Great news!!!! :party: Ds#1 made it through his first semester of college. This is the boy who barely made it through homeschooling 9th and 10th grades and then failed 11th grade twice. Dropped out mid year and took his GED a few weeks after he turned 18. He took 5 classes: DC Electricity, Electronics Drafting, College Algebra, Speech, and First Year Experience. Don't know his end grades yet but, he thinks he got all A's. Speech was an 89% or so going into his final speech. He thinks he did well on the speech. There were a few times his autism issues were a bit challenging but he muddled through. Next semester he will be taking: AC Electricity, Electronic Devices, C++ programming (I think this is it). Not sure what else. He was to take Trigonometry... but the course got cancelled. But he may get to take it as an independent study. He needs it to take calculus in fall. The math issue really makes me mad though. He took College Algebra in fall and planned to do Trig next. His degree program calls for tech math but he wants to transfer with associates degree to a university. So he wants to do calculus and physics (calc based) at the community college. He didn't take pre-calculus in fall because it wouldn't fit into his schedule (well my driving schedule- he doesn't have a license yet). If he can't take the trig as independent study and be able to do calculus in fall... I think we will have him transfer in fall. We pay out of county resident tuition. He already paid 3 credit hours for college algebra and was to do 3 credits for trig. Now they want him to take pre-calculus... where he already completed half of the course. What is also frustrating is that to fit a schedule that I can drive him... he had to get special permission to take his labs for AC Electricity and Electronics Drafting overlapping a bit and needed to skip one day a week of his trigonometry class to go to these labs. He got the approval with all three of his instructors and the department heads. Then the trig class gets cancelled! Ugh... it took so much time and effort on Ds#1 part to get this done. Wasn't easy with his autism issues, but he did it and then this happens. His advisor is going to request Ds do the trig as independent study. So hopefully this can get done. I am just so darn proud of Ds#1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :hurray:

From all these posts... my Dd was very lucky!!!! She didn't get in to the USNA, but she got accepted to NAPS (Naval Academy Prep School) and will go on to Naval Academy next year. She barely got her USNA application in by the deadline and only got the Presidential Nomination (I think she submitted application in December of 2012). She didn't know much about what she was going to do, and at first thought she couldn't be considered due to being a homeschooler. She was actually looking into joining the enlisted Marines and they told her to apply for USMC Platoon Leadership Officer program and USNA. Her SATs weren't totally awesome but were still good. But she was very well rounded and did awesome in all other areas. High school she did in three years and had a GPA of 3.9 on a 4.0. Got her PA homeschool diploma with honors. Last year in high school she did a social work internship at a youth program. She took a break for Fall semester after her graduation and worked two part time jobs. Attended community college for Spring semester of 2013 and did very well there. Did Civil Air Patrol for two years. Martial Arts was a big thing... she studied Kung Fu since she was in 5th grade, Earned black sash by age 14 and became the youngest assistant instructor for her martial arts school. She competed in many tournaments (and won-LOL), including one year for AAU Jr. Olympics. She volunteered at local Ronald McDonald House for last year before going to NAPS. She didn't even consider the USNA until after she graduated high school.

We have a 7th grader and a 9th grader in public school. We homeschooled our twins for high school (well one completed our home school, the other did two years of home school, failed two years of cyber-school, then took his GED. My concern now is the younger two. I wish we could home school them, but that isn't an option. They are in public school and I feel that they are not being challenged or prepared for college. They are bored and lazy in their schooling. They are doing well as far as their scores are in school but I know there are gaps as well as they are not really truly learning much. I am not sure how to fill in the gaps and whatever I do, I need to minimize the torture for my sons as well as for me-LOL. These two are very challenging in that they really fight hard to avoid doing anything that takes effort. I would love to hear of any one's experience in after schooling their middle/high school children.

He's handling it well. His professors and the student services is helping. He just needs to be told or shown what and how to do things and then he is fine. With the applications, registering for classes, seeing the campus for the first time, etc., it was all new and he needed to be shown once and then he is good to go. After he is shown, then he has a sort of template to follow. Makes sense? It is mainly to do with his autism. But now he is already an old pro at college-LOL.

This sucks!!!! Just kick on the military. The politicians just don't care!

From what I hear they are short with the civilians gone too. But Dd says that their Gunnery Sergeants and Chiefs in charge of their battalion are keeping the candidates busy (and the Gunnerys/Chiefs are having a blast) -LOL. She says they are working hard but there is some stress relief fun too.

My Dd is at the Naval Academy Prep School and unfortunately all their instructors are civilians. No upper classmen to go to for assistance in the academics. They still go to class, just no instructors.

For my Dd, I had to do very little. She was very motivated and independent. I only helped when she asked for it. She did the applications, scheduled interviews and physical, request the Presidential nomination/Senator nominations for the Naval Academy. She handled it all. For my Ds1, I had to basically do all of it. He just couldn't handle it. It was too overwhelming to him. Some of the time I had to fill out the forms, etc while he sat with me. Some of the time I was able to have him fill out the forms with me supervising/guiding. I went with him to registration and made sure what needed to get done got done. We went together to his guidance counselor to deal with his ADA accommodations. Usually all I had to do was tell him what needed to be done/what to ask about, and then have him follow through with me nearby in case he got confused or forgot to do/ask something. No way could he have done it on his own. But through out it all, he was right there with me.

LOL, sounds like something my Dd would pull. She is planning to go skydiving once she gets medical clearance. Glad the military covers her medical expenses now :gnorsi: .

Wow, great to hear how everyone is doing!! I have been absent from the boards but hope to get back here more often. Ds#1 is doing well in his first semester. He started at a CC that is about 30 minutes from home (nearest one). Unfortunately he still doesn't have a drivers license... but finally got his permit!!! He is taking Speech, College Algebra, DC Electricity, Electronics Drafting, and First Year Experience. I have the honor of driving him to school and back. According to him, he is acing all but speech (still doing well, just not acing). He has his accommodations for his autism/ADHD issues so that helps. Only took him 3 weeks to get the accommodations letter to his speech instructor :closedeyes:. Considering he only completed two years of high school (homeschooled) and then failed two years (cyber schooled), nearly aced the GED, he is doing way better than I imagined! :thumbup1:. He only talks to one or two other students, He did say there are a few cute girls in some of his classes, he just won't talk to them :tongue_smilie:. Dd technically isn't a college student :D . She did very well in her first semester at CC (spring semester last year) and is now at the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, RI. She is struggling a bit with physics. In chemistry, math, and English she is doing very well. She has adjusted well to the military way of life and gets along with her roommate and pod-mates. She says Dh and I lied about Navy food being the best military food :001_tt2: . She isn't getting enough sleep, but she is making do with lots of coffee. She had some minor issues with shin splints during the first 3 weeks (indoctrination). Since she didn't get the best score for the run (all other areas of physical fitness she maxed out), she joined the cross country team. She went from running 2-3 miles to 8++ miles daily. After two weeks of that, her shin splints became stress fractures in both legs. No running or marching for 8 weeks... she is not happy!!!!!!! She isn't allowed to do her martial arts either. She still has 4 more weeks to go before she can run, etc. I don't know if we will still be going due to the government shut down... but Columbus weekend we are to go to parent/family weekend. Right now all the instructors and tutors are not working (furloughed) and that really is bad!!! She is very worried about passing her physics. If this goes on long... it is going to really hurt their scores. The candidates are expected to continue with their studies and learn it on their own during this time. Supposedly, once the instructors return they are to continue from where they are scheduled to be at... regardless to how long the instructors have been gone. I do not know what will happen once the shut down ends, but I hope the instructors will be able to allow the candidate to catch up to where they should be at.

My Dd does not have foreign language and she has been accepted to Penn State.

Also, another option for Marines... is the PLC program. Platoon Leadership Class. My Dd was going to do this until she got her NAPS appointment. The basics: Once accepted into program a contract is done... even to be a pilot is guaranteed if qualified. Attend college freshman year, attend 6 week OCS over summer, attend college sophmore/junior year, attend 6 week OCS over summer, attend college senior year, graduate college. Go into Marines as an officer and on to basic school and then career training field. While attending college, no other obligations required (no ROTC classes, so can do music band program). After the first OCS summer, military tuition assistance is available. But rest of your college is financed by the usual methonds. Heads up... a enlistment recruiter may not know specifics about this program. We were initially given wrong information but thankfully the local enlisted recruiter wanted to double check his information and corrected himself. The officer recruiter should be know about PLC. Good luck.

My daughter has been accepted to Naval Academy Prep School (and then on to Naval Academy the next year). She homeschooled and didn't do any sports other than Kung Fu. She would have gotten into the NA this year except her SAT scores were only "average" (1750). She is in the Civil Air Patrol (that really helps!!!!!!) and she competed nationally in martial arts. She studied music (plays classical guitar, electric guitar, drums, piano, and clarinet) mostly for fun. She loves music and loves to perform but that is not her career goal anymore (she did have dreams of being a professional heavy metal rock guitarist/drummer in a band). In our experience, sports is not required nor not participating in one a hindrance to attending Naval Academy.. I don't know about any of the other service academies. But I think it is important to show physical fitness. My Dd did very well on the physical fitness (although she didn't get perfect for basketball throw). She showed leadership ability from being in Civil Air Patrol and as an assistant Kung Fu instructor for several years. She also did a 3 month internship at a youth center last summer. Hope that helps answer your questions.

I have some great news!! My DD has been accepted to attend the Naval Academy Prep School for 2013/2014 school year and then on to the Naval Academy!!!!!! She is so excited. She will major in aeronautical engineering at Naval Academy. She plans to be a pilot and a Marital Arts instructor in the Marines. It wasn't an easy application process but it wasn't horrible either. Since we didn't qualify for grants for her... this is a blessing. She starts July 24th. Right now in community college, she is getting 4 A's and 1 B. One question: She is currently taking English 101, College Algebra, Trigonometry, and two aviation courses. She is hoping to be able to take calculus at the NAPS. She will have to take English, Chemistry, Physics, Math at the NAPS but we aren't sure how that works yet on which specifica classes she would be taking. Once she gets to the Naval Academy for freshman year though.... she already will have 15 credits of college classes. How does transfer credits work for NA (if credits are even transfered)? I hope she doesn't have to repeat same classes... she/we had to pay for all her tuition, etc and it really would be a bummer to spend over $3000 for her to take one semester of college and then not have it count. Update on the boys: DS1 officially dropped out of high school. Sad that public school, homeschooling, and cyber schools did not work for him. He will be taking the GED in May and then on to college or trade school for next year. He has earned his Billie Mitchell award in Civil Air Patrol and is still doing Kung Fu and Bowling League. He is making strides regarding his education, but still has a long way to go. Just not fun for him to struggle with being so intelligent along with the Asperger Syndrome/ADD. DS2 is almost done with 8th grade. We still don't know what we are going to do for high school. The public schools here are horrible, but I don't have it in me to homeschool anymore kids who are not self sufficient/motivated to achieve well in their education/life. He is doing well overall, but struggles getting his work done (his ADHD is an issue that he is struggling with). But mostly he just isn't even a average achiever. So I don't know yet what we will do with him. Our school district is considering doing a part cyber/part in school program. A student can cyber school at home and only attend school for electives and science labs. So we will see, maybe that would work for him. DS3 is almost done with 6th grade. I am about to go totally insane with him. With his PDD-NOS/ADHD, he is a struggle. Most of the time I can't tell if he has a clue about anything. He complains every day about school, especially about having to get up at 7am to get ready for school. He thinks that is a crime-LOL. Some mornings I literally have to force him to get dressed. At school, he behaves well enough, but he absolutely refuses to do some things. He is failing Reading because he just will not do the Accelerated Reader program. He is supposed to read a book and then take a test. A book is assigned points and he is supposed to earn so many points each quarter. Well in two years we have been in Pennsylvania... he has never even earned more than a few points and most quarters he earns zero points. He actually will not read hardly anything without a lot of prompting and pushing from teachers and us. I would homeschool him, but he is so difficult in everything and I don't think I can do it. He is very smart, advanced in math, but if he doesn't want to do something or thinks something is too hard or needs effort on his part... forget it! He will just not cooperate. There are times that I can convince him to do something if he gets a reward for it.. but I hate doing that!!!! He is currently grounded from the internet because he just will not follow the rules we have in place regarding internet use. And he just doesn't understand why these rules are in place... he sees nothing wrong with giving out personal information to strangers. He insists the people are friends and he "knows" them. Well, I got one child out of four homeschooled for high school successfully!!! That is my update-LOL. Still struggle with the boys and DD doing very well.

Hi again... it has been another long time. Just extremely busy around here. DS#1 has officially dropped out of school. He is going to take his GED in the next few months. He has been re-evaluated by psych and he does have a learning disability of sorts. His processing speed is slow compared to his brain speed. So now we are focussing on trying to help him speed up his processing speed. Funny that to do this it is actually a good thing to play video games-LOL. He is also doing a typing program that is supposed to help the processing speed and output improve. In Civil Air Patrol he is a few weeks from getting his Billie Mitchel award... awesome achievement!!!! DD has been trying to find her path with going to college and the military. She has applied for the U.S. Naval Academy... and has received a Presidential Nomination!!!! She will major in aerospace engineering. She is currently taking courses at a community college. She is taking college algebra and a trig course to help her improve her math skills and fill the gaps that she may have. She is taking English and two aviation classes for "fun". Ds#2 and Ds#3 are doing okay. Still the same issues with them but we are hanging in there. Just thought I update you all about what is going on here. LOL.

Thanks Nan. Yes it is so hard to know what to do with kids. And I sure don't want to mess them up...

Thanks NayfiesMama. Good to come back.

Thank you Margaret. It is nice to come back. My Dd is excited about joining ROTC and the Marines.

Yep, we are in Scranton now. Moved her just over a year ago. It is beautiful here in the mountains!!

Hi everyone, don't know if you remember me-LOL. Been a loooooong time since I have been around. Figured to say hi and give an update. Dd (17yr old) has officially graduated high school in three years of homeschooling. She has recieved a diploma with honors (in English, Social Studies, and Music) through Erie County Homeschoolers in PA. She is taking a break for this semester from school, but is working as much as she can to earn enough money to buy a car. She has rejoined Civil Air Patrol. Her current plans are to attend a community college in January for a semester then transfer to Penn State @ College Park in the fall. She has applied for Navy ROTC-Marine option and to study Aerospace engineering. She plans to join the marines and be a pilot. Ds#1 (17yr old) is still driving us bonkers. He homeschooled high school for two years and then when we moved to PA he enrolled in a cyber school for last year (11th grade). He failed miserably. So he decided to try a different cyber school to repeat 11th grade this year. He is failing again. He is very bright and advanced academically, but isn't getting it done. (He has Asperger Syndrome, Sensory Integration, ADD). So, now we are considering letting him drop out and take the GED in December. He won't be able to get a diploma until June, but as long as he passes (and we know he can do so easily) the GED exam, he will get his scores and can attend the community college with his sister in January. We figure he can do 2 courses. He is still active in Civil Air Patrol and on track to earn his Mitchell award in December. Ds#2 (13yr old, 8th grade) is doing okay in public middle school. It could be better. Considering pulling him out to either homeschool or cyber school him. But husband is not so willing due to the issues with Ds#1... and honestly, I am having my doubts as well. Ds#3 (11yr old, 6th grade) is doing very well in public middle school. He is having a few issues due to his PDD-NOS and ADHD, nothing horrible and he is making progress. That is about it with us and schooling. Dd homeschooled and did awesome. She worked so hard to achieve and she has succeeded. Wish I knew what was best for the youngest two... Just not sure since what we thought was best for Ds#1 obviusly wasn't the best where it concerns his education.

As we just moved to PA from IL in August (from a no regulated state to a very regulated state)... so far I haven't found it difficult here in PA with homeschooling Dd. Maybe it is the district we are in? All I did was submit the affidavit and education objectives for what she is doing this year in 11th grade and listed text books we planned to use. I haven't been keeping attendance log but figure I could throw one together in no time. I think I am supposed to have Dd do PSSA? I have to really look into this!!!! But that isn't a big deal either IMO. She already took the SAT in October and did fairly well. Not outstanding, but average. Reading 540, Math 510, Writing 560. We are planning to graduate her this year. I don't know if we will go with a diploma program or GED or both. She is going to attend a community college for next year (normally be 12th grade) or two. She is a hard worker and plans to take a English and math class over the summer just to make sure she is up to speed for college courses. We know she is ready, she just wants to be very ready.

If each text is typically completed as one text a year in public schools... then I would count it as 2 high school credits. If it is one college text that is done in a high school year... then I would count it as 2 high school credits. From my experience in university a college foreign language course usually covers a text in two semesters and is 6-8 college credits in college.

FA is probably first aid. Maybe Red Cross certification course in CPR and first aid. I think these are great courses and I heard that many high schools offer these along with Drivers Ed and/or Health class too.

Dd did Kung Fu (about 20-30 hrs a week). She took several classes a week, and she taught a few classes. She also jog/walk 3-4 times a week (about 5 miles each time) and did daily stretching exercises outside of her kung fu classes. She also did a lot of "fun" activities just for fun (basketball, skateboarding, swimming, bike riding, etc). She talked with her Sifu about being healthy and fit every week or so also. Ds did Kung Fu (about 4 hrs a week), bowling league (about 2 hrs a week), walk/jog a few times a week. He also did regular exercises at home and PT (physical test) in Civil Air Patrol. They did a separate health course for a one time half credit in 9th grade. The PE credit I gave them a full credit for 9th and 10th grade. It really wasn't required credit per Illinois, but in IL public school students do four years of PE/Health/Drivers Ed and these count as 4 credits of their high school graduation credits. Now that we are in PA, they only count 1/4 credit a year for PE, but either way, we are covered as it isn't required for homeschool credits. Ds is attending public cyber school in PA and they accepted his two credits of PE and 1/2 credit health and that is all he is required for their graduation in this area.

This is pretty much what I figured. I am trying to encourage her to attend a junior/community college for a year or two. She is graduating high school a year early and I rather she does her exploring in a less expensive way than attending DePaul University in Chicago-LOL.