OH my I think we might become unschoolers

[milkmommy]

Sorry jumbled long winded post but with SOO much hope this time!!

Ive gone back and forth with the stuggles Ive had over the years with my oldest and schooling and her anxiety. Recently weve even faced the real possibility she was just going to drop out all together and us having to "allow it"... However I feel like we have hope and more importantly so does she..

SO (significant other) Ive spent I don't know how long in absolute tears with concerns to my oldest and her educational journey. SO (significant other) has she.. In past Ive just figured I needed to be firmer or give it time and things will come around but recently its felt hopeless..

I see her potential her abilities but yet always this wall.. I felt soo hopeless seeing her daily struggle and how it looked to the outside world. I must not be strict enough I need to "force things" etc...



My view of unschooling I'll admit hasn't been positive I really saw it more as a "get out of jail" sort of approach, Ohh like playing video games well that can be computer science or Graphic arts Etc.. or was only for the extremely bright self driven student. THe kid who takes apart the TV and learns each part and how to put it together again because its "fun".. THe idea that the average student could really unschool and have real "school skills" wasn't something I could wrap my head around..

But Ive been researching and reading and growing with an understanding and honestly I feel very different now. I now thing this will honestly be the BEST thing for my daughter..

We had a LOOOOOONG and honest conversation about this and for the FIRST time in a looong time she both didn't just goo ohh yes cool without thinking but really asked and asked and once she began to understand REALLY started to get excited. Oh and BTW her questions were of concern she wants to learn she doesn't want cake walk courses..

So were in the VERY VERY early stages I need to do a bit more reasearch both into whats legit in my state (how much in each area is required) we need to figure out exactly what and how we will accomplish the areas.. but I feel like YES we have something we can move forward on..

Immediate plans.

Between now and "Christmas" she is going to finish 1 of her Acellus courses her Language arts which will give her a 1 unit LA credit (freshman) we are dropping the rest, honestly if we decide yes she will finish any of the others her progress will be kept and she can continue where she left off..

She already has completion in Physical Science and Psychology through the program which I can count towards her diploma, plus at least 2 college Art Classes (drawing and painting)



Our plans for "Next semester"

6 "classes"

something in LA areas we are considering.

Short story authors, she likes works of Poe, O (ovulation) henry, Jack London etc

Something like we pick say 3 authors and do 5 short stories from each her goals for completion would include research on the lives of each, the 5 stories, open discussion of these, papers comparing and contrasting the different works, maybe seeing some movies or plays on some.. etc.. She would need to have 120 hours of work which we would keep logs of along with writing or some combo..

Our goal would be not just ticking off this but that she would feel confident that she could say Yes I know who Longfellow was, that she could step into a college class where his work would be studied and she could feel like yes she could contribute with some real degree of confidence.. not just Hey I took this quiz and got 89%...



Other thoughts or like taking her love of Manga and comparing works of say Shakespeare with examples of its Manga counterpart...

etc

Math

She thinks she wants to take the Acellus "personal Finance" course she going to look at the tutorial mode of the class a bit and see if its the right fit.. If not we will maybe figure out something..



Using like Khan academy for some areas is another choice we do want her to have understanding of certain math concepts (algebra etc) but we realize there are many ways those can be achieved..



History- She wants to do something concerning studying Japan and WW2 which their is PLENTY of we haven't decided on exactly what, DH (dear husband) will likely be able to help in this area..

I can find ways to incorporate her sewing lessons into credits even if "just" home ec..

SHe'll take a drivers Education course not sure if I can include that in some way but a necessity either way.

I told her this wont be a cake walk (and she doesn't want it to be) that it will take her out of her comfort in some areas but it will remove the fear of grades in most cases but it will mean her putting in the effort.

We are pretty excited.. Nervous and scared but excited..

Please tell me this will work and I'm not crazy
I'm going to need a LOT of support I'll be asking tons of questions I feel like Im starting back and step one of being a homeschool mom in many ways..
EEEEEK!!!