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My high schooler also took classes at the community college. She took classes in Writing, Literature, Math, Science, Art History, and Art.

 

We looked into her taking classes at the local high school. Legally it was possible as homeschooled students in our state can take up to three classes at their local public school. One reason we elected not to go that route is that it would have entailed daily attendance. The community college classes were generally (not always) either twice or three times per week.

 

Taking classes at the community college worked well for our daughter. She enjoyed her classes there (for the most part) and performed well. They also were good preparation for the more rigorous classes she is now taking as a freshman at a four year college.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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For us, it depends on our local schools and our teen's desires.

 

We have decided to use community college. Here are our reasons:

- teen has no interest in going to high school 6hrs/day 5days/wk and then have homework

- public schools here have a 50% graduation rate

- part-time enrollment is available at public school, but reports from friends who are using it confirm that education leaves much to be desired

- private school is $11,000-$15,000/year and only full-time enrollment is available

- community college is free in 10th-12th grade

- 1 to 6 classes may be taken at cc per semester allowing for a mix of home classes, online classes, and cc classes

- teen is allowed to attend cc and play on the public school basketball team (provided he tries out and makes it) which is the only extracurricular activity he's interested in

 

For us, using community college makes the most sense and is what the teen prefers to do (actually the teen prefers to be taught all subject at home by mom, but mom is not capable or willing at the high school level). Most of the homeschooled teens in our area take advantage of the community college.

 

Note: I don't have a high schooler either, but this is our plan on good days. On bad days, though, boarding school looks extremely appealing. Raging hormones are no fun to deal with.

Edited by Sue in St Pete
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>>Thanks for the responses! I'm sure it depends on the community college and I'll have to call ours but, is it typical of cc's to offer free classes to highschoolers?

 

It's not free in my state. Typically, high achieving public schooled 10-12th graders will dual enroll, but they have to pay for every credit hour themselves. If enough from the same high school enroll, they may get lucky and have an instructor teach it at the high school, rather than having to trek over to the CC. The district will not bus anyone over to the CC (although their vo-tech and sped busses go right on by).

 

It is beginning to be typical of high schools that they force high-acheivers into dual enrolling rather than offering classes. For ex. my district does not offer Calc I. It can only be taken by dual enrolling.

 

>>Also can the credits they earn be applied towards highschool and college?

 

Yes, but here it depends on the course and the degree. P.E. for example can't be counted for both...only for CC, never for high school. College Algebra counts for high school Alg. II, but won't count toward many of the degrees at the CC. English 1 will count for 12th grade English and for College Freshman English.

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Thanks for the responses! I'm sure it depends on the community college and I'll have to call ours but, is it typical of cc's to offer free classes to highschoolers?

 

As the above poster mentioned, this varies tremendously by state. In our case, we paid ourselves. A charter school recently began serving our area. One of its pros is that enrollees can take a limited number of paid for classes at the community college. We elected not to go this route as there were strings attached that we did not care for.

 

Also can the credits they earn be applied towards highschool and college?

 

If your child takes classes at a state community college, it is quite likely that those credits could be transferred to a four year state college. (They would presumably have to be college level rather than remedial level classes.) Whether those credits would transfer to a private college or university is not as certain. Each institution will have its own requirements.

 

The classes my daughter took at the community college, we considered part of her high school experience. She entered a fairly selective four year liberal arts college as a freshman.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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Thanks for the responses! I'm sure it depends on the community college and I'll have to call ours but, is it typical of cc's to offer free classes to highschoolers?

Also can the credits they earn be applied towards highschool and college?

 

 

We paid for the classes ourselves so I can't help with that. What we do on our transcript is one semester college class = 1 full year highschool credit. As the others have said I think it depends on the course and the college whether those CC courses will transfer.

Edited by Quiver0f10
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is it typical of cc's to offer free classes to highschoolers?

 

I don't think it's typical. We are very fortunate here.

 

Also can the credits they earn be applied towards highschool and college?

I think what Kareni said is typical.

 

At our cc, they have specific dual enrollment classes. For some, they state that 1 semester of CC = 1 year of high school. For others, not.

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Public schools would depend on your school system. Research it very well, because what they tell you may not be the whole picture. I allowed my gifted ds to go to public school starting in 7th grade. Before I did, I made sure advanced classes would be available for him. But even though the classes were available, the teachers teaching them were inferior and not really interested in their jobs. By 9th grade, ds completely stopped doing his schoolwork because he had discovered that he could get away with it. I pulled him out and went to a mix of community college and homeschooling, with a little more college and a little less homeschooling each year. It has worked out well for us. We had some money put aside for college, which we have now used up, but we believe he will be able to finance much of the rest of his college education with scholarships. He's now a high school senior/college sophomore, depending on how you look at it. He will very likely end up in an Ivy League school next year.

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The overall level of committment and classroom order is so much higher at the local community college compared to the high school my kids would go to. It of course helps that I teach part-time there and know the score, but a number of homeschool families in this area have eased their kids into it with dual enrollment and some have even used it for high school so that the kid got both his/her H.S. Diploma and Associate's on the same day. This college feeds into a number of nationally-ranked state colleges with transfer agreements such that the credits go right over if you plan it right.

 

Not every community college in every state has the same level of quality, but I really don't see any reason NOT to send my kids to the local CC at some point for at least some classes. Time will tell of course.

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