freaking out about highschool...

[Mercy]

Hi.
I have learned on this homeschooling journey that some of us learn the hard way certain things. I am convinced the reason God gives the blessing to the first child is because they are the trial-child...you learn how to parent by trial and error! Some of you came to HOD right at the start and you are so incredibly blessed! Some of us are wading through all of the mire of bad habits and character built from lacking the discipline and training that HOD gives.

I have only 2 yrs until that last lap of highschool remains...Im not even thinking of college at this point! Lol! Thankfully, I believe I have majored on the majors...my son is a strong believer and has a right heart. However, right now I am seriously looking at some of the skills that are lacking in his education. Beginning next month, I am combining my 7yo and 12yo in bigger. I see this as a "hand-holding" year for my son and I plan to really focus in on teaching him those study skills to be a more idependent worker. This will be his 6/7 th grade yr. or so...about half of ea.

Heres where my question or quandry comes in...
For my son, I believe I am going to need strict boundries and goals set into place in order to feel confident to graduate him. I want to see...you got an "A" in science, etc. which equals a credit. At this point, first of all, I dont even know which HOD year he will place in. But, I am having trouble wraping my mind around the "grading" of HOD. I understand fully the method of learning HOD uses is much more superior than regular txt book education. And I dont really care about grading, honestly...except in this case. He needs it put plainly...did I pass or fail? I find it so hard to be clear with my son on this. There seems to be some leaway and...as the mother who bore him...I give in. Every. TIME.

So, Im looking for some structure for him. Specifically for the highschool years. I am assuming there will be some mention of grading and credits in the highschool manuals that might help a little. I also will be checking into our state, but the state we are in isnt very regulated. Im not sure the stance on credits.

Anyway, Im just expressing a challenge I am having in my mind on how to tackle the *scary* highschool years.

[spidermansmum]

Hi.I have children[?] aged 22[just married ] 19,16....9 and 5.
[hug] and 11 is still young.If you need to train and guide -you still have time.You can do this.

[my3sons]

Mercy - Many, many, many homeschool families have a real fear of homeschooling in high school, and yet the families I know that have braved it have been so very blessed. I kind of think of high school as the beginning of the harvest. I am all about solid academics, but the older I get, and the more I see of what difficulties dc in high school are facing, the more I believe solid faith in God is incredibly (more, actually) important. So, taking this year to truly focus on helping your ds learn necessary skills and any character habits you want to focus on with him (which we ALL have in mind with our dc as homeschool moms ), gives real purpose to this year (I am thinking of your previous post here). I think you will see about a month into BHFHG or so, whether he needs to be moved up to PHFHG or not. We cannot fast forward placement, and there is no need to - where dc place is what they need, and skipping what they need does them no favors. You are a mom that loves your ds dearly, and you are going to get to spend some real time with him in BHFHG talking about academics and character traits. This could be such a building year!

As far as high school, Carrie did an excellent post describing how to approach high school with HOD with 3 possible paths. Here is a link to that...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8208&p=59681

For what is expected from work, I look at the HOD manual for guidance with this. For my 12 turning 13 yo, he must complete everything asked of him in each box of plans to the best of his ability. I require his spelling to be perfect in everything (and help him by editing it and have him fix it when he does misspell). For math, I grade some work, especially the work that he should have mastered. I do help him with Reviews, as they are super tough in Singapore math. I use the Appendix for guidelines in written narrations, oral narrations, and editing. If the guide says he needs 10-14 sentences for his written narration, and he hands in 8 sentences, I give it back without correcting it. The assignment must be complete to be handed in to me. With the type of follow-ups in HOD, there is no winging it. You either know it, or you don't, and that becomes very obvious to us as teachers as we do the follow-ups in the guides with our dc. If dc don't know something, I look at this as an opportunity to come alongside them and help them acquire whatever skill they are missing. I then shift more of the responsibility to them until they have that skill firmly intact.

By the time your ds reaches high school, there will be many archived posts about using HOD for high school. I would not worry, but instead focus your time and energy on making sure ds is accurately placed, and making sure he is moving along in his skills each year. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie