Thinking about high school

[bethben]

My ds is only in 7th grade, but as I'm thinking about 8th grade, I realize I need to have some sort of plan in place for high school so that his 8th grade year is preparing him for that.  

 

I have two thoughts that I'm wrestling with right now.  The first is making sure he is prepared rhetorically to stand firm in his faith in order to combat the various worldviews roaming around out there.  High school would be college prep dealing with a lot of rhetoric.

 

The second thought is to have him try to get as much college credit as he is able so that his possible debt load is either non-existent or very reduced.  I am seeing too many young couples having to wait to start families because of college debt.  Then when they do try to start, they face infertility issues because they are older.  One of my friends said if you want your grandchildren to have a stay at home parent, you need to make sure they have little to no college debt.  I believe he has the ability - maybe not the motivation though.  I have homeschooling friends whose children have completed college while in high school, completed at least 2 years of college, and one who has gotten a para-legal degree.  We will not have the money to pay for any college unless dh gets some sort of unbelievable job that will provide for our special needs son long term while having extra for college tuitions.

 

I'm just debating which is more important.  I know ultimately, dh and I will have to decide because honestly, ds has no opinion on the subject whatsoever at this point in his life.  I'm just looking for input for those who are actually in the midst of it.  

 

Beth

 

[wapiti]

I am listening in... There are a tremendous number of factors involved in the issues you are raising.  On the one hand, there is your ds and his various ability levels and interests and aspirations.  On the other hand, there is your estimated family contribution, which you might be able to estimate now using various calculators online.  I would take a look at that.  I wonder whether there is some way to safeguard money for your special needs child via a trust or some other vehicle and how those assets would be treated in the financial aid calculations - that seems well worth starting to research now.

 

Since your ds is advanced (e.g. in math) perhaps scholarships will be available to him.  If it were me, I would have frank conversations about what may be expected (as near as you can guess) to get a scholarship to whatever sorts of schools he might be considering - maybe another way to look at it is that he may be more likely to get a scholarship to a school for which his stats place him in a top portion of accepted students, thus the need to generate the best stats he is able to achieve.  I would worry first about scholarships and only second about getting college credits though maybe you can kill two birds with one stone in this area with AP and/or DE?  Very recently my seventh grade dd has come around to a maturity that can begin to digest this sort of discussion - I think you will know if and when he is ready to start the long, continuing conversation.

 

Whether and how much debt to take on is a complicated question with lots of factors, not the least of which is the sort of income to be gained in both the near and distant term following graduation, which in turn depends on the field and type of job and sometimes even the rank of the school.  For some careers, debt, even a high amount, makes sense, whereas for other careers it would not.  As for stay at home spouses, that's too distant of an issue for me to consider specifically, especially as that is an adult choice.  That's my two cents and I am interested to hear the voices of wisdom on some of these questions.

[wapiti]

dp

[wapiti]

dp

[regentrude]

For the second issue, the most important question would be: what are his plans for his future?

 

Getting "any" college credit during high school is not a problem - but whether the credit will be useful to him depends on his future plans. Not all majors and schools are created equal, not all schools accept transfer credit or AP, not all courses doable in high school for college credit would be the best educationally, nor would they all would count towards his desired major.

 

With such a young student, my main focus would be on keeping doors open. That means, for us, planning the high school coursework so that it will satisfy the requirements of any institution he might be interested in attending. I aim for a broad rigorous college prep education without specialization; what exactly my students do for possible college credit is decided later. Our goal is to educate them as well as possible, not collect credits.

[bethben]

He has absolutely no thoughts about the future.  He is a very typical 13 year old boy.  I'm trying to give him some control over his future and he'd rather just have dh and me decide for him.  We're working on that.  He is pretty good at marketing/selling stuff.  He's come up with logos and marketing plans for his little businesses he has created.  I can see him starting a business in the future if he could figure out a product.  I'm not sure how to prepare him for that.

 

Beth

[alef]

I've been pondering these same questions. My oldest is only ten, so we have a few years yet but I see high school approaching rapidly and feel like what options are available in high school will depend in large part on what we do now. My dd10 is bright and motivated, I think she would be capable of accelerating through high school and college. I just don't know if she should. Right now she is putting a lot of time and effort into non-academic pursuits and I am supporting that. I have a friend who took an accelerated path through high school and college and ended up with a BS in molecular biology at age 19. He eventually went on to get a PhD and teach at a university. I can see advantages to the accelerated path for a student wh is motivated and capable, especially when starting and supporting a family rank high on the priority list. But I can also see advantages to encouraging broader and deeper exploration and study during the high school years. We are also in a situation where we will not be able to provide a lot of money for college so we will need affordable options and scholarships.