The public school system has failed

That is the kind of excitement I need, not the kind I have.

Well it seems my dear #1 and #2 sons have gotten themselves into trouble.  So much so that I have yanked them from public high school in 9th and 11th grade.  We have gone back and forth, over and under, and all around the pros and cons of public versus private versus home school.  At this juncture, home school has won the debate.  It may not be forever, but for now it seems necessary.

When transitioning from traditional school to home school one needs to know what level curriculum to endeavor into.  The easiest for me is going to be to go with a "packaged deal." A lot of families piece meal their curriculum together from several sources.  While that can be less expensive, especially when schooling more than one child, it is overwhelming to think about.

So I think I have picked the curriculum that will suit our needs.  Since the boys are older I am okay with doing this on the computer mostly.  I have chosen Alpha Omega publishing, the Monarch curriculum.  It is all on-line, the lessons, quizzes, tests.  The beauty of this is that all of the record keeping is also "done for me" for those courses.  We have started them with taking placement tests.  Since the oldest has yet to pass 9th grade English that is where I placed him and 11th grade for math.  They start the testing two grade levels below that.  So for English he is taking the 7th grade test and 9th grade for Math.  He is struggling to even pass those! He has obviously struggled in school, but really? 7th grade.  I am so shocked because he has always done well on those standard tests they need to pass to the next grade.  Oh no, don't tell me! You mean, he has been taught how to take those tests?! Really?! (Can you sense the sarcasm here?) Here we have a case of a kid falling through the cracks and being passed along (and a little bit of cheating on his part to get by I think).  I am a bit sick that I let it go on this long, but am grateful to have a chance to help him do better now.

So off we go on this adventure.  I will let you know how it all turns out.  For #1 son it can't get much worse educationally, right?

I am working on step 4 of that mystery quilt, almost half way done.  Pictures to come :)
for now friends.....ta ta