ready for FULL 9th grade work? Help-kinda long

[pjssully]

I have an unusaul situation. My oldest daughter began in Kindergardenand was bored to tears so i homeschooled her for first grade. Unexpected medical concerns again forced me to put her in school. However, after her placement test, they allowed her to skip 2nd grade and begin in third grade. She did very well as was at the top of the class, even though she was really 2nd grade age. We brought her home after another bothersome year in the public school. She has since been homeschooling. By the standards of the school district and her work, she would be entering high school for the fall. I am not sure whether starting high school would be pushing her. As i said, she did fine with the skipped grade. She also took a test placement in case we had to enroll her once again. She demonstrated mostly 8 th grade knowledge and tested well in math . She is now completing Algebra 1 and will begin Algebra 2 in the fall. Should i got ahead and continue this pathand have her begin high school in the fall? Or should i give her the "year off" and have her do less academics? She has had quite an easy year this year-except for science and math, grammar and writing--i had some problems finding non-high school material for her. I hate to "waste" another year doing less. i guess i could find some stuff but....i also have heard that if i begin only a portion of high school work, that her transcript will show it took her five years to finish-which doesn't look good.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

pam

[Faithr]

I'd go ahead and put her into high school. She doesn't have to go into college in 4 years if you feel she is too young then. I know kids who take that year to do unusual stuff, like travel or work in missionary or volunteer work. I think it will be easier to find stuff for her to do when she's 17 rather than now. Especially when academically there is no reason to hold her back.

 

My humble 2 cents.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

Go ahead and let her continue at her own pace. :)

[emubird]

We just did what the kids were ready for next and didn't worry about what grade it was. My current 9th grader (by age) is doing math and science that's generally 11th/12th grade (precalculus and physics). She scored post high school on the 12th grade ITBS for reading etc. But she probably won't start college early. She'll just fill in her time with other things that interest her.

 

My 12th grader was similar at that age. She's been doing dual enrollment this year and last, but has been using it to explore what she wants to do in college, rather than just starting college. She will be a year into the program she wants to do, as it turns out, but that wasn't necessarily the goal.

 

They've both spent a lot of time on music and drama, so they're glad of the extra time in high school.

 

On the transcript, you can list things however you want -- we did it by subject so there was no question of what the years were. I did list a few things as "completed before high school" (math and foreign language only, because I didn't think colleges were going to believe anything else).

 

But you might want to keep in mind that the math after Algebra gets a little more complicated. My kids breezed through the math until they hit precalc and calculus. Because they were "ahead" they've been able to take more time on the higher math and really get it down. You could also do a year of statistics in high school. Most kids in 12th grade (if they're at this level) do either calc or statistics, but not both. Your daughter might have time to do both, if she's inclined. Or do two years of calculus (and take the BC AP exam).

[pjssully]

Thanks for all the wonderful insights! i think i will continue on our path-it really is easier to find stuff to do at an older age than now!

pam

[Brindee]

We're doing that as well, pam. My dd just did one year of Jr. High and is going into 9th next year, since she's done what needs to be done. So, we move onward.

 

She will not be leaving home early. She already has a job offer at our local Humane Society for when she's old enough! :) She loves it there, so hopes it stands 'til she's 18 and can really work there! She'll continue working through highschool, then may take a year to work at the HS while doing some college classes..... we'll see. I think keeping the momentum going, and encouraging their drive/hard work is important!

[Storm Bay]

I'd let her work at her own pace. Have you visited the Accelerated Learner Forum here? There is a poll going on, and there are people here with dc who have completed high school level work by 11, 12, 13, etc. At least one poster on these forums has a dd who started college at 12 (special program, but COLLEGE.) I can't remember if her dd is a sophomore or junior now, or even a senior.

 

There are many things you can study when you're done high school. You can also take time to go much deeper into areas of interest even if you're not moving as fast. If she's good at math, for example, there are many kinds of math courses you can take. If it's history, there is a LOT of great history out there. One of mine is going to take a year out to do Canadian history before she starts high school (she's done World history & American history and I don't want to handle History of the Ancient World 2 years in a row as my eldest is doing it now. Etc. Or you can go very fast and very deep all at once (some dc do.)

 

I don't have any dc motivated enough and none appear to be pg (you can't tell only by academic output, since some are good at hiding it and I haven't had all 3 tested) to be as far advanced as your dd, but I don't believe in holding dc back who are both ready and eager to move one. I'd have loved to have been allowed to graduate from high school at 14, 15 or 16 (not sure if I'd have been ready earlier or not, but I could have easily done it by 14 had I been in a situation to be allowed to work at my own pace from the start.)

Edited April 9, 2010 by Karin