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An additional high school year?


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Hi,

 

First let me say are not really doing "strictly" classical education anymore, but I like these boards, and I'm assuming there are others in my situation here and it's ok to post some of my questions?

 

I feel like we may have to take an additional year to complete what my dd is behind on for graduation. Has anyone else had to do that? She would be 19 when she graduates, but it's either that or have her graduate with gaps. I would feel much better for her with having a complete high school time and covering a lot more than we would if we rush to get her finished in 2.5 years.

 

I don't know whether she will attend a four year college, but since we are behind on most of the subjects I do feel like I want to sort of "re-group" and try my best to get her what she needs for graduation.

 

Any advice is so appreciated.

 

TIA,

 

~Robin

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Thanks to all for your advice. Yes, we do have a CC near us and dual enrollment may be something to consider...........although......I think she may have the gaps in her education that her ACT scores would not be high enough (for admission) if she takes it now. We have some time to work on that, though.

 

Now to define gaps is complicated, but I'll try to keep it short.

 

Ever know of a student that has the more common sense type education, but doesn't do academics well? She is a more than functionally literate and could keep a checkbook. So that's covered! ha!

 

It's just that my concern is not testing well, and she doesn't have a great retention. She is only on Algebra 1/2 in 10th grade. And I'm using lower grades in Grammar. Want to cover World Geography, World History and at least Biology before she graduates. Haven't done much writing of essays but she has 1.5 years so far of Public Speaking.

 

So the gaps are in writing and math. Really a lot of math is behind, don't you think?

 

Thanks again!

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My dd struggles greatly with math and is not the most motivated student. She is 14, her birthday is at the end of July. I wish now I had "held her back" earlier.

 

She will probably do 5 years of "high school", especially due to her math issues. She says she is not interested in attending college but my dh and I want her to at least earn an AA degree from our local jr. college. She is also considering a year of work between high school and community college . . . something I think will open her eyes and help change her mind about continuing education.

 

As others have said, we are fortunate to do what we want. At first I was upset at the thought of her taking more time for high school, but now I realize that if she is not finished to our satisfaction that is okay.

 

Also, check with your local CC . . . many do not require ACT for entry. Our local CC college only requires their own "placement" tests to see where the student is with regards to math and writing. They offer remedial courses for those who need help in those areas, something my dd may be doing for math, but I am okay with that.

 

Adrianne in IL

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My oldest dd was at (about) a 10th grade level across the board when I graduated her last spring. She was almost 19.

 

DD completed Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.

Completed the equivalent of 1.5 years of high school English (writing /lit/ grammar)

 

Completed 2 science courses--General Science and 'watched' Biology video lectures

 

Completed American History (pre-Civil war) and one semester of Geography.

 

All of the above in 4 years!

 

She was making progress but it was at a turtle's rate!

 

She enrolled at the local CC this past fall. She has to be enrolled full time to stay on our insurance...so she took 12 hours.

 

Yesterday she received an invitation to join the CC's HONOR SOCIETY! Yes she has an A average and took 'regular' level courses (not remedial!).

 

She is taking 13 hours this semester and has changed her 'major' to photography--she LOVES her photography classes she is taking this semester--not that excited about her Math topics (a weird sort of consumer/business Math class) and Sociology.

 

DD has been SLOW to mature--but she is getting there! She was ready to be treated like an adult--and if we would have 'retained' her an extra year I think she would have resented it.

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I think she may have the gaps in her education that her ACT scores would not be high enough (for admission) if she takes it now.

 

As a previous poster suggested, do check with your CC ~ generally they do *not* require ACT/SAT scores for admission. CCs cater to adults as well as recent HS graduates, so they're not going to require a middle-aged adult to take the ACT in order to register for a class or two! Our CCs use the Accuplacer tests, which are much shorter and easier than the ACT or SAT. There are some sample questions here, you can see what the level of difficulty is:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/accuplacer/preparation-sample.html

 

And even if a student does poorly on the placement test, rather than denying admission, the test would be used to place the student in remedial classes. Remedial classes would not count for college credit, but they would prepare the student for taking credited courses.

 

If it were me, I would plan to have your DD take one or two CC courses in 12th grade, and then perhaps do most or all of "13th Grade" at CC. Then you could graduate her and she could do one more year of CC to complete an AA.

 

I also wouldn't beat yourself up or stress too much about her "gaps," or whether she's completed the same sequence as PS students. The beauty of homeschool is that you can tailor the curriculum to exactly fit each student's interests, abilities, and pace. She would probably have even more "gaps" if she were in PS, because they would have been passing her along every year whether she understood the material or not.

 

Jackie

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