How difficult is it to catch up (never done subjects at Y8)

[Feminine]

We are relocating to the UK next month.

We have been in the states for 7 years, there are some subjects DS13 (yr8) has never even tried.

No science (as it is studied in UK) no french or biology...there are probably more actually

I know they haven't started the GCSEs yet, but March of yr8 seems to not leave much time.

I know he could catch up with subjects he already has knowledge ...what about the others though?

Thanks so much.

[mummytime]

A friend of mine sent her daughter in year 9 to school, the girls had been previously home educated (she asked to go to school). She caught up fine.
I would put some money aside for some extra tuition, and ask the school/teachers to let you know when she needs some, and ask if they can recommend someone. My friends daughter got some tuition for a while for science with a teacher at the school (not her teacher).
She did fine when it came to GCSEs.

[cottonmouth]

He should be able to catch up.

Has he done Spanish in the USA?

[Feminine]

Thats weird, I answered this earlier...must have hit preview by mistake!

Anyway, no he hasn't done any Spanish yet.

[Trix2323]

Whatever he has been doing before will "count" in that he will have been learning to learn. The fact that some curriculum details are different will not matter so much. It depends on how bright he is and how much he is willing to work. If he is bright, then there should be no problem. If he is willing to work hard, again there should be no problem. If he is more average on both counts, then he will - after a period of adjustment - fit right in to where he would have been, had he been in the system for a longer time.

There would be a bit of extra work, but overall you probably shouldn't worry too much.

On French, if he needs to catch up, it is worth seeing whether you can have some time - perhaps a family holiday or even a weekend away - in a French-speaking place. This would motivate anyone to learn a language, compared with if they have never heard it used at all.

I moved a DS recently into year 8 who had never studied in English before, and he fitted right in.

Good luck!

[Feminine]

Trix thanks so much, thats very encouraging.

For many years he was a great student, something with the system here (Victorian) made him rebel and he now does very little work :(

However, if he applies himself, he should still be able to score average grades...not ideal but our reality these days!

I'm very impressed with your son, thats wonderful :)

Oh, and I will look in to the French ideas.

[Idratherbemuckingout]

There's absolutely loads you can get off the internet that will help him. Go to the Galore Park website and get some of their books. They are aimed at Common Entrance, but if you got the french and science books, they would give your child a head start. You have holidays in which to help him, plus weekends (he'll so love you for that) but to be honest, the standards of french in particular are so low nowadays he won't have to work very hard to catch up with them.
March of Year 8 will mean only five terms work to catch up on.
I gather that not a huge amount gets learned each term from looking at stuff online. A few good books, some good websites etc, should sort it for him, if he applies himself. And you do too.

[Feminine]

Thanks Id thats very helpful and reassuring :)

I'm very determined