At the first of the year, we talked over Jake's options for the next 4 years, as he had just turned 14 ad was half-way through what would be his 8th grade year.
He opted to take the GED and we bought a prep book and started studying and he took a few pre-tests.
As of 2 days ago, he told me what he wants is to take the GED, but also get his diploma via our cover school. He feels having both will cover more bases and he also thinks having to do the requirements for both will round out his education more.
I went from having a fairly easy go of it, just making sure he was grasping the higher maths and we had been going much deeper into history in the last 6 months than ever before and I had lined up to start some higher science work and had jotted down a few things I wanted to borrow from the library and buy online, to suddenly having to chart everything we do.
I have never kept records beyond samples of their work and an attendance chart for each year. Years ago, I wrote down every book we read, everything they did each day, I did that until after we moved to AL, then quit. I started jotted down what happened each day into a dayplanner, just a couple lines here and there, a title now and then-I just put the library print-out in a little drawer after a while and so I could keep up with books that way. The same with anything I bought, just put the print-out in the files.
Now I am faced, starting immediately, with keeping transcripts. I have not attended any classes about it-he was taking his GED. ACK.
I guess what I can do is keep up with his GED prep work and use that as the same as course work. He will have to have 3 years of science, 3 of math, 3 of history and 3 of English plus 10 credits for anything else he does in the next 4 years-plus grades and a portfolio. That's for a basic diploma, I don't even want to worry with the more advanced ones.
I feel totally unprepared for the first time in our homeschooling career. At least when Chan comes to this point-in just 2 years, waaaa-I will have my ducks in a row and won't have such a time of it. As soon as Jake is graduated, Ben joins the high school ranks. I can sort of see now why so many parents put their kids in high school, there is a pressure to not screw this part up that is not present in the rest of homeschooling.
Jake, for his part, is really working hard these days. He is writing a short story using some help from Chandler and the spell-check on Open Office. He writes, she comes in after he is done for the day and helps with puncuation and spelling. She's better at both than I am. But he's picking up on it all. I have him reading more books and listening to fewer-though I do not regret all the books on CD he's listened to in his life. He is also asking for harder math work.
If I could go back and change anything, I would have pushed him a little more a few years ago and tried to get these changes-these basic skills-to come on over time and not have to be mastered in one go. But this 'go' is his own desire and he is doing it. He has not found that THING yet that has ignited his interest, I feel when he does, there will be no stopping him.
In the meantime, I have to plan a whole semester in advance AND stick with it. Quite possibly for the next 8 years of my life. ACK
Our cover school has pointed out that SOME credits can be earned pre-high school level. Things like photography can be mastered as easily at 13 as they can at 17, there is no need to wait some credits until the last 4 years. Basically, just the Big 12 credits need to be done in high school, the other 10 can be spread around a little before and during. So, I won't be as blocked in with Chandler and Ben.
Our cover school has pointed out that SOME credits can be earned pre-high school level. Things like photography can be mastered as easily at 13 as they can at 17, there is no need to wait some credits until the last 4 years. Basically, just the Big 12 credits need to be done in high school, the other 10 can be spread around a little before and during. So, I won't be as blocked in with Chandler and Ben.
