doing grade 10 courses through distance learning. I showed her the reports we got of their finished classes and the current grades in their in progress classes and she kept referring to needing a grade 9 report card. Then declared they will have to redo those grade 10 classes because they were not done at the school. Um, they are done with alberta distance learning and on their official provincial transcript. Apparently if they do not carry a 40 credit course load (keeping in mind our credits in alberta are WAY different than in the US, 1 credit roughly equals 25 hours of instruction, courses range from either 1,3 or 5 credits and are block scheduled in semesters) on campus in grade 10, 35 in grade 11 and 30 in grade 12 even if they meet all provincial requirements for graduation they will not be allowed to participate in the school convocation. Which was confirmed to not be a cap and gown ceremony anyway. So even though they are currently doing social 10-2 for example, they would have to do a social entrance exam to determine if they will be forced to do social 10-2 again or 10-1 etc. Good lord.

Then I asked about extra currics. Apparently this was the last year they were doing drama club and likely art club was cancelled this year. so those are gone, as is most other clubs unless you want to work in the cafeteria or make a sports team. Okay so no clubs or extras for the kids. Asked about electives. They are only allowed foods, art, or IA as options. They already have foods credits but would have to retake the course. The girls in IA this year are making fleece tied blankets, so not a high school curriculum. The boys are learning to make sheds and such. So dd14 perked up about that and the lady says "oh we will have to see if girls can make that or if they have to stay with the other girls" ummm WHAT??!! What the hell year is this? Oh and no work experience etc allowed until grade 11. Also CALM and multimedia are combined and mandatory in grade 10 even though they are currently doing calm 20 they would again be forced to retake it because of this multimedia portion. And when I asked about ds15's learning disabilities she said they would test him and then likely recommend he goes to the outreach school instead since this school doesn't have resources for spec ed students. I indicated that what he needs are minor accomodations like longer time to write tests etc and she again could not get her head around that. Yet she would be the one doing the testing and supposedly helping write an IPP if needed.

If they stick with homeschooling they can take electives through adlc that they actually want to take (mainly the wildlife and forestry courses), not have to redo any courses, get credits for their non adlc courses, get a cap and gown ceremony without extra stipulations about how many credits they must earn in whatever location and the list goes on.

Bet you can guess what the plan is for high school. Perhaps if we lived in the city and people understood homeschooling and with the courses my teens have they should be counted as transferring high school students rather than rising 10th graders. Or if perhaps I was one of those parents who simply goes with the flow and enrolls her kids because that's what you do without understanding the Alberta education system it would be fine. I mean really the vast majority of parents who were going to register their rising 10th graders tonight would not know the alberta gov't requirements for graduation. They would not know that their are dozens of possible electives approved in alberta, not just 3. They were going to introduce the ALIS website tonight etc and she was very surprised to hear ds15 had done career counselling, has navigated that site and both kids had chosen the post secondary schools they want to attend as well as what majors and could tell her what courses they needed to get in. That is apparently rare for kids entering high school and yet it seems common sense to me, you can't plan your high school journey without knowing where you are headed.

Frankly, If I never hear "you must submit a report card" again I can die a happy woman. Seriously, and this woman is supposed to be the one helping students choose their courses, plan out their goals for post secondary etc, but she is such an in the box thinker I am sure many kids are missing out on opportunities and paths that would best suit them. What a waste of time.

Now to start planning next year for the teens since I thought I would only be planning for the youngers.

[Uff Da!]

nm