Entropymama
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Posts posted by Entropymama
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Also, even though he has not yet found an outside area of interest I would encourage him to join some sort of youth group or club. As shinyhappypeople mentioned there are usually options out there that don't cost much.
Re: this and your other post - he does go to youth group and volunteers at church doing tech for the children's church.
Some of my anxiety, I think, comes from the recent meeting we had at the high school about college admissions and how students need AP and CLEP and clubs and community service and extracurriculars and and and ...
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My first question would be since you put them in school just 18 months ago, then switched schools after one year, and are now pulling them all out mid year from the second school, whether the issues that caused you to put them in school, move schools, then pull them out of school again are being addressed? And how does he feel? Does he want to homeschool? Is he struggling in his current school? Was he struggling in some way in the previous school? How did he do when he was homeschooling before?
Can you homeschool high school on a budget? Yes. Absolutely it can be done. Others have done it.
It can take work, though. It can take a lot of work to meet your child's needs with or without limited financial resources. High school is absolutely doable. You need to be prepared to be involved, though. Truly involved. It isn't the same as being involved in the elementary grades but High School requires involvement in a different but sometimes even more intense way.
Since he is the oldest you are going to need to focus more of your energies his direction. Do the two of you have a good relationship academically? Is he excited about returning to homeschooling? Are you?
*So that the rest makes more sense: I have six kids - one in 10th grade at the PS HS, 8th, 6th, 3rd, 1st and a three year old.
This is a good question. We put them in school because I was dealing with depression and anxiety after a slew of trauma (the low point being the death of my dad) and I needed to refocus. I found it difficult to meet all their needs at the time. We put them in a classical school, which we loved but they found possibly too challenging. My middle school kids struggled with self esteem over their grades, which were solid Bs and Cs, but still. The school, however, was almost an hour away. While I didn't mind the drive so much, they couldn't participate in clubs and sports and after school stuff because I couldn't drive up to pick up some kids at three and again at five.
This fall we switched to a brand new charter school very close to us. It's small and the distance is great; the education is fair to middling. I would be okay with the average academics if there was another draw, but the sport program they promised has turned into a 'for fun' basketball team coached by a couple PAs, there is no music program whatever, despite promises, there are no clubs, no honors classes, no art for middle school. The school also seems to be a magnet for kids who either had disciplinary problems in other schools, or were held back and didn't want to repeat at the same school, or who had trouble fitting in. There have been several fights, and my kids come home with stories of class times being eaten up by the teacher dealing with back talking and disrespect.
It's not a *bad* school, or so bad that it's imperative to remove them, and if I had no other options or wasn't interested in or capable of homeschooling, I'd probably just leave them. But I do have interest and I am capable, and knowing how great homeschooling can be I think they'd be better off academically and socially (as far as influences go) back home.
For the 7th, 3rd and 1st graders I have confidence it's the right move. But for the 8th grader, I'm not sure. He gets good grades, he likes it okay. It's not like he hates school or is being bullied or is desperate for a change.
Having a child in PS HS, I know what I'm in for there. The environment is not great, and the teachers are hit and miss, but she has been able to take French and ceramics and photography and be on the tennis team and find her tribe, and these are all benefits. The academics are not fantastic, but I think they'll get her where she wants to go. I'm not happy with some of the attitudes and mannerisms she's picked up.
So I'm trying to balance the benefits of homeschooling vs. the benefits of public school, while considering that I may not have the time and resources to reproduce the public school (which may or may not be a bad thing?)
Of course this will come down to personal choice; I'm really looking for information or stories from people who have done the high school thing on a budget to see if it's a choice worth pursuing. I don't want to pull him and then regret it come sophomore year because I can't provide what he needs.
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A brief backstory - we homeschooled our kids for years, then 18 months ago put them all in school. We are now pulling them out and going back to homeschooling but I have some concerns about my oldest, who is in 8th grade. I'd like to homeschool for high school, and that was always my plan before putting them in school, but a number of things are making me reconsider.
The primary issue is finances. We have very limited resources to work with. The major benefit of sending the kids to school is that they get to benefit from the resources of the state. Is it possible to do high school without spending a good deal of money? Music lessons, foreign language, tutors, online classes, sports ... If we could afford to do all these things, I would be happy to, but I wonder if the resources offered by the public school are worth pursuing.
I'm also a little worried about his social life. He was homeschooled k-6th, went to a classical charter for 7th, went to a regular progressive charter for the first half of 8th, then will be coming home again. It's a lot of change. He never really made friends at school, at least not the kind he meets up with outside of school hours, so I'm not so concerned with his losing his tribe, but with his never finding one. He has a few close friends that he's met outside of school. He is a typical 14 year old boy, no strong hobbies or interests that he could find a club for, not particularly athletic although he enjoys sport, above average intelligence but not top tier. He is a bit of an introvert and doesn't make friends easily, although he gets along with everyone. I'm worried about isolation during the teen years.
Also, AP classes? How do you do those at home? How do you guarantee rigor to prep for college?
I'm slowly going through back threads about these, but I'd love some advice from anyone who is in a similar situation.
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Somehow it seems that CPS has both too much and too little power. Too much, as in they can investigate anyone for anything, causing normal, healthy families to panic and have their reputations tarnished. As an example - I had a neighbor, years ago, who's kindergarten aged son told a neighbor kid that boys had (boy parts) and girls had (girl parts) using their anatomically correct names. Neighbor child's mother freaked out and called CPS and they came and did an investigation. Insane. The family was terrified that their kids would be taken away, curtailed their activities, lived in a state of panic for some time. Annual checks continued for a couple of years, but we've lost touch so I'm not sure what ever happened.
On the other hand, we see case after case of children who are horribly abused and sometimes die, even though CPS was involved and had been investigating.
The whole system seems broken.
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In terms of employment, I think employers are partly concerned with the impression given to customers, but maybe moreso with the thought process that goes behind the decision to tattoo something on your face. I think it signals either a lack of forethought or a rebellious attitude. Neither of these may be correct, but I think there's a correlation in people's minds.
And I do think tasteful, small, artistic tattoos are very different from large, distracting or offensive tattoos. ETA: On the face, to an employer. Not making any statements about tattoos in general.
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Agreeing with taking a break, of sorts. Do you know what curricula you are going to use? I would do any placement tests and such after at least a 2 weeks period of fun family time.
Depending on your kids' ages, I'd ask for their visions of what homeschooling could be--esp if they are older, what do they most enjoy, describe your perfect day, etc. Not that you need to incorporate
all they say, but just having some buy in might be nice for both of you.
I never started in the middle, but I did take a year off and then homeschool the next year. Unfortunately, that was our last year, but it helped that I changed up the schoolroom, talked about it with dd (she was only in 4th grade), and really thought about what worked and what didn't the last time--and tried to be realistic and not look at it with rose-colored glasses.
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I really like this idea. Thanks!
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Ooh, deschooling. I've read about it and now I get to try it.
Ages and grades: DS, 14, 8th grade, DD, 12, 7th grade, DS, 9, 3rd grade, DS, 7, 1st grade. I do have a daughter who is a sophomore in high school who is staying in public, and a three year old.
Sending them to school was a hard decision and was primarily because I was struggling with some mental and emotional health issues and needed to focus on me for a bit. It was getting overwhelming. We were able to send them to a Classical charter school the first year, which we loved, but which was almost an hour away. This year we put them in a local charter school that hasn't met our expectations. Part if it is that it's a new school and there are bumps along the way, but part of it is that it's a traditional, progressive public school and I seriously can't handle any more 'experimental spelling' and fights in the hallways. And I'm doing much better and feel ready to take it on again.
My main concern right now is that all the clubs and groups are full. It's going to be hard to find a place for them in the homeschooling community - although we still know a lot of people. Also, figuring out curriculum for the older kids. It's going to be a process, but I'm so happy to be bringing them home.
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After an 18 month stint in charter schools, we're pulling the kids and going back to homeschooling!
:party:
It's been a journey, but I'm getting really excited to be going back. I've missed these boards so much.
Also, any advice on starting midyear would be much appreciated. Even though this will be our 10th year of homeschooling, I've never started in the middle.
It's good to be back.
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As far as the green urine...B vitamins can cause that, so if she is taking B vitamin supplements, it is a likely cause.
This is not something we had considered - thank you!
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She's been in, several times. Mono and strep have been negative but on today's blood draw they're doing a more accurate (?) Epstein Barr panel so maybe that's still it. We are also doing a metabolic screen and testing for celiac, although I think that's a long shot.
Thanks for the link, I'll dive into that as soon as I get a chance!
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My poor dd has been sick for six weeks. It started as strep and was treated with amoxicillin. After four days she broke out in a full body rash (blotchy, not raised, pink). It was assumed this was a reaction to the medication so we switch her to azithromycin (z-pack) which she completed. The rash went away but her headache, stomachache and fatigue have continued. She has no fever, has been eating and drinking fine (she doesn't want to but is good about making herself eat). She's getting worse in the last few days and now has yellow stools and yellow/greenish urine.
It's not strep, we tested. It's not mono, we tested. Blood panel is clear, no white blood cell issues.
We're at a loss.
Any ideas?
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Hey strangers!
I'm in the midst of writing my first ebook, a devotional on Deut. 6:4-9. Pretty exciting. Although it's not a scholarly work by any means, I do use a lot of outside material for research and information. I've got a bibliography, but do I need to cite certain things with superscript? I thought I'd pop in here and ask all you smart people.
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THANK YOU!! :hurray: :hurray:
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Help! I'm teaching this to my co-op class tomorrow and I've lost my activity guide! I've got a new one on order, and the kids already have their workbook pages, I just need the directions to the map. Anybody have them?
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I know, it looks like the subject line of a spam email! But that's really and truly the acronym for my daughter's high school. :lol: :lol:
T - Time
E - Effort
A - Academic Support
I had to share. I even have a picture but I can't figure out how to put it in my post.
All my kids are in school this year and I miss you guys!
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I haven't read the whole thread, so apologies if this has been stated.
I'm strongly considering voting for a third candidate in this election, not because I think that person will actually get elected, but because I'm hoping that we can get some momentum behind the idea that there can be more than two (potentially electable) candidates on a ticket. I'm hoping that my vote will influence others who might vote third-party in the next election, which will embolden more to do the same in the one after that, etc. It's not really even about a particular third party getting on the ballot, but about garnering confidence in the public to break the two-party tradition.
Or maybe that's all just wishful thinking.
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South of Minneapolis - one or two for around $400,000, the rest were upwards of 1 million.
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BLM local groups actually do talk about all police shootings, regardless of race of the individual. Just because YOU don't hear it, doesn't mean it isn't talked about further. Do you go to meetings? Do you protest? Do you lobby representatives for change? But then again, it shows who really is part of this social justice case and pays attention.
Yes and no. It's true that further involvement would mean more information, but her point was that the black lives lost have been (recently) highly publicized, but not the white lives lost. I think she's wondering at that. I wonder, too. Although I don't think the fact that white people also get shot makes these incidents more acceptable or less racist. (I'd be happy to be proven wrong and admit that I'm being prejudiced, but I believe that if it had been my, 30-something, white husband pulled over, he wouldn't have been shot.)
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And why isn't anyone talking about this police shooting of an unarmed man in Fresno California that happened just a month ago?
Susan in TX
From that article: "Deadly force could be deemed justified if the officers feared for their lives because Noble made repeated furtive movements, refused to show his hands and refused to follow commands, Heal said."
I find this highly disturbing. He was shot because he moved his hand toward his waistband? All it takes are 'furtive movements' for justifiable homicide? If this is accurate, then I think we're all in danger.
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The girlfriend having the presence of mind to livestream that video was completely brilliant. And impressive. If she hadn't had the presence of mind to videotape that cop having a meltdown, he never would have been found guilty.
Are we still talking about Minnesota? He hasn't been found guilty yet.
I live in Minnesota and I'm appalled. I know the facts aren't all in, but if what we've heard so far is true I can't imagine that officer not going to prison. If he were a civilian there would be no question. Which, I suppose, is at the heart of the issue.
FTR, I was a police dispatcher years ago and the culture seems to have changed significantly. We had four officers shot and killed during the time I worked there. Only two suspects. It was much more accepted by the officers that their job was dangerous and they might be shot. It was a risk they took knowingly. It seems that now that has changed to 'save yourself if you feel threatened'. I may be wrong, since I'm no longer on the inside, but that's my take.
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There's not much I can do, but I happen to have quite a bit of unused curriculum sitting in my garage. Do you know what they use? If I have any I'd be happy to send it.
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I don't think I've ever used the word 'barbecue' as a noun.
ETA: Because I can't grammar today.
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From the article:
"The increased police involvement follows a May 25 meeting among the Collingswood Police Department, school officials, and representatives from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, where school officials and police both said they were told to report to police any incidents that could be considered criminal."
But even if what this child said was racist (and it sounds like it wasn't), that's not illegal, is it? I can call you a racist name and I would be wrong and offensive, but I wouldn't get arrested. Or am I wrong?
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We went car shopping last week and saw two Honda Odysseys that were later model (2009-2010, I can't remember exactly) and had about 70,000-85,000 miles. Nice, with leather and all the upgrades for about $8,000 each.
We loved our Grand Caravan - lots and lots of storage space. We replaced it with a VW Routan, and I would advise staying away from them. Repairs are ridiculous because of the way it's put together.
Remember after school tv viewing?
in The Chat Board
Posted
PBS did a remake of Electric Company. It's fantastic.