English placement problems

[athena1277]

I need some advice or suggestions for my ds for 9th grade English.  Back in May I signed him up to take 9th grade English with an online school my just graduated dd has been taking classes from all through high school.  When ds took the placement test for the course (because he would be a new student), he bombed it.  They offered us some choices, one of which was to take a writing course through them over the summer, then take the desired course in the fall.  Ds chose this option.  He has fussed about taking a summer course, but he worked hard and has a high B average.  I messaged the school to find out if I had to wait until after the last class and final grades this week to re-register for the 9th grade course or if I could register him now before the class fills.  Their reply was basically that ds did so poorly on the placement test that they won’t even let him retest to try to get in the class.  They said that taking the summer class did not give an automatic acceptance.  They said he could take the 8th grade English class if we want.

I don’t know what to do.  It wouldn’t upset me to just let home take the 8th grade class and count it for 9th because it’s where he needs to be (I knew he wasn’t a top student, but I didn’t realize he was behind).  If he’s progressing at his level, is that really a problem? I’m concerned about how it will look on a transcript.  My other option would be to find another online school he can get into for 9th grade English only at almost time to start classes. He really doesn’t want to have to add another year to high school.  Me teaching this is not an option.  Is there another choice?

[Lori D.]

Annoyed FOR you at your treatment by the online provider -- jumping the online school's hoop -- only to have them not honor the choice they provided you with last spring when you followed through with the required summer school. 😡

I'd suggest trying Lantern English -- either the 9th grade / level IV full-year course for $330, OR, do your own Literature at home AND take 3-4 of the 8-week Writing courses ($60 each) that best fit your student's needs.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Lori D.

[cintinative]

I am not sure I can give great suggestions, but I can sympathize with you. 

My youngest tested into a class in 7th grade and then the provider reworked the courses so that the class I was planning him to take in 9th was no longer considered a 9th grade class. So if he continued on his progression his 9th grade class with them would not be high school level.  We could test into a higher class to effectively skip a "level" or we could just continue on the progression.  I fretted a lot about it, but in the end I decided to just let him progress as he was able. I knew the testing would be difficult for him, and because I had a child in the "new" 9th grade class, I also knew the class was too much of a jump for him.

This is what a lot of people said to me on here--for my particular kid, we were talking about composition only (lit is another provider)--kids progress as they progress in composition. The next level is the next level.  So I plan on just renaming the courses to indicate progression on his transcript.  Maybe it will be Comp 1, Comp 2, etc.  I'm not sure yet. I might have to add a couple of papers to make it the right workload level. As far as the right sequence/difficulty--I am letting my kid's ability guide that. I feel like I am not saying this well, but hopefully this makes sense.

ETA: Like Lori D. I would be super annoyed to have found out you couldn't retest after the summer course. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by cintinative

[Arcadia]

My writing phobic DS16 who qualified for remedial English writing in elementary public school is doing the English 1A class at community college. His 9th grade and 11th grade English teacher actually commented that he would not be able to pass high school English.
Lili Serbicki (Aim Academy) was the only high school English teacher he had that didn’t give up on him. He failed AP English Lang exam (45mins version) last year but did well this year without doing any prep. He also managed to score 4 out of 5 for the writing portion for the California high school proficiency exam. 

*hugs* I won’t worry too much about transcript at this point. 

[Farrar]

So many thoughts.

One, unless this provider is issuing the transcript, how would colleges know it was a middle school course? Obviously you need to be honest in the course description for any schools that care to read them so there won't be a way to show off that he did a rigorous 9th grade English because he won't have. But beyond that, he'll have a basic English class and get a grade and that's all colleges will "see."

Two, this is such a jerk move on their part. They should have been up front about what the summer course meant. I'm really angry at them on his and your behalf. What a cruel thing to do.

Three, are you sure this is the right provider for him? Beyond the issue of how they treated you over the placement and all... There are many other online homeschool providers with different approaches and philosophies and while a few are filled, most are not. What was right for your older may not be right for him. If he's struggled this much already with their expectations, are you setting him up to fail? I genuinely don't know the answers to these questions - they're things I think you should ask yourself. It may be that this IS the right place for him and he needs to get in shape and it will be the best thing for him. But it also may be the case that he has different strengths from your older that would be valued more elsewhere. Or that he has different weaknesses that will be supported more gently elsewhere. Regardless, I think you need to do some fast soul searching about some of those questions with him as a partner.

[RootAnn]

I bet I know which provider this is. Not surprised.

I'd look elsewhere. And I'd probably name them sono one else is in your situation.

If you really wanted to go with this provider (which I wouldn't after how they've treated you), I'd approach the summer school English teacher for her help.   Who knows the student better,  the person who just read the placement test or the one who has been reading his work all summer

I wonder if their 9th grade classes are full...

[royspeed]

On 7/27/2021 at 8:22 PM, Farrar said:

Three, are you sure this is the right provider for him?

 

On 7/28/2021 at 7:47 AM, RootAnn said:

If you really wanted to go with this provider (which I wouldn't after how they've treated you),

It sounds to me as though this provider's only interest is in sliding your son into one of their boxes.

For my part, I would recommend a little more diagnosis — i.e., pinpointing the problem, understanding why he scored poorly.

My first thought would be to investigate his reading level as well as his reading habits. 

[Arcadia]

2 hours ago, royspeed said:

My first thought would be to investigate his reading level as well as his reading habits. 

My DS16 took your Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth classes. He is my kid that can read and can’t write. There is a huge gap between his SAT & ACT English score and his writing output. I don’t know about OP’s son’s situation but there are asynchronous kids like my son that benefits from non-credit classes where teachers are willing to accommodate and the child can enjoy the learning process. My DS15 also took your classes but his reading level is not as high as his brother and his writing level is not as low, so the reading writing gap is smaller.