Should I have dd repeat sophomore year?

[Only me]

My 15 year old daughter has been struggling medically since 8th grade. She has severe chronic insomnia that none of the doctors have been able to figure out so we have just learned to deal with it. I let her "sleep" until 9 am most days and then she does school work after that. She still struggles with it though since she is extremely tired and has trouble concentrating, etc. She has also had severe knee problems and is having some major surgery on her leg next week. She will be in a lot of pain and will be on crutches for 2 months and will have PT for at least 6 months. Needless to say, this won't help matters any and she will be off of school for several days.

 

Last year (freshman year) she started at the private high school but I had to take her out after a month since she was so exhausted. She was also recovering from a concussion as well as dealing with the insomnia. I feel like we were behind from the start last year and it really took her until 2nd semester to get over the effects of the concussion. I had to do a lot of "hand holding" to get her through most of her subjects. At the most she had 6.75 credits if I count Algebra 1 (which she did in 8th grade) and geometry, otherwise she will only have 5.75.

 

When we went to start algebra 2 this August we realized that she had forgotten a lot from algebra 1 so we spent all of first semester reviewing that. Now she has moved on to algebra 2 (Math-U-See) and we were planning in having her complete it this semester but it has been a real struggle. Other than that for this year so far she will only have German (1 credit), World History (1), Cultural Geography (1), english (1) and hopefully a meteorology class that starts next month for 1/2 credit. I have also been having her do a study kills type class with different books and Teaching Company's How to Become a Superstar Student. She will also be doing an ACT prep book starting next month. I figure I can give her 1/2 credit for all of this since the local school offers a similar class for 1/2 credit. This means at the most she will have 6 credits this year.

 

This year has also been a struggle since it is so difficult for her to concentrate especially with the math. We decided not to tackle chemistry this year and will have her do it next year as a junior. At this point though I feel like we are so behind and I'm wondering if she should repeat sophomore year again next year. That way we won't have to rush through algebra 2 and will be able to get more credits.

 

The problem is that there is a small possibility that she would be going back to school (public or private) so she would be behind credit wise to be considered a junior. I believe that most students would have at least 14 credits by the time they are a junior. She would only have 12.75 at the most.

 

When I discussed the possibility of having her repeat sophomore year with her she had mixed feelings. She doesn't want to be older than the rest of the sophomores if ends up going back to private school next year. Her birthday is in April so I'm sure that some kids would still be around her age since it seems like the trend is to start kindergarten later for some kids. She doesn't want people to think she is "stupid" for having to repeat a grade. On the other hand, I think it would take off some of the pressure. I would appreciate any input.

[Ellie]

I wouldn't do it. I think just continuing on, doing the best she can, would be better.

[athena1277]

Can she do some work over the summer to get caught up? It sounds like she would only need 1 or 2 classes.

[AK_Mom4]

I wouldn't do it. I think just continuing on, doing the best she can, would be better.

 

:iagree:

 

With a high schooler, I would just keep plugging on and probably work through the summer if you weren't planning on that already. The age/grade thing matters to high schoolers, especially if she plans on going on to college eventually.

[Anne in CA]

Girls are more prone to perfoming up to preconcieved standards than boys. If she thinks she is "behind" or that "other people think I'm dumb" she may perform at that level. Especially if she is not clear thinking due to lack of sleep and running on autopilot.

 

I made some poor decisions about my ds based on things that dh and I thought might happen in the future, so I wouldn't vote to make real decisions based on the idea that maybe she would go back to school. But I will admit that that went so badly for me I am prejudiced.

 

I appreciate that it may seem like there is no perfect answer and you are under stress. I know the feeling.:grouphug:

[Dmmetler]

How many credits are required to graduate (forget distribution requirements for now), divide by 4. Around here, 6 credits a year will get you the minimums-just no electives, so a student with 12 credits or more would be considered a junior. Doesn't mean that they won't end up doing a post-senior year to finish a class or two due to distribution, but they'd be eligible to go to prom.

[Haiku]

I would only have her repeat if she doesn't know the material she has studied. I wouldn't have her repeat to gain more credits in case she goes to school. That seems like it would waste everyone's time.

 

Tara

[Aubrey]

Disclaimer: my oldest is 10. I was a highschool English teacher briefly, though, so that's where my thoughts are coming from.

 

1. Will these health issues be something she has to deal w/ the rest of her life? If not, see #2. If so, then this is a good time to think about how to deal w/ it--will she be able to find a job that will work w/ her health issues? What kinds of jobs should she seek? How hard *can* she push herself? If it turns out that she needs to learn to work at the same pace as everyone else, then I'd say buckle down & work over summers, & she'll learn a hard life lesson that most of us don't begin to learn until we have a bad cold & a baby. :001_smile:

 

2. Life happens. Some of us took less than a full load in college so we could work FT or PT or take care of elderly loved ones or whatever. College is flexible like that. You don't have to finish in 4yrs, everyone is not going to be the same age. It's all good. Some jobs offer varying levels of flexibility--if you need that, that's something to research.

 

All of this is to say, instead of having dd repeat 10th g, plan a 5yr cycle. There doesn't have to be a grade label, just requirements for grad being met. And I agree w/ pp who said you shouldn't make your decision based on the poss of ps in the future. Fwiw, I had students who'd missed a lot due to chronic illness. It's hard. We work things out. Cross the bridge if/when you have to. (But it's good to realize that it might be there, too.)

 

Finally, as things get resolved & she gets caught up, one of the things you guys could think about to make up time is dual enrollment. Maybe she wouldn't be able to do that w/ math, but if she could do it w/ another subject or more, then she would be less-far behind in college when she gets there.

 

:grouphug: GL. I hope your dd feels better!

[Only me]

I think I should have worded my question better. My brain isn't working well lately due to my fibromyalgia.

 

Part of the problem is that I'm not sure how well my dd has grasped the material that she has gone through the past few years-especially math and science. I did a lot of hand holding to help her make it through the classes but made things easier for her like making tests open book, etc. in a few classes I felt that this was ok since both our public school and private school do that a lot. She is also taking German through Rosetta Stone and will complete the first year but I'm not really sure if that qualifies for a high school credit.

 

So not only am I worried that she won't have enough credits but I'm wondering if she needs another year to go back and revisit a few subjects.