I know there have been discussions on here aout this before, but I couldn't find much in the way of specifics. Would someone be able to email me offline about single (or possibly double) subject homeschooling in elementary school? Thanks.
I was thinking about homeschooling my kid in 2 subjects but I heard that with this decision I would loose our APP placement. But I haven't found any written rule about this in any public website. So if anyone knows where to find this please post it here and share the knowledge. Thanks.
I guess we don't have any other option from now on: we have to find a new superintendent: "today I am announcing my decision to neither seek nor accept the permanent position of superintendent after my contract ends in June." Dr. Enfield
Regarding partial homeschooling, here's something on the books:
WAC 392-134-010
No agency filings affecting this section since 2003
Attendance rights of part-time public school students.
An eligible part-time public school student who qualifies as a resident of a public school district pursuant to the definition of a "resident student" set forth in chapter 392-137 WAC, as now or hereafter amended, shall be entitled to attend the schools of the district within his or her attendance area tuition free on a part-time basis. An eligible part-time public school student shall be entitled to take any course, receive any ancillary service, and take or receive any combination of courses and ancillary services which is made available by a public school to full-time students. Eligible nonresident part-time public school students may be enrolled at the discretion of a public school district pursuant to the terms and procedures established for nonresident student attendance in chapter 392-137 WAC, as now or hereafter amended.
I would be really interested in hearing how (if) other families have managed partial homeschooling for their APP kids. We would only send our child (APP-qualified) if we could replace the math with instruction at home and from our tutor.
What do families do with kids who are several years more years advanced in math than the APP curriculum? Do they provide their own instruction in place of the APP math instruction? Do their kids sit through the regular math instruction and then do their own thing at home? I realize it's not possible for a 2nd grade APP teacher to provide algebra 1 instruction to a child, but those children do exist, and I'd love to know what other families have done!
If the only subject you wish to homeschool is math I would not go through all the paperwork to do partial homeschool/enrollment. The school will loose your students funding if you go this route.
What I did with my students is private tutoring, at their level. My oldest then went onto take math thru Running Starth and has done very well and earned college credit.
The middle school math was never a burden for my students even with the additional tutoring. If your student is working 3 or more years ahead then they should be able to get an A in their school math; which could then be credited towards high school.
Also, the UW app has a place for you to enter HS classes taken in MS. For APP students you can enter 7th and 8th grade Math and Science. If you opt out, make sure whatever homeschooling will count as HS credit earned at the middle school level.
For elementary school, we do supplement math at home (at our child's request) and then classwork is more about review and practice.
For middle school, we anticipate part-time homeschooling because they don't offer an appropriate level class at this time and the school schedule works better for part-time homeschooling. Sitting through yet another year of CMP seems pointless if the material has been mastered. Some children may not want to sit through class (and do HW), then do math again at home.
You may be able to keep your child enrolled full-time by adding an elective (and doing math outside of school), or you can part-time homeschool and work with the school to request a late start or early release. The school doesn't lose all funding - it's my understanding they go from 1.0 FTE to 0.8 FTE.
Greg, maybe a new thread for this one about Marcy Shadow - the founding mother of APP?
Hi all, please forward this message:
Marcy Shadow, APP teacher and advocate of 33 years, is ill in the hospital. To brighten
her spirits and let her know how much she means to us, I'd like to collect email messages
that can be printed and read aloud to her.
If you can write a message to Marcy--a hello, funny story, something you remember about Marcy
or her class that touched you, good wishes--please send it in email form to Stephanie Bower stephanieabower@gmail.com by this Wednesday, December 21 at noon.
All messages will be kept confidential, printed and delivered to Marcy's family.
It would be great to hear from any current or past students, families, colleagues... Thanks~~
We worked on math at home, while our eldest was in elementary school. We lucked out and got Mr. Pounder in middle school. HS he has been on his own. As a Junior he is in the second year of Calculus. He probably could have advanced faster, but because we thought emotional development at least equally important, we have not pushed that. It just makes one class that is easy in a year full of AP classes.
Also, we work on math at home with his "typically developing" (or what I like to think of as a child who is not as charmed by math yet) younger brother.
When it comes to math I don't think it is possible to leave it to our district for any child.
I don't know what the rules are for elementary school, but my middle school APP student does math independently at home. Since it's only one class, we were told enrollment as a home schooled student was not necessary. The middle school was fine with letting him opt out of a math class at school, allowing time for an additional elective instead. (An "independent study" period was another option, but since students can't be on campus during that period and the free period would have been midday, that wasn't feasible for us.) It means a longer day to do the math as an extra "class" after school, but it's worth it if the school can't provide an appropriate course.
For most of elementary school we did not live in Seattle, but we found teachers and principals to be pretty accommodating--provided we gave them good options with which to work. Enrollment in a good online program (e.g., the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth or Stanford University's Educational Program for Gifted Youth) might help, as this can provide online instruction (to be done at home) as well as homework that can be taken to school. My child happily sat in the corner doing independent math work for 3 years of elementary school, and the teachers didn't have to help at all.
Oh, and I should note that we WERE in Seattle for 5th grade. Although APP-qualified, we were at an ALO school. The teacher there was also fine with the independent work, although required that the unit assessments or chapter tests be taken--basically just to have some basis for assigning a math grade on the report card. The regular homework and lessons weren't required though, just the assessments. It seemed a fair compromise--and a way to keep in touch with what the other kids were doing, too.
Best wishes in finding a solution that works for your family. Each year seems to bring a new set of challenges!
I got a call from the advanced learning office to let me know they were going to give my 3rd grader an ITBS test. He does have current MAP scores (from this fall) that would qualify him for APP... any idea why this might be?
According the AL appeals page, MAP scores are acceptable - they just have to be from March 2011 or later (you may want to double-check with AL).
From the appeals page:
**Approved standardized achievement tests include the Woodcock-Johnson III Achievement, Form B (Grade Norms), the WIAT-II, WIAT-III, and the KTEA-II. ERBs, MAP, and other standardized nationally-normed reading and math achievement tests done in a school setting may also be submitted. Only achievements tests that have been completed no earlier than March 2011 will be considered.
Make sure the Fall percentiles you have correspond to the new 2011 norms (which for a comparable RIT may be lower than 2008 norms).
18 comments:
Let the best candidate shine in an open seach and a selection process for a permanent superintendent.
http://www.change.org/petitions/seattle-school-board-directors-we-urge-you-to-conduct-a-search-for-a-permanent-superintendent
Please consider signing this petition and passing it along to others.
Thanks.
I know there have been discussions on here aout this before, but I couldn't find much in the way of specifics. Would someone be able to email me offline about single (or possibly double) subject homeschooling in elementary school? Thanks.
catherine@schwieb.com
I was thinking about homeschooling my kid in 2 subjects but I heard that with this decision I would loose our APP placement. But I haven't found any written rule about this in any public website. So if anyone knows where to find this please post it here and share the knowledge. Thanks.
I guess we don't have any other option from now on: we have to find a new superintendent:
"today I am announcing my decision to neither seek nor accept the permanent position of superintendent after my contract ends in June." Dr. Enfield
Regarding partial homeschooling, here's something on the books:
WAC 392-134-010
No agency filings affecting this section since 2003
Attendance rights of part-time public school students.
An eligible part-time public school student who qualifies as a resident of a public school district pursuant to the definition of a "resident student" set forth in chapter 392-137 WAC, as now or hereafter amended, shall be entitled to attend the schools of the district within his or her attendance area tuition free on a part-time basis. An eligible part-time public school student shall be entitled to take any course, receive any ancillary service, and take or receive any combination of courses and ancillary services which is made available by a public school to full-time students. Eligible nonresident part-time public school students may be enrolled at the discretion of a public school district pursuant to the terms and procedures established for nonresident student attendance in chapter 392-137 WAC, as now or hereafter amended.
I would be really interested in hearing how (if) other families have managed partial homeschooling for their APP kids. We would only send our child (APP-qualified) if we could replace the math with instruction at home and from our tutor.
What do families do with kids who are several years more years advanced in math than the APP curriculum? Do they provide their own instruction in place of the APP math instruction? Do their kids sit through the regular math instruction and then do their own thing at home? I realize it's not possible for a 2nd grade APP teacher to provide algebra 1 instruction to a child, but those children do exist, and I'd love to know what other families have done!
If the only subject you wish to homeschool is math I would not go through all the paperwork to do partial homeschool/enrollment. The school will loose your students funding if you go this route.
What I did with my students is private tutoring, at their level. My oldest then went onto take math thru Running Starth and has done very well and earned college credit.
The middle school math was never a burden for my students even with the additional tutoring. If your student is working 3 or more years ahead then they should be able to get an A in their school math; which could then be credited towards high school.
Also, the UW app has a place for you to enter HS classes taken in MS. For APP students you can enter 7th and 8th grade Math and Science. If you opt out, make sure whatever homeschooling will count as HS credit earned at the middle school level.
For elementary school, we do supplement math at home (at our child's request) and then classwork is more about review and practice.
For middle school, we anticipate part-time homeschooling because they don't offer an appropriate level class at this time and the school schedule works better for part-time homeschooling. Sitting through yet another year of CMP seems pointless if the material has been mastered. Some children may not want to sit through class (and do HW), then do math again at home.
You may be able to keep your child enrolled full-time by adding an elective (and doing math outside of school), or you can part-time homeschool and work with the school to request a late start or early release. The school doesn't lose all funding - it's my understanding they go from 1.0 FTE to 0.8 FTE.
Greg, maybe a new thread for this one about Marcy Shadow - the founding mother of APP?
Hi all,
please forward this message:
Marcy Shadow, APP teacher and advocate of 33 years, is ill in the hospital. To
brighten
her spirits and let her know how much she means to us, I'd like to collect
email messages
that can be printed and read aloud to her.
If you can write a message to Marcy--a hello, funny story, something you
remember about Marcy
or her class that touched you, good wishes--please send it in email form
to Stephanie Bower stephanieabower@gmail.com by this Wednesday, December 21 at
noon.
All messages will be kept confidential, printed and delivered to Marcy's
family.
It would be great to hear from any current or past students, families,
colleagues...
Thanks~~
Forwarded by SidneyD
Thanks, Sidney, I created a new top-level post for Marcy Shadow.
Thank you Greg.
The situation is grave indeed, and advanced learners in Seattle owe so much to Marcy's unwavering commitment to the program.
SidneyD
We worked on math at home, while our eldest was in elementary school. We lucked out and got Mr. Pounder in middle school. HS he has been on his own. As a Junior he is in the second year of Calculus. He probably could have advanced faster, but because we thought emotional development at least equally important, we have not pushed that. It just makes one class that is easy in a year full of AP classes.
Also, we work on math at home with his "typically developing" (or what I like to think of as a child who is not as charmed by math yet) younger brother.
When it comes to math I don't think it is possible to leave it to our district for any child.
I don't know what the rules are for elementary school, but my middle school APP student does math independently at home. Since it's only one class, we were told enrollment as a home schooled student was not necessary. The middle school was fine with letting him opt out of a math class at school, allowing time for an additional elective instead. (An "independent study" period was another option, but since students can't be on campus during that period and the free period would have been midday, that wasn't feasible for us.) It means a longer day to do the math as an extra "class" after school, but it's worth it if the school can't provide an appropriate course.
For most of elementary school we did not live in Seattle, but we found teachers and principals to be pretty accommodating--provided we gave them good options with which to work. Enrollment in a good online program (e.g., the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth or Stanford University's Educational Program for Gifted Youth) might help, as this can provide online instruction (to be done at home) as well as homework that can be taken to school. My child happily sat in the corner doing independent math work for 3 years of elementary school, and the teachers didn't have to help at all.
Oh, and I should note that we WERE in Seattle for 5th grade. Although APP-qualified, we were at an ALO school. The teacher there was also fine with the independent work, although required that the unit assessments or chapter tests be taken--basically just to have some basis for assigning a math grade on the report card. The regular homework and lessons weren't required though, just the assessments. It seemed a fair compromise--and a way to keep in touch with what the other kids were doing, too.
Best wishes in finding a solution that works for your family. Each year seems to bring a new set of challenges!
EC
I got a call from the advanced learning office to let me know they were going to give my 3rd grader an ITBS test. He does have current MAP scores (from this fall) that would qualify him for APP... any idea why this might be?
I an not sure as I read the AL site it really sounds like they moved to 100% map.
L@L dad
The adv. learning office told me they couldn't use fall scores. No mention of why... I assume I could appeal based on them if needed?
According the AL appeals page, MAP scores are acceptable - they just have to be from March 2011 or later (you may want to double-check with AL).
From the appeals page:
**Approved standardized achievement tests include the Woodcock-Johnson III Achievement, Form B (Grade Norms), the WIAT-II, WIAT-III, and the KTEA-II. ERBs, MAP, and other standardized nationally-normed reading and math achievement tests done in a school setting may also be submitted. Only achievements tests that have been completed no earlier than March 2011 will be considered.
Make sure the Fall percentiles you have correspond to the new 2011 norms (which for a comparable RIT may be lower than 2008 norms).
Has anyone received their APP qualification letter yet? I thought we were supposed to find out by now.
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