What homeschooling trends have you seen come and go?

[8filltheheart]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:38 AM, Tanager said:

I don’t get this “early college” community college thing during 11th and 12th grade. How can the community college classes be the same as year 1 & 2 of the 4 year college classes and just transfer? Are they all really the same - how can that be when our national education level is so low? The closet community college has it set with the college my oldest wants to go to for everything to transfer easy peasy. Sounds like it’s perfect, but I’m still scratching my head on it.

Over the years we kept in touch with people we clicked with, making our core group strong. Our social options tanked during and after COVID as one by one our tribe moved away. We’ve organized some things and it seems that parents just want to drop the kids off. When they stay they stare at their phones and I'm not sure if I should talk to them. It’s hard. Community building, mentoring, connecting... 

I think this is a worthy topic and needs to be understood in terms of individual students and their needs.  My personal POV is that everywhere where we have lived over the yrs has offered CC classes that are subpar to the academics I would prefer my kids to receive.  DE is not a preferred option for me.  My kids do dual enroll, but it isn't a "goal."  DE is a tool.  I typically use DE as the default when they exceed high school level courses, not for completing high school level work.  My kids prefer our homeschool classes bc they are not only more interesting but also typically more challenging. 

When DE has been the path, most of my kids have not DE at a CC.  2 of my kids DE at a 4 yr U.  (If they are going to DE, that is by far my preference.  It can take some extra effort bc some Us will just automatically kick kids back to the local CC.  I have found meeting with the registrar's office in that case can make a difference.)  Classes taken the CC have been classes that have been unrelated to future goals but degree requirements.

That said, my current sr is taking 2 classes at our local CC this semester that I would never normally have one of my kids take, math and English.  The reasons for having her DE are simply pragmatic.  She has said for the last 3 yrs that she does not want to go to college.  Those are 2 classes that required for any degree she might have any interest in pursuing.  They transfer.  I am hoping that giving her this little kickstart that it might help incentivize her path forward toward a degree.   Her siblings have all been goal/career oriented.  They were academically driven and internally motivated to learn.   She marches to her own drummer.  DE in classes that I KNOW are subpar to what she would be doing at home is a deliberate decision.  Sometimes we just have to be willing to see the big picture and take the lesser preferred option.

[Clarita]

On 8/17/2023 at 10:38 PM, Tanager said:

I don’t get this “early college” community college thing during 11th and 12th grade. How can the community college classes be the same as year 1 & 2 of the 4 year college classes and just transfer? Are they all really the same - how can that be when our national education level is so low? The closet community college has it set with the college my oldest wants to go to for everything to transfer easy peasy. Sounds like it’s perfect, but I’m still scratching my head on it.

Also the first year of math at a 4 year University is suppose to be the subjects you would have covered in Calculus (AB+BC) even for a math heavy major. (For reference, at my college requirements for Physics heavy majors was 2 years of Calculus from the math department.) Hence you can skip some of those given your scores on your APs.

Plus isn't community college suppose to serve as the first 2 years of a 4 year Bachelor's. (I know the reality doesn't always look that way, but I thought that was the thinking behind community college.)

[8filltheheart]

9 minutes ago, Clarita said:

Plus isn't community college suppose to serve as the first 2 years of a 4 year Bachelor's. (I know the reality doesn't always look that way, but I thought that was the thinking behind community college.)

You'd think. But when 10th graders can easily take the classes, then that means in reality they are being taught at a high school level. There should be a distinction in content level expectations and one doesnt exist.

[Clemsondana]

Back when I taught at a community college, we were told that every course has 2 course numbers.  One is the number that you see (Chem 101) while the other is somehow encoded in the transcript and is what colleges use when they communicate between them to determine whether a course transfers.  Both my lecture and lab courses had a common syllabus that we were allowed minimal deviation from.  It was required that in the lecture at least 80% of the grade came from closed-note, closed-book assessment.  This was part of the articulation agreement with the State U, although I don't know if it's also required across other schools.  In our current state, a number of the online courses seem to be offered through a state-wide e-campus, so the course is the same across several CCs and possibly also State Us.  

Obviously it's possible to cover the material in more or less depth, or to make harder or easier tests, but the content should be the same.  I know that my teaching at the CC was similar to what I had as a freshman in college, although to be fair it's also not all that different from what I teach to homeschoolers.  The biggest difference between high school and college (whether CC or U) is pacing.  The class that I teach to high schoolers has 8 units in it and takes a full year.  When I taught it at a CC, the semester course was 6 of those units, with a tiny bit more detail.  It was the bio for health science (mostly nursing/EMT students) and it left off the material about ecology and classification of organisms, but added a bit about viruses.  

There are also classes that are just not going to be that difficult for most good students.  Classes like Intro to Psychology are often not that challenging, whether taken at a CC or U.  Many students can manage these sorts of classes even if they are younger.  

[Clemsondana]

As to the original topic, we are seeing more 'we want traditional classes but we don't really care about academics' people showing up at our co-op.  This isn't everybody - we have some very excited new families, too.  And, among this year's seniors are some homeschoolers who have known each other for years (some since elementary) and who come from families that are highly invested in their kids' academic success.  Like us, the kids have done a mix of home-taught classes (our co-op is only enrichment until middle or high school, depending on the subject, so everybody did home-taught classes for years) and various types of outsourcing.  Some families do some AP, some a lot of DE,  some do many co-op classes, and some do more enrichment at the co-op even in high school.  The kids do varying amounts of work and extracurriculars.  

I talk in many situations about how things seem more bifurcated, with everybody moving to an extreme, and it feels like that is the case here.  On one hand, there are people who are all in with some version of 'homeschooling', whether it involves a lot of DE and their kid working while pursuing an expensive, time-consuming extracurricular, or whether they are having their kid take some cool electives at co-op and doing advanced academics at home along with academic competition and athletics, or whether they are helping their student with learning difficulties navigate high school with a mix of co-op and online classes while preparing for a vo-tech program.  This may not all be traditional homeschooling, but it's education tailored to the needs of their student.  Their students are learning and preparing to have productive lives.  Then there are students who seem 1 step short of truant.  However they are supposed to be learning the material, they aren't doing the work and nobody is checking up on them on a regular basis.  They don't just have a few late assignments - they aren't turning in anything.  I have had students who didn't even participate in labs that we did in class.  There have always been some students like this, but the number seems to be increasing.  Historically, many of these students had mental health challenges, so it's possible that we are just seeing more of that and it isn't anything specific to homeschooling.  

[bookbard]

7 hours ago, Clemsondana said:

Then there are students who seem 1 step short of truant.  However they are supposed to be learning the material, they aren't doing the work and nobody is checking up on them on a regular basis.  They don't just have a few late assignments - they aren't turning in anything.  I have had students who didn't even participate in labs that we did in class.  There have always been some students like this, but the number seems to be increasing.  Historically, many of these students had mental health challenges, so it's possible that we are just seeing more of that and it isn't anything specific to homeschooling.  

So I met up with some friends who are school teachers. This is now happening even at school. The kids will turn up to school but won't go into the rooms - they hang out in the playground.  Often they have an IEP allowing them to hang out in the playground. It's not a long term workable solution, it's a way for family, school, child to survive. And it isn't just about the child's issues - I think it is child issues, family issues, school issues and society issues. Local school is short staffed, can't supervise properly, has locked all the toilets due to damage, leading to kids having accidents, leading to more school refusal. It's a cycle. Only real change can really make a difference. Lots more staff, trained staff, whole school programs, and a different culture at the school level. And then on top of that professionals to help change things at home - from how the day begins to transport to food to medical issues . . . it's so enormous that it's difficult to comprehend. There are some schools out there who are really doing all of this, but they're tiny schools which are specially funded, not our local high with over a thousand kids.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have a foot in the public school world and a foot in the homeschool world because my kids attend school in a variety of places. The huge shift I've seen over the last five years has been that there are many more students (and families) who are struggling with mental health concerns.  Increased stress seems to be a tipping point---financial stress in families, stress accessing timely and affordable physical and mental healthcare, stress from interacting with increasingly polarized and selfish people, and a lack of trust in traditional institutions.  I think we've crossed over a tipping point. 

[bookbard]

12 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I think we've crossed over a tipping point. 

I agree. We could see this coming, and now it is here. 

[Eos]

16 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I have a foot in the public school world and a foot in the homeschool world because my kids attend school in a variety of places. The huge shift I've seen over the last five years has been that there are many more students (and families) who are struggling with mental health concerns.  Increased stress seems to be a tipping point---financial stress in families, stress accessing timely and affordable physical and mental healthcare, stress from interacting with increasingly polarized and selfish people, and a lack of trust in traditional institutions.  I think we've crossed over a tipping point. 

I am convinced that a lot of the bolded (and the competitive pinteresty world of homeschooling blogs) is the ubiquity of smartphones, the internet, facebook, and youtube.  There is no stuffing this genie back into any bottle, and there's no obvious way out of the social contagion and harm yet.  We're like puppies who gulp food until they get sick, then eventually learn not to do that - we as a planet of internet consumers need to end the gulping phase.

I've lost the ability to multiquote but agree with much that has been noted in this thread.  The switch to experts and internet and blogs from DIY is perhaps the most dramatic.  I remember a quote from Penny Barker that stayed with me  - her surprise and annoyance at the school kids coming to visit and asking about taking turns mixing bread or whatever she was doing because she just needed it to get done i.e. homeschooling as a lifestyle and not an instagram account. 

I remember when all the "good" moms brought snack in glass jars. 

I remember the slide from unschooling for excellence to the radical unschooling philosophy that was a sort of portend to the current everybody's-an-expert-if-you-just-do-your-own-research mindset. 

Re support groups/play dates/co-ops: long ago our play dates were very informal mom support groups, which I always wanted more of and so came to lurk here since I was isolated.  It's really disheartening to read about folks creating their micro-schools with so much similarity to school and calling it homeschooling but I'm a curmudgeon.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Eos

[Soror]

I think the outscourcing to a CC/College at the highschool level is not a new thing at all. I've seen many veteran hs'ers talk about it.

My dd- 11th that is back hs'ing is taking some classes at the local CC. She's trying to knock out some credits so she has less time/money in college. I'd love to do DE at a 4 yr school however we don't have one close enough to do that (I'm not going to have her do the 3 hr round trip commute- besides the fact that it is twice as expensive). I'd rather she DE upper-level math, science, and foreign language as that is beyond my level of expertise. Most other courses I'd rather she take at home but if she does so she doesn't get credit so she will DE instead. 

. *If* I have any other kids stay home for highschool we'll consider whether or not to DE based on their needs and goals.

 

[Soror]

re: unschooling- I've seen an increase in this in my local area. The little kids just play all the time and the teens and up mostly stay holed up in their rooms and play video games. Their "success" stories are not very convincing. But they do not believe in any government interference. They don't believe they have any responsibility to educate their child. They pretty much put all of that on their child and have very low goals. They talk about all the different ways people can make money in the world but these people are barely surviving and deep in poverty. It is not a life I'd want my kids to perpetuate.

[HomeAgain]

5 minutes ago, Soror said:

re: unschooling- I've seen an increase in this in my local area. The little kids just play all the time and the teens and up mostly stay holed up in their rooms and play video games. Their "success" stories are not very convincing. But they do not believe in any government interference. They don't believe they have any responsibility to educate their child. They pretty much put all of that on their child and have very low goals. They talk about all the different ways people can make money in the world but these people are barely surviving and deep in poverty. It is not a life I'd want my kids to perpetuate.

I honestly wish more unschoolers could see my friend's posts.  She began unschooling when her oldest was in 1st and bookwork was such a chore for them that it made the kid hate learning.  For the past 8 years she has encouraged and supported her kids with whatever they want to learn and needed to learn, letting them choose but also exposing them to a huge world.  They learned how to write with their own blogs and poetry competitions.  Learned science by diving deep into their passions and volunteering opportunities.  Learned math because they realized they weren't going to get far without it.  They've always had textbooks available and tools at their disposal. They're not the 'play outside all day and video games later' unschoolers.  Mom is in school for her master's program and modeling exactly how to follow a passion to the end result.

Most unschoolers I see are accidental ones.  They're part of the better late than early mindset, and then don't know what to do when it becomes embarrassingly late and a 10yo still has no interest in learning to read/undiagnosed learning disabilities.  Or they think that educational video games are enough and begin to realize around middle school that while their kid can do basic math and read online, they have no idea how to use a pencil to do more advanced work.  And then skills just keep snowballing into the lost territory.

[ScoutTN]

DE at CC here is free, but of varying quality. DE at public 4 yr is too far away to be reasonable. DE at a private 4yr uni is good, but $$$.

Most homeschoolers we know use some combo or DE, AP, and CLEP for a handful of classes. A few use DE extensively.

Edited August 22, 2023 by ScoutTN

[Heartstrings]

5 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

I honestly wish more unschoolers could see my friend's posts.  She began unschooling when her oldest was in 1st and bookwork was such a chore for them that it made the kid hate learning.  For the past 8 years she has encouraged and supported her kids with whatever they want to learn and needed to learn, letting them choose but also exposing them to a huge world.  They learned how to write with their own blogs and poetry competitions.  Learned science by diving deep into their passions and volunteering opportunities.  Learned math because they realized they weren't going to get far without it.  They've always had textbooks available and tools at their disposal. They're not the 'play outside all day and video games later' unschoolers.  Mom is in school for her master's program and modeling exactly how to follow a passion to the end result.

Most unschoolers I see are accidental ones.  They're part of the better late than early mindset, and then don't know what to do when it becomes embarrassingly late and a 10yo still has no interest in learning to read/undiagnosed learning disabilities.  Or they think that educational video games are enough and begin to realize around middle school that while their kid can do basic math and read online, they have no idea how to use a pencil to do more advanced work.  And then skills just keep snowballing into the lost territory.

I’ve seen an increase in un schoolers who think the parents *need* to be hands off.  Actively withholding parental help, even when the child asks to learn to read, or asks to learn math. There is no strewing, no exposure, no trips to the library.  The children need to teach themselves everything on their own.  It’s the weirdest thing and I’ve come across it more than once.   It’s active, purposeful neglect churched up as unschooling.  

[happypamama]

1 hour ago, Heartstrings said:

I’ve seen an increase in un schoolers who think the parents *need* to be hands off.  Actively withholding parental help, even when the child asks to learn to read, or asks to learn math. There is no strewing, no exposure, no trips to the library.  The children need to teach themselves everything on their own.  It’s the weirdest thing and I’ve come across it more than once.   It’s active, purposeful neglect churched up as unschooling.  

That is so heartbreakingly sad. 

[ScoutTN]

Classical Conversations was huge here when my kids were late elementary and early middle school. It’s still around, but much smaller.  
 

Homeschool field trip groups come and go, but there are always a few to choose from. 
 

There are a couple old tutorials here for older kids. These have been around 30+ yrs. 1day/wk. Not co-op, though many tutors are current parents. Drop off, pay tuition. Solid college prep but not advanced work. These have nice community and seem to ride out other trends in homeschooling. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by ScoutTN

[Shoeless]

I knew an unschooling family where the kids begged to go to school and to learn to read, and mom kept saying no. There were 6 kids, and I think 3 of them eventually went to school, but mom is fighting with dad in court about it, again, (pandemic divorce). 

As for early college, the quality varies. The school offers DE in the high school, taught by high school teachers. I haven't been excited by what I have seen offered, but a few kids have been able to graduate with an A.A.S. and get jobs after graduation, so that's a good thing!

Around here, early college seems like a way to bring vo tech back in to schools. That's not a bad thing, but if your plan is early college and then 4-year uni, I'm not sure the courses are robust enough. 

The 4-year uni near me is private and doesn't offer DE. It's too expensive for us, and I wasn't excited by their freshman test scores (19 on ACT gets you in). 

Nearest c.c. is nearly an hour away. I read there is a satellite campus opening nearby, but the target student is adult learners going back to school for career advancement. So, not a great fit for us, either. 

We'll probably end up doing some DE through ASU and CLEP via Modern States.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Shoeless

[Malam]

On 8/20/2023 at 7:40 AM, 8filltheheart said:

2 of my kids DE at a 4 yr U.  (If they are going to DE, that is by far my preference.  It can take some extra effort bc some Us will just automatically kick kids back to the local CC.  I have found meeting with the registrar's office in that case can make a difference.) 

What do you tell the registrar to convince them? Do they advertise their DE on the website, and if not, how did you learn they offered DE?

[8filltheheart]

19 minutes ago, Malam said:

What do you tell the registrar to convince them? Do they advertise their DE on the website, and if not, how did you learn they offered DE?

 For one school that did not advertise DE as an option, I made an appointment with the registrar.  I took in a copy of ds's standardized test scores from 8th grade (which exceed their admissions' profile), a copy of his transcript (which also exceeded their admissions' profile), and projected AP results.  (This appointment was made at the end of 10th grade.  I was trying to make plans for the following school yr.)  Ds was there and interacted with the registrar.  Our conversation was basically centered around the fact that ds was going to be ready for multivariable and diffEQ and would run out of math before he graduated if he was forced to attend the CC.  He also wanted to major in physics and the CC also only had limited physics courses.  

The registrar was very open to our conversation.  The agreement was that if he made a 5 on BC and chem, then he would be allowed to DE in 2 courses per semester as a continuing education student. 

Another U in a different state allowed DE only off of a list of specific courses (ones we were not interested in.)  Again, we met with the registrar with tests scores and transcript.  2 classes were allowed the first semester.  3 the following semesters.

FWIW, my kids have tended to have the highest grades in their DE courses.  So, after the initial meeting and permission, it has been easy for them to enroll in desired courses going forward.

My current sr who is DEing at the local CC.....her experience sums up exactly why I don't use the CC in normal circumstances.  Her first writing assignment for Eng 101 is on par with what I assign for elementary school.  Ridiculously low level requirement.  (They were even told that grammar and punctuation don't count for this assignment.  Really??? A supposedly college level English class???)

[Malam]

5 hours ago, 8filltheheart said:

 For one school that did not advertise DE as an option, I made an appointment with the registrar.  I took in a copy of ds's standardized test scores from 8th grade (which exceed their admissions' profile), a copy of his transcript (which also exceeded their admissions' profile), and projected AP results.  (This appointment was made at the end of 10th grade.  I was trying to make plans for the following school yr.)  Ds was there and interacted with the registrar.  Our conversation was basically centered around the fact that ds was going to be ready for multivariable and diffEQ and would run out of math before he graduated if he was forced to attend the CC.  He also wanted to major in physics and the CC also only had limited physics courses.  

The registrar was very open to our conversation.  The agreement was that if he made a 5 on BC and chem, then he would be allowed to DE in 2 courses per semester as a continuing education student. 

Another U in a different state allowed DE only off of a list of specific courses (ones we were not interested in.)  Again, we met with the registrar with tests scores and transcript.  2 classes were allowed the first semester.  3 the following semesters.

FWIW, my kids have tended to have the highest grades in their DE courses.  So, after the initial meeting and permission, it has been easy for them to enroll in desired courses going forward.

My current sr who is DEing at the local CC.....her experience sums up exactly why I don't use the CC in normal circumstances.  Her first writing assignment for Eng 101 is on par with what I assign for elementary school.  Ridiculously low level requirement.  (They were even told that grammar and punctuation don't count for this assignment.  Really??? A supposedly college level English class???)

Thanks for explaining. I wonder how finances came into play? I imagine if the state required the school to eat the cost of DE, they would be less willing to admit him. Did tuition come from you/the government, or the school? And were the classes online or in-person?

[8filltheheart]

59 minutes ago, Malam said:

Thanks for explaining. I wonder how finances came into play? I imagine if the state required the school to eat the cost of DE, they would be less willing to admit him. Did tuition come from you/the government, or the school? And were the classes online or in-person?

We have never lived anywhere that had free DE. We pd. In person.

The advantages were that the courses would have been accepted as transfer cr to everywhere he was accepted, including GT (which others had told us would not accept the coursework. The math dept said he would need to take 1 additional class covering (IIRC) vectors but that was out of multivariable, diffEQ 1&2, linear alg, and real analysis (plus 5 physics courses) (again IIRC...he graduated from high school in 2014, so it's been a minute.  I'd have to look up his transcript.)  After meeting with deans, we submitted his syllabi to depts to find out what would be accepted.

While the disadvantage was that we pd out of pocket for the DE courses, the outcome was that he attended college for free.  Definitely a huge return on investment.

Edited August 23, 2023 by 8filltheheart

[rebcoola]

Also my oldest is DE and getting college course work but some kids are doing CC "DE" but they are actually taking remedial courses in the 90's. I dont get the appeal since the remedial courses aren't free. 

[prairiewindmomma]

One heads up re: DE---they can knock you out of consideration for scholarships aimed at freshmen if you rack up enough credits. If you know where your kid wants to go to uni and you are considering cc but think you have a high scoring kid----call the financial aid office at the uni and get clarification.

[8filltheheart]

19 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

One heads up re: DE---they can knock you out of consideration for scholarships aimed at freshmen if you rack up enough credits. If you know where your kid wants to go to uni and you are considering cc but think you have a high scoring kid----call the financial aid office at the uni and get clarification.

I have personally never encountered a school that has not considered a student for freshman scholarships if the DE crs were all taken prior to high school graduation. I have definitely heard your caution before, but based on the number of students I have helped over the yrs with college apps, the schools taking that position must be in the minority. Do you know the names of some of the schools that take this position? It might be easier to identify the ones that do and then others can share to make it more widely known. 

There are schools that restrict number of cr hrs allowed to be brought in to an absurdly low number like 13-16. But many allow as many as 60; some even more. That information is important to know also.

[prairiewindmomma]

This was an issue we personally bumped into.

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

On 8/22/2023 at 4:16 PM, Shoeless said:

 

I knew an unschooling family where the kids begged to go to school and to learn to read, and mom kept saying no.

 

I began teaching a friend to read when I was… maybe 6 or 7? She’d been wanting to go to school, but mom kept holding her back. Her brothers went to school, because they were boys, but it wasn’t important for her to do so as a girl. We were friends for over a year & I didn’t even know her name - she was exclusively referred to as “Sissy”. Mom walked in on us playing school one day & was FURIOUS. Sent me home & I was never allowed over again. 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax

[Malam]

3 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

This was an issue we personally bumped into.

Can you share the name of the school

[mom2scouts]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:38 AM, Tanager said:

I don’t get this “early college” community college thing during 11th and 12th grade. How can the community college classes be the same as year 1 & 2 of the 4 year college classes and just transfer? Are they all really the same - how can that be when our national education level is so low? The closet community college has it set with the college my oldest wants to go to for everything to transfer easy peasy. Sounds like it’s perfect, but I’m still scratching my head on it.

I have my kids do early college, but since we live close to two large universities, my kids take dual enrollment classes at a 4 year university. They are the same classes taken by freshman and sophomores at the university. We wait until senior year of high school and they go to college with a semester finished, but we could do it earlier. DS tested out of 3 levels in foreign language and then finished two semesters in high school so he started junior level classes as a college freshman. Not all early college is done at community colleges.

[Eos]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:49 PM, mom2scouts said:

I have my kids do early college, but since we live close to two large universities, my kids take dual enrollment classes at a 4 year university. They are the same classes taken by freshman and sophomores at the university. We wait until senior year of high school and they go to college with a semester finished, but we could do it earlier. DS tested out of 3 levels in foreign language and then finished two semesters in high school so he started junior level classes as a college freshman. Not all early college is done at community colleges.

Same, but I've always had mine start in junior year so it can be "seen" on their college app transcript.  The transcript is not the main point for us, the academic challenge and the how-to-be-a-college-student are the goals with the added benefit of showing rigor on their apps.

[Malam]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, 8filltheheart said:

the outcome was that he attended college for free

You mean via scholarships?

[Ellie]

On 8/18/2023 at 12:38 AM, Tanager said:

I don’t get this “early college” community college thing during 11th and 12th grade. How can the community college classes be the same as year 1 & 2 of the 4 year college classes and just transfer? Are they all really the same - how can that be when our national education level is so low? The closet community college has it set with the college my oldest wants to go to for everything to transfer easy peasy. Sounds like it’s perfect, but I’m still scratching my head on it.

I can't explain it; I'm just going to take advantage of the opportunity for my dc to only do high school once. That is, the required lower division courses in college are a repeat of high school; if my dc can do them in community college, why would I teach them myself at home and then have my dc take them again at c.c.? Both of my dc began taking c.c classes when they were 14yo. I didn't push them through in two years, though; I just let them move on as they were able.

Of course, and advantage for us is that c.c. tuition in California is really inexpensive, and most colleges will accept college-level courses without question. Also, c.c. grads are guaranteed to be admitted to CalState and UC schools; they might not get their preferred campus right away, depending on what their majors will be, but they will get in.

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, Malam said:

You mean via scholarships?

Yes. 

[Lucy the Valiant]

DE where we live is seriously sub-par in the humanities, BUT it's affordable (costs significantly less than uni AND students can live at home). That combination has actually made college possible in a couple of local cases where it wouldn't have been otherwise. 

[Nm.]

I don't know if I have been homeschooling long enough to see the trends.  My oldest is in 7th.  I have come across 3 families in a week IRL who have ditched TGATB.  2 of those families went with abeka since that's what they had growing up.  I do wonder if the pendulum will switch to more traditional curriculum due to the explosion of mediocre (at best) options.  Especially with AI- even more people can churn out stuff.  

[Brittany1116]

13 minutes ago, Nm. said:

I don't know if I have been homeschooling long enough to see the trends.  My oldest is in 7th.  I have come across 3 families in a week IRL who have ditched TGATB.  2 of those families went with abeka since that's what they had growing up.  I do wonder if the pendulum will switch to more traditional curriculum due to the explosion of mediocre (at best) options.  Especially with AI- even more people can churn out stuff.  

This is my 7th year. I think TGTB and MB have great marketing and catch a lot of new families with "inexpensive, open and go". I don't hear of many people who stick with either one long term. We have the MB updates of the God's Design science, and a select few TGTB science units, but I believe we are largely past needing to buy from either. The sciences we have need supplements, and both are poor fits for my kids in all other areas. 

[Idalou]

On 8/11/2023 at 7:53 PM, wisdomandtreasures said:

Everything is monetized and no one ever just shares something because it genuinely worked for them anymore. Everything is "So amazing and a total game-changer!* Oh by the way, here's my affiliate code for 15% off!"

 

My favorites are the  mamas of 4 and 5 year olds on TT or IG who will gladly sell you their monthly Unschooling Curriculum for just $25 a packet!!