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Should we go bug the homeschool woman downtown?


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We brought our LOI downtown, to her office on April 12th. She told us it would take her about 3 weeks to go over. It's been four. I know it's only been a week over what she said but we really need to know soon so we can start ordering stuff. When we brought it down she sat down with us and looked over the LOI. She seemed quite shocked at how orderly and neat it was, and how complete it was. I used an online LOI form I found online as the basis and added some stuff of my own. We even talked about the forms of assessment. Should we go down tomorrow and tell her we need it soon or should we just wait for her?

 

She never answers her emails and her voicemail box is always full. Honestly, I think she just sits down there all day because every time we go there she is in her office or in the building. She knows nothing about home schooling. My dad thinks she got the job by knowing someone because honestly, she hasn't been much help or a source of useful information. Would it hurt to go down there and check up on how it's coming along? It was about 4 pages, and I am sure she has other things to do, but she read the bulk of it while we were there.

 

What would you do? Wait, or go down and check up? I need to update my counselor at school on what is going on soon too, before the last few weeks of school, because that is when everything gets hectic.

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What would you do? Wait, or go down and check up? I need to update my counselor at school on what is going on soon too, before the last few weeks of school, because that is when everything gets hectic.

I would go talk to her, and tell her that you're sorry to bug her but your counselor needs the information ASAP. If that doesn't work, I would ask your counselor to send a memo to the woman, copied to her supervisor, inquiring about the status of your application.

 

Jackie

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And I'm glad we live in a state where we don't have to submit a LOI--what is it anyway?

 

An LOI is a letter of intent.

 

It lists classes with class descriptions, who will be teaching and their qualifications, hours/days of instruction, and a list of resources we will be using.

 

It was definitely a pain to put together since I was not entirely decided on what I wanted to do so I just had to wing it.

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I've read several of your posts and it seems like you a doing a lot of the legwork yourself. I just wanted to recommend that you keep copies of everything you turn in to anyone. If you speak with someone on the phone, write down the person's name and the date and time that you spoke with him/her. There have been many threads where people have had important information "lost" by others and I'd hate to see that happen to you!

 

This is unsolicited advice, but I just wanted to throw it out there! Good luck to you!!!

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I've read several of your posts and it seems like you a doing a lot of the legwork yourself. I just wanted to recommend that you keep copies of everything you turn in to anyone. If you speak with someone on the phone, write down the person's name and the date and time that you spoke with him/her. There have been many threads where people have had important information "lost" by others and I'd hate to see that happen to you!

 

This is unsolicited advice, but I just wanted to throw it out there! Good luck to you!!!

 

Thank you for the advice. I printed about 5 copies and put them in various storage areas in case my computer crashes and I can't print more, or in case I/or downtown loses them. Lol.

 

Yeah. I looked up all the homeschool laws, and did the paperwork with the help of LOI samples I found online and with a lot of help from the lovely people on here.

 

My parents know I do full research before committing to anything and they also knew I could do it much faster than them. It is not that they don't care, they just think since I am independent enough I should be able to make my own choices on my education. My mother will be teaching me Astronomy and English, but thats it. Everything else is correspondence. Thanks again for the advice, I appreciate it :D

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I don't live in MASS, so don't have any good advice for you about state regs, but just wanted to say how much I admire your independence and good sense. I'm also impressed with your maturity in dealing with the bureaucracy!

 

Martha

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I gave my father copies to keep at his house, in case all else fails. You might consider putting a copy someplace outside your own house, if you can find one.

 

It sounds to me like you are doing fine. How are you planning to arrange your days? Are you going to keep a daily schedule with time slots? Are you going to keep a weekly checklist and just fit your schoolwork around your outside activities? I find it helpful to keep to the public school hours. It boosts my self-discipline, helps us keep doing school on days when we are tired or bored, and keeps me from worrying about whether we are indeed doing enough, since I figure if we are working hard between 7 and 2 all the school days, we can't be going to far wrong. Lots of people here like having a weekly checklist, though, since then they can decide to do all their math at once and get it out of the way and have a nice rest-of-the-week reading, or whatever. You might give some thought to where you are going to do the bulk of your work, also. You wouldn't believe how many interruptions you can have working at home in a common room, or how tempting it is to do something, anything, other than schoolwork if you are working out of the public eye in your room. Some people have good luck going to the library every day to do their work. We do a mix of livingroom and bedroom work and just put up with the interruptions from the phone and the dog, etc.

 

-Nan

 

-Nan

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I agree too! I've even told my daughter how you're putting your own curriculum together and how you're doing it to get a better education than you can at public school. She's impressed! :) You're a great role model to other home schoolers - you're parents must be very proud. :)

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Thank you everyone for all the encouragement you are giving me. I really appreciate it!

 

I am a bit worried the curriculum I chose may be too much, but I think I can do it.

 

AND, as an update, we went downtown today and lo and behold, the woman never sent the letter. She wrote it on April 16th, but it was sitting right on her desk. I was approved :D

 

Anyways, is this too heavy a workload?

 

American Literature- 1 year

Grammar- 1/2 year (Not rly separate from Lit, but just for reinforcement.)

Chemistry- 1 year

Chem lab- 1/2 year

Astronomy- 1 year

Native American studies- 1/2 year

Pre-calc- 1 year

Italian III- 1 year

U.S. History II- 1 year

Health- 1/2 year

 

Is this too much? I really don't think it is. I have looked at all the books online and split them up. Most of my classes, except English, Math and Chem are only about 2 days a week. Some people have told me I overbooked though. Would you expect your Junior to be able to do this?

 

Thanks again for all the support. I went on another forum and got some emails about the forum being for parents only. I won't say the forum though. Thanks for dealing with all my questions and freaking out :D and for encouraging me every step of the way

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It sounds to me like you are doing fine. How are you planning to arrange your days? Are you going to keep a daily schedule with time slots? Are you going to keep a weekly checklist and just fit your schoolwork around your outside activities? I find it helpful to keep to the public school hours. It boosts my self-discipline, helps us keep doing school on days when we are tired or bored, and keeps me from worrying about whether we are indeed doing enough, since I figure if we are working hard between 7 and 2 all the school days, we can't be going to far wrong. Lots of people here like having a weekly checklist, though, since then they can decide to do all their math at once and get it out of the way and have a nice rest-of-the-week reading, or whatever. You might give some thought to where you are going to do the bulk of your work, also. You wouldn't believe how many interruptions you can have working at home in a common room, or how tempting it is to do something, anything, other than schoolwork if you are working out of the public eye in your room. Some people have good luck going to the library every day to do their work. We do a mix of livingroom and bedroom work and just put up with the interruptions from the phone and the dog, etc.

 

So far, all I've done is count chapters in my books and see how many days a week I need to get things done. I divided the chapters by 32 or 34 instead of 36 though, just in case I need some catch up time.

 

As to where I am going to do it, I am not really sure yet. Most at the dining room table but some might just be in my room at my desk. My desk is in a sort of closet area, it's secluded. My back is to the TV and such so I think I should be able to remain focused.

 

I'll probably do the weekly checklist as well, as soon as I get the books and actually look through them. We plan on buying a teacher planner type book at Staples or something before the school year.

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I would like to congratulate you on a job well done! WOW! You are definitely an excellent role model for other high schoolers. It's been some time since I've been in high school. If I recall correctly, you will be in your junior year next year? Is there a separate writing class at that level or is it assumed by that year that students know how to write? When are you taught to write research papers, thesis statements, etc?

 

Thanks,

Capt_Uhrua

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I would like to congratulate you on a job well done! WOW! You are definitely an excellent role model for other high schoolers. It's been some time since I've been in high school. If I recall correctly, you will be in your junior year next year? Is there a separate writing class at that level or is it assumed by that year that students know how to write? When are you taught to write research papers, thesis statements, etc?

 

Thanks,

Capt_Uhrua

 

We did MCAS this year, so for the next two years in English they are going to focus more on Literature. I just wanted to take the grammar class to reinforce good writing. The book is $95.00 from BJU so if you could tell me of a cheaper one, I would be just as happy to go for it. It only needs to be a 1/2 year.

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I'm sure the more knowledgeable folks at this board can help you with grammar. I'm not HSing any high schoolers yet! For grammar, I love Michael Clay Thompson. There are probably some here using his high school level texts who could advise you if it would be a good choice for a quick course in grammar.

 

Capt_Uhura

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I'm sure the more knowledgeable folks at this board can help you with grammar. I'm not HSing any high schoolers yet! For grammar, I love Michael Clay Thompson. There are probably some here using his high school level texts who could advise you if it would be a good choice for a quick course in grammar.

 

Capt_Uhura

 

I was going to use BJU, but that was a whopping $95.00. I found another course, no where near as descriptive as the BJU but still covers the basics. I suppose I could take a more descriptive grammar next year. Grammar isn't really enforced at my school so we only learned it for about three weeks in 9th grade.

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