I Need Your Ideas

By on March 28, 2011

I’m writing today about needing your ideas.  My son who is a junior in high school has been home sick since December. While he is getting better he still has a little ways to go.  We have full confidence that he will be better this spring. The problem is successfully finishing his junior year and continue to be a viable prospect for one of the big schools.  His first choice is University of Michigan.

I wrote about this today on Change My Life Journal.  Here is what I shared there.  If you have any ideas please feel free to leave a comment or email me.  Fastest way to email is on the top right corner of this blog there is a row of icons.  The last one on the right is an envelope. Click that an it will open an email to me.  Thank you!

Today I’m asking you for your help.  I need some creative ideas to solve a difficult situation.

As I’ve mentioned here before my soccer star son is sick.  He’s been home from school since December and missed a whole trimester of high school.  He did go back for the first time for a couple of days last week but he was not on any medicine.  This week the pulsing (on and off) of meds began again and he’s wiped out and can’t go.

He’s a junior in high school and goes to an amazing school.  They are very helpful and basically any way we come up with to help him finish his junior year successfully they will do.

He currently has 3 AP (advanced placement) classes, Calculus, Chemistry and Literature.  The first plan was for him to drop Calc and finish up Chem and Lit before the May 2nd  AP exam.  See there is no getting around that exam since it’s not run by the school.  You have to fulfill the requirements as they have set forth in their time frame.  The reason you take AP classes is to demonstrate that you one are smart enough to, and two that you have taken the hardest schedule possible.  This is what the big schools are looking for.  Soccer star really wants to go to the University of Michigan.  He spent time on the campus and with the professors and just fell in love with the school.

So now that we now he can’t catch up on all of the AP class work he missed and keep up with the current AP class work in order to be ready to take the exam on May 2nd, we are looking for other ideas to help him finish his junior year and be a viable candidate for the big schools.

This is where you come in.  I always think two heads are better than one and four heads are better than two and eight heads are better than four and so on and so on.

With todays technology and advanced learning possibilities, we’re trying to help soccer star have the rest of this month to heal and maybe do a little work on the other classes he’s taking and come up with a plan so he can finish his junior year before his senior year begins.

If you have any ideas, suggestions, places we should look into, know the inside minds of big school admissions and have suggestions from their perspectives or anything you think might help us help him, please share it with me.  If you want to email me off line and not leave a comment please send it to diane at thewholegang dot org.

If you don’t have any ideas but want to help, please forward this to others that you think might have a suggestion.

I really believe that with the world today and all of the smart people out there that we can figure something out that will work.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and consider it.

 

3 Responses to I Need Your Ideas

  1. kathie March 29, 2011 at 9:42 am #

    To help with both Calc and Chem I suggest going to http://www.khanacademy.org This guy is AMAZING. He has over 2100 videos that cover lots of different math and science courses. Another suggestion would be to use your favorite internet search program and look for "opencourseware." These are college courses that are free. He won't get any credit for them, but they are interesting. Finally, look at iTunes University. They have a lot of courses there for him to review and look at. A lot of schools have lectures on line through this system.

    Good luck.

  2. Pat_ElegantlyGF March 29, 2011 at 2:45 pm #

    Even though I don't have any ideas to offer yet, I just want to say how much I admire your son's impressive accomplishments so far, and his determination to aim for the best. Best wishes for a successful, creative solution!

  3. Jenna March 31, 2011 at 7:44 am #

    Your son sounds very motivated and focused, which are qualities any university should want. I would suggest looking at options to complete extra courses online, if he feels he needs them for his applications. Just be sure you find a reputable school offering the courses, or instead of AP, he might be able to enroll in some university courses to show his skills and commitment. Another thing is that if he thinks his health problems will interfere with his application, tell people. Write a letter with his application explaining what he has faced and how he has dealt with it, have his guidance counsellor write a letter on his behalf, outline his experiences in scholarship applications or personal essays, etc. Explain how hard he has worked to get here and the tough decisions he had to make about what to finish and when to let go. These experiences show more about his character than a transcript of marks. I wish him all the best.

I Need Your Ideas

By on March 28, 2011

Day 87

Today I’m asking you for your help.  I need some creative ideas to solve a difficult situation.

As I’ve mentioned here before my soccer star son is sick.  He’s been home from school since December and missed a whole trimester of high school.  He did go back for the first time for a couple of days last week but he was not on any medicine.  This week the pulsing (on and off) of meds began again and he’s wiped out and can’t go.

He’s a junior in high school and goes to an amazing school.  They are very helpful and basically any way we come up with to help him finish his junior year successfully they will do.

He currently has 3 AP (advanced placement) classes, Calculus, Chemistry and Literature.  The first plan was for him to drop Calc and finish up Chem and Lit before the May 2nd  AP exam.  See there is no getting around that exam since it’s not run by the school.  You have to fulfill the requirements as they have set forth in their time frame.  The reason you take AP classes is to demonstrate that you one are smart enough to, and two that you have taken the hardest schedule possible.  This is what the big schools are looking for.  Soccer star really wants to go to the University of Michigan.  He spent time on the campus and with the professors and just fell in love with the school.

So now that we now he can’t catch up on all of the AP class work he missed and keep up with the current AP class work in order to be ready to take the exam on May 2nd, we are looking for other ideas to help him finish his junior year and be a viable candidate for the big schools.

This is where you come in.  I always think two heads are better than one and four heads are better than two and eight heads are better than four and so on and so on.

With todays technology and advanced learning possibilities, we’re trying to help soccer star have the rest of this month to heal and maybe do a little work on the other classes he’s taking and come up with a plan so he can finish his junior year before his senior year begins.

If you have any ideas, suggestions, places we should look into, know the inside minds of big school admissions and have suggestions from their perspectives or anything you think might help us help him, please share it with me.  If you want to email me off line and not leave a comment please send it to diane at thewholegang dot org.

If you don’t have any ideas but want to help, please forward this to others that you think might have a suggestion.

I really believe that with the world today and all of the smart people out there that we can figure something out that will work.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and consider it.

, ,

10 Responses to I Need Your Ideas

  1. hopekaibear March 28, 2011 at 9:57 am #

    I’m not sure where you live, that will vary per state. However, there *may* be the possibility of getting some kind of 504 plan for you son through the American Disabilities Act, or another similar plan. If he’s been officially diagnosed, there might sort of protection he falls under. What would a child with MS or juvenile arthritis be afforded in this type of circumstance? That would be a good question to ask.

    I’m so sorry he’s struggling with this.

    • Diane Eblin March 28, 2011 at 9:34 am #

      Thank you Christy for the idea. I'll look into that.

  2. Wendy March 28, 2011 at 10:07 am #

    I home schooled my eldest K-12 and we were unschoolers, but he loved to learn and did it on his own. The youngest didn't like high school after all those years of home schooling and left after her sophomore year and went straight to the community college. Can you find out what U of M wants from home schoolers and have them give you ideas. With my two kids their ACT test scores got them in to the schools of their choice not high school AP classes. You have a lot more flexibility with colleges now if you've got a smart kid who tests well. Think outside the box and breathe and you guys will get him there.

    • Diane Eblin April 6, 2011 at 7:53 am #

      Wendy thank you for this information. It's really good to know about the ACT testing option. I think he was only looking at SAT but I'm sure he can do both. Great idea. More ways to show he knows his material.

  3. Kirsten Yoder March 28, 2011 at 10:46 am #

    I agree with the first post. I teach in a virtual school and have a student with a 504 plan and she is in my AP Lang. class. She can only physically do 1/10th of the work the other students can due to her physical condition. She can only work up to 90 min a day. So her teachers have had to cut out basically any FLUFF or any repetition in the course so she can still prepare for the exam. Keep in mind though, that any student can take the AP exams in may, even without taking the courses. What matters most to colleges is the AP exam score, not whether the student has taken the courses.

    • Diane Eblin March 30, 2011 at 7:55 am #

      Thank you Kristen for all your great ideas and information.

  4. sea March 28, 2011 at 8:19 pm #

    What are his future interests? It is nice to have a broad variety of AP classes, but if he knows he will be majoring in a math or science vs. humanities, then the advanced humanities-type classes will be less important. Focusing on advanced courses in his strengths or interests is probably the best bet, rather than trying to be fabulous at everything in the universe.

    Is it possible to get temporary incompletes in some classes and then take them in the summer when he will hopefully be feeling better?

    All my best to your family and good wishes!

    • Diane Eblin March 30, 2011 at 7:57 am #

      Thank you Sea. He is a math and computer guy for sure. He actually is taking physics and history of science too along with AP Calc. We're going to see about getting him an alternate date for the AP testing. There are circumstances when they can do that. If they will than we have a shot. We just need to get him a tutor to get him caught up in the two AP classes and ready for the exams. Hoping it works out. Thank you for your ideas and information. It's greatly appreciated.

  5. champagne007 April 7, 2011 at 9:58 am #

    I'm sorry to hear about soccer star. He sounds really bright and full of potential. I'm not sure if he is up for it, but if he can read or you can read to him from text books then he can still learn a lot. I remember studying economics and borrowing a dozen books from the local library. I learnt a lot on economics and still remember bits of it to this day. Perhaps there might be audio books that you can also use on various topics or on youtube so that he can cover off on various subjects he is missing in school. I imagine that you can apply this to chem.

    On literature, there is a wealth of free information on the internet about themes, characters and issues. If he works on his essay writing and submits them to his teacher via email to mark that could work.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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