Barbara H
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Posts posted by Barbara H
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Ideas:
1. I suggest getting in a couple of visits to schools in the area or near any place you are traveling. Even if they aren't the exact schools she is going to consider start to get a the feel for different sizes and types of campuses can be helpful.
2. A couple of good books: Fiske Guide to Colleges and Colleges that Change Lives.
3. College fairs, college websites, and online tours.
4. If you haven't already looked at college costs do so early in the process.
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The College Prep Genius people push this as an alternative. They aren't my favorite source, but I think you can sign up to do this as long as you don't do the PSAT.
If the student is likely to be in National Merit territory, I really wouldn't advise this. I just don't think it is worth the risk and the hassle to try to go through the alternative route.
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Your library may have a PSAT prep book. Here's a link to one.
You may have already tried this, but just a thought... you are close to a public or private school it may be worth stopping by after schools starts to chat with the counselor if you haven't already done so. It is often easier for people to say no on the phone or by email than it is in person.
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There are some skills that carry over for both exams such as - good mechanics, clearly identifying a position and supporting it with arguments and writing an organized essay quickly.
The SAT is a quote response that requires students to be able to find the themes in a quoted passage. The ACT topic is on that tend to be relevant to teens and that can include questions that may refer to features of school or teen life. Some students find they can prepare a range of examples ahead of time that can be to different SAT prompts but that doesn't work well for the ACT. It is also more important on the ACT to acknowledge the counter arguments and provide context.
Here are the score guidelines:
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There are additional hoops in some states. The reality is that a lot of people writing these policies really don't understand homeschooling at all and don't understand the variability in homeschool regulations in different states. It is frustrating.
The often given advice on homeschooling lists is to just check all the colleges where your student will want to apply. The problem is that when you are planning for 9th and 10th grade most students really don't know where they will attend college. By senior year it can be too late to do what you need to in terms of SAT subject tests, graded papers, etc. One little project I've been working on is putting together a collection of college admissions policies for homeschoolers. I hope this collection will serve as a helpful place to get started with your early high school planning until your student knows where they want to apply for college. I also suggest checking with your local options early in high school as well as the majority of students will want some local options on their college list. Remember policies can change from year to year. Also, students who want to receive merit aid and want to be competitive for more selective schools, should plan to do more than the minimum required.
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One thing that surprises many families is that private scholarships (from organizations, foundations, etc.) make up just a very small percent of the money available for college - around just 5%. The bigger money tends to come from merit scholarships and financial aid awards from colleges and from financial aid from the state and federal government.
It can still be a great idea to apply for scholarships especially if your student is able to get major awards (Questbridge, Gates, Coca Cola) or if they can pick up a little money from local sources to help pay for books. But, for the vast majority of students private scholarships don't end up netting very much. Time may be better spent on carefully selecting the colleges they apply to, working hard on essays and applications, and possibly studying to raise test scores.
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I would try not to read too much into it. I've observed little relationship between the enthusiasm for any part of getting ready for college (applications, visiting, essays, shopping) and actually be happy and successful in college. It is a huge transition and kids process stuff in really different ways and so do parents.
Have you offered to go shopping with her? I'm wondering if you just toss out a date - "Are you available next Tuesday, I'd love to take you to Target and lunch at our favorite restaurant."
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Two classes per semester would be just part time so the amount you receive would be less than the maximum Pell Grant. The average Pell award is $3,800 per year, but that includes students who are full time students and thy receive more. So, if you are looking at four to six courses per year, I'd be surprised if it fully meets your tuition cost and leaves extra.
Colleges give students a budget that includes costs like tuition, fees, books, etc. and aid can't exceed that amount. Internet access, office supplies, and computer upgrades are not typical budget expenses. Again though, it is really a pretty rare situation for students to get aid that comes close to covering the budget so exceeding is not a very typical situation.
Hope that helps.
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Most high school and college students don't write in cursive. I read statistics from the College Board that said that just 15% of students write their essays in cursive. If he wants to try it certainly you can offer the option, but personally I would not consider it a big deal if he can't write in cursive at this point. Most teens don't.
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Computer geekery is a huge help and I would encourage him to develop as much depth as he can in that area as an undergraduate. If he decides to go into library science it will improve his job prospects and also make him more likely to be funded as a graduate student. He may want to look more at information science which is related to library science but is more interdisciplinary with more of a tech focus and likely better career options.
Another job that people don't tend to think of but may be of interest to someone with this skill set is book indexer. It is likely not to be as well paid as information science though.
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I would encourage the family to try out a net price calculator and get an estimate of what sort of financial aid they may be eligible for. More money comes in the form of financial aid than it does in merit scholarships anyway.
It is fairly sure that a student with a 12 on the ACT is not college ready. That doesn't reflect meeting even the minimum benchmarks. It may be good to assess if the student has learning disabilities or what is happening there.
The student with the 21 may be college ready. That's around the benchmark and she may do just fine at a community college or regional state university. Some regional state schools will offer "conditional admissions" for students who don't meet the benchmarks for a particular subject like math and then require the student to start with a remedial course. Whatever she decides about college, I'd encourage her to start slow and make sure she's got good advising. She may be a much stronger student than the 21 would indicate or that may reflect that even with hard work she's going to need to start earlier in the sequence in topics such as math.
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It is discouraging for sure and books aren't cheap either. State budgets hit in the recession have passed that along to public schools.
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We got the roller coaster at a yard sale. It was built once or twice they had a lot of fun with it for a day or two but here it wasn't a toy with a lot of replay value. That said, if I could get a good price on it new it might be worth it for the "wow factor" of the gift. I'd say it is only for kids who are good at building and have patience to persist if it doesn't come together easily. So, just for hours played it wouldn't be worth a huge amount here compared to something like regular legos or k'nex - but we tend to not have a lot of limited replay toys so it was something memorable.
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Have you see the Dangerous Book for Boys? Your library probably has it. Maybe he'd find something to inspire him. http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Book-Boys-Conn-Iggulden/dp/0062208977
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Tough situation - not sure if any of these are the answer but there are a few ideas...
1. The majority of schools have a restriction that the last x number of credits need to be from that college. So, yes, he needs to investigate that very carefully before he considers any online course. He should try to talk to an upper level staff person in the registrar's office who is responsible for evaluating credits.
2. Colleges are concerned about their graduation rates and average time to graduation. If he hasn't already done so he should go up the chain beyond the adviser to ask for help. Maybe the department chair or dean can find some flexibility. Some colleges offer the option of departmental credit by examination, but they don't advertise this. Maybe there is a scholarship that can be found or some other option.
3. He may also want to ask about independent study through the college. That wouldn't necessarily be an online course, but with the cooperation of a professor he might be able to complete work on his own while living at home and then submit work through email and phone.
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I think the best way to learn Word and Excel is to have a reason to learn Word and Excel. Just going through tutorials tends to be kind of boring and doesn't lead strong retention. I'd think instead about identifying projects that are of interest to the student that requires the use of Word and Excel. As the student runs into stuff they don't know how to they can consult online videos or a study guide. Most libraries have a variety of guides so you could see what fits their learning style. I like the Teach Yourself Visually series and you can get the used 2007 version for a penny plus shipping. http://www.amazon.co...7/dp/0470045930
Also, it might be worth checking to see if your library or any community center offers classes. Our library offers free courses in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.
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It is not uncommon for students to need their transcript many years after high school. Call your high school and they will be able to explain the process to you. They may even have a form to a link on their website. I recently helped a friend who attended a high school that closed over 30 years ago and we were still able to track down her transcript. I would suggest going ahead and starting this process now just in case it takes a few weeks.
If you have not already done so you may wish to check out the college online and see how much of the student's estimated need they typically meet and how they meet that need (is it through grants or through loans). http://www.collegeboard.org/ Search under the college name, then go to the "paying" tab on the left and then to the menu that says "financial aid by the numbers." Also, you could contact the financial aid office at the college.
One thing I would caution you about is that majority of colleges, particularly with online programs, really don't meet a students full EFC and if they do so it is often with loans rather than grants. Also, you need to budget for books and fees. If you have other schools you wish to apply to but can't afford the admissions fees, you can contact the institution and tell them you have a 0 EFC and ask for a fee waiver.
Hope that helps!
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A few ideas...
I agree with backing off for a bit. Not grading work and less focus on right or wrong answers.
Role modeling - show you can make mistakes and that you accept it in yourself. It can be really helpful to model learning something new so she can see that process in action. Can you think of something you might learn that you've never done before?
Help her learn more about learning. Everyone who is good at anything makes a lot of a lot of mistakes to get there. Work together to set a new way of thinking about graded work. If she can get 100% of something right then there was really no point in doing it - the work was too easy. If she gets 100% wrong - it was clearly too hard. Allow her to grade her own work and then correct any mistakes. Focusing on mastery puts the focus where it should be in learning rather than focusing on getting everything perfect.
Working on alternatives she can choose when she's upset - jumping on a trampoline, running in place, taking a break for a drink of water, etc.
Don't back off everything. Best she keeps getting opportunities (sports, music lessons, baking, etc.) to keep trying new things and finding out that improvement comes with time and effort.
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I was glad to see the change in the prompts because we were ready for something new. I predicted students would gravitate to a few cliches, at least with first drafts and that's exactly what I'm seeing happen. So, I encourage students to get started early and give themselves some time to work change their topic and revise as needed. Here's my two cents on the new Common Application essay topics.
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One purpose of the PSAT is that it acts as the primary qualifier for the National Merit Scholarship. That's really only a consideration though if your student is likely to score extremely high on the exam. So, a first step might be to have him or her take a practice test and home and see how they score. The cutoff for international students is one of the higher cut off numbers. If it seems like it will be in National Merit range, it might be worth contacting the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to tell them of your student's difficulty finding a place to take the exam and to ask about alternative means of qualifying. Sometimes they will allow the substitution of an SAT score if events prevented a student from taking the PSAT junior year. If on a sample test your student doesn't seem like they will be in the ballpark I'd just let it go and focus on the SAT or ACT.
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Did she take full length,paper and pencil practice tests from the College Board? If so and this score was significantly lower, I would think about a retake because she may have just had an off day. The next test date is in October.
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You've gotten lots of good feedback. To me "evening out" seems more like a possibility if gifted learning is just viewed as a matter of speed - getting there first by grasping concepts at a younger age. While the gifted learner likely has that element of speed, that isn't all of it. I would look more at the qualitative difference. Is the student not just learning computation but do you see that on his own he's thinking about math and making mathematical observations? Does he figure out connections and seem to intuitively have a good idea what the next step might be before he is taught. Also look at stuff like observing angles, good with games and puzzles, interest in charts and graphs, figuring out systems for money and telling time, good at estimating and explaining the logic behind the estimate, etc.
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Without knowing more specifics of your situation and your local options, here's a few general ideas:
1. Start working with local mentors. Yes, ideally it would be wonderful to find someone in wildlife rehab, but it doesn't have to be focused that narrowly. As she's still young and hasn't gone that far into high school, she still should have a wide range of options - so for example, it might be a chemistry professor. Mentors provide something a child will never get from online classes or MOOCs and if the mentor is a professor he/she may help transition into college work.
2. Look at the expectations for a rigorous high school curriculum and start on a few and see how it goes. There are PG kids who are really ready intellectually for high school work long before they are ready for the output required by an AP course for example or the emotional maturity necessary to handle criticism.
3. Try to avoid building in deadlines. It is great she wants to move on to challenging work but it doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. Try a little high school and see how it goes. When the time is right audit a college course and see how it goes. Bit by bit evaluate and remain flexible to do what works and leave aside what doesn't.
4. Once she's into high school work try the ACT or SAT if she's not done so already.
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Thanks for that. I want to mention Drexel, AUBURN, and U of Kentucky from that list specifically: Drexel because it seems fairly selective for automatic merit aid of any kind; AUBURN because, well, AUBURN is awesome; and Kentucky because I just drove through western Kentucky last week, and it was gorgeous.
With all of these programs another big thing to consider is what the academic experience will be like for an honors student. Just as an example - I'm not particularly impressed with the general freshman experience for students at the University of Kentucky. Advising isn't great, big classes, and especially for unmotivated kids it can be a not particularly good experience. It is a whole different ballgame for the honors students. They are "big fish" for sure - brand new beautiful honors housing, high quality advising, small seminars, support for undergraduate research, and they have the direct line to mentorships, research support, etc. Same goes at some of these other big university options - Alabama in particular has great offerings for honors students.
For families that are looking for the full ride scholarships I encourage you not to be put off by any general reviews of a college. A motivated student can do great things at any of these schools and if your student doesn't have high financial need, these may end up being your most affordable options by far and a great way to graduate debt-free.
When sensory gets in the way of one thing a child wants to do
in Special Needs Board
Posted
As the coaches say the skill can be worked around it seems to me the major problem right now is more related to needing better coping strategies for being upset. Not when she's melting down, but at another time is she able to be involved in some thinking exercises about this skill?
Just a very rough idea, but what about she fills out a sheet of paper with two columns. Column One: Skills I Have Been Able to Learn Column Two: Skills I have been taught but haven't mastered. Maybe another time she could list things she can do when she is upset about the backbend. It might be something like.... I can: 1. Choose to work on a different skill 2. I can say to myself I've learned 67 skills and this is just one - maybe next time. 3. I can ask my coach for help. 4. I can work on my cartwheels instead. etc. The key is that she sees that she has options other than melting down.
My other thought is to simply try not to make it a big deal and dwell on the possible sensory explanation. "Yeah, lots of kids struggle with how that one feels but they that one but learn it later, either way the coaches say you don't need it right now." Yes, the problem may be sensory based, but personally I would not dwell on that. If it is heavily emphasized that she can't do it for sensory reasons, that may make her less able to nudge herself and do it when she is ready.