Guess who just called me?

[Clint]

The president of AblazeAcademy just called me. The reason it took me so long to finish Algebra II was because their Algebra II is actually what they teach as Algebra III in public school. Ok, that's great. Alg. II was split into 2 parts. Part one was really Algebra II and part II was really Algebra III

I have about 23-24 credits so far and I need 26 to get my HS diploma. She said I could graduate in a couple of weeks if I wanted to, but she also gave me a second option. I can keep going to HS and graduate at the same time as the public school kids I left behind, and keep doing AA work. She said that by the time the public school kids graduate HS, I can have about 38 credits. Sweet.

She's said It would be a waste of time to finish Spanish, and since I want to go into the medical field, she's giving me Latin instead (sweet! I already use Latin here!) and I'm going to take Chem II (then Physics) Anthropology/sociology, psychology. Man I'm so happy lol. After I finish Geo. I take Trig and then Calc. I and II. I'm scared lol

She said that instead of other people being in charge of my files and curriculum, that she would do it personally. THE PRESIDENT! Wow, I'm so honored man!

She said that I'm doing fantastically and that I could graduate a year early If I wanted to, but I opted to finish at the same time as everyone else (in public school) and get like 38 credits. Guys, I'm SO happy! By the way, Her son is 16, graduated HS at age 14 and is the VP of AblazeAcademy.



Dudes... speechless lol. I knew I was doing well but I had no idea I was doing THAT well. I REALLY wish I had started homeschooling a looooooong time ago.


I never thought I'd say this, but getting wasted and telling my parents I used meth was the best thing that's ever happened to me. If not for that, i'd still be in public school doing Honors classes (she also said that all of the classes they offer are AP..ALL of them and that public school courses are considered remedial by them)

Right now I have to take a couple of courses that I never took because they weren't assigned to me in public school. These courses are like 7th and 8th grade courses at AblazeAcademy. Wow lol.

Wow lol. I'm so happy! Guess ole' druggie Clint is showing the statistics a thing or two

 

[Est]

Right now I have to take a couple of courses that I never took because they weren't assigned to me in public school. These courses are like 7th and 8th grade courses at AblazeAcademy. Wow lol.

Wow lol. I'm so happy! Guess ole' druggie Clint is showing the statistics a thing or two

Yeah, your short term memory ROCKS! (see bolded portion of quote) Just pokin'.

If you can stomach the math, calc is pretty interesting. If nothing else, it should give you a somewhat different way to look at things. Calc is pretty interesting. (Yes, pun intended .)

 

[Clint]

Math is my weak point. I passed algebra III (at the time I thought it was II) with an 81.1 and I had to work by butt off for that but I'm afraid it's still not good enough to me a doctor. I'm scared to death of trig and the calcs.

Lol, sorry i'm just SO happy. I auctually thought I was behind a little bit. I had no idea I was about a year ahead.

What is calc for? Isn't it like for building bridges and stuff?

And What's Omega math. The final boss of math? lol

 

[Trapper7]

Congrats, you should be very proud of yourself

 

[Clint]

Yes I am and thank you.

She said she didn't want to see anything lower than a 96 from me. Holy crap lol. I'll try my best but that's all I can promise.

Did I mention the number 4 chess player in the country goes to the same school as me? She couldn't say who but all she said was she was number 4 and is overseas playing right now. I just looked it up and I found this, although it might not be her. They can't tell me for privacy reasons and I didn't care that much lol. http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0201,rondeaux,31203,3.html

Lol, She said I'm in a circle of only about 50 kids that she personally oversees and I feel so honored guys. I don't want it to come off like I'm bragging but I'm just SO happy!

 

[nepenthes_ak]

glad for ya, its good you got you're stuff in order.

 

[Tropics]

Maybe you can take AP courses so you can get some college credits later. You might be able to graduate college quicker (and cheaper).

 

[Clint]

Ehh, Right now with the full load of work they've given me i'm just going to focus on all of that.

I was thinking that with so many credits when entering college they might give me some kind of scholarship

 

[FarmerDave]

Wow!
That's Great!!!!
I hope that you like Latin, it's kinda boring at sometimes, and almost 100% memory on all of the declensions of the nouns/adjectives and congrugation of verbs.

Now I wish that I was homeschooled.
I'm probably going to have maybe 28.5 credits when I graduate. not quite as much as you but enough.

 

[Dyflam]

She's said It would be a waste of time to finish Spanish,

Not sure I buy that, always good to know a second language. Latin may be important but I doubt it will help you communicate in the real world.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Clint]

No, she meant since I want to be in the medical field that latin would help me more than spanish.

 

[herenorthere]

It's great you're doing so well and congratulations and all that. The president of Ablaze Academy sure does make the education you're getting seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread but, in doing so, she comes across like a marketer, not an educator. I'll confess right up front that I'm no fan of home schooling, but the fact that her 16 year old son is the VP of Ablaze Academy shouldn't impress you. Sit down and take some deep breaths and then go water some plants or something.

It's nuts for an educator to tell someone it would be a waste of time to finish Spanish and to take Latin instead. Yes, it'll provide a slight head start in medical school and it certainly helps in tests like like the SAT, given the standardized testing mafia's infatuation with Latin-origin words. But there are lots of actual Spanish-speaking people walking around our country these days and the number isn't getting smaller.

What is Ablaze Academy's track record? People coming out and going to which colleges and with what success? Her son going to work for the family business at 16? Plenty of excavation contractors and fishermen can say the same.

Look; I don't mean to rain on your parade. Well, actually I do, but I've been hearing about the superior people coming out of homeschooling for 20+ years, and I'm still waiting for some sign of their greater ability in life. The thing homeschoolers do seem to excel in is in tossing around phrases like, "the public school kids I left behind." The race hasn't even started yet, so don't be so quick to take a victory lap.

But I really do hope eveything works for you and that you'll be the one I can look back at as being a homeschooled success. And, by all means, focus on that math. Even if it means skipping Psychology and AP Dendrochronology.

 

[Clint]

He's already got a full scholarship to some kind of computer college, and this is a business lol. There aren't real teachers or a principal, these people want to make money and their program works pretty well I think.

Here's their website. Ablazeacademy.com

This is what they say about their accreditation :
Accreditation comes from the Latin word credito--meaning to trust. Since the late 1800's. American schools and colleges have had their trustworthiness and quality validated through accreditation. Accrediting commissions maintain a common protocol, ensure standards, and conduct evaluations of schools. Schools voluntarily live up to those standards and open their schools for evaluation. This process is validated through external review by trained and experienced peer review teams.

Demand for accreditation is now worldwide. It sets those schools deserving recognition apart from others.

Accreditation helps schools and colleges trust in the education of other accredited schools and helps parents, students, and the public believe in these institutions. The standards guide policies for awarding credit, granting diplomas, and other educational procedures. Parents who homeschool through and accredited center like Ablaze* demonstrate they maintain high standards in their childs learning.
Our Accredidation

Our school is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Independent Study (A.C.I.S.) This commission exists for the purpose of making a professional evaluation and giving recognition to schools that offer study by the myriad ways in which education is disseminated today, such as distance learning. Because of this achievement in meeting the standards of the Accrediting Commission for Independent Study, units of the University System of Georgia and most private colleges of Georgia gladly consider graduates of the accredited centers for admissions to their colleges. The graduates of accredited schools are eligible applicants for the HOPE scholarship program.

We are also accredited with the Georgia Accrediting Commission (G.A.C.). The G.A.C. accredits more than 1500 schools in the State of Georgia and is the oldest accrediting commission in the nation for grades K-12.

We at Ablaze Academy continue to strive for the best accreditation possible for all of our students. We are presently in candidacy status with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and The Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA). The Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation provides systems of accreditation to promote quality schools and continuous improvement, which enhance student's success. CITA is an accrediting authority known both in the United States and throughout the world. It is the alliance of the premier American regional accrediting commissions and related organizations. CITA members accredit over 30,000 schools in more than 100 countries.


Your right spanish is important, but she told me that latin is best for right now and that to do spanish now would be a waste of time and that latin would help me understand spanish better anyway (I was already making like a 98 avg. in spanish, so it's not like I needed help anyway) Lol, I dunno i can take a second spanish course later. Thanks for bursting my bubble lol. All I know is i'm doing stuff the public kids don't have an opportunity to do and i'm ahead of them. Going to school 3 hours a day with no homework ever is a huge plus.


I did a year of spanish in 75 hours and some-odd minutes. If I choose to take another course, which I probably will later, it won't take long. Rosetta stone comes with the AA school, and I love RS! They offer like 27 languages I believe.


As far as me saying I left them behind, well, I did! Atleast 2/3rds of the public school kids in our HS are on drugs, with a good portion of that being meth. I have no problem with that, but these people are not responsible with it. These kids are the kind who don't care about grades or college or anything. I believe about 20 are pregnant and the teachers don't really care. My parents moved my from the city to try to put me in a better school system and that pretty much backfired

Is there a reason why you are against homeschooling? Some kids are weird as hell if they've been in it their whole lives but I'm not one of those. I love it! My parent's don't do anything except pay the bill every month. It's all up to me and I love the freedom and short days it's brought. Sure I don't see my old drug addict friends anymore but i'll go to college in a year and make new friends.


And I was so happy about my predicted 38 credits As far as the success rate of how many people go to college, I don't know. I've auctually never heard of AA untill we were looking for alternatives to public school.


Heres a website that talks about different methods and the first on this page is AA.
http://www.homeschoolnewslink.com/homeschool/articles/vol8iss6/v8i6_online3.shtml


Please don't think I got offended or anything lol. I didn't.

 

[Est]

It's great you're doing so well and congratulations and all that. The president of Ablaze Academy sure does make the education you're getting seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread but, in doing so, she comes across like a marketer, not an educator. I'll confess right up front that I'm no fan of home schooling, but the fact that her 16 year old son is the VP of Ablaze Academy shouldn't impress you. Sit down and take some deep breaths and then go water some plants or something.

It's nuts for an educator to tell someone it would be a waste of time to finish Spanish and to take Latin instead. Yes, it'll provide a slight head start in medical school and it certainly helps in tests like like the SAT, given the standardized testing mafia's infatuation with Latin-origin words. But there are lots of actual Spanish-speaking people walking around our country these days and the number isn't getting smaller.

What is Ablaze Academy's track record? People coming out and going to which colleges and with what success? Her son going to work for the family business at 16? Plenty of excavation contractors and fishermen can say the same.

Look; I don't mean to rain on your parade. Well, actually I do, but I've been hearing about the superior people coming out of homeschooling for 20+ years, and I'm still waiting for some sign of their greater ability in life. The thing homeschoolers do seem to excel in is in tossing around phrases like, "the public school kids I left behind." The race hasn't even started yet, so don't be so quick to take a victory lap.

But I really do hope eveything works for you and that you'll be the one I can look back at as being a homeschooled success. And, by all means, focus on that math. Even if it means skipping Psychology and AP Dendrochronology.

Frankly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to say anything, but I was thinking along the same lines as you.

Clint, I just want you to be careful. Keep in mind that unlike, say, a public school, this is a real business. It's in this lady's best interest to make everything glitter and look great. In fact, it's her job.

It's great to see that they're accredited, but look at the information that they give about it. 95% of it is "Accredidation comes from the latin word.... myriad ways in which education is disseminated... yadda yadda." When it comes to accredication, you need to know: What it means, and who they're accredited with. The rest is glitz and marketing.

I think it's great that you're working hard, I just don't want you getting screwed in the end. If you haven't already, do some (more) research about the place on the interent. See what different people have to say about it. Were they successful, did they get in to the college/job they want?

You need to make sure that whatever college you want to go to accepts credits from a) the classes you're taking, b) from this institution. Even within the conventional system you can take AP classes or good college level classes that simply do not articulate to other colleges. While challenging yourself by taking these classes is a great thing, do your research and know what they will "count" for at your college.

So, some words from people who have previous experience with this establishment would be helpful. I just wanna make sure that you don't end up getting screwed because of good marketing. We're rootin' for ya, just worried.

On a separate note, I've always been wary of homeschool because of the social aspect. While I'm sure you're sociable, being in a social situation such as a school presents a lot of opportunities for you to figure things out for yourself. Removing yourself from hose interactions may stunt your growth in that regard. Also, in your particular case I'm a little worried because one of the reasons you removed yourself from the public system was to keep away from drugs. I just don't want it to lead to a detrimental unconcious notion that social life must = drug life. You wont always be able to remove yourself to get away from drugs, and being around people who do them but you resisting to do so may be more beneficial to your growth and prospects rather than simply removing yourself from the scene entirely.

As for the Spanish, I'd say do your latin stuff, but don't neglect the spanish! As said up above, there's a lot of spanish speakers, and the number isn't getting smaller. As a future doctor, it'd be in your best interest to be able to understand. I imagine it's difficult to treat a patient if you cannot understand them verbally.

I hope that you see that I just wanna make sure you're careful and making good decisions. Mull over it, do a bit of research.

/rain (lol, sorry.)

You still did well on your PSATs IIRC, and no one can rain on that.

 

[Clint]

We went to a "college fair" and all the the GA colleges said it is fine. Reps from UGA, GA tech, Berry, etc etc said no problem and that they have had others do it, too. Personally I want to go to Berry. They have like a 90(something) success rate for people who take their pre-med program and their campus looks like hogwarts

I didn't remove myself, my parents did hehehe. Anyone who knows me knows that i'm A-OK with responsible drug use. I still use (not hardcore and not as often as I did), but I know drugs are not the end-all be-all of social life. Drugs aren't ALL I ever did, believe it or not Truth be told, I like druggies and don't plan on removing myself from the parties in college. I look forward to it (and yes I know that's not all there is to it. I plan on working hard, too). I am a very social person and I don't feel like i'm missing out on anything that badly (except for getting detention for being too social lol). I can stay at home for another year without become a recluse lol. I also plan on quiting all illegal activities when I enter medschool (or hey, maybe before that)

No offense taken from either of you

 

[FarmerDave]

That sounds great!!!!!
And even if you can't completely quit those 'illegal activities' you'll still probably would have toned them down a lot.

 

[Clint]

Lol, no seriously. Nothing illegal for me once I go to medschool. It's not worth it.

I can have plenty of fun with drugs that are perfectly legal.

 

[herenorthere]

I didn't think you'd be offended or I wouldn't have written it. Homeschooling is a good option if someone can't go to a public school and, if that's what has enabled you to get your life in order, then nothing more needs to be said. It's worth it and absolutely the right thing to do.

It's a shame that your local school system sucks so badly. I don't know if that's a symptom of metropolitan Atlanta or exburban America or what. At least poverty-stricken inner city schools have an excuse. They're hanging on in places whose economies and cultures have been gutted and they work with many of the most disadvantaged kids. But to see real social pathologies, head an hour north or east of Atlanta into the land of sprawling McMansions. They're trying to live what Margaret Thatcher preached to Reagan - that there's no such thing as society; only individuals and families. I spent 1 1/2 years in Atlanta during 1979-1981 and have believed ever since that the region combines all the worst of the north and south. And probably east and west and up and down and everything in between. A friend who's from there says it gets worse every year.

OK, that went off on a tanget, so I'll return to the homeschool thang. When I lived in Maine in the 80s, I heard some of the people who had "gone back to the land" in the 70s were turning to homeschooling because they didn't want their highly evolved children in schools full of coarse local kids. Those other kids played violent games and didn't want anything more than operate a backhoe like dad and their parents hadn't been to college and so on. They sure couldn't have their pristine children absorb any of that and, being as perfect as they were, they could do a much better job of teaching than their local schools. I've never gotten over the elitist BS and paranoia of their message and tend to view all homeschooling through the same lens.

As I said, it looks like the right thing for you, but take that superior education talk with a grain of salt. It's probably much better than I think, but nowhere near as good as you think. But it's certainly good enough and just work hard at it. The big gap in college is between those who work and those who don't. Being smart and prepared are good things, but plenty of smart and prepared lazy people go down in flames while the plodders work their way through.

 

[FarmerDave]

yeah, that's right!

What that Mrs. Johnson? you want some botox injections in your face? Sure I'll do it!
*fills seringe with testosterone, and injects Mrs. Johnson's face*
there we go! Come back in a month and let's see how you're doing.

 

[Clint]

Well... Lol, going back to the land and taking kids out of public school to instill christian values are BS in my opinion lol. I don't believe in that elitism either and I also believe if you shelter kids forever you sent them up for social failure. I guess my circumstances were different. And my life was never out of order lol. I was the model student in honors classes and had high A's in almost everything lol. My parents made me leave.

So anyways uh... thanks for everyone's concern? lol