17 yo Mary Maxwell is just starting her Junior year.

[Justme]

I'm quite surprised that she is a year behind. Most 17yo's are starting their Senior year. I guess I shouldn't be, all that traveling for the family "business" must keep her away from her studies.

 

Oh, yeah, Teri posted a blog about not taking 1st school day pictures over the past few years....

[nelliebelle1197]

I actually think that is a nice post from Teri. 17 is pretty normal for juniors. I turned 17 just after the beginning of my junior year.

[sparkles]

Wasn't there a post about a year or so ago about how Mary was accelerating her studies so she could graduate early? What happened?

Granted, I have a summer birthday, but I graduated high school at 17 and all of my friends were done by 18 at the latest.

[CelticGoddess]

I'm quite surprised that she is a year behind. Most 17yo's are starting their Senior year. I guess I shouldn't be, all that traveling for the family "business" must keep her away from her studies. :roll:

Oh, yeah, Teri posted a blog about not taking 1st school day pictures over the past few years.... :shrug:

Most seniors aren't necessarily 17. It depends on the cut-off date for the state they are in. My daughter will be turning 17 her Junior Year, due to the cut off.

[ThatSnark]

I remember reading a while back that she was accelerating so that she could finish and be more involved in the dog & pony show... that apparently didn't happen. I guess if this were my last of umpteen kids that I wouldn't be terribly gung-ho about homeschooling anymore, but what a disservice to Mary. I graduated high school at 17 and didn't turn 18 until I was well away at college, where Mary isn't planning to go. Sigh.

[Koala]

We do first day of school pictures here too. That's about the only thing with the Maxwells that I can relate to.

[Jana814]

I thought Mary was working through the last 2 summers to graduate early.

[nelliebelle1197]

I thought Mary was working through the last 2 summers to graduate early.

I wonder if she did not do well. What do you guys think?

[crawfishgirl]

Most seniors aren't necessarily 17. It depends on the cut-off date for the state they are in. My daughter will be turning 17 her Junior Year, due to the cut off.

My daughter missed the state cut off date by one week, so she will also be 17 for most of her junior year. She is typically one of the oldest in her grade as a result. I remember that in kindergarten, there were a couple of boys who barely made the cutoff date, and were therefore almost an entire year younger than her - the teacher even stated that there was a big difference in development as a result.

[kpmom]

Wasn't there a post about a year or so ago about how Mary was accelerating her studies so she could graduate early? What happened?

.

I thought that too. I thought this would be her last year. Maybe she's doing a two year elective in Drip Irrigation Studies, not for any particular reason, and that put her behind. :whistle:

[Jana814]

I turned 17 right before my senior year in HS. I was always one of the youngest kids. I hated it!

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Lost my post. Like the others said--birthdays can fall at the wrong time for the cut-off. In Indiana, until very recently, you didn't have to be in school till the year you turned 7 though nearly all kids went at 5. It's not a failing that she's a "junior"--it just means that's the years Rod & Staff or Abeka or Bob Jones text books Teri bought her this year.

[dairyfreelife]

Most seniors aren't necessarily 17. It depends on the cut-off date for the state they are in. My daughter will be turning 17 her Junior Year, due to the cut off.

But that's normal. Juniors do turn 17 during their junior year. Most juniors are 16 the first day of school and during the year into the summer they turn 17. On the first day of the senior year, seniors, unless held back or skipped ahead, are 17. They turn 18 during the course of the year. My sister started her junior at 16 and turned 17 soon after. My brother, who has a summer birthday, turned 17 two months ago, but he's a senior this year. Cut off dates can vary however, but normally it is on or before August 1, 15 or September 1. Kindergarten here bumped up to a child turning 5 on or before August 1, but it used to be September 1. They started school at the beginning of August now and are wanting to do year-round school in the next couple of years. As you can bet, the children locally are just oh so excited about that concept. ;)

So, Mary is not really out of her age range, but she also won't be considering graduating early to most people. Does it really matter as long as she does graduate? I'm just glad she's at least allowed to get her GED.

[MamaJunebug]

I thought that too. I thought this would be her last year. Maybe she's doing a two year elective in Drip Irrigation Studies, not for any particular reason, and that put her behind. :whistle:

Wait, I thought John-Marie was for Anna?! Anna, I tell you!!!!

I distinctly remember post(s) about early graduation. My money is on one of the following:

1) Anna and Sarah are actually presiding over the SOTDRT and the busy-ness of their recent production effort put them behind

2) Terified has either had some depressive episodes thas made this hey haven't blogged about, or she's been enjoying the grandchildren and sluffed off on Mary's studies

3) Stevehovah has a larger agenda that involves having Mary graduate at a newsworthy/convenient time. Think of how the Duggar family time all their big-new events to coincide with the beginning of a new TV season, etc. Along those lines.

(Count me as a 17-yo hs grad who would've benefited by an extra year's maturation emotionally.

OTOH at age 4 I was reading a couple of years ahead of schedule so I and Big Mama Junebug would've gone patently crazy if I'd been held out just for "a year's maturation." I'm not at all against guvmint schools but the devotion to ages in decision-making does gum things up a bit.

(And yes, how else can a huge school district handle the influx if not by ages, since for the vast majority, everything plays out along the plan. OK, back to the real topic. Mary flunked grammar so Teri held her back. hee hee hee :drool: )

[MamaJunebug]

dfl wrote,

So, Mary is not really out of her age range, but she also won't be considering graduating early to most people. Does it really matter as long as she does graduate? I'm just glad she's at least allowed to get her GED.

Not doubting you a bit, but wondering if pursuing something so worldly as a GED from the guvmint is within Steve's capability! Do homeschooled kids have to pass the GED or is their parents' word enough, or are there homeschool equivalency exams the students take to prove competency?

So many questions.

[slickcat79]

I think the Maxwells Steve realized that it benefits their brand to keep their "children" as young as possible for as long as possible. If Mary is still in school for another year or two, she doesn't have to join the ranks of the adult Maxwell children who are not in school, aren't married, don't work outside the home, and don't seem to be doing anything with their lives except hanging around with their family. Maybe they can squeeze a little more money out of their followers if they can continue to stay relevant to the homeschooling community for a little while longer.

If this were a normal homeschooling family, I would assume that they realized Mary may need some supplemental work in certain subjects or wasn't prepared to move on to college yet. Not being tied to traditional grade levels is one of the primary benefits of homeschooling when you do it right, but this is the Maxwells. The main objective of their homeschooling is to keep their children away from the outside world and college is not a goal, so their determinations about graduating are totally arbitrary.

ETA: I didn't realize the Maxwell kids got GEDs. I am not a close follower, but I don't remember Steve talking about that.

[singsingsing]

Around here, many high schoolers go back for a 'victory lap' and graduate at 19 instead of 18 (cut off date here is December 31st so pretty much everyone in your grade was born in the same year). Some people do it because they need to re-take courses to graduate or raise their grades to get into university, but plenty do it just because they're not quite ready to move on.

[MamaJunebug]

I think the Maxwells Steve realized that it benefits their brand to keep their "children" as young as possible for as long as possible. If Mary is still in school for another year or two, she doesn't have to join the ranks of the adult Maxwell children who are not in school, aren't married, don't work outside the home, and don't seem to be doing anything with their lives except hanging around with their family. Maybe they can squeeze a little more money out of their followers if they can continue to stay relevant to the homeschooling community for a little while longer.

(snip).

Ding! Ding! Ding! I daresay we have a winner.

slickcat: :clap:

Steve:

[WonderingInWA]

I started college at 17, and I wasn't even homeschooled! I SO would not fit in at the Maxwell compound.

[louisa05]

I taught juniors and seniors. Juniors started the year ranging from just turned 16 to already 17. Seniors from just turned 17 to already 18. The cut off for kindergarten was really late here when my students started school (Oct 15), but a lot of parents with kids born late in the summer or in the fall even prior to the cut off would keep them back a year for a variety of reasons.

My husband was 18 to start his senior year because his family moved to a new town just prior to school starting and he had just turned 5. His mother felt like he was having a hard time adjusting to the move as it was and adding kindergarten would be too much, so they kept him back. One of my college friends' birthday is at the end of August and her parents thought she just wasn't ready to be in school which started a few days before she turned 5, so they kept her out a year. Everything was just fine for both of them. And they both enjoyed being the cool kid that could drive before everyone else.

My state has moved the cut off back to July 31, now. So many, many kids in the future will be 17 before they begin their junior year.

[theologygeek]

I started college at 17, and I wasn't even homeschooled! I SO would not fit in at the Maxwell compound.

Two of my kids started college at 17. They started kindergarten at 4 because of their end of the year birthdays. They were ready for kindergarten. I taught all my kids to read when they were four, and they also had two years of preschool. The rest of the kids started college at 18 and started kindergarten at 5.

[Rosie]

I actually think that is a nice post from Teri. 17 is pretty normal for juniors. I turned 17 just after the beginning of my junior year.

I agree.

My first son will turn 17 in November of his junior year, and his younger brother will turn 17 in September of his junior year.

[sparkles]

I don't think there's a big issue with Mary's age but it is surprising in light of the post about how she was accelerating her studies to graduate early. It's not exactly as if Teri actually TEACHES. It's all textbooks, so why the hold up? Not that it really matters. It's not like Mary is going on to anything else that she needs to push up her graduation date.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Good grief, it's not like she's 17 and just starting the 8th grade. This is so not a big deal, and happens plenty in public schools as well. My kid is in second grade and turned 8 in the second or third week of school. There are 2 girls in her class this year who have repeated a year, one Kinder and one first. Is that snark-worthy? I think not. I say good for the parents and teachers for not pushing a child along when she's not ready.

Now this may not be the case at all with Mary. Who knows? Who cares? If she's sitting around at age 20 or something and isn't a senior yet, then I'll happily snark. But it's not like she's going anywhere anyway. She still has plenty of years of washing cabinets and enjoying 2 animal crackers a season to look forward to, poor thing. Maybe she's stretching it out herself, on purpose, to give herself a reprieve from other Maxwell bullshit.

[HOTW]

I was 17 my senior year did not turn 18 til a few months after graduating. I found it wierd that kids could write their own excuses for school....