Homeschooling family finding our way...

[Pima]

I second Jcleppe's advice about joining the Y, but for a different reason which ties in with usafahopeful1...athletics. If he enjoys swimming this will give him an advantage when he becomes 16 because for the next 3 yrs he can swim competitively and later on become a guard too. Our Y also has a traveling soccer team, and it works the same way because he can become a ref at 16. They also have Tae Kwon Do and he can become an instructor at 16.

DS became a lifeguard for the Y, and that was 1 of his ECs. It not only illustrated his athleticism, but also leadership and his part time job, i.e look at Christcorps post. He was the Sr. guard (7-10 guards reporting to him) and pool manager by his sr yr in hs with 23 saves. He was able to place in his resume the physical requirements for a lifeguard, i.e. monthly testing which included dead man rescue, retrieving a 10 lb weight from the 14 ft deep section within 60 seconds not using ladders, etc.

It also illustrated commitment since he did this since he was 16, 20 hrs a week Sept-May, 40 throughout the summer.

The AFA has changed over the past few years regarding athletics. Tae Kwon Do is a great example. Most HS's do not have TKD teams, but many candidates compete on a state and national level. Our DS's other sport was TKD, he was a 2 time state Champ, and a Jr. Olympian champ. The AFA asked him to submit a letter from his Master describing what it entailed and they had no problem with it because TKD is not like FB or BB if you compete state or national level it is 52 weeks a yr. that you train and compete. It also shows again commitment.

Quantity as in the number of EC's is not the only factor. Quality is a factor; when I say quality, I mean leadership, dedication and commitment. You don't want 10 sports just for having sports that he only stuck with each one for 6-9 months. You are better off with 2 or 3 sports that he stuck with for 3-4 yrs+ .

OBTW, I know a cadet that was recruited by the AFA swim team when he was a jr because he swam competitively with the Y. Our school did not have a swim team, so the Y was his only option for swimming competitively.

[kmomto9]

Originally Posted by JPJ

I homeschool my 3 boys and currently my oldest (13yo) has his eyes on the Air Force or Naval Academy. I am doing my best to set him up for success and will appreciate any info I can get from this forum. Thanks in advance for all your wisdom and time.

My son is a senior in the thick of applying to SA and ROTC. He has also been homeschooled his whole life. We've done a few things to make his application competetive.
1) he is enrolled with an accredited cover school, he is not getting a 'mom diploma'
2) he has taken dual credit community college courses in higher level math, science and even arabic
3) he joined Civil Air Patrol at 12 and has worked hard in the program and achieved much at the squadron, group, wing and national level, and will hopefully achieve the highest rank and earn his spaatz this winter. I can't recommend CAP enough regardless if your son ends up applying to SA. It is a great program.

He also works, pays for his own flying lessons, and has hundreds of hours of hpurs of community service.
Homeschoolers can be competitive, it just takes.some effort, thinking outside the box and a lot of miles on the car.

For us the most difficult thing was the sports. J. Will get his blqck belt in tkd soon and runs daily along with doing the CFA three times a week. It is the weakest part of his app, we are hoping his leadership and academics can make up the difference.