State of Wisconsin homeschooling laws: can two years of schooling be completed in one?

Question

It's a long story, but my parents basically screwed me out of getting a high school diploma. I was supposed to move out of state last May, ended up not moving, and my parents never re-enrolled me in the public system. Thus, I ended up 1 month, two months, a semester, a whole year behind....

(and let me say, 1st of all, I'm not some dumbass that doesn't care about school. I was an honors student, 3.9 [weighted] gpa, 2 AP classes, etc---a whole year after I "dropped out," I still scored a 28 on the ACT)

They signed me up for some BS homeschooling academy, but never paid the tuition and thus, I'm just as far behind as I was.

I'm supposed to be starting my Senior year this fall, and I have to get my college application in the mail by January. Even when I was doing great in school, I always had my mind set on a very unselective school. I think I can still get in, IF I can get my parents off of their asses to let me graduate.

Soo, I'm at my wits end at this point. (continued)

Answer 1

I grew up and graduated ps in WI, I had friends that graduated ps in 3 years - there's no reason that you can't do so as well.  My parents still teach there, have for decades, and I've never heard a law against this.

I have a question for you though - did you just plain not learn anything last year?  Did you read, did you research, did you write anything?  Because homeschooling doesn't have to be done through an online school, even in WI...it can be done, for legitimate credit, at home.  It doesn't have to be done according to the school year, it just has to be be done.

So...if you did anything school-worthy on your own last year, your parents can count it as credit.  I can't imagine that an honors/AP student just sat around for an entire year because their parents couldn't pay a bill.  I'm guessing you can squeeze some credits out of your activities last year - if so, these are legitimate credits.

Also - homeschool graduation isn't incumbent upon four calendar years of attendance, it's incumbent upon meeting the credit requirements of your parents or whatever academy you/they choose to go with.  If you meet those at age 16, you can graduate.  If you choose to do twelve credits in a year, you can do so.

I just read through the WI homeschool statutes on the HSLDA page, there is nothing listed about actual *days* attended - simply hours.  This can be done through an online academy or on your own (both are legit, you decide which way you want the money spent).  If you're willing to put in the work, yes - you can graduate this year.

Edit - well, that can count as government, graphics/computer, and communications.  You definitely got your hours in, and what you did would count as credit-worthy, in my book.  I did the same thing in jr. high/high school (different campaigns, obviously), I know the work well :)  There's three credits and your junior year out of the way.

When you're homeschooled, life skills and things like campaign work actually count as credit.  You're learning the whole time, just not out of a book.  Actually, you're learning more than if you read it, because you're actually doing it.  You're also being trained by people who do this full time, so you're gaining a much better understanding.

In WI (at least in the part of the state I lived in), unless the requirements have changed drastically, you're only required to have an English credit for jr. year - communications will cover that nicely.  Just assign yourself some lit and essays to balance it out, and you've got it covered.  Heck, I had friends who only took English and 7 study halls jr. year and got through just fine.  :)

Just go through and see what credits you're lacking - lab science, math, English, whatever, and find ways to fill them in.  You can actually take them from a community college (the UW extension system, unless it's changed a lot as well, is also great for that) and get both college and high school credit (dual enrollment).  You don't have to be enrolled in any sort of academy, you just need to get the education and the credits.  There are tons of ways to do this, and I'm sure working on the campaign has brought out your resourcefulness...you can do it :)

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

I believe Wisconsin's oversight of homeschooling is a bit lacking.  Also, as a teacher, I've seen students basically do nothing for three years at the regular high school, flunk everything, go to an alternative school for a year, and magically get done enough in one year to graduate.  (Wonder why it takes everyone else four years?  They must be the dumb ones...)  Of course, this might be a result of flaws with the school district in which I teach, and not hold true for most districts in the state.