Home schooling?

[N00bPwnr]

I think the best part about being homeschooled was that if I had an interest in some area (i.e. science) my mom would be able to adapt the cirriculm to match my interests. Also if I was having trouble with something she could help me more then my teachers were able to do when i was in public school.

 

[Booko]

The education is then supplied by the same teachers that teach where the child was supposed to go. That way, there is a guarantee that the curriculum will be exactly the same as for the others, so that there will be no problems when for example applying for next level of education.

There are curriculae that are "accredited" for our state, so there's some assurance that nothing is missed. Oftentimes schools can recommend homeschooling curriculae that they recommend.

But honestly, Anders, if your HS thinks that after 2.5 years of French, you shouldn't have even learned <<futur>> (future tense), would you really think you should pay much attention to *their* opinion on subjects that should be covered? :cover:

"Homeschooling" USAmerican style is incomprehensible to me.

There are groups that you can join, where perhaps one parent has expertise in English, one in chemistry, one in history, etc. So they cover for each other.

And you won't get hardly any religion in your history anyway. I've seen deeper overviews on RF done in a mere OP, actually.

For Ellen's 11th and 12th grade classes, actually we have it covered, but then, we're hopeless academics anyway. (Honestly, I once thought I'd never get married, because I thought it impossible to find anyone as bookish as myself. Well, he's even worse than I am, so we're well matched. )

Where do you find parents who can teach what is needed for languages (for us, it will always be Swedish and English, and normally at least one more language, with a very wide spectrum to choose from), all sciences (I have taught adults maths, physics and chemistry, but biology - no way) as well as religion (which necessitates a not too elementary knowledge of at least the major world religions), history, civics, phys ed (which includes health education and orienteering as well as the practice of a wide range of athletic events and sports), music (how many parents can teach an instrument, or will be knowledgable of the history of music?) and art (which nowadays seems to be heavy on message interpretation and other communication aspects)? A failing grade in one or more subjects will close a lot of future doors for the unfortunate youngster.

OK, Anders -- I hope you're sitting down for this...

I think if you understood just how LITTLE we demand of our students in the schools, it would become crystal clear. My example about French is but one.

No one learns history of music, as it's totally optional. My kids are in Band. They still don't learn anything about it. Oh gosh, I think they could probably tell Jazz from non-Jazz, if all they had to depend on was what they learn in school.

My kids have NEVER had an art class, except Ellen who was accidentally put in a half year when she switched programmes. They didn't learn any art history. She wouldn't be able to tell Botticelli from a bologna if I hadn't taken her to art museums myself.

Phys ed...orienteering!?? If you want to learn that, you'd better join the Boy Scouts! You sure won't learn it in school! Someone might get lost or hurt and sue the school, so they wouldn't consider teaching it. My son *stood around and chatted* for two years in Phys Ed. Oh yeah, he learned the rules of American football, which he promptly forgot. My daughter practices Irish Dance steps as she's "walking" around the track. That's when they actually do anything to move. Phys ed here isn't even required after 10th grade anymore. No wonder we're all getting fat. Ellen has a minimum of 10 hours of dance a week, and usually it's more like 15, and that doesn't count practice outside of class. Oh...she's getting her exercise.

Many if not most schools do not require a foreign language for graduation. It's only the college bound kids who bother. I never took a language in HS -- we took a whole week learning how to say "Madame" and I was OUTTA THERE! I learned more teaching myself. I took Woodshop instead (and was the first girl "allowed" to do so.) At least it was educational!

Their science courses have been pretty good, overall. Next year Ellen will have Physics. Hm, not much lab work there. But my husband and I can teach that ourselves. (His granddad was a nuclear physicist and his aunt has, among other things, doctorate's in physics -- she's in her 80s and is still working, evaluating NSF grants. It's the other family business. People talk physics at the dinner table, if the subject isn't history or theology.)

And as for English...she hasn't even written a book report in years, much less an essay. She's not been given an assignment to write a research paper. I can pretty guarantee that the directions on how to do that will be slight, and we will be teaching her how to write a paper anyway. The last time she had a research paper was several years ago, and *they didn't allow citations*. Uh...right! She's done science fair projects for several years, and that's the only experience she's had. And they still have stupid requirements like writing up notecards like we used to -- before the era of photocopies. Who the heck does that anymore? You mean I can't keep my notes in a laptop? Files of photocopies of sources I can't have on hand myself? We're not talking rare books here, that anyone needs to consider using bleedin' notecards. Honestly...get with the millenium!

Also, Ellen has consistently been accused of plagiarism, because she uses the same vocabularly and style we normally use speaking at home. Every year she has to prove that she's not cheating by writing a page while the new English teacher looks on. She's not brilliant in the subject, but she thinks people use words like "vociferous" in normal speech here. Um...they don't.

Her math is pre-calculus. Yeah, no biggie there. I could use a brushup, but that's fine anyway. Biology is my weak point, but she's already had that (and it's her favorite science), but even at the HS level if someone handed me materials I could get her through that. It isn't that complicated at that level. Not here.

And to get into college here...what they expect for an education is pretty much what I've outlined. From what you've said, the least apt child in Sweeden would be the most prepared candidate for university here. I can't say I'm surprised.

And that is just one reason why there are increasing numbers of parents considering homeschooling.

 

[Booko]

I served my twelve year prison sentence in the American public High School system and obtained a chemical dependency counselor associates degree from a community college.

Ah yes, I see your experience in and opinion of American public schools was exactly mine.

I would've happily been doing college-level work by 16 at the very least, if I hadn't been chained to that damned chair at the school. And at the time schools were actively *discouraging* any special treatment for people who could move quickly in academic subjects. If you were "Gifted" you were supposed to just shut up and pretend you were like everyone else.

You know, you'd think someone might've noticed that a 7th grade girl reading Atlas Shrugged and Spinoze maybe shouldn't be in an English class where kids are struggling through the Weekly Reader and making collages.

Do we take the fastest runner in the school and put 50 pounds of extra weight on him to slow him down -- or do we invite him to join the track team?

However, I am currently studying on my own as a prelude to returning to a university. I've learned more in the past year studying on my own than I have in 14 years of public schooling.

I am not at all surprised.

I'm hoping in the next 1 or 2 years Ellen can get the education she *should* have before getting into college. She's coming up short at the moment, and keeping her in school is not going to solve that problem. It will force her to end the possibilities of being performing arts, though. Which means she'd end up with the worst of everything.

12th grade you only need to go half days, and an academically inclined kid often takes AP courses during those slots. Frankly, I'd just as soon she just take the courses at the local community college and skip the AP route. The AP teachers are not that great at the HS. But, we'll see how things work out and go from there.

However, self-directed education requires a set of predispositions that a child might not have. And of course a parent needs to consider how their child is going to receive their credentials. Mandatory education law varies depending on your location of residence.

Fortunately, Georgia law is very friendly to homeschooling. There is a large religious group of homeschoolers in this state, and they have paved the legal way for us.

I was not physically able to handle any of this before this year, and there were other impediments also. During middle school it's not unusual for daughter and Mom to go through a head butting phase, and we did. That's not the best time to have Mom as your head teacher. :no: That's been over for a while, and in part because we've found her food allergies. She's a much saner person than she was a few years ago, and not just because she's grown up.

The most important thing to remember is that homeschooling your child depends in no small part on your ability as a parent to motivate your child. The key word is motivate, not force.

:yes: My husband and I seem to balance each other out pretty well in this regard, so that should be a help. I sure don't want to be Nazi Mom teacher over her. She has the ability to organize herself and is self-motivated in many other areas, so I think she'll be alright, though of course we'll have to be careful.

And my best friend is a really good objective observer, and will not be shy about telling me anything I need to know, as it's sometimes harder to see it when one's in the middle. If we get too nuts, believe me, she'll tell me about it. And will be available as a confidential resource if my daughter needs to talk to anyone. She's already done that a few times, though of course I don't know what the subject was. Unless I really need to know, I won't ask, and my friend would say even if I did.

I suggest this book for everyone, even non-parents, because it teaches one how to empathetic: http://www.amazon.com/Parent-Effectiveness-Training-Responsible-Children/dp/0609806939/sr=8-1/qid=1168537609/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1901694-3713468?ie=UTF8&s=books

Oh! I have a friend who also recommended this as a useful guide. Thanks!

 

[Booko]

I think the best part about being homeschooled was that if I had an interest in some area (i.e. science) my mom would be able to adapt the cirriculm to match my interests. Also if I was having trouble with something she could help me more then my teachers were able to do when i was in public school.

My son is very interested in linguistics and has learned a great deal about it in his spare time through self study. His approach to school has been similar to mine. Do what you need to do there, and get the interesting stuff in your spare time. Fortunately, he has a lot of spare time.

 

[N00bPwnr]

I agree with that view (too bad many people don't have it ). All the people that I know who homeschool share that belief and that is why their kids are ahead of the ones in the public schools.</IMG>

 

[Viconia]

SUGGESTED READING:

Thanks so much for all these suggestions and links.

You are welcome. :flirt:

 

[Viconia]

Here's another book, available in entirety by its' author on his website, that some of you may find interesting.

The slant is obvious, but it's an excellent source to start researching with if you're at all interested in the history of public education:

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/toc1.htm

 

[Capt. Haddock]

I've never met anyone who was homeschooled, asides from a couple of relatives who grew up on farms...but even they were only homeschooled until they were old enough for boarding school.

How do homeschooled children socialise? make friends? learn to deal with other people their age? learn to stand up for themselves?

I can understand complaints about cliques and bullies at school. I lived through that myself. But life is tough. If you don't learn how to deal with those things at school, I reckon you're going to have a much harder time of it as an adult.

 

[Viconia]

I've never met anyone who was homeschooled, asides from a couple of relatives who grew up on farms...but even they were only homeschooled until they were old enough for boarding school.

How do homeschooled children socialise? make friends? learn to deal with other people their age? learn to stand up for themselves?

I can understand complaints about cliques and bullies at school. I lived through that myself. But life is tough. If you don't learn how to deal with those things at school, I reckon you're going to have a much harder time of it as an adult.

The former High Priestess of the Church of Satan has a response for this, and i'll post it here because it's spot-on:

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]One major criticism people often lob at home learning is that the children don’t have the opportunity to “socialize” with other children their own age. They always use that same word. “Your children will be isolated,” we’re cautioned, “unable to relate to others, will miss out on the proms, the football games, graduation, and all the events that all the other kids will be part of.” This criticism is invalid in general. Kids “socialize” every day. It’s unavoidable. They interact with their parents, siblings, grocers, mailmen, other children in their neighborhood, their parents’ friends and their children... For Satanists, it’s even less of a problem. Socialization is exactly what we would view as harmful to our children. Public school brainwashes them to be mindlessly violent, unquestioning of authority, unimaginative, and easily brainwashed by “peers” and packagers. They study not to satisfy their own curiosity but to gain approval from some arbitrary authority who will label them an “A” or an “F” person.

http://www.churchofsatan.com/Pages/MandatoryEducation.htm
[/FONT]

 

[Booko]

How do homeschooled children socialise? make friends? learn to deal with other people their age? learn to stand up for themselves?

I do know some people who've homeschooled their kids. Some have socialized their kids better than others. The woman I know who's moved to Florida, she's got her kids involved in Scouting, activities in her religious community, part of their education involves doing volunteer work like working at the food bank, and she taps in with other homeschooling parents to do field trips and purely social get-togethers. She's one of the ones I think has done a great job on the social aspects.

I can understand complaints about cliques and bullies at school. I lived through that myself. But life is tough. If you don't learn how to deal with those things at school, I reckon you're going to have a much harder time of it as an adult.

Fortunately, Ellen has already learned those lessons, as well as some lessons about not depending on the gov't to help you out -- they might just join in and pile on. (Did I mention she was a terrorist in 8th grade? :biglaugh As stressful as that was, it was important she live through it. Some people are born with a thick skin, and others just have to grow one.

I agree that it's not always a good thing in the long run to shelter your kids from the vicissitudes of life. The lessons I learned from getting crap in school helped me later on in life too. The difficult people I've met I could recognize them early on because, well it's like something out of a Miss Marple story "Oh, he reminds me of so-and-so from the 4th grade!" And I could deflect the silliness mostly because of what I learned in school.

Ellen is finally kicking in on this. Today she reported that in Phys Ed one of the guys who bullied her in middle school has since decided (all on his own of course) that she was his girlfriend. Uh...yeah...when pigs fly. She used the classic "baffle 'em with BS" technique and stared at his "3rd eye" and he scuttled off quickly. Apparently he's been hitting on her all week, and she just got tired of it. She's really done much better in HS socially. I wouldn't take her out of school and homeschool her if it was just social stupidity going on.

It's more an opportunity to improve her education and focus on some things that the school isn't set up to provide anyway.

It would've been a bad idea to homeschool my son. He needed to be there.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I was homeschooled for a few years. The first years was through a home/private school were you would do the lessons at home, then go to the office for the tests. The last year was 100% homeschooled. I found it to be very, very easy to cheat, by either getting the answer sheet when my mom wasn't home and copying answers, or writing then down on while she wasn't home and filing in the blanks when she had me take the tests.
I was picked on alot during elementary, so I liked it then, but I am glad I went back to public school for my high school years. It has it good and bad sides. The good side, I was able to put more focus in the subjects I liked and exceled in, which allowed me to good grades in those subjects in high school. The bad sides, you don't get to socialise as much, which can be good and bad all together. I can go on about how it effected me if you want to hear more.

 

[Booko]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]“Your children will be isolated,” we’re cautioned, “unable to relate to others, will miss out on the proms, the football games, graduation, and all the events that all the other kids will be part of.”[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]

[/FONT]Neither of my kids show any inclination for proms or football games anyway. I'm sure they'll be crushed.

Haha, Ellen got a junk mail thing on prom dresses a few years back, and came to show me the dresses. She pointed out the design flaws of many, how the lines didn't suit this or that model, and proclaimed the entire clothing line suitable for a cathouse. Not bad for a 13 year old, I think.

My son will graduate this year, and it's completely up to him whether he goes through the ceremony. He might want to, just to be with his buds and listen to his sweetie deliver the Valedictorian address, but then, he might just be over the whole thing. They have the graduation in the HS cafeteria (woot) and only allow 2 seats. If he decides NOT to go through the ceremony, I know exactly who's going to get those 2 missing seats, because someone's grandparents *really* want to be there for another kid. They can have 'em with my blessing.

I told him if he prefered to have a blast out weekend long party, it's all the same to me. Just let me know enough in advance so I can lay in the food we'll need for serious videogaming. Teenage boys and food...haha!

I never wanted to go through my HS graduation, and only did it because my Mom never graduated and it was important to *her*. I thought swabbing the toilets would've been a more fun way to spend my time, and more useful as well. But that's me.
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]

Public school brainwashes them to be mindlessly violent, unquestioning of authority, unimaginative, and easily brainwashed by “peers” and packagers. They study not to satisfy their own curiosity but to gain approval from some arbitrary authority who will label them an “A” or an “F” person.

[/FONT]
We have been fortunate that our kids seem to be natural nonconformists (gee, I wonder why). That doesn't mean they don't appear to conform in some ways -- but they do it because they see reason to do so, and not because they feel some need to "fit in." And they certainly do question authority.

We've taught them when it's wise to take on authorities directly and when not to, though. You know how petty dictators can be. If they have the power to give you something you want, you have to know how to play them. Getting into a fight is counterproductive.

 

[Booko]

I agree with that view (too bad many people don't have it ). All the people that I know who homeschool share that belief and that is why their kids are ahead of the ones in the public schools.</IMG>

My husband's grandfather, the nuclear physicist, was fond of saying, "Never let your studies interfer with your education."

He was a notable physicist at the time, and eminently practical.

 

[Capt. Haddock]

. Some people are born with a thick skin, and others just have to grow one.

I had to grow one. I moved around a lot as a kid so I got my share of being Johnny-come-lately. The day I graduated high school I felt a great sense of relief. I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there. When I look back on it now, though, I have a lot of fond memories. I made great friends that have stuck with me for life. I also learned how to deal with unpleasant people. I think it built my self confidence greatly. Plus, the quality of education I received was excellent. I doubt my parents could have done a better job than my teachers.

I still avoid high-school reunions, though. There's some people I'd really rather be lost than found.

 

[Booko]

I was homeschooled for a few years. The first years was through a home/private school were you would do the lessons at home, then go to the office for the tests. The last year was 100% homeschooled. I found it to be very, very easy to cheat, by either getting the answer sheet when my mom wasn't home and copying answers, or writing then down on while she wasn't home and filing in the blanks when she had me take the tests.

Ah, that's good to know. I understand some tests can be administered online, whenever you're ready for them. Some things can't be done by multiple guess of course, so for those topic (like much of English and history) we'll have to take another route. I'd rather see her write essays as tests for topics like that anyway. She's going to have to do it for the SAT and for college. She might as well get used to it now.

The good side, I was able to put more focus in the subjects I liked and exceled in, which allowed me to good grades in those subjects in high school.

This is pretty much the "pro" side of what we're looking at. And her grades are beginning to slide just because there aren't enough hours in the day (and the math teacher isn't good -- so my son tells me -- he's 2 years ahead). She can do it, but would do better to have more focus and some actual help.

The bad sides, you don't get to socialise as much, which can be good and bad all together. I can go on about how it effected me if you want to hear more.

Oddly, I don't think her social life will suffer. If anything, she might actually have a weekend free to go to the movies with her friends or have a sleepover. Right now, she has no time. She's annoyed every time MomoCon comes into town, or DragonCon, because all her friends get to go, but she has to work on some stupid project a week ahead since she has a rehearsal the next weekend.

I doubt she'll lose track of her friends. They're on email and IM all the time, and bug her because she isn't at all. She'll keep up with them, as she's motivated.

 

[Booko]

I had to grow one. I moved around a lot as a kid so I got my share of being Johnny-come-lately.

I'm not sure if I was born with one or grew one, but it happened really quickly, about the time I was the one white kid in a class of 30 kids and had to run like heck home after school to avoid getting the snot beat out of me. It seems to have come pretty easily, though.

The day I graduated high school I felt a great sense of relief. I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there. When I look back on it now, though, I have a lot of fond memories.

I seem to have pretty much plunked out memories of school. I can barely remember first names, and last names elude me. I remember about 3 names of teachers. I could tell you nearly nothing. There were a couple of friends I went on to college with. Obviously I remember them. The other friend went into nursing school and in her first year died of a heart attack (congenital heart disease) so uh, obviously Jane kinda doesn't count as "keeping up with friends." The few people I socialized with were all at least a class ahead of me. I don't recall having any friends in my own grade. There were some people I sat next to that I talked to, of course.

I made great friends that have stuck with me for life. I also learned how to deal with unpleasant people. I think it built my self confidence greatly. Plus, the quality of education I received was excellent. I doubt my parents could have done a better job than my teachers.

I'm sure my parents couldn't have done a better job. Well, my Dad had passed away by then anyway. And there weren't resources available then either, so that's a huge problem.

The curriculum and textbooks in our schools were excellent. Many of the teachers were also, but frankly, I always felt like I'd do better if they just let me go to it in self-directed study, and if I'm not getting something, believe me I'll come ask you.

I much preferred college. The finances were it didn't cost you any to overload, so I always took extra courses, even though with music and sciences you add in rehearsal/practice and lab time.

I still avoid high-school reunions, though. There's some people I'd really rather be lost than found.

I wouldn't go to a high-school reunion because I would feel like an idiot of the first water standing around having people come up and talk to me and wondering, "now who the heck are you?" I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings so I'll stay home.

My college reunions, now those are a serious blast. It wouldn't surprise me if a bunch of us end up renting one of the replica wooden boats for a week afterwards. The college had a really unique orientation option called Land/Sea. You spent 2 weeks hiking, rock climbing, and sailing Lake Michigan, and only 1 weeks on the usual boring orientation stuff. Because of that, it's always been a very tight group, even though we're now spread from Jakarta to Johannesburg.

 

[N00bPwnr]

Booko,

I was raised as an atheist but now I consider myself agnostic. As a science student I try to keep an open mind toward religion. I have not had much experience with religion could you tell me some facts about yours?

 

[Radio Frequency X]

Does anyone here home school? Are you/were you home schooled? Know anybody that was home school?

My daughter will start 11th grade this fall, and we've pretty much decided that we're going to try homeschooling for her, and I'd really appreciate any guidance anyone can give to us.

I was homeschooled for a year, but my mother couldn't keep up with my brother and I. I was learning alot more during that time, because I was allowed to go at my own pace, which allowed me to learn a lot more information in a lot less time. It didn't interfere with my social life at all and it was all in all, a pleasant experience. I highly recommend it.

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Ah, it's the red herring of "socialization" as the biggest criticism of homeschooling families that strikes again!



Here, read this:

http://learninfreedom.org/socialization.html


Research has shown that homeschooled kids not only score at or above the national average on standardized testing, but they score at or above the national average on psychological testing on self-concept, social situations adjustment, and working with groups of peers and non-peers. In all, there has been NO studies out showing any evidence that homeschooling, by itself, taints a child's development in any way.



There ARE weird families out there who homeschool (we know a few), but these folks would be weird anyway whether they homeschool or not. *grins*



When it comes to Dana's education, it's largely self-directed, but we do organize our materials to fit her needs. This is turning out to work beautifully with her gifts in the graphic arts that she wouldn't have the opportunity to do if she were in a traditional school setting. Dana, by her nature, is a little social butterfly, so she continues to play with her friends when their school is out as well as being involved in gymnastics at a local center.



We have, I guess you can say, quite an eclectic curriculum...............a little bit from this, a little bit from that. Since she's still quite young at eight, mapping out her school work is easier than Ellen's would be (yet it sounds like you're working things out OK, there). For example, Dana's spelling is right on schedule, she's WAAYYY ahead with her reading comprehension skills and grammar, and just a little behind the national average in math computation (although she's already picking up my old high school Geometry books with great interest).




That's why we are a little eclectic with her current understanding of reading, writing, and 'rithmetic.



But, because of her educational freedom, she's able to pursue her love of art and animals. She has a great understanding of the arts of sciences, with skills in watercolors, charcoal sketchings, and sculptures. Dana already has a basic understanding of surrealistic and abstract art, and she's got piles and piles of her own artwork at home..................based on her favorite neopets characters no less.



I don't remember any kids her age when I was in school having any interests of art history and techniques other than learning how to draw an anatomically correct Wonder Woman (usually the boys were..........). I think this is a product of her educational freedom that she has as compared to her friends.




I agree on the state of education here in the U.S. as vastly underpreparing them for any kind of competition on the global market. We've been basing our standards on outcome-based education, which means that in order for everyone to pass, the brighter kids have to suffer. We tried a "gifted" program in math at our elementary school that I was in that blew my mind. I LOVED IT! For 90 minutes a day, three of us in our 5th grade class would travel over to the middle school where the accelerated 8th grade math teacher would introduce us to the abstracts of Trig. and eventually Pre-Cal. We eventually passed up the average honors program at our local high schools when it came to testing scores.



And...............I scored a personal 4th best individual score in our Illinois state math competition. :curtsy:




Unfortunately, the program was scrapped after a few years because of either funding, other parents' protests for how it was making their kids feel, or both. And I remember the rest of my education being..........like you'd said, Sharon............"chained to a chair." I was bored out of my mind, and I never learned anything new. Good thing I had my dancing as an outlet.



Anyway, Dana rarely needs motivation to learn. She's a human brain sponge. When she's really interested in something, she just soaks up everything about it. We do have a schedule at home, anyway, just to keep the house running smoothly, so we fit in her schoolwork time like we do everything else. So, in essence, she's not unschooled - or deschooled - since we are mostly there placing materials in front of her for her to complete.



OK, let's see:

1. Where do I find curricula and materials?

I have a list of literally dozens of curriculum providers that I could PM you, if you'd like, for more information. The list includes the k12 program, Excellence in Education, and Unit Studies program among others.

2. I know there are computer-aided curricula, and that's probably what I'd aim for anyway. At least, the one lady I know has her kids taking tests online, which for many things works well. For literary subjects, I'm a firm believer in getting used to writing essays early. You'll have to do plenty of that in college anyway.

There are a few correspondence courses that seem to work with families around the area with their kids. Online high schools that issue accredited diplomas are out there such as Compuhigh Online:


http://www.compuhigh.com



I haven't looked into it that much, but maybe you can get back to me on it with your opinion.

3. How do colleges handle admissions for homeschooled kids? Do the just take the GRE and SATs or what? There's not really a GPA to look at, is there?

No, not for kids who never stepped foot into a high school, but Ellen has a GPA already from her three years, right? At any rate, I understand that it's important to have a college admissions package, with test results from her ACTs, SATs, GREs, as well as anything you can put together for transcripts.............but I think it's best to talk with an admissions officer at the university that Ellen wants to go to first. Some colleges actually DON'T require an SAT score as part of the admissions process.



What I've heard as part of the most impressive points that homeschoolers have when applying to college and facing the interview with an officer or the entire board is real life experience. It's always best to document her experience and accomplishments as well as any volunteering or apprenticeships she's done. Our state doesn't require it, but it's usually best to keep a daily log of her studies and activities that prepare her for college.



There are a lot of colleges that open their doors enthusiastically to homeschoolers. One of my students that I taught a couple of years ago at our university (I was adjunct staff for three years there) was homeschooled her whole life, attended university in Bulgaria for two years from the ages of 16-18, and then transferred to our dance department with a huge leg up on the other kids her age with her impressive transcript and credits. She graduated from college early at 20, and from what I know, is currently working on building collateral for a future dance studio that she wants to own and operate.



Not that Ellen has to go that particular route, but you see what I mean.



Hope that helps some. You go, girl! *does happy dance*



Peace,
Mystic

 

[evearael]

I have a list of literally dozens of curriculum providers that I could PM you, if you'd like, for more information. The list includes the k12 program, Excellence in Education, and Unit Studies program among others.

Ooo! Send them to me too! The more resources I have to draw from the better. We are currently researching homeschooling as a possibility for our little girls when they are big enough, though I want to get my daughter reading in the next year because she is absolutely obsessed with books, knows her alphabet and has a ridiculously good vocabulary for someone under two.