Howdy all,

    My nephew should be a junior this year.  Normally I would think that a teenager who says it's his teachers fault that he's failing would be crap.  In this case it is ABSOLUTELY true.  He is willing to be homeschooled and he needs to start off with 10th grade material.  I am willing to help him and get everything he needs but I am poor and am hoping this place could help but I am not sure what books I should be getting.  Can you all please advise me?  I want to get him caught up (and I am sure we CAN because he reads physics books for fun). 

thank you all.

David

Welcome, David!

There is so much available for home schoolers that it would be nearly impossible to advise you which curriculum to select based on the limited information you provided. There are several free home school sites out there, but I'm not sure they'd meet your needs, because they use living books, and it might be tough to transition an 11th grader into something like that.

Have you considered a virtual academy? Many (most, I think) states' public school systems offer free virtual schools. They provide everything but consumables like pencils and paper. They even provide a computer, printer, and internet access. All for free. He'd still be in public school, but there would be no nasty teacher with a bone to pick. Try googling "(your state) free virtual school" and see what comes up.

If you go it alone, without a boxed curriculum or school support, look for textbooks published recently.

Another option is to enroll him in your local community college as a dual enrollment student. It would satisfy high school requirements while earning him college credit.

Hope this helps some. Feel free to ask more questions anytime!

hello!   I am new to PBS, I just wanted to say to get your hands on a copy of "The Teenage Liberation Handbook". It is an excellent book for teenagers!  Let him decompress from his trauma at school, and the community college is an excellent idea too!  Look forward to getting to know all of you!

It's called Hippo Campus and it's at www.hippocampus.org .  They have online texts or you can use the video version of the course.  It's well worth checking into.

The virtual public school mentioned above is a good idea, too.  We tried that with my daughter and it kind of overwhelmed her because she doesn't learn well from texts.  But it sounds like your nephew might like the challenge.

Good luck!

Lisa

David,

I can't give you a whole lot of help, but I did what to tell you what an amazing thing you are doing for your nephew!  Not many teens have a loving relative who would be willing to 'rescue' them from the situation he is in.

One thing you will receive here is moral support so come back and ask as many questions as you need to, plus he'll have to read literature and the stuff that's required should definitely be available on PBS.  I think the dual credits with the local community college would be a good way to go.

I'm adding you and him to my prayer list

Blessings

Ange

Hi David!

When my sons were high school aged (they're now in our local college), I enrolled them in American School, a correspondence school where you can earn your diploma which is based in Illinois. It is fee based, however, small monthly payments (interest free) can be arranged (you decide what you can afford; I did it with my sons). They have a curriculum for college bound students. Here's the website:  http://www.americanschoolofcorr.com.    Take a look; it just might be the thing for your nephew. When my kids graduated, I posted most of their textbooks on PBS and most of them flew off my shelf within 2 weeks! I do have just three left: Chemistry, American Literature and Keyboarding, all suitable for a 10th grader. Since your nephew is reading Physics for kicks, well, sounds like he's disciplined enough to learn on his own and at his pace! Good luck!

Regina