Ask the school what you need to do to get your kid enrolled. Ask someone at the school board office. That is what we did. Good luck!

Good job, Mom! I hear you and feel compelled to reply because I was in the exact same situation with TWO kids at once. Taking the exact same math more than once led my kids to not officially having math for one year. For us it was pre-calculus. Actually, they ended up taking it three times with three different programs. They benefited because it made calculus a lot easier. I also made them take calculus three times. By 'three times,' I mean, that since we are homeschooling, we can go as fast or as slow as we want. I used Thinkwell Calculus, the local public school calculus as well as an online high school calculus. We also used the program Catchup math. I bought or borrowed study guides, used Purple Math, Wolfram, and whatever else I could find. Straight As. No regrets. The three precalcs we used helped with that. I am not a math person at all but Math is very important and it gives kids way more options in terms of post-secondary programs. My kids hated math until they started doing well in it. Each program offered a different spin or angle to problems. So, my advice is to keep going in math, repeat as much as necessary. I know kids who are math majors in Ivy league schools now who did have to retake the basics many times. It really helps. Also look for Math Leagues or Math Circles for your kids to join. Do not give up! Good luck!

Current state of homeschool to high school dilemma. One son hands in assignment that consisted of a rough draft and a final version. He got 50% on the draft and 100% on the final essay. He asked the teacher why, and she said he did no editing, so he only gets 50% for that portion. He tells the teacher that the draft was basically his final version and he did not feel any need to edit it. The teacher says that she won't count the 50% in her midterm grade. The other son hands in the same assignment and gets 50% on the draft but he makes significant changes to his draft before he completes the final version. Since the teacher told his brother that the draft is not worth any part of the midterm grade, he does not ask the teacher about his 50% and assumes it won't matter. He gets over 90% in all other work. The midterm grades come out and he gets 88%. The teacher says the grade dropped because of the draft mark. The program he is applying for says he needs over 90%. So, we print the draft and the final and also a 'compare' document' which shows all the changes he made. There were a lot of changes; practically the entire document is red, which means there were a lot of changes, so he did not do 'no editing' like she wrote on her grade sheet. He cries for 90 minutes and tries to muster the strength to talk with the teacher tomorrow. He has a horrible sleep, arrives early to school to speak to her but she is not there. So he finds her during lunch hour and tells her the story, and shows her the 'compare' version. She said that that is what he should have handed in. He said that her instructions did not say that. He says he thought the draft would not be part of the final mark. She says she cannot do anything about the mark because the report card was printed the day before. I am insisting that my son go back to the English teacher and get it resolved at least in her books, if it is not possible to reprint the report card. Meanwhile, I am waiting in the school office for more than an hour because the VP said she would get back to us about adjusting final exam times because my sons are traveling during final exams week for a music performance. So, since the VP did not get back to us, I had to show up and find out the answer. The English teacher said that she could not accommodate us on our preferred date to write since it is a 'snow' day reserved for exams. Whereas the other teachers were extremely accommodating, they said no problem, you can write exams on the dates we requested. So, I am worried about how all this will affect my kids and if their future marks will be impacted by the English teacher, who is also the head of the department and who is loved by the office staff, as I was told by the VP. My guts tell me to get out of this school once and for all and home school the last part of their education with strong marks and SAT scores. My kids are defending the English teacher. Kindly advise.

Thank you for all the wonderful replies. The English course and other course issues were solved by my kids who spoke to the guidance counselor about everything. In a rehearsal last week, my kid (not the school concertmaster one) helped the other kids with fingerings, bowings, phrasing and such. The conductor then offered him principal second violin and said to both my kids that they will alternate principal spots all year. It will be a privilege for both of them to have that leadership experience. Thank you for the replies, it was nice to read different perspectives.

Hi, I read articles on home school kids who want to go to public school and I am wondering if anyone could advise us on a situation we are having to deal with right now. If this is the wrong place to ask for this advice, please let me know where I can go to ask these questions. My sons wanted to enroll in public school and were accepted into a special music program. They wanted to enroll in public school so they could ‘grow as people,’ they said, and because they do not want to say they graduated from home school or online school and they think that getting into university would be easier if they graduate from public school. They are seventeen-year-old identical twins. First of all, my kids were split up in the public school. They have never been split up in anything. They seem okay with that however, we did ask the school to not split them up because we want them to have a consistent educational experience, with both having good teachers. In our home school, I was the teacher and ensured that both of them learned all material thoroughly. If I could not teach it (calculus!) we went to fabulous tutors. In addition, they help each other when they are together. Right now, one of my kid’s math teachers has given hundreds of review problems during the past week. My other kid’s teacher has given ten questions a day, and in class they are put in groups to talk about math instead. So I think one of my kids has a huge head start on math. They do not want to work together on math or anything now. Secondly, one of my kids did not get the course he wanted and needs to graduate: English. He wants to apply to universities this fall and universities would want to see English on the transcript when final decisions are made but the course will not be there. It has been a week and the school has not changed his schedule. Both of my kids are in physics, which they have already taken, and do not want to retake and are waiting to drop. In the meantime, they have to attend class and spend time on physics homework, which they have already done in past years at home. Thirdly, the school has given my kids free periods at different times, which makes it inconvenient for us. If they both had a spare first thing in the morning, they could sleep in. Or, if they both had a spare at the end of the day, they could both leave early. There is no busing at this school so I drive them 20 minutes each way. Fourthly, the conductor of the orchestra has decided that one of my kids is a virtuoso and the other is not. One of my sons is concertmaster and the other has been placed randomly in the middle of the orchestra. This has been extremely confusing for all of us and has driven us all up the wall. Both of my sons are excellent musicians; they have been in about five orchestras and have performed in dozens of festivals and have taken a dozen music exams and they always have been at the same level. Fifthly, because they are wiped out at the end of the day, my sons have no time to study for the SAT and practice music as much as before. They both scored 99% on the PSAT and got 1470/1600 on a Kahn Academy SAT test this summer. Sixthly, now that one of my sons is the leader of the orchestra, he has instant friends in the hallways, while my other son is ignored. I wonder if the other students in school think something is wrong with him because of the conductor’s decision. He says it does not matter, and he does not want to bother trying to make friends any more but I am really bothered by it. He also does not want to go with the orchestra for a weekend camp experience. We have spent our lives making sure both sons are treated fairly and that one is not superior or dominant, so that they both can just do their best. Unfortunately, my one son, who is the concertmaster has become spiteful toward his brother, saying hurtful comments, criticizing his appearance and behaviors. We have considered having them talk with the conductor but we really do not know what reaction we would get. The conductor could take away the opportunity for my one son and then he would be unhappy, or the conductor could promise to give my other son the same opportunity later in the year, but will he change his mind by then? What about the perception that my son faces now? University applications would not see that concertmaster experience for my other son because it will be too late. The best thing about this public school experience is that my say that the material is easy for them and they know they would do well, even though is has only been a week and it has only been review work. So that makes me happy. I would really appreciate any advice on what we should do next. If they both stay in public school, I foresee one son flourishing, getting more confident, arrogant, and overpowering his brother. I see the other son becoming more miserable, isolated and depressed. If we put one in school, then the other son will still feel like he is missing out. If we pull them both out of school, I am not sure what will happen. I want them both to be happy and both of them to continue with their music and do well in school. Thank you, Rachel