amo_mea_filiis. Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 IS in title should be IF. Recently dd has been talking about high school and what she'll do when she's old enough. I wasn't planning on sending her to public high school, but I'm also not going to fight her when we get to that bridge. She's 11 and we're doing a huge grade level mix of work. Should I alter my plans somehow with her to make sure she's ready in 2-3 years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoObvious Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Mmmm....If she is going to start as a freshman and you are already doing a few school-like programs (not unschooling), I think she'll be fine. What I've been doing is looking ahead and seeing what types of classes are offered, then exploring the materials used and assignments expected. Most teachers have their own websites now. I just keep all that in mind as I choose curriculum. For instance, I'd probably do a lot more creative writing in 8th grade, only because we don't do much now and I know the other 9th graders will have had a lot of that. Other than that, high school tends to be a new playing field for most kids anyhow, especially if there are a few different middle schools feeding into it. Nothing about high school was like my middle school. That's my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Academically, I would focus on writing and math and have her read every day. I would also create many opportunities for her to learn time management, organization, be a part of more group activities, and learn how to get from place to place on her own (unless she's getting driven everywhere). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higginszoo Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I have children a year apart, one who will go straight to community college, while the other will go to public high school at the same time. I'm not really doing anything different for them this last year that they're home. This year is about making sure that the math skills are solid and that they're writing well (especially essays). They're still all over the place as far as 'grade levels', so we will probably spend a lot of time testing at the ps this year to make sure we have good placement for her next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Dd14 is starting high school next month. Here are some thoughts: 1. She never learned cursive. She's working on that now because she's worried she'll be the only kid there who can't write in cursive. 2. She's stressing about P.E. We just didn't do team sports. Well, she did spend a summer camp in basketball but she hated it. She's been working with DH on interval running so she can at least run a mile, although I don't think she'll really be able to do that by the time school starts. 3. I need to talk to her about how to take notes. Your post just reminded me that I had intended to do that. She's never had to take notes or organize work. 4. She's never had to study for a test. She was using Keystone high school but all tests are open book. I now wish I had made her study for the tests and take them without opening the books. 5. Just yesterday, I learned on the high school board that some people feel that physical science in 8th grade is required to understand Biology, Chemistry and Physics. That has me completely stressed out because dd14 has never taken a formal science of any kind and I have her registered in Honors Biology. I hope I don't regret that decision. Those are the first things off the top of my head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancer67 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 My oldest daughter went to high school. They give all new students a placement test(it was a vocational school, so there were student from all different districts). Reading, LA and Math are the biggest. Other then that, I really wouldn't worry to much. If you want her to take AP classes, then I would ramp up what she is doing now in the LA and Math areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Nothing. My oldest went back to school mid-year in 8th, and is going to the high school in the fall. The only "gap" was that the elem didn't have upper level classes for him. He still managed to test into an upper level schedule for freshman year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 My older son took 3 classes at the ps last year for grade 9. At the end of the school year I asked him if there were things he wished he had done to be better prepared for the classes. He said it was pretty easy to pick up on the specifics within the first few weeks. Even writing, a weak area for him, quickly became easier. Next year both kids will be taking math at the ps and they have had to work on math over the summer in order to be at the same starting place as the class. Previously we did not eorry too much about completing a math program by the end of a school year., I would recommend by late jr high, you and your DD have an idea of which math class she'd like to take. Keeping track of deadlines and test dates was a change for DS, but not to the point of being overwhelming. Older DS did not have any prior science classes and went into honors Chem with no problem, but he pursues a lot of science learning on his own. Younger DS will probably go into honors biology next year (grade 9), skipping physical science. This is the school's recommendation for students who score above a certain percentile on the standardized tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 Thank you! She's mastering cursive (to use functionally, not just know how) and penmanship this year. We are also quickly working through MM starting at 2nd grade. I'm using FLL and WWE because she never had any formal writing or grammar in school and can't tell me what a noun is! I will ask her mobile therapist to help on the social and communication stuff since she has asperger's and that could be a big problem in HS. She had no interest in going to MS once she realized there was no more recess. I wonder if she'll feel the same for HS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 As time went on, I aligned our work more to what went on in school. I didn't worry too much about history and such, but I made sure that maths, English and science were in line. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 What others said I can only add, computer, internet, powerpoint, word, excel learning start early. I can ask my 6th grade son how to....... on the computer and he can show me how it works. DD created a simple story on powerpoint in kindergarten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 DS16 homeschooled 5th-8th grade, then went to public high school for 9th. For him, the one thing we worked on his 8th grade year was getting used to writing short essays in a time limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 As time went on, I aligned our work more to what went on in school. I didn't worry too much about history and such, but I made sure that maths, English and science were in line. Laura :iagree: Figure out what "track" (honors, standard) you are shooting for and align your work accordingly. A big problem my ds had was organizational skills. I'd add doing things that students have to do in school to keep themselves organized--using and assignment notebook and checking off short term (daily) and long term assignments. Creating a routine with where to put papers and materials and stick to it. Organizational skills can be more of a downfall than actual academic skills for many students. Additionally, the ps students around me all learn powerpoint and some word processing beginning in 5th or 6th. Knowing these programs will make completing papers and projects easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krista in LA Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 My kids both homeschooled until high school. For my dd, I signed her up for Classical Conversations in 8th grade to get her used to being in more of a classroom situation, taking notes, and doing assignments for someone other than me. For my ds, I had him take 2 on-line classes to try to accomplish the same thing. My advice is to make sure she's strong in math, reading, and writing. I also suggest testing her every year with ITBS or something similar so she's used to taking a test like that. It might make it easier to sign her up for school if you have those test results as well. My dd never had to write anything in cursive in high school and my ds only knows how to sign his name in cursive. I actually have to go sign my ds up next week for school and I'm hoping it goes as smoothly as when I signed dd up. For her, they asked us to bring the curriculum we used for 8th grade, samples of her work, and test scores since we had them. Once they saw her test scores, they didn't look at anything else but her algebra because she did so well. Once he saw her algebra book was a normal algebra book (Jacobs), he said she could get credit for it by passing the end-of-course exam that the other students have to take, but it was the only course they would consider giving her credit for since the kids who went to public school could not get high school credit for any others. I hope my ds does as well as my dd did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I enrolled my daughter last Feb as a 9th grader. I wouldn't recommend starting mid-year. :D. We got lucky. They took her credits and she's doing well, but it could have been an issue. I'd recommend contacting the school in eighth grade and getting her in on any visits or orientations the local 8th graders might do. Sports try-outs and play auditions often happen at the end of the year or during the summer. You'll want to keep on top of that if she's interested. Having an extracurricular interest can really help some kids adjust. Academically, just make sure she's doing her best in writing and math. A standardized test wouldn't hurt if you want her in honors classes, but my daughter went in just on my word, so it varies by location. It would be nice if she had a rigorous classroom experience under her belt. Are there any co-op or local CC classes she can take to work on organization, note-taking, study skills, and a teaching style that isn't yours? These were very helpful for my daughter's confidence. One weird thing we found is that the schools here require so many community service hours to graduate, but somehow most kids log those hours in middle school. I don't really get it, but there ya go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 Organizing and deadlines will be huge. I will start assigning her some things and back off of the reminding throughout our few years. She did k-4 in regular ps, and 5 in cyber. I'm calling her 5th again unless she makes some major progress this year. Reading is the only area i'm not worried. She's reading very well, and i'm pushing to see what she's really capable of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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