Homeschooling

Archive for May, 2008

Question: Pell Grants and home school?

If my son was home schooled (11th-12th grade) can he qualify for a Pell grant. I wasnt sure was the law was concerning homeschool and financial aid. I'm in Texas.
Awakeatdawn, yes I was worried he might have to do the whole GED thing. He is 23 and Id like to get him in a vocational type program. He has dyslexia and some learning issues so having to take the GED would be a real pain for him.

Answer: Since you are in Texas, there is a fantastic seminar coming up all about Homeschooling in high school. They cover topics like transcripts, college admissions, so on and so forth. The website is "homeschoolforhighschool.com"
Check it out and see if they will have one near you. Everyone I know that attended last year said it was well worth it, I'm planning on going this year.

Taking a Stand in Texas

Question: If I withdraw my 6th grader from school prior to TAKS will she be able to promote to the next grade?

I homeschooled my daughter most of this year and we were doing well but she missed her peers so mid March we enrolled her back in public school. She excels in all subjects except math. It is clear she doesn't grasp a lot of the math concepts. We simply weren't on the same program as the public school. She is a bright child and is making A's in all her other subjects. She is even in the talented and gifted program. TAKS is such a huge focus for the school and I am seeing there is no way she will pass her math TAKS. The school says if she fails it she can retake it but I see no way to bring her up to par that quickly. So I am wondering, if I withdraw her from school now prior to TAKS and then reenroll her next fall, will I be allowed to enroll her in the next grade level? They do count Homeschooling and I would withdraw her and homeschool her. Plus we could focus over the summer on her math skills. If I keep her in now and she fails the math TAKS, she will be held back a year.

Answer: I would open a dialogue with the principal of her school and find out what they would be willing to accept or not. If your daughter is in gifted in the other subjects, you may be able to work something out where you can leave her in school and tutor her over the summer as you said, but not yank her away from her friends again. I've put a link below for the TAKS tests with study guides for the different grade levels (I didn't know what they were, but googled them and they are the TExas assessments??) Maybe you could hire a tutor that could hone in on what she needs. Sounds like you don't know math that well either, or you would have already covered what she needed.

I really don't think you want her held back a year at all if she's a gifted child. It sends all kinds of the wrong messages! How would they dare hold her back a year if she's in gifted in other things? It doesn't even make sense!

Good luck!

School Work in Summer... BLECHH!!!