We've had a couple years to get the hang of things now, and we are getting ready to embark on the next part of the Homeschooling journey - ORGANIZATION. Basically, now it's time for me to start helping the eldest decide which things he needs to accomplish between now (8th grade) and *Graduation* in order to prepare for the type of college/University experience he wants. What courses does he need to take? Which will he likely accelerate through? Can we take our hands on living/learning approach and turn that into a credit/course situation for a transcript that a college will recognize? Which of his evergrowing extra-curricular activities is the most important to him? Why? How will this affect him later? Is this just for fun? How do we get all this done and still let siblings have their fair share? Just how much of this should fall to me and where should the child be taking it up? How much can *I* really do (there is only so much time in a week/month)? How do we put all these plans into action and HOW DO WE KEEP TRACK OF IT ALL? All the great questions most people getting ready to homeschool during the high school stage have asked before. I have attended my first online conference and am taking what I can from that experience. I have looked over some great products that promise to help me out with different parts of this, and will let you all know later which ones did the most for us.
He can do the planning with you. I would highly recommend that because then "he owns" it. You should have the final say tho on what is, and is not a part of the curriculum...some things just may be out of reach or not appropriate. Home School, High School and Beyond by Beverly Adams-Gordon is a great one for this option. Even comes with a CD-Rom that you can use to print out forms and such. Homeschooling High School by Jeanne Gowen Dennis is an awesome resource. She covers just about everything. Also, Home-Designed High School by Diana Johnson and Senior High: A Home Designed Form+U+La by Barb Shelton are some another favorites. Have him first decide what interests him and see what schools have majors in that. Then find out what they want incoming freshman to have taken..that is a good way to know what to schedule for his future school years. If he doesn't know, having him take a test or program that helps figure that out is a very good idea. It is not as scary as one may think. You have time to really work with him on this. Also, at high school: he should be doing most of his work independently, only needing minor instruction, discussion and checking of work. The goal is to have a child graduate who is life ready and college ready-that means being able to do many things without much help from mom, and finding out how to get the answers on their own.
Grading is not difficult either, and all of those books cover that as well.
HTH.
These are just tidbits of what we have found, what we have used, and what we are learning.
Our family is blessed to share some of our path with you in hopes of helping other 2E, gifted, Aspie (Asperger's), HFA & ADHD's. We feel life is a mutual experience bettered for all when help is freely offered.
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