Started back to homeschooling today. Y is just too far behind in all of the mainstream classes that the high school has him taking, and we're only two months into the school year (not even that, really). Some of his teachers are not giving him any slack in terms of his English knowledge, and his ESL teacher has him doing ESL 1 work. When Y asked her about it, she said it was because he "missed" three months of ESL 1 last year, so he had to do it again this year. She started him way back at the beginning of the curriculum, not just picking up where he left off.
It seems to take every ounce of his energy during the school day just to get his Algebra homework finished and turned in. The school told me that it was not possible to schedule him an extra study period so that he could get tutoring in all the subjects he needed. Seriously, don't you think in a school of over 1000 students that they could find a classroom (or conduct it in the library) where either a teachers aide or other students could be available to help those in need?
These are the classes he was enrolled in:
Business Information Management (computers)
Reading (Y really liked this class)
Algebra 1
NJROTC
ESL 1
World Geography
Basic Physics/Chemistry
Y's biggest problem was in BIM - it was a huge class of 30+ students w/ one teacher; no accommodations were given because of his reading ability; ALL information was written & all tests/quizzes were done on the computer where spelling was at a premium (if you misspelled the word, the computer did not recognize it as a correct answer). His teacher emailed me and asked if Y could come in early or stay after her class for a study period (he was already using all study periods to do his Algebra) because "I have a full class, and I can't sit there and read everything to him..."
So, here we go again. This time I have found more resources, one of the good ones for us has been Secular Homeschool found at:
www.secularhomeschool.com
Gotta go home now, talk again soon!
Natalie
TX
