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woolybear

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Everything posted by woolybear

  1. Depression... maybe. In the last 6 months he has sat out of his sport which he loves 3-4 months for 3 different injuries. Lack of exercise and missing something he loves. I'm glad to hear what you're saying about almost forcing him to try other things. We talked about this a couple of months ago, but nothing came of it on his end. I see I really need to push. I would love to hear any suggestions on things to try.
  2. Sorry. I do not understand why my posts keep coming up as one big paragraph. I didn't type it that way.
  3. I am going to try to respond to all.... We have talked. He, of course, thinks he knows how things work. He still has his sport--bmx outside of being in school. One problem, in school or homeschooled, is getting injured. He has had several this year which have kept him out for a while. So then, the extrinsic motivation doesn't help. There is the real possibility that he could have to stop bmx altogether at some point. So, he really needs to have other reasons to try to do decently in school. I have tried to keep him around others that are doing the sport and keeping up with school/doing well. He has one coach he really looks up to and he raced at a high level for awhile. He just graduated from college and is now in grad school, has his own gym, and coaches outside of that as well. He is a good role model, but not really able to talk to him about all this. Maybe it is too big a responsibility to lay on him? He is only 21. When he went to the middle school, he was not motivated to go to college. Last year he started thinking about it and I thought that was a step in the right direction. However, come to find out, he is only looking for a party school. I'm very hesitant to try the high school on a probationary status. As I said, it was several months before I even learned that he wasn't doing math homework at all. I think if I am not informed by the school at the middle school level, I doubt it would be better at the high school level. When I realized problems were starting, I sent regular emails and talked to teachers, asking each week, if he was behaving in class, doing his homework, struggling with anything. Mostly told he was doing fine. Pulling him out was incredibly difficult. Long story which I won't go into now, but I don't want to be in that position again, unless I am more convinced it will be a good thing. Funny thing is, he could tell me a lot of things that would make me less concerned. But he doesn't. He just says he wants to go to the parties. He wants to be around a lot of people. He doesn't care about the classes and will just do the minimum to pass.
  4. Wow. I just reread that and it came out jumbled and like a stream of consciousness. I hope someone can understand it. If you are bothering to read still, let me know if I can clarify anything.
  5. Ds is 15. He was homeschooled up until he was in 7th grade. He really wanted to go to public school, where he had friends he had made through sports. We sent him, but I dh and I really felt it did not go well (some Fs, anger issues, getting in trouble in school). He loved it. Sigh. The next year we homeschooled, but he took all his classes at an outside hs program. Sort of a compromise. Not a perfect solution, but I don't see other options that will work. Our intention is to continue this year and possibly to the end of high school. He is not happy with this. He really wants to go to our local public high school. I see a lot of reasons why this is not a good idea. However, I do listen to what he has to say. At this age, I would like him to be happy with his schooling choice. The real problem is when we discuss this, his attitude in general toward school is very negative. He is not at all interested in academics. Ok. I get this. He doesn't have plans for the future. Totally get this too. My point to him is that perhaps some day, he will want to do something work wise that he doesn't foresee now. So, he should get a decent education. College may be in his future, maybe not. Leave doors open as much as possible. He says, as long as I pass and get a high school diploma, that's enough. There are some colleges that will take you no matter what your grades are. So, basically for college, same attitude. Just get the degree, party, and go to the beach. Huh??? Really? I push him to do his work and get decent grades. He is smart and capable of this. This worked last year because he had an external motivator--do those things and you get to do your sport. It is much easier to keep an eye on this at a smaller location. The high school here has over 3000 kids. Even when he was at the middle school (1300 kids) it was difficult to know what was going on. So, I guess my point is, I know he's just 15, but shouldn't he sort of get it--getting decent grades matters. No, I don't expect all As. But mostly Bs and a good effort. If he got Cs but was really trying that would be ok. But no effort because grades don't matter, just pass and get a diploma?? Any thoughts?
  6. I want to do a 1-2 month study of ancient Greece with my 7th grade son. I have plenty of books, fiction and non-fiction. I wouldn't mind a schedule, but I can probably manage this on my own. What I would like is something similar to study.com, which I stumbled upon in my online search. I like the short, clear videos. I think my son might even like the tests. All good, except not at $50 a month. I really would be great with a series of videos like this to supplement the books I already have. Anybody have any suggestions?
  7. Thank you for explaining. I have seen different explanations of this phrase.
  8. What do you mean exactly by "scientific literacy"?
  9. I think Jen at Wildflowers and Marbles put together a nice physics year for her son. I don't think I should link directly to it, but if you go to her blog look under categories--home education--sciences. She called it Boy Meets Machine.
  10. woolybear

    n/m

    Ds was homeschooled until 7th grade. He then asked to go to school so we sent him. He really was mostly interested in the social aspect of school. He really liked it. We did not. He became much more unpleasant, impatient with his little brother, argumentative, angry with dh and myself, did very little homework. I was not informed about much of what went on there by teachers, till later. He would tell me he only had certain homework, when there would be more. He was not the worst behaved kid there, but by my standards not great. He did skip some classes, failed some, got some detentions. When he did actually put the effort in, he got As and Bs. So, long story short, we pulled him out. Intended to send him to a private school which did not work out. He is homeschooled now (and last year), but takes all his classes at a hs program. He is still angry and resentful for not being there. I think because he was older and it was his choice initially to go, it has made it harder. Do I regret it? Yes. But I guess if he hadn't gone, there would be a question lingering if it could've been a good thing. He still thinks it was FINE!!
  11. http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Encyclopedia-American-History-Publishing/dp/1465428437/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439336571&sr=8-1&keywords=children%27s+encyclopedia+of+american+history Maybe another American history spine option?
  12. Is there a printed version of this curriculum or is it only online at this point?
  13. I think these books would make an excellent spine. Not a single book, but a series: http://www.amazon.com/USKids-History-American-Colonies-School/dp/0316222011/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1439320359&sr=8-3&keywords=brown+paper+school+uskids+history+book+of+the+american+colonies
  14. I would also hesitate to do an academic co-op, not really knowing the other families. You are counting on them being good teachers. You can end up with the negative aspects of Ps: bad teachers, bored kids, just passing time until it gets to the fun part-recess or social time.
  15. Ok. Here's some of my thoughts. Continue with the math you have if that's working out. Do Private Eye. Then, watch videos, go to museums parks ,wherever, give the kids a reading list. Have them journal about any and all of that. Check for commas, correct. :) Beyond that, if you have time and energy, pick a topic (your idea or theirs) and focus just on that for a week, a month, etc. For me, it eases a lot of stress not trying to do it all every week all year. So, for instance, one week it can be history (general topic) or clothing in the middle ages. The next week can be an art week--go to a museum, watch an artist related video, do lots of art projects, or just get art supplies and play.
  16. I think momto2cs planned a narnia study. Let me see if I can find ii or at least link her blog. http://fromtherootsup.blogspot.com/ Under book lists, go to my book lists. She has original and revised.
  17. If I buy Teaching the Classics what does Reading Roadmaps really offer beyond a booklist?
  18. Ok. So I briefly looked at ck12. It has possibilities. Definitely does not look comprehensive for high school, though that is not what I need. However, there are not a lot of choices for English or Social Studies. Ds is definitely not excited to do this, so I'm not sure if we will.
  19. 15 years old. I am looking for something free, though. K12 is free in Massachusetts, but not in Connecticut.
  20. Do any of you know of anything similar to K12, but free? K12 is not free in our state. I am looking for maybe 1-2 classes my son can do online, set up similar to K12. We have a friend who lives in a different state who uses that program and explained it to us and he loves it. I know not everyone does, but I thought I should see if I can find something comparable and look into it. Thanks in advance.
  21. Calming Tea--I'm not sure what beginning assumption you are talking about. I said I wasn't excited. Sure, I would like him to be, but I don't expect that nor was that what I was talking about. I'm just not feeling that "I can't wait to get started" feeling I've had in the past. As I'm writing that I remember what I used to that I really got excited over and that was making a list of books to read. I think I will do that. I really look forward to our read aloud.
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