Graduating "early"

[Sue G in PA]

I know that some of you have had or have now, dc who have or will graduate early...and by that I mean before 18 (like at 16 or 17). How do you do that? My dd13 will already graduate at age 17 b/c of where her birthday falls (in Nov.) but she is talking about finishing high school at 16, taking community college classes after that and being able to attend a "real" university by 18 or 19. How would one do this? School year-round? Just curious...she might change her mind anyway!

[LoriM]

Well, it worked out that way for us, sorta. My older dd was a fulltime CC student but "dual enrolled" at age 16. She took 16-19 semester hours each semester, including summers, until she graduated with her AA at age 18. She moved on to the university, and graduated with her BA at age 20.

 

My younger dd is 17 and graduated after a year at the CC (primarily due to the changes in the dual enrollment program), so she essentially finished all her high school coursework at 16 as well.

 

It didn't require a lot of extra effort for us to do this with our girls. Mainly, we just made good progress in every subject from age 13 forward, and got an early start on maths and sciences. Both my girls did Algebra 1 at age 12, and a rigorous lab science every year. So, when they suddenly seemed "ready" to be college students, they had a good sturdy background to support that.

 

You know, "four years" of high school is very arbitrary. What is really important is a strong liberal arts background in literature, history, foundational knowledge in the sciences, good math skills, and the ability to read, write and communicate well in a variety of forms. It also requires a maturity of thought, and a self-discipline, a desire to learn and a teachable spirit. Tragically, some students haven't acquired that by age 19, and yet many are ready at 16. :)

[TravelingChris]

Two of mine will have graduated early and my third is a young birthday child so she will still graduate at 17 and depending on the college, go to it before her 18th birthday or right after. They will all be ready for college. I make sure of this by introducing college level material by the eighth grade in at least one class. Then there is no problem with transition. My oldest skipped kindergarten by his first school. Then later he accelerated and did fifth and sixth in one year. So he was two ahead and 16 when he graduated. My youngest was being bored in middle school and asked to start high school early. SHe will start as long as she learns to type. She has been practicing a lot and I think she will master it.

[Ellie]

In California, it's easy: you just do it. :)

 

There's no magic number of years someone must have a formal education before he can be "graduated." It doesn't have to take 12 years for that to happen. I haven't done the research, but just based what I have read over the years, it seems to me that our current attachment to 12 years is pretty darn new in this country. Some have speculated that "they" came up with that plan to keep young adults out of the workforce as long as possible so they couldn't compete for available jobs.

 

My dc began attending community college when they were 14. They didn't take full loads or anything--IOW, they didn't graduate in 2 years--but when they were 16, I graduated them from home because I figured they had learned as much from me as they were gonna.

 

In your case, I don't see why your dd would have to do anything special (other than continue to comply with PA law until she passes the compulsory school age) to do what she wants to do. In fact, I would consider graduating her as soon as she does reach the end of compulsory school age, as long as your community college doesn't require a certain number of high school credits or something. If it requires good SAT scores, then that would be a good goal: to study hard so as to get a good score, not necessarily to acquire high school credits.

[EKS]

I think it's far easier to compact the years before high school and therefore enter high school a year or two early than it is to make high school shorter.

[Ellie]

SPAM!!!

[Maryalice]

Sue,

I notice that you are from PA. FYI- it is illegal to graduate a homeschooler in PA before 17 yo. The PA compulsory attendance laws do not permit homeschoolers to graduate early, just those with a "certificate of graduation from regularly accredited high school." That said, I am from PA and graduated my #1ds at 15 yo and my #2dd at 16 yo. I just did it; they applied to 4 yr colleges and off they went. You commented that you would "graduate" your children and then they would take comm college classes. You might reconsider "graduating" them. In PA, some school districts pay for community college classes for high school students. Check into it.

maryalice