Does anyone have experience with LD students taking the GED rather than fighting their way through high school? My son will be 16 in May, and he is just this year making great strides with homeschooling, which makes me think he may make it to college after all. He is however, on a grade 6 Saxon Math book and has problems with written expression. As you can see, he would be lost as a goose in a high school ( even with their so-called “accomodations”) I feel that if I would concentrate on GED material, he will be ready to take it in a couple of years. I want to send him to two years of Landmark College when I can afford it (after I rob Fort Knox) THEN he will be able to make it in college on his own.
Haven't done it but your plan makes sense
Your plan of focusing on a goal and working step-by-step makes a lot of sense. Yes, you do need math for the SAT’s, but if you do the Saxon and do it right you will be miles ahead of those people who try to skip over steps.
Re: GED and LD
My daughter and I are in the same boat right now. We have always homeschooled her and I am glad we did but we certainly end up with the fuzzy side of the lollipop when it comes to accomodations etc. I am preparing my daugter to take the ged. She is dyslexic and has terrible problems with math. She has very poor working memory. I think that means she cannot remember math facts ie 6x4, easily. she understands concepts and gets answers in the weirdest ways. My older daughter w/o ld took the ged last year so I know a little of what to expect. the ged is in 5 sections. Your son can take one test at a time. He can take one test and wait a while and then take the next test. The community college near you should have all the info. Be prepared to jump through hoops. If you homeschool *and* have an ld child, you are used to doing that! Sometimes, I am very anxious that my daughter will not be able to pass them. Then I remember that lots people that geds are in prison and haven’t had the advantages that my daughter has and then I feel better. the community college will have classes that your son can take. These teachers are accustomed to dealing with a variety of students. I considered having my daughter take a class online for the ged. However, I think that it might be advantageous for her to have a teacher to ask questions of. dont’ be discouraged. A year ago, I would never have thought that my daughter could do the things she is doing. She has finished some community college courses in computers and automotive technology. she took our state’s course for nursing assitants and received her license and is working in an assisted living facility and is considering becoming an lpn soon. Your son can do it! I would encourage you to look into the community college near you. They like homeschoolers and take a personal interest in their students. Finally, (sorry this is so long), I bought a book - Barron’s How to prepare for the ged - and we are using that this semester. It breaks the book into 30 lessons and assures you that at the end of this book, you can take and pass the ged. It comes with a cd-rom that has test similar to the ged and drills to help practice. I believe it will help us alot. It also covers the updated ged and tells how that is different. i do not believe it is now harder, just weighted differently. Keep me informed and I will let you know how we are coming along. Good Luck
Re: GED and LD
If I were to homeschool high school, I would probably do it through Indiana University High School. It’s accredited, and you can work at your own pace.
http://scs.indiana.edu/hs/hs_courses.html
Re: GED and LD
Check out the test — and check out the community college for specific GED courses, too, though if they aren’t prepared to deal with the LDs that could be frustrating. Most cc’s now will work with high-school age students with their pre-credit classes.
Re: GED and LD
Wow! I am currently thinking of homeschooling my son who is 141/2. He is learning disabled and also has significant issues with depression. However has never been a behavioral problem and now that the district is looking for a special hs for him there seems to be a safe place that meets both his needs. I am also interested in finding out if the GED is realistic for him or are we better off striving to find out an on line homeschooling program for him.
I am open to all ideas. Please write especially if you are from the New England area. Thanks
Re: GED and LD
I am home schooling my 16 year old son who also has dyslexia. We are currently enrolled in a christian school in our area who has a home school program. It is diploma based. It is very difficult for him though, we are always having to meet deadlines. I have found that most communities have a literacy program somewhere, the library is a good place to start. At the literacy council they have tudors, and most important they give the GED, on the computer, I think they break it down in small chunks. That way they can see where you childs strengths and weakness are and then develop a plan on how to take the GED according to your childs strengths. What I liked was it is computer based so all the information is accumulated so if you need to take any information to the school it is there. You know, I think it is a shame with all the special education money that is being given to our states, that there are not better programs for our children. It’s not like they don’t exist. I just feel that our children are being short changed somehow. Anyway good luck, and check out the literacy council.
Re: GED and LD
Hi Martha,
My daughter did just that, resigned from high school as a junior, took her GED and then went to a community college before entering a university. Yes she was successful but I would have done it differently if she was going to do it today because the GED has changed. He has to improve his math and writing skills if he is to pass the GED. This is a very hard test and the math portion has both algebra and geometry in it. I would highly recommend that you get Step Up to Writing by Soprie West and start teaching him how to write. It is an excellent program and has taken my students from not being able to write a sentence to writing research papers in a year. How is his reading? If you want, email me privately and I will try to help.
High School programs
You need to investigate these programs thoroughly.
I felt compelled to reply to this post because our experience with one class through Indiana University was a totally mixed bag. Our teacher did NOT communicate via email well and there was a tremendous lag of time between sending in assignments and receiving feedback. For an LD student, this could be more trouble than it’s worth.
Just my .02
Elizabeth
Martha, I am sorry that I do not have a direct answer to your question, but I have heard that the GED was being revised and is more difficult than it used to be. However, it does make sense to find out the skills it reqires and just work on them at this point if you would find a GED desirable. I have read that some homeschoolers choose to give their own diploma instead, as the GED is most often used by kids who have dropped out of regular high school, so there may be a subtle stigma involved. However, a homeschool diploma and SAT will get your student into most colleges, but he will at least have to have Alg. I and Geometry to do well on the SAT. Plus, colleges will require Alg. II, usually. Some community colleges do offer the remedial algebra courses but here they do not carry college level credit.
Janis