<p>I'm not happy with the way schools work. I don't like the things they do to the way your mind works. I don't believe in living up to other peoples' conceptions of what you should do, who you should be - schools, parents, teachers all have their own ideas and it prohibits you from experimenting and messing up and going back to 0 and looking up instead of down. Basically, I don't agree with structured schooling and I don't believe that a formal education is better for your mind than is implementing your own creativity, maybe using mathematics and certain subjects as a means to hone your problem solving, but other than that I don't agree with a lot of schools.
I don't love homeschooling because even though well-intentioned, I don't want to spend these years living up to a pre-formed image of what's perfect, I don't want to follow what morals my parents and friends and society say is right. I want to find my own life and my own world and use my own mind. I guess college is probably better because you don't have to take all classes, and you have more freedom supposedly and can be out, alive... but I'm in 9th grade and even if I graduate early it will be several years before I have that option. Simon's Rock is something I considered however it seems very removed, and extremely centered on academics which would probably take up almost all of my time. I hope I'm not just sounding like a kid who doesn't want to do their homework. I'm serious. I've been through many routes and I'm speaking from my own experience tempered by time and I know what calls myself better than other people do. High school is not the right place for me. Homeschool is too constricting. I'm pretty desperate here.</p>
<p>Besant Hill?</p>
<p>Besant Hill has been a place where individual potential is maximized in a learning environment that affords students the opportunity to discover their creative, as well as their intellectual, abilities and prevents what founder Aldous Huxley said, “the premature hardening of the mental arteries.” We are a school that honors the individual — and we have no desire to be part of an evolution or revolution that instills in students a college-prep education neither of common mediocrity, nor even for ordinary distinction. We believe, for example, that intellectual curiosity, not competition for grades, should be the motivating factor in the educational process.</p>
<p>Thanks Pelicandad. I will look into it.</p>
<p>Putney in Vermont</p>
<p>You might want to check out this book: “The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education,” by Grace Llewellyn. It was written in 1998; she has several newer books out, too. Here’s a blurb from an amazon review:</p>
<p>You won’t find this book on a school library shelf–it’s pure teenage anarchy. While many homeschooling authors hem and haw that learning at home isn’t for everyone, this manifesto practically tells kids they’re losers if they do otherwise. With the exception of a forwarding note to parents, this book is written entirely for teenagers, and the first 75 pages explain why school is a waste of time. Grace Llewellyn insists that people learn better when they are self-motivated and not confined by school walls. Instead of homeschooling, which connotes setting up a school at home, Llewellyn prefers “unschooling,” a learning method with no structure or formal curriculum. There are tips here you won’t hear from a school guidance counselor. Llewellyn urges kids to take a vacation–at least for a week–after quitting school to purge its influence. “Throw darts at a picture of your school” or “Make a bonfire of old worksheets,” she advises. She spends an entire chapter on the gentle art of persuading parents that this is a good idea. Then she gets serious. Llewellyn urges teens to turn off the TV, get outside, and turn to their local libraries, museums, the Internet, and other resources for information. She devotes many chapters to books and suggestions for teaching yourself science, math, social sciences, English, foreign languages, and the arts. She also includes advice on jobs and getting into college, assuring teens that, contrary to what they’ve been told in school, they won’t be flipping burgers for the rest of their days if they drop out.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. I’ll check out that book, while I can’t find the right words for it I was very much always the square peg in the round hole and my time in school was not something I could ever want to relive. My only difficulty in homeschooling is that although it is a better alternative than being around most of the people I met in schools, I’m a total introvert and not the type to make friends easily or fast, so I largely have no one talk to and share ideas with and learn from, as my parents are really no-nonsense and difficult to talk to outside of practicalities. And also I live in a big city, in a not-so-safe part of town so I can’t wander around by myself.</p>
<p>They say that the Saint James School in Hagerstown Maryland is called the boarding school where one feels that its not a boarding school. Students take 5 subjects adn are required to particiapte in sports all three semesters.</p>
<p>You might want to look at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry NY. Not the typical prep school, diversity, inclusivity, nonconformity & individualism are all valued & supported. The school is small (under 450 with under 175 boarders) and a short train ride away from New York City. Definitely not for everyone, but might be what you are looking for.</p>
<p>Masters is not what the OP is looking for. The community definitely values the individual and has terrific support for the arts, but it is in most ways a pretty typical prep school. (Harkness tables do not equate to laying out your own educational path.)</p>
<p>The OP is looking for a place that is not
and the OP doesn’t
Academic engagement and ethical action are right at the top of what Masters values most. </p>
<p>I hope you find a solution, OP, but I wouldn’t recommend looking at Masters.</p>
<p>As a veteran homeschooler and now a prep school parent…you really sound like an unschooler to me. </p>
<p>Homeschooling not restrictive by nature, though it sounds like your parents’ version of it may be. Ditto the recommendation of the Teenage Liberation Handbook–but to begin, try googling unschooling high school. You’ll find all sorts of people who feel the way you do and academic programs to support them. That on-line network can be a great to connect to other teens when you’re introverted and most big cities have support groups specifically geared toward unschoolers where you could meet other kids like yourself. </p>
<p>I’m not sure you’ll be able to talk your parents into it, but it’s always best to jump into the fray armed with knowledge and concrete options.</p>
<p>What about High Mowing School ( a Waldorf School) in NH?</p>
<p>Also, Buxton (Williamstown, MA) and Cambridge School of Weston (MA).</p>
<p>If you really like the arts there are great arts schools where the academics come second to your dedicated art. In the US there are three: Walnut Hill (MA), Interlochen (MI), and Idyllwild (CA). For music at least it is like being at a conservatory, but you still have to complete academic requirements to graduate. I think I will probably apply for composition and/or cello at Walnut Hill. Music is a big deal for me, and The Cambridge School of Weston is not a bad choice either. If you want a strong non-traditional education focus I would look at the Thomas Jefferson School (MO). They use a classical philosophy for education. You take a classic language, a modern language, language arts, math, science and history all between 8:30 am and 1:10 pm. That time also includes a free period and lunch. The rest of the day you have to yourself to do whatever.</p>