First Week of School

Last spring, Corinne decided to drop out of school. Disappointed, I reluctantly accepted her decision to study for the GED and take the GED in the fall, and hopefully be accepted in paramedic school by next January. Even though she struggled in school, and this seemed like the best option at the time for her, I was reluctant because I knew that she didn't have much more to go in high school and that she was giving up very easily.

Over the summer, and after talking with a few people, she started to realize that yes, she can get post secondary education with a GED, but it was even better with a high school diploma. Even though they say it's the same, a lot of people still view having a high school diploma as a better choice than holding a GED.

We sat down and looked at what she has already accomplished in high school credits, what she needs, etc. We found out that she has already earned 17 credits, enough to qualify her as a senior. Since she dropped out at the end of her Junior year, she would have to repeat those core classes that she was taking: English 3B, Chemistry, and World History. She was also repeating English 2B because she failed it the year before, so she would have to do something about that class as well.

Going back to school and finishing out her senior year was a do-able thing. She decided to try again. We went to the school we are zoned to and enrolled Corinne in school. We came up with this plan. Since she has already seen the material TWICE in English 2B, she was going to do a Credit by Exam for that class. There are two kinds of Credit by Exams: CBE without prior instruction (if you want to skip a grade or whole year's subject in middle or high school without having any instruction in that class) and CBE with prior instruction, which is what Corinne needs. You take this kind of CBE when you have failed a class and have made at least a 60 in the class. You need to pass the exam with a 70 in order to get credit for the class. So, it was decided that Corinne would take CBE for the English 2B class so that she can get credit for it.

The other three classes were a different matter. Since she didn't actually finish the class and fail them, she couldn't take CBE for them. She decided to take World History in the spring, and the other two classes she will have to take as correspondence courses. If she passes, she will receive credit for those two classes, and she will graduate next spring.

Her actual class load is not too bad. She has Eco/Government and English that she has to take this year. All of the rest of her 5 classes are electives. One of her classes is Intro to Ag, and she came home on the first day of school wanting to raise a lamb. My nose cringed at the thought of a smelly lamb, but if that is what she wants to do, so be it!

I want to say that I'm proud of her. She has decided to take the hard road and make it work for her. It won't be easy, but hopefully she'll stick with it and finish. She's already missed two days this week, but at least she hasn't given up yet. She is still wanting to raise that stinky lamb (even though they do look very cute!). She's even signed up to take the SAT in October. And she is looking into colleges again. Again, I'm proud of her!