Home Schooler Sports Requirements?

You report your sister and her children's experience homeschooling which is anecdotal evidence and not generalisable. There are plenty of kids from public, private and homeschools who do not know how to play nicely in the sandbox with others:wink: I am guessing that more than one kid from public or private school has been terminated from a job for "back talking". And teaching to the test...please! Isn't that what I hear teachers in public schools complain about having to do all the time?

Maybe check out a few other families who choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons before making so many assumptions?

tug_boat said:
Interesting thought on this.

Every year one or two homeschoolers are accepted into each of the SA. And they are able to compete well with the other candidates. Generally speaking, these homeschoolers come from rural areas where they work and learn on a daily basis within their family. Their MOC has very few students who apply for a SA appointment and the competition is low as compared to the Eastern Seaboard. Now this may or may not be your case, I do know across the board see one skill homeschoolers lack; social skills. My sister has home schooled all four of their kids. They are smart and eager to learn, however they don’t know how to socialize with kids their same age outside their church and family. This skill can be learned! How it affects a Cadet? I don’t know. Cadets live; work and play with someone in close proximity 24 hrs a day. Matter of fact, Cadets don’t exchange much information about their standings with each other due to the fact they are competing against one another for their goals. This is why sports are so important at SA. It brings out the competitive edge, fosters, team work, conflict resolution and leadership.

My sister’s son lost his first job at Mickey Dees, because he “back talked” his boss. He got away with it, with his parents, but the real world is less forgiving. My sister had a tendency to tech the ACT/SAT rather that learn up to these tests, even though they'll did very well.

Remember you adapt to the Army, not the Army adapt to you.

Push Hard, Press Forward
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Tigger,

I sense a little frustration in your post. You hit the nail on the head though.

Many don't seem to understand why someone that chose to go to school alone would want to go to school with 4000 plus for college, then be a leader of dozens if not hundreds after graduation.

There are probably many valid reasons for being home schooled, location, religion, etc. Would some of you that went through that process enlighten us on the reasons you chose to home school?
 
some insight on homeschooling

We homeschool because we are an Army family who moves every 2-3 years, and often to places where our educational options are limited. My wife was a teacher and homeschooling has been a huge success for us. After my numerous moves and my many deployments we decided that homeschooling was a way to provide stability to our kids, at least educationally.
I found Tug Boat's comments amusing and it reflects a real disconnect between what most homeschooling is, as opposed to what it is perceived to be. Most homeschool families are both offended and amused by the stereotype of the "unsocialized homeschooler." We, like most homeschool parents,consistantly hear comments about how mature, intelligent and engaging our kids are.
If Tug Boats' nephew lost his first job for disrespect, that is a reflection of parenting, not education. And that is the point. Good parents not good teachers, generally produce good kids.
As for the original question of varsity athletics, each state has different rule for homeschool athletes. Our son was the captain of his varsity CC team for the past two years. But where we live there are state sanctioned homeschool teams that are part of the interscholasitc leagues. In most states that it not an option, but athletes may be able to associate with a local high school to participate on varsity teams. Many participate in YMCA or local leagues or competitions. Ironically, many Olympic athletes are, by necessity, homeschooled. I can't imagine that these kids WCS would suffer because they weren't on a high school team.
We were concerned about how our homeschool experience would reflect on our son's WCS, considering things like class rank, student government participation and National Honor Society membership (for which unaffiliated homeschoolers are not eligible.) We have been assured that USMA has gained a lot of experience with homeschoolers over the past few years. Bottom line, H117, you are early in the process. Talk to the admission folks and attend USMA briefings in your area. ask specific questions and then post what you find out here. There are a lot of folks in this thread that are providing outdated information based upon a misperception of what homeschooling is all about ("Every year one or two homeschoolers are accepted into each of the SA." Where does that absurdly low number come from?)
 
WCS and Homeschoolers....

The OP was making the argument the lack of being involved in sports in order to gain acceptance into WP. Not the validity of homeschooling. We can discuss that on the “Off Topic” heading. With others reading this thread for their education on the methods of gaining an acceptance into WP or other SA, I will post the WPs WCS (Whole Candidate Score) methodology. When admissions compares candidates for selection they tabulate the WCS and the candidate with the highest score will move forward. This is the fairest method to universally compare 16,000 plus applicants for the Class of 2018. Being active and participating in athletics is a very important part of the day-to-day life of a cadet and establishes a life long habit of taking care of themselves. Athletics also establishes competition, keeping an edge, fosters teamwork, leadership, fellowship, time management and learning how to push yourself to win. This is not our methods to success but West Point and the Armies methods that have been in play for 200 years.
This is how WP adds up a WCS. "Whole Candidate Score" This is part of the formula they use to grade a candidate who has opened a file.

Academics (60%)
Class rank (15 points)
SAT score (35)
High School Grades (10)
Extra points for Valedictorian/National Honor Society/National Merit Scholar

Leadership (30%)
School Leadership – extra points for class or student body president
Eagle Scout/Gold Star Girls Scout
Boys and Girls State
Athletic Participation – Team Captain Status
Team sports

Fitness CFA (10%)

Being a recruited athlete /Under Represented Minority/Active Service can fall in to different category pertaining to WP Class compositions.

The standardized testing is a huge part of WCS and it is important to do your very very best and take the tests multiply times. My DS has taken ACT/SAT 8 times.

This is how WP breaks it down.

WP thinks your high school rank is more important than your GPA. However, to have a high rank (top 15%) you need a great GPA.

Also to improve your WCS, get those SAT/ACT scores as high as you can.


Push Hard, Press Forward
 
How do homeschoolers give their class rank? Or is that even considered for us at all?

My apologies if this has been previously discussed.
 
Zie said:
How do homeschoolers give their class rank? Or is that even considered for us at all?

My apologies if this has been previously discussed.
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Zie,

I think I have either seen or heard on some official source (either USNA or USMA admissions) that for homeschoolers, who obviously cannot have a class rank, the standardized tests are "It" for the Academic portion of the scoring. I don't know if that would hold 100% true for those who take college-level courses during high school, where the grades will clearly be objective.

Perhaps other posters have experience with this and can be more definitive.
 
Roseville said:
Zie,

I think I have either seen or heard on some official source (either USNA or USMA admissions) that for homeschoolers, who obviously cannot have a class rank, the standardized tests are "It" for the Academic portion of the scoring. I don't know if that would hold 100% true for those who take college-level courses during high school, where the grades will clearly be objective.

Perhaps other posters have experience with this and can be more definitive.
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My understanding (being an FFR for 10+ years), for home schoolers the standardized tests are "IT." The challenge West Point and SAs has is comparing all different types of academic achievement. There are regular high school kids that that college-level courses, than we start going into IB, AP, Honors, Advanced, and so on.
 
I am consistently amused at the assumptions that are made regarding homeschoolers and your follow-up question is no exception.

We chose to homeschool for excellence. My children were bored in the school system that was available to them and I knew that as a family we could do better. And we did:thumb:

I'm not really sure I understand how educational choice relates to wanting to be a leader. My DD is completing her first year at USAFA and is very successful. As a homeschooler she sought out opportunities to lead in CAP (earning the highest honor CAP awards), as a member of our local crew team, as a member of her youth group, and as a member of our local youth orchestra. Her experiences were rich and varied and she is able to relate to people from all backgrounds.

The misconception that homeschoolers are social outcasts is just that...a misconception.

I hope you find my explanation helpful and will be happy to answer any other questions you might have.

Maplerock said:
I sense a little frustration in your post. You hit the nail on the head though.

Many don't seem to understand why someone that chose to go to school alone would want to go to school with 4000 plus for college, then be a leader of dozens if not hundreds after graduation.

There are probably many valid reasons for being home schooled, location, religion, etc. Would some of you that went through that process enlighten us on the reasons you chose to home school?
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@Tigger

For my own education, how did your DD handle her SOEs? I've been curious about this aspect on completing an applicants file.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
Thank you Tigger.

None of my questions or comments are pointed at you or your daughter. Of course I don't know you or her. I am sure that she is a quality person and a high achieving young lady. At the risk of running this thread away from the sports question, I have a few observations and questions since you offered.

Maybe you live in an area where the educational facilities were less than ideal. Perhaps you were concerned about the discipline in the schools of your residence. You exercised your right and kept your daughter safely at home where she was taught by a teacher. That is the best home school scenario that I can think of. Although I wonder how any one person can provide excellence in chemistry, history, physics, calculus, biology, English, and the wide variety of subjects available in a school. I couldn't. If you could explain that a little I'd appreciate it. I am not against home schooling, I guess I just don't understand it very well.

If you lived in an area like the one in which we live, you would have access to schools where there are top notch facilities and competent teachers in all areas. Safe schools with expert instruction makes for the best education, even if the parent/teacher doing the home schooling is gifted in multiple areas of education. IMPO.

Not knocking your lifestyle, just as you were not knocking others. You explained that you were in search of excellence and you achieved it obviously. Your daughter is one of the best kids in the nation... as are her classmates at USAFA. I never cease to be amazed by these wonderful young people. Whether home schooled, from public schools, prior enlisted, college transfers, or however they got there, I just love these kids!
 
Well I will be happy to answer your question but you will have to tell me what an SOE is! I looked all over the forums and couldn't find that one:)

tug_boat said:
For my own education, how did your DD handle her SOEs? I've been curious about this aspect on completing an applicants file.

Push Hard, Press Forward
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School Official Evaluation (english, math and chem/physics teachers)
 
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Just to clarify some of the earlier remarks, my posting of the USNA & WP links show the % of those participating in varsity ATHLETICS (~90%). Those winning varisty letters is a sub-set of that (WP shows that category, USNA does not).

Your WCS is the SUM of all of the various things counted which includes ECA's, sports, leadership....etc. Obviously, the more things someone has been involved with, the more points they were earn.
 
We live in a lovely community with some of the highest property taxes in the state. The schools here are new, beautiful and rated excellent. However, the instruction simply did not meet the needs of our children.

We did not choose to homeschool out of fear. My kiddos were regularly out exploring this big wonderful world without me! I didn't have passwords to their Facebook accounts and to this day I am not friends with them on Facebook:) They are very independent...much like their parents.

I am not an educator professionally. However, I felt more than qualified to teach my children and my husband and I had clear goals for what we wanted to accomplish. With three graduate degrees between us...I am completing my final one (I swear!), we were able to provide the resources and assistance that our children needed. If we needed other resources we found and provided those. We chose to homeschool for excellence. Was it perfect? No, but nothing is! It was right for us and our objectives were achieved.

I respectfully disagree with how you define the "best education" and appreciate your interest in attempting to understand homeschooling more fully.

Maplerock said:
None of my questions or comments are pointed at you or your daughter. Of course I don't know you or her. I am sure that she is a quality person and a high achieving young lady. At the risk of running this thread away from the sports question, I have a few observations and questions since you offered.

Maybe you live in an area where the educational facilities were less than ideal. Perhaps you were concerned about the discipline in the schools of your residence. You exercised your right and kept your daughter safely at home where she was taught by a teacher. That is the best home school scenario that I can think of. Although I wonder how any one person can provide excellence in chemistry, history, physics, calculus, biology, English, and the wide variety of subjects available in a school. I couldn't. If you could explain that a little I'd appreciate it. I am not against home schooling, I guess I just don't understand it very well.

If you lived in an area like the one in which we live, you would have access to schools where there are top notch facilities and competent teachers in all areas. Safe schools with expert instruction makes for the best education, even if the parent/teacher doing the home schooling is gifted in multiple areas of education. IMPO.

Not knocking your lifestyle, just as you were not knocking others. You explained that you were in search of excellence and you achieved it obviously. Your daughter is one of the best kids in the nation... as are her classmates at USAFA. I never cease to be amazed by these wonderful young people. Whether home schooled, from public schools, prior enlisted, college transfers, or however they got there, I just love these kids!
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