[No RSVPs--how worried should I be?]

I would start calling. 

[BJU Math or....]

I’m feeling a little worried that very few people use BJU math....

Ugh! Decisions!

 

I wish more people with experience would chime in.

I think it is a wonderful and amazing math program. I think the main reason so few people use it now is that they no longer provide a teachers guide that is just for the home educator. They used to. Then, when you try to speak to their customer service, they tell you that you need all parts. If you buy all the parts, it costs a few hundred dollars in a year. If you are using the DVD program anyway, this is not an issue for you. I would use it in a heart beat if that were not an issue. In fact, I am considering using it anyway. 

[Why not Memoria Press?]

I did not like their materials. They were very easy to teach from, but very boring and rote learning style.

[Is there a major/career for this?]

It would not be linguistics. Linguistics is more associated with language acquisition and phonetics and so on. I believe Middlebury and a small handful of schools have a major in actual languages There is also a language training institute for working in the military with this sort of thing, for after college. 

[Severe ADD]

They actually call it ADHD without hyperactivity, so I will just call it ADD as it seems counterproductive to call it Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder without Hyperactive.

 

My child cannot focus. He seems to be capable of focusing on things that are interactive, computer or even discussion. I do not want to medicate unless there is a biological benefit to it. I would rather accommodate. Is there a long term biological benefit to medication? Or is there any other therapy? 

 

I am thinking I need to keep course work interactive. Would a virtual academy be good for this as he would be interacting with the computer, something he loves. Or would this be counter productive? Would I be better off continuing to find interactive ways to teach him, from conversations to computer games and apps and TV shows and movies? He has mentioned wanting to go to regular public school eventually and without an accredited program for high school in the meantime, nothing he does will transfer to our local public schools. 

 

Please give me all the suggestions and ideas you have. Thank you.

[Fun, or box checking, World Geography, open to outside of the box]

No. He is thinking of taking AP Human Geo next year, outsourced. It would be a true AP class. He is only in eighth grade now. I wanted to work on something now to help prep him for better success in the class next year. He has not had any geography other than what has been done in the context of history class.

[Fun, or box checking, World Geography, open to outside of the box]

Eighth grader has never taken any sort of world geography course. Now he might take AP Human Geography next year. He is definitely a box checker type. He doesn't enjoy school and would like to just get things over with. I did find some "Top Gear" specials helped because they would feature a different country in each episode. Something like that would be great! But, also something that is just to the point and involves question and answer would be good too. I am open to just a TV series or anything that happens to take place in different countries. Heck, I am open to fiction movies that will give good insight on various parts of the world. But, if it is not engaging, then I need at least "box checking" such as a workbook or workbooks. Free resources and apps and websites are great too. I am open to things like PAC which I saw on Rainbow Resource. But also open to just a bunch of movies or such. Or a combination.

[Trying to decide if I should home school, old home school]

We home schooled our older children years ago. This was before everything was outsourced, a coop was the limit of outsourcing for the most part. We did not have all these online resources we have seem to have now. Singapore Math was in the Primary Edition. We just had a great time. We made scrap books, from scrap book supplies and printed pictures, pictures that had been taken on film. It was so fun picking those pictures up and finding out how the pictures turned out and what was in there.  Those children are adults with the youngest of those three graduating college this year.

 

After a big gap, we had more children. I did home school them for a while. The oldest is in eleventh grade. With my four older children, they were enthused about school and learning. They enjoyed science. They followed instructions. They loved day trips to a museum or zoo or anywhere else. They soaked up books like Illiad and Boethius. My second child was not as academic with the books as the other three, but he loved to write and computer programming and worked hard at that. When he left for college, he had several composition books full or stories and poems he wrote. Oldest was in to writing also, but not computers and read everything he could get his hands on. He also loved science and he would study out of college physics and chemistry books on his own. My third was in to learning languages. She took every chance she got including attending language classes offered for free in the area, including ones she travelled to, by cultural groups. The fourth child, the one in eleventh grade is all about literature and Latin and music. Most of my children have done music. 

 

I had a friend tell me the problem is that my first four children are unusual and my eighth grader is more of a normal teen. I don't know. Nothing school related makes him happy. He never wants to study. Moaning and terms such as "dang mom!" are all too common. When he is with his friends, he is super happy. He wants a cell phone so he can text all the time. Talks of looking forward to college because he just wants to join a fraternity, he says with a giggle. I am pretty much unschooling him at this point, but cannot get him inspired for anything. All curriculum or studies I try to come up with is met with pouts. When his older brother went to brick and mortar school last year, I decided to send my eighth grader too. He hated it. He says he wants to go to high school eventually, but not now. He has left the brick and mortar school and is back to home schooling. He never wanted to be there. 

 

My current plan is to send him to a virtual academy for next year. But, I am wondering if maybe the problem is not him but rather my approach. I don't want to throw more money at the problem. And really, not sure what to do different. 

 

I really want to know if my eighth grader is normal and my older ones are unusual. Or if I have a problem with my eighth grader. Any suggestions on how to proceed if I do home school him for high school? Or does this sound like a better place for him would be a virtual school and/or brick and mortar where someone else is the teacher and peer pressure is a factor?