I agree with several of your big points, but it hasn't been my experience that the cost of entering trades is always on the student. In some cases, definitely. But a lot of plumbing and electrical programs that I've heard about involve paid apprenticeships really early on. That's how my own brother became an electrician actually. And when the trade is housed in a community college, at least around me, students can use the same CC funding sources for them. I've even known students who have dual enrolled for the first intro level for some of these trades courses, which is nice that they can try them out, even if it's mostly a survey of what the job is in a one credit class. As for the glut in people trained for trades, that's definitely true in some trades. Clearly there are a lot of young people who "want to work with animals" who train to be vet techs. It's an easy path to train. Not so easy to get a job. But there is a serious master plumber and electrician shortage in most areas. And an auto mechanic shortage in some places. I am just not seeing this glut of tradespeople that you're talking about for the most part. It can be hard to find someone to do these jobs sometimes. Believe me you're preaching to the choir in general. Trades have a lot of potential downsides that students aren't really told about by people who are like, ooh, just go into a trade. And I think you're highlighting several of them.

Because of my work with kids preparing for college, I hear a lot about community colleges nationwide. I am consistently impressed by some of them. There are some amazing community colleges out there. But also, I've heard a million abysmal stories about disorganized syllabi, absent professors, and poor instruction. I find that art, music, and upper level math and science at "good" community colleges tend to be the best courses. Also, that if you can get into a CC honors program, that's often where the core of motivated kids taking more regular gen eds are, as well as the good professors. College enrollment is generally down and a lot of CC's are struggling to make ends meet as a result. While I agree that students are struggling for a lot of the reasons being discussed here, I see CC's as the bigger issue. They struggle to meet enrollment/financial goals, so they cut quality, so they struggle to attract more students because quality dipped, and round and round down the drain. I see it as a growing issue.

Seconding sorting out his credits from 9th grade. Math and English come first. Always. Those are your cornerstones. Denison is working, it's fine, so stick with it. Done. But English... that's another story. I think the number one thing you need to do is figure out writing and support for writing. Science and history can be mostly input of content. You've got a co-op for electives. But reading and writing are core skills so you've got to figure that piece out. Adaptive technology and audiobooks are going to help and you should absolutely lean into those solutions. However, they won't solve the issue. And there won't be any quick fixes with a serious learning disability. He'll need someone to really hold his hand through schoolwork. That's you or a teacher or tutor. And if you go with a class, you'll need to really be on top of the executive functioning piece with him so he can learn those skills.

Here's that infamous "You're Being a Pill" thread from when my kid was a tween. My pill is now in college. Very happy. But high school was hard for him as well. I don't regret that we homeschooling... but I am a lot less rigid in my thinking about it now. In my business doing college consulting mostly for homeschoolers, I do end up urging some families to send their kids to school, especially when they're miserable. It's just complex. Since you're still in middle school, my number one piece of advice is to remember that none of this goes on any permanent records. None of it matters. Math, a little. But mostly middle school is a dead time in education and that's okay for some kids. If school isn't amazing, his brain will still grow and high school subjects (except math and writing) start more or less at square one. So it's fine. Just look for some joy. Let him do what he wants and stop fighting tooth and nail. Pick your three non-negotiables for school and make them small and then let it all go. If its in the budget, consider outsourcing for next year. WTMA, Aim Academy, Open Tent, Athena's Academy, even Outschool... So many options. Or if you're Christian, there are a lot of Christian providers... just look for ways to take this off your plate in modest ways.

I agree that it sounds cold/busy, but I feel like I never know with text. I have a friend who would totally reply like that but she'd be thrilled to hang out. She's just like that on text. I don't know your friend. I think I'd send something like, "It sounds like this trip is busy? I'd love to take that hour at (suggest time), but I get it if you're overwhelmed with other stuff and we can hang out next time. Just let me know."

Oh. This is the high school board, so it didn't occur to me that she might be in middle school. I assumed you were saying CLRC's high school English classes were easy for her. With that in mind, I have no idea how the middle school CLRC courses are so I can't compare that to Blue Tent at all. As an 8th grader, you could look at WTMA or English 8/9 at Aim Academy and I do think Lantern's classes might even be a fit. I'm not really sure because I don't know the comparison point. Of course you can't do everything. However, it's a little early to turn away. Kids change. You don't want to shut the door entirely. I do think getting balance in the schedule is a good thing though. But you can find literature courses that have some balance. High school English is typically literature and composition both, even for STEM kids.

CLRC courses aren't light either, so she might be fine. I wouldn't do Lantern or Roy Speed if she found CLRC light. That's not a knock to either. I recommend them to some students, but she'll likely find both of them too light for her if she thought CLRC was too easy and didn't have enough depth. What grade? She might dive into AP Lang with Lili Serbicki if she wants both strong and in depth without being an overwhelming amount of work.

I've taught b&m school history. And now I teach online as well. I'd say most school classes have at least some papers for history and typically have some mix of presentations and projects, though what the projects look like vary and might be pretty short term. Most classes tend to focus on primary sources but in very short snippets. Lots of emphasis on historical reasoning and less emphasis on specific facts, dates, names, etc. these days. Lots of group work in most school classes, but it might be mostly in class and short term. Most also have quizzes and multiple choice questions, but these are often focused on reasoning more than on specific knowledge. So the knowledge helps a ton with the reasoning, but the reasoning is the focus. These days they've ditched the textbooks in many of these classes. They usually have some homework. How much is going to vary a ton between classes and schools. Honors and AP courses at huge top public schools can be a ton of output and homework. But at a lot of schools, I'd say history is often a bit of a coast class without too much homework.

Overstepping is a weird word. I think it's just straight up odd behavior to send a 12 year old a job ad. It's definitely sending a "this is your intended path" message for sure.

You can also look at Aim Academy, CLRC, and Lukeion. Lots of options out there. Depends on what you want.

ASU Universal Learner has a class with this content.

I think anyone who lives in the region hasn't driven over it. It's not quite as major as the Bay Bridge or the Tunnel, but it's a major thoroughfare. I don't even live in Maryland and have been over it a bunch of times. I'm just horrified.

In looking at the suicide rates for vets, the average debt, the incredible academic stress of going that route... I would not counsel any kid to become a vet right now. Of course, some kids are just gung ho and you have to guide them. My understanding is that the degree path in other countries is sometimes much more sane and that you can get licensed here if you're educated in a program abroad, but definitely explore that in a lot more depth before deciding on it.

I'd match the shoes to the top, yeah. So, for example, if you have a really dark top, I'll bet the black shoes actually look fine.

She's still got a psychology practice in Baltimore that provides testing and services primarily to homeschoolers. I refer my local college consulting clients to her all the time. Her youngest is in public high school. I'm smart, but I think I might have been smarter before perimenopause struck, lol.