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Planning ahead from 7th on/thinking holistically about your kid's education


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I have a rising 7th grader.  I have been looking at Wilson Hill and I really like the class options.  I was thinking about putting him in the Great Conversations 1 class (ancients) next fall. We would just do one online class for 7th.  My oldest is a pretty good reader and we have had a good amount of writing instruction.


 


Our area has a two day a week university model school that is supposed to be "classical."  I am not considering it for 7th or 8th, because I don't like their curriculum for those grades at all. For 9th-12th, it is better, but still not my ideal. However, it would provide social interaction which online classes would not. If I changed course midstream and put him in the university model school in 9th, he would have ancients again in 10th. So, if we did Wilson Hill in 7th, he would have ancients three times in six years (including last year at home).  (edited: wrong about sequence of history at UM school)


 


Throw into that mix that we have a co-op that meets once a week. Ideally, we would keep going with co-op through high school but I can't be sure because often there is not a lot offered academically for high school.  It's an enrichment based co-op.  I just don't know if the enrichment classes will be what we need at the time. So I don't know if I can "count" on it socially. That said, I guess if we continue I will have some input on the courses we would like to see for our kids. 


 


So I am in that situation where I really don't know at this point what I am going to want to do in two years (who does?) but I do really want to think holistically about what is best for my child. He is an introvert, but his brother (one year behind) is an extrovert. As an introvert, online school may be just fine, but I would still want him to be in some sort of activities to encourage him to develop socially. My youngest would definitely need co-op or activities in order to get his social needs met.


 


Is there a thread somewhere where we talk about balancing the overall emotional/social needs of the child with the desire for certain academics? 


 


It's quite possible he will love Wilson Hill, we will keep doing co-op, and all will be right with the world. Am I overthinking this?


Edited by cintinative
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I agree with Mama Sprout. I also think--depending on the booklist--he will get more out of ancient lit on ninth.

 

Do not discount the importance of face to face regular social contact for you introvert as a teen. I made this mistake. While his social ( but actually also introverted sister) drives her social life, ds does not. And he got depressed. Adding in a regular enrichment co-op made a huge difference. It also brought the fun back into our home. I thought leaving our co-op was the right choice academically, bc my kids had a close group of friends for social needs. However, when we had a huge implosion in the group, it left my kids isolated. Having a larger source of regular people in their life would have been so nice at the time. And it is awesome now. I am definitely sacrificing some rigor for dd, but have gained tons in mental health. Teens are social creatures wh are learning to join community and figure out how to be independent.

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Do not discount the importance of face to face regular social contact for you introvert as a teen. I made this mistake. While his social ( but actually also introverted sister) drives her social life, ds does not. And he got depressed. Adding in a regular enrichment co-op made a huge difference. It also brought the fun back into our home. I thought leaving our co-op was the right choice academically, bc my kids had a close group of friends for social needs. However, when we had a huge implosion in the group, it left my kids isolated. Having a larger source of regular people in their life would have been so nice at the time. And it is awesome now. I am definitely sacrificing some rigor for dd, but have gained tons in mental health. Teens are social creatures wh are learning to join community and figure out how to be independent.

 

Are you saying that your extroverted one in part drives the social life of your introverted one? Because if I am reading that correctly, that is the dynamic I have here with my two.  

 

The co-op we are in would be a good long term help socially, but it is hard to say who will be around. The university model school pulls a lot of students.  That said, I am in a position to influence the future of the co-op as a long term member.  Right now we have very few high schoolers--maybe 10.

 

Part of my problem is that I am so put off by the curriculum choices at the university model school.  I feel like we have been working so hard here to get them ready for high school. I am just not sure I believe this school is really classical. 

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Actually, what I was talking about was, for our family, I need to be more intentional about making sure that my oldest (the less socially motivated) gets out and around people.  I hear a lot of people worry about making sure there social children get out. In our house, at least, my more social teen asks about getting together with folks all the time so it happens.  My less social child needed me more to make sure he got out.  I realized late that his pulling away had more to do with social anxiety then with *needing* less time. He actually needed more time to become more comfortably socially.  He also needed the social time to be mentally healthy.  It just looked like he needed it less than his sister.  It was worth a bit of a loss of rigor this year to get that time at a non-academic co-op.

 

But I don't really know what the best option for you is.  10 is small and is about what the first co-op we pulled out of is.  And it's hard when you don't really like the curriculum, also.  I think I am just trying to encourage you to keep your kids well connected to a group of in real life kids even if they are introverted and even if it doesn't exactly meet your academic goals.  Online classes just don't provide the same thing, nor do online communities.

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Actually, what I was talking about was, for our family, I need to be more intentional about making sure that my oldest (the less socially motivated) gets out and around people.  I hear a lot of people worry about making sure there social children get out. In our house, at least, my more social teen asks about getting together with folks all the time so it happens.  My less social child needed me more to make sure he got out.  I realized late that his pulling away had more to do with social anxiety then with *needing* less time. He actually needed more time to become more comfortably socially.  He also needed the social time to be mentally healthy.  It just looked like he needed it less than his sister.  It was worth a bit of a loss of rigor this year to get that time at a non-academic co-op.

 

But I don't really know what the best option for you is.  10 is small and is about what the first co-op we pulled out of is.  And it's hard when you don't really like the curriculum, also.  I think I am just trying to encourage you to keep your kids well connected to a group of in real life kids even if they are introverted and even if it doesn't exactly meet your academic goals.  Online classes just don't provide the same thing, nor do online communities.

 

 

This is really helpful. I feel the same way about my oldest. He may be introverted, but that does not mean that he does not need those social opportunities. However it is not his bent to really seek them out so I do need to make sure he gets that time in. This is part of that thinking about the child "holistically" that I was bringing up in the OP.  I may need to not let the "perfect" be the enemy of the "good" when it comes to curriculum because his needs as a person trump that. 

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I like the idea of integrated humanities--history and lit and worldview together. Theirs is separate.  Everything is sort of compartmentalized.  Their history "spine" for 9th is a BJU book (no offense to anyone, but I don't consider BJU to be classical).  Their lit choices aren't my favorite. Their teachers are not as qualified when I look at what I will be paying per class.  (I know I sound like an awful snob.)

 

If we decided to go there for non-core subjects, science and foreign language would be the only ones I would potentially consider.  Would just doing one class a couple days a week be enough to build that comradeship if most of the other students are doing the "core" together? Thoughts?

Edited by cintinative
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No, you don't sound like a snob.  But evaluate what you mean by qualified.  For example, I am a certified elementary school teacher, but I went to a good college and did a lot of study on how to lead good high school literature discussions and writing.  So, on paper I am not qualified to teach high school lit and writing, but I get great reviews from parents.  So, what is the feedback from parents?

 

(A total aside--what do you consider as classical science?) 

 

Yes, it is possible to build relationships with one or two classes particularly if you stick around for lunch and look for other opportunities to get together (invite others over for games night for example). 

 

Full disclosure: after my ds's ninth grade year, I separated lit and history so they could have group discussions.  I realized they had had enough history to appreciate the historical context.  For me, holding to the integrated was less important that the group (and outsourcing for my high schooler). 

 

And BJU is not a weak science program (although if your ideas of evolution don't match up, you may disagree).  I don't think it would sacrifice rigor at all and it would be great to have the labs done.

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Sorry, I think I edited it after you read it. My issue was with using BJU for history.  I am ambivalent on high school science at this point--their choices don't seem awful. Like you, I am not sure if there is really a "classical" science choice for high school (or maybe even lower than that--we are using a secular science this year).

 

The only parents I have heard from are not those who pursued classical prior to putting their kids in the university model school. I guess my one friend had her daughter in there and she was pursuing classical--she recommended we avoid the 7th and 8th grade years and said they weren't classical at all (I agree with this, by the way).  That's really it. I can't think of anyone else. We have a local classical school as well and I know some people have enrolled their kids there. It's just way beyond what we can afford financially.

 

It's good to hear you felt that separating the lit from the history was okay.  

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Oh, that makes sense.

 

In your case, I would do science and FL then.

 

Also, every family and child is different, but I think my kids actually enjoy doing a variety of literature over the year more.  The ancient and medieval lit can be a slog--worth it, but book after book can be a bit much for all by a small percentage of kids unless,perhaps, they have a super enthusiastic teacher/guide who inspires them.  Also, reading 4 Shakespeare in one year but none the others is not, I've come to believe, what I want.  I'd rather do the "traditional" one a year.  We did start out doing it integrated and it was fine, but we are all enjoying mixing it up more.  I've realized that it isn't a hill I'm willing to die on.

 

We don't do history with our academic co-op either.

 

 

 

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I, personally, HAVE sacrificed my idea academics for the social for my youngest child, who has ecstatically attended public school since fifth grade.

 

However, I'm not sure, in your situation, without a kid that is pushing for school, that I would be willing to compromise the academics, especially for high school. Typically, a twice a week class or classes don't necessarily foster the same sort of relationships that a full school schedule does, especially for an introvert. Extroverts do seem to manage to pick up friends wherever they go.

 

I'm not clear on what other options might exist for the social though; sports (will local schools permit homeschoolers?), music (same question as sports), an academic pursuit of some sort (robotics team, math team?), local community theater, youth group at church, volunteer work? My introvert homeschoolers found their outlets in theater (for one) and school sports (for the other).

 

 

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