Starting in high school

[TheCoffeeChick]

 

 

  

Hi everyone!! It's been a while since I've been here or posted. 

In an effort to shorten a long back story, here's the important points: We homeschooled DS from pre-K through 4th, private school for 5th, public 6th, private 7th, homeschool 1/2 of 8th, public school 2nd half of 8th - 11th (currently there). DD is similar, but 3 years younger. We've moved A LOT in the past 15 years and the original plan was to homeschool the entire time. Well, life happened, and it didn't work out as we wanted. Fast forward to today, dh and I are disgusted with the local schools here and plan on pulling to homeschool next school year. DS will be a senior and DD will be a freshman. 

DS has never enjoyed academics, but he is really bright and can do most school work with little effort (except math, which he says is the bane of his existence). DD is very smart, excels at school, and settles for nothing less than As in everything. She does not like math and science, but can do them with a little extra effort. She has always tested way above her grade level for reading and enjoys older literature (Jane Austen, etc..). 

I don't worry too much about DD because she is motivated to do school work and will take it seriously. She has HUGE goals for her life after high school. One major reason we are planning on homeschooling her for high school is because of these goals -- there's no way our local high school will help her achieve anything but mediocrity.  

DS on the other hand has had a rough high school experience. Not because of the people, he gets along well with most everyone. Last year he battled cancer for the second half of the year (so technically he did school at home, but through the high school) and chemo really left his brain in a fog for his junior year this year. He hates the idea of going to college, but it is the direction DH and I are trying to push him toward. I want him to not be overwhelmed with school next year, but I also want him to be able to get into college if he ends up wanting to go.  Here's what he has so far for high school credits:

Freshman Year: 

• Algebra 1
• English 1
• Biology w/lab
• Art
• Spanish I
• PE
• Student Success & Technology

He also received a .5 credit for being part of ASB (Student Council as class president), and he lettered in Varsity Soccer & Varsity Tennis, he was also part of Leo Club (a volunteer club for high schoolers)

Sophomore Year:

• Geometry
• English 2
• Chemistry w/lab
• Film
• Spanish II
• World Civilizations
• Drivers Ed (.5 credit)
• Health (.5 credit)

He also received a .5 credit for being part of ASB (Student Council as class president & activities commissioner), and he lettered in Varsity Soccer, Varsity Tennis, &Varsity Cheer (as mascot), and held an office in the Leo Club

Junior Year:

• Algebra II (only .5 credit, dropped at semester, barely got a C- for a final grade)
• Digital Media (.5 credit)
• AP English Language & Composition
• AP US History
• Art
• Farm to Table (Foods)
• Drama

He also received a .5 credit for being part of ASB (Student Council as class vice-president, and school vice-president), and he lettered in Varsity Cheer (as mascot)

So total he has:

·      2.5 credits math

·      3 credits English

·      2 credits science

·      2 credits history

·      2 credits Spanish

·      10 credits of electives

To graduate from the public school he needs another .5 credit of math, 1 credit of English, 1 credit of history (which during senior year at this school is .5 credit of civics and .5 credit economics), 1 credit of financial management (3.5 credits total). If he had not lettered in 4 sports, he would have had to take another PE credit, but it is waived.

Keeping in mind that DS is barely scraping a C in his APUSH course, will probably have a B- in AP English when he finishes, and more than likely will NOT be passing the AP tests, I do not want him to do any more AP courses, but I’m not against him doing some sort of dual enrollment. He is a horrible tester, and if we had been thinking clearly when he signed up for his Junior year, we would not have had him take AP courses. (But we were distracted with fighting cancer and all that.)  Even with the Cs he is ranked 4^th in his class! UGH! I really wish we would have homeschooled him for his entire high school experience.

So, if you’ve gotten this far, I’d love to hear your advice for what he needs at a minimum to be accepted into a college for his senior year.

MATH: I’m thinking he should re-do Algebra II, but he’d prefer a different math class if possible. I just don’t think that is possible to be college bound.

HISTORY: I’m really not sure here, I guess we can do a civics/economics course. Is this common? Or should I figure out something that both my DS and DD can do together?

SCIENCE: I know he doesn’t technically need a science to graduate, but is there a non-lab, not-too-intense, science option that will work for a credit for high school?  

ENGLISH: I’m probably either going to do either: (1) some sort of literature & composition course, (2) take a English 101 course through our local community college, or (3) take English 101 through study.com and if he qualifies, he can use it for transfer credit to some colleges.

Do I have to have him take a financial management course? He actually runs his own ice cream shop that he opened up in January and has plenty of hands on experience with managing finances for a business.

He has told me that if he goes to college, he’d probably major in something that is business or art related.

Thanks ahead of time for any and all advice. 🙂 

[sbgrace]

He seems to have good people skills, and it's impressive he has his own shop! 

I'd want to prepare him for a business type degree. Are there community college/2 year degrees that appeal to him? Sometimes there is more support in those settings, the end date would be sooner, and maybe he could take some dual credit courses this next year to ease into a degree. 

For business, he will likely need math courses. Both my husband and I got (different trajectory/majors) business degrees (4 yr), and we both had to take calculus and statistics to graduate. He doesn't have to have high school calc to be able to do that, be he does need a solid foundation in Algebra 1 and 2. If he were my son, I would shore up any weakness in Algebra 1 and complete an Algebra 2 course.

But, in my experience, many Algebra 2 courses are long and challenging. (I've tried a lot of them with one of mine..he's now settled on Alg 2 A Fresh Approach. It's well explained, but it's still big and detailed and imposing.) With my other son, whose thing is not at all math, I decided to do Math U See. There are short, just the basics lessons. It's behind grade, though. I am going to take him through Pre-Calculus in Math U See, and I think I'll feel he has a solid Algebra 2 foundation. I might consider trying Math U See with your son if he were mine...testing to see if he's ready for Math U See Algebra 2...and plan to work through Pre-Calc. Math U See, if you can start this summer, will probably move quickly--especially if his Algebra 1 is strong enough that a lot of Alg 2 is review. (I think...I'm still in process...but I think it would be a faster way through Algebra 2 from my experience, hopefully you will have time to get through Pre-Calc..he'll have it on his transcript and hopefully a decent math foundation for college math). Hopefully more experienced people have ideas for you for math!

Your state probably requires civics/econ, so I would want that on the transcript. Whether you do a box check course or dive in might depend on his level of interest. He will probably need economics in a business degree, at least for 4 year degrees. 

I like the idea of dual enrollment for his english/LA credit. 

Does he like science? I'd pick something fun and very low intensity in your place, given he would need to put work into non--preferred math and dual credit LA.  I"m not sure what that might be, but I bet people have an idea. 

[8filltheheart]

How is his health now?  Better?  Clear thinking? (Those answers are the most important.)

If he doesn't want to go to college, what does he see himself doing?  A trade?  For a student that is pushing back against college, would pursuing a trade or more DE classes as a sr create more motivation bc he might see himself moving forward next yr instead of just "checking off high school requirements"?  

[TheCoffeeChick]

3 hours ago, sbgrace said:

For business, he will likely need math courses. Both my husband and I got (different trajectory/majors) business degrees (4 yr), and we both had to take calculus and statistics to graduate. He doesn't have to have high school calc to be able to do that, be he does need a solid foundation in Algebra 1 and 2. If he were my son, I would shore up any weakness in Algebra 1 and complete an Algebra 2 course.

But, in my experience, many Algebra 2 courses are long and challenging. (I've tried a lot of them with one of mine..he's now settled on Alg 2 A Fresh Approach. It's well explained, but it's still big and detailed and imposing.) With my other son, whose thing is not at all math, I decided to do Math U See. There are short, just the basics lessons. It's behind grade, though. I am going to take him through Pre-Calculus in Math U See, and I think I'll feel he has a solid Algebra 2 foundation. I might consider trying Math U See with your son if he were mine...testing to see if he's ready for Math U See Algebra 2...and plan to work through Pre-Calc. Math U See, if you can start this summer, will probably move quickly--especially if his Algebra 1 is strong enough that a lot of Alg 2 is review.

Thank you for your input on this. I'm glad someone sees the need for Alg 2 also. It will help me gently talk him into it, even though he doesn't want to do it. I'll check out Math U See. I'm such a math person, so it's really hard for me to understand why he doesn't get it. 

3 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

How is his health now?  Better?  Clear thinking? (Those answers are the most important.)

If he doesn't want to go to college, what does he see himself doing?  A trade?  For a student that is pushing back against college, would pursuing a trade or more DE classes as a sr create more motivation bc he might see himself moving forward next yr instead of just "checking off high school requirements"? 

He is doing really well, next month will mark 1 year in remission. Although he says learning is different. He also just has a very different outlook on life in general and doesn't see the point in school. I somewhat understand the shift in perspective - being near death does that to people. I really wish he saw school as the road to help him get to success though. After graduating, he sees himself just being a business owner -- but doesn't really know how to start a business that can support him as an adult. His ice cream business is definitely just a high school, teenager, part-time job. He's also in the process of building a website to showcase and sell his art. He's a great artist and has real talent. But again, it really won't pay the bills at the end of the day.

I'm kind of hoping that getting a taste of DE courses would show him that college isn't as hard as he thinks it is and maybe he would find them more interesting. Maybe I can get him to do English and history as DE and do math and science at home? Getting credits just might help nudge him forward. But I also don't want him to end up with a dud of a teacher and have a bad experience, which would drive him even further from wanting to do college.

I actually am okay if he ends up not going to college, but I don't want him to make the decision to not go just yet.

Edited May 7, 2020 by TheCoffeeChick

[almondbutterandjelly]

I would look at the college he would most likely attend (if he goes to college).  See what their admission requirements are, and work backwards from there to see what is needed.

How did he do on his SATs?  My dd's school had minimum scores in math and english to not need remedial classses.  His scores on the math section, especially, would affect my suggestions for math.  My dd needed Mathusee Algebra 2 and also a good chunk of Mathusee PreCal (I actually skipped ahead to cover some PreCal stuff before the SAT and then went back afterward to do the chapters we skipped.  My dd took her SAT in October and also December of her senior year to have the most math knowledge.)

If he already scored well enough to place at college level in Math ( I think it was 570?  Or 540?  on the math section of the SAT), then I would suggest him doing the Mathusee Algebra 2 and calling it good.  You will probably need to be a resource for him, as in not just hand him the videos and let him teach himself.  MUS was very good for my dd but she absolutely could not have done it without me to clarify and explain some things now and again.

[TheCoffeeChick]

58 minutes ago, perkybunch said:

How did he do on his SATs?  My dd's school had minimum scores in math and english to not need remedial classses.  His scores on the math section, especially, would affect my suggestions for math.  My dd needed Mathusee Algebra 2 and also a good chunk of Mathusee PreCal (I actually skipped ahead to cover some PreCal stuff before the SAT and then went back afterward to do the chapters we skipped.  My dd took her SAT in October and also December of her senior year to have the most math knowledge.)

If he already scored well enough to place at college level in Math ( I think it was 570?  Or 540?  on the math section of the SAT), then I would suggest him doing the Mathusee Algebra 2 and calling it good.  You will probably need to be a resource for him, as in not just hand him the videos and let him teach himself.  MUS was very good for my dd but she absolutely could not have done it without me to clarify and explain some things now and again.

He's not taken the SAT yet, but did atrocious on the math portion of the PSAT, so perhaps doing both Alg. 2 &  some PreCal would be his best bet? I am okay with being the main teacher/resource for the course, in fact, he would learn best that way, I think.  Thank you.

[serendipitous journey]

21 hours ago, TheCoffeeChick said:

 

Thanks ahead of time for any and all advice. 🙂 

 

You did say any and all 😉 

My own children are younger than yours.  However, DH is a professor (science; he runs a research group & teaches courses) at uni and takes mentoring seriously so we have seen kids on the other end of this. 

I'd say that, especially after coming out of cancer treatment, giving the child as much power over his life & building passion is extraordinarily important.  Naturally, you want to balance this with academic achievement at the level that will ensure he has lots of good choices going forward.  Here are some ideas for you to take, leave, or toss about in your mind as seems best.  Do try to at least consider even the unpalatable ones, as a way to start open-ended brainstorming.

1. Consider a gap year -- look for what SWB says about this.  There is a reasonable probability that gap year work would enhance his college application, so y'all could apply (or re-apply) in the gap year.  The thing to watch for here is the college tests, esp. if he is a poor tester: SWB suggests doing the testing on schedule and pushing it into the gap year, and I think she's spot on (for most students). 
2. Consider a fifth year of high school.  There is no academic/college app. drawback to this, especially now (ie pandemic time).  There may be a few naysayers, but we know many people teaching / on admissions committees at competitive schools here & abroad: if it would be good for the student, it will be good for the college process. 
   1. You'd probably want to make this an opportunity for the child to dig deep at something he loves.  Look over SWB's rhetoric/passion suggestions.  Post here for ideas if you wish.
3. Math: if he hates math, look at Math-U-See.  It is doable, concrete, and perfectly adequate; it is what I used with my elder child (now 14 years old) through his year+ of extreme illness (though not as extreme as chemo).  I think that with MUS you could get the child through pre-calc without too much trouble, just start now with Algebra II.  You could DEFINITELY get him through Algebra II again. 
4. If you want him to want to go to college, seems to me your best off designing courses for him that will build passion and not trying to get him to feel invested in DE credits. 
   1. For history:
      1. combine a serious art practicum with an art history course?  Either a survey of art history or focus on an area of interest.  The area could be artistic (architecture, sculpture, or painting for ex.), cultural (Chinese, aboriginal, European) or a particular genre (Arts & Crafts movement). 
      2. Farm to Table is super cool & really rich in terms of possibilities.  History of agriculture, including standards of animal care, treatment of human workers, environmental stewardship & so on?
      3. Since he values volunteering, something about the development of the civic ethos in Western culture?  globally?  Comparison of modern cultures' civic values? 
   2. For science: you can totally spin off the Farm to Table here if he personally likes that stuff.
      1. Food Science.  Plus he could cook a LOT as his lab -- I do mean serious cooking.  There are terrific cookbooks for the food science chef, and if you can invest in a few specialized tools for him all the better.  Let him ping around on Amazon.  If you want I can point you toward some starter options, and folks here could help refine & write the course description.
      2. Agricultural science.  Could be small agriculture -- ie, garden-based science. 
      3. Art science: this is NOT farm-to-table.  Could be: preservation of art; science of art materials; science of human visual perception; science of color; anthropology of art; a survey course with bits of all the above. 
   3. For math: give him math that isn't too stressful (like the MUS) and invest time in finding having him read math nonfiction.  The "Mathematicians are People Too" series gives some quick and easy reads if he's willing to try stuff with a younger target audience.  Biographies of mathematicians; math and art (like Math Art); stuff like that.  Again, maybe let him ping around Amazon, download a bunch of Kindle samples, get ideas here, don't give up until you've found something about math that's fun for him to look at or read. 

And: hugs to you.  This isn't easy.  Please ignore anything that doesn't suit: you know your family & situation best, and clearly love them dearly. 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by serendipitous journey

[TheCoffeeChick]

46 minutes ago, serendipitous journey said:

You did say any and all 😉 

Yes, I did, and I appreciate it all so much! Thank you!! 

1. A gap year might be in his future. And I would be okay with that. I just don't want him to do the minimum required for high school and have it bite him in the behind if he later decides to go to college. 🙂 It's something I've thought about, but not voiced, because I don't want to encourage it. It is definitely on the plan B list.

2. While I think a 5th year of high school would help a lot, he would never agree to it. He turns 18 before he'll finish school next year, and he fully intends to be on his own afterward.

3. After all the MUS recommendations and looking at it a bit, I'm lean more and more toward it. He did complete the first semester of Alg. 2 this school year, so maybe he can get through at least the first half of it quickly, letting him explore the pre-calc a bit.

4. I think you're right that it would probably benefit him the most to design history and science around his interests. I'd love to be able to have courses that my dd (9th grader) will be able to use for those subjects also. That way I don't have to teach science & history twice. Your suggestions are great, and I'll be looking more deeply into them while I am planning. I'll also let him decide most of his studies himself -- a 17/18 year old really should have a large say over his own education (IMO). 

Thank you for the hugs. The whole past year has been really difficult. But I think this is going to work out for the best. I only wish we had been homeschooling his entire high school rather than just his senior year.