linders Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Should I be worried? DS13 took the Stanford 10 a few weeks ago - third year in a row, same location, same group of kids, healthy, well-rested, well-fed, etc. He informed me each day that he felt he had done great (and much better than friend X, with whom he was comparing answers afterwards.) Total math dropped 16 points, LA dropped 10 points, Reading dropped 8 points. (An aside, friend X did very well I heard.) Yes, he has had full-on puberty this past year and been difficult to homeschool. "This is stupid, why do I have to show my work, I already know all this, why should write this out...." It has been endless. Lots of careless mistakes. Spacey. At times, he shows the strangest lapses in things he knew previously - I'm never sure whether he is yanking my chain or truly has forgotten. We honestly fit barely 3-4 hours of real school in amidst his complaining. It has been enough that DH, who generally ignores our homeschool stuff (in a very supportive way! He has supreme confidence in me.) has gotten on his case a lot when he overhears. But all kids go through puberty, and not all of them lose a year of school, right? We were thinking of sending him to school next year (his and my dynamics are way off), but in light of this, we are wondering if that would be a bad move. DH is convinced that the only reason DS is doing as well at math as he is is because I slog through it so thoroughly with him. (He won't work through it himself, but when we go through together, lightbulbs eventually come on.) Meanwhile, we barely do anything other than math and LA (ignore my siggie - DS10 does it all, but not DS13). So - ride it out? Normal? Or other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I used American School Correspondence school for my oldest, who was like this. It helped. A LOT. And as soon as he turned 14, and it was legal, he got a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr8tful4HisGrace Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 This is normal in my experience. I've graduated two boys from my homeschool program and I am about to graduate another. (He's in 10th grade this year.) Each son went through a stage where they were growing so rapidly that there wasn't a whole lot of intellectual capability. All three shot up about seven inches in one year, then three the next and it slowed from there. I saw a direct correlation of focus returning as growth slowed down. It was especially evident with writing skills. That said, I also had to set rules in order to help them grow through this period. I limited screen time, and required a lot of physical work. (Both chores and recreational) They were required to complete their school work, and while I maintained high expectation, I also had to temper my expectation with the reality of their circumstances. It is hard work growing up and dealing with the slurry of hormones. So I learned to practice a lot of grace. I did notice that my sons did better with block scheduling during this time. So instead of doing every subject every day, We would do a few subjects for a longer period of time. For two of my sons it also helped to move to a mastery based math curriculum. Too many concepts every day was not helpful. They did much better on standardized tests when we used a mastery based program. I'm actually going through this with my daughter now! One son was not able to do standardized testing during this time period. But again, once he moved through this period of transition, he tested very well...scoring college level in the 11th grade. I did find it helpful to have each son take an online course so they could experience being accountable to someone else. This showed them that my expectations weren't so bad after all. They each rose to the challenge and in every instance, their accountability to me improved. We used our local online school. I hope this helps. Yvonne Mom to Matt (22), Drew (20), Sam (16) and Grace (10) http://www.notperfect-justordinary.blogspot.com http://www.yvonneferlita.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Thank you both. It was especially reassuring to hear that some other teens have been the same. I like the idea of an online class or two to provide him with some perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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