Plan for High School in Our Home

My question: how do we school at home, freely and unobstructed, and still come away with legitimate "credits" that are acceptable at any college? My Kid wants to go to film school as soon as he can, so we need good solid proof of learning and credit that will get him in.

I read somewhere that if one "unschools" then giving your child credits is "opening a whole can of worms" that needs to stay closed. Thing is, I want to do what I can -- tracking his progress and learning and skills -- in the best manner for him. So he can go to film school or do whatever he wants to accomplish in life.

Plans to take in "high school" years (plans, but may not necessarily take them all):

Math:
-brush-up on essentials
-consumer/everyday
-geometry
-pre-algebra
-algebra 1

Science:
-Animal Husbandry
-Earth Science
-Space/Astronomy
-Physical (chemistry, etc)
-Biology
-Ecology
-Botany with Therapeutic Herbalism

Social Studies:
-Geography
-World History
-U.S./American History
-U.S. Government / Constitution / Civics

Language:
-create his own language (HELP!)
-Spanish
-Sign Language
-French
-Greek and Latin

Language Arts:
-basics
-usage
-writing (to include a fiction series, movie script, etc)
-analysis of literature

Art:
-drawing
-photography
-music
-write a movie script
-movie making/file producing

Life Skills/Electives:
-home ec (cooking, nutrition, sewing, etc.)
-managing money
-handling criticism, problem solving, etc
-leadership
-auto repair
-computer building
-computer programming

So...

(1) how do I track his learning and progress and skills so that it translates into a transcript and credits for him?

(2) how do I make his high school years full of learning but make it a whole lot more fun than the last few years have been?

Thank you!

Upheaval = no school work

I've noticed with all of this preparing to sell the house and move... that our 12 year old can't concentrate on anything... not schoolwork, chores, packing, or anything. I guess because I never moved as a 12 year old that I didn't think about it.

Not that I like all of this chaos at my advanced age, but still.

Time to make the final push to close on this house, move to our next home, unpack, and start a life of normalcy again.

Speaking Video: Fruit

2nd Try...


Here's his latest to help fulfill his Speaking Requirement, and to help him overcome stuttering and nervous tics. The subject is one of his favorite things to eat: fruit!



Unfortunately, I'm STILL having huge problems uploading the video to this blog posting. I'm giving up!

Please check it out through YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgAlI9m__Fg

Be sure to leave a comment there for him! Thanks!

Speaking Video: Fruit

Here's the schoolwork speaking video we recorded on May 13 2009: Fruit. He loves fruit, and is prominant in his mind since we're eating even more than usual of it lately. Notice his tics and stuttering are lessening!

hold on ... troubles downloading video... need to reboot and try again after we run out and pick up some strawberry plants... come back in a couple of hours!

Speaking Video: Games

Here's the video we shot on April 29 2009 for his practice to eliminate stuttering and tics, and for speaking (schoolwork) requirement: Games to Play



Feel free to also watch it on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ6mU8mMNOs

Speaking Video: Earth Day

Here's another video shot to fulfill our State's "speaking" requirement, AND to help Tween get over his stuttering and nervous habits. Enjoy!

If you get a chance, click here to view this video on youtube - leave a comment there and/or here! Thanks!

Family Fun Time Begins

Remember the problem we'd been having with Son, who didn't want to do schoolwork, and would procrastinate an unbelievable amount? Turns out Son has been having a hard time because he was lonely. He wanted to spend more time with us Parents, rather, more quality time. Even though we would hug and kiss and play, he wanted more time specifically devoted to having Family Time.

We made a deal. He agreed to do his schoolwork and chores by 3:00 p.m. each day, and if he did, we (Parents) would spend 2-3 hours that night having Family Fun Time. Board games. Karoake. Walks with the Dog. Tug-a-Rope with Dog. Puzzles. Go out and do something fun but cheap.

We counted our board games, puzzles, cards, karoke music disks, etc. We have enough to do a "new" thing each night for 2 months without repeats.

Today was our first day of this Agreement. He was finished with his schoolwork by 12:30, so we left the house by 12:45 to get some more karoke music, looked at books, etc. Came home, took a walk, ate dinner, and sang Elvis tunes with the karoke machine. Yes, we had fun.

Day 1: Successful.

Schoolwork: Trees

Trees are woody plants that have one main trunk and have many branches. They usually grow quite tall, and are part of our living world and natural environment and everyday life. There are many kinds of trees, like maple and oak. A tree's leaves are as light as feathers. If you cut down a tree, it would become a stump. Not only that, but you would also see something called tree rings. They are the layer of wood made by trees during a single year. It's their annual ring and it's also possible to figure out the age of a tree that has fallen or has been cut down by counting their rings. We need to save all trees from being cut down.

If you want more paper, try tearing up a newspaper, put it in a blender, add a little water, turn it on. When it's done, take it off, put the goop into a bowl, add two spoonfuls of glue, stir it up, then spread it on a screen and let it dry. Then peel it off.

Double-EE
11/20/08

Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's a little behind. Here were his schoolwork assignments today .. .. .. Math: Multiplication and division worksheets. LA Basics: Punctuation worksheets. Geography: States/Capitals CD. Writing: Look up the word "simile" and use it in a paragraph about trees. Did you see his example? What grade would you give this writing assignment (Please use the comment section.)

Schoolwork: Earth

Mother Earth's name comes from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "land". But earth isn't all land. It's also water too. Many astronomers think Earth's water came from a giant storm of icy coments that hit the Earth when it was forming. Before this, Earth was very hot, then it cooled down, forming a lot more land then what we have now. Then the storm came, and Earth melted the ice, and formed - duh - water. After that, plants grew on the super continent called Pangea. It was ready to give birth to life. We people need to take care of our mother of life forever. This is how life should be. This is how our Planet is meant to be. LIVED BY TAKING CARE OF IT.

Double-EE
11/19/2008

p.s. This was his schoolwork for Wednesday; in addition to writing a paragraph about Earth, he had to memorize and present it to us, his parents. Did excellent - messed up a couple of words and fidgeted, but still, making progress. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: Imagery

Imagery is images that are created in the mind while reading a book or looking at art. When you are reading, you can see pictures in your head that tell the story. If it's a junior novelization, you can watch the movie before or after you read it. Tip: read the book first, then see the movie (if it is one). You'll see that some things that were in the book couldn't get into the movie. Sometimes people do the opposite. It may not be smart, but it makes the imagery more correct and stronger. Now, art is different. It can tell a story, or just sway in front of you. So everyone has their own imagery. From books to art, your imagery pics can be ... anything!

"Double-EE"
11/18/2008

p.s. We're changing our 12 year old boy's name from ******* to Double-EE per his request so we're going back and changing them all. Anyway, this was his writing assignment for yesterday. A bad bout of flu prevented us from typing it in yesterday. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: Barack Obama

The 1st President of the USA was elected in 1789. Now we're in the 21st century, and we have had 43 Presidents so far, and this 2008 election of choosing the 44th President is most of war than just original.

John McCain and Barack Obama were the people who were competing against each other. No wonder there were so many commercials on TV! Jeez!

Anyway, Obama won, and I feel great. Can you believe that in January 2009, Obama is going to be into the White House? I can! And it's going to be the best. BEST DAY EVER!!!!

"Double-EE"
11/17/2008

p.s. This was his writing assignment for today. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: Intuition

Intuition is the power to know or understand something without thinking it through in a logical way. It's like predicting something. I had intuition that my dog would be nice to me and I was right! You can use your intuition too!

"Double-EE"
11/14/2008

p.s. This was his Friday writing assignment. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: Imagination

Imagination is the act or power of the mind to form a thought, picture, or image of something or someone that is not present to the senses.

I use my imagination for so many things. I control it during the day but at nighttime, I let it run wild. Take charge of your imagination and don't let it take charge of you.

"Double-EE"
11/13/08

p.s. This was today's writing assignment. The first paragraph was the definition he found in his children's dictionary. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: A Poem

"Double-EE" 's writing assignment today was:
1. Pick a color, an object, and a place
2. Describe the object using the color.
3.Write about the object with the color in your place.
4. Find rhyming words for your description.
5. Write a 4-line rhyming poem about your color, object and place.

Here's what he wrote:

Title: White Ball of Fluff

This little white ball of fluff
lives in California along with its stuff.
It's favorite, Mr. Carrot, has lots of fun
with it underneath the sun.

Ok ... who can guess what or who he wrote about?

p.s. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: Spirit the Dog

Spirit the dog is a really cute dog. She's a mix of a USA and Mexican chihuahua. She's 4 years old (28 in dog years). She chases her tail, protects us, and she's a bottomless hunger-pit girl.

Sometimes when she's in a towel, she looks like a towel with a head and tail. She's been with us for 40 days, comparedto Scooter's 1 week. Scooter was my other dog. Mom had given him 3 chances and he blew them up because he bit me 3 times! So, we took him back. It wasn't until Oct. 3 we went back to get another dog. Spirit was perfect. But they said she was Star and she was 2 years old (14 in dog years). Then they noticed their mistake and changed her name and age back to Spirit and 4 years old. Before this happened, Mom didn't want our friend, Starr, to think we named her by her name! Boy! No wonder the dog didn't come when we called her!

Double-EE, age 12

11/11/2008

p.s. This is his writing assignment for today. Copyright (c) 2008.

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.

Schoolwork: What is Friendship?

Friendship is the state of being a friend. Your friend(s) can be anybody (except strangers): Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, etc. Here's a poem about fun. It's called "F.U.N.":

F is for friends who do stuff together
U is for you and me
N is anywhere and anyone you like
.... down here on Earth, you see.

I know what you're thinking: it's from "SpongeBob SquarePants". Well, it makes a good song in friendship. And besides, I changed the last part so it not only tells about friends in the sea, but on land as well.

Now that's friendship!

Double-EE
11/10/2008

p.s. This was written as part of his writing assignment. Copyright (c) 2008

He's 12 years old. Due to a few learning problems, he's just learning how to write sentences, and paragraph structure. What grade would you give this assignment? Please use the comment section.