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It's hard to mix oil and water.  Sure they are both liquids, but they really are two completely different substances.   When I hear "What she really wants is the peer interaction she'd get at a school," I think about oil and water.

Mixing peer interaction and school academics is similar to mixing oil and water.   They may seem similar.  They both involve teenagers who like to talk, right?  But they are two completely different things.  In school academics, most of the time students are instructed to be quiet, avoid talking.  They are shuffled between classroom, with only a 50 minutes per group of peers in the class.  It's often difficult to truly interact with kids in a classroom situation.  Even times when kids are working on projects together, or having group discussions they are usually being tightly controlled by a teacher and the clock.  Unstructured time to find and make friends at school is very limited.

Some kids that want peers, friendships, and socialization more than anything. What I often recommend is that they separate socialization from academics. In other words, look for friends within ACTIVITIES, rather than within school. Try to find classes for art, dance, sports teams, debate, youth groups, etc.

It's not as much fun to mix academics with socialization as it may sound!



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