Sigh. IF my son leaves his ib program...

[Halcyon]

okay,my son is not happy in the ib program.He is doing well academically. and tbh i dont know how much of this to attribute to the fact that he has never been in school before, so the change is extreme. the teachers are just okay. there are a lot of tests, which he is managing. he doesn't have a lot of free time, which he treasures. 

 

IF we decide that the best choice is to let him come back to homeschool (which is what he wants to do at the moment), we would wait until the semester is over. At least. But even then, it seems the online choices for one semester courses are limited. He is doing Bio, Spanish, Pre-calc, AP Human Geography, English and Art. He liked online classes a lot (AoPS, Onlineg3, Wilson Hill etc) but I dont think starting those mid semsester (well, aops migh tbe okay) is an option.

 

so IF we decide to do this, and we are not decided, what would you suggest? Me leading him in teaching is not likely an option. He is beyond me in most courses, and does better with a third party teacher. Plus, i work.

 

Thoughts? what would you recommend if you were in my shoes?

 

I just dont know what to do. Academically he was certainly getting a better education at home. And he works too much to socialize now. He COULD do classes at the community college, and he COULD do after-school things at school (art club etc). 

 

I guess I was hoping he would LOVE it.

[EKS]

When we withdrew my son midyear from an IB program he did dual enrollment at the CC. The difference in the amount of free time he had available was amazing.

[eternalsummer]

He is in Pre-IB right now, right, not the actual IB courses yet?

 

I hate to tell you this, but in my experience (which admittedly is 15 years old), IB was about 3x as much work as pre-IB.  Maybe 4x.

[Halcyon]

When we withdrew my son midyear from an IB program he did dual enrollment at the CC. The difference in the amount of free time he had available was amazing.

 

 

our cc doesn't accept 9th graders, at least not full time. they may accept them for one course, however.

[EKS]

Maybe Derek Owens for math? And physics if he hasn't had it yet? If you could get an English course at the CC, perhaps you could do some sort of independent study for history?

[Halcyon]

he would do aops for math...i woould want him to continue bio...no cc ti 10th...independent study doesn't work for him--he needs structure..ugh. okay, i am sorry for complaining.

[RootAnn]

So, I would probably make him stick out the year, but if you decide as a group to let him come home, let's look at your options.

 

Bio-I'd maybe see if this could be his CC class. Hard, but not impossible to jump into an online class in the middle of the year. (If you can't get CC class, there should be a provider to work with you.) Lots of options at the CC, so I'd have him pick the type if bio he most enjoys and check the teachers out to get him a good one.

 

Spanish-HomeschoolSpanishAcademy or something like that. Easy to start mid-semester.

 

Pre-calc: AOPS, right?

 

AP Human Geography - ?? I don't know enough on this one. Others might have thoughts.

 

English: Lots of options for this one. Limited mostly by $$.

 

Art: what does he want to do here? Could watch YouTube videos or one of those subscription art programs on his own. There was one highly recommended last year on here and I think it was inexpensive. Otherwise, look for a local mentor to work with him if it is an area of interest.

 

(I just gave hugs on your other post, but I wanted to address your questions on this one. A midsemester jump is not impossible or even something to freak out about. He liked his online classes and thrived with them. I think your big issue will be social needs and esp. your younger one wanting to come home.)

Edited September 26, 2016 by RootAnn

[Halcyon]

ideally i would like him to stick it out for a year too. thanks so much RootAnn (oh, and no CC classes allowed til 10th).

 

ETA just got an email from a local hs mom who says he CAN take cc classes in 9th after having completed 4 credits. So that's good to know.

Edited September 26, 2016 by Halcyon

[RootAnn]

If you end up deciding on home, I'd see if the CC would waive the grade limit restriction for one class in the spring. I'd bring ds with me to the meeting and a copy of his test scores and a transcript. But, that is down the road.

[quark]

If he hasn't done Physics yet (algebra-based and needs only a little trig), I would definitely recommend Derek Owens.

 

So if you add Derek's class, could he maybe double up on science in case you don't find an AP Human or a History class for next semester?

 

Bio - Thinkwell is wonderful if your son likes that kind of thing. There might be old threads here about combining with a lab kit.

Physics - Derek Owens

Precalculus - AoPS class should start around Jan I think?

English - how about a one-on-one arrangement if you can't find a semester class? Or how about Roy Speed's or Lukeion's Shakespeare?

Spanish - whatever you can find

Art - could be self-led? Or local IRL class?

 

 

[Halcyon]

i forgot about Thinkwell, and YES, that woould be up his alley.

[quark]

Weird DP

Edited September 26, 2016 by quark

[Melissa B]

You could always just take the FLVS second semester of the classes he is in now.  Not ideal, but it would work for classes that you can't get into midstream other places.

[RootAnn]

He did Jetta's physics classes, didn't he?

 

And Landry has semester-long art classes, but they aren't secular and it is hard to do art online.

Edited September 26, 2016 by RootAnn

[Arcadia]

i forgot about Thinkwell, and YES, that would be up his alley.

Funda Funda Biology is taught by a boardie ClemsonDana. You could PM or email and ask

http://www.fundafundaacademy.com/product/biology/

 

My kids like Thinkwell Chem but there is no instructor to email for clarification.

 

My oldest is enjoying Roy Speed's Romeo & Juliet so far.

[quark]

There seems to be an AP Human Geo in one semester plan here. Not sure if it helps:

http://www.ncge.org/files/documents/APHG-1-Semester.pdf

[Pen]

That seems like an extremely hard (time consuming) group of classes even for IB program.  Could he drop something such as the AP class and have an extra study hall to get more done at school, or at least another art type class that would not have homework?

 

I'm not aware around here that IB requires math to be pre-calc in what I assume is his 9th grade. We have one boy at our school who is in calculus in 10th, but that is very unusual. Not that rural Oregon is a magnet for high level academics. But still. It seems like during the transition time, it would help to ease off the load he is taking.

 

Anyway, I'd think toward getting him out of one of those two--the AP class or the pre-calc (or both) for while he learns the ropes.

Edited September 27, 2016 by Pen

[Pen]

BTW as a comparison, my ds is not as gifted as yours (older one) and has 2E issues with dyslexia/dysgraphia and high intelligence at same time. He is same age and also went back to  school this year to a school that has 7th-12th together. At the moment I have him in 8th grade so he can transition without academic stress. Though he would like to move into 9th and may do so. He has 7 classes, every single one of which is easier than your ds's classes--including both choir and art. He was going to be in one AP/college now level class but it conflicted with his math so he had to drop it (Music History/Appreciation with our school's version of a Franco Renzulli if you remember him--so very sad it conflicted) . He is getting time to socialize and blend with other kids by being on the cross country track team. He will also probably be taking ukulele group as soon as it starts up again. He also has ice skating outside of school.  Currently only his math and choir are high school level classes, so in theory he can actually fail everything else and it would not be that big of a deal.  He gets up at 5:15, but that is mainly due to excitement, since he could really get up at 6:30-6:45 (maybe later) and still make it to the bus by 7:20.

 

We are having some issues with regard to when chores get done!!!  But there is downtime and movie time and snuggle time at least a few times per week. And he's been able to stay after school and cheer on the girls' volleyball teams along with kids he is starting to be friends with.

 

A friend is doing a partial IB, which gives her a less intense load, but still the classes she wants. Maybe something like that would be possible for your ds.

 

I'm not suggesting you have your advanced ds1 return to 8th by any means, but something significantly less intense could still get him a perfectly fine education over the next few years and still let him have some free time and rest time this year--without your having to homeschool him this year.

[madteaparty]

Dual enrollment? I think you might be able to cobble together some semester long classes between the various providers (off the top of my head, these have semester option: CLRC,WTMA, online G3). I've been looking at good semester-long classes as I want to take a gap year before high school lol.

[SparklyUnicorn]

our cc doesn't accept 9th graders, at least not full time. they may accept them for one course, however.

 

Ours does not either, but if you don't matriculate they don't care.  I'd look into it.  He doesn't have to take everything there, but maybe the really hard stuff you don't want to keep track of.

[EKS]

Keep in mind that if he does dual enrollment full time for 10th-12th, he will end up having way more credits than he needs for graduation (assuming you have a semester CC class equal a year of high school).  So he can be light on credits this year but make up for it in subsequent years.

 

When we pulled my son out of his IB program in the middle of 11th grade, I honestly felt like I was stepping off a cliff.  I mean, I knew that he would go to the CC, but how was I going to spin such a disruption in 11th grade (the most important year!) in his applications?  But it ended up working out.

 

Honestly, if you were to pull him now, you might have more options.  

[Guest]

How much time is he spending on study/hw out of school time ? Is he efficient?

[Matryoshka]

My youngest dd boomeranged back out of ps a few months into 9th, and I had to scramble to find her classes.  She really doesn't want me to be her teacher anymore (a reason she went to ps), so everything had to be outsourced, and I also had to start mid-year.

 

I was able to get her into two CC classes in the spring - a science, and a foreign language.  Sounds like you could sign him up for at least one CC class in the spring, maybe another in the summer, and next year the limits come down?  Dd did also take a summer class to round out the year - it was Art; that was a fairly painless class to take over the summer.

 

We managed to get her back into the WH math class she'd dropped 1/2-way through 8th, but only because she'd already done the first half of the class (and had to pay for it again).  But we added Derek Owens Alg 2 to 'catch her back up' to where she would have been if trying school hadn't messed up her math sequence.

 

For English last year, I signed her up for a Center for Lit class with writing.  They have an option to jump in mid-year.  In the spring option, they write one paper, and read/discuss one book a month.

 

She's going to take Eng 101 this next spring, so for this fall I've signed her up for two Bravewriter classes.  She claims to hate to read and write, although she has no issues with ability, just doesn't like it.  I was looking for a more advanced writing class (beyond 'how to write an essay/report' - she knows how to do that, and taking a class like that again would have bored her to tears and had her doing sub-par work).  Couldn't find any classes other than Bravewriter ($$ ouch) that fit the bill. Have to say the Bravewriter class (Advanced Composition) was a huge hit - so worth it!  They had to analyze two texts (magazine article and Gettysburg Address).  She loved the analysis questions, did all the assignments without any complaining.  I was just about to post a rave review about it.  The same teacher is offering a new class - Expository Essay 2, which is also doing analysis, starting in October.  

[Pen]

How much time is he spending on study/hw out of school time ? Is he efficient?

 

 

I think it said 2 hrs/day.  But that got me thinking...   What else is taking up the time? 

 

 

 

And are there any fun things to do at school that would lead to "loving it"?  Have any "excellent" teachers been searched for at the school, and maybe an idea of taking a class with an excellent teacher (if any) whatever the class is?  Or something like drama where there is lots of involvement with peers?

 

To me, it just seems like an overly time consuming (even if 2 hours is not terribly extreme) set of classes, with nothing really fun or likely to inspire Love in the lot.   ...except maybe the art, but then only if it is a superb teacher.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I'm pretty sure IUHS and other online high schools offer classes by the semester.  We're using Thinkwell for some classes and it's going pretty well.  Also for History and such there's programs like Shmoop. Self-paced but with some structure. Simply do the next thing.  I've looked at their American History class and it is thorough, lots of writing but you could skip some of that, or count it as part of your English credit.

[katilac]

  

To me, it just seems like an overly time consuming (even if 2 hours is not terribly extreme) set of classes, with nothing really fun or likely to inspire Love in the lot.   ...except maybe the art, but then only if it is a superb teacher.

 

It seems like a pretty typical high school schedule to me: math, science, foreign language, art elective, the only thing that seems a bit odd is two social studies and no English. Hard, certainly, but mostly subjects you are going to take no matter where you are going to school, and even showing more flexibility than most 9th-graders have. 

 

He doesn't sound comfortable with the social aspects of the pre-calc class, so I might be tempted to let him drop back if that's an option. 

 

 

 

 

[Roadrunner]

I would see if he is willing to stick it out a little longer so you have time to plan. If you are working a lot, CC could be problematic. Is it close to your house? Can he go on his own? Or are you going to be responsible driving him back and forth to class on a daily basis? That can really mess with your work schedule. I wanted to do a CC class for foreign language, but once I figured out the driving time to and from (30 minites one way), class time, I would have no mornings left. So CC may or may not be a solution. Assuming finances aren't an issue, I would look at Wikson Hill. If you pull him now, you might still get into those classes, or ask him to stick it out for at least a full semester or preferably a year.

PAH offers human geography.

[ktgrok]

When we withdrew my son midyear from an IB program he did dual enrollment at the CC. The difference in the amount of free time he had available was amazing.

 

Agreed. 

[ktgrok]

Mine came home partway through 9th, so I feel your pain. If you can stand Apologia, there are online courses built around it, that are self paced. Or he could do it on his own (really...there's no teaching by you at all), especially if you got the videos, etc. Just skip what he already covered. 

 

Prep Academy has online classes, by the semester I THINK, and offered spanish. We've been very happy with their Latin. Looks like they have spanish, Bio, government, and some other things. http://prepclasses.org/newsite/online_program_schedule.php

 

I dropped the human geography and used a variety of materials to put together a class I called "World Cultures and Human Geography". 

 

Teaching Textbooks for math maybe?

Edited September 28, 2016 by ktgrok

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

If he is not terribly unhappy I would encourage him to stick it out for the year since it is a good experience having to deal with different teachers and students (unless of course there is bullying which no one should have to experience). My kid is currently in school and I am not happy with the lack of free time and work load but OTOH I feel his experience there have more than prepared him for college.

It often takes months and monthys to adjust to a new job or school.

 

OTOH if he really, really unhappy and you have to pull him out (which I would do too) then there are a couple of options:

 

Kolbe Academy has self paced online options and services for teachers to correct a certain amount of papers per year. They also have an offline option with detailed lesson plans but that would probably require more work for you.

 

Last I checked Calvert Homeschool has an online highschool with multiple starting points I believe:

 

http://www.calverteducation.com/curriculum/high-school

 

The Calvert offline options might be worth a close look at as well and they have teacher services and I believe can be started anytime.

 

Laurel Springs is also worth looking at IMO. They have a gifted and talented program. I think they also have flexible start dates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by NoPlaceLikeHome

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I forgot to add that study.com is interesting. It has videos and quizzes and more. You can do a free trial. We did the version with just videos when he was studying AP World History and liked the quality of the videos. They have courses for credit too.

[Pen]

It seems like a pretty typical high school schedule to me: math, science, foreign language, art elective, the only thing that seems a bit odd is two social studies and no English. Hard, certainly, but mostly subjects you are going to take no matter where you are going to school, and even showing more flexibility than most 9th-graders have. 

 

He doesn't sound comfortable with the social aspects of the pre-calc class, so I might be tempted to let him drop back if that's an option. 

 

 

 

 

 

I read it as one social study (AP geography) and one English (English).

 

What seemed unusual to me was the combination of 1) pre-calc and 2) an AP for a 9th grader (where I am it certainly is not standard, not even for the kids we know who are doing an IB.  I'm fully admitting that we aren't in a top academic area of the country, but it seems accelerated to me also compared to friends I know who have had their kids in good East Coast schools and who have gone on to top colleges in recent years),  and 3) no class that would be likely to be socially fun--nothing like a theater arts class, or a project-based science class--something that would help him get to know the other kids there.  Possibly some  of the extra time that is unaccounted for is going to some fun extracurriculars that allows getting into the social scene of the school, but if not, it is hard for me to see how this could be a schedule that a young 9th grader would love or that would help him to fit in socially, which tends to be important at that age.

 

I guess my feeling would be, yes, he is accelerated and no doubt highly gifted, but he is still a kid.  He needs social time, he needs time to dream, he needs some physical activity time even if not formal PE, and it is not clear if there is any of that in the schedule.

 

So the problem may not be that he needs to go home to be homeschooled--which for a mom with a chronic illness and 2 businesses sounds hard even if it is just a matter of driving to multiple classes at a community college; maybe the problem is that the schedule he has needs to be adjusted with a view to a more balanced life over all.

 

Maybe the whole family's schedules need to be looked at with a view toward how to achieve life balance overall.

 

 

ETA: the qn in title is If OPs son leaves his ib program....    Some options might include a partial IB, or a different schedule at the school, not just home school, online classes, or CC.  Boarding school could also be an option, but my understanding is that the family wants more together time, not less.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Pen

[Pen]

okay,my son is not happy in the ib program.He is doing well academically. and tbh i dont know how much of this to attribute to the fact that he has never been in school before, so the change is extreme. the teachers are just okay. there are a lot of tests, which he is managing. he doesn't have a lot of free time, which he treasures. 

 

IF we decide that the best choice is to let him come back to homeschool (which is what he wants to do at the moment), we would wait until the semester is over. At least. But even then, it seems the online choices for one semester courses are limited. He is doing Bio, Spanish, Pre-calc, AP Human Geography, English and Art. He liked online classes a lot (AoPS, Onlineg3, Wilson Hill etc) but I dont think starting those mid semsester (well, aops migh tbe okay) is an option.

 

so IF we decide to do this, and we are not decided, what would you suggest? Me leading him in teaching is not likely an option. He is beyond me in most courses, and does better with a third party teacher. Plus, i work.

 

Thoughts? what would you recommend if you were in my shoes?

 

I just dont know what to do. Academically he was certainly getting a better education at home. And he works too much to socialize now. He COULD do classes at the community college, and he COULD do after-school things at school (art club etc). 

 

I guess I was hoping he would LOVE it.

 

 

1) Get rid of enough classes, such as perhaps no math this year, that it allows him to have time to socialize and to be able to do fun after-school things at the school. 2) Ask around and see if you can identify at least one really wonderful teacher with whom he could take a class.

[katilac]

I read it as one social study (AP geography) and one English (English).

 

 

Yes, English is clearly listed, lol, I don't know why I was thinking he had geography and government. 

[Halcyon]

He did Jetta's physics classes, didn't he?

 

And Landry has semester-long art classes, but they aren't secular and it is hard to do art online.

 

 

he starrted it but dropped. we would likely take that next yearr, and do thinkwell this year.

[gstharr]

If this is first year in school, transition difficulties are expected--especially if he has been totally homeschooled. Most likely has  difficulty adjusting to kids his own age, possibly even teachers. .  Ease up some up on the workload his first year. A 9th grader doing pre-calc, and AP anywhere, but the most rigorous school, is walking around with a "kick me" sign.  No way to meet friends and blend in ( In HS it all about blending in).  You can accelerate him in 10th grade where class/schedule variations stand out less. 

[Halcyon]

If this is first year in school, transition difficulties are expected--especially if he has been totally homeschooled. Most likely has  difficulty adjusting to kids his own age, possibly even teachers. .  Ease up some up on the workload his first year. A 9th grader doing pre-calc, and AP anywhere, but the most rigorous school, is walking around with a "kick me" sign.  No way to meet friends and blend in ( In HS it all about blending in).  You can accelerate him in 10th grade where class/schedule variations stand out less. 

 

These are the required and assigned classes in his IB program. He is not being bullied at all. Many other kids are doing the exact same classes as his--okay only 4 other freshman are in his pre-calc program, but that's where the school placed him based on his prior work and test scores. He doesn't have a problem with that--in fact it's the only class he likes.

[gstharr]

Sorry. Did not mean to suggest in any way that your son was being bullied.  Just trying to point out that being the new kid is tough enough even when not standing out. Sounds like a great program. I would not let him drop out. 9th grade is a good time to start life lessons: can't quit simply because you're not comfortable. college and work world both have challenges that he will have to adjust.

[...................]

My nephew did IB...it is EXTREMELY time consuming.  There is one sense in which his education was better than regular PS, especially in foreign language and math.  He is nearly fluent in SPanish, after 6 years of pre-IB and IB Spanish.  He CLEPed out of 6 courses and got to skip about two semesters of other courses....

 

But there's a sense in which it was not a better education. They moved so fast. He hardly had time for life outside of IB.  He ended up dropping all his other extra curriculars his senior year, and just did IB and a part time job.  It was extremely time consuming and rigorous.

 

I have friends whose kids go to local high school and they take HOnors courses, instead of AP or IB and they love the Honors courses.  The girls are very nice girls from upper middle class family and they were explaining that with Honors, you get teachers who really want to discuss things, and a nice set of students who really want to learn but without all the extreme pressure, so they have time for sports and friends too.  THey have 3 girls that went through our local PS (pretty highly rated in a very competitive state) and all 3 took this route.

 

I am not saying your son would never take AP, like these girls....but I am just saying he could drop IB and just do Honors ? Would they let him switch mid year? Or even now?