Help me figure out DD's last high school semester

[Dmmetler]

DD15 is graduating in May. She could easily have graduated last year, but due to housing requirements (or, at least, strong recommendations) and the unsaid hesitation of admissions officers, she wanted to graduate at 16 so she had more college options. This year was supposed to be heavy DE, getting lots of lab sciences and interesting classes that may not be offered in other parts of the country. 

 

Except that COVID happened. Interesting lab science classes and discussion based humanities are a lot less attractive online. We front loaded her high school schedule with the core classes that needed to be on a transcript, in the hopes that Spring will be more fun. Colleges are now starting registration for Spring and....well, fun has left the building. There are, if anything, fewer in person classes in the Spring than in the fall. And many of the ones that are have caps on them such that you won't get in if it is not required in your major. 

 

DD is DONE with Zoom, TEAMS, MEET, etc. She has backed out of almost all online socializing because she is just so burned out with online. The idea of another semester of full online is enough to make her cry. Literally. She's just so tired and sick of it that finishing this semester is about all she can do. Homegrown classes with Great Courses are similarly missing the boat, except for the reading the books together and talking about them as a family. College admissions stuff being on Zoom and online forms and watch this video has not helped. 

 

She can't graduate in December without losing the HOPE scholarship since you have to enroll immediately after graduation, and while her top couple of picks are out of state, I don't want to give up an extremely affordable in-state safety. Or the ability to go locally and live at home if dorm life is not something she can do. So, she needs SOMETHING to do in the Spring. Field work season here is stopping, and never really started due to COVID  concerns. She loves teaching and doing outreach, but, again, live outreach has stopped. She teaches online classes, and still enjoys them, but is finding it hard to be what her students need, because so many of them are struggling, too. Volunteering options for teens are limited-To the point that most schools are waiving their service requirements. She is helping in my distanced outdoor drumming class, but that will stop in Mid-November, and I likely won't run another session until Mid/Late Feb, when being outdoors will start to be more reasonable. 

 

So, what I need is ideas for something meaningful she can do her last semester that can be put on the transcript-for a kid who is post high school in every single subject, and already HAS a big, culminating, many year project on her resume. 

[Bristayl]

Can she unschool the semester--spend time doing whatever motivates her?

If she had already chosen a college I might have suggested contacting the professors she would be doing research with to see if there are things she could do ahead of her arrival there, but since she hasn't yet decided and has plenty of time to do so, that might not work at this point.

[BusyMom5]

Same here- my DD will take 2 classes the first 8 weeks snd 2 classes the second 8 weeks.  None are 'fun' classes,  and she's only taking them bc she needs to do something.  I have been brainstorming for options snd here are a few I'm kicking around:

Calling Bull$h!t - this is an online series of lectures and reading,  we would do a lot of discussion, minimal output.  

Mental Health Awareness and Stress Management- thinking something with meditation,  just reading and discussing ways to improve mental health, good strategies for managing stress and overall management of life stuff- this would just be books picked, read and discussed- maybe make notes to self, ect that she takes with her next year.  Probably an exercise portion, too.  And maybe even charting her cycles to help manage emotions  

Cooking- bc its fun!  

Working- I would love for her to get a part time job in her area of interest- even just as a receptionist.   Right now she's babysitting 3 days a week.  Lots of kids in public school get credit for working.

Calculus- bc i think its ridiculous to have this be 8 weeks online!  I'm not sure if she will do a real class or just Khan and a book I already bought.  

[Guest]

I rather wish she hadn't already done the vast majority of her general Ed credits.

 

The big problem is that what motivates DD is stuff that isn't possible due to COVID. She can't do fieldwork until Spring, and it is likely that labs will still need to limit people. She can't work in the lab because right now, even grad students are lucky to get the access they need. She can't do outreach and tabling-the events have been cancelled. She can't easily teach an in person class-social distancing is a concern. She already is teaching two classes online, and I think that will be the limit of her tolerance for online. 

 

I'm thinking maybe she can work on designing some new class modules, and converting some of her current class modules into unit studies, possibly to sell on TPT or a similar site, or maybe PARC or the state society could host as part of their outreach.  That would give her another resume line, but it also wouldn't be an online class. 

[Bristayl]

Is there anything computational she can do for lab work--analyzing data she has collected, modeling the data, that sort of thing? My dd's current lab work involves computational genetics modeling (and she didn't have significant coding experience going in) and she has been able to continue that pretty much uninterrupted (though it does involve Zoom meetings with her PI).

[Junie]

6 hours ago, dmmetler said:

I'm thinking maybe she can work on designing some new class modules, and converting some of her current class modules into unit studies, possibly to sell on TPT or a similar site, or maybe PARC or the state society could host as part of their outreach.  That would give her another resume line, but it also wouldn't be an online class. 

This sounds like a great idea!

Does she have any interest in learning a language?  Or a shop class of some sort?  Music?

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, Junie said:

This sounds like a great idea!

Does she have any interest in learning a language?  Or a shop class of some sort?  Music?

She is already doing several Spanish sessions a week with her HSA tutor. She is past their top level and just working on conversation, and I think they spent all summer bemoaning being unable to get in the field (her usual tutor is a grad student who works with sea turtles-and lost her summer field season) . She plays piano and is lukewarmly working on her senior recital, but is not confident that she can have it with an audience in person. She did an ensemble last year (after losing cheer due to an injury), but that isn't happening this year. 

[Junie]

Hey, what about CLEP tests?  She could maybe knock out some of her mandatory college classes with self study.

[8filltheheart]

A capstone thesis research project? (Could be completely unrelated to her main interests. My dd did one on Shakespeare and loved it.)

Learn what is involved in writing research grant proposals?

Put together a TED Talk?

Volunteer  at the Memphis Zoo (maybe with her background they'd let her volunteer in the reptile house? No idea.) Or maybe see if they'd be receptive to her creating a fun educational reptile handout for schools making field trips to the zoo?

[RootAnn]

I was going to suggest writing a book about her path thus far as an interest-driven homeschooler. A bit longer than a TED talk, but definitely a capstone project. Could take it all the way to writing agents.

[mathnerd]

Will she be able to intern at a big company in areas that are somehow related to her interests? I am at a loss trying to imagine what that might be in her case: but as an example, around here, kids who are interested in computer science major but are too young to go to college will intern at a local company with a mentor while also participating in USACO, Siemens/Regeneron Science Fairs etc. They spend the entire senior year focusing on Independent Research and it serves them well in their college careers. You are very resourceful, so I think that you could be able to find such opportunities for her.

[cbollin]

a bit of encouragement here.  7 years ago or so, my oldest reached second semester senior high "burn out gimme a rest before I start college" feeling. We did a lower number of classes and it was ok.  didn't lose Hope scholarship, etc. and it did not hurt her for college work.  We were kinda out of school courses and didn't want to deal with DE at that point, etc. 

with that said... here are my brainstorm with you ideas.  take what applies ignore what doesn't.

if you are looking for just get her out of the house and around people, I think places near us like pink palace and its associated outdoor nature center are open and have volunteer stuff.   check website for the person to contact for both places.   Also, the botantic garden in town has ongoing volunteer stuff.  I know she's not plant person, but at least it's field work in somewhat related area.  Perhaps they could make an exception on age if you are participating with her until they get to know her, etc.  They do have those chickens there now. not reptiles but hey...

or look into volunteer stuff with wolf river conservancy.  outdoors. in related field. Again, you might have to get creative and talk to the directors if there are age limits and she is tagging along with you or something. They don't have internships open right now, but when they do those are open to high school students.  So they might work with you for volunteering. Given her age, you might have to be there too, or have someone go with her. ooh.. maybe my slightly delayed 21 year old.  nah...  LOL.

maybe if she just had one or two fun outside volunteer things in community it would be enough to look forward to so she can get through it all. I know adding just one hour a week for us to be out of the house (volunteer cleaning a church building) has boosted our morale especially as we head into winter.

oh, up the thread someone mentioned clep for gen ed in college that you don't already have college credit.. of U of M test center is supposed to be open for that.  masks. etc. make appointment.

 

[Clemsondana]

My older is a bit younger and has been emphatic that kiddo does not want to graduate early due to several activities that will end when high school ends.  We will probably do a good bit of dual enrollment but I'm keeping a running list of ideas that we might turn into interesting 1/2 credits as needed, especially for senior year.  If she hasn't done it, she might also like AoPS's Number Theory book - my kid liked it and didn't find it as tedious as the others so if she's interested it might be a bit of a break from the standard pathway.  Coding, or additional programming languages, might be interesting. 

I use the books 'How to Lie with Statistics' and 'Naked Statistics' as part of a class that I teach.  They don't teach formulas and traditional statistics - more how to think about numbers.  We also came across the book 'How Not to be Wrong' which also talks about how we don't think properly about numbers.  I had planned to make a class out of them in high school, but kiddo keeps reading the stuff as I acquire it.  I've found a book on...I think it's the visual presentation of numeric data? that I'm considering lumping with the other 3 into a class and actually getting kiddo to slow down and discuss it. 🙂  She might also look into the site Retraction Watch if she hasn't already - I've used some writing about Brian Wansink that I originally found there as a hook for why this stuff matters. 

If she hasn't, she might consider reading some classic books about science and also books that describe the process a bit - The Double Helix, The Rosalind Franklin Story, The Mold in Dr. Florey's Lab Coat, Advice to a young scientist, Molecules of Emotion, writing by Francis Crick, maybe classic science papers.  Many of the books themselves are easy reads but give interesting perspectives and leave you amazed that any science ever gets done.  

Might she enjoy books written to the general public about science topics outside her interest - Gut, The Brain, etc?  

We're also considering a history class around the themed books like Salt and other 'How gunpowder/steel/cod/paper' changed the world-style books.  I'm also interested in foodways and how people wound up eating what they do based on immigration and where they live, so if it were me and not my kid I'd be inclinded to go all-in on the food-based books.  🙂  Another possible history topic is about unintended consequences - we're intrigued by how nobody foresaw that prohibition could give us a black market for alcohol and also NASCAR.  🙂  We're intrigued by looking at perverse incentives, although I'm not sure if we can build a whole semester around it. 

I think that my older likes reading and is somewhat concerned that there will be less time for this once kid is off at school, so these plans tend to be book-heavy, and it all may be too simple or outside of her areas of interest.  Some of this is material that I've read for classes that I teach and have found enjoyable so I'm hoping that we wind up doing it at home at some point.  

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Clemsondana

[UmmIbrahim]

I don't know how much coding/technology experience she has, but we've all been doing a lot more with coding projects while we've been stuck at home. There are some really cool Coursera classes and free online resources for App development or other coding practice. Is there an app she could develop that would help with data collection in her field? Some technology tool that she could improve her skills with that would help her with her major? I am gathering that she does wildlife work, so could she learn enough about AI or machine learning to create a useful tool for image classification or recognition? Do something to improve or work with available data sets? Technology/coding can overlap with just about anything, so maybe she could add a tech project on the side that would be something she could use.

[The Governess]

I like your idea of having her develop some online modules. Maybe you could give her a credit in Curriculum Development for doing that?

Are any schools in session in your area? If so, you might ask some private schools if they could use a volunteer/intern for spring semester. With social distancing requirements a lot of schools are short on teaching staff and might really appreciate the help. 

What about a photography class where she could at least get outdoors to work on her assignments, maybe work with some human subjects?

My dd is also a senior, graduating at 16 this June. She only had a couple required credits this year - English and Econ - so she had a lot of choice in how to fill out her year. It’s been a weird one, for sure.

 

[Emerald Stoker]

Someone above mentioned cooking, which I think is an excellent idea! Maybe she'd like to learn how to do really fancy pastries or something like that? The Great Courses actually has a few good cooking classes--or you could just get some good cookbooks that teach technique and go for it.

Is she crafty at all? Would she like to learn to make a quilt for her dorm bed for next year, and weave or braid a rug to match her quilt? Or maybe she'd like to learn to knit socks? (or sweaters/scarves/lace shawls, whatever...)

Maybe she'd like sewing--she could make herself a cool vest with lots of pockets for field work once that starts up again. Or a nice party dress, or some cool jeans.

She's learning to drive, which is great. Maybe she could learn how to change a tire and change the oil?

Does she like bicycling? Learning basic bike repair is not hard--she could work on the family bikes, or tune-up friends' bikes.

Are there any authors she loves? Could she try her hands at some fan fiction, maybe? Or invent a board game based on characters from the books? Or pick a new author or genre and read, read, read!

What about learning how to refinish furniture and do some simple re-upholstery? Maybe she could find a piece she likes at a thrift store and make it her own with a refurbishing project.

Any other kind of home improvement skills she'd like to learn? How to change the taps on a sink? How to rewire a lamp? Paint a room? Tile a backsplash?

She's musical--has she done any songwriting or sound recording? Maybe she could write and record some original songs and release them on Bandcamp? Or maybe she'd like to learn to build an instrument--ukulele or guitar, or a cajon, or...?

I'm not sure if these are the kinds of ideas you're seeking--it seems to me that you could spin some of these hands-on things into something that looked like classes for transcript purposes, but that would get her away from screens and doing something fun.

I hope things will improve for all of us soon. Good wishes to you!