How far accelerated?

[2smartones]

If you have more than one child, answer based on the one that is/was the most accelerated. If you're you're not sure yet, take your best guess.

 

edited to say...

 

I should've specified the reason I said "high school coursework". I didn't mean graduation. I just meant when they'd be "academically" ready for college.

Edited April 2, 2010 by 2smartones

[Dinsfamily]

Okay, so we're just finishing Kindy, so a lot could change between now and then but...

 

I chose 17 because that's the age my ds would normally graduate from high school. He's most accelerated in math at this age, but he's ahead in the other 2rs as well. I mapped out a math plan for him and easily found plenty of material to fill in any extra years he might have. Thankfully, AoPS has a lot of programs and they're still writing more. Other subjects seem even easier to go deeper into instead of faster. Another option for us is to enroll him in college courses as an extension of high school.

 

Now, we could always decide later to graduate him early, but there would have to be good reasons for it (ie a plan).

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I have no idea, since my oldest is only 5 1/2. I plan to graduate her at 17 1/2, as she has started kindergarten at just turned age 5. The others would graduate at 18. If they finish high school level work early we'll just work at a higher level or supplement with college courses.

[Laura Corin]

We have taken his education broad, so he started on high school work at eleven but will be attending bricks-and-mortar high school from age 13 to 17.

 

Laura

[Gratia271]

Oldest dd will either complete her HS coursework by 13 or 14. To be conservative, I chose 14.

[Dmmetler]

I have no clue what to pick. She's really advanced in some areas, but I couldn't even imagine doing another grade skip in a classroom setting now because of physical and emotional maturity. I guess maybe 16? That's when both her father and I entered college full-time.

[patchfire]

I chose 17, because she'll be 17 at the end of thirteen years of homeschooling, grades K-12. While she may do dual-enrollment classes in the last years of high school, our goal is not to graduate her early. She will be able to go broad and deep, though not necessarily in the same areas.

[melmichigan]

There are two different ways to answer that. She will be done with HS material, by age 12 or 13, conservatively. When will she finish "high school", as in when will I graduate her, that really depends yet on her maturity. We are hoping our district comes through with a proposed junior college she could attend for the last two years.

[EKS]

My younger son will likely finish standard high school work at 14 (with some subjects being even earlier). However, he graduates when I decide he's done, which I don't anticipate being before he's 17. He will probably do a year of higher level stuff with me and then move on to community college courses.

[Cera]

My oldest is only 5 1/2 so it is purely a guess but I expect to start dual enrollment with her by 15. Prior to that we will just add depth to keep her interested and she can actually graduate at 17 (16 if she matures faster than I expect).

[Maryalice]

My ds (always homeschooled) graduated high school at 15 yo, double major college (loved it and did not want to rush through) at 19, law school at 22 yo.

 

I really don't think that anyone with young children can predict what path their child will take and give a graduation age. There are way too many variables - maturity, interest, academic pace, economics (scholarships available) etc. Finishing the "academics" was the least determining variable. I don't think that we knew when he was going to graduate until 6 months before we graduated him.

[SkateLeft]

My oldest was legally grade skipped in kindergarten. Now, as a 13 yo high school freshman (14 in July), she's well beyond high school in terms of her abilities to read, write and synthesize. Her math skills are solidly on grade level.

 

She already has several college courses in writing, literature and art under her belt, and additional high school English and fine arts credit from accredited high school courses she took when she was younger. Although we tried a virtual charter high school this year, she wants to go back to homeschooling next year because she misses the freedom and hates the busy work. She also craves meaningful discussion, which is absent in the virtual high school setting.

 

She plans to enter Minnesota's PSEO program as a full-time college student the year after next. She'll be 15.

[joannqn]

I chose 17 because my kids are officially grade skipped one year, and at this time, I don't plan on any more official grade skips. I'll find something to fill in the time. I expect they'll be doing college level work before they graduate officially.

[Truscifi]

I chose 17 because even though he is 3 grades or more ahead in all subjects right now, if he doesn't slow down on his own I plan to add in some 'elective' type courses in middle/high school. I am looking at adding some focused history and lit classes, and some different math programs (number theory, for example). If he wants to graduate early and has a plan for it, I may let him, but I don't plan to encourage it myself. Of course, he just turned 6, so who knows what will happen over the next few years. :tongue_smilie:

[LisaDSB]

Wow. I have absolutely no idea what the future holds and I don't even want to make a guess! My DS9 is doing Thinkwell beginning algebra -- is that grade 9 level? -- and doing well at it. Today he started going on to his speech therapist (he doesn't say his "r" sound well) in some detail about his interests in theoretical physics and astronomy and she was literally floored. She called him a genius, and the next Einstein (I wish she hadn't!) and said she wanted him to give a lecture about astronomy for kids in her group class that she would videotape and take in to them.

 

When I hear him talking like that (and listen from the perspective of another adult, which is different from the tuning-out I often do of his constant ramblings), I really wonder if maybe he could race through his academics very quickly and start university at 12 or 14. I'm probably holding him back, and not giving him enough challenge in science (although, from listening to him, it certainly seems that he's quite capable of learning everything he needs all by himself).

 

On the other hand, he's such an absent-minded professor type that I fear for his personal safety if he were set free too soon.

 

Probably what will happen is that he starts taking university courses early (maybe at high school age?) at our local campus and then moves away for graduate work.

 

The younger one is even smarter, if IQ tests are to be believed, and I could see him moving away early -- he is very independent and self-assured.

 

I didn't vote because I really don't know what to say.

 

Sorry - this turned into more of a brag on the wrong thread.....

[LauraGB]

If we continue on the same track, I suspect late 16, early 17. I don't want to officially graduate them too early because I don't really want them to just go to work or to college that early. I'm certainly happy to allow them to take some college courses earlier as it becomes necessary. What I would like to do, however, is take that interim year and travel with them. After an experience like that, I think they will be better equipped to decide what route they'd like to go.

 

But we'll see. That's how I've got it planned for now, anyway.

[Dinsfamily]

If we continue on the same track, I suspect late 16, early 17. I don't want to officially graduate them too early because I don't really want them to just go to work or to college that early. I'm certainly happy to allow them to take some college courses earlier as it becomes necessary. What I would like to do, however, is take that interim year and travel with them. After an experience like that, I think they will be better equipped to decide what route they'd like to go.

 

But we'll see. That's how I've got it planned for now, anyway.

 

Now, that sounds like a GREAT idea!! I'll have to file that away for future reference.

[JennW in SoCal]

You should read SWB's several blog posts about early college and gap years.

Susan's blog

 

My oldest son graduated at 17, started community college and moved across the country the day after he turned 18 to start working. He's had an education and career plan set since he was 12 or 13, and by golly, he is sticking with it!

 

My youngest will have enough high school credits at 16 to get a diploma from the charter school, but he will continue taking math and science courses at the community college for at least another year or two. I'd also love for him to have a gap year of travelling and working much like Susan's son so he can finish growing up before heading away to college.

[KristenS]

I have no idea. Mine both have winter birthdays, so they end up on the older end of the spectrum, 18 I guess, without grade skipping. But they are both working ahead about a year (pre-k doing K and 2nd doing 3rd) and this is without really 'pushing' ... so when they really buckle down and work, who knows? I could see them completing high school level stuff in middle school ... or not.

 

I'm guessing they'll probably take a nice balance and graduate about a year early, which will still be 17 for both of them so it won't really look early. I'm hoping they'll take those years to not only do rigorous academics but also explore volunteer work and internships, to get a feel for their skills and interests. I'd happily include an extra year for that sort of thing, even.

 

Not a helpful answer, I guess. :) But mine are too young to make too many predictions right now ... and they keep surprising me.

[homemomandnild]

We are adding more advanced topics into our last few years of school because we don't want to graduate too early. Dd is not overly motivated to finish early anyways.

[LisaKinVA]

I put 17... but that's only because we've planned on "extra" courses, not just meeting HS requirements to graduate.

 

Right now, if their current paths continue, the kiddos will start HS math in elementary school (6th), and be finishing Calculus before they can drive. Language Arts... again finishing basic English requirements early, enabling them to take other courses (Journalism, English Lit...)

 

There are so many electives and other opportunities (internships), I really hope my children can take advantage of being "ahead" in some subjects to allow them to explore others... with the idea that they may find a course of study for college they truly enjoy, and are "good" at.

[Reya]

11 or younger.

 

My DS is the "slow" one, and he'll have finished calc II before he's out of "elementary" school. DD, who has no LDs, looks like she'll be faster.

 

Right now, it looks like this:

 

K: 1st grade to halfway through 4th in math. To 6th grade in reading level, on-grade-level for writing.

 

1st, accomplished: 4th through beginning Algebra I in math. To 8th grade in reading level, with some reading done at the 10th/11th grade levels. Half of Latin I, part of Spanish I.

 

2nd (predicted): NEM I and II. Some IMACs in math, too. 9th/10th grade reading level. Latin I finished. Spanish I finished. Mandarin I begun.

 

3rd (predicted): NEM II (last part), III, and IV. Some IMACs. 10th/11th grade reading level. Latin II. Spanish II. Mandarin I. French I begun.

 

4th (predicted): Additional Mathematics in Singapore, start Singapore College Math. Some more IMACs. 11th/12th grade reading level. Latin III. Spanish II/III. Mandarin I/II. French I. Some other language begun. (DS loooooves languages. His two big things are language and math.)

 

5th (predicted): Finish Singapore's College Math and do a Calc II program. IMACs. Solid 12th grade reading level. AP Latin. Spanish III/AP. Mandarin II/III. French II. Some other language continued, and if he insists, another begun.

 

We'll see about college....

[Laura Corin]

To 8th grade in reading level, with some reading done at the 10th/11th grade levels.

 

I've found this difficult all the way through, but the issue is finally ironing itself out now Calvin is a teenager. He was easily capable of comprehending high school texts when he was quite small, but some of the issues raised were too frightening or sexually inappropriate. For example, in the last year he's read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Merchant of Venice, Ethan Frome and Frankenstein, and he wants to read Lord of the Flies. At school when he goes this autumn he'll be studying (amongst others):

 

Journey’s End, Death of a Salesman, The Caretaker, Whose Life is it, Anyway? Ten D H Lawrence Stories, Empire of the Sun, Things Fall Apart, The Old Man and the Sea, Nineteen Eighty-Four

 

He just wouldn't have been emotionally ready for some of these texts before.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Reya]

Oh, my, we're staying WAY away from reading content that isn't elementary at the moment. DS is not particularly mature for his age--he's probably got a 10-year-old's maturity level at 7, maybe an 11-year-old's. He's in NO way ready for most books with a high school content. And with many books, I am in NO hurry for him to read them. Fortunately, unless things change, he'll be just fine passing AP tests without having read much "adult" works. And he cans tart college having passed out of all English lit requirements and get the technical degree he wants BEFORE he tackles anything like that.

 

I have absolutely no problem with my son working on a master's in computer engineering before he can handle 1984! And AP tests can get him there.

 

(I'm not going to have a transcript all glowing and shiny to get him into whatever university he wants. He's staying at HOME and going to the local state university--which is first-tier in his topics of interest, anyway! So all he needs are enough high-school level books to make his English credits not seem ridiculous, and with any luck, his reading and language comprehension will make up for what with undoubtedly be a less than stellar essay on the AP test.)

 

He reads Lang's fairy tales and Kipling now--those are what's at the true high school level in vocabulary, though they are meant for children. His first 12th grade-level text, in terms of vocabulary, will probably be Swiss Family Robinson. I want his reading vocab level to continue to rise, but that doesn't mean growing up too fast!

 

He'll do "ancients" first with HS-level reading, we requires precious little "adult" material. In fact, there's very little in the way of subtly of any type--or more fraught-ness, or whatever--until the late 18th century, and even then, there isn't much until the 20th. So he have an enormous amount of literature he can explore without having gotten into any of that!

 

Reading/lit is the one area in which TWTM's default recommendations are advanced. The reading list is really excellent, but it does require a very high reading level from the outset.

 

The "expanded" route for high school will only take us so far now. DS is ready, going into second grade, for high school course work in math, science, and foreign languages--and I mean FULLY high school, in every way. But in spelling, he'll be ready for 4th grade, and in composition, he'll be like kids starting 3rd. His reading level would be high enough, vocab-wise, to struggle through a lit course, but he wouldn't understand any of the adult content, much less be ready for it. He'd be completely baffled by the whole thing. With that kind of discrepancy going on, I can't do justice to his higher levels of ability by keeping him in high school until 15 or 16, but at the same time, he has no business taking a college-level literature course.

 

So the tentative plan now is to expand high school math and science as much as is practical and then, when I'm out of steam (and honestly, it'll come to the point where I'll have to work my backside off to check his math, and I don't have that much interest in learning senior college-level topics), he'll go to college. It'll be fulltime so he can get whatever scholarships he might get (and I won't have to pay through the nose for a la carte--I had DS immediately out of college, so we haven't had much of a chance to save up for his!), but we'll try to get all the core courses out of the way through testing out while not exposing him to inappropriate material.

 

BUT...we're planning on still homeschooling over the summer so that he will, eventually, get all those topics, so it'll be all math and science during the school year and history and literature during the summers.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Reya

[Laura Corin]

Fortunately, unless things change, he'll be just fine passing AP tests without having read much "adult" works. And he cans tart college having passed out of all English lit requirements and get the technical degree he wants BEFORE he tackles anything like that.

 

I have absolutely no problem with my son working on a master's in computer engineering before he can handle 1984! And AP tests can get him there.

 

 

The UK high school exams have defined curricula, so it would be hard to avoid emotionally difficult works. The ones I quoted above that Calvin will be studying at school this autumn are part of the defined curriculum for one exam.

 

If your son chooses to go to university early while living at home, you could always run more literature/history studies in parallel - just for enrichment, rather than for credit.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[Reya]

The UK high school exams have defined curricula, so it would be hard to avoid emotionally difficult works. The ones I quoted above that Calvin will be studying at school this autumn are part of the defined curriculum for one exam.

 

If your son chooses to go to university early while living at home, you could always run more literature/history studies in parallel - just for enrichment, rather than for credit.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

 

Yep, no credit by then. We probably won't do much in parallel due to finances. I'll want him to be going full time with a full course load when he goes, so it doesn't kill the wallet--that's why I said summers. Back when I was thinking about college, Cambridge and Oxford were expensive. Now they look like the bargain of the year! The prices of US college have just skyrocketed.

 

There aren't any particular books that have to be studied in the US. You have to develop the skills to do well enough on the SAT, is all. And you can develop those skills reading Swiss Family Robinson (12th grade reading level, if you get the Victorian translation) as well or better than reading Catcher in the Rye (4th grade reading level).

 

For the AP lit test, there are books that probably should be read, but you can still avoid any particularly "difficult" ones. An Invitation To The Wedding is in a different category than, say, Shakespeare. (My high school is STILL reading the same AP lit list. *crosses eyes*)

[Laura Corin]

Back when I was thinking about college, Cambridge and Oxford were expensive. Now they look like the bargain of the year! The prices of US college have just skyrocketed.

 

 

My boys are dual UK/US citizens, but they won't be going to university in the US unless they can get scholarships. Currently it's free for UK citizens who are Scottish residents to go to university in Scotland. Other UK universities (including Oxford and Cambridge) are about 3,000 pounds a year in fees for EU citizens. I expect the fees to rise over the next few years, but I doubt they will reach US levels before my boys graduate.

 

Laura

[asta]

nm

Edited April 8, 2010 by asta

[Reya]

$8k in-state at the good university here, per year, tuition and fees only. Housing doubles that.

 

$6k at the bad university, $4k at the community college.

[Reya]

$8k in-state at the good university here, per year, tuition and fees only. Housing doubles that.

 

$6k at the bad university, $4k at the community college.

 

The private universities locally, without housing, start at something like $16k. The good ones are $30k+. Again, without housing. Yeah, I'm not going to be able to swing $45k a year 15 years out of college!!!!

[Desert Rat]

I chose 17 for my answer because he will have been schooling with me for 12 years. We are doing a deeper, not faster, approach. Things may change and he's only in 4th now so we'll see.

[Storm Bay]

I don't dare guess. My eldest is perfectly capbable of being nearly done at nearly 15, but she is NOT motivated at all and is only accelerated in some areas now (she used to be at least 2 grades ahead in everything.) My middle one is on track for 17, but could easily be done sooner. She's starting to develop a good work ethic and we'll see (but then, we'll more likely go deeper and not finish enough of the right credits in time.) My ds--I have absolutely no idea. He's a late bloomer, but is defnitely getting into a better pattern now and is starting to zoom ahead in some subjects (I always knew he would) so I have no idea at all.

 

That said, I'm not planning to have any of them graduate before 18 at this point in time, so I appreciate that you mentioned coursework and not graduation.

[Kimber]

I put 15 for my oldest, she's starting high school work now, assuming it takes 4 years.

 

I'm really surprised at my kids because they all 4 seem to develop evenly as opposed to excelling in one major area or lagging behind in one major area, although they definitely have their strengths and weaknesses, but nothing really glaring. And they are all progressing at the same pace. (Although my middle son is a natural speller, unlike the 1st two. I'm soooo grateful.) Basically she's ready for high school across the board: Latin I, Biology, Spanish I, and Algebra I.

 

She may finish sooner since we school year round and I know that she's more than capable. Also, she's mature enough to go to college early; something my husband doesn't support if she has to live on campus.

 

I've overheard family members talking about how overly serious she is and how she doesn't behave like a child when they didn't know I was sitting behind them. I know they are or were seriously concerned, but I talked about it with them and let them know that we're not making her act that way. She just is who she is.

 

My boys aren't as serious as my daughter, but even my oldest son, 10, is naturally asking really deep religious questions and my youngest, 4, is always asking about God and what he can and cannot do--like can he break his own rules.

 

So we ponder life more than we should rather spend a lot of time working. Something which is my own weakness and my husband's as well. It's hard to be motivated to do dishes when you have to solve the political problems of the day.

 

As my kids grow up, I'm finding that those levels of giftedness by Dr. Ruff are right on, as far as my kids are progressing.

 

Sorry for rambling, I've been away a lot and stuff is just spilling out.

[Bloggermom]

We have set a rough goal of completing high school by 14 and then starting to collect college credits through CLEP and independent study courses to get a Bachelors degree by age 18.

[nitascool]

My oldest 11 will be doing college level work by the time he's 14 but weather or not he will be going to college is another story.

 

My second ds 10 will be doing college level work (aside from physically writing his material) by the time he's 13. But there is no way he will be ready to go to college at 13.

 

My third ds 7 I think will be closer to 15 when he begins college level work.

 

As for my dd 4 I think she may end up being the youngest as she loves anything academic and is the most advanced of the four at age 4.

[Temperance]

Just guessing at 14. I would have been able to handle college work at 14. She's a couple years ahead now (at three) and I expect she will pick up a couple more years once she really starts reading. We have been pretty lax about reading instruction here, we do mostly math and music.

[wapiti]

I have no idea, other than to say that it will vary widely by subject. They will be ahead in math (one or more will probably take alg in 6th).

 

We are a long way out, but my perspective is that I want my kids' college applications to be as strong as possible, hoping for admission to selective/highly selective schools. The more they do before they graduate from high school, the stronger their applications will be. So, I have no plan to graduate them early (they will probably attend a private school for HS anyway; ETA, the school in question is affiliated with a university, with the option to take college classes there should the need arise).

Edited February 28, 2012 by wapiti

[2smartones]

Wow! I started this thread nearly 2 years ago. :lol: Weird to see it back at the top. I figured it would've been archived by now!

[Dmmetler]

LOL-the funny thing about this is that DD had a minor meltdown a couple of days ago because she read the parent handbook for her cheer team-and panicked because "I don't WANT to be done cheering by the time I'm 10!!"-so apparently, SHE'S decided she's going to be done with high school by then, since you're not eligible once the season in which you graduate high school and/or turn 18 ends.

[wapiti]

Wow! I started this thread nearly 2 years ago. :lol: Weird to see it back at the top. I figured it would've been archived by now!

 

Oops! I didn't even notice :tongue_smilie:

 

We have set a rough goal of completing high school by 14 and then starting to collect college credits through CLEP and independent study courses to get a Bachelors degree by age 18.

 

So, how does that work? Is your 10 y.o. starting high school-level work now?

[Jenny in Florida]

My daughter finished her high school coursework and went to a residential early entrance program on a college campus when she was 12. She had no trouble with the college material and was bored again by about half-way through her sophomore year.

 

My son is equally bright, but not academically inclined. His current plan is to finish high school when he's 16.

[NotAVampireLvr]

17. DS(age 7) is currently accelerated 2 grades in math and 1 grade in reading/english. I don't believe that he's accelerated so far ahead that I wouldn't be able to find things to beef up his transcript so that he could graduate and start college with his peer group. He might have less time to spend in college due to getting some coursework done, but he's not leaving the nest until the year he turns 18.

 

eta: after talking with DH he really thinks that if he was motivated enough he could be ready for college by 15. Clearly we're not on the same page yet lol

Edited February 28, 2012 by NotAVampireLvr

[8filltheheart]

I'll respond even though it is a resurrected thread. ;)

 

Our 16 yos could easily have entered an ECE (early college experience) program this yr. W/the exception of French and Latin, he is using basically all college textbooks or taking equivalent of college courses. But, we are not advocates of early graduation. Nor are we fans of CC classes. (we have older students that have taken dual enrolled classes at 3 different CCs in 2 different states and they all have been similar---we do not recommend the environment for younger students and we do not recommend the quality of the classes for advanced students)

 

We are hoping that he will be extremely competitive for admission and merit aid when he does graduate.

[regentrude]

I can not really answer the question the way it is phrased.

DD is going away to college at 17 - but she took her first class a four year university (not CC) at age 13 (physics)

We could have accelerated more, she would have been ready for an early entrance program, but do not consider going away for college much younger a good idea - we'd rather she take more rigorous course work during high school. She works with college texts for the sciences, is dually enrolled for one four hour course and will increase to two four hour courses in the fall.

We prefer to have her do college level work for high school instead of graduating extremely early.

[quark]

Removed post and edited to say I think I shouldn't try to predict anything now when he's still so young.

Edited February 28, 2012 by quark

[Grover]

Extrapolating from where he is now, we could be looking at finished high school level work by 10 or 11. Realistically we'll be looking to go broader rather than upwards and seeking more depth of learning.

[Mrs Ives]

Ah yes I remember well when having a kid "only" 2 grades ahead in math at 7yo meant I'd have time for him to go "deeper" or "broader". What I neglected to consider would be doing both and still finishing calculus by 14yo. It all comes down to the pace at which math geeks learn. The first kid finished up both math & science at 14 - and by finished up I mean Calculus & passing the CLEP biology & chemistry exams because he had to switch to college level books for science because the high school level books were boring and didn't cover any of the "good stuff". So, at 14 he commuted to a local university while still living at home. It didn't work out well for us.

 

Not wanting my next two kids to finish up so early we actually stopped regular assignments once they got to high school level work and I just let them pursue their interests most of the time. About once a week I have my 13yo do 15 min of math, he's still due to finish up trigonometry at the end of this school year and will finish up calculus by the time he's 15. He just gets math so easily that he really doesn't need any repetition so 15 minutes a week still means he blazes through the subjects.

 

My math challenged dyslexic is finally plodding through Algebra this year after putting it off for four years. However, she's currently working on her second novel and oodles of short stories completed. She's also an expert on mythology, fairy tale origins, and folk lore from around the world because those are her passions.

 

Everybody reads an economics newsletter to which we subscribe, and follows and is able to intelligently discuss national politics and the current news events. They both read science stuff on their own just because they find it interesting. My daughter is beginning second year college level work in psycology, and my son is currently on the second half of chemistry. I also make them spend 4-5 hours a month reading geography & history textbooks because I found a gap in their knowledge of these subjects.

 

What do they do with all of the extra time? They read, play, and spend lots of time thinking. They've got the time and freedom to actually think about what they're reading so they can internalize it and apply it to other things.

 

My daughter spends her time reading psychology, historical accounts of myths and fairy tales and their connection to actual historical events. She externalizes it by writing books, short stories, fan fiction, poetry, and two blogs. She also talks a lot about what she's reading, so everybody else is learning about this stuff whether we want to or not.

 

My son is designing and building a huge tree house, camping, doing scout stuff, and building gadgets to supplement the airsoft games with his friends. He most recently built a "land mine" that's triggered by a grill ignitor and blows baking soda into the air when you step on it. It was a big hit with both his friends and a bunch of grown men. He also built a potato cannon with a family friend that makes too much noise to shoot in the backyard. Apparently if you learn chemistry and have lots of time to think about what you're learning it results in things that go boom.

 

Hearing others speak with passion makes you actually want to listen to tell you all about what they know. My son sparked my daughter's interest in things that go boom, so she's been reading up on some hard science so that she can eventually make stuff go boom too, along with the science research into human behavior as it relates to psychology.

 

Aside from bragging, this is an example of getting depth & breadth, but still finding yourself with kids who will likely test out of most of their general education requirements for college before they reach the traditional college age. My daughter will also have read so much stuff about both of her passions that there really will be little new material to be learned in college, so she's not even going to bother with the mythology stuff when she gets there. She's already reading graduate level research and theories in psychology. So, if you slow them down by getting depth and breadth they could very well end up learning most of what's supposed to be covered in college, making most of college repetitious and boring. i.e. You're just kicking the can down the road.

 

But really, it's nice to have kids that know so much. They're really interesting and I enjoy talking to them and just generally spending time with them. That's more than most parents could hope for even in their adult children. Not to mention the jokes they tell are REALLY funny!

[jillian]

My oldest is only 5 1/2 so it is purely a guess but I expect to start dual enrollment with her by 15. Prior to that we will just add depth to keep her interested and she can actually graduate at 17 (16 if she matures faster than I expect).

Yep this. Except my only is just 4 now. If we continue on the path we are on we will start dual enrollment between 15 and 16 though I can't tell what the future holds so I am planning on doing a grade a year but things happen--health related issues (like currently), moving, mom going to work and dad staying home, etc.

Edited February 28, 2012 by jillian

[8filltheheart]

We have chosen a different approach. Every family has to follow that path that works for them and this is the one that works for us: providing challenging materials that really stretch them, seek camps that meet their intelllectual/academic needs, and select a college environment that will match where they are (for example, the UChicago admissions rep told ds that he can test into the appropriate levels and meet his diploma credit hrs starting at that level.)

 

In general, AoPS is a great place for kids to find their appropriate math challenge level, whether through the more traditional sequence or Tapas or Group Theory, etc. Mathpath, Mathcamp, Ross, etc are ways for gifted math students to connect with others similar to themselves and really develop their skills. There are academic camps for other subjects outside math that will also help make connections w/like-minded peers and supportive professionals.

 

Many of the top-tier schools have students that are at a very high level when they arrive and students will be more appropriately challenged b/c they are more likely to be amg peers that are equally advanced and professors teach to that level. (which is precisely why CCs are not a good fit for advanced students in our experience.)

Edited February 28, 2012 by 8FillTheHeart

[Bloggermom]

Oops! I didn't even notice :tongue_smilie:

So, how does that work? Is your 10 y.o. starting high school-level work now?

 

Yes in most subject areas he is working at High School level. We have just a couple of other "output" subjects we are still working on slightly under High School, but should be caught up within the next few months.