katherinevasey

Hi,

I've just responded to the 'cursing' thread then realised that I
haven't introduced myself on this list yet!

My name is Katherine and I live in the UK with my dh and my three
children who have never been to school. My dd is 6.5 yrs and my boys
are 5 and 3 yrs. Here in the UK, my dd's peers have been at school for
2 years already and ds1 would have started at the beginning of this
month although legally he's not 'compulsary school age' until January.

I believe in natural learning and parenting respectfully. However, I
don't always find putting these beliefs into practice as easy as I
would like!

I look forward to reading, and taking part in, many more discussions on
this list.

Best wishes,
Katherine.

almadoing

Hi Katherine - I'm in the UK too, in the southwest. You sound as
appalled as I am that our 6 year olds would be starting their third
year of school already. I'm so glad, despite the intensity of the
learning *I* am having to do, that I am on this path.
Alison
DH, DS1 (6) and DS2 (3)


--- In [email protected], "katherinevasey"
<katherine.vasey@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I've just responded to the 'cursing' thread then realised that I
> haven't introduced myself on this list yet!
>
> My name is Katherine and I live in the UK with my dh and my three
> children who have never been to school. My dd is 6.5 yrs and my
boys
> are 5 and 3 yrs. Here in the UK, my dd's peers have been at school
for
> 2 years already and ds1 would have started at the beginning of this
> month although legally he's not 'compulsary school age' until
January.
>
> I believe in natural learning and parenting respectfully. However,
I
> don't always find putting these beliefs into practice as easy as I
> would like!
>
> I look forward to reading, and taking part in, many more
discussions on
> this list.
>
> Best wishes,
> Katherine.
>

[email protected]

There may be some cross posting, so please excuse it. I have been on and off
unschooling lists for years. Some of these are new to me, some are not. I
usually join them when I�m in a panic and enjoy them for several months,
then just get too busy and tired of 3000 new messages a day to wade through
in my e-mail. I�ve lurked for several weeks. I panic every fall as everyone
else goes back to school. I have 5 wonderful boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 4. I
found out about homeschooling when my oldest was about 2. The more I read,
the more I liked the idea. When he was about 4 I found out about John Holt.
The more I read his books, the more I was convinced that he could be talking
about my own son and his learning. We are a Navy family and are constantly
moving. We were living in Sicily, when my son should have started
Kindergarten. There was one really good teacher and one really bad teacher.
Of course, everyone wanted the really good one, so there was no switching,
and I thought, �Not a chance! We are so not going to play this game.� I kept
him home that year, which was hard on both of us. Kindergarten has been the
hardest year for all my boys because they know that when you are big enough
you start school. They all wanted to go, and I kept them home. We moved back
to the States the next year but were already started down the homeschooling
path, so stayed on it. I have to admit that the first year or two were more
homeschool than unschool, until I was able to relax a little more. I have
been fighting the battle with neighbors and grandparents for quite a few
years now and it gets a little wearisome. My husband has been very
supportive. Both his parents are college professors and their family just
doesn�t get it. DH has trusted, however, that I know what is best. He has
seen how much time and energy I have put into studying this unschooling
thing. He has his doubts at times, but then don�t we all. Now getting
around to my question�My son says he wants to go to college. Is it the
Moores or John Holt that says all 13 of their school years can be caught up
in 2 or 3 when they are ready? My son is very smart and very social. His
brain works much differently than mine, so that has caused some battles in
math for instance. He didn�t really start reading until about age 14. BOY!
You should have heard the grandparents on that one! But now, I�m confident
he is nearly caught up to �grade level�. He�s reading Robert Jordan books,
which is something I can�t even do. His brain understands a lot of math
intuitively but doesn�t get the way I teach it. What I am basically asking
you for, I guess, is for ideas on programs or ways to catch him up so that
he is ready for ACT tests and college. We have tried numerous math programs,
but he is still on basic math. I want to try teaching textbooks pre-algebra
next. He probably needs it to be self-directed resources because he does NOT
want me to be involved, or tell him anything, or try to teach him anything.
He can read novels, but I�m not sure he is ready to wade through texts yet.
My husband is getting nervous and requested that I buy a science, history
and math book that he can work in. I�m looking to all you experts to fill me
in on the best resources to get a kid ready for college, when he is
�behind�, not huge into reading hour after hour, and not very motivated. At
least, he hasn�t liked any of the suggestions I could give about how and
what to study. Thanks in advance. I�m sorry that it was so long.

katherinevasey

Hi Alison,

Where in the southwest are you? We're in Gloucestershire.

Katherine


--- In [email protected], "almadoing" <almadoing@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi Katherine - I'm in the UK too, in the southwest. You sound as
> appalled as I am that our 6 year olds would be starting their third
> year of school already. I'm so glad, despite the intensity of the
> learning *I* am having to do, that I am on this path.
> Alison
> DH, DS1 (6) and DS2 (3)
>
>
> --- In [email protected], "katherinevasey"
> <katherine.vasey@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I've just responded to the 'cursing' thread then realised that I
> > haven't introduced myself on this list yet!
> >
> > My name is Katherine and I live in the UK with my dh and my three
> > children who have never been to school. My dd is 6.5 yrs and my
> boys
> > are 5 and 3 yrs. Here in the UK, my dd's peers have been at
school
> for
> > 2 years already and ds1 would have started at the beginning of
this
> > month although legally he's not 'compulsary school age' until
> January.
> >
> > I believe in natural learning and parenting respectfully.
However,
> I
> > don't always find putting these beliefs into practice as easy as
I
> > would like!
> >
> > I look forward to reading, and taking part in, many more
> discussions on
> > this list.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> > Katherine.
> >
>

Joyce Fetteroll

On Sep 22, 2008, at 5:10 PM, <dlcotts@...>
<dlcotts@...> wrote:

> What I am basically asking
> you for, I guess, is for ideas on programs or ways to catch him up
> so that
> he is ready for ACT tests and college.

I wouldn't "catch him up". I wouldn't try to make him look like a
traditional student. Colleges get 1000s of those kind of
applications, all the same just a list of course titles with letters
and a bunch of numbers. He has the opportunity to stand out when he's
ready.

This is an article that appeared in yesterday's New York Times.

College Panel Calls for Less Focus on SATs
http://tinyurl.com/44bm53

(You may need to register to view it.)

When he's ready he could start at a state school or community college.

Here are a couple of articles by Wes Beach:

Choosing and Applying to Four-Year Colleges
http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/teens/default.asp?id=21

Questions and Answers About Getting Started in College
http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/teens/default.asp?id=22

And more at HSC.org:

College—or Not
http://hsc.org/teencollegenot.html

Books About College and Other Options
http://hsc.org/college.html

And some books. I think I'm remembering a couple others people have
recommended but I can't find them.

The UnCollege Alternative: Your Guide to Incredible Careers and
Amazing Adventures Outside College
http://tinyurl.com/3pt8jl

Allison McKee's book "From Homeschool to College and Work" details
how she
translated her son's unschooling experiences into transcripts when he
decided at
the last minute to go to college instead of pursuing a career as a
fishing
guide at Yellowstone. Guaranteed to help see that teens don't need to
"pursue
academics" to go to college, and helpful for parents trying to pull
together
transcripts from an authentic life.
http://tinyurl.com/4bjepx


Joyce

carnationsgalore

I picked out the following statements from your post:

> Now getting around to my question…My son says he wants to go to
> college.

> My son is very smart and very social.

> He probably needs it to be self-directed resources because he
> does NOT want me to be involved, or tell him anything, or try to
> teach him anything.

> I'm looking to all you experts to fill me in on the best resources
> to get a kid ready for college, when he is "behind", not huge into
> reading hour after hour, and not very motivated.

Are you sure he wants to go to college? Or is he saying that because
he knows you and his dad are nervous? You're saying he's smart but
that he's behind and not very motivated. I'm not sure that all plays
together. Maybe he's not very motivated because it's not really
something he wants to do. If it really were something he wanted to
do, he'd be more a part of the decision making process. In fact, if
he's really interested in college, I'd suggest that he start looking
at what they may need for him to be enrolled. He could speak with an
admissions counselor, explain his educational background and ask what
he can do to be admitted.

And I think he also should be told that college isn't the only option
for him. Maybe there is something else he'd rather do right now that
would motivate him and bring a sparkle to his eye.

I do have a dd16 preparing for college but she has been the one doing
the research and the work. I'm here for anything she needs but she
didn't want me to do it for her. I've been on these lists for a long
time and I've never seen any of these unschooling families feel a
need to catch a child up. It implies that unschooling is really
doing nothing and then trying to pack in all the traditional years of
schooling in a cram session.

Beth M.