When do your kids start taking classes at a college?

[Heather in Neverland]

I am starting to panic just a little. My ds is working through my planned curriculum a lot faster than I expected. I knew that somewhere around Algebra II and high school science I would need to start outsourcing because of my own limitations (as in I hate math and can't really help him beyond Geometry/Algebra I...I was an English/Spanish major :D). However, that is coming sooner than I expected.

 

I knew he would probably start doing classes at the local university for his junior and senior years but now I am starting to worry that we might need access to that sooner (like maybe by 9th grade). Do any colleges you know of let freshmen take courses there? I've searched around here a little and the earliest I have seen is a local cc that allows sophomores but no freshmen.

 

I've also considered online courses but I think classes like chemistry and physics would be difficult to teach online? And calculus too. There is no way I could help him with any of those three classes. I will teach him his history, literature, writing, bible, etc. at home, but math and science have to be outsourced.

 

So what do you all do in this situation?

[coopers5]

for Community Colleges that I know of. They usually want kids a minimum age, I think, of 16. Sometimes they skip that if a student meets a certain SAT/ACT minimum or passes a placement sort of test.

 

Are there any homeschooling support groups anywhere remotely near your area that offer some co-ops in these math or science courses that intimidate you? Some people do that - form co-ops with one parent that has that subject as a specialty teaching it, making assignments, doing labs together, etc.

I know that some people do take the Pennsylvania Homeschoolers classes online for chemistry and calculus. You should go to their website and read some of the reviews from past students, etc.

pahomeschoolers.com

My daughter is taking two of the PAH courses this year and we are very pleased, but they are US Hist. and US Gov't. So I don't have any input to offer about the math or science at this point.

 

Is there a private school in your area that allows homeschoolers to take a course or two? These are things I know of people doing (and have done.)

 

HTH!

:001_smile:

[Heather in Neverland]

I haven't considered private schools...hmmmm.....interesting.

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm on a e-list for parents of kids who are 14 and younger and taking college classes. As I recall, my daughter is the only one who is in a full-time residential program. The rest of the kids are taking anywhere from one to three courses while living at home. And several of them are at their local community colleges.

 

You might try contacting your local CCs and asking them about their policies. As someone else mentioned, you can often make a case for having them admit your student if you can show SAT/ACT scores that make it clear he's ready for college-level work.

[HollyinNNV]

Everyone has individual goals and priorities. At this point, I have no plans to put my dd in cc. I plan to go the "test route" to prove the grades that I give (AP & SAT II). Of course, I may change my mind (dd's in 9th grade). However, at this point I do not plan to utilize CC's at all. My reasons:

 

1. Politics: I do not want my dd's classes to consist of a prof jamming their political agenda down my dd's throat until she goes to college as a college-age student.

2. Appropriateness: I am not particularly religious, however, I find that many college classes include content that is not designed for a high schooler.

3. Educational Value: I have watched our babysitter's experiences with cc with interest. Her papers were marked with a grade. However, she was often given very little feedback as to how to improve. I find this method of "teaching" of dubious value. The babysitter had to do more self-teaching and I didn't find that the professors were all that helpful. DD can do self-teaching at home.

4. We belong to a co-op with deadlines and high educational standards. I do not need a CC to provide that.

5. I'm lucky in that dh is strong in math/science and I do fine in the rest. So we are very fortunate in that area.

 

That said, I think that we will probably do a few PA AP classes. I have no experience in teaching to that type of test and I welcome an expert to help dd in that area. Maybe after 1 or 2 classes, I would feel confidant doing an AP on my own.

 

Holly

[FloridaLisa]

Heather,

 

You might be surprised at the provision out there for high school classes for home educated students. We've done the following so far at the high school level:

 

1) on-line classes through our state virtual school (including AP)

2) on-line classes through a private provider (including AP)

3) co-op classes

4) parent taught class and lab

5) tutor taught class and lab

6) community college

7) DVD driven courses (Saxon and now Chalkdust)

 

And there is still more available that we've not done:

college prep classes through a Christian, classical 2-day/week group

tutor in our home

classes at the local public school

classes at a local private school

 

When we hit high school science, I started by putting together a biology class and lab. I invited those I knew (and I was fairly new to the area) and in a matter of weeks we had 10 kids. For chemistry, we hired a young college grad and paid him monthly.

 

Also, I wouldn't discount the on-line classes. While my ds prefers a live teacher, he's taken several on-line courses and done well. Many here have kids that have studied physics, chemistry, Latin and other classes on-line and done very well on the AP/SAT II/NLEs.

 

Hope that helps. You are wise to start researching now so that you are familiar with your options when he hits that point.

Lisa

[Miss Marple]

In our area, the nearby CC will allow younger students to attend (based on ACT scores - which tend to be rather low), but the local university branch will not allow anyone under age 16 (usually 11th grade) to attend.

 

Much would depend on the maturity of your student, IMO. I'm not sure my sons would be able to handle the sights/sounds of these places at age 14. I think there would be some major distractions in the learning environment :-). However, one can always opt for online courses through these colleges/universities. We did that for my oldest's first concurrent semester.

 

That said, we do start concurrent enrollment at our local university in 11th for math and some electives.

Edited October 15, 2008 by CynthiaOK
addition

[Pamela H in Texas]

Our experience was that:

 

1) universities are friendlier than community colleges for very young students

2) some professors will go to bat for a bright kid

3) some schools will consider noncredit options for some classes

4) testing scores can open doors

 

Just our experience.

 

ETA: As I looked above, I wanted to second some of the suggestions of ways to do higher level high school and core course college work from home. Though my daughter likes GOING to college, it's just ONE way of getting credits. Other ways have their own merits, especially with a young student. Great thing is that we can pick and choose a little of this, a little of that :)

Edited October 15, 2008 by 2J5M9K

[Heather in Neverland]

These are some excellent suggestions, thank you! I am going to start looking into the various options now so I can have a plan in place. I didn't realize how many options there are out there.

[Michelle in AL]

Hi Heather, I think online outsourcing is an excellent option. Scholars Online has excellent, VERY challenging science classes, from an extremely well qualified teacher. The material is truly college level and requires a LOT of studying (at least 14 hrs/week for my dd). She loves the class even though it challenges her to the nth degree. It's in online text format, but the kids and teacher do really get to know each other. The teacher is excellent and able to be very clear on her explanation of concepts in this format. The only negative I have regarding this class is the delay in grading of essays & labs (quizzes are graded instantly). Their lit classes look great too, but I enjoy teaching this too much to outsource.

 

Our experience with the Potter's School has been good too. They have voice/text classes and even work on large group projects together.

 

I would seriously consider an online math class that meets at least twice a week. So far we haven't needed it (we're on Algebra 2), but my dd strongly dislikes video instructors so this may be a good option.

 

I'm truly amazed at the quality of these classes. I love being able to hand pick a teacher, who I know is more passionate about the subject than I. I wouldn't think an asynchronous or noninteractive online course would be as good a choice for us. My dd seems to thrive on the interaction of the class and wants to do well for the instructor, who it feels like you personally know.

[Jenn in CA]

My oldest took 1 cc class spring semester of 9th grade. It was an easy class (thankfully), only met once a week, and was something he was interested in (computer programming). So it worked out great.

 

This semester (10th gr.) he's doing 2 online cc classes (English and programming). Online is a fabulous option. All the class materials are available on the website, so I can keep tabs. And since it's geared for distance learning (I'm writing about the English class), the prof is great about writing very clear assts, putting lots of support material on the website, and answering emails quickly.

 

It's been a great experience and a great way for a younger student to take college classes. In fact, it makes me more hesitant to send him to campus until he's older. I think we'll try to work through all the available online classes first.

 

You're right that science classes and math classes are generally not online, so maybe this post doesn't help at all.

 

Our local state u. has an accelerated program for high schoolers, where high schoolers take college classes, but meet monthly with the other high schoolers and a mentor for guidance and support. Maybe you could look into something like that.

[Alyce]

Your child has to be 16 before they can attend CC. There is an exception. A friend's dd was ready for CC when she was 14. They had her take their admission test, she had to have a SAT score, and she had to have an IQ test to show that she was ready for college level work. I can't say that all CC are that strict with their exception rule but the 16 rule is hard and fast (state mandated). You won't be able to enroll part time in a public school for a class (also stated mandated) The only way you can utilize public school is if you enroll your child in full-time. Some Christian schools may let you try a class or two that will depend upon where you live. If you live in one of the larger metropolitan areas there will be a better chance. None of our Private school here will allow it. You have 2 other best bets. 1) Enroll him in an on-line school. I have heard great things of this option we just never had enough money. 2) find a big homeschool group that does co-ops you might find classes that way (ours does advanced math and science classes that are very good). I hate to be the bearer of bad news but felt you needed to know more about the laws and conditions here in NC.

[K-FL]

Here to qualify for the Dual-Enrollment $$ they have to have finished 9th grd (usually 15yo) & have the appropriate ACT/SAT or entrance test scores for placement. Both my dd have done so. The great thing w/cc over classes @ the hs is that there are really grown-ups there, meaning not all the social/fooling around business. Also our cc is 1/2 the size of the hs, so you get lots more personal attention. It's been very positive for us. Also, if dc are planning to go to a univ. that accepts the transfer credits (here all state schools must & it seems all the in-state privates do too) the less $$ out for univ. tuition (which is more/hr than cc) the better.

[Renee in NC]

You won't be able to enroll part time in a public school for a class (also stated mandated) The only way you can utilize public school is if you enroll your child in full-time.

 

Actually, the superintendent of each district decides that for his own district. I know there are at least 1-2 people on this board whose children have taken 1-2 classes at the ps here in NC. It isn't allowed in our county, but I know there are a few!

[Heather in Neverland]

For those of you who do online science or math courses...

 

do you feel your child is getting enough instruction, questions answered, interaction, etc? I am thinking about something like chemistry where there are all these labs required. How does that work? I don't have room to turn my house into a science lab.:D

 

I have checked out a few co-ops around here and to be honest, the academics are sorely lacking...it's more like "pretend" chemistry.

 

I can see myself using a tutor (grad student maybe?) for higher level math so ds can get one on one help but chemistry/physics poses a bigger problem. In these online courses, do they just "simulate" the labs?

[Michelle in AL]

At Scholars Online they do real labs. The teacher gives you step by step instructions and then you type results up in lab report format. They are real labs, and we do sometimes look like we have a lab in our kitchen.

The labs we've done so far are: Field observations (area outside), water properties, Microscope basics and slide preparations (involved cutting a sample and staining it with 2 different stains at different dilutions).

 

In class the teacher thoroughly covers the material and questions are answered and discussed. The material is truly college level and the tests are difficult, so even with all this the student still has to study a LOT and still may not do well on the tests. From my understanding the grades are scaled at the end of the semester, but I could be wrong. It is somewhat defeating to work so hard though and still get less than stellar grades (before scaling).

[SheWhoWaits]

The best thing to do is to visit the college he'd be attending and ask. My ds started in 10th grade. He goes to a local community college. He had to pass a test and show maturity in an interview. I went with to the interview. The counsellor said that his test of maturity was that ds answered all his questions without looking at me for affirmation. The test was pretty hard. The math covered was way beyond what I had in algebra ii or advanced math in high school. My ds passed it because he had taken accelerated math classes for gifted high school students through a local gifted and talented program. If he hadn't passed all sections of the test, they wouldn't have allowed him to take any classes at all.

[Gwen in VA]

The AP chemistry course offered through Pennsylvania Homeschoolers had absolutely fantastic labs. At the beginning of the year my ds received a box of lab equipment, including among other goodies a scale accurate to +-0.01 grams! (The accuracy was needed for some of the labs!) The labs were seriously impressive.

 

My son received extensive feedback on his labs -- down to what errors he did in calculations, how he could have rephrased his hypothesis, etc.

[PamJH]

Our local private college (my alma mater) allowed my daughter to take a beginning French class. The only requirement: My checkbook. I seriously think my 8th grade son could have taken a class, too.

 

This class can count as high school credit as well as college credit, too.

 

Our local CC requires a compass test, and it does want the student to be at least 16, however, exceptions can be made

 

My dentist's wife said a 14-year-old was in her Chinese language class at Western Michigan University and was doing quite well. So there are lots of options.

[lwilliams1922]

I'm on a e-list for parents of kids who are 14 and younger and taking college classes. As I recall, my daughter is the only one who is in a full-time residential program. The rest of the kids are taking anywhere from one to three courses while living at home. And several of them are at their local community colleges.

 

You might try contacting your local CCs and asking them about their policies. As someone else mentioned, you can often make a case for having them admit your student if you can show SAT/ACT scores that make it clear he's ready for college-level work.

 

 

can you share that list?

 

I contacted the cc here a few months ago about my 8th grader. I wanted to know if they had a policy for 9th graders?

They said for the most part they take 11th and 12 graders.

 

I really wanted to know if they would give her the same entrance/placement test they give to other students. I got the run around so i let it go.

 

I think I really would like to look into her taking science there though.

[Alyce]

Here's where I got my information about NC Public School Education. There may be exceptions but there aren't supposed to be. That is why many organizations including NCHE are pushing to get a law passed so that homeschoolers can take classes at public schools.

 

"Yet despite these guarantees, current North Carolina policies prohibit the participation of homeschooled and private schooled children in public school sports or core classes, and they leave it up to school officials’ discretion whether homeschoolers can take enrichment classes at local public schools."