New Member Intro
Sheri
Hi Folks,
I am Sheri W. in Olympia WA. I just signed up for your group. I found
it while browsing yahoo groups. We are homeschooling our DD. She is
16 now, an only child. I'd like to become more knowledgeable and
comfortable with the unschooling approach. DD is a very bright,
highly sensitive being and while she adored her alternative pubic
school elementary years (well, most of the time <G>),the middle
school years were extremely uncomfortable for her. There was not
academic challenge to help her block out the anoying and sometimes
frightening behavior of her classmates. We pulled her out of school
for portions of 7th, 8th and all but one month of 9th grade. We have
tried internet classes here in Washington state, but the course work
was so drab and boring that DD was mostly unwilling to complete the
classes. This year we enrolled in Clonlara's distance learning
program. Our Kiddo is certain she wants an actual diploma and is
eyeing The Evergreen State Collge, from which my DH & I are both
graduated. While DD has been very busy with her passion for novels
and poetry, both reading and writing them, She seems to be conflicted
about the value of her efforts. Leaving the public school system in a
state of panic & anxiety was very hard on her self image. She hasn't
quite let go of the compliant model student persona that she had in
school. She has feelings of failure for being unable to cope with the
system. I am hoping that as time passes, she will develop a new more
flexible self image and be able to embrace her many gifts.
I look forward to reading your posts and gleaning some more insights
about assisting our beautiful daughter to learn & grow.
Take Care,
Sheri
I am Sheri W. in Olympia WA. I just signed up for your group. I found
it while browsing yahoo groups. We are homeschooling our DD. She is
16 now, an only child. I'd like to become more knowledgeable and
comfortable with the unschooling approach. DD is a very bright,
highly sensitive being and while she adored her alternative pubic
school elementary years (well, most of the time <G>),the middle
school years were extremely uncomfortable for her. There was not
academic challenge to help her block out the anoying and sometimes
frightening behavior of her classmates. We pulled her out of school
for portions of 7th, 8th and all but one month of 9th grade. We have
tried internet classes here in Washington state, but the course work
was so drab and boring that DD was mostly unwilling to complete the
classes. This year we enrolled in Clonlara's distance learning
program. Our Kiddo is certain she wants an actual diploma and is
eyeing The Evergreen State Collge, from which my DH & I are both
graduated. While DD has been very busy with her passion for novels
and poetry, both reading and writing them, She seems to be conflicted
about the value of her efforts. Leaving the public school system in a
state of panic & anxiety was very hard on her self image. She hasn't
quite let go of the compliant model student persona that she had in
school. She has feelings of failure for being unable to cope with the
system. I am hoping that as time passes, she will develop a new more
flexible self image and be able to embrace her many gifts.
I look forward to reading your posts and gleaning some more insights
about assisting our beautiful daughter to learn & grow.
Take Care,
Sheri
Cindy DeBerge
Hi Sheri,
I'm Cindy in Colorado. I just joined this group. We are going through this same thing with my 14yodd. She was hs'ed for two years then wanted to try ps again. Well, the grass was NOT greener on the other side so we've all (us and her) have decided that she needs to come back home. She had poor grades in two of her classes although all of her teachers said she was an A/B student. It was not poor grades, it was poor teachers or poor relationships with the teacher. Anyhoo, I have been reading Grace Llewellyn's (sp?) book The Teenager Liberation Handbook. A must read for hs'ers with an unschool bent. What I am doing with my dd is basically handing her education over to her. I told her I will help her, guide her, whatever but that her education at this point was basically up to her. She also came home feeling like a failure. In ps in prior years she had always been an A/B student and so getting C's and D's have not sat well with her. The biggest problem I see for her is she
thought high school was a waste of time.
My suggestion would be to sit down with her and discuss her goals. My dd wants to be a veterinarian (has for years) so her goals are pretty well defined. But outline her goals (as they are now, they could change) and the different ways to attain those goals. My dd has become excited about her education again.
I hope this helps. Other than that, you have my sympathies. I understand completely. Having a teenager is a roller coaster ride. Throw female into the mix and it can get wild sometimes. Those darn hormones are all over the map (hers and mine ���)
Good luck with you and dd's adventures.
Cindy
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I'm Cindy in Colorado. I just joined this group. We are going through this same thing with my 14yodd. She was hs'ed for two years then wanted to try ps again. Well, the grass was NOT greener on the other side so we've all (us and her) have decided that she needs to come back home. She had poor grades in two of her classes although all of her teachers said she was an A/B student. It was not poor grades, it was poor teachers or poor relationships with the teacher. Anyhoo, I have been reading Grace Llewellyn's (sp?) book The Teenager Liberation Handbook. A must read for hs'ers with an unschool bent. What I am doing with my dd is basically handing her education over to her. I told her I will help her, guide her, whatever but that her education at this point was basically up to her. She also came home feeling like a failure. In ps in prior years she had always been an A/B student and so getting C's and D's have not sat well with her. The biggest problem I see for her is she
thought high school was a waste of time.
My suggestion would be to sit down with her and discuss her goals. My dd wants to be a veterinarian (has for years) so her goals are pretty well defined. But outline her goals (as they are now, they could change) and the different ways to attain those goals. My dd has become excited about her education again.
I hope this helps. Other than that, you have my sympathies. I understand completely. Having a teenager is a roller coaster ride. Throw female into the mix and it can get wild sometimes. Those darn hormones are all over the map (hers and mine ���)
Good luck with you and dd's adventures.
Cindy
---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tia Leschke
>If she hasn't already read them, get her the Teenage Liberation Handbook
>I am Sheri W. in Olympia WA. I just signed up for your group. I found
>it while browsing yahoo groups. We are homeschooling our DD. She is
>16 now, an only child. I'd like to become more knowledgeable and
>comfortable with the unschooling approach. DD is a very bright,
>highly sensitive being and while she adored her alternative pubic
>school elementary years (well, most of the time <G>),the middle
>school years were extremely uncomfortable for her. There was not
>academic challenge to help her block out the anoying and sometimes
>frightening behavior of her classmates. We pulled her out of school
>for portions of 7th, 8th and all but one month of 9th grade. We have
>tried internet classes here in Washington state, but the course work
>was so drab and boring that DD was mostly unwilling to complete the
>classes. This year we enrolled in Clonlara's distance learning
>program. Our Kiddo is certain she wants an actual diploma and is
>eyeing The Evergreen State Collge, from which my DH & I are both
>graduated. While DD has been very busy with her passion for novels
>and poetry, both reading and writing them, She seems to be conflicted
>about the value of her efforts. Leaving the public school system in a
>state of panic & anxiety was very hard on her self image. She hasn't
>quite let go of the compliant model student persona that she had in
>school. She has feelings of failure for being unable to cope with the
>system. I am hoping that as time passes, she will develop a new more
>flexible self image and be able to embrace her many gifts.
>I look forward to reading your posts and gleaning some more insights
>about assisting our beautiful daughter to learn & grow.
and Real Lives by Grace Llewellyn. Real Lives might be especially helpful.
There's one girl in it who "rises up" rather than dropping out at 16. She
might find some inspiration there.
Tia
[email protected]
In a message dated 12/11/03 4:01:19 AM, bob_iyall@... writes:
<< Our Kiddo is certain she wants an actual diploma and is
eyeing The Evergreen State Collge, from which my DH & I are both
graduated. >>
I bet she can get in without "an actual diploma."
Most schools have a small quota to fill of alternative or special students
who are brought in to enrich the student body. Maybe she could aim for that
niche instead of just being another in the stream of "actual diploma" applicants.
A reall letter of application beats the heck out of filling in a form and
attaching a transcript from a high school.
<<She hasn't
quite let go of the compliant model student persona that she had in
school. She has feelings of failure for being unable to cope with the
system.>>
There are two short articles here I think will help you creatd a new program
for her which could be the gateway to relaxation for all of you. They are
"Disposable Checklists for Unschoolers" and "Deschooling."
http://sandradodd.com/articles
Another good place to read is the message boards at www.unschooling.com
Sandra
<< Our Kiddo is certain she wants an actual diploma and is
eyeing The Evergreen State Collge, from which my DH & I are both
graduated. >>
I bet she can get in without "an actual diploma."
Most schools have a small quota to fill of alternative or special students
who are brought in to enrich the student body. Maybe she could aim for that
niche instead of just being another in the stream of "actual diploma" applicants.
A reall letter of application beats the heck out of filling in a form and
attaching a transcript from a high school.
<<She hasn't
quite let go of the compliant model student persona that she had in
school. She has feelings of failure for being unable to cope with the
system.>>
There are two short articles here I think will help you creatd a new program
for her which could be the gateway to relaxation for all of you. They are
"Disposable Checklists for Unschoolers" and "Deschooling."
http://sandradodd.com/articles
Another good place to read is the message boards at www.unschooling.com
Sandra