Good first class to dual enroll in ?

[...................]

I’d like to have my dd get her feet wet in dual enrollment next year (9th) to see how she does and if she’ll be ready for early college the following year. (This is the same dd struggling with unmotivated learners at co-op)

 

The CC she will go to doesn’t have ASL

She doesn’t want to take college level Science yet

 

So maybe a composition course?

History?

Thoughts?

[marbel]

My daughter's first DE class was an art class, because art is her intended major, and I knew she would have an enjoyable first experience, which was very important to me. 

 

My son's first was English 101, basic college composition, because it was a core course he would need at some point, and I was sick of trying to get him to write essays at home. 

 

And, sorry if this sounds condescending, but I'm saying it because I've heard too many complaints from parents who get mad because they find the classes are too "adult" for their student (for example, nude models in a drawing class, or discussion topics in a psychology class) so take that into consideration if needed.   It is still college, even if young high schoolers are in attendance.    :-) 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by marbel

[Kassia]

I would start with something she's already strong in and has an interest in.  For us, it was Spanish.  Dd already knew the material and took the courses for conversation practice.  I would also check rate my professor to increase the chance of getting a good instructor to start with.  

 

Dd doesn't like science but took elementary chemistry at our CC - it was more of a high school level class with lab.  

 

 

[Kassia]

 

And, sorry if this sounds condescending, I don't assume you don't know this, but I've heard too many complaints from parents who get mad because they find the classes are too "adult" (for example, nude models in a drawing class, or discussion topics in a psychology class) so take that into consideration if needed.     :-) 

 

I"m not complaining, but dd is 15 and her DE US Government instructor says the most inappropriate things!   She says he has no filter.  She also has said that most of her professors curse in class, but this guy is just over the top in what he says in class.  She thinks he's trying to be cool.  

[marbel]

I"m not complaining, but dd is 15 and her DE US Government instructor says the most inappropriate things!   She says he has no filter.  She also has said that most of her professors curse in class, but this guy is just over the top in what he says in class.  She thinks he's trying to be cool.  

 

See, I would find cursing inappropriate no matter what the age level.  But I was thinking more of topics that are typical of college/adult level, but not necessarily high school level, that parents of DE high schoolers complain about. 

 

One mom I knew was going to talk to her kid's professor about an assigned book that the mom thought was inappropriate.  I told her to let her daughter ask for an alternate book if necessary, but mom should stay out of it.  Mom said "but she's in high school!"  Right, but you put her in a college class!  The mom and I never came to an understanding on that topic.  :-) 

Edited March 9, 2018 by marbel

[marbel]

Whoops, dp. 

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by marbel

[Kassia]

See, I would find cursing inappropriate no matter what the age level.  But I was thinking more of topics that are typical of college/adult level, not necessarily high school level, that parents of DE high schoolers complain about. 

 

One mom I knew was going to talk to her kid's professor about an assigned book that the mom thought was inappropriate.  I told her to let her daughter ask for an alternate book if necessary, but mom should stay out of it.  Mom said "but she's in high school!"  Right, but you put her in a college class!  The mom and I never came to an understanding on that topic.  :-) 

 

I was surprised about the cursing.  I agree with you about the topics and especially that the parent shouldn't be involved when it's a college class - especially about a book selection.  

[regentrude]

My DD took French as her first DE class. the instructor placed her into French 2 based on her prior studies. Itw as a great experience and she took five French courses at the university.

[historically accurate]

We did Intro to Computer Science. It's a pretty easy class overall for most people, and dd was strong already in beginning coding/etc. She also has dysgraphia so no big papers due was a plus. The next semester she took High school level Chemistry and Intro to Psychology. Her first classes were all hits.

 

Edited for grammar - apparently writing 5 complete sentences is just too much for me. 

Edited March 9, 2018 by beckyjo

[...................]

Thanks! These are all great ideas and thoughts.

 

Unfortunately they have to take English 101 before any food lit classes. And they’re pretty lame. My sons English 101 was clean because we did our due diligence with research. My dd is going to a less impacted college. But since she won’t have priority registration it’s still unlikely she’d get her pick of professors. DE students here aren’t allowed to register until two days before registration closes.

 

So since she likes history maybe that would be a good first pick. We could choose a few and then have multiple tabs open and I’ll get up at midnight and see what’s open when it’s time to register.

[shinyhappypeople]

1st class: something that will be easy.  There's more to learn than just the course content (time management, deadlines, getting used to being in a classroom with adults....) Let her get her feet wet before throwing her in the deep end.  I think for many teens, the first semester DE should be the training wheels semester.  My 13 yo will likely take a CC class next spring, and she'll start with a typing class.  Once she's comfortable with how college works, then she can try a harder class.  

[Lori D.]

Study skills or "college success" type of class?

Vocational-Tech course? 

Public Speaking/Communications? (although, college students do sometimes choose to speak on mature topics)

 

Just an FYI: history and other social science courses (anthropology, sociology, philosophy), as well as the choice of literature in English or Writing courses, often have very adult content.

 

Intro to Art could be good, but usually have live n*de models, so DD would need to be mature enough to handle that.

 

DSs both did Foreign Language as their dual enrollment. Neither had inappropriate course content or student/teacher sharings. One did Spanish, and one did ASL, and both did very well -- although, they were in 12th grade, not 9th grade.

[Kassia]

Re:  Art     Dd took Art Appreciation and there were no live models at all.  

[Dmmetler]

My DD’s was a math teaching techniques course. The reason was a) she likes math and, at the time, was helping to coach a math club and b) I figured education majors would be receptive to a younger student more than other majors (she was 12 at the time). It worked. She loved it and thrived, and it was a nice, gentle introduction to the college environment.

[katilac]

Re:  Art     Dd took Art Appreciation and there were no live models at all.  

 

It's definitely very common in drawing classes, although certainly not all of them for the intro class. Youngest did not have live models in her intro to drawing class, but I think that may have mostly been about the department being poor, lol. 

 

Is Art Appreciation a drawing class or more of a survey class? At the schools I'm familiar with, the "appreciation" wording means it's a general education requirement course, as opposed to an actual art course that could go towards an art major. 

 

I agree with Lori D. that social sciences and literature will often have adult content. Regarding composition classes, the problem often lies not in what the professor says or assigns, but in what other students write about. Students often do peer review, and then papers are read and discussed in class. You have to be prepared for your student to discuss and read about themes such as sex, drugs, domestic violence, war experiences, and so on. 

 

Foreign languages can be a very good choice, although I would be hesitant to enroll a new student who has not had any experience, simply because a certain portion of students find language study to be quite difficult. The "101" classes can generally be mastered with due diligence, but they pick up in speed and difficulty after that. 

[RootAnn]

I agree that it should be something interesting to the student and something they are strong in.

 

Our state college (no community college nearby) offers no foreign language classes (at all - shocking!) or that is what I would have started my DD in. She picked Intro to Psych. It isn't an easy class (bell curve centered on C with a few more on the D/F end than the A/B end right now), but DD enjoys the topic matter and the teacher. They have covered mental illness and drug use, but I don't consider either topic to be one inappropriate for a 15-16 year old in today's world.

 

Nude models aren't used in the first semester drawing class locally. If an art class is of interest, it is worth checking with the professors. (My next kid is an artist, but I'm not sure what she would get out of a local college class.)

[...................]

I'll have to have my dd check out your dd's horse and girl book :)

[Lori D.]

Totally JMO, and you know your student best! I'm adding this as a general advice, NOT directing this specifically at the original poster ;):

 

One last thing to consider is that dual enrollment is college, and college grades are forever -- they are part of the permanent GPA. A low grade on the permanent record as your first college experience, can be very upsetting for some students (saw that with one of my co-op students -- in 10th grade mom signed him up for Spanish as his first dual enrollment, he struggled, got a "D", and not only did he refuse to do more dual enrollment, but he ended up feeling really stupid and as though he couldn't learn a foreign language. :( )

 

If a student is young/immature, or does not have study skills in place, is really not interested/ready, don't do dual enrollment. Or if there is no real goal for taking specific classes via dual enrollment -- like needing to outsource, or needing a challenge for an advanced student, or student has an interest that can only be pursued via dual enrollment -- don't do it.

 

Especially at the young teen ages, you want more rigorous academics (the step up into 9th grade work, or doing college level work) to be a *success*, and to do it when the student has developed the tools for succeeding -- earning a low grade right out of the chute with dual enrollment, or being exposed to things not ready for, can really stumble a student. There is plenty of time to "try out" college later when the student is ready, interested, and has the tools for good success. :)

 

Just my 2 cents worth! :)

[lmrich]

We are doing an online World History course as my dd's first CC class. The first few weeks she needed a little help learning the system (how to find the work, how to turn stuff in, etc...) It has been a solid course - boring - but fine. 

 

[catz]

My son's first dual enrolled classes were composition 1 and American Film Studies.  There was rated R content in both.  This semester he's taking Early American History and Earth Science.  There has been rated R content in history too.   ETA - to be clear, I'm totally fine with that content for him.  Kids generally cannot dual enroll here before junior year.  

Edited March 12, 2018 by FuzzyCatz

[G5052]

We did what they count as a basic computer literacy class. That way they were fully up-to-speed on the Microsoft applications for homework, and it's a pretty neutral. Here, you have to be a junior.

 

Anything English or history can be edgy. My youngest homeschool graduate is currently in World History I, and it's definitely adult material that the professor seems to relish. All of the antics of the Greeks and Romans, if you know what I mean. At that school, English 101 and 102 are fine, but the literature classes beyond that are more adult.

 

Drawing is fine. No models. 

 

Anything science or foreign language is fine, although those subjects move faster than what you would do in high school, so you have to watch that.

 

[Ellie]

My dd's first community college class was life drawing. I took it with her. :-) It was a prerequisite for an AA, so not just a throw-away class. The next semester she took Latin, because she had been doing it with a small group of homeschoolers and she needed a foreign language at the c.c., so it was an obvious choice. She might have taken another art class, as well, but it was long ago and I don't really remember, lol.

[madteaparty]

 

One mom I knew was going to talk to her kid's professor about an assigned book that the mom thought was inappropriate.  I told her to let her daughter ask for an alternate book if necessary, but mom should stay out of it.  Mom said "but she's in high school!"  Right, but you put her in a college class!  The mom and I never came to an understanding on that topic.  :-) 

This is unreal (the mom, not you). I won't tell you/her what my DS studied in his last DE class

 

OP, a language 101 type class might work if the kid has a bot of exposure to language. The composition, English 101 are also not super hard I'm told.  

[kokotg]

My son did Spanish, Wellness, and World History his first semester and had a good experience. He'd had a ton of Spanish at home with a tutor already, but the placement test only put him in the second level--on one hand this made for a very easy intro to college Spanish and an easy A, which was nice; on the other hand he's taking the next class now and still hasn't gotten to anything new, which is getting a little frustrating for him. Wellness was to fulfill the state graduation requirement (I don't know if this really mattered, but our state flagship can be very picky about homeschoolers, so I figured better safe than sorry) and was, as you'd expect, an easy grade as long as you showed up and did the work. World History (and wellness) were both honors, but the history prof was a very easy grader. So that worked out well, too, in that I think he got a good intro to a college level seminar type class (and wrote his first college paper), but without a lot of stress or pressure. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I had a different approach. I waited until junior year and started them with precalc (which was a college level course at their schools). Other classes like English and history I taught at home. Latin and a few others were done online.

[quark]

Kiddo waited till ready to place at higher level classes because then, the classmates were more focused (though not always for math classes, unfortunately). Kiddo also took purely for fun classes in music and foreign language.

 

We could choose a few and then have multiple tabs open and I’ll get up at midnight and see what’s open when it’s time to register.

 

One good practice towards being college ready is to have her do stuff like that. :001_smile:
 

[madteaparty]

Kiddo waited till ready to place at higher level classes because then, the classmates were more focused (though not always for math classes, unfortunately

 

True, though major-required versus gen ed classes are also harder and have a steeper curve ;)

[kokotg]

True, though major-required versus gen ed classes are also harder and have a steeper curve ;)

 

yes, this semester DS is taking two classes that aren't part of anyone's core requirements (physics and an upper level Spanish), and he's finding them a good bit more challenging than what he took last semester. He's doing well, but he was a little taken aback by how much work he's doing in them after a very easy first semester of DE.

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