Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Teenager Goes to High School


After a year of homeschooling, teenager is going 'back to school.' Not the school district she left a year ago, but a newer, different school. She will be going to a small Christian school, where students are expected to work, and expected to WANT to learn. The school considers itself an extension of the Christian home, and doesn't enroll students, but families. Her class is composed of about 15 teens, from ninth to twelfth grades. The school has two other classes to serve the lower grade level students. It seems much like the days of the one room school house, where the teacher works with one grade level or subject, then moves on to another group of students while the first completes their work. One difference from those earlier schools is that her teacher is male. She will have the opportunity to take Spanish from a native Spanish speaker, and will have access to a Career Center for additional classes later.

There are a couple of visible differences compared to the public school. One is that all students wear uniforms consisting of polo shirts and khakis or blue slacks for most school days. Another is that it will be a 4 day school week. Just as homeschoolers can complete a larger amount of work in a shorter time, I'm sure it's true also of smaller classes with a more structured atmosphere. We're all very excited about the possibilities!

We're very thankful we had the opportunity to homeschool Teenager last year, and we both learned many things: academic and otherwise. It was a great growing experience for us both. Now, though, the needs are a little different, and we believe this is the best response for the current needs.


So, Teenager. Go forth and learn -- we're behind you all the way!

1 comment:

strem said...

I can't wait to hear about Teenager's activities at the school. Thanks for posting the pictures of the uniforms... and describing this interesting school format. Hope we can talk about this in person.