12th grade help

[mommychick]

Can anyone give me advice concerning my son who is a rising 12th grader?? He has been in charter school K-11th (currently). Because of struggles in math and being very much an underachiever, he is facing not graduating on time, which he really wants b/c he has not enjoyed school at all (I am so sad that he has not enjoyed any of his classes)! He has had to retake every math since 9th grade, along w/earth science, biology and foreign language. A lot of this b/c of his irresponsibility with classes (not turning stuff in, not studying...). He has begged to be moved to our base school, which will be a bit easier academically, and b/c of block scheduling would give him a better chance to graduate on time, unless he fails a subject. He says he can't stand his school and does not want to stay there. We have explained that his habits go along with him and that the grass is not always greener.

Just for some background: I homeschooled my oldest (now 23) for 4 years, but then she, along with the other 3 went to a charter school (it is a bit rigorous academically, so has not been a very good fit for my son). My youngest (9yr.dd) has been at home the last two years for 2nd and 3rd grade, and I am thrilled to have found HOD, which we will be starting in August (BHFHG) and plan on going all the way through! Of course, many regrets now about not pulling my son out years ago, but here we are, so we have to work from here! Would love for my 13yr. old dd to be able to do HOD also, but she enjoys where she is and thrives academically (it was the same for the oldest).

I want to give my son the option of coming home, but need to know what I can actually offer him. I have read many threads about high school on here, but wanted to get some feedback in this specific situation. I wanted to know if it is possible to use any of HOD w/him since he is not at the level academically that one would expect for 11th grade. Of course he would take offense at my saying this, as he thinks everything is fine. He finishes 11th grade in 4 weeks and will need these courses for 12th in order to finish on time: English IV (British Literature at our schools), Civics and Economics, Physical Science - [has taken Earth Science and Biology], and then retaking Alg. 2 and 1 more math (Discrete Math was planned), and 1 more elective, which would be fairly easy to figure out. I should say that his writing and grammar skills are very weak.

Currently he is working through Life of Fred Fractions (in the evenings), and hopefully on to a few more after that to fill in some gaps. I had to find something that he would actually work on - and he is okay with L of F.

I would love for him to finish out his school years being able to enjoy this last year - to enjoy learning! Also, to have an opportunity to deepen his relationship w/the Lord, as his life right now revolves around himself and what he thinks he wants.

I would love to be able to use HOD w/him. Any direction would be so appreciated!

Kelly

[Carrie]

Kelly,

Thanks so much for sharing about your son! I do think that it is a wonderful opportunity for you to think about homechooling him for his final year of high school. While it would be definitely be challenging, it could also be a time where you can be by his side mentoring and guiding him through his struggles.

With this being his final year of high school, we have less wiggle room in meeting his graduation requirements. This means that he will need a fairly specific plan to gain the needed credits for graduation. While I would love you to be able to use HOD as written for him, I also know that bringing him home for only one year will have its own set of challenges (which coupled with the need for certain required subjects means finding one HOD guide to do it all will be tough.

Since your situation is so unique, I'm going to email you some ideas to ponder. In that way, I won't confuse our other board readers with this unique plan!

Blessings,
Carrie

[mommychick]

Carrie,

I can't thank you enough for your encouragement, wisdom, and experience in helping us navigate these brief years that we have been entrusted w/our precious children - to love them, guide them and train them to be lovers of God and others.

[Maadrose]

I'm curious now about the recommendations given for situations like these! Lol