Prepping for High School with PCS

It is that time again......grade 8's completing their option sheets, attempting to plan the rest of their lives with  peer pressures and minimal direction.  Do we really expect these 13 year olds to determine their life goals and career options with the underdeveloped brains that they possess????  I have to ask Jake at least twice if he is sure the jeans he is about to buy fit properly.  (He tends to think he is still in a size 12!!!)...and thinking ahead for dinner ideas when going grocery shopping?  Yeah right!
So what makes us think that he will be able to tell us if he thinks he will need French in his future, or if he can handle academic level classes?  Throw a brain injury into the mix and who knows what the results will be!

That is why Jake is going to a different school than his peers in his current class.  We are jumping ship from the small, underpopulated Catholic JK to Grade 8 school he is in now, and going to Grade 9 in the public system.  98% of his class will be going to the two local Catholic schools, depending on where they live.  Jake and one other classmate that I know of will be pursuing alternate education.  Don't get me wrong, he is not attending a specialized school or private school.  It just happens that the public school near us has much more to offer to those who have different learning styles than the academic-minded Catholic School.
Robert Bateman High School believes that all children can learn, "some students learn differently, some students have different gifts, some students have different capacities to demonstrate mastery of new learning".  That is where Jake needs to be.  Somewhere that he is supported in his struggles and respected for his talents.  Once he is settled into high school and been given the opportunity to explore different options and technological programs, then he can decide if he wants to apprentice, go to college etc.

I had thought it would be difficult for Jake to even consider leaving his peers for academic reasons, but he was excited to learn about the opprtunities that Bateman offers and had now decided he wants to apprentice to be a chef.  Hmmm....and he is only 13!  Kidding, I know this life decision is not set in stone.  However for him to go from not wanting to finish grade 8 let alone high school, to being enthusiastic about the fall because of the chef program......AMAZING!  (more on the school refusal issues later, that is our current struggle!)