Archive for 2009

Home Archive for 2009

After working out many, many different plans, I signed my oldest up with Connections Academy. He will be entering 9th and I think we both need to give this a try. I had planned to homeschool him through high school and I had even bought some of the curriculum while it was on sale, but after quite a few discussions with my moody, indecisive, and somewhat mute son, (life decisions at 14 is just not fair) we decided we needed to go with an accredited school. Some of the colleges that have the major he is interested in require an accredited diploma or a GED. GED is not an option, so accredited it is. And so began my search.

He stated he did not want to go to a brick and mortar high school. He likes keeping his own schedule. Being a night owl, he likes to work at night. He's always been easy. A self-starter, disciplined, box-checker, independent learner, I've never had to work hard at keeping him on track. I looked into all of the available charter schools in the area. We've had a few open, but none that jumped out at me. I looked into American School and considered that for a long time. It's a good program, but I didn't like the College Prep Track, there was too much I would have wanted to change. It is affordable and is known as a solid checks the boxes to pursue other interests type of school. Then I looked at all of the university high schools.
There's :

BYU Independent Study
Stanford Online High School (please excuse the drool)
Texas Tech University (TTUISD) - Excellent program
University of Texas High School
Indiana University
University of Nebraska High School
University of Missouri High School

Then there's independent online schools:

I'm sure there are more schools, but these are the ones I seriously considered. My school district and local university both have programs that put a select few students on the campus for a small high school class. The school district is associated with the community college. It's a great program, but he was not interested in that.

So all of this searching, lead us back to the online charter we used when he was in 5th. Our plan is 2 years with the online charter, then 2 years at an early college charter.There are a number of reasons we ended up here. First off, we've used them before and know what to expect. Second, at this stage, I would like to make sure he's prepared for the early college program. I'm afraid that if I went with something that is more flexible like BYU or American School he would be losing a valuable lesson in juggling schedules, other teachers, different standards and requirements. He's always completed work on time or near that, but having tests all on the same day or papers due all at once, I'd rather he get used to that now, than when he's in college. Finally, it came down to cost. We could afford American School with the payment plan and possibly BYU Independent Study with the scholarship program (every 6th class is free if you get grades above B), but was it that worth it to me? I figure if he really hates the online charter, we could drop it and use BYU Independent Study. Despite the affiliation with BYU, it is a secular high school program, it's also accredited, affordable and highly respected.

Obviously, this wasn't an easy decision. I'm not looking forward to the stricter 9-month schedule. The monthly calls and other various hoops I will be forced to jump through. I'm also excited to see how he does with these new demands. Admittedly, it will be a little bit of a relief to place myself in the supportive role, rather than purely the teaching role. Don't get me wrong, I'll be by his side a lot the first few weeks to make sure he's adjusting and to guide him through this transition. I'll also happily help set up Biology labs and explain Geometry, but to have someone else do the grading of papers will provide a small bit of satisfaction.

The early college charter I plan to transfer him to his Junior year pays for all of his courses at the community college. They have a fantastic support system for the students. They require a preparation course for attending college and meet once a month about various subjects relating to studying and college choices. They offer tutoring and other means of support. They require volunteer work.

His 9th grade courses are:

Honors English
Honors Biology
Geometry
Honors World History
German
PE/Physical Fitness

He'll be working towards an Advanced Honors diploma. The only thing I'm worried about is that it requires 2 Honors math units. While he's finally clicking with Algebra I, I'm afraid that is pushing it. So I put off Honors math for now to see how he does. If he doesn't get the math honors courses, then he'll receive an Advanced diploma, which is still college prep. From what I'm told, the Honors courses are a lot like the Gifted courses he took there in 5th. They require some extra work and reading, but it was manageable for him.

I do need to ask to see if he can receive credit for his high school level geography and health courses I gave him. My state gives 3 options to attain credit.

Assessment - proctored mid-term or final exam
Portfolio - student work reviewed by a teacher in the subject
Competency - applicable to sequential subjects like math or foreign language

In my state, the requirement is World History or Geography and since he has World History on the schedule, there may be no need in their opinion to grant credit for Geography. I would really like Health to be credited though because that would count towards his other PE unit which frees up time to satisfy other core courses before he heads off to early college/dual enrollment.

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