We have mixed feelings about Sean's high school he is attending. The faculty have all been nice and the structure is great for him. He's doing pretty well academically, but there are issues. For one thing I am struck by how high school subjects are taught an inch deep and a mile wide. I don't think much depth happens in high school which is a shame. This is the age when kids really start thinking and questioning. Secondly, your freedom is really curtailed and the stress level is enormous and as far as I can tell almost completely artificially generated by the many little rigidities and details one is burdened with. Thirdly, Sean has a really hard time with the callow, ignorant and insensitive kids he's with every day. Some are okay, but it is a lot of really immature people with dubious characters to have to rub elbows with every day, 7 hours a day. It's depressing. And this is a kid who struggles with depression and anxiety anyway. We are finding that his depression goes with him everywhere. At home or at school, but at home at least you can be depressed in comfort.....
One other big thing is that Sean will have to take a summer class in PE to keep up with the high school schedule. Can you imagine having to take an intensive gym class all during the month of July? Sounds like hell. Especially for someone like Sean who is decidedly unathletic. For some reason they won't accept that he has a physical trainer that comes twice a week as credit for PE. I guess there are some state regs they must meet about health and such. Am I going to trust a high school to teach health that boasts of having healthy cafeteria food because they only serve diet soda but then serve french fries, potato chips and donuts every single day?
So here are thoughts (and questions) about how we'd do 10th grade next year for Sean, if that is the way we go:
Math - this one is easy in that he'd just go back to working with our math tutor. Probably he'll just go into Saxon Algebra 2. He did about 3/4's of Algebra 1 but for some strange reason they put him in basic Algebra at the school. He has yet to learn anything new in his Algebra class. I think he'll just be able to move right into Saxon Algebra 2. That way we won't have to take a separate year for Geometry, since Saxon incorporates that subject into its Algebra textbooks.
Science - This one is a toughie. If I am calculating correctly, Sean is out of sync with the excellent and very local homeschool science classes that all three older kids took. Sean is doing Biology this year and that means, if he does the usual sequence, he'd be ready for Chemistry next year. But alas, I don't think that is being offered. So my back up is to maybe try Kolbe's on line Chemistry class. I know someone who is doing Kolbe on line for her son this year and she really, really likes it. And Kolbe uses secular science textbooks. I just can't bring myself to sign Sean up for a Creationist type course, though those seem to abound in the homeschool community. I checked out Kolbe's schedule for this year and the Chemistry class is held on Tuesdays and Thursday at 9:15 California time, which is 12:15 here, so that would work.
English - I am thinking of signing Sean up for an English 10 class that is held at a Christian home school high school 2 day a week program. This though, would just meet on Wednesday afternoons. It is good 35 to 40 minutes away, so I hope I can sign Becky up for something as well. It seems far to go for just one class. However, the class seems like it would be a very good fit for Sean, it would give him that much more structure and he'd have some time in a classroom with others. He's getting a lot of that now, of course, but I don't think it is a good idea to entirely abandon that experience either.
History - I am thinking I'd just fold Sean into the same American/Modern history course I am planning for Becky.
Latin - this is another tricky one. Sean is using Cambridge Latin at his school. He really likes it. It is a reading method of learning Latin. You follow the story of a Roman family, learning your vocabulary and grammar as you go along. Not many people use this program in the homeschool world. I am wondering if he couldn't muddle through book 3 of the program (Books 1 and 2 are consider first year Latin and all of book 3 is considered Latin 2) on his own at home with my help. We'd use taking the National Latin Exam and being involved in Certamen as the structure that would help us get it done. Even if Becky doesn't participate in Aquinas next year, I promised to teach Latin there. So maybe I can somehow fold Becky and Sean into that without actually doing the whole program? Don't know quite how that would work. . . .
PE - he'd continue with the trainer and hopefully run a few 5Ks.
Religion - attending CLC every week does a lot for formation and learning about the faith.
I was thinking his extracurriculars could be - CLC, Certamen (this will look great on his transcript), volunteering at place for the handicapped. He did this for Junior High Workcamp and wants to go back and volunteer on a regular basis. If we homeschooled we could pick one day where he'd do this regularly.
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