How much of your high school is outsourced?

[TKDmom]

Just curious how much others use outside teachers for their high schoolers. I would include online classes, co-ops, tutors, dual enrollment, etc. where there is a teacher with outside accountability. I would't include a video/DVD class where the student works at their own pace, and is only accountable to the parent.

 

I've split the poll into younger and older high school students, and I've made it multiple choice so you can select the number of outside classes different children have used. I'd love to hear what specific subjects you outsource.

 

My question is inspired by the fact that I went overboard in scheduling outside classes for my 9th grader, after years of being too relaxed with her. She's struggling to keep up and I'm feeling stress over trying to help her keep up. (One of my main reasons for homeschooling her was to provide more challenge than the school was giving her and I haven't done any better than the school--I just gave her more time to be a kid.)

[EKS]

Half of my older son's credits came from accredited institutions (Oak Meadow, a local b&m private high school, and the cc).

 

My younger son so far has no outside credits, but will probably have half his credits from the cc by the time he graduates.  If all goes according to plan, that is.

 

 

[TKDmom]

My 9th grader is taking Honors Biology (FLVS), Spanish II (TPS), American Lit and Grammar/Composition (both at a local hybrid school). 

 

She's also doing some "extracurriculars" like art and drama, but I didn't count that in my vote.

[3sapphires]

We are currently outsourcing one for 10th grade - AP World History through PA Homeschoolers.

 

We are planning on outsourcing one class a year through high school, to have them stay used to being accountable to someone other than mom, and also to make sure that we have recommendation letters from external teachers for college.

 

We will llikely limit it to one a year in order to stay flexible and also because of cost.

[TrixieB]

When my older child was in 9th grade, I outsourced only a couple of classes... band, science, foreign language.

 

Fast forward a few years.  My current 9th grader's classes are all outsourced, except world geography which may or may not get done this year due to  circumstances I can't entirely control.  Next year will be similar, and then probably DE for 11th & 12th grades.

 

All but one of my senior's classes are outsourced.

[almondbutterandjelly]

We're only 9th grade and have outsourced nothing, so I voted zero.  Except for science, I'm generally of the opinion that if I wanted someone else to teach my kid, I'd put her back in school.  :)

 

My husband is our science teacher, so it's outsourced from me but not out of the house.  :)

 

I'm not opposed to outsourcing, but I'm also not necessarily opposed to regular school.  It's just not a good fit for my kid or our family.  8th grade at private school taught us that very, very well.

[regentrude]

DS: none. We all do it at home.

DD: took college classes since 10th grade. 5 semesters of foreign language, 2 semesters of literature, 3 semesters of physics. The rest we did at home.

[freesia]

Last year for ninth grade Ds had Econ, art and PE at co-op and he did an outsourced writing class for 6 weeks.

 

We had an unexpectedly difficult year last year with Ds-hormones, I think. In order to lower my stress, help our relationship and allow me time and emotional energy for my other 3, we decided to outsource more of the academics this year. He didn't want to stop homeschooling and we preferred him to be home.

 

So, this year, we outsourced AP computer science, chemistry, English and Spanish 2. He does history for co-op, but I am the teacher.

[Luckymama]

9: English (Blue Tent Online), Arabic 1 (TPS)

Summer: essentially Arabic 2 (Concordia Language Villages)

10: AP English Language (Blue Tent), second- and third-semester Arabic (University of Our State)

 

And take these w a big ol' grain of salt. Planning more than a semester in advance does not work well with dd ;)

 

11 (planned): English somewhere lol, foreign language(s) at the university (depends on what dd does over this summer--may be the fourth semester of Arabic plus another Arabic class, may be 2 higher-level Arabic classes; may add a second language)

 

12(???): Senior English (Blue Tent--for those who scored well on AP), foreign language(s) at the university (could finish all the possible Arabic classes and get to second year of second language, who knows?)

 

When dd asked to continue homeschooling during high school, I agreed as long as I did not have to teach English and foreign language. Those subjects were the source of all my school-related stress during grades 5-8. We are lucky to live within walking/biking distance of the university. Unfortunately, we do have to pay full tuition for dd's classes, though we are in a position that we can without too much difficulty.

[SilverMoon]

DS/11th

9th: 0

10th: 1, sort of, he saw a math tutor nearly daily and I gave the tests

11th: 0

12th: planning on at least two

 

DD/10th

9th: 0

10th: 0

11th: plans to start CC courses

12th: who knows

 

 

We were strongly considering outside classes for both of them this year, but it just didn't pan out for the subjects they would need. DS/11th has been adamantly not interested in outside classes, but will concede next year to have something to back up his mommy grades, which is all he has so far. DD/10th isn't really interested in online options at all, or she probably would have one this year. We'll look into face to face options next year.

[FaithManor]

We outsource 1 per year in 11th and 12th grades. It's about all we can handle because the good CC is an hour away, and the bad CC is not worth paying one penny to attend. Sometimes we get lucky and one of the kids can get 1 on campus and one online, but the scheduling is usually hairy so we can't always manage that.

 

Dh has a bachelor's degree in mathematics so we have never outsourced math though the youngest may make it to calc 3 before he graduates. Given dh's time constraints with his job and my refusal to teach beyond calc 1 because I just do not feel confident in my abilities, it is possible that we will outsource calc 2 and 3 along with an English class and maybe a history class his senior year. He will be the only child left, and scheduling won't be quite so difficult. He can possibly take the classes at U of MI which might make it easy for his older brother to get him to and from campus so I don't lose the use of my car!

[foxbridgeacademy]

For 9th and 10th I doubt we'll outsource anything.  For 11th and 12th I expect at least 4-6 classes will be done either through DE or online.

[MysteryJen]

Ds1 took 1 cc class the fall of his senior year. Dd1 will finish high school with 4 semesters of Japanese at the cc. Classes are expensive and I prefer to wait until I am sure they will have success.

[Tess in the Burbs]

:lurk5:   We haven't outsourced anything for middle school, and I truly don't want to for high school.  Cost is one issue.  So I love reading about the kids who did no outsourcing or only a few their entire high school time.  Glad to know kids can be home and get into college without all those classes!!!

[texasmama]

Son #1 - Spanish 1 - Landry Academy, Biology - co-op, and Geometry - Jann in Texas

 

Son #2 - Spanish 1 - Landry Academy, Biology - co-op

 

I teach their English class at co-op, which I would be teaching at home using the same curriculum if I wasn't teaching the co-op class so I don't really count that.

 

ETA:  Both are 9th grade.

[Amira]

11th grader is doing a full online high school.  10th grader is doing 3.5 credits with WTM, Spanish and hockey at the high school, and math and history with me.

 

I'd never outsourced anything before high school and I've been happy we've done it now.  I don't feel like I have to do it, but it's worked well for us. If I were having to drive people around to outsourced classes it would get old really fast but we've either had tutors come to the house, done online classes, or used public transport.  The only driving I have ever had to do is drive a carpool to the high school one week a month. If I had to drive them somewhere all the time, the outsourcing wouldn't happen.

[KarenNC]

Most of my daughter's work is outsourced this year in a variety of ways, primarily because I have access to free sources. Math and Latin are entirely outsourced (planned and executed by a professional teacher, I am not involved at all). Math is because we don't communicate well in math, and Latin because I don't know Latin ;).  English, history, and chemistry will be partially outsourced---using an online program from the public school with access to teacher support, but I am able to modify and am responsible for grading anything that isn't computer-scored, so I don't know if that counts as outsourced for this purpose. I think of it as outsourced since I don't have to plan everything. Sociology and exploring culture with world lit are ones I'm putting together myself.

[AK_Mom4]

DD14 is only outsourcing her music this year - at her request.  She does band at the local high school and takes various lessons.

 

She likes what we are doing with the other courses and was not too happy when I mentioned she would have to pick up another outsourced class next year for foreign language.   But since I don't speak any foreign languages, she will have to have a different teacher for that!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

9th grade: Most classes are outsourced. (I voted 6+)   

 

We are using a variety of online classes and tutors. Not all the classes have started yet, so we may end up dropping one along the way if she decides it's too much.

 

I imagine we'll outsource online or DE for most subjects during high school. Looking back, we probably should have started outsourcing sooner and gradually increased the number of outsourced classes. As it is, she went from 1 to 6. It's been an adjustment, but she's starting to find her way. 

 

I am still very much involved in her education; my role has just shifted.  :)

[melmichigan]

We outsourced a lot in 9th due to my health.  DD took Ancient Literature w/WTMA, French w/AIM, LToW1 w/Circe, English I w/Blue Tent, and AoPS.

 

This year in 10th she is taking Rhetoric w/WTMA, French 2 w/AIM, and AoPS.  We are auditing two college classes this semester online, which has been an interesting and positive experience for us both.  Mom isn't a dumb as the teenager thought.   ;)

 

DD is hoping to go to the middle college next year, so then she would be allowed 2 classes the first semester, and then up to 4 the second semester depending on GPA.  

[Corraleno]

We do Greek & Latin with Lukeion, and have outsourced lab science for 10th & 11th (Chemistry last year, Anatomy & Physiology this year). For 12th we'll continue with Lukeion and probably do lab science at CC. 

[quark]

Just curious how much others use outside teachers for their high schoolers. I would include online classes, co-ops, tutors, dual enrollment, etc. where there is a teacher with outside accountability. I would't include a video/DVD class where the student works at their own pace, and is only accountable to the parent.

 

I've split the poll into younger and older high school students, and I've made it multiple choice so you can select the number of outside classes different children have used. I'd love to hear what specific subjects you outsource.

 

My question is inspired by the fact that I went overboard in scheduling outside classes for my 9th grader, after years of being too relaxed with her. She's struggling to keep up and I'm feeling stress over trying to help her keep up. (One of my main reasons for homeschooling her was to provide more challenge than the school was giving her and I haven't done any better than the school--I just gave her more time to be a kid.)

 

We have a non traditional student and are not decided on what grade he is exactly but we have actually done a small turnaround for high school this semester. We outsourced almost everything previously but this semester, kiddo has asked to take 3 of his subjects (math with some math research added to it, history and programming) at home and outsource only 3 (lit, Japanese and music at the CC). We work on a semester system (following the CC calendar) and he might go back to outsourcing almost everything again next semester but for now, he and I are both enjoying the time spent delving into his studies together.

 

Last semester we were obviously overscheduled and kiddo found some peace by dropping one subject. Is that do-able for your DD?

 

[Loesje22000]

Grade 9-10:

French Conversation

Bravewriter writing course

 

We have no transcript issues here, just exit exams in grade 6,8,12

As long as dc pass people don't ask how you did it.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I voted based only on my senior not my sophomore.

 

In 9-11 we outsourced foreign language (2 languages). A grammar class, a writing class and one math class (when the student progresses past mom's skill level...).

 

For 12th grade my senior requested to have as many outsourced classes as possible.  She considers being accountable to a teacher who isn't mom prep for attending college.  I don't believe this is any anyway necessary but was a reasonable request on her part.  Math and foreign language would have been outsourced for 12th anyway.

[JudoMom]

My boys each take an engineering class at the local high school. Last year, I worked PT and they also took Latin online. This year we're doing that at home. At this point I don't foresee us doing more than the engineering classes outside the home until college.

[The Girls' Mom]

It generally increases for us as they get closer to graduation, with senior year being almost entirely DE classes at college.  We have a great academic co-op, and they take all of their lab sciences and foreign language there.  This year one kid is also taking a lit. class there.  They also do fun stuff like ball-room dance and chess class.

 

 

[Mom22ns]

I didn't answer the poll because I an't group years or even give a definitive answer for any year except 9th when neither outsourced a class. We outsource as necessary for content or as desired. It isn't a set thing.

 

DS

9th - 0

10th - 0

11th - 2

12th - 2

 

DD

9th - 0

10th - 1

11th - 4

[J-rap]

My kids are in college now, but we generally outsourced two academic classes/year, and usually it was a foreign language and science.  (I say "academic" to differentiate between non-academic.  We often outsourced electives too, like choir.)

 

[bugs]

My DD

9th - Spanish outsourced, the rest at home

10th - Spanish outsourced, the rest at home

11th - Dual Enrollment all

12th - Dual Enrollment all

AA and high school diploma simultaneously

 

DS

9th - German outsource, rest at home

10th - German and Algebra II outsource, rest at home

11th - Dual Enrollment all

12th - Dual Enrollment all

AA and high school diploma simultaneously (the plan, since he is a senior this year)

 

I offered the DE to both kids and they took it.  In our state we pay for fees and books only, so it is reasonably priced.  In the poll I did not include sports and band.

 

 

 

 

[G5052]

Yes, I'm actually doing only 2 classes myself this year for an 11th grader. I'm doing science and a career/college planning/SAT/ACT seminar. The rest are with others.

 

For 12th, she may have everything but health outsourced, but that may change. I'm good with that for 12th for her. Our beloved local hist/lit teacher may cut back in 2016-2017, so that may be a decision point too.

 

I have some lower-cost options than most though, and prefer to outsource work at an AP/dual enrollment level anyway for 11th and 12th.

 

Over the years we've outsourced where it made sense because of expertise I didn't have in foreign languages or a better class with group interaction. I've never outsourced everything and chose not to do that with mine in early high school while they were learning self-management skills. That may change for my last one next year, but we'll see.

[Bambam]

I didn't answer the poll, because the answers will be different for my two students. 

oldest 

9th grade - Outside Spanish class, Outside class for speech, outside dual credit 

10th grade - Outside speech/debate class

11th grade -  returned to dual credit - 3 classes, participation in local homeschool band 

12th grade - more dual credit but this time at a 4year university - one class (one cancelled, I didn't know they did this), planning at least one more for final semester, participation in local homeschool band.

 

youngest

9th grade - voice and piano lessons (do those count?), outside Biology lab instructor

Plan for the rest (tentative)

10th - voice & piano lessons continue, outside Chem lab instructor (but this may be me with a group of kids), Spanish with local teacher if offered, hopefully debate will be offered again

11th - voice & piano lessons continue, start dual credit at 4 year university - start with one class, maybe two for the spring semester

12th - continue dual credit at 4 year university (maybe two classes per semester)

 

[charlotteb]

DS (graduated last year) took 9 community college classes while in high school, starting in 11th grade. He took 2 English, 3 math, 2 history, 1 psychology and 1 geography. 

 

DD (10th grade) took a geography class this past summer and is currently taking Spanish and Understanding Art at community college this semester. She will continue to take classes there, at the rate of 2 or 3 classes a semester.  We may let her take up to 4 during her senior year.  She also takes violin lessons through another university's music program and this will count towards all 4 years of high school.

 

 

[RootAnn]

We're only in 9th. She's doing outsourced Spanish II, Intro to Rhetoric (the catch-up class) through WTMA, and using Derek Owens' physics online option. So, I voted 3.

 

Unless something radically changes, we'll do Spanish III next year and possibly Chemistry through Landry. I think two outside classes are just about all she can take per year. (Derek Owens is at-your-own-pace, so outsourced, but not necessarily the same as an online class.) We're playing it by ear going forward. If she has time to add more languages, I may have to outsource them depending on which one(s) she picks.

[LisaKinVA]

I chose "4" for my 10th grader, but 3 of the classes are electives and really don't have homework.

 

The only core course that is truly outsourced is his Intro to Rhetoric class.  Everything else is really mine to oversee.

 

I'm not sure how this will change in the coming years, because that is dependent upon two things: finances and him.

[BlsdMama]

I answered "0" for 9th/10th.  But I answered "3" for 11th which isn't entirely true. That is currently what our 11th grader is doing, however, it's different for different kids.  He's a STEM kid and I'm not incredibly capable.   ;)  With our oldest daughter we only outsourced 1 class in high school - Russian in her senior year.  I wasn't capable of teaching that either - imagine that.

 

ETA:  Edited to add that while Christian didn't do outside classes 9th/10th, Ana was  tutored in Latin her 10th grade year.

[Cottonwood]

We are outsourcing everything for DD in high school as we have enrolled her in American School.  She is, however, also doing a couple of subjects I have added on the side as well.  But for the sake of what is affecting her GPA, I voted 6+

[Matryoshka]

Dd went to ps for 9th/10th, then decided at the last minute to come home for 11th.

 

For 11th - semester of American Lit at home, then 2nd semester DE, US History at home.

                All the rest was outsourced in different ways with different levels of success.  Languages ended up working best with tutors, math online. 

                She took two other DE classes.

For 12th - All DE except for math, which is still online with the same teacher, and German Lit/Comp with a tutor - so, all outsourced.
                 Well, except I'm trying to force her to get through Dave Ramsey's Personal Finance videos.  Still kinda outsourced, but requires
                 nagging from me....

[Penguin]

This year is 9th.

 

Latin II is fully outsourced.

We have a tutor for Danish, but she doesn't give much homework so she only counts as a 1/2 outsource.

 

I have someone else grade the bigger papers.

 

Everything else is at home.

[Catwoman]

We are outsourcing everything for DD in high school as we have enrolled her in American School. She is, however, also doing a couple of subjects I have added on the side as well. But for the sake of what is affecting her GPA, I voted 6+

American School here, as well! :hurray:

 

I voted 6+, too, as we are doing exactly the same thing you are. :)

[AHASRADA]

American School here, as well! :hurray:

 

I voted 6+, too, as we are doing exactly the same thing you are. :)

Us too! It makes life so much easier and is a good transition to independence.

[Artichoke]

We normally outsource high school English, Latin, Speech & Debate, and Drama.  DD is also taking a Advanced Biology class at our  homeschool tutorial this year.   

[Kareni]

We had access to a homeschooling resource center when my daughter was in her high school years.

 

In 9th grade, she did half of her English at home, half away.  She also did Latin 2 away as well as a few fun classes such as computer graphics, musical theatre, and fencing.

 

In 10th grade, she did the following out of the home: English, Latin 3, AP US History and fun courses such as Yearbook and swing dancing.

 

In 11th and 12th grades, my daughter also took classes at the local community college while continuing to do classes at home and at the resource center.

 

In 11th grade, at the resource center she took AP Latin and AP Comparative Politics and Government.

At the community college, she took three quarters of English (some literature, some composition), College Algebra, Trigonometry, and three quarters of Geology.

 

In 12th grade, at the resource center she took post AP Latin and Ancient Greek as well as a fiber arts class for fun.

At the community college, she took three quarters of English (some literature, some composition), a quarter of Environmental Science, Art History, Drawing, and Archery.

She also took AP Statistics through PA Homeschoolers.

 

I'd say that more than half of her courses throughout highschool were outsourced, and that the majority of her classes in 11th and 12th grades were outsourced.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Donna]

My dd takes Alg. 2 and Advanced Music Theory online and has a tutor for writing.

[Arch at Home]

We have out sourced Spanish and English for my 9th grader. The plan is to have her Dual Enroll in a history class in the spring.

 

My 11th grader is fully out sourced taking everything except Spanish at CC. Spanish she takes online.

 

Sarah

[TheAutumnOak]

My oldest is in 9th grade now and we are not outsourcing anything at this point, so I voted "0"...The only classes I am considering outsourcing at this point would be science in his 11th and 12th grade year to fulfill the lab requirement...I really don't want to outsource anything, so we will see...If we need to we will, and if we don't we won't...

 

It is also encouraging to me to read about families who made it all the way through without outsourcing, though that seems more and more rare today...