I can't decide whether to my this my dd's 9th or 10th grade year :(

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So before we moved to CA, my dd was the same grade as all her peers.  Due to cutoffs back when she was entering KInder (which have since been changed in CA), all the kids her age are going into 10th grade.

She's not super involved with kids of that age, and in fact her closest friends her age just missed the cutoff or live out of state, (cousins etc) so her ACTUAL peers that she usually interacts with are going into 9th grade.

However, what complicates the matter is that my son did skip a grade but for completely other reasons. He is already finished 20 college classes by age 17, and is also just very calm, very mature, very no-drama, and I think totally ready for college life after this coming school year (he just finished all his apps!)

My dd originally asked to be skipped to 10th this year and because she completed all 9th grade coursework last year, that would be possible.  On the other hand, she is A LOT less mature than my son.  RIGHT NOW it seems 100% the best decision to say she's going into 9th grade.  It takes a lot of complications off of my plate to keep her as a 9th grader as well.  She'd be better prepared for the SATs, she would have more time to complete community service hours, and she'd have more time with her horse and new trainer, learning a new discipline, and more time to stay settled in her high school life before rushing towards SATs, college apps, college visits, etc.

However, I have seen this phenomenon among many and I mean MANY of my friends kids and nieces and nephews, where they just get just plain sick of being home.  They are just plain ready to move on.  Her turning 18 early on in her senior year (the current 9th grade plan) makes me concerned that she will reach that point and we will be stuck dealing with a bored and "ennui" 18 year old...

My dd could go either way...she really likes the idea of moving on more quickly than her brother but she really doesn't like the idea of taking more classes, fulfilling her service hours, and all of that stuff. She's actually stressed out about her regular schedule as it is without adding more to graduate sooner.  I could just keep it basic but we live in a very competitive state and competitive area and based on past standardized test performance I am not expecting anything truly amazing. (probably 1250 range) So giving her the edge of more time to take a few more CC classes would give her a real advantage.

Thoughts?

[regentrude]

Why do you need to decide on a label NOW? Why can't you simply educate her according to her abilities? If she completed 9th grade work, you do the next level, whether you call it 10th or 9th

Edited August 18, 2018 by regentrude

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Unfortunately due to a-G requirements we do have to decide, also for other reasons. 

[Arcadia]

21 minutes ago, Calming Tea said:

Unfortunately due to a-G requirements we do have to decide, also for other reasons. 

 

Is your daughter also going for the get an associate degree before graduating high school then transfer to UC path as your son is? 

UC and CSU counts 10th and 11th grade for their GPA computation, ignoring 9th grade. So if your daughter is applying as a freshman instead of a transfer, I would be weighing on whether this year’s subjects would give a good weighted GPA score. My city isn’t academically competitive but many cities in my county are. My DS13 doesn’t want a grade skip and we (parents) are thinking of a gap year if he doesn’t want to go to college at 17 years 8 months old.

[Joyful]

I don't know about CA requirements. But will it be workable to assume that she is Gr. 9 now, and then if in a year or so, your DD seems more mature and more ready for college, to finish high school in 3 years without designating a grade skip? I know in some BnM high schools, as long as a student finishes all the required courses and has enough credits (usually by taking summer intensive courses), they can graduate in 3 years.

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3 hours ago, Arcadia said:

 

Is your daughter also going for the get an associate degree before graduating high school then transfer to UC path as your son is? 

UC and CSU counts 10th and 11th grade for their GPA computation, ignoring 9th grade. So if your daughter is applying as a freshman instead of a transfer, I would be weighing on whether this year’s subjects would give a good weighted GPA score. My city isn’t academically competitive but many cities in my county are. My DS13 doesn’t want a grade skip and we (parents) are thinking of a gap year if he doesn’t want to go to college at 17 years 8 months old.

Good question! My dd is going in as a freshman to college not transfer ? 

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3 hours ago, Joyful said:

I don't know about CA requirements. But will it be workable to assume that she is Gr. 9 now, and then if in a year or so, your DD seems more mature and more ready for college, to finish high school in 3 years without designating a grade skip? I know in some BnM high schools, as long as a student finishes all the required courses and has enough credits (usually by taking summer intensive courses), they can graduate in 3 years.

Great thoughts. I’m not sure because  this child is with an accredited school and will technically, as far as the eyes of her diploma and transcript, not be a homeschooler- so  i would have to check with the school on their policies as far as not declaring grades. 

[J-rap]

We were in a similar predicament.  One dd graduated a year early, and the next one down (who was already older for her age-grade) wanted to graduate a year early too.  However, she didn't seem as ready in the way that her older sister was.  We made her wait.

In hindsite, I do think it could have gone either way.  Personally, I don't believe she was as ready to skip a grade as her older sister.  But her perception of herself was that she was ready.  And looking back at it all, I think she could have managed and been very happy to move on to a community college.

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12 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

However, I have seen this phenomenon among many and I mean MANY of my friends kids and nieces and nephews, where they just get just plain sick of being home.  They are just plain ready to move on.  Her turning 18 early on in her senior year (the current 9th grade plan) makes me concerned that she will reach that point and we will be stuck dealing with a bored and "ennui" 18 year old...

 

Yeah, I posted about this in a couple of other threads on the AL board.  I'm dealing with this right now.  Gifted almost 17 year-old...  *sigh*  I did not keep high school-level records before her official 9th grade year, so it's not like I can suddenly backdate everything and graduate her early.  Plus, she still needs to take the ACT or SAT.  She's about 1/3 of the way through her junior year right now and she only needs 4 courses to graduate after this year.  Thinking about having her do an accelerated school year over the summer and fall and graduate her in December.

I really needed to just have her do dual enrollment at the community college this year, but we have transportation issues.  They stopped the bus service that went from a point near our house to the college.  She doesn't have a driver's license, because (long story) she and I were in a horrible accident about a year ago (we were hit head-on on the highway by a lunatic) and she is very afraid to drive...so her driving to dual enrollment classes is not gonna happen...

*sigh*. Wish I had some suggestions for you...  Is yours moving away for college?  That could be a factor in your decision.  Mine are just going to live at home and starting college won't be quite as life-changing.  We're in a major city and within driving distance of a ton of colleges.  Mine don't really need to move anywhere.  

Good luck with your decision!

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Dear Evanthe, 

I’m so sorry about the accident. Hopefully your dd will be able to drive soon. ((Hugs))

Thanks for your thoughts! Yes my dd and my son both will go away to college. So there’s a certain level of maturity needed for that. 

But on the other hand, my dd will be left behind so the time will feel longer than it is no matter how we slice it. 

 

[Arcadia]

12 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

 I’m not sure because  this child is with an accredited school and will technically, as far as the eyes of her diploma and transcript, not be a homeschooler- so  i would have to check with the school on their policies as far as not declaring grades. 

 

11th grade is the state standardized testing (CAASPP) year. CAHSEE is taken first in 10th grade and then retake until both portions are passed. 

Has your daughter worked out a four year plan? My friends’ kids who just started 9th grade a few days ago had their four year plan done in spring of 8th grade with the high school counselor. One friend’s child had the four year plan done with the public school counselor in February and then the private high school counselor after he was accepted to the private school and completed their placement tests. 

DS13 hasn’t work out a four year plan but he has a plan to satisfy the a-g requirements as well as have four years of English, Math, Science, History & Social Sciences, Foreign Languages by the time he finish 12th grade. 

ETA:

I would be tempted to call this year 9th grade and then skip to 11th grade next year if she is ready for PSAT in 2019. 

Edited August 18, 2018 by Arcadia

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Arcadia, 

Do private school kids have to take the CAHSEE?  How about the CAASP?

Those alone would make me re-think the whole idea of getting an accredited diploma through this private school.  My dd is absolutely not a fan of standardized testing.

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Ah, I researched it.  Private school kids do not have to take those tests  ?

 

Also, it looks like those tests were suspended last year anyway even for public schools.   

Edited August 18, 2018 by Calming Tea

[JenneinCA]

You get to set the rules if you file the private school affadavit.  You decide on what testing or no testing is necessary for your school.  You decide which classes are needed to graduate and which are not.

It is totally up to you.

(I graduated my middle child after he had an associates degree because I decided it was silly not to.  He still has not completed four years of English or four years of history/social studies.  He has a whole lot of math and science.  He never took the SAT but did take the ACT.  That is the best part of filing the psa.  I get to make the rules.)

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1 minute ago, JenneinCA said:

You get to set the rules if you file the private school affadavit.  You decide on what testing or no testing is necessary for your school.  You decide which classes are needed to graduate and which are not.

It is totally up to you.

(I graduated my middle child after he had an associates degree because I decided it was silly not to.  He still has not completed four years of English or four years of history/social studies.  He has a whole lot of math and science.  He never took the SAT but did take the ACT.  That is the best part of filing the psa.  I get to make the rules.)

 

We are not filing a PSA... this child is going to be enrolled with an WASC accredited and A-G approved private online academy.  (Probably. It depends on a few questions I have)

[Arcadia]

48 minutes ago, Calming Tea said:

Arcadia, 

Do private school kids have to take the CAHSEE?  How about the CAASP?

 

CAHSEE was suspended. CAASP isn’t. Private schools don’t take those. 

Our main reason for going the PSA route for DS13 is because of dual enrollment. I can just sign off the school authorization form and attached the PSA. I don’t want to have to negotiate with a public charter on which dual enrollment classes DS13 can apply for. We didn’t look at private online schools since DS13 wants mainly brick and mortar classes.

 

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OK, so we decided :

1.  Not to do the accredited private school full time.  We will still use them part-time for my dd's A-G courses, but will keep the flexibility we have with being homeschoolers (we do get some guidance and help from our cover school which I love but there are no requirements.)

2.  To call this 10th grade.  Moving forward, we now have a plan so she can complete all her A-G requirements on time.  However, if we for some reason decide she's not ready for each year at that time (whether it be 11th, or 12th or college) then we can always re-name the school years and count things differently.

My dh and I also talked about the fact that, if she still seems a little immature or naive in such a way that we have a concern, we can always help her choose a small private college where she will have smaller class sizes and easier access to things.  I was picturing her at a gigantic university with 30,000 kids and huge freshman class sizes and a long phone call wait for anything as far as health or services.  But I realize that she has other options. ?

[BusyMom5]

Kids change so much in the teen years!  I think your decision is a good one, it allows more flexiblity.  I've got an older ultra motivated kid who wants to DE in 11th grade (she's in 10th), go to a STEM college, score high on tests, ect.   The second one, currently in 8th grade,  just isn't into that level of work.  I'm not sure if she will DE at all,  or prefer to just do it all at home and start at the CC after she's 18.   Right now my thinking is to let each kid be true yo themselves.   We chose to homeschool so that they could get thd levrl and depth of learning they wanted.

[Joyful]

Sounds like a plan! There is always the option of a gap year.

You never know, your teen could mature any time, change being a theme in the teen years. (Although, I'm still waiting for my DS... hehehe)

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Thanks Joyful!

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On 8/19/2018 at 5:52 PM, Calming Tea said:

My dh and I also talked about the fact that, if she still seems a little immature or naive in such a way that we have a concern, we can always help her choose a small private college where she will have smaller class sizes and easier access to things.  I was picturing her at a gigantic university with 30,000 kids and huge freshman class sizes and a long phone call wait for anything as far as health or services.  But I realize that she has other options. ?

 

Next week, we are visiting a tiny university that's driving distance from here.  That's currently our first choice.  It's a public university, too, so it's cheap, but it's not huge like the state universities here.  If we end up liking it, I'm just going to steer all our girls in its direction.  lol. I'm pretty sure my kids would do better in a smaller school, too.

And they can commute from home, so we don't have to get into debt paying for dorm fees/meal plans.