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I could take him to our local college (it's high tech & medical) & the community college (the usual).
Before the attorney thing, he wanted to travel and write. I think we were too supportive of this, we got him a journal and travel books. He hasn't picked any of them up.
He is interested in the Japanese culture (like his Dad). He likes to play video games (what teenage boy doesn't... right?).
He wants to either stay in Oregon or move to Texas when he gets out of school.
He loves to argue. Likes Classic Hard Rock/Metal music. Hates to read.
Is active outdoors. Pays attention to sports but doesn't want to be involved with an organized team. He would rather play "ball" when a bunch of his friends get together and that's it.
He is loyal and protective. Speaks his mind. Refuses to wear anything with a logo that he personally doesn't support.
Hates school, says it's a waste of time.
That is 'bout all I can think of right now... How fun are we?
Honestly, if he's bored silly, what benefit comes of making him go through the hoops of school?
Will you homeschool him? He can then follow his interests and prepare himself for whatever fields he's considering going into as an adult. Maybe he can do an exchange year in Japan. Perhaps his interest will lead to a career in international affairs, or something to do with immigration, or... who knows?
Good students do know how to play the game of high school, but whether they actually retain any of the information they're spoon-fed is debatable at best....
Honestly, if he's bored silly, what benefit comes of making him go through the hoops of school?
Will you homeschool him? He can then follow his interests and prepare himself for whatever fields he's considering going into as an adult. Maybe he can do an exchange year in Japan. Perhaps his interest will lead to a career in international affairs, or something to do with immigration, or... who knows?
Good students do know how to play the game of high school, but whether they actually retain any of the information they're spoon-fed is debatable at best....
We can not let all bored students leave school!! Sometimes kids simply need to be pushed in the right direction, which is why I asked of his interests. These kids need a reason to get up in the morning and go to school and they need something to look forward to and a reason to believe that school is important and necessary for them. I work with bored kids on a daily basis but leaving school because of boredom is never an option. Instead, we work on ways to make it better.
Tulegirl, I am thinking about some suggestions for you!
Why is leaving school to homeschool not an option? If you were bored silly at your job, would you not look for a better alternative? I understand that homeschooling is not for every parent (though if done well, I think just about every homeschooled student would thrive and soar), but for one who is considering it, I think "my kid is miserable and bored in school" is a perfect reason for homeschooling!
If a child can thrive in school, if they enjoy it, then great. I know that while I was bored silly in my classes in high school, I loved being in the Drama Club, so I at least had that to look forward to. I also knew how to pass the tests and I was always on the honor roll, in the National Honor Society, etc. I was thrilled to start my "real life" when I finally graduated. For a kid who has nothing that he loves about school, though, there is no reason that he NEEDS to stay there, if his parents are willing to let him homeschool. I think that even a high school educator can agree that homeschooling is preferable to having the kid drop out in 10th or 11th grade because he just can't take the tedium and boredom another year or two. And I think it's preferable to having the kid be bored and drumming his fingers on the desk for 4 years while waiting for his "real life" to start. If he's home, real life starts that day!
Why is leaving school to homeschool not an option? If you were bored silly at your job, would you not look for a better alternative? I understand that homeschooling is not for every parent (though if done well, I think just about every homeschooled student would thrive and soar), but for one who is considering it, I think "my kid is miserable and bored in school" is a perfect reason for homeschooling!
If a child can thrive in school, if they enjoy it, then great. I know that while I was bored silly in my classes in high school, I loved being in the Drama Club, so I at least had that to look forward to. I also knew how to pass the tests and I was always on the honor roll, in the National Honor Society, etc. I was thrilled to start my "real life" when I finally graduated. For a kid who has nothing that he loves about school, though, there is no reason that he NEEDS to stay there, if his parents are willing to let him homeschool. I think that even a high school educator can agree that homeschooling is preferable to having the kid drop out in 10th or 11th grade because he just can't take the tedium and boredom another year or two. And I think it's preferable to having the kid be bored and drumming his fingers on the desk for 4 years while waiting for his "real life" to start. If he's home, real life starts that day!
Well, my point was this. If you ask most kids if they are bored in school, they will probably say yes, the same as if you ask most adults if they like working, they will probably say no. Of course, not all of them do not like it but that seems to be a typical response. School has a stigma of being boring and all work, etc. and kids, who know no better, would rather be at home playing then sitting in a classroom. I hear kids joke all the time about homeschooling saying things like, 'I wish I got to stay at home all day' and 'I wish I did not have to go to school' They do not know what homeschooling is and think it is a way to get out of school. Trust me, I work with lots of teenagers every day!
I personally do not think that a 15 year old kids has the right mindset or experience to know whether he is bored or not in school nor should he have the control over his education that you seem to be thinking he should. I am all for kids making decisions for themselves but I know very few 15 year olds who are equipped to make decisions about their education.
I think parents need to see why their kid is bored in school, if that, in fact is what they are. Are they not being challenged? Maybe honors classes are the answer. Are they not doing the work and are so behind that they do nothing? Maybe a tutor is the answer or explore more why they are not working. Is there something going on emotionally that needs to be addressed. When working with teenagers, you quickly see that being 'bored' is a feeling that kids will express for a whole lot of things. A teenager with severe ADD who can not seem to focus in class might tell you he is bored. Why? Because he is not able to concentrate and focus on what is going on so he is, in fact, bored, sitting and not knowing what is going on. In that situation, the child needs intervention, perhaps special education services, perhaps medication. But, the answer is not, take him out of school!
As I said, homeschooling is fine for some kids and I am sure that some homeschooled children 'thrive and soar'. I personally have worked with tons and tons of kids for whom homeschooling would have been horrible and they would have been miserable because their involvement in the school community was so important to them (football team, yearbook staff, band, drama). School is about more than books, kids learn as much outside of the classroom as they do in the classroom.
The dropout rate is not as high as people think, in most states. There are programs in the schools designed to prevent kids dropping out and vocational schools and centers are a good example. If kids are struggling in school, saying they are bored, getting bad grades, not being challenged, the problem needs to be explored and the right decision needs to be made for the child's education, in their best interest.
If every parent pulled their child out of school each time they came home and said, 'I am bored at school.' Well, schools would probably not exist and there would be a lot of lost, uneducated kids running around.
American Field Service offers exchange programs for a year in Japan, and there are plenty of summer programs. Perhaps this could motivate him? I was an AFS exchange student and it was very well supervised. Welcome to AFS > High School Exchanges > Japan | AFS USA
I feel your pain! I am going throught the exact same thing with my 15yo son now! Nearly identical scenario. Friends are OK, no drugs, traditional 2 parent family. I have read that kids like this excell in college. The hard part will be getting him though HS to get into a college.
Alternative schools are not an option. Why would I take a kid with no social risk factors or problems and place him in an enviornment that is almost entirely made up of kids like that?
I get the usual comments from people about how he probably needs to be stimulated and maybe he should be in a gifted program, but I think that is not realistic. How can you expect a kid to function in a gifted program if he can't even hand in a simple paper in regular class? I have considered the home school option also, but I can't quit work because the older brother is now starting college. I don't think I would do well with it anyway because I suffer from the same learning style as my son
I didn't want to jump in and turn the focus to me, I am really interested in what you find that works because I need help too. It is like I could have been writing your original post. We are going to be going through all the testing as well. Nobody expects to find anything, but we at least want to be able to say we know for sure.
Have you found any resources that have been helpful?
I didn't want to jump in and turn the focus to me, I am really interested in what you find that works because I need help too. It is like I could have been writing your original post. We are going to be going through all the testing as well. Nobody expects to find anything, but we at least want to be able to say we know for sure.
Have you found any resources that have been helpful?
Feel free to jump - we can get ideas together.
I already know that I do not have the patience to be his "teacher" ever day. Also, he is more apt to play me. He does well with people he respects (they are hard to find - he enjoys it when teachers make mistakes, he is right on it), so I started looking into online curriculum.
I have found a Christian program that supplies teachers. I can't do algebra again. My head will explode. They give you the option to do it or they will (for a little bit more $).
This program works with his schedule, He has a week to do the assignments, so if he gets them done in 3 days - that is o.k. I would be just a monitor and immediate teacher's assistant. I can deal with that. I am willing to pay for that. It is less for a year with them than it was when we had him in private school.
Nova thinks she can come up with some things we can try to get them motivated. I will wait and see. Willing to try most anything.
Ditto here. I wouldn't mind a little guidance, but would like to share a little here.
My older daught is now in college. School was push, pull, drag through and basically do every grade with her. This was complicated, because I had a stroke in 1995 and it was very difficult to help her.
Bottom line: She was consistently tested for LD which showed a math LD, some reading speed and comprehension problems (but not tht bad) and recommended tutoring and extended time. The major tutor was YVT.
She went to an Arts high school on partial scholarship, very talented in dance. HOWEVER, they had no official LD so it was a trial and she did get
extended time and tutoring from individual teachers.
College, we figured she "had to" study Dance as a major (no job prospects but she would have a degree, I figured). She did "okay" away again on partial, talent and $$ based scholarship, but the school was expensive still, and homesickness (and lack of the support she was use to from me) made it difficult....but she did well
Bear with me, please. She took a course at a Comm College the first year back and I brought in her ($$) LD testing. This WONDERFUL woman took a look and said, "you have a reading disability. You can't learn that way. I don't know how you got thru school as you did. You need to learn with auditory tools." Unbelievable, no one had told us this. The woman said, "it's like you have a big boulder at the entrance to your brain. You can't go through it. Go around it, you have to. My sister had the same disability, my mother pulled her through school barely. She found out about this, went to college, and is now a schoolteacher. We thought she would not be able to ever do any college, no way."
My daught now does "E Read"....like books on tape, only she reads the textbook on the screen and it talks to her thru headphones so she can also listen to the text. She also uses extended time. Her math is better, as ODDLY, in college there is more intervention for LD's than high or grammar school, and it's designed not as a crutch, but as a tool. She goes locally to a State U, MUCH lower cost, lives at home, and so far so good (pray, knock wood).
When I read about the school probs in the last two posts, I couldn't help but think about our journey. Maybe it could help someone. She now has Dance Minor (to get tuition help), and has finished her Gen Ed's, and is going to do a Communications Major with a Business Minor. She is starting the first Math class for business, so the jury is out on the math. THey have a five day a week all day Math Lab, walk in, so she can have her homework checked and have points clarified there. It's great and I'm hoping it will work. If not, we will drop the Business Minor (2 math classes, Accounting, etc.) and go with Communicaions...and no more Math.
I always suspect a "hidden" LD...when the kid is "smart" but appears "not motivated" or has these problems. I actually thought some teachers HATED my child.....but I knew she had it in her. I didn't home school but thought about this alot....it was not something I could do logistically.
You have to lobby like a crazy mother for the right test and the right analysis. This relatively minor adjustment has made a world of difference. She also tapes lectures occasionally, but playing them back is time consuming and she doesn't listen to them too much anymore. The listen/read has increased her understanding of the academics hugely. She actually got 2 A's last semester IN COLLEGE mind you....in Enviroinmental Science and American National Government (Gen Ed's). The first academic A's she has ever received.
My other daught has no such problem. The schools in our area STINK, so I send her to private school. I am not sure if I can keep this up ($$), and would consider home schooiing, but honestly...she is at the top honors level in Math and Science and at a very challenging school. I don't know if I could provide her with what she needs. I'm sure there are things out there for such a student, and she would do the work if it were online. Opposite problem from the other daught....
Good luck. I know this is long, but the mother light bulb went on when I read your posts.
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Auditory learning style considered? Solved our problem....
