I am 1-2 years behind my peers academically. How can I get 'caught up' with them?

Question

I'm 14 years old, and I would be in 8th grade this year, soon to go onto 9th grade. I'm homeschooled, atleast, that's what I like to call it.

I've been out of school since 5th grade, and since then we haven't really done much. Infact, it wasn't until this August that we finally joined an online school. This leads me to my first question: How can I optimize my online learning experience? I already take notes, what else can I do?

Now, because it took so long for us to finally get some sort of material to work with, I'm quite behind my peers. Infact, currently I am working on:

6th grade math.

7th grade science.

7th grade history.

9th-12th grade language arts.

I know I'm okay in the language arts department, but how can I catch up with my peers in the other subjects?

How soon can I be caught up, and what would I have to do to get to that point?

Answer 1

Math is your self-identified "weak" area. Direct application is the best way to work through math - make sure you know the basic operations (and order of ops!) and the situations in which to use the operations first. This foundation is vital to understanding algebra and working with fractions and decimals. Double duty -2 "periods" of math a day, with a tutor if necessary.

In science and history, work off your skills in language arts to help! Read books in those areas (especially history -there are great works to guide learning better than any textbook! Try primary sources such as Holocaust survivor stories and Vietnam vet memoirs, and quality fiction from Shaara and others. Also, turn on the History channel and Travel channel in your "off" hours. The Learning Channel and Animal Planet are good for science, as well as some programming on The Food Network (believe it or not :) Also, for science, learn the basic vocabulary for different areas and develop a spirit of inquiry about the physical world. Memorize the scientific method and apply this to conduct your own research -whether it's finding out which brand of soap best removes dirt particles or at what temperature different substances begin to melt.....find something that interests you and find out! Science is about understanding our world, so use your surroundings! Go to a local zoo, aquarium, planetarium, even your backyard....

Congratulations on your very mature goal! I wish you the best in reaching your educational potential! :)

PS check with your local public schools - in some districts they are obligated to "check out" books to homeschooled students. If not, get to know a teacher -through tutoring or church or bookgroup at a library- and there's a very good bet they'd help you find appropriate materials! If none of this works, perhaps you could enroll in public school temporarily to make these connections and get access to resources. good luck!

Answer 2

Not much you can do.  Just keep pounding away on the old books.  A logical solution to your question on how to speed up your learning is to study more often.   You could setup a school time from 8am-3:30pm (just like public schools) and do that for everyday of the week (Sunday-Monday).  That should definitely speed things up with how much you cover in your educational responsibilities.  Of course, I highly don't recommend doing that because chances are you will burn yourself out on studying.  You may finish your high school course work and receive your diploma, but education doesn't stop at high school.   Even if you have no plans to go to college, you will still study a lot more once you are out of high school than when you were in it.   Companies want educated people that can do a list of responsibilities for them and they will compensate you with a wage.  It relieves them of not having to worry about how to get the huge list completed.

So education doesn't stop at high school if you don't go to college.  Of course, if you want to work at McDonald's for the rest of your life, maybe it does.  But if McDonald's ever employs robots, then you would have no choice but to go on welfare because you fell so far behind in educating yourself in a particular area of knowledge that will benefit a company.

So just take it one step at a time and you will get there.  It isn't fun to work all the time just to speed up where you are suppose to be.   You admitted that you were a procrastinator, so now try to work on the procrastination part by getting on a simple schedule and stick with it.  Reward yourself when you finish a chapter.  

I am a firm believer in the reward system.  When I complete work, I treat myself to something.  It works everytime.

Answer 3

First of all, and I think most importantly, DON'T MEASURE YOURSELF BY WHAT YOUR PEERS ARE DOING!

You are an individual. In reality, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. That means you have to WANT to learn it. When you do, you will learn quickly and easily. If you don't, you may be able to stuff yourself with answers, but you won't remember them anyway.

Just study the materials you have available. Look for further sources of help on the internet. You have a wonderful resource there!

All of that stuff, what's 7th grade science, history, and so forth, is all arbitrary anyway. You probably will notice, if you haven't already, that you will get the same stuff in science for several years. And there is a huge field out there from which they selected the facts they will expect you to regurgitate.

Go where your interests lead you. You will learn, rapidly. Come back to the other areas when you can, or where you then find an interest.

I met a woman who desperately wanted to homeschool her son. He was 15, and was illiterate. She felt she couldn't teach him because she had been labeled mentally retarded (because she was bilingual), and didn't know anything herself. I asked her what he was interested in, and she said, "bodybuilding". I said, get him books and magazines on bodybuilding and just make them available to him. In a few more years, he got his GED, and joined the Marines, and I imagine you know that the Marines have high standards for admission.

The best teachers found the places where their students were interested in, and led them from there. You can do the same for yourself. It may seem lopsided, but trust me, it works! You WILL get an education in the areas most useful to you.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I applaud you for trying very hard to do well. With this kind of hard work, I can see that you'll be able to graduate on time. Please don't give up. Just try to maximize your time. There are many school holidays and summer vacations. You will be able to catch up. You can do. Take care.

Answer 5

It's impossible to say how soon you can catch up. Since you are doing online, it really requires doing as much as you can each and every day. If they expect you to do x amount for a lesson, double or triple it if it's going well. For lessons that you find difficult, especially in math, redo them until you really get them. Math is one of those things that if you move too quickly, it's easy to end up really having trouble because you haven't mastered it.

I'm somewhat surprised that they would put you so far back in science and history. They are not sequential subjects. In any case, you just have to up the amount of work you do. And give yourself homework. For example, maybe you'd work from 8-9:30, take a break, then from 10-12, take an hour lunch, then 1-3, take a break, have supper, go for a good walk, something, then do "homework" (or move ahead) after supper.

Focus mainly on the math, science and history, and just go a normal pace for the LA.