17 yo Mary Maxwell is just starting her Junior year.

[WonderingInWA]

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....

They can? Yikes, hadn't thought of that. My son will turn 18 the December of his senior year.

[singsingsing]

Yeah! Once we were 18 we were allowed to sign ourselves out of school. It was great. To be honest though, most people didn't do it unless they had a reason. I'm pretty sure you still had to come up with some kind of excuse to satisfy the administration.

[Coconut Flan]

My only concern is the way they were talking about Mary finishing early it sounded like she was going to be done before now. I hope the delay is because Steve wants to hang onto another year with a homeschooler rather than Mary either wasn't diligent enough to finish or is struggling with one or more subjects.

Outside of Steve's involvement, it doesn't seem it will make any difference to Mary's life when or if she "graduates."

Given Mary seems to be doing things other than school a lot of the time maybe it's due to being the last one and it's hard to be diligent by herself.

[treemom]

But hasn't she been working extra to graduate early?

Does early mean something else to the Maxwellians?

[keen23]

My oldest will be 19 when she graduates high school, in 2022. She'll turn 19 a month or so before she graduates. Therefore, she'll already be 17 when she starts her Jr year, and will turn 18 before that year is over.

My middle is also one of the older kids in her grade, and will be turning 18 shortly after the school year starts in her senior year.

The youngest is one of the youngest in her grade, and won't even turn 18 until after she graduates high school.

[Justme]

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.

It's not about Mary. She seems like a lovely young lady. It's about 2 parents who seem to be more interested in writing books and "traveling" than spending the time to actually school their youngest child.

[treemom]

And it is about the fact that they sell this as far superior to public school.

[Kira]

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:

She isn't behind. Most juniors are 16/17. I was 16, but both my brother and sister were 17.

[Jana814]

And it is about the fact that they sell this as far superior to public school.

Agree!! They act and even say that homeschool is the only way to teach your child!!

[theologygeek]

And it is about the fact that they sell this as far superior to public school.

Bingo

[FearLyss]

I am surprised only because fundies seem to graduate young, but in the real world, that is typical. As said above, I find it funny that homeschooling is supposed to be superior, but she is at the very best- average.

I graduated high school at 17 and didn't turn 18 until the start of my second semester in college (January) but that's because I am special, lol. One of my best friends is 10 days older than me and was still in his senior year as I was away at school.

[Many_Spaynes]

But hasn't she been working extra to graduate early?

Does early mean something else to the Maxwellians?

Steve determined that graduating early had become an idol so Mary was demoted 4 grades. She's not a Jr in High school but in jr high school -- and thus not marriageable for several more years, so she & her sisters are not spinsters -- stop saying that!

(disclaimer: I'm all about spinster pride, but you know it drives the Maxwells crazy)

Edited cos my thoughts only come in dribbles when I'm coffee-deprived

[theologygeek]

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.

He said it once in the comments. They don't do the GED. blog.titus2.com/2009/11/21/maxwell-homeschool-graduate-5/

[dairyfreelife]

He said it once in the comments. They don't do the GED. blog.titus2.com/2009/11/21/maxwell-homeschool-graduate-5/

In Kansas homeschools register with the state as non-accredited private schools. We set the graduation requirements and don’t take a GED. More about that is in the book Managers of Their Schools.

Well that's..weird. So do they get a diploma or something instead?

And nice peddling of another book.

ETA: Looked at the laws...a non-accredited private homeschool means periodic testing and cannot be admitted to college without the ACT in the state of Kansas.

[terranova]

So if there's no government mandated level she has to reach to graduate, it must be up to Steve and Teri to determine if she's ready. And clearly they think she isn't. Which makes me wonder why? Has dear little Mary been straying from the path?!

[argypargy]

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

Me too! I had a late August birthday and we had a hard cut-off.

My son has an early September birthday, so he will be either one of the youngest (still 4 staring K) or one of the oldest (5 going on 6 starting K). In our district, we have the option if your child's birthday is within a certain range (Mid-August to end of September), you can start them the next year. We are on a "wait and see" basis.

[Jana814]

Me too! I had a late August birthday and we had a hard cut-off.

My son has an early September birthday, so he will be either one of the youngest (still 4 staring K) or one of the oldest (5 going on 6 starting K). In our district, we have the option if your child's birthday is within a certain range (Mid-August to end of September), you can start them the next year. We are on a "wait and see" basis.

My b-day is the 14 of August. Their were about 15 or so people younger then me in my class (some by a few days). I'm glad I did not have to repeat a grade cause I didn't care for the kids a year under me.

[nokidsmom]

Yeah! Once we were 18 we were allowed to sign ourselves out of school. It was great. To be honest though, most people didn't do it unless they had a reason. I'm pretty sure you still had to come up with some kind of excuse to satisfy the administration.

Same here but I sure didn't do it because I turned 18 three months before graduation and so wanted out of there (not that I hated the school but 4 years of any school is enough for me).

But there were some who did just because they now could and messed up their final months in high school. Believe it or not, our own class valedictorian managed to do it.

[Coconut Flan]

I haven't seen or remembered what textbooks Terified uses so I tried to Google for it. I'm guessing it's Abeka or similar. If so I'd think their kids should finish very early if they apply themselves at all. Perhaps Stevus has thrown in an IT course that is bogging Mary down. In the search I found this forum which was interesting. It seems to be conservative homeschoolers and they find Steve extreme in many ways. It begins with a report on attending a conference. I'm sorry if it's been linked before. I hadn't seen it.

forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/150618-i-went-to-a-steve-teri-maxwell-workshop-last-night/

[bookgirl14]

So if there's no government mandated level she has to reach to graduate, it must be up to Steve and Teri to determine if she's ready. And clearly they think she isn't. Which makes me wonder why? Has dear little Mary been straying from the path?!

Let's hope that Mary is putting up a fight so she can get out of there. Could Steve be holding graduation over her head to make her toe the line?

[divadivine]

She's been too busy cleaning cabinets and ceiling fans to do schoolwork..... Shame on you Lord Steveious of the Lounge Chair. Jesus knows what you're doing... HE SEES EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING!

[Black Aliss]

I can't see how it would matter if she was struggling with a subject. Kansas Board of Education doesn't recognize homeschooling. They just lump it in with "non-accredited private schools". Standardized tests or any other measures of achievement are not required and it's up to an accredited institution whether they want to accept credits earned at a non-accredited school. I can't imagine Steve allowing Mary to continue her education beyond SOTDRT but if he did, she'd need a lot more education than what she's getting from their A Beka curriculum.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

Well that's..weird. So do they get a diploma or something instead?

Yes. Homemade by their parents, who have registered the homeschool as a private school, it's something like "Flowing Streams Christian Academy" if I recall correctly (and I'm sincere - not trying to make a joke!) Something about a stream.

As you mention, the law says they'd need the ACT to go on to college.

Here's where I'm wondering, though - I can understand homeschooling, but I wonder how it is in the real world for your FINAL degree to be homeschooling with only a diploma from Mom and Dad.

Kids who go on to college obviously have a final degree that's not homeschool. Kids who homeschool most of their lives but then go into high school for the final two years (partly for the experience, partly because of this issue) have their final degrees not from homeschool even if they never go to college. Kids who do only homeschool but then get a GED, their final degree is a GED. Etc.

It just seems to me that a lot of things would be easier if they also did get the GED. If their homeschool is actually doing as well as public schools, they should be able to take the GED no problem without any particular prep, and they have enough toys at home that it seems the fee wouldn't be excessive for them.

ETA I suspect along with others that might be a big "IF." I don't know what curriculum they use either.

[alysee]

I think I remember someone saying here that they used Abeka, but even that wasn't up to par with their brand of Christianity so things were blacked out? Something crazy like that.

[SPHASH]

I had a few classmates that had October and November birthdays so they were still 16 at the beginning of our senior year. Same thing with my stepsister. And I also had a classmate that turned 19 Sept of our senior year, at one point he was three years older than our youngest classmates.