HELP FOR HOMESCHOOLER IN MD!

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mfajardo

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Sep 17, 2018
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Hello all! I am the mom of a homeschooled child who is currently in his Senior Year, and I'm gonna say up front that we are a bit "late to the party". We are coming in to the application process late because he just took the SATs for the 2nd time the end of August (this year), and he managed to get a 1490. He just submitted his preliminary application this past Saturday night, and it's only Monday so he hasn't received a Candidate packet, but he did get an email today from the person who has been assigned to be his BGO, so I'm assuming he's a candidate?

I've homeschooled him since he's been in first grade. This year is the first year he's taking college level classes at the community college for English and Spanish. However all of his math and science instruction has been done home-study style and not in a "formal setting" with an outside teacher. In fact, he's completing pre-calculus this year using a homeschool math curriculum. That being said, the fact that he got a 790 on the math part of SAT should justify the grades I, as his teacher, have given him, right? Anyway, my concern now is that the members of Congress that he needs to request nominations from are requiring a letter of recommendation from a math, science or tech teacher. And me being a family member, the LOR can't come from me even if I am the primary educator.

For any veteran homeschool applicants, can you give me some feedback on how you were able to get the required LORs?

And also just in case this helps with feedback, my son is in the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps and has attained the rank of Chief, 2nd degree black belt in mixed martial arts and a blue belt in jiu jitsu, and he's a musician, he's done a lot of community service work, he also has a job, so I think he's ok in the extracurricular activities department.

Thank you in advance!!
 
Well done teaching your kid. The 790 speaks volumes. Suggest you use the search function above to read the many, many threads here about home-schooled kids. There’s a lot of information and guidance. In fact, if memory serves, there was a thread last summer specifically about Maryland home-schooled kids. Best wishes to your kid.
 
If you can’t find an answer on your MOCs website (always use primary sources confirm) I recommend your DS call the MOC coordinator and ask. Some MOCs have a deadline of OCT 1st for packets. So double check due date and make the call ASAP if the packet doesn’t addrsss it.
 
NavyHoops said:
If you can’t find an answer on your MOCs website (always use primary sources confirm) I recommend your DS call the MOC coordinator and ask. Some MOCs have a deadline of OCT 1st for packets. So double check due date and make the call ASAP if the packet doesn’t addrsss it.
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Thank you for your feedback! One of the MOCs does clarify what to do if you are a homeschool student, so that helps. I will either email/call the other MOCs.
 
Concur on your DS calling. This is his application and he needs to be completing communications.
 
Homeschooling mom here as well. I concur your DS needs to contact MOC ASAP for direction. Homeschooling is legal, so it will not be a problem (call HSLDA if there is any issue).

You will also need a teacher recommendation for the Academy from an English and math teacher. I recommend your DS ask his college English prof for the recommendation. You will need to write the math recommendation yourself. Don't despair; I had to do the same thing. You will want to think of ways to show the strength of your math courses, and remind them in your recommendation that he got a 790 on SAT Math.

One thought for you...can you do double duty on pre-calc this semester and enroll in college Calc I in the spring? If so, you could add that to your recommendation. I wrote my DS's recommendation the summer before his senior year. As part of his recommendation I said that DS had committed to take Calc I & II his senior year at a nearby college. Admissions actually contacted my DS to confirm his intentions and ask where he would be taking the courses.
 
Mfajardo. If your child is taking an accredited home school program he should have a teacher in charge of the classes. You can request Teacher Recommendation on all his classes. Even though you are his instructor at home all accredited Home School Online classes have teachers assigned. My DS took AP Calculus and Physics from an accredited Online School to supplement his learning. He sent AP Cal and Physics recommendations to all colleges and they were all accepted. He’s doing just fine at USNA with Calculus. In fact Calculus is one of his favorite classes. He is retaking Calculus because he took it in his High School Junior Year. So if you take AP or college classes too early in high school maybe a good idea to retake those classes in college.
 
Wagmore said:
Homeschooling mom here as well. I concur your DS needs to contact MOC ASAP for direction. Homeschooling is legal, so it will not be a problem (call HSLDA if there is any issue).

You will also need a teacher recommendation for the Academy from an English and math teacher. I recommend your DS ask his college English prof for the recommendation. You will need to write the math recommendation yourself. Don't despair; I had to do the same thing. You will want to think of ways to show the strength of your math courses, and remind them in your recommendation that he got a 790 on SAT Math.

One thought for you...can you do double duty on pre-calc this semester and enroll in college Calc I in the spring? If so, you could add that to your recommendation. I wrote my DS's recommendation the summer before his senior year. As part of his recommendation I said that DS had committed to take Calc I & II his senior year at a nearby college. Admissions actually contacted my DS to confirm his intentions and ask where he would be taking the courses.
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Thank you very much! I didn't realize he would eventually need a LOR from an english teacher, so that's definitely good to know. I'm not sure if doubling pre-calc and Calc 1 will be possible, it honestly depends on how well he does with the first half of pre-calc.
 
I dont recommend doubling. Need to get the precal foundation down solid! If he has solid trig then possible to skip and do Cal. If he has solid algebra 2 and trig then can skip precal do Cal instead.

Math you don’t skip steps!!!! Need very strong foundation in Algebra and trig to succeed in Cal!

Math is not like social studies. It’s more like English grammar. You can’t skip and do well next steps. You need solid prerequisites.

But you can parallel study geometry and algebra 2. Parallel study algebra 2 and precal. Parallel study algebra 2 and stats
 
CrewDad said:
I dont recommend doubling. Need to get the precal foundation down solid! If he has solid trig then possible to skip and do Cal. If he has solid algebra 2 and trig then can skip precal do Cal instead.

Math you don’t skip steps!!!! Need very strong foundation in Algebra and trig to succeed in Cal!

Math is not like social studies. It’s more like English grammar. You can’t skip and do well next steps. You need solid prerequisites.

But you can parallel study geometry and algebra 2. Parallel study algebra 2 and precal. Parallel study algebra 2 and stats
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I absolutely agree, gotta have a good algebra base before moving on to pre-calc, all engineers I know have told me the same thing. The curriculum he's used for this entire high school math series incorporates Geometry into Alg 1, Alg 2 and PreCalc, so by the time he's done he actually has four math credits in three years. They were longer math curriculums so we worked through the summer, but it was totally worth it: he got a 790 in math, and when I checked his detailed scores, he got all the Algebra and Problem Solving/Data Analysis problems right, and he only missed 2 in the advanced math section.
 
Have him take and finish math 1 sat aubject Test before he forgets the math.
 
For home schoolers top schools recommend or require to take subject tests in

Math
English
Science

You can elect to add (not required)
History
Language
 
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