I tried it all when I was skating, beginning with public school. They weren't too keen on the idea of me missing days for competitions, so we moved on to private school. They were a bit more forgiving, but that wasn't a good fit either. There were schools that were very generous with skaters, actors, etc., but my parents couldn't afford that *and* skating, plus they were far away from the rink, so.....I ended up home schooling 2 1/2 years of high school with the aid of a private tutor. I saw her 3 mornings a week and she made sure I was keeping up, and sent in tests to the correspondence school. I ended up getting one year ahead because I could work at my own pace, which was considerably faster than the schools were teaching. I went back to public school for my last semester and hated every second, lol. I got into a good college though, which was amazing considering that it was a time when home schooling was considered somewhat freakish.

There are no easy answers to the problem of what skaters should do about school; everyone needs to do what is the best fit for them IMO.

Link to a recent, brief CBS article about socialization & homeschooling: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in596669.shtml

The main thing to keep in mind is that the range in quality of homeschool/independent study programs is enormous. I am a college freshman now but prior to my high school graduation I attended a public independent study program with the best reputation in our district. There were two other programs that I could have attended, but both were primarily composed of students who had flunked out of regular school or were just trying to get high school out of the way. The first year I attended my program it was not very difficult, but the second year a new director came in and it became at least as good as any public high school in the district. The program required students to attend one class a week per subject in which we had discussions, labs, debates, etc. In this way I made friends at school even though I only went once a week. I also was exposed to different opinions, people with different backgrounds, and kids who were in independent study for a spectrum of reasons. My experience with this was fantastic and I would recommend it.

*However*, I know several skaters who depended on skating and counted on making a career out of it, and they skated through high school without learning much at all. The only people their age that they socialized with were skaters.

To work independently one must be motivated and fairly outgoing so that they can make friends and socialize outside of skating. Beyond that, it is important to choose a program correctly that will fit your needs. For example, the program I was enrolled in fed students into the highly competitive UC system, but others in my area tailored to students wishing to take the GED. Also, one program gave money for PE and this attracted skaters because they got $1,000 towards ice time. The program, though, was weak and they aren't prepared for whatever may lie ahead of them.

AND, I see the irony very clearly .

But independent study really isnt home schooling.Home schoolers are taught at home by a parent.Lots of parents use the same matetials the schools use.my kids socialize with kids of all ages, both at skating and othe places.hs arent independent study, there is no progam in inself. parents pick what to teach.

I know, but many skaters (at least in the US) use independent study instead of homeschooling for whatever reason, at least in high school. I do have one question about homeschooling though: How can a parent know enough about every subject to design a high-school college prep curriculum?

there are a zillon hs programs out there.They go from pre k to high school.why would you think it would be so hard?Most teachers didnt even go to school for the subject they are teaching.
Most of the kids who skate here go to ps, inclding the two from jr nationals this year.
I dont know everything about everything, but then neither do teachers or we wouldnt have such a issue with 12 graders who dont know how to read, write and do math.We will use others to help us and we will in turn, help others with things we know about.Since harvard and stanford love home school kids and take 26 percent who apply vs 13% from public schools, there must be something they like about hs.Until recently, there was no such thing as public schools.


http://www.hsu.edu/faculty/worthf/acad.html#1

a small list of schools who take hs kids

http://learninfreedom.org/colleges_4_hmsc.html

Im sure there are a alot more, and all kids dont go to college. they attend other schooling.

From what I've seen in practice, my aunt who homeschools her son, often teaches her son what she is learning at that very moment. It's quite a full-time job. You learn as you go, I suppose.

In the UK we have a "National Curriculum", which is standardised and sets attainment targets for each level. It is not hard for a dedicated parent to find out what's wanted. Plus the various exam boards issue their syllabuses for public examinations (without which you do not get into university here), and again, not hard to get hold of.

A 16-year-old skater at my rink attended school until the end of compulsory schooling in year 11, but she is now studying for her A levels (university entry qualifications taken at 18) independently. It is helped by the fact that her mother is a physics teacher, so she can use the facilities at her mother's school for practical work, etc, but it is requiring a great deal of dedication and maturity on the skater's part to keep up with her year. But as her mother said, it was by way of being an experiment; if she couldn't do it, well, all that happened was that she wasted a year, and she could easily go to Sixth Form College next year, after all.

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Mrs Redboots
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