Thoughts on Goucher? Anyone have a child there?

Thank you. I am NOT discouraging him from applying (much as he thinks I am) but rather concerned that he doesn't have enough "I love this school and am pretty positive I will get in" schools on his list.

Re Knox-I think it's just the location and the lesser-known nature. His dad is a school snob and unfortunately, it's rubbed off on him. 😞

Cinv-he unfrotunately does NOT want to go to school in Florida. I am continuing to try and convince him. ,

Hi everyone- i used to be very active on these boards but life changes have prevented me from getting on for a long time. (divorce--blech) Anyway, my 16 yo junior has been homeschooled since the beginning. He does well in school and has taken a few community college classes and enjoyed them and done well. He is taking the SAT tomorrow for the first time, and has severe test anxiety and ADHD so I am a bit concerned. He HAS been working a lot with Khan Academy, really applying himself and taking a lot of practice exams, but my guess is he will get around 1250 to 1300 on his first test (plans on taking the SAT three times). Interestingly, my math-y kid does better on the Reading and Grammar portion--about 690, than he does on the Math section. He works too slowly. We applied for accomodations but were rejected and did not have time to reapply before the March SAT. He does take Adderral on test days which helps a bit. He has a 3.8 unweighted GPA and took one AP class AP Calc and got a B+, but did poorly on the actual exam. He is a kind-hearted, thoughtful boy, somewhat introverted until he gets to know you. He does better in a supportive, small-ish environment with supportive and caring teachers who try to figure out where he might be going wrong (as opposed to competitve and punishing environments). He is NOT a 'true academic'--he does what's needed but does not kill himself by any means. He has travelled a LOT--Japan, France, Spain, Italy, and more--and this has comprised a lot of his homeschool experience and is really the reason he continued homeschooling in high school--he wanted to travel with his father as much as possible. He wants to major in International Studies and perhaps French and has an interest in Business (but wants a liberal arts education). He is a top bowler and competes, and was recently invited to an Invitational in Tampa--he's only been bowling 6 months so this is pretty impressive (to me at least LOL!!). He is a 2nd degree Black Belt in TKD--been doing TKD for 10 years-- and also works as a camp counselor on the weekends and summer. He has recently joined some clubs at our local high school--environmental club and business club, but definitely got a late start in terms of being involved. He has no interest in a party school or one with a greek system or even varsity sports--he just enjoys hanging out and playing club sports, but competitive sports (except for Bowling) are not his thing. Liberal socially is important to him. He is looking at schools that, IMO, are going to be hard for him to get into. The problem is, any school that admits more than, say 50% of their applicants, he somehow thinks he is "better" than that, I have tried to talk to him about how hard it is to get into these top colleges, but he tells me i am being "negative" and 'unsupportive". Here are the schools he is eyeing (he recognizes that some are true reaches, but IMO there are no real safeties here). Amherst (!!) Vassar (!!) Macalester-this is his first choice right now. Colby Cornell College Grinnell Wooster Goucher-this is one i am trying to get him to look at. Knox-doable, but i dont think he's that interested. Grrrrr.. Hampshire--this is probably out due to their precarious financial situation and their lack of aid, but the IDEA of the school appeals to him. Eckerd (i think he can get in here, but he does not want to go to school in Florida, which is where we live). Finances are a factor--he does not want to take on more than 20,000 in debt. He has savings in his 529 which will def help, but my income (custodial parent) is very low, so my guess is he will get a good amount of grants. I know Eckerd gives a good amount of merit, which is why i want him to more strongly consider it, but as of now--nope.

And i know he puts very little effort into his writing because he dislikes writing. So while his writing is bad, it doesn't need to be THAT bad--he just needs to work a bit harder, re-read his work, etc. I dont know how to get him to do that.

has anyone tried time4writing courses? He really hates the idea of having a tutor and i told him we would explore other options first to see if he improved. Writeathome feedback has been lackadaisacal and unfocused--i feel like his writing needs A LOT of help and just saying "good job, try to use more details" is not sufficient. I almost think he needs to start with paragraph writing.

okay thanks. it's a bit pricey for us but will definitely look into it. I am just so very frustrated (total vent here). We had done a lot of the WWS stuff and he still can't write well. And he has no patience or desire to work at it, which makes it so challenging. Vent over.

Thanks. I could even see a workbook that slowly works through different types of essays (compare and contrast etc). He needs hand holding.

My 16 yo 11th grader needs help with his writing. He excels in math and science but his writing skills are poor. I am working with him but he is at the age where a third party might work better. I woud like to find someone to work one-on-one via email and maybe phone with him, giving him assignments and also working with him to improve his writing for his mom-led history class. (For example, I assigned an essay to compare and contrast guinea worm and small pox and it was...not good. Each week he is expected to write a short one-page essay for history). He is doing a high school level course for Writing with Writeathome but I am not impressed or happy with the feedback he is getting on his work. Is there anyone who does this?

i am looking for workbooks for my rising 8th grader. We had thought he would be attending our local 8th grade this year, but for various reasons he will not. I have always homeschooled my older, but I am in the process of separating from my husband and will be working more this year, so mom-intensive courses are not an option. Luckily my 8th grader is very diligent and works well independently (not like my older!) We have history covered as he will be doing mom-led history with his older brother. Foreign Language will be FluentU. So I need math and science, and perhaps writing recomendations (I do have WWS so i may use that, but English workbook recs would be appreciated). He did pre-algebra last year in private school and was bored out of his mind. he WILL be attending public in 9th, so I want him to be prepared math-wise. I am considering a semester of Geometry as he has done very little of it, and a semester of Algebra. We have done Singapore in the past, but i want to minimize expense and foudn the workbook and text expensive, so something cheaper would be great. Thank you for recommendations. Oh, and he reads voraciously, so that's not a problem

oh, and obviously this isn't everything he's read LOL, but a sampling. Thanks for any recs.

Just what the title says. It's been a struggle to get my 15 yo to read for pleasure and i would love recommendations on great, captivating books that he might like. He likes gripping, can't put em down books and has little patience for books that take a while to build. I love reading, and am sad that he doesn't share my love at this time in his life, but i WOULD like to see him reading. My attempts over the years: The Book Thief (a dud) To kill a mockingbird (read in 9th, liked it) A Long Walk to Water (read it, but found it really depressing) 1984 (liked it) Holes-read in 8th, loved it. Where the red fern grows (read in 7th loved it) Unbroken-thumbs up a tree grows in brooklyn-dud hatchet (read in 7th, still talks about it) the giver-nope So that might give you some ideas of what might appeal to him.... HELP!

just a heads up--ds15 is in his 2nd semester of this class, and it is by far his favorite class. Jetta is WONDERFUL and truly makes the students feel competent, able and welcome. The class is challenging without being ridiculously so, and my son always gets the work done in advance--not typical for him--he really loves the class. For those of you who are taking it next year, your child will love it.

Knox sounds great but I think DS is leaning towards a more urban environment. Re what he wants to study--no idea. He is very good at math and loves Physics, but recently has begun to blossom in his history class and has begun taking a bit of a political philosophy bent to questions...and his writing is improving as well. He is a very slow, careful reader, so I am dont think he'll major in anything extremely book heavy. He says now he'd like computer engineering, but I truly dont think he knows what that means. ANd he loves to talk business--why a business is losing money, how they can win back customers, etc. But he also wants a liberal arts education, not too career-focused at this stage. I think, for him, is that he will "know" what school is right for him via 'feel'. He's pretty intuitive and really is looking for kind, supportive faculty and kind, friendly kids. He is not interested in partying, but loves to have fun bowling, playing frisbee, and just goofing around in general.

has anyone used Zinn's Teacher's Guide to teach US History? I am thinking it could be quite interesting, assumign we add in primary docs.

Thank you--i remember looking at that one a while back, but can't remember if i liked it or not. Off to look!!

My son is definitely liberal, but not very involved in social justice (much to my sadness! He won't come to marches or protests with me :( I think he's Rachel Maddow-ed out LOL) He is laid back, easy going, very bright and works hard but will not kill himself for academics. He likes being around other smart kids who are not overly competitive, needs a nurturing environment with teachers who are kind and helpful and see the best in their students. Refuses to grade grub. Cornell sounds pretty good. Turns out there is a CTCL forum happening in May near us, so we'll be attending!

Thinking of going our own way with US History next year for my 11th grader, and we definitely want to skew it towards the 20th c. I have heard that someone on here created a great us history syllabus but for the life of me i can't find it. Any one know what I am talking about? Thanks!

My son is doing Great Conversations at Wilson Hill now. He likes it fine, but I don't think there is enough reading of full books or enough writing. He would like a class that has some great books (not neccesarily classics--can be some great new literature too!), some creative writing and some academic writing. It's fine if you have a creative writing class to suggest separately. Would prefer non-Christian approach. Thank you so much.

Yes, this is exactly what i hope to learn from others here--sorry i wasn't more specific in my OP.

Hi there! haven't been around much lately, so hi all! Would love to hear if any of you have kids attending these schools and their experience. Much appreciated!!

Whatever you do, avoid Sra Pliego. We have had a negative experience with her this year. My son will not be taking Spanish at WHA again. he'll either do DE or homeschoolspanishacademy.com

Hi! I have a 10th grader who is taking all online classes now. His grades are okay, but i know he is capable of better. His study skills are meh for a couple of classes. At one point do you, as the parent (i guess we're no longer hte teacher right?) intervene to assist? When the child asks? When the grades slip below a certain point? Thanks

Excellent idea. We will do this every night. Thank you.