Help me work out a high school plan for my s/n son, please.

[dsmith]

Ds is not working at a high school level at all. I had originally planned to graduate him at 20 with perhaps getting him to Algebra 1 and Geometry. (He is 16 now.) He will be ready to move into Pre-Algebra in September. Writing is a big issue and his reading level is good, but he will probably never be into Shakespeare or many of the upper level classics. He is not a very motivated learner, not hands on at all, hates labs although science interests him. He is good with computers and just started working for his dad. (Our company builds websites that integrate with the customer's back end systems within a certain industry, among other things.) He has only been working about 5 hours a week at this time, but it will eventually be a higher amount. This is going surprisingly well and he is enjoying it. It was always assumed since he was younger that he would be working in our company in some capacity, even if it was just stuffing envelopes, etc. but dh has him working with the servers checking backups and running certain programs along with other stuff I don't understand, lol. I'm thinking that perhaps it would be better to just get him through a very basic high school plan with a heavy dose of life skills and let him do more with his dad. 

 

I would love some advice or even recommendations for specific programs if anyone has any. Work texts are best for math, and probably for other subjects. I'm good with Christian content as long as it is not anti-Catholic or young earth. I would also love to be able to find a course that focuses on business related writing skills, for example letters to customers, advertising, web site content, social media in a business context, etc. I really just want to cover the basics with him but give him enough that in the future if he decides he can handle community college or work towards a degree in an open enrollment online school he will be able to handle it. 

 

Thanks!

Dana

[foxbridgeacademy]

For math I suggest Power Basics Algebra or Geometry. It's high school content low reading level (like 4th-6th grade) worktext style.  The workbook and practice books are needed to make it a full curriculum.  They also have curriculum for Science, Social studies, and Language arts.  They can easily be sped through by a more advanced student (good at Science for example)or done slowly if the student is struggling. 

 

Walch Publishing has other curriculum, besides Power Basics, that might fit your needs.

[hornblower]

Obviously not knowing the details of your son's condition & learning challenges, this may be way off but I'd encourage you to consider that he might be late blooming, or perhaps late blooming on top of his other challenges?

I have late blooming children and their development between 15yo & on is not very linear. It suddenly leaped from "can't remember multiplication facts" to "getting 90% in Alg 2". Writing too for them was something that seemed to go from 0 to competence in a fairly compressed time period.

I just wanted to throw that out so you don't prematurely give up on the idea of him being able to master higher level skills even though it seems like you're running out of highschool time, kwim?

If he enjoys computing and electronics, perhaps learning to code?

I know you said he doesn't like hands on but perhaps learning to solder & build electronics kits?

Does he enjoy learning from video? If so, teaching Co DVD's might be a good option for him.  For example, this set "Understanding Modern Electronics"  and "Robotics" might be a good science course base for him.
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/sets/set-1313-1312-1162.html

 

[Junie]

For literature, Charles and Mary Lamb have an excellent Shakespeare book in easy-to-understand language.  

 

Also, some of the Children's Illustrated Classics are very good.  They give an accurate re-telling of the book, but at a lower reading level.

[dsmith]

Thanks! I found a few things that look very promising.

 

 

For math I suggest Power Basics Algebra or Geometry. It's high school content low reading level (like 4th-6th grade) worktext style.  The workbook and practice books are needed to make it a full curriculum.  They also have curriculum for Science, Social studies, and Language arts.  They can easily be sped through by a more advanced student (good at Science for example)or done slowly if the student is struggling. 

 

Walch Publishing has other curriculum, besides Power Basics, that might fit your needs.

 

[dsmith]

We definitely think he will be a late bloomer. I really want to do a thorough enough high school program so that if he does decide he wants to go further with his education he can. It will most likely be at the community college level though, or perhaps online, unless we can find a special program for him somewhere. We did find a possible program in Texas that we would be willing to relocate for in the future and they take students of various age and school experience levels from what I understand. I really just want to simplify it for him or create some kind of work/study program I guess. We are doing coding, as that is a big part of our business. Soldering was not good - too many fine motor issues, but he is getting experience taking apart computers, swapping drives, etc. I haven't tried Teaching Co with him yet, but I found a Coursera course that I think he will like.

Thanks for your input! 

 

 

Obviously not knowing the details of your son's condition & learning challenges, this may be way off but I'd encourage you to consider that he might be late blooming, or perhaps late blooming on top of his other challenges?

I have late blooming children and their development between 15yo & on is not very linear. It suddenly leaped from "can't remember multiplication facts" to "getting 90% in Alg 2". Writing too for them was something that seemed to go from 0 to competence in a fairly compressed time period.

I just wanted to throw that out so you don't prematurely give up on the idea of him being able to master higher level skills even though it seems like you're running out of highschool time, kwim?

If he enjoys computing and electronics, perhaps learning to code?

I know you said he doesn't like hands on but perhaps learning to solder & build electronics kits?

Does he enjoy learning from video? If so, teaching Co DVD's might be a good option for him.  For example, this set "Understanding Modern Electronics"  and "Robotics" might be a good science course base for him.
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/sets/set-1313-1312-1162.html

 

 

[dsmith]

I just picked up something from Currclick that used the Lambs Shakespeare stories. I think he will enjoy a few of them. I haven't looked at the Illustrated Classics so I will check them out later. He actually is quite a good reader but he has trouble with complicated story lines, over - flowery language or just maintaining interest. In a year or two he would probably be ok with the Butler translation of The Iliad, but I don't think he could handle any other translation. He would probably be ok with more modern works if I could find a hook that he could relate to in the story. Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

 

For literature, Charles and Mary Lamb have an excellent Shakespeare book in easy-to-understand language.  

 

Also, some of the Children's Illustrated Classics are very good.  They give an accurate re-telling of the book, but at a lower reading level.

 

[MomatHWTK]

You might look at consumer math, technical writing, writing for business, or "real world" writing for some ideas.  PLATO education offers several career-oriented classes through their online school.  I see that HSBC is looking into offering Odyssey online classes as well so you might see what they offer. 

[dsmith]

Thanks! I just signed up for a month-to-month subscription through the co-op to see if PLATO might work. I'll have to look in to Odyssey.

 

 

You might look at consumer math, technical writing, writing for business, or "real world" writing for some ideas.  PLATO education offers several career-oriented classes through their online school.  I see that HSBC is looking into offering Odyssey online classes as well so you might see what they offer.