I believe most public high schools have computers in the school for students to use. My kids (6) did not ever bring their laptops to school. They can always bring their work on flash drives if needed. Times change though, my last DD graduated 2010, cell phones were not allowed in class.

Can your DD ask her friends from her music group? Does the school have an 'orientation' day just for the new students so that they can find their lockers and walk through their schedule so that they know where theirs classes are. It's so embarrassing for a new student to walk into class late.

I would personally call the counselor's office and either speak with the counselor or one of the assistants. Other questions might arise during a conversation that will help your DD integrate into the student body. It could even be helpful for the counselor to know that DD was home schooled and the counselor might have some additional advice.

Most teachers will tell the students the first day of class if there are any specific items that are required for class - a 1" 3 ring binder or a spiral college ruled notebook, index cards etc. The students at our HS do not take laptops to class.

I have two highschoolers and it really depends on the school and the student. My kids bring netbooks into school, but would not bring a large laptop. Most kids still use regular notebooks. Some teachers put their supply list on the school's website and some wait till the first day of school. As others have suggested, the best thing to do is to ask the kids you know that go to the school and the guidance councelor. Good luck to your DD! We are in a high school of 900 and it is actually considered "small". I think it is a great size; not too big to get lost, but large enough to find "your kind of people".

Our high school provided desktop computers when they were needed. However, DD has had her own computer at home (IIRC, since middle school), as the homework assignments really required using a computer. I think she may have had desktop until high school and then laptop - Dells or HP. Switched to Apple laptop for college, but needed to add the Microsoft Word, etc. for submitting work to her professors.

During classtime, DD used notebooks. Each year the teachers had differing requirements as to what they wanted the students to have for use in class. At the high school level, we didn't shop for school supplies until the weekend after the first week of classes. DD just took a tablet with her the first few days for notes, etc. Our schools start back the Wednesday after Labor Day and on a 1/2 day schedule until the following Monday.

I would call the school with any questions or concerns. They should be available through the summer, albeit on a limited basis. You may get voicemails that tell you when so-and-so will be in the office. Best person to call would be someone in the guidance office IMO.

Congrats to your DD on her musical abilities, and best of luck to your DD in high school!

Call the guidance counselor -- don't be shy or embarrassed. This is a big transition for both your daughter and you, and I'm sure your daughter is nervous and has as many questions as you do. Make an app't for both of you to go in and talk to someone. I'm sure the school employees want to put both of you at ease. Doing this will put you more at ease when you have to go into the counselor's office for any other issue that might pop up (like college discussions). You want to start to build the foundations of a good relationship (and not just an on-paper-only or phone-call-only relationship) now.

Another suggestion: Ask your daughter if she'd like to invite a couple of the other students in the music group to come over to your house for a before-school barbecue. It'd probably be a nice bonding experience, and then when you're all sitting around the table, you can "casually" ask some of your questions!

When I worked in our high school, students weren't allowed to bring their own laptops. The school computers on the network had various security apps. A student laptop from home wouldn't have compatible antivirus software or perhaps no av program at all. The idea of students using their own laptops & maybe infecting the network gave our IT guy shaking fits :) (Still, the school network was down for almost two months because of an especially pernicious virus this spring.)

judie, maire cate, geogirl & work,

Thanks so much for your helpful replies. I know I sound kind of dufus-ish asking this kind of question--I can hear it said in a creaky old voice "so gosh, what kind of contraptions are the young folks using these days?" : )

We're thinking of the laptop as being used for note-taking, primarily, rather than research like the school computers would be. Geogirl, your point about most kids still using regular notebooks is exactly what I was looking for. I do wonder what will happen if she's got nothing but pen and notebook, though -- I'm sure DD isn't the only one of her age to be better at typing than handwriting! When I hear her type I think how strange it was that I worked my way through college because of my typing speed--10 years of piano study didn't go to waste after all LOL...but today that ability is completely taken for granted.

She could have asked her friend (who's a sophomore) a couple of weeks ago at camp, but she got shy and didn't (I think she's got a complete fear of coming across as a clueless homeschooler). Maybe this will be a good time for her to overcome her embarrassment and let her friend be her 'big sister' in a way...or maybe I'll call the office and ask myself.

work, that's really interesting about not shopping for supplies until after school had started--makes sense. So all these 'back to school' sales where we used to get all our supplies (10 notebooks for $1 - ahhh...one of my favorite weeks of the year : )) are really jumping the gun for public schoolers, I guess? I know they had lists for elementary school kids, but I didn't remember whether there were some for h.s. kids too.

This has all been incredibly helpful. Thanks again!

awm & pammyfay, thank you both for your replies! I had this open this morning, and just now got back home and sent it and of course you all had replied in the interim...

pammyfay, I appreciate the encouragement to go in there and talk in person to the counselor. The person who has handled DD's scheduling has actually been really wonderful so far, but there is a very real prejudice against homeschoolers in this area and I live in fear of being labeled one way or another and having people dismiss us as 'homeschoolers'-- whatever negative overgeneralization that means to them -- so I am finding myself erring on the side of not engaging. I should go in there and let our actual interactions stand in contrast to any pre-formed images they may have.

I wish we could host a party now but we've turned the living room into a storage area for a guest bedroom/craft room and the family room, as the reclaimed white oak flooring we've been amassing in the garage is *finally about to go in*! It's been years! I hope to have the majority of it done by the time school starts, if it works with the schedule of the person we want to work with. But we really can't host anyone quite yet...good idea to keep in the back of my mind, though.

And awm, THANKS for that first-person experience. It really makes it clear that the laptop probably isn't the right thing to use in that environment. The girl will just have to learn to write fast : )

That's a real shame about the prejudice against homeschoolers. If I recall correctly, at the annual national spelling bee in D.C., there have been several years that homeschoolers have ranked in the top tier.

Flyleft, I know nothing about what goes on in high schools these days, but I'm wishing your daughter the very best as she embarks on this exciting transition!

As far as I am concerned, any school counselor worth her salt would welcome with open arms a visit from an involved, interested, caring parent like yourself! I'm sure you'll make a great impression, and the meeting will enable you to get an idea of how the counselor thinks and approaches things.

The music opportunity sounds like a wonderful way for your dd to get things off to a good start, break the ice, and make new friends. It's even better that she already knows a few people through her music classes.

I'm excited for both of you! It's so fun to think about a new school year, a fresh start, and a new friends and experiences coming your dd's way.

Me, too, just wishing your daughter much success in her new school. I feel sure she will do well, as long as she doesn't dress like an Amish kid. That seems to be the perception of home schoolers, I guess thanks to that tv show about the family with so many kids.

I know our high schools loan laptops to the kids.

Just be sure she doesn't get carpal tunnel syndrome! ;)

I've heard three stereotypes of home-school families:

- Ultra-conservative religious (Don't want my kid exposed to evolution, sinners, bad element, etc.)

- Ultra-liberal hippie (Want my child to learn at his/her own pace, whatever that might be...)

- Intelligentsia / Tiger Mother / Super-Mom (I can educate my [generally gifted] child much better than the lowest-common-denominator driven system can.)

I imagine your school will try to mentally peg you into one of these categories, so if you have a preference for which stereotype they paint you with, some 'spin' might help...

For what it's worth, my college professor brother LOVES home schooled kids and says they generally make MUCH better students because they are used to self-directed learning and are generally much more intellectually curious.