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I think maturity plays a big role. I dropped out after the 10th grade, wasted a couple years on dead end jobs, got my GED, spent 4 years in the military, then went to college and graduated with a 3.7 GPA. During my freshman year in college, I watched many fresh out of high school freshman drop like flies. In my opinion, their biggest problem was they were not ready to be there yet. They had no direction and no idea what they wanted to do with their lives. They just knew it was what their friends were doing and what their parents wanted them to do.
My brother dropped out as well then after about 15 years went to college and his now in a PsyD program. High school has little to do with college success. If you are there for the right reasons, you will succeed.
The majority of my high school classmates who did better than me in high school either 1) fell on their face, or 2) changed to less-challenging majors and still did worse than me, academically, in college. Very few did better than me in college.
As I said, in my previous post, (if you had actually read it) sometimes the reason kids do well in high school is it is easy for them. There is no guarantee college will be easy because high school was (contrary to popular belief, college is not high school part II) and if it's not, those kids often don't have the study skills to fix the problem. However, I find it hard to believe (and quite arrogant) that you assert that the majority of your classmates who did better than you in high school did worse than you in college unless you took several years off before going to college. Most people don't do a 180 in college unless something happens to cause it.
IME the kids who do well in college are those who value an education. They are also often kids who did well in high school because they value an education. I did poorly in high school because I did not value education but well in college because I did. Several years in the real world changed my mind.
I think maturity plays a big role. I dropped out after the 10th grade, wasted a couple years on dead end jobs, got my GED, spent 4 years in the military, then went to college and graduated with a 3.7 GPA. During my freshman year in college, I watched many fresh out of high school freshman drop like flies. In my opinion, their biggest problem was they were not ready to be there yet. They had no direction and no idea what they wanted to do with their lives. They just knew it was what their friends were doing and what their parents wanted them to do.
My brother dropped out as well then after about 15 years went to college and his now in a PsyD program. High school has little to do with college success. If you are there for the right reasons, you will succeed.
This describes too many high school graduates. I wonder what will happen to the kids I teach who maintain high grades only because they can't get the car for the weekend if they don't once they're out of their parents house. Will mom and dad still have the leverage to punish bad grades when they're in college? I wonder if these kids are actually learning anything about valuing education or just reacting like Pavlov's dogs. Get good grades....get the car.... What happens when they don't need a car on the weekend? I can see some of them reacting badly to finally having freedom.
Sadly the schools, especially public schools in the US have declined over the past 30 years. Today, students get in college what used to be taught in High School. It is sad that we seem to be more concerned with being politically correct than in challenging our students.
But, even at it's best, Public Schools have always taught all students the same way. I don't think they could really do much else since the class sizes are necessarily larger than those in most (if not all) private schools. It is too bad, but probably unavoidable, that they can't gear the teaching methods to the individual student's way of learning.
To the OP: If you allowed the system to destroy your interest in Space (or anything else) that is your responsibility. If you're interested in something, whether Space or something else, pursue it in College.
As I said, in my previous post, (if you had actually read it) sometimes the reason kids do well in high school is it is easy for them. There is no guarantee college will be easy because high school was (contrary to popular belief, college is not high school part II) and if it's not, those kids often don't have the study skills to fix the problem. However, I find it hard to believe (and quite arrogant) that you assert that the majority of your classmates who did better than you in high school did worse than you in college unless you took several years off before going to college. Most people don't do a 180 in college unless something happens to cause it.
IME the kids who do well in college are those who value an education. They are also often kids who did well in high school because they value an education. I did poorly in high school because I did not value education but well in college because I did. Several years in the real world changed my mind.
Describes me. I had no problem with acing everything I touched in HS - except the 2 AP classes I took. I went to college with this wonderful idea of how bloody smart I was. Then I got smacked in the face with reality - I didn't know how to study, because I never had to learn how.
I majored in Biology and Chemistry: I flunked the 1st exams in both of those classes. I took 5 years of math in 3 years of HS and acedthem all - there was nothing left for me to take my senior year: I flunked my first Calculus exam. I finished my 1st semester in college with a 2.7. It took a lot of self-control to teach myself not to implode and finally learn how to study. Finished my undergaduates with a 3.3 - and I blame no one but myself.
I do not blame my public HS for this. The most imortant thing that goes on in public - or private -education is learning - not teaching. We all know that teaching can occur without learning. But we've all learned something on our own without formal teaching. Now who was responsible for that learning - the teacher or the learner? I take on all responsiblity for my own education because it is I who must be educated. I don't blame others for my fallacies. I've said it before and I'll say it again: No one is more responsible for a student's learning than the student. You get out what you put in.
And stop being the stereotypical member of your generation and quit blaming others for your own shortcomings.
Describes me. I had no problem with acing everything I touched in HS - except the 2 AP classes I took. I went to college with this wonderful idea of how bloody smart I was. Then I got smacked in the face with reality - I didn't know how to study, because I never had to learn how.
I majored in Biology and Chemistry: I flunked the 1st exams in both of those classes. I took 5 years of math in 3 years of HS and acedthem all - there was nothing left for me to take my senior year: I flunked my first Calculus exam. I finished my 1st semester in college with a 2.7. It took a lot of self-control to teach myself not to implode and finally learn how to study. Finished my undergaduates with a 3.3 - and I blame no one but myself.
I do not blame my public HS for this. The most imortant thing that goes on in public - or private -education is learning - not teaching. We all know that teaching can occur without learning. But we've all learned something on our own without formal teaching. Now who was responsible for that learning - the teacher or the learner? I take on all responsiblity for my own education because it is I who must be educated. I don't blame others for my fallacies. I've said it before and I'll say it again: No one is more responsible for a student's learning than the student. You get out what you put in.
And stop being the stereotypical member of your generation and quit blaming others for your own shortcomings.
ITA! If you want to fix what ails public education, fix the learner. We make learning everyone elses responsibility EXCEPT the one doing the learning.
Kids like you should be in independent study learning how to study in high school. Somehow, learning to study has to happen. I have a dd who has never had to study. All she's ever had to do to get A's and the occaisional B is show up. This year, she has two AP classes, Pre calc and honors chemistry and it's eating her lunch. She keeps defaulting back to "I don't have to study" mode but that is not working. I'm afraid this is a lesson she will learn the hard way but better now than in college. I'm not sure I want to see her GPA this year but this is her battle to fight not mine. I can't and shoudln't try to do it for her.
No matter how smart you are, there comes a point when you need to know how to study and learn. I am very fortunate in that, in spite of my low GPA in high school, I actually did know how to study. When I was little, my mom got talked into buying not one but two sets of encyclopedias which I used as building blocks to make things like cat mazes (did you know you can't make a cat go through a maze?). While playing, they'd often fall open to a page and I'd read it then it would lead me somewhere else. I had way more interest in what was in those books than my school books. But I actually learned how to learn on my own with them. I didn't apply that in high school just because I didn't care but I was able to in college. There was one issue though, I got off on side trips way too easily. Something would spark my interest and off I'd go but then I'd be pulled back to reality by some deadline on an assignment that wasn't getting done because I was too busy learning. To this day I love books. I can't bring myself to get an e-reader.
High School sports and JROTC develop leadership qualities. How do you get this at home school ?
Homeschoolers can usually participate in a given area's high school extracurricular programs if they want to. Homeschooling teens also often start their own businesses, teach classes to younger kids, etc... there are plenty of "real life" ways to gain leadership experience.
Homeschoolers can usually participate in a given area's high school extracurricular programs if they want to. Homeschooling teens also often start their own businesses, teach classes to younger kids, etc... there are plenty of "real life" ways to gain leadership experience.
Absolutely. The quarterback of our large (AAAA) local high school a few years ago was homeschooled.
Scouting is another big leadership activity among homeschooled kids.
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