Starting a 13.5 yo in high school? Opinions?

[Hikin' Mama]

My original plan was to begin 9th grade next year with my son, who will turn 14 in December. He is a good student and technically in 7th grade this year, but I feel like we will just be killing time to do eighth grade. He is completing algebra 1 this year, and over the past 6 years we did the SOTW books (4 years) and an indepth American history (2 years) with Joy Hakim's History of US series. He's studied all the sciences. So I feel we're ready to start the cycle over.

 

BUT...as I research great books studies for 9th grade, these look like some heavy books to read, digest, and write about for a 13 yo. I'm wondering if it would be better to wait a year? I was looking at the Smarr site, and they have an intro to lit that I thought might be good for eigth grade, and then start with the four years of great books when he is 14.

 

One of our reasons for starting 9th grade next year is so that he can begin at the junior college a year early. He would like to be a vet, and that is an 8-year education, so he would like to get started. He is motivated to do this. I have given him the option of going to ps for high school, but he would like to get done early and begin at the junior college.

 

If you have read my jumbled thoughts this far, thank you!

 

Kim, who is mentally hyperventilating

[HollyinNNV]

Here's my personal opinion. Vet school is competitive. Your ds may be in a hurry to get there, but in the end he would be best served by being the strongest, most competitive student. I would not rush to get done with high school!

Holly in N NV

[Anne]

I would not rush him into 9th grade. If you can keep him on an age-appropriate schedule, he can get a good rigorous educational base with you while still taking classes at the junior college, and he will have time to volunteer/work at local vet clinics, all of which will give him a huge step up when it comes to applying to the very competitive vet schools.

 

Anne

[Jill- OK]

He's motivated, too, and wasn't 'bumped up' until last year, so this is our tenative plan; I'm considering him a 9th grader next year, and proceeding with my general 9th grade plan. If it seems as if it's too much, then we'll scrap plans to move on, and we'll call what we did "8th grade", instead.

 

Yes, that means that some of what he will have done will not make it onto his high school transcript, but really, that's not much trouble compared to starting college too early.

 

You can't make blanket decisions about children based solely on their age; you have to evaluate the individual kid. (My opinion only, obviously).

 

But this stuff isn't set in stone. Moving him up doesn't mean you have to stay there, and if he really is ready...you could see some great and inspiring things. My child was allowed to go slower, when he needed, and now I'm allowing him to go faster. ::Shrug::

 

Now, about the Great Books...I'm not strictly following the WTM list for next year. Meaning, we're not doing ALL of it. I'm shooting for a handful of really intense reads, and then we're filling in with some lighter literature, and non-fiction choices from Tapestry of Grace. This isn't necessarily because I have a young 9th grader (I'll have a standard-aged 9th grader, as well), but because I think the WTM list is a bit much for us. Our family, our philosophy, our kids..."WTM Lite" is more our style.

 

I place a great importance on "The Great Conversation", and the Great Books, but my list is much shorter, and we'll probably spend a lot of time on them, with me reading a good bit out loud, or listening on audiobook. At least for this year.

 

I like reading Really Good Books as a segue to Great Books, too; well-written fiction that has denser (than average modern fiction) language can be a great tool for 'warming up' their minds for ancient classics. The Lord of the Rings isn't Gilgamesh, but it gives you a good taste of epic scale. The Red Badge of Courage, and Huckleberry Finn aren't The Odyssey and the Iliad, but they're good starts for picking out themes of war-related angst and personal journey. I've tried to guide my kids' reading *this* year, with an eye towards next year, and gently started ramping it up a little.

 

Shakespeare, no matter what your place in the history cycle, is great for keying their ears to understanding (to us) unfamiliar usage of language; watching a few well-produced dramatizations just for 'fun' is a good way to ease into bigger classical reads, imo.

 

Anyway, you have to decide what's best for your situation and your child, but I just wanted to encourage you from the end of "also doing that", just in case you needed it. ;-)

[langfam]

DD was 13 when she started 9th grade. This year she's 15 in 11th. My greatest regret is that she'll only just turn 17 upon graduating and be off to college so young....I wish I had kept her on grade level by age, so I could have her home another year. ..giving her another year in maturity. Just my thoughts.

[Maverick]

I don't think you necessarily have to decide now. Like Jill, OK said, you can start high school level work, keep records in case this does go on his high school transcript, but hold off on making the decision about graduation for a couple years.

 

My boys both have late July birthdays, so they are on the young end of the spectrum for their grade. In fact, I held my older one back starting school because he was behind in reading & writing but we later had him skip 5th grade (he actually did two years worth of work in one). I had concerns that have been expressed here--maturity, leaving home at a younger age, etc. God has been working these out as we go along. I thought ds would be like me and ready to fly the nest as soon as he finished high school. Instead he has asked if he can do two years at the local cc before taking off for a 4-year college. Probably some of this will overlap his high school years, but we are taking it a year at a time.

 

It is a very individual decision, but if your ds is motivated, like you said, I don't see a problem with letting him try it. At some point he is going to want to support himself and possibly a family, and being done with all that schooling a year earlier could be a very good thing!

[Hikin' Mama]

Thank you! A couple of you mentioned things I hadn't thought about: vet school is competitive and we might be better off spending the extra time making sure he is prepared. Also, the thought never occurred to me that I didn't have to decide right now. That's a relief!

 

I really value the opinions expressed by the other moms (and dads) on this board who have BTDT or are doing it.

 

Thank you again!

 

Kim

[Storm Bay]

It depends on your child. We just made the decision to have our nearly 13 yo dd do an extra year of middle school not because she's not academically ready, but to give her time to mature a little more. We're actually going to do an 8/9 year and give ourselves 1.5 years for gr 9 to go in depth. This will give her a year to work on better work habits as she wants to move away to college, and with our income at this time that means she'll have to win a full scholarship (we've suggested she stay out of debt as much as she can--completely is ideal). Otherwise she'll have to live at home and work her way through. It's not so much that our income is that low, it's that where we live is very expensive.)

[Ellie]

One of our reasons for starting 9th grade next year is so that he can begin at the junior college a year early. He would like to be a vet' date=' and that is an 8-year education, so he would like to get started. He is motivated to do this. I have given him the option of going to ps for high school, but he would like to get done early and begin at the junior college.[/quote']

 

I don't see why not. He's motivated, and that's the most important thing. I say go for it.

[judycym]

My dd started 9th grade this year at age 13 and turned 14 during the school year. She's doing great, but if she wasn't, I would have simply re-labeled it 8th grade. That's the beauty of home schooling!

[kjprice]

I did this last fall ... my daughter also has a December birthday. The idea was to be able to give her high school credit for high school level work. Our umbrella school has a 5-year high school option so we knew that we had that to fall back on. As it turns out, she wanted MORE challenging work and made some decisions about classes she wants to take. I honestly didn't feel that I could handle it and so we took a look at the local high school and she enrolled a few weeks ago to start high school in the fall. She is sooooo excited about the computer classes and the art classes and all of the Honors and AP classes that she'll be taking.

 

It may sound like the easy way out, but we both are happy and that's what matters!

[Brindee]

My dd will also be 13 going into 9th grade, as it stands now, so I am reading this with interest! Thankyou everyone for your responses!

[Peela]

Here in Australia we do 5 years of highschool (8-12) and we are a year behind/Ahead- I can never work out which- we start school earlier- so my 13yo would be in year 9 here and turns 14 halfway through the year, and is average age for the year. We school the calendar years as our seasons are opposite.

 

Anyway, this has proved difficult for me in lining her up with WTM recommendations. She is a very bright student. That DOESNT mean she is ready for WTM level Great Books, History etc this year, or the sheer amount of work. And I have found programs like Traditional Logic, she isn't ready for in the same grade they are recommended.

She might technically be able to do them, but she is not going to thrive and enjoy herself on them. That's not to say other kids aren't different, more intellectually mature etc- but it does seem to make a difference, that one year. She has wanted to be a doctor (although I think she is rethinking that) and that is more likely to make me put her BACK a year than rush her.

 

I think many kids would probably be ok on packaged programs, and there are many stories of kids who "finish" highschool very young- usually, when I have looked into these families, they are using packaged programs. This is quite different from using a WTM or Classical or CM approach, which involves really thinking deeply, discussion, and a very high standard. I don't think you can rush the maturity that is needed, and which grows, with these approaches. Whereas a workbook approach is quite a different kettle of fish.

 

And, of course, you know your son better than anyone. My dd considers herself grade 9 because thats what she would be here. But I consider her more U.S. grade 8 until at least halfway through the year, and when I look at programs and curricula produced o'seas, I take that into consideration.