What to do, highschooler with no drive...Help!

[mom4]

Hi, I am new and I will try to keep this short. I am homeschooling all 4 of my kids, 17, 15, 12, 7. We have done traditional type school to curriculum based to the 'unschooled' technique currently. There have been some hard times that have led to the unschooled approach. We have always hs. My oldest dd is my biggest concern, she seems to have no interest in academics or in expanding her horizons so she can get to one of our local community colleges. I have researched the requirements, placement testing etc. She half heartedly practices them or researches them online and with the books I buy. She has no confidence is what I suspect, though she very heatedly denies that. She is probably behind in her junior year level. I am not sure what approach to take!! She is very opposed to going to highschool and doesn't follow up with anything I present to her to help her move forward. We have done the freak out, panic stuff and strict penalty if....type stuff too. She isn't very fond of reading, prefers to listen to books on tape and does 'get' math concepts quickly, just has to be 'her' way! We currently are using a math tutor once a week.

[Theodore]

You could try online courses, which supply the regular teacher interaction and demands for her to produce, without the cost of a tutor. Maybe Scholars Online Academy? They offer online chats with the teacher and students once or twice a week, which is probably what you're looking for.

Homeschool co-op courses are also an option - generally no entrance requirements (except for whatever the group requires for membership), and relatively cheap, and she'll have to answer to someone besides you. Quality can vary a lot on these, however, so you'll want to look at who is doing the teaching.

If she likes using the computer, a third option is to password protect it on startup, so you have to type in a password before she can use it. Then assign her maybe 3-4 hours of homework per day, and make sure she's done all of it before letting her on the computer. If she works hard and carefully, she can get it all done quite quickly and play; if not, the computer stays off. The same sort of rules would apply to the Playstation, or whatever she does for fun.

Whichever method you use, she may not enjoy it at first, but it'll go a lot easier once she gets into the habit. 90% of the effort is getting started, as I know myself from personal experience, and the work itself isn't usually that painful.

[Ramona]

[Katharos]

[Paula Kosin]

[janaleigh]

Some kids are more driven than others but here are some things I would suggest...

1. A Community College Course

2. Have her read -Accelerated Distance Education-she may get inspired

3. Get your husband involved. You may need to turn over her accountability to your husband-she may respond better to him at this age.

4. Online homeschooling

5. Get her a physical just to make sure she isn't ill or her hormones aren't causing her to not care.

6. Get her volunteering and/or help her get a job

I would just continue to let her know you love her and care about her.
Another book I'd recommend is called - Do Hard Things

I think we all feel better about our life when we are productive, taking healthy risks and moderately busy.

Best of luck to you and your daughter,
Jana