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Help with High Schooler
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Wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom for me. I have an 11th grade son and he has always struggled academically. I typically modify assignments by doing some of the reading aloud, doing some writing orally. This year I decided to get tough and put him in a couple of classes to help him mature and step up. Last year he did Biology and really struggled at first but it got better and he was pleased with himself. I believe that will happen again this year, but I am not sure I can hang in that long. He is taking a Literature and Composition through the Bible course for his English grade and they are assigned about 12 chapters a week, along with about 40 questions to be answered in 3 sentences. So roughly 120 sentences. Plus he is expected to journal, and eventually write essays and do lit analysis. I thought English class would be better if he were studying the Bible, but now I am not so sure. He is hating reading the Bible. Not sure if I should drop this class or make him suck it up and plug along. Today it was 2 hours of his time. School was nearly 6 hours and I probably spent 2 hours alongside him trying to help him find answers and figure out his assignments. I dont know if I can do that every day all year. I have other children to school and I feel like he should be able to do this. Will it get better? Should we drop English and just have him narrate, learn essay forms, some grammar, and Literature read alouds? That would make my life easier, but would it serve him better? I just don’t know if the class will be good for him, or hinder his spiritual growth because of the anxiety that goes along with the heavy workload. Any advice? I have considered the “what about college workload” question. I don’t think this kid will go to college out of the gate. Community college and then maybe trade school. Or maybe something will change. I think he will have time at our local JC to prepare for University level work. Anyway, much babbling, it was rough day and I am at a loss.
I think I would drop the class. I don’t have much time to write, but I don’t think it’s worth it if he’s hating to read the Bible. I had a son who reacted similar to a subject and way I had chosen to have him use it and we dropped it.
You know your student best, but I think I would drop it and try something else. I imagine doing Bible as English would be quite challenging. I prefer to keep Bible on it’s own, not tied into subjects primarily because of what you encountered, I don’t want Bible to become disliked.
That said I think challenging our students can be a good thing. Challenging them to grow and take on new challenges, similar to the experience you stated last year, but it sounds like this class is not even a close fit. Are there other options that would challenge him? Even if not college bound, working hard through difficult subjects can create work ethic and boost confidence. That even when hard, can get through it, and that goes for any job he might pursue in the future, sometimes things can be really hard, deal with difficult people and circumstances, but have to keep going and figure out a solution to the challenge.
Thank you ladies. I am really struggling with do hard things vs is this the hard thing that he needs to do. There will always be teachers and bosses that are difficult or confusing. There will always be tasks you just really hate. We have to suck it up sometimes. I want to teach him that. But I don’t want Bible to be a “suck it up buttercup” moment. I also don’t want to teach him we quit when things are hard or even when they are “lame.” And attitude, oh dearie me, the attitude. Not sure how this happened. 17 year old boy really is a disorder I think. Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Does he have any constructive thoughts/opinions about it. Not just “I don’t like it” but suggestion as to a different program and/or format? At 17 does he want more input or control over his education? Some do, some don’t 🙂
You mention Jr College in your town. Does it offer any online classes that would fulfill his credit requirements while outsourcing a class but still at home and able to talk through different things that might come up? Some Christian universities offer college classes to highschool students for a greatly reduced cost vs regular tuition rates, Calvary University comes to mind (we have a branch not far so see advertisements in local homeschooling publications) but know there are many other Christian universities that offer similar for highschool students. They offer everything from entry level to higher level, more challenging classes.
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