mazakaal Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 We live in England and there are no co-ops or community college options here. My oldest is in ps, but I'm not very happy with how that's going. He'll stay, but I really want to hs the rest of them through high school if I can. But as I browse through this board it seems that everyone has kids in at least a few cc or co-op classes. Is it possible to graduate a college bound child solely with homeschooling now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Me! We're a bit of an oddity here in the SE USA, but my high schoolers (to date) haven't done any CC Or Co-ops. We haven't been able to afford them, truthfully. And my eldest dd is up for a full-tuition scholarship at a local private school, and is a semi-finalist for a couple of outside scholarships. It can be done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 :hurray: Congratulations to your dd! I'm glad to hear that it can be done. I've thought that I could have ds do an on-line course or two, but it's sooo expensive. I just realized that I spelled graduAted incorrectly. Oops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaAkins Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 My oldest will be in 9th grade in the fall and we plan to homeschool through high school. As of right now, I don't see us participating in any co-ops and dual enrollment/cc courses will be a stretch. We will do our best to offer challenging, rigorous classes to the best of our ability. Beyond that, it's going to be out of our hands and in God's court as to what opportunities lie beyond high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I have graduated 4 so far without any outside co op or cc classes. One is now taking a gap year to work with his dad and get certified in certain aspects of our family business. The older 3 went to cc, the 2 olders then transferred to 4 year schools with lovely scholarships. Oldest is graduated, next is in her 3 Ed year, and# 3 is finishing up cc this year and heading into his 4 year school. I do not plan to have my next 3 do any outside classes other than an online writing or other class of interest during their high school years. So far it has worked out very well for us. Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Me! We're a bit of an oddity here in the SE USA, but my high schoolers (to date) haven't done any CC Or Co-ops. We haven't been able to afford them, truthfully. And my eldest dd is up for a full-tuition scholarship at a local private school, and is a semi-finalist for a couple of outside scholarships. It can be done! That is awesome, did eldest ace the SAT and if so , how did she prepare??? My youngest wont be doing cc, so I am a lil concerned. Oldest dd had cc and it helped for her chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4wildberrys Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Is it possible to graduate a college bound child solely with homeschooling now? YES---absolutely!!! The whole CC/co-op thing is very popular, but not necessary at all ;) Homeschooling still works, even for high school, even with JUST old mom teaching. We live in a very remote area where cc and co-ops are simply part of the 'real' world that is a dream to us----and so all the homeschoolers graduate simple, home-grown homeschoolers without all that extra enrichment that is nice, it's convenient, but it's not necessary. And even with all the fancy DVD classes etc. available----income levels here necessitate books and mom teaching without even a fancy teacher in DVD format. In fact, we are moving to the real, civilized world here very soon and I do NOT plan on using CC or co-ops at all because I am such an old-fashioned mom (and perhaps a bit stubborn) that I still think I can do a better job from home all the way through 12th! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Thanks for all the respnses. That is very reassuring. :001_smile: I'm still a bit nervous, but it's good to hear that it's possible to give a college-bound education on my own. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 (edited) We live in England and there are no co-ops or community college options here. My oldest is in ps, but I'm not very happy with how that's going. He'll stay, but I really want to hs the rest of them through high school if I can. But as I browse through this board it seems that everyone has kids in at least a few cc or co-op classes. Is it possible to graduate a college bound child solely with homeschooling now? Absolutely, it happens all the time. My oldest never participated in co-ops and never took a CC course. He took a number of online AP courses through PA HS'ers and their corresponding AP tests. He's now a freshman at our state's University, in their Honor's college and rec'd three different merit scholarships from this University. So, not only can a hs'er without CC credits get into college, they are receiving scholarship $$ too. Carole PA HS'ers AP Statistics instructor Edited February 13, 2011 by Blue Hen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I think it really depends on the individual student needs and goals. Sometimes a student or family will have needs that simply cannot be met by other means. I have a son interested in aviation. There's no way he is going to learn that just at home. Whether we spend the money on CAP or outside classes, it isn't going to be cheap. He is also interested in Greek, nut has gone as far as I can take him at home in that area. My older son is needs 2 years foreign language to graduate and ALL the home based options just weren't working. So I'm going to have to figure out an outside course in an actual class setting. My third is currently interested in veterinary sciences. Thankfully most of that can be done at home or with extracurricular options. However, not going to CC or coop, doesn't necessarily mean the same amount of time and money wasn't spent in other ways, for example CAP is not any cheaper, maybe more expensive. My oldest is learning drafting skills, which means buying autoCADD and having a computer to use it on, which sure isn't cheap. Ds3 spends lots of time with animals, which need care and time. We will do biology at home, but that requires a dissection kit and specimens. So again, I think whether one can do without formal outside classes in high school depends on the needs of the student. But doing without them does not necessarily mean less funds or time spent outside the home. That's my experience so far anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Yes, although I notice that you're in England. Are you planning on going to university in England? You will probably need some external qualifications for that. Many people do exams externally and some do find online courses for A levels/IGCSEs. Some people also take courses through the Open University. I also found an article in which you may be interested: http://www.home-education.org.uk/articles/article-open-university.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 We live in England but are American citizens. I expect that dc will go to uni (college) back in the States. I'll read that article, though. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 We moved from one state that had great and affordable co-op and CC opportunities, I was looking forward to using them when our dc got older. We moved to a smaller town, and the co-ops were either expensive, or too far off of our schedule. We don't have CC, it is a technical college, which is different. Ds ended up not using any of it, and is in college on a nice scholarship. Dd is a junior, so far, no co-op or technical college, we are debating on whether or not to send her for a few classes to technical, but know that ds did fine without it. I will say that you will need some kind of help in the upper level classes, either a tutor and/or online or dvd help. I would not have made it without that support. In science, we were able to write to the author, in math we had daily classes to watch on dvd that taught it, in British Lit. we had dvds, and we had a computer program for foreign language (I changed to a different program where the author can be reached). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 My older two graduated with lots of online classes, especially from PA Homeschoolers and Scholars Online. All of them can be taken from anywhere in the world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 My ds will graduate this spring with only mom courses and some online ones - and it looks like he'll be going to school at a public university here (Switzerland), but using the American high school diploma and AP course option (needs 5 in specified areas) and has done it in 3 years. (He's been working like crazy). I don't think I could have done it without farming off the AP Physics and Eng to PA Homeschoolers, as we're also doing Calculus in one semester - precalc in the other (he's doing the work and I'm doing the organizing) and it has been an enormous amount of work. Then he's also doing online German. There are homeschoolers in France who have done their work through correspondance courses and then do the French Bacc. If you are thinking of staying longer in England, you might want to look into their requirements for Americans. The son of one homeschooling friend here went to Oxford with zero AP courses or CC courses. But they were into intellectual pursuits and quite articulate. There are other schools which are not so difficult which have a good reputation. Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonor Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 This is so good to hear (Blue Hen) and Gwen in VA. I have struggled with this. I have followed your posts for years. For some reason, I thought your children had also done cc. In my case, I have struggled with having ds take cc classes because the online classes he has done (which include PA homeschoolers) are more rigorous and a better education than our local cc. Next year he will be a senior. I have been starting to dread the decision of what to do next year. I would get upset at the thought that I would have to settle for a lesser education just to check off the cc box. I know for a fact PA Homeschoolers' classes are better. I have a friend whose son did AP English Comp with PA Homeschoolers. Now he is a senior and took an English course at cc. All the parents have been raving about this teacher at the cc. Yet, she says that although he was good, as compared to the teacher her oldest son had at the cc, it was not as rigorous as the AP English Comp. She said they just did it to meet the requirement for a local university. She did not feel that it was great in order to prepare someone for a rigorous college or major that involves a lot of writing. I did not mean to hijack this thread. I just wanted to share what I have struggled with. Thank you to the original poster for starting this thread. Thanks to all who share. Again, thanks Carole and Gwen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 That is awesome, did eldest ace the SAT and if so , how did she prepare??? My youngest wont be doing cc, so I am a lil concerned. Oldest dd had cc and it helped for her chances. To answer your question, she took the ACT and did quite well - she prepared for it with Barron's software we ordered from RR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 I think it really depends on the individual student needs and goals. THIS :iagree: is a far more brilliant answer, and had I thought about it, would have echoed her remarks. Martha hit the nail on the head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Thousands of homeschoolers did that long before co-ops were "invented," and before taking c.c. classes became popular. Thousands still do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 My senior dd has never had outside classes...well, she did take a few courses through Keystone, but they were done at home... No co-op classes or CC classes, though. She has been accepted to the college of her choice with a 60% scholarship to play soccer her freshman year and 100% thereafter. She is also in the running for some special merit-type scholarships for her SAT scores...we are waiting to hear on these. It can be done. It has been. It will continue to be done!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memphispeg Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 We are gritting our teeth here and trying to do things the old-fashioned Mom/pencil/paper/student-way for most of our classes, except foreign language which has been taken on-line. I think the caliber of our education is far better than what the dd would be doing elsewhere. It certainly allows us to focus on the fun stuff and the problem areas when we need to. $$ is also the biggest consideration here against outside classes. But, I am only doing this for 2 years...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Leonor, You are very welcome. It is nice to know that we've helped cause I know that the posts here helped me for many, many, many years. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 In my case, I have struggled with having ds take cc classes because the online classes he has done (which include PA homeschoolers) are more rigorous and a better education than our local cc. Stick with the better education. The more I converse (e-mail or in person) with the upper level schools middle son is looking at the more they seem to prefer AP over CC for that very reason. It's gotten to where middle son is starting to look down on one very good school simply because they were quick to tell him they'd accept CC credit for a C or better (our in state option, so they pretty much have to accept the state's cc credits). He wasn't impressed by those in his classes that got a C - hence - feels the fellow students at this in-state school may not be up to par for him compared to those at the other schools. For middle son, he did Microbio and Effective Speaking at the CC his junior year. I don't regret those mainly because they can't be duplicated online and he will have great letters of recommendation from both profs. I'm even hoping his Effective Speaking credit will transfer (it might, pending which school he goes to). However, we've decided to go AP Stats (studying at home) due to the difference according to the schools. Plus, it's FAR less expensive for us ($87 for the test vs $660 for the class at CC). Oldest son did just one CC course fall of his senior year. He didn't have any AP. He did have good scores on entrance tests. He made it in easily and with merit money. Honestly, I think for homeschoolers the scores on those entrance tests and, perhaps, extra curriculars mean far more than grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Yes, we graduated our DD who is now a paramedic and pre-med student without any CC or Co-op classes. The only CC within reasonable distance to commute for a high schooler, is pathetic. I know a lot of people live near good ones and have great success. We do not! Most of the state and private schools in our state will not accept any of their credits or if they do, no matter what the class is, they only get credit for an elective. If it's math, science, or writing, the student will have to take that class again at the uni...there is no mercy on this because the reputation of this CC is horrible. An hour away, there are two good CC's, actually quite excellent. They are in such demand for having awesome programs that they have waiting lists to get in; high schoolers need not apply - they will not put them on the waiting list. As for co-ops, well, we are classical homeschoolers and we have high standards. The local co-ops are not rigorous at all. If they offer an apologia science class, they'll full around, do mayb 1/3 of the labs, only get through have the book, and then tell the parents to go ahead and issue a credit on their transcripts. A lot of parents fall for it, and a lot of these kids are then shocked at the work required for a basic science class in college. We 100% homeschooled her ourselves. She finished last semester with a 114% in cardiology, 99% in trauma, 100% in pharmacology, and is the official tutor in med-math/pharmacology and cardiology for the E.M.T. classes and paramedic classes. She earned 100% on her ACLS certification (same certification that two local M.D.'s just completed!) She's been hired to proctor exams for E.M.T. and C.N.A. classes. This summer she will be designing a new department for our county 4-H program - Health and Medical Sciences. She's been asked to speak at MSU on her ideas for the program. Though a few counties have a little health education such as nutrition and fitness built into other departments within 4-H, they don't have any solid medical education programs for kids. She scored very well on the ACT and we used the Princeton Prep books plus ACT's online student tests and questions of the day to get ready for it. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Our two oldest were totally homeschooled Prek-12th with no outside classes at all. There are a lot of co-ops and shadow schools in our area, and they have worked well for many homeschoolers, but we felt they were too expensive and time consuming for us. We have a CC, but it is 45 minutes away, so that didn't work for us, either. We ended up doing a rigorous program at home using some DVD courses, some MIT opencourseware, and helping them self-study for several APs each. They each did a variety of extracurricular activities. We are happy with how things turned out, although many homeschoolers in our region think we're weird for not doing outside classes. Generally the first thing they ask is which co-op, etc., you are in. When you say you don't do any, they look at you as if you have a third eye.:glare: The only thing I feel we could have improved upon was foreign language. They did Rosetta Stone (the old version), and it was just ok. I feel that paying a native speaker would have been worthwhile for that. I also feel that outside music lessons would have been worth the time and money. It really depends on the student and your family's resources. It is such a blessing to have choices. Do what you think is best and don't worry about what others think. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Thousands of homeschoolers did that long before co-ops were "invented," and before taking c.c. classes became popular. Thousands still do it. :iagree: Also ~ it puzzles me when I see people saying that their kids "need" such & such classes to graduate (and are basing this on the local high schools and such)... our children will graduate when we decide that they're finished. That's the case with all the homeschoolers that I know IRL.. some of them do choose to study specific topics if they plan to attend a college or university course, but nobody functions like the public schools with a list of "required credits" or whatever. In fact - our home education board (you have to 'register' with private boards here, wonderfully supportive boards who are FOR home education) discourages that kind of 'public school thinking', as they call it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I will say that you will need some kind of help in the upper level classes, either a tutor and/or online or dvd help. I would not have made it without that support. Hmmm. I don't think it necessarily follows that everyone will "need some kind of help" ~ you chose to use DVDs, online, etc stuff... but thousands and thousands of families have raised their homeschooled kids successfully without using any of that stuff. (That doesn't say anything negative about your choices, by the way. You chose what you felt was best for your kids, I assume.) It's an option, but it's certainly not a requirement. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 it puzzles me when I see people saying that their kids "need" such & such classes to graduate (and are basing this on the local high schools and such)... our children will graduate when we decide that they're finished. Hmmm. I don't think it necessarily follows that everyone will "need some kind of help" ~ you chose to use DVDs, online, etc stuff... but thousands and thousands of families have raised their homeschooled kids successfully without using any of that stuff. (That doesn't say anything negative about your choices, by the way. You chose what you felt was best for your kids, I assume.) It's an option, but it's certainly not a requirement. :) It depends on that family's individual needs and standards. Some states do have stricter rules and requirements. As far as *I* am concerned, foreign language is a requirement for graduation. So is a minimum level of math, English, science and so forth. I don't base that on the local public schools. I base it on what *I* have decided is the minimum legitimate education I would accept for my children. I also feel that science with actual labs are a requirement, which means I either buy the matierals to do it or outsource it. Also I do feel it at least somewhat of a requirement to help my students pursue their talents or interests to at least some extent. That might mean buying some books to help them learn veterinary science or carpentry or computer or it might mean they need an aviation science course. I agree people will not always need to outsource in some way. But when they say they do bc of a "need" to do so or a certain whatever is "required" - it very well might be, either by their state, college, or personal standards. YMMV, but that does not mean they are not valid in their statements either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 It depends on that family's individual needs and standards. That's why I said "not everyone" and "it's an option" and stuff.... It just surprises me overall though - and this is pretty much the only board that I see a lot of it on (the similarity to public school) ... and most of the times when I've seen someone say their child" needs X credits to graduate" or needs ABC type of science, it's being connected to high schools in their area or some other kind of outside-the-home standard or something....I don't know, maybe it's just a more common line of thinking amongst "classical" families. (We're not) (I also see a LOT more talk of co-ops, online courses, etc.) You just kinda said the same thing that I said though... you said that YOU decide what your kids need to graduate.. that's what I said. :D Are there really places that say that people must follow the same program as the local schools? I'd move before I ever allowed that sort of intrusion into my home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 It just surprises me overall though - and this is pretty much the only board that I see a lot of it on (the similarity to public school) ... and most of the times when I've seen someone say their child" needs X credits to graduate" or needs ABC type of science, it's being connected to high schools in their area or some other kind of outside-the-home standard or something.... Are there really places that say that people must follow the same program as the local schools? I think the reason you see this a lot is because many of us want our kids to go to college and colleges require so many credits of English/math/science, etc. Therefore, these "are" needs. Also, speaking solely for my state, yes PA also requires certain subjects be taught, albeit not identically to our public school's schedule. Even within the ps, students have options for exact courses. There are many reasons parents might choose to homeschool. We have chosen to do so for academic reasons (college is an expectation for my boys), so I need to be up on what we "need" to have covered academically credit-wise. Those who have different goals have fewer "needs" and can just skip the "need" threads. ;) There's room for all of us on here. What we share is homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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