Our public school district allows homeschoolers to take classes if we notify them by May 1 of the previous school year. So with that deadline coming up, I asked Meg what classes she'd like to take next year. She said she just wanted choir again.
"But this is your last year. Maybe you feel like you've missed out and want to be able to say you experienced more of high school." She has brought that up in the past.
"No," she said. "Everyone hates high school." I just had to laugh. She hangs out with public school kids, so it no longer holds its magic. Last night she went to their musical practice. Because she's not a full timer, she can't be in their musical, but she is the assistant choreographer, and she loves it. She came home just glowing. She told me how she gave various people pointers and explained a dance or two. Everyone was very appreciative, and she beamed, "I feel so smart in theater!" That was a very telling comment, because Meg could not read until she was 10, and academic things have always been a struggle for her. When she was little she'd cry that she just wanted to be "smart." Well, I think she's found her place in the world. She loves theater, and she's realizing she likes behind-the-scenes work even more than being on stage. She'd love to direct. So now we're thinking about which college would have a major for her.
Yesterday I got an email from a friend asking how to prepare her 8th grade homeschooled son for math in a public high school. I told her to shore up his elementary math foundation (multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents) and maybe introduce him to pre-Algebra. That's what I did with Melissa. She went into Algebra 1 and is doing great--A's so far. When I told Melissa about it, she said, "He'll have no problem. It's easy. They dumb everything down in high school." And a few nights ago, she said, "The days just fly by in school. I don't learn anything, but they sure go fast!" Great. But at least she's having fun, right?
Peter has also been thinking a lot about education this week. He helps out in a fourth grade classroom and went to a political meeting about education in Chicago. He called me as he walked home, and he had some very interesting observations. I asked him to write a post for me. Let's see if he gets around to it. :)
Psst...today is StoneAgeTechie's birthday. Go wish her a happy one.
April 16, 2009
Education Observations from My Teenagers
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8 comments:
I'm starting to think my son is like your older daughter. He is almost 11 and is just starting to read reasonably well because of his dyslexia. He loves to dance and be on stage and was asking the other day about what kind of education you need to be an actor. Hmmmm. I think we may be looking at trying to get him some similar experiences in the next few years.
That is so fascinating! I've never thought of my kids taking a class or two in the public school system. Is that just open for your school district or is this something that many schools do? Can they take any class or is it limited to just a few?
Interesting stuff! I'm excited to learn more!
In response to Ruralmama:
We are from Kansas and my girls started out in the public school system. When I took them out to home school, their public school made a point to let me know we could come back at any time and take whatever classes we wanted. I think there are some restrictions on being able to play on the sports teams...
You just have to check with your school district to see if they allow homeschoolers in. Here in Illinois, they let the individual school districts decide. A town just 10 miles away won't let homeschoolers do anything in their schools. As far as athletics go, Gayle is right. They have to be in a certain number of classes and keep a certain grade point average to participate in the statewide athletic conference. Here it's five classes, and I'm not sure about the grade, but I think it's a C average.
Rural mama,
I know there was some law passed resently that required schools to allow homeschoolers to participate in their programs. You may want to google it to find out. Wish I could give you more info. We are in PA. Don't know if it was statewide or nationwide, but worth looking into. We have a private church school that allows us to pay a small fee to go to gym, music, field trips, chapel, and field day. You may want to try that as well. Good luck!
I always love hearing about your kids observations of "traditional" schooling. It is just so darn intriguing to look at it all through their unschooled eyes. Love Meg's revelation about herself as well...kudos to her!
LOL Well, that's good to know that my ds who will be attending high school next year as a freshman (first time ever in public school) won't learn anything, but at least it will go fast! :) Love it!
As we sit here trying to figure out what classes he will take I'm getting really frustrated. He will only have 2 electives he can take his Freshman year and it looks like he will have to fill them with PE and Spanish instead of the classes he was really hoping to take. :(
I keep letting him know the door is open any time he feels he wants to make a change. So many of the kids we know that go to the h.s. are very adament that he should just stay home and just take the classes he wants at the h.s. Pretty interesting that these kids that are halfway thru h.s. discourage him from coming.
this is very interesting! home schooling is a very good thing for the right families. i learned a lot from this!
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