Ok so is the norm?

[cseitter]

Is it the norm for homeschoolers to finish high school "late"?

 

It seems lately that the people that i meet that have homeschooled through high school have kids that are over 18 finishing. I met one yesterday that her now 19 year old is still working to finish HS and another has a 21 year old that is finishing up and starting CC in the fall.

 

Is this normal and if so WHY? :glare: If it isn't the norm but the exception can anyone give me advice on how to AVOID this? :001_huh: My son will be starting HS in the fall.

[TravelingChris]

No, my oldest finished high school at 16. My next two will finish at 17. I have met many who are late, many who are early and some who are at the right time.

[LibraryLover]

I don't know any hsers who have done this. I've know young adults who start at CC instead of costly 4 yr colleges, but they all have finished public or HS high school.

 

If you are planning to go to a traditional college or uni, you will need to show you didn't take forever to finish high school. However, if you are a non -traditional student, I know that with good grades, it's not so difficult to transfer to a four year college, no matter what. If you do not go past 16 credits (some places it's 19), you can still be considered a freshman and not a transfer student. It absolutely doesn't hurt to show the college of your choice excellent grades from a CC!

 

I like that people are taking their time, actually. If you are not sure what you want to do, it makes sense to not waste money. CC colleges are great for many students!

 

I don't have any problem with that at all.

[Mommyof4ks]

Many people around here homeschool due to learning disabilities or for health reasons, so there are some kids that graduate late. I don't think I know anyone who is homeschooling a traditional learner that has graduated their student late though.

[Parrothead]

In my small circle of homeschool friends what you described is not normal.

 

Dd will be 17 when she graduates high school if nothing happens.

[Jan in SC]

My oldest son will turn 19 about a week before he will graduate. He just turned 10 and will be in the 4th grade this fall. We chose for him to have two years of kindergarten and at this point, we are happy with our choice. Now that we homeschool, he might squeeze together some middle school years and finish a year early. I don't know if he will homeschool for high school, though.

[LibraryLover]

Oh! Are we talking about late summer/fall b'days? If so, my hsing dd will be just over 18 when she is done with hs. Her bright self could be done...but we don't have a reason to rush anything. Do people really think 19 or 18 is old too finish high school? I know a super-star student ('late bloomer') who was 19 throughout his final year of a demanding prep school. He started in an ivy at 20 as a freshman. He was totally ready, and partying was not his bag, man.

Edited June 24, 2010 by LibraryLover

[Lady Lorna]

My daughter is graduating this month and will be 19 in July. We added a year to high school, because the training for her sport is so intense, and we didn't want to compromise her education. This didn't seem to be a problem for any of the colleges she applied to, including highly selective schools like Columbia and Middlebury, both of which accepted her.

[Wheres Toto]

My oldest will be a Junior in a public high school next year. Many of her classmates (including her) will be 18 before they graduate and she has two friends that will be 19. None of these kids were ever held back a year.

 

If my son were to go to public school, he wouldn't start K until right after he turned 6 at the recommendation of his EI teachers. This would make him 18 for his entire senior year and 19 before starting college. I don't think its that uncommon anymore.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

21 seems odd to me, unless that child had disabilities or other health issues.

 

I could reasonably see 18/19 though. Many children are 18 when they graduate, and if a child had been held back at any time during their education, that would put them at 19.

[mommabird]

Good question, this year is the first year I noticed 20 year olds graduating from our co-op. I was wondering about this.

[StephanieZ]

In my small IRL hs circle, the norm actually seems to be to finish up about a year early, and to start college at 17.

[Peela]

Finishing early here, and going to your equivalnt of cc.

[LibraryLover]

My daughter is graduating this month and will be 19 in July. We added a year to high school, because the training for her sport is so intense, and we didn't want to compromise her education. This didn't seem to be a problem for any of the colleges she applied to, including highly selective schools like Columbia and Middlebury, both of which accepted her.

 

 

Wow! Based on pure statistics, it's harder to get into Middlebury than it is to get into Harvard or Columbia. You all go! 19 be danmed! :lol:

[FloridaLisa]

Keep in mind, also, that many homeschoolers graduate with lots of dual-enrollment credits (or AP/CLEP). It's very common for a high-schooler to dual-enroll the last two years. My ds1 will turn 19 right before starting his freshman year, but has 40+ hours of college credit, making him a second semester sophomore.

 

Lisa

[kalanamak]

Is it the norm for homeschoolers to finish high school "late"?

 

 

 

Hubby's ex homeschooled until boarding highschool. She started them late, so they were both 19 (one very close to 20) when they finished. Whether this was a good idea or a bad idea for them, I don't know, but if the child is of average intelligence and good health, mentally and physically, I oppose it.

 

Of course, I come from a family of independent-minded types (my mother said bull-headed) ready to accept the rewards and the consequences of our actions early on. If I'd been stuck in a boarding school under those strict rules, and every break spent with very-cautious mom, I might have become conniving and tricky, as hubby's children did. I am very grateful, somewhere after 23, they both improved, but will avoid this with our son, if at all possible.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

I personally know 12 graduating homeschoolers this year.

 

9 of them were 17

2 were 18

1 was 19 - and he has 30 credits from community college.

[2cents]

I graduated my HS student at 17 but he was in f/t college at 16. I think the norm may be moving toward graduating earlier instead of later.

[Nicole M]

My husband's nephew graduated at 20, but he has severe learning disabilities and health issues. We were so tickled and incredibly proud when he did finally finish. I just met a woman last night whose daughter will be finishing up in a few months at almost 20. I gather she had some kind of traumatic event that set her back, though I did not get specifics and did not want to pry.

 

My oldest son turned 18 in December and has just graduated. He took all his courses at the community college his final quarter, and most of them the previous two quarters of this year. My youngest will most likely be 17 when he graduates, and will turn 18 in early October of his first year of college. I know almost no "real" homeschool families, so I don't know what the norm is.

[Mrs Mungo]

If everything goes as expected:

 

my eldest will be 18 (she has a December birthday) when she graduates, my middle will be 17 (summer), my youngest will be 18. They will probably all have college credits by the time they graduate.

[G5052]

I know some very conservative Christian families who graduate based on maturity as an "adult" versus what work they've completed, and they do indeed sometimes graduate at 20 or 21, especially boys.

 

I don't look at high school that way, but I wouldn't hesitate delaying college for a kid who wasn't focused towards college yet. But I'd have them working, not doing more high school.

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest will turn 18yo two months before graduation, but she will have 48 college credits when she does. Almost all of her senior year will be done at the cc.

 

My middle will turn 18yo one month into her first semester of college. She should have at least 30 college credits from dual credit when she graduates.

 

My youngest will turn 18yo just a few weeks before graduation. She should have college credits from dual credit also.

[Nestof3]

Ours finished a few months late as he worked nearly full-time through high school. But, he saved up enough to pay for college and then some. :) In fact, he paid for his first semester at a community college with the interest he earned on his CDs.

 

He did CLEP out of two college courses, though, so that saved him some time. He's back on schedule starting in the fall as a junior. He took three summer courses, and now he's right on track.

[Ellie]

Not among the hsers I've known personally. It is only since I've been coming to TWTM forum that I've heard anyone discuss that at all. In fact, most of my hs friends graduated their dc early, as did I.

[cseitter]

I was just curious if this was normal. I consider 18 graduating "on-time" 19 if they were held back a year or brought home and had to "unschool" for a while. But 21 I thought was really late to still be doing high-school work. I wouldn't consider getting CC credits doing high school work though.

[MamaT]

I don't think finishing that late would be the "norm." At least it's not with the homeschoolers I know.

 

My two kids with summer birthdays both did two years of Kindergarten. They just weren't ready for first grade. They will be 18 when they graduate.

[fivetails]

ds11 (special needs) will be 19.5 when he graduates ~ he'll turn 19 in the fall of his twelfth year. :)

 

dd13.5 will be 17 when she graduates ~ she'll turn 17 in the new year. (We were looking at 18 before yesterday, but her grade level for the 2010/2011 school year has been changed from eighth to ninth for a variety of reasons.) :)

[KnitWit]

Well, my dd just graduated at age 18. She will move into her dorm 4 days after she turns 19.

 

She could have had all her academic work done and graduated a year earlier, but once she decided she wanted to pursue piano, she chose to spread the academics out and add hours of practice to her day so she could play in some competitions and take advantage of opportunities such as apprenticing as an accompanist for the local opera.

 

Age-wise, we don't regret it. She has always been mature for her age, but she has REALLY matured this last year. I know, when she moves out, it's time and she's ready. :)

[asta]

I did a thread on this. So much depends on circumstances. I have a boy that we intended to send to "regular" high school. So, even though he was "ready" for high school at 12 or 13, we putzed around and did some fun stuff that he wanted to do until he was 14 so he would be "the same age as everyone else".

 

Read: so he wouldn't be run over by Britney Spears girls.

 

Well... whoops! He decided he didn't like the idea of high school (all it took was freshman orientation and he was out the door!). He's a late year baby, so all of the sudden, instead of being a year and a half ahead, we were a year and a half behind!

 

Bonus! Living in the boonies of a foreign country with no access to community college/too big of a time difference to do all those fab online classes!

 

Kid will graduate LATE. He'll be a solid 18 going on 19 by the time he's done. I'm tempted to just put him in the uni of foreign country...

 

 

a

[angela in ohio]

In the state of Michigan, ps students with disabilities can remain in school until they are 26. At the high school graduation at dh's school, many are in their 20s. In Ohio, I believe it is 22 or 24.

 

So a homeschool student with a learning or physical disability staying in high school until 20 or 21 doesn't seem like big deal to me.

 

I only know of one family graduating one of their students a year late. Most homeschoolers I know are pretty much on track, though some don't complete the typical high school graduation requirement (that's another thread altogether, though.) It is much more common to graduate them early, from what I have seen both IRL and here.

[homeschoolally]

My daughter is graduating this month and will be 19 in July. We added a year to high school, because the training for her sport is so intense, and we didn't want to compromise her education. This didn't seem to be a problem for any of the colleges she applied to, including highly selective schools like Columbia and Middlebury, both of which accepted her.

 

Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment.

 

How did you list that extra time on your transcript? One of my sons will need additional time (I'm thinking 18 months instead of a typical school year) for 9th and 10th grade. How would that work on a transcript? He is starting HS early because he is ready for the material, but I want to slow down the pace so he can still have time for a life outside of school.

 

Thanks to anyone who has any suggestions!

Edited June 24, 2010 by homeschoolally

[Mejane]

Haven't read all the replies (don't you hate when people start off with that?), but I think it should be individual. My daughter will finish a year early; she loves academics and is very self-motivated. My son is the complete opposite, so he may take an extra year. I have no problem with him taking extra time if he needs it.

[mama25angels]

I don't believe it is the norm. with that being said my DD will be 19 before she has her graduation, she requested another year at home and since her dad is deployed she asked not to have her graduation ceremony until her gets back. She will probably take an online class or classes at the CC in addition to do some things at home, we're doing Medieval history this year which she loves so i'm sure she'll want to do that. She also plans to teach her 2nd grade brother, i'm thinking we have the makings of a school teacher or counselor in her.

[Barry Goldwater]

When you homeschool, you GET TO DECIDE what is "normal."

 

Possible legitimate reasons for later completion:

 

Learning challenge

Setbacks in public school that resulted in choice to HS

Competing lifestyle choices (child athlete, actor, etc).

Catastrophic injuries/illness (being in a coma for 6 months. or cancer, or breaking 20 bones in a horse riding accident, student or parent or other family member)

 

One elegant beauty of the HS lifestyle is CONTROL over your PACING.

 

BTW, plenty of normal, on-time graduating PS students can barely read or do arithmetic...

[Cinder]

How did you list that extra time on your transcript? One of my sons will need additional time (I'm thinking 18 months instead of a typical school year) for 9th and 10th grade. How would that work on a transcript? He is starting HS early because he is ready for the material, but I want to slow down the pace so he can still have time for a life outside of school.

 

Thanks to anyone who has any suggestions!

 

From what I've read elsewhere, a transcript listed by subject rather than grade year would be more appropriate for this situation. I haven't looked into it myself so I don't know all the details of this method but I mention it to give you an alternative to consider.

 

HTH, Cinder

[chiguirre]

My IRL experience is typical kids graduating on time at 17/18/19 depending on bdays, school cut-offs and red-shirting. Some kids might not participate in a hs graduation ceremony until they're ready to transfet to a 4 year school even though they've been taking cc classes for a couple of years. It depends on when they want to have their party.

 

My ds won't graduate until he is at least 19 and maybe more, depending on what he'd like to do. Since he's autistic, he'll be eligible for ps services until he turns 22 and, in my area those include vocational training and community college support services. I definitely won't legally graduate him until we're sure of what path he wants to take so that he maintains his eligibility for these programs.

[dragons in the flower bed]

I don't know anyone like this either. Maybe they are using homeschooling as a euphemism for dropping out and regretting that later?

[Photo Ninja]

My dc have friends who have chosen to do 5 year high school. This allows them time to go more in depth into subjects they really enjoy, and prevents them from rushing through courses just to get them done. Most of them are doing it because they have other interests that are time consuming and they want to develop those interests. Most compete with speech and debate, where they often spend 15 - 20 hours a week on research and writing briefs. Since they don't want to short change speech and debate, and don't want to rush through course work, they choose to take five years for high school. This way they take fewer courses each year.

 

While it is not a traditional schedule, it works well for them. They are entering highly ranked universities, so it is not looked down upon by colleges. How different is it from college, anyway? Most students don't graduate from college in four years, so why must students graduate from high school in four years? People don't look down on a fifth year college student or wonder what is wrong with the student. It probably seems odd because most ps students wouldn't want to stay in high school longer. They can't wait to get out. Hsers just have a different perspective.

[cseitter]

Sorry if I offended anyone. This thread wasn't meant to offend at all just curious.

[LadyR]

My dd is taking 5 years to complete high school. Because of the amount of hours she dedicates to classical ballet (including travel time, about 28 hours per week) there is no way she could complete it in 4 years. She'll be 18 when she graduates.

Edited June 25, 2010 by LadyNancy

[Lady Lorna]

Regarding accounting for the extra year on my daughter's transcript, her transcript was organized by subject rather than year. However, it was obvious to anyone who cared to look that she had extended her senior year, due to the dates on her Johns Hopkins CTY transcript (all her credited high school math courses were taken through them). It was also obvious based on the number language credits she was receiving for her Latin and French courses. As a precaution, I added the following note to her transcript:

 

The student's demanding course load, 30+ hours of athletic training per week, and 18 weeks of travel for training and competition during the past year suggested the desirability of an extended graduation date. Four of eight senior courses have been completed, while four are currently in progress.

 

My daughter also wove her decision to extend her senior year, so that her education would not be compromised, into her application essays. None of the colleges she applied to seemed to be concerned about the extra time, although not all of them accepted her. (She was accepted by nine out of thirteen.) Hope this helps.