August 6, 2007 - Today was registration day at the local school.
It was registration day for our school district. This is the day I pop in to gather my registration forms for homeschooling. Almost every year, I seem to cause great confusion. This year was no different.
On needing more than just registration forms, I decided to make use of my visit and get more information about the enrolling, so that my daughter could get free use of college courses for a year. In Iowa, if you are dual enrolled, you can have your child start college (with class limitations) and these classes will count for high school AND college. And the best thing is that the school district pays for the classes.
Dh has been asking me to get more information about this "deal". Well, I asked about it today and for now, we will be passing on the deal. It will be hard if not darn tricky to get it worked out for this year. I would need to bring in all data from my daughters schooling and the school would then determine which credits they would accept. She then would have to graduate with the graduating class, take testing... and more classes if they felt she hadn't progressed with classes they approved of. I just love (grimace) the tone they give me... you know we may not accept all your credits... we just cannot take her on and not evaluate her, beings we have NO IDEA how or IF she has learned anything at all. Why do they feel they must put me down before accepting to do something that is state mandated? Were you under a licensed teacher at all for any of this teaching that you did? was the next question posed to me. Yes... the guidance counselor then calms down... well, then... you should be fine.... trying to correct herself as she now realizes how she has talked to me...
Well, that's gone far enough! We don't WANT your free money! *sigh*. Really we do, but we aren't prepared to jump through the hoops being this is our first child to go through high school. I should be better prepared for my next daughter and perhaps they (the school) will maybe have learned some courtesy by then. I say that as this isn't the first time I've been talked to this way... it's probably the 3rd or 4th time. (the only times I have opened my mouth and uttered something other than can I get my registration forms, please?)
On the plus side, our county has a developing agency that is now trying to dispurse funds in positive ways. This is casino taxes. Is it wrong to use this stuff? I hope not, cuz it is sure going to help. Each student in our county was given a $50 gift card for school supplies, which meant... school supplies, then backpack or shoes, and if you still had money left over... then you could use it on underwear and socks. Hee, hee. That kind of tickled me a bit. Well, I got my gift cards today and while I was there, I asked about the scholarship funds I had heard about... last year each child graduating got $3600 to put towards the college of their choice. They expect that figure to be around $4000 from here on out. I asked if homeschoolers could get it and she said, yes, yes, yes. And I asked what I needed to do (since most of the others get the information through the schools... as I missed out basically last year from late information... but in the end that was OK. My daughter didn't finish her senior year by May... she still has a couple months to go and then she will be done... still a 2007 graduate, just a fall graduate instead of a spring graduate! I explained my situation and she assured me that all was fine. It was too late for last year, but they will gladly put her on this coming year's list. AND they didn't care that we were only schooling for 2 months this year... WOW, NO HOOPS! To get the scholarship, they need an acceptance letter from the college of choice (this to be done by all getting the scholarship). She asked what proof our college gets for us schooling and I said, some just accept the ACT scores and others want a transcript and she says, whatever the college wants, just give us a copy of that and that will be proof enough. Woo HOO! AGAIN! I was beginning to love this lady... she radiated warmth and a genuine desire to get these funds into all kids in the county... not just the "schooled" kids.
Well, I headed home and shared the news with Dh and the kids. The kids finished their schoolwork and then said... Mom are you ready to go? I said, go where? They said, to WalMart...that's where the gift cards are good for, right? Ahhh, school supplies... no matter that we would be in town tomorrow for farmer's market... they wanted to go tonight... so we did! LOL. The girls each got a backpack as their old ones are pretty kiddish...they even have spots for their MP3 players to ride along. Going to the nature center will be so much more easier on them, now that they aren't dragging their pooh backpacks along with. Hee, hee. They also got a pair of tennis shoes and the rest was used on school supplies. Actually Chelsea did not pick out her shoes yet, she wants to do that on a different visit as she wants to get a more expensive pair and she will pay the difference... she forgot her money tonight.
Well, a day full of adventures. I now have two weeks to fill out my forms and return them to the school. I guess that means I should figure out what we will be learning about this year so I can fill out the forms properly. We actually started school today in a sense. The girls have some half day assignments until I get the rest of it figured out. We're a bit behind from last year, so this will just help them catch up until the new books arrive.
Warmly,
Melissa
Comments
August 9, 2007 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Ruth
It sounds like a great thing to be able to get that scholarship for each student. The gift cards are awesome too. Iowa is a state we have considered moving to. What is the job market like? Which area do you live in? I hope you don't mind answering these questions.
Ruth
