Check out the Shakespeare graphic novels on amazon. They have the actual text but pictures to help with understanding. https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Dream-Shakespeare-Graphics/dp/1434234495/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495985081&sr=8-1&keywords=shakespeare+comic

We like The Write Foundation courses. I especially like the way it has them organize their thoughts before writing.There are worksheets that help them do this.

I have nothing to add in terms of the suggestions that have been made here. They are all wonderful and very thoughtful. I just wanted to raise my hand and say here's another mom homeschooling with severe anxiety. You are not alone. :grouphug:

Thank you for all the supportive replies. You all are right - I do need to remember that there are lots of options for after high school. College and minimum wage jobs are not the only two options. My dream has always been to see him in college, but I want him to be happy more. I guess it's time to open that dream up to other options. It really is a major mind shift for me. But above all I want him to have a fulfilling life and it's one he has to live, not me. So he has to make the choices. I know these things in my head, but my heart is having a hard time catching up...

The three of us (DH, son, me) sat down last night (today is the last day to drop) and figured out a plan. DS will drop composition and pre-calculus today. He's gong to limp along and take the C in spanish 2. Monday he looks for a job. After he spends a couple of months working at a minimum wage job he may be ready to take school more seriously.. If not, he'll keep working in the spring semester and take only the two classes he needs to graduate (physics & gov/econ) at home. If he's ready to go back to college, he'll take College Student Success and retake composition and Pre-calc along with physics and gov/econ at home. Our hope is that some time flipping burgers or bagging groceries will help him decide that school is a good option.

We did well with Rainbow Science. It covers two years in middle school and is very rigorous.

I graded writing at this stage, but gently. I gave up to 10 points each for content, mechanics and style. Then we worked together on the issues to improve the writing.

We've recently returned to a curriculum (Tapestry of Grace) that we used to use but had to abandon. Both changes happened mid-year. If you're interested, I wrote a little blog post about the transitions to and from Tapestry. You can read it here. I'm in my 15th year of homeschooling. It happens to all of us.

Have you looked at R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey? R.E.A.L. stands for read, explore, absorb and learn. Also, we liked Great Science Adventures. My blog post has a review of both of them that you might like to read.

The drop date for this school is Nov 9th. DS has a test in pre-calculus on Monday and wants to wait to decide about dropping until he gets the grade back. That will put us on the drop date. We may miss it but we'll see. He spent 2 hours in the tutoring office today so maybe he'll do OK. He got a 75 on the first one. Another 75 would bring his grade up. It's just hard to know what to do... On the upside, we are visiting a university this weekend and it's the one he's most interested in attending. This mom is going to keep her mouth shut and let the school do the talking. I hope... Thanks, Laura

Wow! I didn't even think to check that. I'll get on that right away! Thanks!

Background: He's taking 2 one-year long classes: Government/Economics at home and Intro to Psychology at a homeschool support center. Both are relatively easy. Also, he only needs Gov/Econ, Spanish 2 and Physics to graduate. So this is what we've decided to do about the various issues. College courses: We're keeping him in all three courses. Texas has a six drop limit over the course of his undergraduate career in public higher education. He'll be able to explain bad grades early on better than later on. I want him to have those drops for harder courses that may be coming. Grades Spanish: He's decided to start studying the vocabluary (!) Pre-Calculus: He's started tutoring Composition: He's decided that he's going to turn in even the small assignments.(!) Next Semester: He'll take College Student Success and Intro to Speech at the Community College. Both should be more approachable than what he took this semester. He'll take Physics at home instead of at the college as we had planned though we will have to double up on assignments to get it done in a semester. We'd also planned for him to take Calculus which we've decided against. He's relieved by the schedule for next semester. Motivation: We have a family business (laboratory) and he has a job waiting for him when he is 18 that pays $15/hour. It's doing grunt work but the pay is like nothing most kids will get. We are going to set a GPA that he must meet next semester to get to keep his job at the lab for the summer. If he doesn't make the grade he can go get a job somewhere else. Mom and dad will not be taking him places, paying for gas, paying for ballroom classes, or giving him spending money so he'll want to work. He's already shown a good work ethic where money is involved. Future Plans: We've all agreed to table any decision making about his future for the present. We're letting him focus on getting through this semester (and possibly next) before he tackles that. We are acting as though he will go to college with the full understanding between him and us that he may very well choose not to. Still,he's applying and will likely accept an admission. We'll put down a deposit and secure housing. This will keep the college zealots among the family (me included) happy and buy him some time to figure out what he REALLY wants to do. We may lose deposits but I'm betting he'll eventually choose college. I think he's scared and overwhelmed. Right now he's dealing with 3 college classes, finishing his driver's license, finishing his Eagle Scout, and an upcoming ballroom exhibition. The kid has plenty to stress about. My hope is with the changes we've made, he'll make it through the rest of the semester OK. Not with great grades, but OK. Then we'll all take a breath and figure out where to go from here. FWIW: He is seeing a therapist and she spoke with DH yesterday. My son is discussing these issues with her so at least he has that outlet to help with the stress. Thanks, Laura

First, a big thank you to everyone you answered my post. It feels good to talk to people who understand. I think (guessing here) that the pressure of what to do next year has him overwhelmed. I am basing this on some conversations we've had. So I think some more discussion along the lines of "lots of kids have no idea what they want to do at this point" is warranted. I'll have to discuss some of the options for dealing with the short term issue - grades - with dh. At least now I feel like we have some options to discuss. Thanks so much for the help and support! ETA - I feel bad with such a short reply when you all went to such great lengths to answer my concerns. Rest assured, I have read and re-read every post and am digesting all of your wisdom.

DS17 is a senior this year. He did well on his college entrance exams and has assured admittance to one of his top two college picks. That's where the plan falls apart. He is taking 3 dual credit courses at the local college. Spanish 2, Pre-calculus, and Composition 1. He currently has 2 C's and a D. The reason he has those grades is because he's not turning in assignments and not studying for tests and quizzes. There are things we could do to help and things he can do on his own but the real problem is that he just doesn't care. If he were worried about the grades, I'd feel differently but they don't bother him a bit. We've always assumed he would go to college after high school and he has agreed with that. Now he's saying he doesn't know what he wants to do after high school. He's stressed about the decisions he has to make about next year and I don't know how to help him. Any advice?

My younger son loved the series so much he chooses to read it on his own time and asked for books not on the school reading list. It's been a huge hit at our house.