I started homeschooling Michelle at the beginning of 6th grade for a number of reasons, one being that the school system is not so bad here until the kids all get piled into middle school together and then it basically fails. Her father was quite opposed to her homeschooling but since her father had moved away at that point and stopped all support of his children, I saw no reason to let this deter us. There were a lot more reasons to homeschool. He, however, has continued to badger her through the years which has not exactly endeared him to her.
Homeschooling here in Georgia is quite easy. You sign a paper at the beginning of the year that says you are going to homeschool and then you send in an attendance sheet every month. What you do and what you study is your own business and the state is not allowed to interfere.
Michelle's homeschooling started out very well planned. We had certain subjects we knew we needed to cover. I got books from wherever I could and we did well. Michelle was easy to homeschool and through the years basically did a lot of it herself without prompting from me. Later on we were a lot less planned. I gave her the books she asked for and she did the work.
Because she is homeschooled, she, of course doesn't get a diploma the only way to show she has a high school education is to take the GED test (General Education Developement). I felt she probably needed more studying before the test and we happen to have a GED class right where I work 2 days a week. So for 2 months Michelle has been taking the GED classes. She was tested first and passed everything except the math so that is what she has mostly been focusing on. She has studied hard and yesterday she took the test at the local college. The test cost $95 and ran from 7:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m. She was done by 12:30 p.m and calling me to come get her. We don't get the results until next Tuesday but she says she didn't have any trouble with any of it except some problems with the math computation which was her weak subject anyway. I have no fear that she passed but will be glad to see the results (and yes, we'll call her dad first!).
She does have plans to go on to school a that same college this fall.
I have to admit it is a relief to me too because deciding to homeschool is a big step. You tend to fear the whole time that you might not do it well enough for your child to have a decent future (especially if you keep hearing that) but that just isn't the case. I don't regret homeschooling her at all and want to say that if you believe homeschooling is best for you and your child you should definitely go ahead and give it a try.
Congratulations to you and your daughter. I commend you greatly on what you have done and she will be the better for it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for giving your daughter the best education possible even though it wasn't the easiest option!
ReplyDeleteI homeschooled from the start due to the special needs of my kids. It's been a good, but tiring journey so far. My older son is 16 now, so we're looking at colleges soon. I have 2 good friends who've homeschooled their kids through to college and neither of them had their kids take the GED. Both kids got into very good colleges. I guess it's too late for me to tell you this now, but in case anyone else is reading this they can know that it's possible for the child not to have a GED and still get into college. I'm going to go their route and just have my son take the PSAT, SAT, and possibly the ACT. Luckily, so many more colleges are homeschooler-friendly these days. An admissions officer from Stanford University sat next to my husband on the plane a couple of years ago, and when she found out we homeschooled, she went on and on about how they just love their homeschooled applicants and really encourage them to apply. That's so encouraging to hear. :)
Best of luck to your daughter in all her future endeavors!
Well this college requires a high school diploma or GED and I really wanted her to have it anyway.
DeleteAs the moderator of the homeschool2college e-list always says: Ask the College. So if the college says to have a GED then there're not many other options. And you know what's best for your child anyway. :)
DeleteA courageous decision, Becky, but it sounds like the right one. Here's hoping for a good result for her! I sympathise on the Maths front: I have a degree from Oxford University, and loads of A-Levels etc, which must prove that I'm reasonably bright, but I was never much good at Maths, and the reason was simply that I never had a good teacher. All the Maths teachers I remember taught by bullying and never by patient explanation. I am a teacher these days (well, my Job Title says Lecturer) and I bear this in mind all the time.
ReplyDeleteI had a terrible time passing Algebra the first time I took it and I eventually dropped it but my teacher made me promise to take it again the next year and he would make sure that I got the other Algebra teacher because he felt he made me nervous. He was right. I made an A- the next year. I consider that first Algebra teacher to be a great person because he picked up on the fact and made sure I still took the class again.
DeleteBest wishes for a passing score! It is an important decision to home school.
ReplyDeleteKoodoos to you Becky for homeschooling your daughter. I homeschooled 2 of my 4 children. The two that I taught were younger than the older two. I also experienced a lot of negativity from friends, family and teachers for my decision. I am a firm believer that we as parents know our children the best. We know how they learn. Public school systems, try fitting all children into one mould, and teach them one way. Not all children learn the same way.
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