Mapping out High School

[AmyontheFarm]

Truthfully, we aren't even sure if our son will head off to college because of his physical needs. His therapists say the by the time he’s in his 20’s you won’t be able to notice his delays unless you are looking for them. He says he wants to join Dad on the farm and milk cows. This might be possible since most of his physical delays are fine motor related and he’s already able to help with milking cows now. But I want him to have a solid base educationally, before he walks away from continuing his education. I spent a few nights overlaying what the province of Ontario requires for a child to "graduate" from the school system with CLEP exams that are available and local community college night courses - the college doesn't require proof of high school graduation on standalone classes like learning how to use Microsoft Word, etc.

 

The plan is laid out over 6 years. Our local high school encourages students to take a fifth year of high school if they don’t know what they want to do next. Since 19 of the 32 credits will be CLEP exams, I’m figuring that I can take an extra year as “high school†since he’ll be earning college credits in place of his high school credits.

I have things laid out so that he would never take more than 4 CLEPS per year along with other subjects. The CLEP courses I’m looking at so far – just because they line up with the required high school courses are:

1. Human Growth and Development,
   
2. Information Systems and Computer Applications,
   
3. Introductory Sociology.
   
4. Introductory Business Law
   
5. College Composition
   
6. Humanities
   
7. History of the US I
   
8. Principles of Marketing
   
9. American Literature
   
10. English Literature
    
11. College Algebra
    
12. Biology
    
13. American Government
    
14. Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
    
15. College Mathematics
    
16. Natural Sciences
    
17. World Religions
    
18. Western Civilization I
    
19. Western Civilization 2
    

 

Along with the CLEPS he will also complete his,

Livestock Medicine Certificate

Confined Spaces Training

Chemical Spraying License

WHMIS Training and

Certification in Microsoft Word and Excel

The rest of the high school credits required to graduate, will be completed using Saxon math, Apologia Sciences, IEW writing classes and some other electives I’m looking at online. I’m figuring the 5 years of helping Dad fix the diesel engine tractors will go towards his “Tech credits†for high school.

 

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?

[regentrude]

I am not sure I understand the reasoning behind doing this huge amount of CLEP in such a variety of subject. Even IF (and that is a big if) the college would grant credit, these different courses could not possibly all count towards a given degree program.

Before I would plan for CLEP, I would make sure that 1. the college he wants to attend actually accepts the credit and 2. the credits actually count towards your student's desired major. Just because something is "college credit" does not mean it will count towards a specific degree program.

 

ETA: Your other post sounded as if you want CLEP only as verification for mommy grades. In that case, I'd be very selective and do a few only, and I'd focus more on tests the colleges actually want to see, i.e. SAT II and AP.

[swellmomma]

No help as currently facing my own mapping out of high school for ds14 based on Alberta's requirements. No ideas for you because I don't even know what a CLEP is, I don't think they do that here, and to graduate here you need 100 credits made up of specific courses. So yeah, that's fun to plan. So no suggestions, just commiseration.

[Barbara H]

I'm not sure about the math sequence - how many years are you doing and will those be at home? You've got a great idea to include a list of certifications that may be relevant to his future work. I might also think about adding a personal finance elective.

 

Does he tend to do well with multiple choice tests? While some of the CLEP are more high school level, some really are more college level tests and they can be difficult for some students. I'd give it a try and keep that plan flexible to see how the tests work for him. One thing to keep in mind with CLEP is that the College Board doesn't give one specific course of study, so it can be kind of guesswork to know if your student is well prepared.

[hsbeth]

I'd also recommend carefully looking at whether your child's likely colleges accept CLEP at all (many don't). Then take a closer look at potential degree tracks to see which if any courses would actually fulfill a requirement. College credit won't be helpful if it doesn't count towards your chosen degree.

 

Several schools also except a max. number of CLEP credits. If credit is granted, some charge a "recording fee" to add it to the transcript, especially with a large number of credits.

 

I'd investigate this carefully before investing time/money into the list above. It may be more beneficial to look at other ways to validate courses done at home.

[creekland]

Whether he eventually decides to head toward college or not, I don't think he'll need/use that many CLEP exams. If you are solely looking for high school confirmation, pick 3 or 4 in different subjects and that should suffice (along with doing high school work for the other credits, of course, I'm not saying just do 3 or 4 subjects for high school).

 

If he later decides to attend college, as others have mentioned, I'd look into the SAT or ACT or even community college (which will probably only require their own placement tests).

 

Keep the actual work foundational for college, but you won't need the excessive testing just to prove high school competency unless Ontario is really strange with their requirements for homeschooling.