Coming back to this thread. :) Totally agree with the above. When I see lists of people from long ago, who were "homeschooled," I don't view it as anything more than people wanting to point out that education can happen in many different ways, and that education occurred long before compulsory schooling was in existence. Compulsory education did not result in the advent of education or learning. I think the point of looking at how others were educated is that it helps us see today that we can pursue learning in many alternative ways. We don't need to go the route of the public school or even the private school. Many people that I encounter honestly think education doesn't happen unless kids are housed in schools as we know them today. Never mind that those schools are of hugely varying qualities. Never mind that some schools are $30,000 plus a year and prepare kids for the Ivy League while others have huge drop-out and illiteracy rates as well as other things like crime and bullying.

Yes, but it's generally viewed negatively to make sweeping generalizations about minority groups, at least publicly. However, with regard to homeschooling, it often seems perfectly acceptable in society to gang up on the minority and act like they are off their rockers. It's pack mentality. And maybe a general lack of critical thinking skills. JMO, of course. :leaving:

An ACT score of 24 is the 74th percentile. Most colleges seem to rely to some extent on test scores for admissions and merit aid. Schooled kids do end up under similar scrutiny even if colleges aren't as openly skeptical about them.

Yes, I think you just need to make one master transcript and include those credits he took at the private and public school on your transcript. I think once you do this and see it all put together nicely, it won't seem confusing at all. :) Look at it this way: When homeschoolers take college classes or other outside classes, those classes appear on the homeschool transcript even though the colleges or outside providers can send transcripts.

:grouphug: It sounds like he will be graduating from your homeschool. Is that the case? If so, I'd do what was suggested already and create a full homeschool transcript for him and have the other transcripts from the sent separately. I also think it's a good idea to know what those transcripts from the schools will look like. If you are graduating him, then you are also accepting those credits (or some of them) he did elsewhere, so they should go on your transcript IMO.

Maybe something at http://education-portal.com/academy/subject/ged-and-high-school.html would work?

In 2009, according to the REA AP Biology Crash Course, a student needed approximately 63% of the scaled points to get a 5 and 54% of the scaled points to earn a 4. http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Course-Online-Advanced-Placement/dp/0738610992 Does anyone know if students were required to have a higher % of scaled points in 2013 than in previous years? That would indicate a harsher curve.

Yes, :hurray: :party: :hurray: to all those who are celebrating acceptances. Also, :grouphug: to those who are still waiting or who have received rejections/deferrals. Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories.

We use both. My daughter took AP US Gov't and Politics last year. This year, she is taking AP English Lit. She will do AP Latin in 12th and possibly more, depending. We also started dual enrollment this year. My daughter completed a science majors biology course last semester at our cc. She loved it. The teacher will be writing her a letter of recommendation, which we are thrilled about. We really wanted to have a teacher from a live class write a letter of recommendation. The grade distribution in my daughter's class was 2 A's out of 25 students. The class average was a C. So, no grade inflation apparently. In our local high school, I think there is a lot more grade inflation going on. The class was a lot of work, and my daughter learned so much. No way could she have gotten by with minimal studying. Our cc has some excellent profs. There are also some who get poor reviews, so be careful. We have discovered classes with good profs fill quickly, like within minutes of registration opening. It takes some doing to make sure you can get into a class you want, not one of the positives of dual enrollment.

I really wouldn't worry about an 8th grade biology course being rigorous enough for a future STEM major. I think an introductory biology course would be fine, and you can then have your child take biology dual enrolled if he is interested. :) The question in our house wasn't just what was the most rigorous science curriculum, the question also was, what can we manage to do well at home? If you have the opportunity to use a university-model school where he could do science in a classroom environment, perhaps he would really love that. Plenty of people have used those texts as high school level courses without any issue. From what I recall, I believe creekland might have used Apologia science, at least for introductory courses, for her son, who is now a science major at U or Rochester. My daughter used Apologia for Biology, supplemented with parts of Exploring the Way Life Works. We used Derek Owens for Physics and Abeka for Chemistry. I had emailed with a homeschool mom whose son used Abeka for Physics and Chemistry and did well on the subject exams--well over 700. She felt using Abeka made science at home manageable for her child. I agree with this. We are not interested in tackling a dense 800-1000 page text on our own, especially not in 8th, 9th, or 10th grade. My daughter completed a science majors Biology last semester at our cc, got one of 2 A's in a class of 25, and had not had any biology other than Apologia with some supplementation, mainly on evolution. We were also happy doing an introductory biology before physics and chemistry. Best wishes. :)

She was not homeschooled prior to being kidnapped according to this article: http://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-smart-17176406 "She attended Bryant Intermediate School, where she was known as an intelligent and diligent student."

Thanks for sharing this!:)

I don't think it's that simple. I would think that 37% minority figure includes Asians, and I'm sure we've all heard Asians might actually have a harder time getting an acceptance, not an easier time. Just because someone has a lower test score doesn't necessarily mean they are less academically capable. Also, not every child has access to an education that will cultivate top % scores. For example, when an African-American child grows up in the inner city where drugs, crime, and gangs might be common, or a child grows up in Appalachia in extreme poverty, and can manage to get a certain level score on his/her SATs, I think that says something to a college. Children who don't have advantages should not necessarily be compared to children with multiple advantages. As for athletics, I don't view athletics any differently than any other extracurricular pursuit. Certain colleges seem to want to know what kind of person you are and how you are going to contribute to their community. They look beyond test scores when almost everyone will have the high test scores in the first place.

Sorry! Double post.

I saw American Hustle and loved it. I figured it would get a lot of Oscar nominations.

What is HE interested in? Maybe his interests and passions lie outside of academics. Give him a good education. Let him pursue his interests. Focus on relationship. Meet him where he is. I think your co-op plan sounds good. Just because someone CAN do something, doesn't mean they should. We've all heard of doctors, CEO's, etc. who end up moving to some tropical locale and selling surfboards. Sometimes challenge is good but sometimes low-key and laid back can be good, too. Best wishes! :)

Here is a link to a non majors college level biology textbook that is manageable and pretty engaging. We used parts of this. http://dieterleclassroom.wikispaces.com/Exploring+the+Way+Life+Works There also used to be audio of this available somewhere online. I couldn't locate it right now. Or take a look at education-portal.com. They might have biology lectures your son could listen to to add to what you are doing. HTH a little.

My daughter did not like the online Cengage text at all last year. She did not find it all that helpful. I have a hardcopy of the Cengage text if you are interested as my daughter much preferred reading that. As well, we have the Wilson textbook they will use later in the year, which is really good. My daughter relied heavily on the REA Crash Course prep book, 5 Steps to a 5 and the free response questions in preparing for the exam. She got a 5. If you have any questions, just send me a pm.

Here is what author Michele Hernandez, in A is for Admission, says about test scores: "So, what colleges are saying, in effect, is the SAT counts for everyone ​so long as you're not one of the 40 percent who fall into special categories, in which case they'll overlook them, but then in order to keep the class average high, virtually the entire 60 percent remaining in the class has to have super-high SAT scores to bring up the average." Michele Hernandez goes on to quote Peter Schmidt, author of Color and Money: How Rich White Kids are Winning the War over College Affirmative Action, who says most kids who resort to pulling strings do so because they have "failed to make a decent showing in a game systematically rigged in their favor." Michele Hernadez also writes: "If you can read and write well, the rest will follow. Those who are gifted in math but are weak readers and writers will ultimately stand a lesser chance of acceptance to a top college (unless they apply to very technologically oriented colleges such as Cal Tech and MIT), since it is far more typical to see a strong math/science student than to see a standout humanities student." She goes on to say, "A love of learning and reading is almost always instilled in students in the home, not in school." She points out that children who score an 800 on the critical reading section are usually life-long readers. It isn't something they can work on in a short time and achieve. A few days ago, I read a section on college admissions in a local magazine on parenting teens. One piece of advice given (and I have read/heard this before) was that extracurriculars are only important to a few schools. What matters most, in order of importance--grades, rigor of curriculum, and scores on the SAT or ACT.

To me, aiming for top tier means you have no guarantees. That said, Muttichen has a great point. Doing the things her kids did seemed to be a way to significantly increase the odds of acceptance, and like Muttichen said, her kids have all been accepted to the Ivy League so far. Of course, doing the things Muttichen listed would be no small feat IMO. How many kids win international competitions? With regard to some colleges/universities using stats almost exclusively or appearing to do so, it seems they are really mostly interested in academic credentials, and that's where they mainly look. Get this score, and we will probably give you this $. However, top schools want to see those high stats, too, in most cases. Once you have that, they then want to see what else you have. I would think it is very tough for someone to break into the Ivy League (or comparable schools) with less than stellar scores/academic credentials unless you have some other major hook going for you. Being a wonderful smart productive kid probably isn't enough most of the time--or that's how it seems to me. I've repeatedly said to my kids there is no perfect fit school, and goals can be achieved in a wide variety of ways. :)

I think your homeschool lifestyle sounds fabulous. :) As for science, you can write a course description that explains what you are doing. You are not just doing the McHenry stuff. You are doing ongoing nature studies, too. You might not even need course descriptions. I have a book on homeschooling called, "Homeschooling: A Family's Journey," and I recommend reading it if you can. From what I recall, they used The Teaching Company's Joy of Science as a spine for high school science studies. It's been a while since I read the book, but I do recall them saying something like this. Their daughters were accepted to traditional 4-year colleges from what I recall. In fact, I think one went to Brown. IMO there is nothing wrong with having a plan to start at cc. In one of the college board threads recently (the one about whether you need a reach school) someone posted something along the lines of, "Why reach for something you don't even want?" Excellent point. If your daughter is going to meet the entrance requirements for cc, then I wouldn't worry about a thing. I think it's great that you are trying to keep things low stress and enjoyable. You are inspiring. :) Protecting yours and your children's health is the most important thing. I don't believe that the type of schooling children get is the determining factor in whether children grow up to be responsible/irresponsible adults.

If a school makes a referral, a children's services agency is required to investigate that referral within a certain period of time (maybe 24 hours?). Maybe that did not happen in this particular case. If not, someone dropped the ball, that someone probably being the children's services agency. A school is a mandatory reporter. If they are notified a child has been pulled out after they've made a referral, I would think they should be making another referral. Who knows if they did that? What happens when a family relocates--possibly leaving the state? I know children are vulnerable. They're vulnerable before they are at the compulsory school age. We aren't going to have parents submit to background checks upon the birth of a child, are we? How are we going to address sexual victimization of children or other forms of victimization that don't leave visible marks? Some children belong to communities that follow the Train up a Child mentality. I would think they often have their own schools or could create them. Who's going to check up on them? With regard to the comments about the inappropriateness of female children receiving a limited education, just as an FYI for those who might not know this, the Amish are foster parents, and they adopt female children with the state's blessing. Homeschooling is allowed only if it is in the child's best interests as determined by an administrative agency?! Ms. Cafaro is seeking attention all right. For herself.

I am not Sebastian, but my daughter studies Latin with Lukeion and takes German online with Rolling Acres. In our house, studying two languages is a big time commitment. Latin 3 is more work than 1 and 2 were. My daughter loves Latin and Lukeion, so for her, it is worth it. My daughter plans to take AP Latin next year and possibly pursue classics to some extent in college, though she is also interested in sciences. If my child had minimal interest in Latin, I would not have her in the class she is in. I would allow her to study whatever language she wanted. If she did not enjoy studying foreign languages, I would choose to cover the subject with a no frills check the box program. As for Rosetta Stone, whether it will work to place you out of college foreign language requirements or not, I have no clue, but I have heard of others using it for high school credit and the sky did not fall in. If you feel your son's load is too heavy for him, you are probably right. You know him best. ETA: With regard to the English: I do know that Seton (an accredited Catholic homeschool distance program) gives multiple English credits in a year. For example, 9th grade has two credits, one is English 9 and one is Grammar and Composition. Additionally, they have an optional vocabulary course that is a half credit. In 10th grade, kids have English 10 and there is an optional course called World Literature, one credit each. For 11th grade, kids have English 11 and are required to take American Literature, also one credit each. In 12th grade, there is English 12 and there is also an opportunity to take a Shakespeare elective that is a half credit. I've also looked at course descriptions at a variety of schools, including top tier private schools. Some also offer the opportunity for students to take lit electives in addition to the standard English course each year. I don't think there are hard and fast rules. Do what works for you. :)

:cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :cursing: I can't believe the parents went along with this. :confused1: The article says, "Court officials said the teen has been a “model†resident in juvenile detention. They also described him as likeable, intelligent and outgoing." Not related to this, but Mentor High School was in the national news a few years back. Several parents were suing the school over their kids having been bullied and having committed suicide. They alleged Mentor High refused to address the bullying from what I recall.

Just saw this thread. I posted some of this in another thread, but I will post our experience here, too. My 11th grade daughter tested this past Saturday. She tested at the same school last year and all went okay. This year, however, her proctor didn't do things properly. There was a large clock at the front of the room but it did not match the start and stop times written on the board. No warnings were called out to notify kids about how much time was left--I noticed this is required if they are not going by a visible clock on the wall. My daughter discovered this discrepancy between the wall clock and the listed times on the board at the end of the first section when time was called and she thought there should have been 4 minutes or so left. After that, she used her own watch to write down her start and stop times. The proctor didn't close the door and they could hear stuff from the other rooms. She also sat reading or playing on her I Pad at the front of the room the whole time. :( I was very frustrated about this yesterday because my daughter was relying on the wall clock and what was written on the board to pace herself. She had two CR questions left at the end she didn't finish as a result on that first section. My daughter also felt that the proctor might have used one clock to start the time but then another (the one on her I Pad) to end the time. She felt that the time was short for some reason but couldn't pinpoint why. She has never had an issue completing a CR section on time. I did notify the guidance counselor via email yesterday about this because I think the school should know the proctor was not handling things properly. Please talk to your kids ahead of time about stuff like this.