If your child is accelerated, does s/he graduate high school early?

[JadeOrchidSong]

If your child is 10 or 11 and is doing high school level math, writing, etc, will s/he graduate early or will s/he take more AP or PSEO classes? Will what s/he does at age 11 count for HS credits? How does this all work?

[chiguirre]

I'm not planning on graduating T early. We're planning to do regular high school sciences in middle school, be ready for the Spanish and Latin APs in 9th or 10th grade, do AP Calc BC and AP Stats and take advantage of the free dual enrollment for 2 courses each semester her last 2 years of high school. If she goes to a Texas state school, she'll start college with almost all her general requirements done and be able to double major and study abroad.

 

What she does before her official 9th grade year will not count. I think I will include a footnote stating that the earlier levels of math and foreign language were completed in middle school. That's very common in our local public schools. The rest speaks for itself.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin took his first high school level exam (biology IGCSE) when he was eleven.  He got top marks, so we just carried on studying for GCSE exams.  Because the learning was documented by public exams, there was no argument about whether the it was worthy of consideration.  

 

He took exams that he would not necessarily take in a standard sequence (for example Classical Civilisation and Chinese), so that when he actually did go to school when he was thirteen, he just had extra exams to his name.  Biology was the exception - he just had those school lessons as free periods.  All the exams he took went onto his university application.

 

He ended up going to university at 17 - the IB gave him enough leeway for advancement that we managed to mesh intellectual and practical abilities at that age, so that he could go away and have an independent university career.

 

L

[8filltheheart]

We dont plan on early graduation.  Our ds who just finished his "freshman" yr at college took 400 level math and physics classes his freshman yr.  Our dd, who is more than advanced than he is, is concentrating on her areas of interests and advancing as far as possible with private tutors.  How that will translate when she goes to college, we will just have to wait and see.  She is a rising 11th grader.  Her current goals are to be fluent in French and functioning at an advanced level in Russian.

[serendipitous journey]

So much depends on the child, the parents, and the general context. 

 

My son A. has always been extremely accelerated in (though not extremely enamored of) maths and his reading/writing developed at a slower pace.  I plan to move him through his "grades" at age-standard so that he'll be through 12th at age 18; he is young for grade but not extremely so (born at the end of August) and so far, coming into 5th grade, this seems a good plan.  I will have him test for AP calculus after he finishes calculus, unless something changes dramatically.  I plan to start assigning high school credit when he can complete high school level work within a high school timeframe to honors standards or higher. 

 

We hope this child will take a "gap year" before college, assuming he goes the college track (which seems likely right now). 

 

My child N. is more generally accelerated across the board, and his maths are not so extraordinary.  He is doing fully 1st-grade work at age 4, including WWE and reading.  So it is possible we'll advance him one year for graduation -- he's just more mature generally -- or plan to finish "coursework" for high school a year early and spend the senior year in a focused project.  We also plan to encourage a gap year. 

 

For both we're following a WTM-ish plan and matching the skills to the child's ability. 

 

ETA: my high school credit plan is just for record-keeping purposes.  I have no idea what we'll do on the final transcript. 

[Arcadia]

I'm not counting any of the high school classes done before 9th grade as HS credit since my local district is not doing so. We (hubby and I) are either going to send both boys to private high school or do dual enrollment. Anyway my district's local high school does Algebra 2 in 9th grade for the accelerated track so Algebra 1 and Geometry are considered middle school subjects for those students.

 

What we are doing now is just keeping proper records and taking each year as it comes. Growth spurts (physically, mentally and emotionally) don't follow a straight line for both my boys. We are looking at overseas universities as well since we are not educated here. There is a high chance the general education courses will make at least one of our boys cry of boredom. For example, I knitted during all my history classes and drop history the minute I could.

 

When I was in university (ETA: not in U.S.), I could skip class all year for non-lab classes like accounting, economics, law, sociology and just show up for the exams as only the exams score counts. My kids would love something like that for gen ed requirements.

[wapiti]

The accelerated student who graduates at the regular time will have a more competitive transcript for selective college programs and for scholarships than if he or she graduates early.

[Laura Corin]

The accelerated student who graduates at the regular time will have a more competitive transcript for selective college programs and for scholarships than if he or she graduates early.

 

Yes.  The university that Calvin attends makes no allowances for early achievements when considering applicants - you have to be competitive with the older students, rather than getting any special credit for doing things younger:

 

The University supports the general principles of Age and Stage, whereby students are allowed to progress through their educational development and qualifications at an appropriate rate according to their ability. However, if students are entered early for examinations, the University would still expect students to achieve at the highest level. Poor performance could potentially have a negative effect on a future application.

[Dmmetler]

Depends on the kid and what's available. As of right now, I have no plans to graduate DD early (well, beyond her official "grade"-she'll graduate a year ahead of the other kids in our state with her birthdate because she was skipped in PS before we brought her home), as long as she's happy. She's been doing a mix of lower level, high school, and college level work and materials for 2 years now, but emotionally, she's still 10.  She'll just have a lot more depth in her level of study and hopefully some pretty good credentials on the research side before she graduates.  However, a lot of that is predicated on her continuing to get access to college and grad level experiences without actually having to enter college/grad school to do it.

 

 

 

On the record keeping side, DD's school records for our cover school looked something like this
 

Math-Grade 5-- Primary textbook-Art of Problem Solving Introduction to Algebra, Secondary textbooks, Life of Fred Advanced Algebra and Geometry, completed Algebra 1 EOC exam (B.  City Schools)

 

Science-Grade 5- General Biology- Primary textbooks-Campbell and Reece, Biology, 9th edition with labs at W....... College (list of labs) and end of course exam from W.....College. ---Grade average ______, reported by Dr. X.....

 

And so on. If she should be in a position where we need to create a high school transcript, I have the records I need to do it.

[SkateLeft]

My daughter started dual enrollment college classes at 14, and I graduated her at 16. She started earning high school credit through a university talent search program at 10, but I ended up dropping most of that off her transcript by the time she graduated, because she didn't need the credit. I also didn't want it to look like I was padding her transcript. I did keep transcripts and all documentation though, just in case I decided I needed it at some point.

 

By the time she graduated, she had so much dual enrollment credit, that I only ended up including the last four years of her work.

 

Edited to add: I graduated her early because there was nothing left to offer her, and she was ready to move on. She completed high school with 60 semester units of dual enrollment coursework and a 4.0 college GPA. I can't imagine having kept her home another couple of years!

[Melissa B]

My eldest dd started high school classes at 11. We just moved into dual enrollment at 14 and will graduate her at the normal time.

 

We are not planning to count any classes she took before 9th grade on her high school transcript. The only exception will be if a college wants to see Geometry on the transcript as it is a requirement for graduation in Florida and therefore a 'requirement' for state college admittance. She meets all other high school graduation requirements with her DE classes.

[Syllieann]

*Snip*

 

When I was in university, I could skip class all year for non-lab classes like accounting, economics, law, sociology and just show up for the exams as only the exams score counts. My kids would love something like that for gen ed requirements.

See, to me this seems like a reason in favor of graduating early. Maybe I am misunderstanding this statement somehow. It seems like a colossal waste of time and money. I guess if there is a full ride and you are using the time to focus on something of high interest it might be a plus?

[8filltheheart]

Depending on the university, a lot of gen ed courses can be covered via AP, CLEP, or taking institutional exams. Even lower level in major courses might be given credit via those options.

[Lawyer&Mom]

See, to me this seems like a reason in favor of graduating early. Maybe I am misunderstanding this statement somehow. It seems like a colossal waste of time and money. I guess if there is a full ride and you are using the time to focus on something of high interest it might be a plus?

I assume, since we know this wasn't the U.S., university was significantly cheaper, if not free.

[Arcadia]

See, to me this seems like a reason in favor of graduating early. Maybe I am misunderstanding this statement somehow. It seems like a colossal waste of time and money. I guess if there is a full ride and you are using the time to focus on something of high interest it might be a plus?

Not in US and I had a non-core compulsory subject every year for engineering. Since only the exam scores counted, I skipped all lectures and tutorials and went swimming at the varsity pool instead. Sometimes we (all who skip classes) spent the time at the computer labs finishing our CAD and programming assignments. I just spent a few days before the exams reading the textbooks cover to cover. It is possible to take the exams for two non-core subjects per year thereby graduating in 3.5 years instead of 4 years but I wasn't in a rush.

Hubby industriously attended every single lecture, tutorials and labs. He was on an academic scholarship so a healthy bank balance when he finished his bachelors in electrical engineering. He finished his PhD in three years on a scholarship :) I always tease him about passing on the industrious gene to our kids.

 

I assume, since we know this wasn't the U.S., university was significantly cheaper, if not free.

Not in the US and the tuition was less than US$6k per year for engineering (CE/ME/EE/ChemE/ISE) in 1991. For 2015/16, I just checked and it is just over US$6k for engineering for citizens. One of my nephews is currently in Industrial Systems Engineering at my alma mater. Hostel (dorm) is optional. The average annual starting pay for this nephew would more than cover his four years of tuition. He is on an academic scholarship though.

 

ETA:

FYI my home country's gifted programme is heavily funded by the govt. Education budget (SG$12 billion for 2015) has always been 2nd only to the Ministry of Defence (SG$13 billion for 2015) in the annual parliamentary budget.

[Luckymama]

Dd is beginning dual enrollment at the university this fall (rising 10th grade). She will also take five AP classes, most with me (4 are her choice; I insisted on English Lang).

 

Tentative plans for 11th grade include increasing the number of dual enrollment classes and doing a few more APs.

 

No plans yet for 12th grade because dd likes to throw me curve balls :rolleyes: :eek:

 

University dual enrollment is not free nor is it reduced. We will pay the regular cost per credit hour. The costs for a non-competitive localish university and the community college are less, but the classes there are just not at the proper level for dd (friends teach at all three institutions).

[~Laura~]

I doubt we'll graduate any of our DC 'early'. I have the knowledge of their options based on my experience. I started taking some college classes at the local community college at age 11. HSers only need parent approval and to be dual enrolled at the PS and choose to take classes that the PS doesn't offer in order for the school to pay the college. The college also offers the option to take the final without taking the test and if they pass, you have to pay the class fee and receive credit for it. When my kids are ready, I'll have them take college classes the same way. DD may be able to get half way through an associates degree by her 17th birthday. I'm assuming my youngest will be more accelerated and may graduate high school with enough credits to also get an associates. I feel that if they're learning higher level after age 14, they should get college credit for it. I don't think I'll put anything before age 14 on their high school transcript though, unless it's something required for graduation or college admittance.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I'm not planning on having DS graduate early.  He will likely take CC courses starting at around 14.  He'll be 14 in January. 

 

 

[EndOfOrdinary]

Ds has gone back and forth on graduating early. Up until a significant opportunity opened up, he was in the "no" camp. He wanted to go to highly selective schools, so waiting seemed prudent. Now, after talking with a few people who did early graduation and went Ivy, that has changed a bit. His main goal is to go at 16 to a private LAC, but to graduate at 16 with his associates. So DE at 14 ish for foriegn languages ( Spanish and Japanese ). The CC accepts huge amounts of AP classes for an associates, so Ds is going to go that route rather than to have to sit through horrid gen ed classes. Plus, the LAC he wants to shoot for is highly selective and likes the AP's.

 

That means high school starts at 12. Though next year (10-11 years old) he is taking a full load of classes which many households count as high school level. We don't, but I guess we could. It is rather up in the air for another couple of years.

 

Personally, I wanted him to wait until 18 because of all the really cool stuff we could do. However, when I mapped it out, the last two years were really me reaching. He would have graduated with close to 22 AP classes. It was obnoxious. It would be me just trying to do anything I could to keep the kid busy. So it makes much more sense for the early graduation. Much like people above have said, if you can find opportunities at home then cool, but if the kid maxes out send them on.

 

ETA: Just to give you an idea of how fool hearty it is to plan anything with an accellerated kid, Ds was just offered a community organizing internship for next year which could turn into employment completely blowing up any accellerated graduating and college plans. There is no way he could work, go to selective college, and still be so young all at once. So everything I wrote above might be completely invalid.

[quark]

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[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

Honestly, there is no right or wrong thing to do here. I skipped 11th grade and graduated early because it was the right thing for me. I had all my necessary credits. I was accepted where I wanted to attend college, and I attended a local college so I didn't leave home yet. I figured whatever electives I wanted to pursue could be take in college. I was mature enough, so I graduated at 16 and started college after turning 17. I have friends who did concurrent courses at the community college and had two years under their belt when they graduated high school. Others wanted a year off before college.

 

It depends on your child's goals, what type of college they want to attend and how competitive it is (I suggest talking to an admissions advisor,) and their maturity. I'd just keep pressing forward and think about all of the goals carefully.