Standards seem to have gotten higher My daughter's freshman load is almost a replica of my sophomore load (and I was on the college prep track -one of the smart ones, etc). My high school had 3 kids take calculus our senior year (and I believe it was done before or after school or lunch because it was out of the norm). My daughter's school has kids in precalculus as freshman and it's a school of the arts not a math and science school. I had to take French 3 during lunch because it was out of the norm to have 3 years of a language. We didn't have AP classes, etc when I went to high school. I didn't go to kindergarten but some kids did go to half day kindergarten. They learned their ABC's and that's about it. I learned mine at home. We learned to read in first grade. So to me, it seems kids are moving faster. Regarding the differences in kids My son's kindergarten class had him who started Kindergarten at 4 and turned 5 a month later but had been reading a year and was reading Harry Potter before end of Kindergarten. There were a bunch of girls who started kindergarten at age 6 because they were red shirted and they could read also. Both these groups were considered gifted before testing but IMHO -it was just that the girls were slightly above what their real grade was. Anyway, in that same class were many other 4 year olds who turned 5 but parents couldn't red shirt because of finances. These kids and a few others were all kids who lived in government housing, free lunch, etc. Many of them did not know their colors. They could not tell me what they wanted to eat in the line by words -they had to point because they did not know for example that corn had a name. These kids might have benefited with some early intervention. As people say, standards are too high for some and too low for others. It's usually based on socio-economic background and parenting styles. Regarding homeschoolers underestimating: My son is in a regular middle school -not the gifted magnet. He is in Math 2 (geometry). Most of the kids are in Math I (algebra) and then the rest in 8th grade math. There are just a few in remedial math. Most homeschoolers we know are doing pre-algebra in 8th grade. I've met a handful doing algebra and then the rare person doing geometry. His 8th grade science is more rigorous than Apologia (the most common choice) by far. His social studies (NC History but really more like US History) is very rigorous. Language Arts is on par w/what homeschoolers do (most homeschoolers seem to do okay in this area -though a few people seemed to not cover writing or grammar well). One of my daughter's elementary school friends was able to do Geometry, Freshman English, and Spanish I as an 8th grader at her school. (Spanish I is an option at my son's school but we came in on the 5th week so he missed getting it), Math1 and Spanish I are pretty common. My freshman daughter's school has a lot of homeschoolers. A few like her are bright and were taught in manner typical of this particular board. Some were not. There are a few that are severely behind. I think homeschoolers sometimes underestimate because a) they compare public schools today to what "we" did a gazillion years ago. B) We judge public schools by the outcome of the disadvantaged kids instead of comparing apples to apples. c) We judge it based on elementary school which often focus on the lower end and don't track. In middle school, they track and make a huge jump around here. (I often see that homeschoolers are ahead -often way ahead- until middle school and then by end of middle school, they are often behind.

I am still in the grieving process myself. I miss homeschooling but I do love how my kids, especially my daughter, is thriving. I could never ever replicate what her school offers in the regards of socialization and we live in a good size city with lots of homeschoolers! (Not saying that homeschool socialization is bad just that it didn't fit her particular needs as a high extrovert).

Seems fine to me.

Rick Riordan books Ender's Game series Artemis Fowl Lord of the Rings

High school runs 8:30 -3:30 -however with carpool, clubs, and wanting to get there early enough to socialize, she is gone from 7:30-5:15 most days of the week. Middle school is 8:30-3:15 but with commute time -It's 7:45 to 4;15. It would be earlier if he rode the bus in the mornings as it comes at 7:15.

My daughter is Honors English for Freshman year. It's not very rigorous at all. Everything they did in the first 9 weeks, I could have fit into two weeks and most of it does not relate to common core or any standards. Writing -freewriting on various topics. -Characterization writing assignment Reading -A few myths, some Poe short stories, two other short stories -Discussion of literary terms -Difference between poetry and song lyrics Grammar, mechanics -none One vocab quiz One pop quiz on a short story reading (one question to determine who read it and who did not) One major test on literary terms. Now I know I should be upset and want more rigor but it's been an easy A for her. We basically did the typical Freshman English last year -Odyssey, To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, Fahrenheit 451, The Hobbit, etc. She did WWS and has won writing contests. She did MCT. She actually passed the English I EOC but there are no English Electives for her to take instead (small school). However, what the teacher lacks in rigor, he makes up for in making the class interesting. She is excited about the class and is actually moving past the regurgitating for the test to actually understanding the concepts. She is "getting" it instead of "spitting" it if that makes since. On the otherhand, her Honors World History teacher is amazing and they actually do more writing in that class. She is working them from multiple choice/short answer tests to essay tests. She builds upon new skills each unit-actively teaching how to find answers that are spread out over several paragraphs, how to paraphrase, how to cite, how to use quotes, how to write a bibliography in MLA format. They have to write a research paper on an artifact w/ each step due in intervals. She just did an annotated bibliography and then next month her outline is due. This weekend, she has to compare segments of Art of War to segments of Bhagavad Gita. I feel she is getting more of the composition here whereas the English teacher is big on "Creativity" -he has them do things like create their own mythological figure, create a lesson plan to teach a Poe Short story and then implement it, and mostly work on conquering fear of writing via freewrites.

Depends on teacher Mostly, my high school daughter contacts her teachers herself. She probably emails 2-3 of them a week for assignment clarification, ask how to improve, request tutoring, etc. I have emailed two of her six teachers. One teacher I emailed once (grade on interim not what was reflected in the grades I had seen-turns out she had misentered a grade). The other teacher who teachers two classes, I have emailed four times (schedule conflict in which she requested email, question about interim, test grade on edmodo not reflecting her actual grade, and to let her know that a particular assignment took two hours which was way out of the norm for an overnight assignment. My middle school son -I have contacted one teacher a few times for assignment clarification, requesting a meeting for helping him acclimate and one "Did you really assign that story to children?" (she had given an edited copy and had never read the non-edited story). Most of this was during his transition phase and had no clue what was going on and the teachers were not acclimating him to their classroom rules (he went in mid-quarter). I email them when he is absent. I email when he has lost his paper and needs a new copy or something like that (We are in the process of an Executive Function IEP).

We were in a social co-op that offered "classes" in 2 eight week semesters. It was okay but not perfect -Good was it was 8 weeks a semester -Social opportunity Bad -had to plan a course to teach -had to teach kids that did not want to be there -Sometimes no courses that my kids wanted to take but I was already obligated to teach -Had to do Mom discussion time and that was repetitive after awhile and inevitably someone would say the two comments that would set me off (Homeschoolers are more godly and the worst day in homeschool is better than the best day in public school. GRRR) -Statement of Faith required -Had to pray with others (I don't like to pray out loud period) -Classes sometimes were too religious (Kissed Dating Goodbye, TeenPact, various world view classes) -Cliques were there but I was extroverted enough to mostly bypass. I got along individually but somedays were a bit harder than others. -It was morning so the day was lost to academics as the schedule was off. I compensated by making those non-school days in my planning. As far as the academic co-ops -Major vetting processes to make sure you were godly enough beyond statement of faith -All were Apologia based science and science eligious curriculums -They were not courses where the mom with a science background teachers science, etc. No it was moms with no more or less knowledge than I had teaching the course. -History would be on a different year than we were -In one, I would have had to teach a course for kids younger than my own because that was the slot. So I would have to have bought an entire curriculum and planned and taught and my child not got anything out of it (and I don't like little kids). -None were rigorous -Timing had conflicts, afternoons lost because of readjusting -Often found them to be knee deep in drama, cliques, etc. Outside classes -Could not afford -Apologia only for science (the one subject I really wanted to outsource) -Time conflicts -Long drive (1 hour each way) for anything remotely secular

The blog post was a beautiful but ultimately lacks substance is an attempt to put a bunch of pretty words to justify the socialization problem that many homeschoolers face. It really comes across as homeschoolers are introverts with strong character and unique personalities and all public schoolers are extorverts with shallow conforming characters. I went to public school for K-12. I had way too much quiet time though. After school, weekends, and summers often found me alone for significant amounts of time and it was not good. I am an extrovert and while I need solitude to decompress and cherish my alone time, I don't feel that need to decompress as often as an introvert like my husband. If I find myself alone too much then I slip into depression and my daughter is the same way only she needs more interaction (and I needed more when I was younger). Once or twice a week is not enough time for me to recharge my batteries at all. I can be alone. I can make time to be alone (and try to do so though hard with kids). I can cherish my alone time. I am creative (though not crafty). I mull things over. is there any mom here who feels they can't do these things because they went to public or private schools? That said, in a typical homeschool situation, there is rarely true solitude. There is usually at least one parent in the house and more often than not siblings. Because of my family situation (divorced parents and sister always in hospital), I was often more alone as a public school student than most homeschoolers ever are truly alone. I also find that homeschoolers do not like to stand alone within their group. I have watched so many sheep runs every year because some new book, speaker or something says something is godly or ungodly and suddenly everyone jumps on board without any form of critical thinking. People tend to "non-conform" in predictable patterns. I see this as an introvert/extrovert thing more than a public school/homeschool thing (and obviously written from the viewpoint of an introvert who doesn't understand extroverts). Every single thing she said with her pretty words can be done by public school children with no problem.

**Caveat before I proceed: I am discussing the dynamics of our situation. What was an issue for us, may be a blessing for others. Some people have more resources to fulfill needs than I did. What didn't work for my daughter, was often fine for my son who had different socialization needs. If I mention the differences between the Christian and Secular group, it was those particular groups and not a judgment of Christians or Secularists or Unschoolers or any particular group in general. Other people may find the experiences flipped. Some of the benefits of her new school are particular to her school, it might not be the same in huge public school. My daughter is very social and we homeschooled her along with her younger by a year brother. She was never happy and getting her to do her work was always a struggle. She didn't like her brother (who I admit is very annoying and all boy where she is very girly-we never got that loving sibling relationship that some homeschool families had and to be honest, it stressed me out because I always felt like I was doing something wrong because they couldn't stand each other). She was very active: - Church and Sunday School and Small Group every week -Weekly co-op class -Twice a month American Heritage Girls -Weekly Girl Scouts -Twice a month Book club -Soccer Team -10 hours of dance class a week -Plus we were in multiple groups (Christian and Secular) and did as many socials, service projects, field trips that we could do. -She went to homeschool prom, dances, etc. She is now in a small charter school and is thriving. The above activities just could not replace the type of socialization that school provides. -In school, she sees the same kids five days a week for seven hours a day or more with clubs. In most of the above, it's once or twice a week -at most three times and usually for only for a short period. Even though she did something daily, it was never the same kids or same mix of kids. ****My daughter finds that he friendships with her charter school friends are simply deeper because of the sheer amount of time they spend together. The homeschool friend that she did the most with at best would be in the same building 10 hours together a week (but it more like 6-7 a week during the school year and most of which was supervised (church/Coo-op). Where as she is at the school 7-8 hours a day **We added up social time at school: School opens up at 7:45 and class starts at 8:30. That is a potential of 45 minutes social time. She usually gets 15-20 minutes at least depending on who carpools. There is 5 minutes between classes, and it rarely takes more than 2 minutes to switch classes. There are 6 class changes, so you have another 18 minutes to chat. Lunch is 35-40 minutes depending on the day. There is 15 minutes between school letting out and clubs starting and she does 3-4 clubs a week. Even on days without clubs, she usually hangs out 10-15 minutes before carpool p/u. Then carpool itself, is 15-20 minutes of social time each way. She gets 1-2 hours of socializing time not counting clubs and her other activities. **Note my son also went to school ( a larger public middle school) and it's had no impact on his relationships. They are still at same basic acquaintance level. He's also on the spectrum so is not one to seek out relationships either. -The class component itself is more social: group projects, group discussions, presentations. Yes we had these things in our home but it was just me, her, and her brother. The dynamic was not the same. She wouldn't take part in the discussions, didn't want to do projects (just wanted to do the least time intensive stuff so she could do what she wanted to do, etc). Yes, we could replace some of this with outsourcing but a) I could not afford paid classes most of which I felt were inferior to what I was doing B) Most academic co-ops were either too far away, conflicted with something on the schedule, were not rigorous as what I was doing, too hard to get in, not the curriculum that I was using, had to accept all components when I wanted just one, I was at the bottom of totem pole and would have to teach something that I had no interest in while watching someone else teach what I was good at and do it poorly because they had zero knowledge of the subject, etc. C) Absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to find a science class that was not YEC unless I drove over an hour to get there. **Note I have friends who love their co-ops and it works for them but I could not find one that would work for me **My son loves the competition of school. He was smart but lazy and it was a wake up to find out that he's no longer the smartest kid in the room. -Homeschool socialization events were limited to other homeschoolers. The pool was small and sometimes, the small handful of kids she liked were not there or it would be an activity that she didn't want to do. Often the other kids were not good at socializing and she would have to always try to be the one to get things going (Story: our secular group had a party and the kids just stood there and would not interact with each other for the first 30 minutes. They really never got together enough to know each other that well and so many were extremely introverted or socially awkward or just plain rude and unruly. The Christian group had better social skills though, probably because they tended to see each other more via church, scouts, etc). There were a few times that field trips would close because it could not handle but 15-20 people and that could easily be taken up by 3 families. There were times my kids wanted to do a particular club or class and there were no spots because large families took them all. Then one particular family would sign up for every activity and take up all the spots, then decide a few months later they were too busy and needed to pull back and drop out when it was too late for the waiting list people to join in (and did this every single year) ** school has a larger pool for her to pick from but her particular school is small enough where she knows most of the kids **School has enabled my son to find academic peers. Most homeschoolers we know are not advanced or only advanced in one area. The ones we know that were super smart were extremely socially awkward to the point of making my son look socially normal. -It was hard to do one on one socialization because many homeschooling parents did not allow their kids to go to other people's houses or would never host or the schedules conflicted or in many cases, it was these two girls like each other but the moms like other moms and thus put their daughters with the daughters of moms they liked or ones in their clique even if the daughters would prefer to hang out with the other girl. It was such a pain trying to organize social time with other kids -especially as parent who outside the clique. It was even hard with my wonderful non-cliquey moms simply because one was never home because of her many children had something all.day.long and the other worked part time and it was just hard to get the girls together. We also had to join multiple groups because one group would have girls for dd but no boys for DS and vice versa. **We don't find this an issue because I don't feel forced to hang out with the other moms. The kids see each other at school all day without any huge coordination effort and if they happen to go out to event, only one or two parents goes (I am selective on which parents I allow to chaperone but I don't have to be their best friend). _Less stability of kids as groups were ever changing. While public school kids move, it's still basically the same kids. In the homeschool groups, families came and went very frequently. Moms would get mad and switch groups all the time. People would get mad and form new groups. People switched churches all the time. People moved. Missionary kids came home on furlough and left again. Some groups had a waiting list to get in (and often intense vetting to make sure you were godly enough) and so people would join a group while waiting and then when the spot in the coveted group came up, they left. -She felt a tremendous pressure in the homeschooling community due to the ever present parents. She felt that she couldn't excel in certain areas because some mom would be upset if her child was outshined. She felt that she could never relax because she was always being watched and had to be perfect. There was major pressure to conform in our Christian groups-you had to dress in a particular modest way, read or not read particular books, not play particular games, have to court and not date, believe in YEC, (The secular group was not like this but she didn't fit in there either because she was not a gamer and was too clean cut. I swear it was hard to find just plain old normal people!). She stopped wanting to be in talent shows because she felt judged and stopped doing contests because in one group because it was quite evident to both kids that it was not about what was good but who the mother was that determined the winner. ***In her school, she feels more comfortable being herself because there are so many niches. She can dress the way she wants, read what she wants, etc. Yes, the Goth and Emo kids may call her a Goody Two Shoes but that tends to be in teasing and she doesn't feel like she needs to go get her lip pierced or else the entire school is going to say she is going to hell. She can excel without judgment and nobody cares who her mother is. My son didn't feel the need to fit in as he was more unaware of the social environment in the homeschool community -just not the observant type except that he did notice the trend in who won the contests when he was in 4th or 5th grade. He has become more clued in now that he is in school. He is actually feeling the need to conform as in take a shower, wear clean clothes that match, etc. Some of that may be age more than school so I don't know. -Often there was nothing for the kids to talk about. They didn't use the same curriculum, were not on the same year in history, didn't read the same books, most didn't watch TV that much, some not allowed to listen to secular music, nobody was dating, some couldn't wear make up, etc. Unschoolers usually only could talk about the one thing that was there interest and couldn't hold a conversation outside that topic. It was very hard to find common ground except maybe religion in the Christian Group and most teens really don't want to talk about religion (even the ones whom the parents think they do). **Again, the Emo students may not like Taylor Swift or One Direction but they at least have heard of them. Even if they have no common music, they likely have the same teacher or something to converse about (even it's complaining about the dress code or the upcoming test). _Structured events like dance lessons, soccer, etc. really didn't give much social time. We found the kids within the class team tended to hang out with whomever went to their school or they began the activity in Kindergarten and hung out with the other kids who also started in Kindergarten. DD was usually the only homeschooler so was not included when they grouped up and I as a parent was never really accepted because cliques were already formed. She made a few friends but not of the type that they contact each other outside of the structured activity. Ditto for my son. He never made a lasting friendship in a class, activity or sport. His only lifelong friends are the neighbors. _Not much chance to be leader or plan. The main group we were in was very structured for teen time. The parents planned the social event of the month without teen input. In American Heritage Girls, the leaders picked out what badges they work on and what they do, etc. -no girl input. My daughter did arrange some things on her own but it again, getting a mom to allow the kids do something together was often like pulling teeth. The secular group was a bit better about teen input but there was not as many kids that my daughter wanted to socialize with since many were stereotypical unruly unschoolers and the ones who were not had busy schedules. **In school, she is on student council and the student council works with the principal to set school policies as well as plan events. Clubs are run by student interest and basically run by the students. Additionally, she finds it easier to make plans for the weekend because they can plan it out during the week and figure out which parent will drive. She feels more in control of her life. **My son is not there. He has no interest in doing much outside of school. His Scout program though is more boy-led than the AHG Scouts were. -Of things that homeschoolers say are more common to public school than homeschool -Almost every activity we have been a part of as homeschoolers is age-segregated -maybe a grade up or down but not much deviation from that. My son is a Boy Scout and that has 6 grades but they tend to hang together by age. I also found that the kids tend to segregate by gender until high school age and even then the cross-gender relationships were often awkward. Occasionally, a older homeschooler would indulge a younger homeschooler with some conversation but they were rarely buddies. Her high school is only two grades this year (new school) but the kids in it range from 12-17. -Whereas the homeschool group might have a wider variation of age, there was less variation of religion, race, economic group, value systems. Especially in statement of faith groups, you were not really exposed to ghetto kids, gay kids (or least out of the closet gay kids), kids with different religious beliefs, etc. It would be rare to meet a kid with divorced parents. Yes, people did mission trips to meet others but all that taught was look at the different people as poor souls who need my help instead of having value for what they can teach me. Some families find this a bonus though so it's perspective but not "real world" -As public schoolers, my kids still do most of same activities as above. My dd still goes to dance, still in Girl Scouts (though a different troop since the church decided Scouts were ungodly), still goes to church, etc. The few that she dropped were replaced by after school clubs. She still has parents and sibling to get along with. She still goes to dances, parties, festivals, fine arts performances, etc. She works a job, goes shopping, goes to the bank, and all the other stuff that homeschool kids do that gets touted as socialization. My son cut down on activities but then he never liked doing a lot of activities. He -We encountered more clique and bully issues in homeschool groups than at the school. (I know this is not true for everyone but it was our experience). My DD has had disagreements with school friends and has kids she just doesn't like or want to work with but she is not bullied. My son had one minor bullying incident. HE handled in a manner that resulted in him getting two days of in school suspension but it did stop the bullying. He had worse bullying issues in the homeschool groups. _She actually is better with adults now. Before adults were mostly judging authority figures. She was scared to death to order her own food at a fast food restaurant or talk to a coach or instructor if she didn't understand something. There were only a couple that were more mentors but most parents didn't want to interact with the kids, just control them or ignore them. Some she liked but the relationship was not collaborative (and none of those were actual homeschool parents but public school parents that worked/volunteered in the church or other activities). In her school, she has more of a working relationship with her teachers. She collaborates with the administration to plan school events, collaborates with club advisors for club activities, seeks out tutoring when she needs it. She is constantly emailing her teachers for clarification, etc (DS has had no change. He never had a fear of adults but he also doesn't have collaborative teachers as his school is so large). _Almost negative that we encounter in public school, we encountered in homeschool crowds. I know homeschoolers who are rude, unruly, aggressive, disrespectful, loud, not willing to do work, narcissistic, self-harmers, severely uneducated or poorly educated, or whatever else is wrong with "public school kids" -including having sex, drugs, etc. I know two whom I am absolutely positive are sociopaths and will have no shock if I see them in the news one day as serial killers. I know some public school kids that are motivated, clean cut, polite, well mannered, self-motivated, etc. So for her, a small charter school was the answer. She was wilting and losing herself. She and I couldn't get along and educational matters were an uphill battle no matter what I tried. In hindsight, I see that she was depressed and felt too much pressure to be perfect and felt stupid because only person to compare herself to academically was her more advanced but younger brother (and I tried separate curriculums, more praise for her, etc. It didn't help). Now that she's in school, she has regained her confidence in her academics because she is the smart one there. I felt homeschooling set her backwards. For my son (Aspergers/Spectrumy), it's a break even proposition. I do believe he needed some time at home to mature at his own rate though. Two children, same family, different personalities and thus, different needs. We may even bring him home after his Science Olympiad obligations are over and we may not. We are looking at high schools and hoping he can get in one of the smaller ones that fit him. Otherwise, we may homeschool him again. On the flip side, I know people who were able to be in the clique (ones most likely to say there are no cliques lol), had co-ops that met their standards w/kids that were compatible with their kids and their values, etc and kids that didn't crave intense socialization that are doing fabulous. It really depends on the kids, the parents, financial resources, and what groups are available and how you fit into those groups. There is no one size fits all solution

Hugs! I was there and returning to school was actually beneficial for all. Our relationship is restored and education is continuing.

Update -The regular teacher is back. We now have textbooks and she gave out a study guide for next test. Since upon her return, she only had 4 days until end of quarter, everyone is getting an Incomplete for first quarter. She doesn't feel there are enough grades to evaluate. Now, let's adjust to new teacher and hopefully grades will go up. DD had an 92 with the sub and it would probably be a 93 with the work they did with the teacher the first week and last week (it wouldn't go lower since she aced those things). She needs a 93 to have an A so hopefully she does well next quarter.

I put my child back into school this year and it's made our relationship wonderful. I tried to homeschool her for four years. She is the one that wanted to homeschool. She is the one that did not want to go back to school. I tried unschooling, interest led, fun projects, etc. It didn't work that well long term. We fought. We cried. There's numerous posts online here of me pulling my hair out. I found a charter school that I thought would be the perfect fit for high school and said "This looks cool. I think you should try it. If doesn't work out, we will try homeschool again." I didn't do when mad at her either lol. She hated to do effort (mainly because she had nothing to compete against). She couldn't remember anything I taught her. She didn't want to read. She didn't want to do anything but social media. She was very social. She was not socially deprived by any means. She danced 3 days a week, was in a co-op, played soccer, scouts, went to dances, etc. But no matter how we homeschoolers like to spin socialization, nothing we do compares to school socialization. I won't say school socialization is better or worse, it's just different. It worked! She loves her school. She is thriving. She comes home excited almost every day. Granted most of it is social excitement LOL but she does love her teachers for the most part and her grades are good (6 A's and a B -the B is one point from an A in Honors Bio her weakest area). She will do for them what she wouldn't do for me and she thrives on competition (not spelling bee type but the highest test score/submitted homework first type. She will go on the fun outings (aka field trips) with her friends that she would roll her eyes with at me when I suggested them or tried to take her own them. She is retaining what she is learning. Our relationship is restored and we are close again. I can now be just her mother.

Well I have an 8th grader and a Freshman. Homework matters because it is graded. It especially counts for the Freshman because homework grade is part of the quarterly grade.(15-30% depending on the class) and the doing the homework in one class pretty much guarantees they do decent on the test. I really keep track of my freshman's homework. I double check her math most days -especially if it's a new concept. I assign her biology homework because the current sub does not and it is affecting her grade. I proofread her work in other classes so she doesn't get dinged for spelling and grammar. I buy materials for projects. I have to hound her to study since that is not something turned in or "due." She is getting better each week at taking self-responsibility for her work and grades. Now the 8th grader is harder for me as I rarely see him. I spend evenings chauffeuring dance and two of the 4 week nights (3 of 4 some weeks depending on afterschool things) I don't even see him. He is home alone and that means homework is not getting done because he is playing video games. Some days his dad picks him up and takes him to his dad's office where he is supposed to do his homework. He just sits there??? No one knows what he does. My husband is too busy working to make sure anything is done and I am not there. :( WHen I am home, I hound him to get his work done. I rarely have time to check it because he is finishing as it's time to walk out the door for school in the mornings. I have to figure something out. He gets it done but it's a lot of stress and he really needs to get it together by next year since he will be in high school next year.

Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how to help her adapt to this. She has A's in all classes. They took the first test with sub at week #5 -made an 82 -no question completely wrong but many were just half credit. There was no interim because she was going to drop that test. I made her make flash cards from her notes every night and review them every night and I had her have a study session with one of the girls who is making an A using that girl's flashcards as well. I talked to both the sub and EC teacher (though she only has gifted diagnosis no 504). I am taking it up a notch by having her do this text book and workbook over the weekend to be familiar with the material and answering questions on it. I am still having her do flashcards but this time she has to do them with me every night so that I can be positive she is doing it. I've also grounded her from social media until we do our daily review and any extra work I feel she needs in biology just to make sure she is not studying unfocused. I don't know what else to do to help her. Like I said, she has A's in her other subjects. She always does homework, always does test corrections even if she makes an A on test, and always does extra credit in all her other classes.

It's a small school. This is only Biology class. I had to sign a waiver to get her in Honors Biology because she is not in Math II (though she had Algebra I, she didn't have Math I so they made her take Math I -she has a 98 in Math I and math is not the issue in Biology). I have emailed the principal to request a discussion of when teacher is coming back and how they are going to handle the grading under the sub, etc. I will see if I need to request a 504 for visual spatial learning aids. I would have no idea of how to do that since she doesn't have an official diagnosis.

I've talked with the sub as other parents and we get "College is like this" "I'm just a sub" "I don't believe in_____________" I've scheduled a meeting with principal. The few parents I know are reluctant. They want to but they don't want to "make waves". We've all tried being patient thinking the teacher will be back "next week" but that keeps not happening. I've talked to teacher and EC Counselor about her visual spatial learning type. My daughter even told the teacher (who recommends Crash Course videos which we already do). I had her make flashcards from her notes and review them every single day and she even studied with one of the A students. I am having her do the CK-12 section on what looks to be the next unit so that she knows most of it in advance. I will have her record classes so I can double check her notes. I'm trying to figure out to have her do flashcards in the various possibilities of questions because she can't rely on visual cues because teacher drastically changes the wording. The sub said she doesn't anticipate having another quiz before the teacher returns on the 16th. 7 more class days and they are 2 days into the new unit (Cell transport!). I would think they would have a test next week but that's me.

My daughter's Honors World History teacher uses these podcasts. They do at least one a week for homework or extra credit to go with her history text (Spielvogel w/ some Guns, Germs, and Steel stuff thrown in). She usually gives 4-5 questions to go with it. My daughter is really learning and enjoying history this way. A major part of their class grade is an artifact project. They have to do a 5-7 page research project on an artifact NOT in the book.

I am now having to afterschool Biology. The regular teacher has been out all but two days of the 7 weeks of school and will be out two more weeks (and this keeps getting pushed back -first it was 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, then 6 weeks, then 7 weeks and now 9 weeks) and we have a sub ( a homeschool mom who used to be a biology teacher). There is no syllabus for this class from regular teacher or sub. We have no idea what percentage different things count. There has been TWO homework assignments all year (one was fluff and one was hard since there was no teaching on that concept) There is no textbook (sub didn't like it so hasn't installed it on the IPADS) There is no tutoring (sub says 'she is just a sub) The teacher did not leave any lesson plans so sub is making them up on a weekly basis The class is lecture with slideshow notes to copy (my VISUAL SPATIAL daughter has to photograph them to get them finished) They will spend an entire class on a topic that will end up not being on test and then things on test that are not in the visual notes and only mentioned orally. No study guides for test (Sub doesn't believe in them-though regular teacher does) No test corrections for half credit (Sub doesn't believe in safety nets -only teacher that does not do test corrections) First test she let class write questions and they all wrote multiple choice. They were expecting multiple choice. They got short answer. Totally different study methods. Second test had label a cell as a huge component but the cell on the test and the cell on the handout look nothing alike and there was no lines to point to what to label. She had lyosomes drawn 3 different ways so many kids thought it was a completely different thing. One was covered with hashtags and she had orally told them that since cytoskeleton was not on handout, they would recognize it because it looked like hashtags. The wording on the test and the wording in the notes are so completely different that you really have to know your material to know what she is asking. The only extra credit was for second test: They played a game and the winning team got 5 points added to their test. So kids who did not answer a single question in the game got 5 points and the kids on the losing team who did answer questions did not get any points. Not fair IMHO. so they have two tests that most kids have done poorly own (Class average in the 60's) and two homework assignments. The sub is not counting the huge project they did the first week that my daughter busted her butt on (and would have been 100) or the first test given by teacher that my daughter got 100 because she didn't assign it). If the teacher comes back for real when they NOW say she will, they only have a week until the end of quarter. Sub also doesn't discipline. Kids curse, talk through lectures etc (and this is making it hard for my daughter to learn). I have yet to complain to principal because I keep thinking regular teacher will be back but every other week, it gets pushed back!!! Also there was no interim report. The sub was going to make the first test extra credit for those it helped and then she was going to drop it. Now it counts. Then she told one class that the signing of the interim behavior report was a homework grade and another class that it was a quiz grade. Nobody knows what is a quiz, what is a test, what homework she actually gave credit for or anything. Sigh! Thank goodness for CK-12 and Guest Hollow

My daughter is a freshman in high school- -10 hours of dance at studio that is 30 minute drive away each way 4 times a week -2 hours dance company 2-3 Saturdays a month -5 hours or more work -Scouts -every other Sunday (we carpool as it is 30 drive) -Church dance team and Children's Worship Leader -School Dance Team -1.5 hours a week -Fiber Arts Club (school) 1.5 hours a week -Movie Club(school) -2-3 hours once a month on a Friday evening -Study Skills Club (school) -1.5 hours a week (but doesn't attend all of them) Then there are random things a dance master class, school art show, etc. Many of her school things occur during their weekly flex period -student council, yoga club, movie club discussions, etc. My son has -Science Olympiad -Scouts -once a week -once a month with partner and at home -Baseball -2-3 times a week random -Chess Club at school **He had fencing and Jui jitsu but we stopped those when he went back to school so he has time to adjust to homework (still a slow process). We carpool for my daughter's school and most of the girls do the same activities except dance team. I have to pick up separate for that. I am a sub at the school and I have one permanent day and I both take and pick up on that day. She leads Children's worship while we are in church and dance team is after church and usually she can get a ride home. She works at studio but that goes with dance commute. Sometimes I go home (adds another 40 min -1 hour but it's my "quiet" time of the day lol). I have one activity of my own that meets near her studio once a month so that helps. Sometimes my husband will pick her up. My husband takes my son to school and my son rides bus home unless he has activity after school, then usually my husband picks him up but sometimes me. My husband is Scout Master and Baseball coach so he just takes my son to those.

I had my kids in public school, then homeschooled them, and now one is a public middle school and the other is in a charter high school. The one thing that I have noticed across the board is a lot of parents (even homeschooling parents) just don't value academics. I have tutored and subbed in a public school and taught classes in a homeschool co-op and I teach Sunday School . In both, a certain percentage of kids come to class unprepared, unwilling to learn, unwilling to do homework (and parents tell me they don't have to do the homework because they have other priorities), and often with sour attitudes and treat adults with disrespect without any fear of consequences because their parents will excuse the behavior and blame the adults. I also want to note that I only had ONE teacher that I thought was bad. The others were great. However, my children couldn't take full advantage of that teacher because the teachers had to teach the kids who had no interest in doing well and had parents who didn't care either. Those kids failed regardless of how dynamic and wonderful the teacher was and not matter what curriculum, etc. I have not liked most administrators........ So my suggestions are: 1) PARENT your children. 2) Quit making excuses for your children 3) Value education yourself 4) Get rid of compulsory education -why blame teachers for those who don't want to learn not learning? 5) Group/Track kids by ability not age 6) Don't keep behavioral problems in the school -I'm not talking the ADHD kids who just need more recess and movement but the kids who are knocking over bookcases, tearing up rooms, or disrupting classrooms 7) Vocational Tracks 8) Have enough schools so that a gifted kid can go to the gifted magnet without worry about lottery, a STEM kid can go to STEM school for same reason. Especially since the majority of the people who attend the school (the Base population) can't or won't use the magnet opportunity.

My children just started school. The oldest is now a freshman at a new charter school. We spent the summer helping paint the school and move furniture, etc so that she was familiar with the layout before school started. It also enabled her to meet a few fellow students. We are in a car pool situation with someone she knew from Girl Scouts when she was younger. She is doing well academically, She loves her teachers as they are all very passionate about their subjects. She is making friends and got on the student council. She has also made an enemy (a girl that likes the boy that likes my daughter -though she doesn't like him back) . Anyway, she is more interested in academics and less interested in social media, boys, make up than she was at home with me. The only issue we had was math level. She did Algebra I last year and did it rather poorly, It was an area of much fighting in our household. She is visual spatial. The new school only offers Common Core math so she is doing Math I. It's the lowest math level offered at the school and her class is full of kids who need to be in pre-algebra or lower while she knows 75% of the material being covered. Minor issues are balancing homework with her intense dance schedule. My son started school this year. He is in 8th grade at a very large public middle school. His first day was actually the first day of school for traditional schools BUT he is at a year around school so it was the 5th week of that school. He knew no one and had never been in the school. He has executive function issues (ie -he is so disorganized!), is the youngest in his grade, and is on that Asperger spectrum. It was a rough first week because he didn't know the unspoken homework rules. Apparently, the teachers don't really say they have homework, the students just know what to do each day. At the end of the week, I had a meeting with his teachers so they can tell me the deal and I could help him. They were actually not worried about him doing homework that week and had wanted to give him time to just learn his schedule and the classroom culture. He is doing well academically, starting to get to know the other students (they all say Hi to him but he can't remember names). They think he's some sort of alien because he knows a lot of the stuff that is being taught but it doesn't appear to be a bully issue -he's in the highest classes they have. His issues are that he is exhausted when he gets home and wants to nap. We dropped two of his four afterschool activities so that he can acclimate. We have figured out how to work the homework system but now it's a matter of getting him to do it at home. He also needs to work on organization -remembering to turn his work in, not losing his pencil every single day, not crumpling his work up into balls, etc. His teachers have assured me that these issues are typical of boys his age and they don't see it as a reflection of his being homeschooled.

Both of my kids went back to public school this year because they wanted that experience. My oldest started 9th grade at a small charter school. We spent the summer helping do volunteer projects around the school (paint, move furniture, etc) so she got a good grasp of the layout, met the administrative staff and met a few other kids. We also did some light prep work for her classes (Did Ellen McHenry's Cells for Biology, Watched some Crash course videos, reviewed her math and writing, etc.). The only issue we had was math. She had done Algebra I in 8th grade but the school is doing Integrated Math (Common Core). Math is her hardest subject and she has test aversion so she did not place into Math II. So now, she is is Math I and bored because most of her class needs to be remedial math. However, the teacher recognizes this and we are working on a differentiation plan so that she can take placement test in the summer and hopefully skip Math II (she's much stronger at Geometry). I think letting her go back was a good decision. Her teachers are exciting and passionate about their subjects. She loves the social interaction (she had lots of homeschool socialization but it's not quite the same thing as school socialization by any means). She has had a big shift in priorities and maturity, Last year, I fought with her to get her work done and done well, fought with her over algebra (constantly couldn't remember what she learned even if we had done it every day for a week), keeping her off social media during the school day, being boy crazy, focusing on clothes and make up, etc. Now she is studious and has disdain for the kids in school who are texting in class, talking about nothing but boys, clothes, and make up, and now that she is stuck doing Algebra all over again and covering things that I covered before (which she swore "real schools" don't do and I was mean and making it up), she is seeing that maybe her mom wasn't a moron. My son has never had the social or executive function skills that my daughter had, so we decided to put him in the middle school as a year of prep. He's doing well academically. He's struggling on the long days and homework. He's only on his second week (and he started on the school's 5th week as they are year around) so he's still adjusting to figuring out the teaching schedule, etc. I had a meeting with his teachers at the end of the first week and got the flow of the week (this due on this date, this type of test on this date, etc.) and he's much better this week. Now we have to work on handing stuff in instead of leaving it in his folder. He has great teachers who love their subjects. he is in Math II (geometry) and has some peers at his intellectual level (Which did not exist in homeschool -hate to say it but I am very disappointed in homeschooler academic levels in my area). I'm glad we are putting him now because he really needs this adjustment time whereas my daughter didn't. **edited to add -We did have a bit of trouble getting my son placed into Math II without an EOC for Math I. **Other homeschoolers we know had trouble getting credits at our school because they had done Apologia Biology in 8th grade and the charter school would not give credit unless they could pass the EOC test. None of them that I know of passed. Each school has their own policies of what they will and won't accept and sometimes it seems to be an individual thing (they were going to take the Biology credit of the rising sophomore who had it in 9th but not the rising Freshman who had it in 8th until one pointed out the unfairness so then everyone had to take the test.

When my kids went to public elementary, the parents who volunteered had the more advanced kids. I don't think it was the volunteering that made them advanced but just the types of families they were (The value education as well as socio-economic status). My kids are back in school (one in public middle and the other in a charter high school). I don't have an idea of the volunteer levels/performance correlation because I don't know a lot of the parents or kids yet. I was probably most involved parent in getting the school ready to be opened and volunteering in the school now. My daughter is doing well academically. My son is also doing well academically and I've not volunteered at his school at all. However with both, I make sure they complete their homework and give it a glance to make sure there are no glaring errors, help them figure out their time management for the evening/week, email the teacher if something is not clear (for the middle schooler -the high schooler sends her own emails). When I noticed my daughter was making a consistent mistake in her math homework, I found resources to help her practice the concept. I have the house stocked with good resources. I make sure they get sleep, eat healthy, etc. Most of all, I listen to them about their day and engage them in what they are learning (academically and socially).

My daughter and many others are affected by our state's switch to integrated math. She had Algebra 1 at home in 8th grade. However, the school requires a placement test to go into Math 2 for ninth grade. All kids who had Algebra 1 or even Algebra 1 and Geometry failed it. I have some quibbles about the test (it was a final exam not a placement test) and the score needed to pass (won't tell us but I know one kid got at least 75% of it right) but that is a whole other discussion LOL. So at least 10% of the school is students who were on track to have AP Calculus their senior year now won't get past Pre-Calculus. My son also wants to go back to public high school next year. He's in Algebra 2 and was going to finish it and take Geometry this year. I don't want him to have to start over at Math I at all. I can let it slide with her as she is not strong in math, especially Algebra (She's visual spatial) and she is going to an Arts school and her major will be in the arts, etc. However, my son is math and science so it would not be good for him to have to start over. So I am looking for a curriculum that follows integrated math -algebra, geometry, discrete math, and statistics so he can cover the gaps. Our state doesn't seem to have even adopted textbooks for this math. Any recommendations?