[Independent Homeschool Options for Freshman]

I completely understand where you’re coming from. I spent years trying to cultivate a love of learning in my oldest, but as she got older she  did better if she had someone other than just me and DH holding her accountable. Until recently, we had a public charter school overseeing her homeschooling. She didn’t take any classes with them, but she met with them once/week and they reviewed what she had been working on. It was wonderful for us—we set all the goals, the teacher was flexible and supportive, but I could always say to my DD, “yes, I know you don’t feel like doing AOPS this week, but we told the teacher that we’d keep moving ahead...”

Maybe there’s something like that in your state that could help?

[Schools with an MIT vibe?]

Cal Poly

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

1 hour ago, EKS said:

Maybe someone has mentioned this, but if you end up homeschooling independently (via the private school affidavit option), you could start now with those classes.  She could do them during her downtime at her current school.  If you design the classes yourself, you could ensure that any output required works with the ebb and flow of the output (homework) required by her school.

Definitely, going half-time will let her do math and science outside the school. She’s excited about that!

It will also eliminate that almost 2 1/2 hour morning break, which she’s even more excited about.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

16 hours ago, daijobu said:

 

We did not find this to be the case in our situation.  My dd applied as a PSA homeschooler and was admitted to UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego and one other I forgot.  If she was compared with high school drop outs, then apparently she came out on top!  

This is good to know!

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

17 hours ago, Jackie said:

If you are planning to enroll her in a charter next year, choose the charter now. Meet with them and ask them what credits will be accepted for her freshman year, and whether they will be accepted as meeting a-g requirements (if she might consider any of the CA public universities). If you are choosing a charter, there may be advantages to sticking with the private school half-time (and paying full tuition) for easier credit transfer. Many of the CA charters do have a process to accept credits from those coming in from having been PSA students, but some do not, nor are they required to accept your credits.

This helps a lot. With Inspire being a mess, I think I will keep her in the school half-time while I try to find a good fit for next year. Thanks so so much you guys!!

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

4 minutes ago, shinyhappypeople said:

The UC's Subject Requirement (a-g) page gives examples of college courses that fulfill the a-g requirements.

 

Ok, this helps. Thanks!

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

4 hours ago, shinyhappypeople said:

More information about applying to UC as a home schooler starts on page 7.  https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/CC2019/dual-enrollment-and-home-school-applicants.pdf

 

You guys are really helping me figure things out!! If I’m reading the link above correctly, it looks like a charter can’t count college courses towards the a-g requirements? This is what the link says:

“California high schools cannot add California community college courses to their UC-approved A-G Course List even though instruction may happen on the high school campus with a high school instructor.
The courses on the high school’s A-G Course List should be courses that are created by the high school (or adopted from an approved program or online course publisher).”

So, for example, my DD has completed 4 quarters of German 300 courses at a university—with our Oregon charter, they counted each quarter as a year of high school credit and so those 4 quarters took care of her foreign language requirement for graduation. Am I understanding it correctly that a charter in CA couldn’t use those quarters to fulfill the UC A-G requirements?

It wasn’t an official dual-enrollment program though—she just took the classes for fun and they turned out to be a great fit.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

2 hours ago, shinyhappypeople said:

If it's an Inspire school, proceed with caution.  Inspire has many great families and teachers, but they're going to be audited in January (?) 2020 for quite a few financial and other regularities.  If it's not an Inspire school, feel free to disregard this 🙂

 

Oh geez, they’re the ones that seemed the most flexible, just like we used to have. The others seem really restrictive about curricula.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

1 hour ago, Lanny said:

Whatever she did before 9th grade doesn't count. Starting with 9th grade, everything counts and one should not be moving around in High School.

 

What about university classes? The university where my husband taught last year was nearly free for us, she loved the classes and kept taking more and more because they were such a great fit for her. In Oregon, those classes counted even though it was technically her 8th grade year. Is it different in CA? I always assumed those classes would go on her transcript when she applies to college.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

1 minute ago, EKS said:

Maybe someone already mentioned this, but if you are going to pull her midyear, you need to check with the school about what will go on her transcript.  At my son's high school, if you withdraw from a class after the withdrawal period (something like 6 weeks), you get an F in the class.  For this reason, we waited until the end of the semester.

Hmmm, good point! She hasn’t technically finished the semester—they go back for another week or two before they get their grades, and so the school was worried about her leaving now and missing out on getting those grades. I felt the opposite, that maybe it was ok to skip them and just pretend this whole thing never happened (I’d save a bit of money that way too). But, then I’d have to create my own transcript for her from the work they did, and I wouldn’t have her tests and some papers back.

But, I’ll definitely double-check whether there’s any record of her at all if we leave now.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

50 minutes ago, Farrar said:

There are some distinct advantages in CA to going the PSA route when it comes time to apply to college. However, there are some advantages to a charter as well - the money, obviously, and the community in some cases. And depending on her college goals, it may not be confining at all.

Can you help me understand this a bit more? I assumed the charter route would be an advantage when it comes to college. In Oregon, we did whatever program or curricula we wanted, and the charter then turned that work into a class with a grade and gave us a transcript. So, I just assumed that was the way to go here in CA too, especially with the UC system. But, now I’m curious as to the advantages of going the PSA route when it comes time to apply to college?

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

52 minutes ago, shinyhappypeople said:

Homeschooling in Calufornia is SO easy. File your PSA and you're good. It's not "under the radar." It's literally how you homeschool here. 

You can also enroll her in a public school at home PSAH) program (e.g. charter) if you want/need some of the services they offer.

Also, community college tuition is free for high school students, so that's a good fairly cost-effective option.

I've done PSAH (charter) and regular homeschooling and am happy to help with any questions you may have. 

 

 

I’ve got her on the waitlist for one of those PSAH charters. It seems like there’s only one near us (we’re on the central coast) that lets you have full discretion over the curriculum and only meet once/month. The others seem to have all kinds of restrictions on what curricula we use (or are packaged programs).

If the waitlist is short, then our problem is solved. But, I don’t think I can count on it.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

29 minutes ago, EKS said:

My older son homeschooled in 9th and half of 10th, went to a b&m private school for the rest of 10th and half of 11th, left the school in the middle of 11th to homeschool and dual enroll at the CC.  He got into almost every college he applied to (and was waitlisted at the one he didn't get into). 

The younger went to a public high school full time for 9th and the first half of 10th grade.  He then withdrew from selected classes to homeschool.  He has been homeschooled and accessing certain classes at the high school ever since.  We recently found out that he was accepted early action at one of his top choice colleges.

In both cases the decisions to pull them were filled with angst, but looking back on it, they were among the best educational decisions we ever made. 

 

Ok, that’s really good to know!

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

25 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

But as to your other questions about whether to stick it out or jump ship with the private school... JMO, but high school is SUCH a short period of time -- only 8 semesters long -- that I can't imagine wasting yet *another* full semester (for a total of 2 semesters or 1/4th of the total high school "window of opportunity") on an option that is not meeting the student's needs or your goals. If it were me, I'd say goodbye to whatever deposit money I couldn't get back, and move on to options that are a much better fit for the student. Again, that's just me.

 

Yes, that’s exactly how my DD feels! She feels like all the time for the amazing opportunities in high school is slipping away. Maybe I do need to stop worrying about the money and look more at the bigger picture.

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

55 minutes ago, Alicia64 said:

Why do they have over a two hour break anyway??

 

The almost 2 1/2 hour break is just because of the classes she picked. If I were running the school and had a brand new student, I would have said, “ummm, this is what her schedule is going to look like—are you sure you want those classes??” But, we had signed the contract before they would show us her schedule (I remember asking for it but they wouldn’t let me see it until just before classes started). My DD made the best of it, but it was taking a toll on her. The director of the school and the director of the high school were unmoved—they said, “well, our kids have that schedule too and are fine!” 

[WWYD—I shouldn’t have put my freshman in a private school]

I homeschooled my DD through 8th grade (her homeschooling was overseen by a public charter), and I never, ever thought I’d put her in school. But then we had to move to another state for my husband’s job this year, I was worried about re-building a homeschooling community just when she was starting high school, and so I took the easy way out and put her in a private school (albeit, one that was started by classical homeschoolers years ago).

She did one semester, but the school is not a good fit for her at all. She’s used to going at her own pace, the school is small and slow, she feels like she’s falling behind in math and science (their strengths are history and language arts), and she feels like she’s there for a ridiculous number of hours and learns very little. The schedule was kind of killing her too—the school has her in class from 7:30-8:30am, then she has a break from 8:30-10:50am (!!), then class from 10:50-11:50am, then another hour break, then class until 3:30pm. They didn’t warn us about that long morning break when we signed her up—I never would have put her there if I’d known that’s how they do things. And the school costs a fortune for us. Needless to say, she’s begging for me to take her out.

I tried to find a compromise with the school. She’s done 6 classes at the university my husband teaches at, so I asked to just send her half-time to the high school and do math and science at the local university. They’re ok with that, but I still have to pay the full tuition—totally understandable, but we’re not rich and that solution doesn't feel responsible.

We’re in California now, and I’m a bit intimidated by the homeschooling bureaucracy (I’m used to Oregon where it’s laid back). I’ve got her on a waiting list for a public charter that would be very similar to what we had last year, where she can do a few university classes and then they double-check the classes she does with me at home (and we pick that curriculum). But, I haven’t been able to get a sense of when we’ll get off that waiting list and so I can’t count on it for the rest of this school year.

My husband wants her to stick out the rest of the year at the private school. We’d pay a large fee to pull her out of school, and he also feels like she should finish what we started. 

I guess I can also register as my own private homeschool with the state for the rest of this year, but I’m unsure of that solution since she’d have one semester at a private school, one semester at mom school, then hopefully homeschooling through the charter next year, plus classes at 2 different universities. I’m afraid we’d look like people that can’t stick with anything. And it feels like a lot of record-keeping to juggle when getting her ready to apply to college.

So, WWYD? Would you stick it out? Keep her there half-time even though there’s no discount? Pull her out, go rogue and hope the charter opens up? Go through the trouble of registering as a mom-school for just one semester?

[Ivy League Interviews- What to Wear]

I’ve interviewed for an Ivy for over 10 years, and I’ve never seen a kid wear a suit. They do always look neat and tidy. I think it’s more important for the kid to feel relaxed and comfortable than to be wearing something business-like.

 

ETA: It may vary by location—I’m on the West coast, where things are definitely more casual.

[Is there such a thing as too much DE?]

14 minutes ago, Bambam said:

However, at least in TX, I'm noticing that many of the academic merit scholarships now require you maintain 15 credit hours/semester (it has been 12 in the past), so you might want to look at a degree flowchart and figure out how to manage that. 

 

Yes, that’s the kind of thing I need to know before letting her run around the world learning languages! (she’s been saving her pennies for years for this)

[Is there such a thing as too much DE?]

My DD is homeschooled, but she’s at a public charter that oversees the work and gives her a transcript (so, I guess an umbrella school?) The school gives her TONS of credit towards graduation for each college course she takes (e.g. they count one year of 3rd year college German as 3 years of high school foreign language on her transcript, they count 2 years of college math as 4 years of high school math on the transcript, etc). So, her plan is to take as many college classes as she can and blow through the graduation requirements so she can travel, learn lots of languages and do the other things she loves to do (choir, piano, science projects for fun, become an Eagle Scout now that they’ve let girls in BSA, or just hang out on our farm and read books).

 

She’s taking 2 classes now, and she wants to add another 1 or 2 next year (half at a state school where my DH teaches, and half at a community college). The cost is reasonable because we get a big tuition discount at my DH’s school. She’s done very well in the classes so far and adores being on campus.

 

The charter is also flexible about how she fulfills other high school requirements—they will turn the work she does on the Eagle Scout into a health class, a civics class, etc., and more requirements are done. My DH teaches her physics once/week, the charter reviews their syllabus, her notes, homework, quizzes and tests, and that’s another requirement taken care of.

 

Because of all this, she’ll have a LOT of time to travel and have fun. This seems too easy. Am I missing anything? Are there any downsides to this?? I’ve read every DE thread I can find on here, so I know most of these classes won’t count for college credit or get her out of requirements later. My other concern is that her charter won’t give her a weighted GPA, so I think she might have trouble getting into some state schools? (the U.C. system comes to mind—our families are all in CA, but we’re out-of-state and I believe the U.C. schools only weigh AP and IB classes more heavily for out-of-state students?)

 

I don’t post much on here, but I’ve been a major lurker since I think she was 5 years old and have learned so much from you guys!!!!

 

 

 

 

[Alternative/creative science ideas for 9th graders?]

How about a project based experimental design course? If the engineering professor dad could give them some guidance up front, the bulk of the time could be spent on designing experiments, gathering data, interpretation, presenting findings, and so forth.

Ooh, I like that idea!

[Early Modern literature for 9th grade]

One idea might be to start with female writers from that era. My 13-year old and I picked several classics that are analyzed in the Madwoman in the Attic (best literary analysis that I remember from college) and then read them together and discussed them. I usually read the first few chapters out loud, and then she couldn't stand to wait for me and would finish them by herself. lol We used Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Mansfield Park and Frankenstein, but other good ones could be Jane Eyre, Villette, anything by George Elliot, Emily Dickinson, etc..

[Alternative/creative science ideas for 9th graders?]

I need some creative ideas for what to do with a small group of 9th graders who are accelerated in science but aren't old enough for community college courses where we live.

 

One of the parents used a high school curriculum she taught previously, and these kids have been doing that with her for the last 3 years. They covered biology, chemistry, physics, life science, and earth science. It was incredibly rigorous, they've learned an UNBELIVABLE amount from her, but she's not able to continue with them next year (her daughter is headed to school).

 

They're ready for community college courses, but they're not quite old enough this coming year. There are courses at a homeschool charter near us and at a science center, but they are all too simple now that they've done these 3 years with her.

 

Any creative ideas for what to do with them this coming year? 4 girls, all earnest, hard working, accelerated in math too. One of the dads is an engineering professor and could help out, but he has limited time. The other moms are less science-y, so the kids probably need to take much of the lead.

 

Only idea I've come up with is Science Olympiad. They did Destination Imagination this year and it hasn't been all that rigorous, so maybe something like Science Olympiad would be better.

 

Any other ideas?

[Is it common for faculty to review applications?]

ETA: I took my note down because he's in engineering and it sounds like his experience is not the norm.

[Is it common for faculty to review applications?]

...

[If you are familiar with colleges in Oregon...]

My husband is a professor at Portland State. What I like about the school is that people love being in Portland, so the professors are really happy to be here and stick around (rather than leave as soon as they get a more prestigious offer). There are lots of young, dynamic professors, and very little turnover. The campus is really, really urban, but it's not hard to get a place that is leafy and green and still be a quick bike or tram ride to the university--it quickly feels suburban as soon as you go over the bridge to the east side (we have a new bridge that is just for bikes and trams and that goes directly to PSU). Portland is booming, and it's an incredible time to live here. It's also getting more expensive, but it's nowhere near as expensive as most other large U.S. cities.

 

We know a few professors at SOU. Ashland is a FANTASTIC little town. Very very different than PSU--quiet, sleepy, but artsy and outdoorsy. The town is full of retirees from the SF Bay Area, and so there is tremendous support for the arts.

 

I would visit if she can--they are so so different!