High school and PSEO: How do you prepare your dc for PSEO?

[JadeOrchidSong]

If your dc did or are doing dual enrollment with PSEO classes in 11th and 12th grades, what prep led up to it? How did you plan their high school 9th and 10th grades? Say, if I plan to use MFW 4 year high school program, how would it mesh with the last two years of high school with PSEO?
Thanks!

[Ms. Riding Hood]

I've had three kiddos do pseo at various levels.  One did a single correspondence course.   One did 26 or so credit hours (full time college, in other words) on campus as a senior.  And one is now doing a mix of online/on-campus classes as a junior.  She will have 23 credits by the end of this year, and will get another 26 or so next year as a senior if things work out.

 

Of all these, only the eldest, who did the single college class, was a stellar student.  

 

Kid #2 was a mediocre student who didn't like to work too hard.  His senior year, as a full time pseo student at a state U, he came into his own.  He gained immense confidence in his abilities and shined in his classes--where he was a high school kid among college students.  Plus he felt the pressure to perform.  He made good grades because he cared to try.

 

Kid #3 struggles mightily with time management, taking tests, reading comprehension.  I worried that starting pseo as a junior would be too much for her, so she began with two online classes last semester.  This semester she has two online (with a private U) and two on-campus (CC).  It's been a little stressful at times, but she's hung in there and I've been very, very proud of her.  She's learned some hard lessons, but it's been cool to see her taking on the challenge.

 

Preparation?  We just did the basics in a pretty basic way.  They didn't have any super-duper outsourced classes, or any special high-level "rigorous" training.  They could write basic papers, read for meaning, and had decent math skills.  They are not what I consider star students in any way.  But they have done well.  They aren't in the Ivy League, but that's not their goal.  If you're considering a pseo program at a more challenging school, then obviously the expectations might be different.  

 

ETA: I don't know what state you are in, but in MN the University of Northwestern offers an array of online pseo classes.  Most state U's here will allow you only one online class per semester, but Northwestern doesn't limit it.  [This is not THE Northwestern; just a small private college]

 

 

 

 

[JadeOrchidSong]

Thanks! My friend's two sons are attending MN Northwestern College, one as a third year after two year PSEO high school/college dual enrollment, the other as a PSEO 11th grader. I would like my boys to do the same when it is time.

[maize]

What does PSEO stand for?

[Ms. Riding Hood]

PSEO= Post Secondary Enrollment Options--basically dual-enrollment for 10th/11th graders at the taxpayer's expense.

[MicheleinMN]

We used PSEO for 12th grade for my eldest son as an opportunity to take some fun classes (ceramics and acting).  It was a lot of time out of the house for "fun" classes and if I could do it again, I would have him take at least one academic class too.

 

For my eldest daughter (very academic child), she used PSEO to take Spanish classes and either history or literature.  She took classes in both 11th and 12th grade,  It was a perfect fit for her in many ways.

 

My next son wasn't interested in attending PSEO, as it would have conflicted with playing football at the local PS.  (He is also NOT interested in attending college yet.)

 

My 4th son (15) is the one I'm trying to figure out how best to use the PSEO system with him.  He will be a sophomore this fall, and could possibly be his last real year at home, but I'm not sure if he'll be ready to take a full load of college courses as a junior.

 

I try to use PSEO to play to my children's strengths or to allow them to do things unavailable at home.  Eldest ds truly disliked online classes.  Eldest dd liked them well enough.

 

HTH 

[Julie in MN]

If your dc did or are doing dual enrollment with PSEO classes in 11th and 12th grades, what prep led up to it? How did you plan their high school 9th and 10th grades? Say, if I plan to use MFW 4 year high school program, how would it mesh with the last two years of high school with PSEO?
Thanks!

 

My oldest son was public schooled and just used PSEO for 12th grade math, after he had already exhausted all of his school's math resources (through calculus).  That's the way I feel like PSEO was designed to be used, giving high schoolers broader options where needed, and it worked well for us.  (At my house, we never tried to reduce the number of college courses needed in the future, only to be better prepared for those courses and more aware of the future plan.)

 

My youngest wanted to do more PSEO.  He's been homeschooled since 3rd grade, using MFW every year (plus this and that which I already had from my middle dd etc).  He started with 2 PSEO classes per semester in 11th (math, Latin, math, Psychology), then did 3 for his first semester of 12th, and now is doing none, just catching up on homeschool things this last semester before graduation.  That much PSEO was NOT my preference, as I don't think high schoolers are necessarily mature enough to absorb college level material or to contribute to college level discussion, but of course every situation is unique and girls may be ahead of boys.  My youngest especially is, well, a youngest, and has gone through a lot in his life, and I just would have "home" schooled him more if it were my choice.  But there were benefits to the outside courses, too. 

 

If you are near the Twin Cities, one good option is taking college courses through the giant co-ops where professors have been arranged to teach classes of only homeschoolers (YEAH, CHAT, not sure if South Heights has PSEO).  Some say these classes are even harder, but either way, they are not discussing the drinking parties they attended last weekend.  I was willing to send my 11th grader to those more comfortably than I would have sent him to a campus.  Or, there are some solid Christian colleges with moral codes I have appreciated.  I have just heard too many inappropriate things in the wider college world, including professors who try to draw in students by being racy; I have enough to deal with between my very social son and the teens of our urban neighborhood, so I don't need adults helping them along.  YMMV.  And that probably was a digression.

 

Online wasn't an option for my son, as he was seeking the live professor and the live classmates.

 

As far as prep, I think what Ms. Riding Hood said is correct, they need to write (communicate clearly, back up arguments/statements with facts), read (stepping past what is fun and easy to understand), and do math (which affects both the maths and sciences).  Each student will have different weaknesses, so build up those muscles where they are needed.  I found plenty of opportunity to do this within the framework of MFW.  I like that MFW has high standards but is realistic; for example, argumentative essays in 9th grade, but only like 5 of them over the year, and beginning fairly light; lengthy research papers but only one in 10th and one in 12th (by then, my son was doing lots of papers at the college, so we didn't need that assignment, but if he hadn't been doing that, the assignment would have been on-target).

 

As far as meshing with MFW, I wrote a post over on their board not too long ago, if it would help:

http://board.mfwbooks.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14716&p=98350#p98350

 

Julie

[JadeOrchidSong]

Thanks, Julie! Your post is very thorough and helpful. I will read the linked posts now.

[Jenny in Florida]

My son began dual enrollment this year. He has taken three classes at the community college each semester.

 

We didn't really plan or prep for it at all, to be honest. My son had taken a fair number of online classes, just in the normal course of life. And the year before he began dual enrollment, he went online full time, because we just weren't doing well plugging along with me as the primary teacher.

 

He made the transition to on-campus dual enrollment pretty much seamlessly.