So Far, So Good On the Homeschooling
By Steve Helmer
@srhelmer (7029)
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
September 17, 2019 11:38am CST
My oldest daughter's freshman year of high school was a disaster, to the point we felt the only way for her to bounce back was to pull her from the school (which was about 50-60% of the problem) and home school her via a virtual school.
At first, I had my doubts about this. But, she's now three weeks into her sophomore year and the turnaround is obvious.
I used to have to drag her out of bed on school mornings and now she's up and dressed and ready to start her day. Her grades have also significantly improved because she's able to concentrate on her education and not have to worry about getting stuff out of her locker, the bully around the corner, friend drama at lunch, etc.
Our only real challenge, quite honestly, is finding something for her to do with all her free time. Her live classes are done by 11 and, even with homework and her independent study class (sign language), she's got an extra 2-3 hours per day she didn't have when attending a more traditional school. I want her to be able to use it productively.
6 people like this
5 responses
@Michellekidwell (29416)
• Sonora, California
17 Sep 19
Sounds like this was just the change she needed!
1 person likes this
@srhelmer (7029)
• Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
17 Sep 19
It was. I'm not saying my daughter didn't share some of the blame last year (she's always been terrible about homework). But, there was definitely something wrong at that school. She had a boy quite literally stalk her the first semester and, even though the school knew about it, they refused to do anything and, instead, blamed her. This directly led to her failing graphic design, a class she could have taught.
I also heard reports (from her and others) about kids vaping in the classrooms in full view of the teachers and her second semester English class was so disorganized, it took three weeks for the teacher to notice my daughter had finally given up and stopped coming (she would, instead, sit in the hallway outside the class and either read or draw). By that point, we had already started the process to transfer her out.
@parpande (1515)
• Bangalore, India
29 Jan 20
By the way why was her freshman year a disaster that made you to pull her from real schooling and getting her homeschool.
@petatonicsca (7070)
• Japan
18 Sep 19
Are there community things she can get involved in? Choir, instrumental ensembles, service at nursing homes? etc.
@srhelmer (7029)
• Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
17 Sep 19
The funny thing is, I kind of wish this around when I was in college because I probably would have gotten my teacher's license/a job at one of these. The teachers also seem to enjoy their jobs a lot more than the teachers I met when she was going to a traditional school.
1 person likes this
