Alternatives to high school?

In article ,
says...

I believe that our state may be one in which the GED is not allowed
until after her class graduates, but that is a guess based on when my
nephew stopped attending school (his 18th birthday in December) vs when
he took the exam (the next summer). Correspondence is a good
suggestion. I didn't know that was available for the high school level.
It could work very well for her, if it would mean she can work at her
own pace and feel she's really learning things instead of just
regurgitating them for the sake of the "grade game". Thanks, Daye.

Not sure where you are, but I noticed another poster mentioned you're
close to Royal Oak (hi fellow Detroit metro person!) and if so, Michigan
is one of those "after the class graduates" states - which seems to me
to be counterproductive since more people wouldn't go back and take it
after dropping out early. The doc file from the michigan.gov website is
at http://tinyurl.com/iuqc showing all the requirements.

What I did was double up on english classes so I was taking junior and
senior honors english in the same year and graduated at the end of what
should have been my junior year. I had to get special permission which
took a few visits to the principal from my parents and an independant
letter/phone call from my psychologist but it was granted a few weeks
before classes started, only about 2 or 3 weeks after we first asked.

When I graduated, South Carolina required 20 credits (1 class= 1 credit)
and I had 23 as we had 8 classes instead of the traditional 6. I got
into my first choice college (the only place I applied for) and
graduated in the top 2% of my class, even though they had an extra year
and I went to an International Baccalaureate magnet high school. Had I
stayed I could have gotten ~9 college hours complete from AP courses,
but it was worth it to me to get far away from there.

Has the person checked to see if there is a fine arts program offered by
the school district? Ours had one where juniors and seniors would go for
either the morning or afternoon (depending on their program - art,
dance, music, or drama) every day and then for the half of the day they
weren't there, they were at the hs. Might not be an option if it is
available in the district at this late of a date though.

Good luck to her. I could not have lived through senior year knowing it
was getting me absolutely nowhere.



Courtney

Are you in Canada. I am in Ontario and we have T.R. Leger...which is an
alternative school, kind of more for troubled kinds who don't like the
shcool system but are to young to quit, but it might work for her. She would
have support there for whatever courses she takes and she would do the tests
there but she would not have to attend ( unless she is 16 or under) She
could do the work at home drop off the chapters that she does and it may be
a good way if she is intelligent to to it ahead and get done school quickly.

Good luck
"Cheryl S." wrote in message
...
I am curious what alternatives anyone may know of (besides the obvious -
homeschooling), for a 17 year old to do in lieu of attending the senior
year of high school, that would lead to entering college. She is very
bright, does not get into any sort of trouble, but the school system is
just not a good fit for her. She alternates between giving it 110%, and
burning out and doing nothing, and has wound up with grades that will
not be sufficient for her to graduate, even if she does attend and pass
everything this coming year. She is very talented, and interested
mainly, in drama - acting and singing.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 3 mo.
And a boy, EDD 4.Sept

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

"Cheryl S." wrote:
She is very talented, and interested
mainly, in drama - acting and singing.


Advanced placement (college classes), Individual Study (some schools
offer this), a GED and some life experiance in employment or vo-tec or
volunteer work. I dropped out of high school, did some
non-traditional-for-women votec classes, read alot and wrote book
reviews, which I kept in case I ever needed to show someone what I'd
done for a year other than wash dishes (I read, on average, 200 pages a
day). I envied my friends who'd done AP and gotten over the mickeymouse
basics at college, but I did okay as it was.
I needed to be away from 17 year olds. They were bad influences and
boringly childish. My friends were in their twenties, and already in
college. I did better around them.
blacksalt

"Cheryl S." wrote:



I believe that our state may be one in which the GED is not allowed
until after her class graduates,

Our state waived this with a letter from the principal. Coach the kid
alittle to sound like they have great plans ahead of them, and I'll bet
you could get such a letter easily.

In article ,
"R. Steve Walz" wrote:

toto wrote:

On Sat, 02 Aug 2003 17:20:11 GMT, "Denise"
wrote:


"toto" wrote in
Has this changed recently? I took my GED when I was 16 and
not enrolled in high school. I eventually went back to high school
(long story) but I didn't have a hard time taking my GED and it
was only about 5 years ago.

It seems to depend on the state.

I'm sure it depends on the state. I was referring to the post about
California, I should have clarified. I took my GED in San Diego before I
was old enough to have graduated high school.

California law may have changed then

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ged/faq/eligible.html

You are eligible to take the GED test if you are a resident of
California and meet any one of the following criteria:

* The individual is 18 years of age or older, or within 60 days of
his or her 18th birthday (regardless of school enrollment status).
* The individual must be within 60 days of when he or she would
have graduated from high school had he or she remained in school and
followed the usual course of study (please note that examinees testing
under this criteria may not be enrolled in school).
* The individual is 17 years of age, has been out of school for at
least 60 consecutive school days, and provides a letter of request for
the test from the military, a post-secondary educational institution
or a prospective employer.
* The individual is 17 years of age and is incarcerated in a
California state or county correctional facility; persons testing
under these conditions must meet all of the following criteria:
o The examinee does not have a realistic chance of
completing the requirements for a high school diploma.
o The examinee has adequate academic skills to successfully
complete the GED test battery.
o The examinee understands the options available regarding
acquisition of a high school diploma, the high school equivalency
certificate or the high school proficiency certificate, and the
requirements, expectations, benefits and limitations of each option.
o The examinee has sufficient commitment time left to
complete the entire GED test battery; however, if released before the
test is completed, the examinee may complete testing at an authorized
testing center.

Persons who pass the GED test at age 17 will not receive the
equivalency certificate until their 18th birthday; a letter of intent
is issued which states that the certificate is being held pending the
examinee's 18th birthday.
Dorothy
-------------------------
What they don't mention is that the CHSPE test they take at age 15
qualifies as the GED test, so that if you pass it, and then leave
school and don't come back till you're 18, they have to give you your
GED diploma on or after your birthday. The letter of intent is so you
can gain employment before age 18.
Steve

Also so you can start at the community college as a full time student
before you are 18, and without being concurrently enrolled as a high
school student.

I wish we'd known about this test a year ago: my son would undoubtedly
be going to college full time next semester instead of high school.

Oh well. There's probably some reason (the cynical side of myself
assumes it has to do with $$) they don't make this test well known!

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

On Sun, 03 Aug 2003 05:03:51 GMT, "R. Steve Walz"
wrote:

What they don't mention is that the CHSPE test they take at age 15
qualifies as the GED test, so that if you pass it, and then leave
school and don't come back till you're 18, they have to give you your
GED diploma on or after your birthday. The letter of intent is so you
can gain employment before age 18.
Steve

Do you know if other states operate that way? And do you have a
URL that confirms this?

I really believe that a teen should be able to take the GED test at
any time and to get his high school diploma if he passes it. It
seems to me that the intent of not doing so before 18 is simply to
keep him in a situation of dependence and to enforce that he must
go to school if he wants to better himself. Of course, keeping teens
out of the work force is intended to allow more low skill adults to
have jobs too. The compulsory educations laws really need to be
changed.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..
Outer Limits

K, T, E & N wrote in message
...
Maybe do a little "time management" and "goal setting" work.

I've seen this lots.

I agree attending high school could be valuable in giving her experience
with these skills, even if she doesn't actually learn from the
curriculum directly. I've mentioned that to my sister, but she doesn't
seem to think these things are a problem.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 3 mo.
And a boy, EDD 4.Sept

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

Courtney wrote in message
...
Not sure where you are, but I noticed another poster mentioned you're
close to Royal Oak (hi fellow Detroit metro person!) and if so,
Michigan
is one of those "after the class graduates" states - which seems to me
to be counterproductive since more people wouldn't go back and take it
after dropping out early. The doc file from the michigan.gov website
is
at http://tinyurl.com/iuqc showing all the requirements.

Thanks for that link. I've bookmarked it so I can forward it to my
sister.

Has the person checked to see if there is a fine arts program offered
by
the school district? Ours had one where juniors and seniors would go
for
either the morning or afternoon (depending on their program - art,
dance, music, or drama) every day and then for the half of the day
they
weren't there, they were at the hs. Might not be an option if it is
available in the district at this late of a date though.

There is a program exactly like this, that she was in last year. If
they can't find anything else, this is probably what she'll do again. I
think it is just because everyone knows that no matter what she does,
it's not going to result in a diploma, that they are looking for other
ways for her to spend her time that might be as good or better. If they
don't find anything else this is probably what she will do.

Good luck to her. I could not have lived through senior year knowing
it
was getting me absolutely nowhere.

Thanks for the good wishes. I spent my entire senior year of high
school wishing I could be anyplace else but there so I am sympathetic.
It sounds like you have really done well for yourself, so
congratulations, and keep it up! :-)
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 3 mo.
And a boy, EDD 4.Sept

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

dragonlady wrote in message
...
I hadn't realized that your neice was going to have problems earning
enough credits to graduate. My OTHER 17 year old is in THAT
position, and is now attending what, around here, is called a
"continuation high school".
snip
I have mixed feelings about it, since they cannot offer any sort of
advanced classes, or even any science lab classes.

That might work, in terms of numbers of credits, but it doesn't sound
like they'd have any classes appropriate for my niece either, if such a
thing does exist here. But maybe she could get some sort of
theater-related job or apprenticeship that they would count as earning
credits. I'll suggest this to my sister too. Thanks.
--
Cheryl S.
Mom to Julie, 2 yr., 3 mo.
And a boy, EDD 4.Sept

Cleaning the house while your children are small is like
shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing.

On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:31:53 -0400, "Cheryl S."
wrote:

That might work, in terms of numbers of credits, but it doesn't sound
like they'd have any classes appropriate for my niece either, if such a
thing does exist here. But maybe she could get some sort of
theater-related job or apprenticeship that they would count as earning
credits. I'll suggest this to my sister too. Thanks.

You can email me at sigtoto (at) {yahoo --dot--- com). My dd is in
theater and has some contacts. If you tell me where you are, she
might have some ideas about apprenticeships or internships.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..
Outer Limits