Home ed to secondary advice/experience?

[Meanderer]

My stepdaughter has been HE most of her life, and at 12 is now expressing a strong interest in starting high school but is nervous about being different and not knowing what the others do. She's socially very able and has lots of great skills and qualities but her home ed hasn't followed curriculum and has been very 'free range'. Does anyone have advice or can help us find people who've made this transition? Should there be a lead in time to try to catch up with curriculum or is it best to just jump straight in?! Private flexischool education might be an option for her. I'm not sure whether it would work for her but she seems keen to try apart from this worry of hers.

Usual advice is to quickly whiz through a few workbooks before starting, mainly in order to get familiar with some terminology. For example, a kid whose maths skills are quite reasonable might nevertheless be unfamiliar with some of the associated vocabulary or how certain things are taught. That would also reassure her that the material isn't too daunting after all, so she'll feel more confident when she starts! Ask the school whether there are any subjects for which a prerequisite is essential. For example, does she need to get some foreign language learning under her belt in order to join her age peers?

In terms of how things are done socially, she'll probably have to jump in and figure it out as she goes along. The fact she is socially able means this should be simple for her. She already knows how to observe and conform. My daughter started school at ten and was up to speed with how things were done in a couple of weeks. Depending where your SD lives, it may be possible to reassure her that her peers will be used to other kids arriving with different backgrounds and will think nothing of it. In my area, many kids arrive from different cultures, and some speak little English. If they can do it, so can she!

Thanks yes she'll probably fit right in! It's just the academics...but she's bright and motivated so can hopefully catch up quickly if she stays at it! I feel sad for her cos a lot of it I don't think will be what she needs to learn...feels like a waste of what's left her childhood! But she's really feeling the need to be busy and challenged so I think it's right for her to at least give it a go!