Corraleno - You were dead on about what sort of high school preparation youngest would need for college

[Nan in Mass]

Thank you so much!

 

Nan

[Corraleno]

Awwww, I think you give me too much credit. Your posts have been a great source of inspiration to me and many many others here. It's scary when you have a kid who wants to get off the main road and forge his own way through the jungle; it's hard not to worry that he'll end up lost and never get where he wants to go. But when they do get there, and they did it their way, it's quite a celebration, eh?   :cheers2:

[Nan in Mass]

Awwww, I think you give me too much credit.

No - once I realized he was going to do high school off the road, you were pretty specific about which skills he was going to need. It is relatively easy to find that information for non-STEM students but I didn't have access to that information for STEM students and my own STEM education wasn't helpful. And you had enough experience with atypicalness to help me work out how to accomplish the goals you helped me set. Lots of hive people helped us to step off the path and then deal with some of the nonSTEM subjects, but you were the one that set the goals for that all-important STEM part for a future engineer.

 

...end up lost and never get where he wants to go...

Yeah verily!

 

Yup-much celebrating. For us, anyway. All youngest wants to do is sleep. It will be awhile before it hits him.

 

Nan

Edited May 7, 2017 by Nan in Mass

[swimmermom3]

Awwww, I think you give me too much credit. Your posts have been a great source of inspiration to me and many many others here. It's scary when you have a kid who wants to get off the main road and forge his own way through the jungle; it's hard not to worry that he'll end up lost and never get where he wants to go. But when they do get there, and they did it their way, it's quite a celebration, eh?   :cheers2:

 

Those were my favorites years and threads on this board - the lengthy and spirited threads that turned "normal" education on its head while we attempted to come up with plans for the wanderers.

 

Nan, I don't think you realize how critically helpful so many of us found your posts that listed the skills not just necessary to get into college, but to get somewhere desirable in life.  Your work in educating your "wanderers" gave many of us a working model of flexibility and creativity in educating the "Plan B" student.

 

Corraleno's often took many of us to a different level of challenge. I remember reading sher ideas and going, "Oh no way can we do that here," and then waking up in the middle of the night going, "Well, yeah, maybe we could."

[lisabees]

Those were my favorites years and threads on this board - the lengthy and spirited threads that turned "normal" education on its head while we attempted to come up with plans for the wanderers.

 

Nan, I don't think you realize how critically helpful so many of us found your posts that listed the skills not just necessary to get into college, but to get somewhere desirable in life.  Your work in educating your "wanderers" gave many of us a working model of flexibility and creativity in educating the "Plan B" student.

 

Corraleno's often took many of us to a different level of challenge. I remember reading sher ideas and going, "Oh no way can we do that here," and then waking up in the middle of the night going, "Well, yeah, maybe we could."

 

I was just thinking about those days and those threads.

 

Lisa - you asked the questions, Nan supplied the anecdotes and Jackie offered the out of the box ideas.  And so many brilliant others contributed in their own ways.   

[lisabees]

Wasn't there a Nan thread that listed all of the skills we needed to teach our homeschooling kids?  I recall it being enlightening and funny!

 

That's the one I was thinking about this week - I need it for my rising 9th grader.

 

 

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Any links for the college prep advice threads?

 

:001_smile:

[Susie in CA]

I have to say I too miss all of those conversation. Many of them were a huge help and definitively inspiring! :-)

 

[Nan in Mass]

I miss the conversations but I don't miss the worrisomeness of those times.  I was sooo scared.  I remember trying to record here what I had come up with, but I don't happen to remember a specific thread - I just remember many conversations.  People asked questions, Lisa, Colleen, etc., and I panicked, and people who had more experience, like Corraleno, clarified goals, and then I tried to apply it all to my quirky wanderers.  At this moment, as youngest is graduating from college and starting work, I am struck by two things - one is how much my children's college education has been a continuation of our adaptation of TWTM and the other is that in his new job, youngest is using all the skills Corraleno said he needed to learn.  He also needed those skills in his college, since it is a very hands-on place.  He needed the study skills list he worked out, too.

 

Oh wait - I think I remember that at some point I went back and posted something on the up-through-8th-grade board about the importance of basic WTM skills.  That might be helpful, Lisabees and NoPlaceLikeHonme.  I'm not sure it had the high school list of things you need to work on, though.

 

Nan

[swimmermom3]

Wasn't there a Nan thread that listed all of the skills we needed to teach our homeschooling kids?  I recall it being enlightening and funny!

 

That's the one I was thinking about this week - I need it for my rising 9th grader.

 

I need your rising 9th grader! Please send them my way as I am not taking homeschooling retirement well. :tongue_smilie:

 

Is the thread you are thinking of the one about 8th grade?  I loved, loved, loved that thread.

[Gratia271]

I need your rising 9th grader! Please send them my way as I am not taking homeschooling retirement well. :tongue_smilie:

 

Is the thread you are thinking of the one about 8th grade?  I loved, loved, loved that thread.

 

And I miss reading your wonderful insight! 

[Nan in Mass]

No.  That was a different thread.  That one was about the things many 8th graders are unable to do consistently yet.  This one was about how TWTM basic skills like dictation built the necessary study skills needed for college.

[Emerald Stoker]

This is a different thread, but was one of my particular favourites:

Drat.

Can't link, for some reason.

Anyway, the thread was called "A list - balance (how much of what to produce an academically curious, capable adult)," started October 18, 2010 by Nan, with contributions from so many wonderful people.

Maybe somebody else has a computer that can produce links!

 

ETA: Garga has linked below--many thanks!!

Edited May 9, 2017 by Emerald Stoker

[Miss Mousie]

Some candidates:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/255841-crosspost-why-you-should-work-on-twtm-skills-narration-dictation-outlining-etc/?hl=twtm

 

and its companion:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/255843-crosspost-why-you-should-work-on-twtm-skills-narration-dictation-outlining-etc/?hl=%2Btwtm

 

Edited to add title:  

 

Crosspost - Why you should work on TWTM skills - narration, dictation, outlining, etc Edited May 9, 2017 by Miss Mousie

[Garga]

This is a different thread, but was one of my particular favourites:

Drat.

Can't link, for some reason.

Anyway, the thread was called "A list - balance (how much of what to produce an academically curious, capable adult)," started October 18, 2010 by Nan, with contributions from so many wonderful people.

Maybe somebody else has a computer that can produce links!

 

Here's the link to the "A list-balance..." post you mentioned in the above:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/218824-a-list-balance-how-much-of-what-to-produce-an-academically-curious-capable-adult/

[swimmermom3]

No.  That was a different thread.  That one was about the things many 8th graders are unable to do consistently yet.  This one was about how TWTM basic skills like dictation built the necessary study skills needed for college.

 

I remember that one now.  I was so intimidated by TWTM in our first years of homeschooling. Even when I knew better, I still asked you all if 9th graders could really master the ancients and not just read excerpts.  You all assured me it was possible. That was one of my son's favorite times in homeschooling high school.

 

It was certainly helpful to have TWTM recommendations in his toolbox when it came time for his government class on individual freedom vs. authority this semester.  The reading list?  Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli (already had read), Locke (already read major discourses), Rousseau,  Hobbes, and Nietzsche.  He is still a slow and thorough reader, but previous exposure was really helpful for this class. He said many students struggled.

 

[lisabees]

I need your rising 9th grader! Please send them my way as I am not taking homeschooling retirement well. :tongue_smilie:

 

Is the thread you are thinking of the one about 8th grade?  I loved, loved, loved that thread.

 

 

I think Nan called it, "To all of you with 8th graders..."  Or am I mixing it up with something else?  It included "other" skills that our homeschooled kids miss out on!  I just recall it being quite funny and enlightening and true!

 

And Lisa - you are welcome to visit any time you'd like.  Or, if there are horses in your area, she'd happily visit you.  She came home for the emotional stability and, just in the last month, has regained her strength and positivity.  I have my little girl back!  And...this has created the emotional space needed to learn.  She is starting to kick butt.

 

Another thread idea, Nan.  How freeing up that emotional space makes one ready to learn.  These teenagers go through so much doubt and pain, we forget to be gentle in their "recovery".  But, once they do, yowza!  Watch out world!

Edited May 9, 2017 by lisabees

[Nan in Mass]

Lisabees

 

I am sure there is a one floating around that is better than this one, but here is a list off the top of my head, thinking about what youngest used in his engineering school and is using now for his job (skills that were the reason he has a job that started a few weeks before graduation and caused them to give him a raise after the first few days ). Keep in mind that youngest realized when he was 10 or so that what he did for fun looked an awful lot like what his father did for work. We felt secure tailoring his high school for a future in engineering. We went light in places where he had no need or interest, heavy in places where we knew high school was all he would get, emphasized creativity and problem solving, tried to prepare him for engineering school, started teaching him the skills he would need as an engineer, and tried to get him working on his own engineering projects so he had enough enthusiasm to carry him through the boring hard work part of engineering school. And tried to make him attractive enough to get him into an interesting engineering school rather than the nothing-but-math problems kind, which we were quite sure he wouldn't survive, coming from our sort of homeschool. Your goals and list will be different but perhaps the general strategy could be the same? Getting the balance right between solid college prep and study skills on the one hand, and the hands-on projects that build creativity and useful skills on the other hand, is hard because of time constraints but having a list helps you to be efficient. Just in case you have forgotten. : ) I feel like you were one of the ones pointing this out to me in the first place way back.

 

Posting so I don't lose this- will add to in a sec

 

Nan

 

List

 

Design an experiment

Keep a lab notebook

Write a lab report

Good technical writing skills (these are mostly loosely based on a 5 paragraph paper-like structure)

Write quickly and easily so you can concentrate on content

Skim for a specific piece of information

Write a summary

Speed read (not astronomically fast but fast enough to get the gist of large quantities of technical material without reading every word)

Research skills

Site sources

Really solid algebra and trig (building to solid higher math skills during college)

Solid familiarity with the steps in problem solving and the various strategies that can be used

Good all-around problem solving skills

Creativity/out-of-the-box thinking

Familiarity with the design process

Drafting /drawing

Ability to use measuring tools

Observe carefully and record those observations (we used nature journals for this initially)

Ability to use tools/hands-on skills (takes practice)

Work in a group

Argue logically

Recognize a bad argument

Study skills solid enough to survive the heavy workload involved in a STEM major

 

Useful but probably learn later:

Resume writing

Business communications

Manage a group

Run a meeting

 

 

I am looking forward to getting my son back now he isn't struggling with the end of college. He says he is looking forward to getting himself back, too. I just comforted one of his friends who was mourning the fact that he had stopped playing piano. I told him that when he had the energy again, it would probably come back. It would make a good thread. I wish I had known that earlier myself.

 

Hugs

Nan

 

Eta - This was the for engineering list. We read great books, worked on foreign languages, traveled, etc. , as well, pf course.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Nan in Mass

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Those were my favorites years and threads on this board - the lengthy and spirited threads that turned "normal" education on its head while we attempted to come up with plans for the wanderers.

 

Nan, I don't think you realize how critically helpful so many of us found your posts that listed the skills not just necessary to get into college, but to get somewhere desirable in life. Your work in educating your "wanderers" gave many of us a working model of flexibility and creativity in educating the "Plan B" student.

 

Corraleno's often took many of us to a different level of challenge. I remember reading sher ideas and going, "Oh no way can we do that here," and then waking up in the middle of the night going, "Well, yeah, maybe we could."

Amen. In particular I remember being struck by stories of your couch surfers. It made me work harder to be open hearted to my kids' friends.

 

In think a comment about praying for you kids while folding their socks was also a Nanism.

[Nan in Mass]

Well, I know I once said sometimes there isn't anything you can do for them but pray.  Coming from someone who grew up UU, that is a pretty drastic statement. : )

 

Nan

 

Adding - I do pray, all the time, but there isn't a tradition of talking about praying for people in my family.  Hence the drasticness.

[Nan in Mass]

I miss everybody from back then.