Father/Daughter Plan coming from Homeschool

[bjcheung77]

At such a young age, I would do the dual enrollment along with the ACE/NCCRS credits I mentioned in the threads above. The GED usually is only recommended to adults who want to quickly get an equivalent to high school graduation. The only reason I would recommend this GED route is for the ones who can test high on the exams, you can get 10 college credits if you score 175+ on each exam or something like that...

[westex93]

Thank you all. I've already connected with HS4CC based on the recommendations here. It is not required to get a GED in Texas. Literally, as her parents, we issue the diploma when we feel she is ready. That happens at a different age for different students, and that individual personalization is one of the things we love about homeschool. It doesn't matter if a student is ready early or ready late, only that they're ready, and no two students are alike.

The recommendation was made for TAMUC CBE program for both of us. I started down the path with Sophia today for my own use and to test the waters, and I fully intend to go that route after looking into it. I know Sophia is often discussed on HS4CC as a viable option for homeschool students. Is there any reason not to send her down the same path along with me? As I stated above, her goal is not to be a full time career woman, so no specialized degree (for now) but we do want her to have the tools to succeed in life. What would it hurt to get her going with Sophia in her sophomore year then transfer it to TAMUC? She has been doing an online curriculum the last few years that would transition her easily into Sophia's format.

[homeschoolmom1]

I am also a homeschool parent with children slightly younger than yours. Here are my thoughts:

1) Yes, you should BOTH pursue college together. It will likely motivate both of you in unique ways and it will be a memory and source of pride you will share forever.

2) No, she is not too young, and there is no other reason either why she shouldn't start now. We have a 14 year old and he has accumulated approximately 45 credits through CLEP, Sophia and Study.com so far. Given his age, we are taking it very slowly and are not just focusing on credit bearing courses. We mix in Brilliant.org, freecodecamp and various other materials (Art of Problem solving for math, Institute for excellence in writing) that don't offer college credit.

3) I second the thought to NOT do a GED. Like you suggest, we will simply issue a diploma and high school transcript when we see fit. For us, that will be the month before he turns 16. As soon as he turns 16, we will enroll him at TESU (because that is their minimum age for enrollment.)

I would be cautious regarding dual enrollment at an actual college, because any grade she gets will follow her. If it is a bad grade, it can be difficult to overcome for graduate applications, and it gets logged in the national clearinghouse database. For that reason, we have been focusing on ACE credit courses. Our son failed one study.com class, but then he repeated the proctored exam and passed on the second attempt. No problem, he did not have to beat himself up over it and nobody will ever know. On the other hand, dual enrollment courses would give you RA credits and can be dirt cheap or even free while still a high schooler.

4) My recommendation for both of you: take advantage of the super cheap study.com offer that expires on 08/31/24. Look it up here on this forum. Decide if there are two course that either interest you or that Sophia doesn't offer. Sign up for one month for $75 and do those 2 courses. I plan to enroll our 10 year old and have her take "Presentation skills in the workplace" and "Intro to Computer Science". She is really a couple of years younger than when I wanted to start her, but we will simply just give it a shot and if she fails, she can take it again in a few years from now and there is <$40 per course lost in that scenario.

5) After the one month of study.com, cancel that subscription and try Sophia for a month. During those 2 months, read up on different options, universities, degrees etc on this forum and start to formulate a game plan. This would give you an idea of the different format between study.com and sophia, which are commonly used sources around here. If exams are more your cup of tea, you can do CLEP for free with Modern States. There are a thousand ways to skin this cat, and you have to find what works for you. It is possible that your daughter has a different learning style from yours, too. Overall, you can do this! In about 2-4 years, you will both have degrees that didn't break the bank.

[bjcheung77]

BTW, how many kids do you have? What are their ages? Your best option is to get the bulk of your credits with Sophia.org, work on the classes together if needed, you can get up to 90 credits and then decide to get admissions into TAMUC afterwards (or head over to UMPI, it won't really matter which institution). For dual enrollment classes, take the ones that are not offered at Sophia.org (like science labs that are in-person or online).

[jg_nuy]

Our oldest got slowly started on Sophia at 17, in the second half of his senior year, along with free online classes in Finland (sadly no longer available to Americans). So definitely not too late. He then applied to TESU. He's now working on the upper level classes at his own pace on Study dot com for 2 bachelors and 2 associates.

Our youngest did Study dot com and Sophia in 8th grade (got started around the same time as his brother). He did not like the Finnish learning Management system. He is now doing dual enrollment via Pierpont. They took all of this Sophia and Study credits and he's doing close to full-time credits. The West Virginia schools have really affordable programs and few age restrictions, in comparison to our local community colleges and most of the courses are asynchronous, which works great with our teen's odd sleeping schedule.

Best of luck, I am sure both your daughter and you will do great. I love to read about supportive parents.

[westex93]

I am also a homeschool parent with children slightly younger than yours. Here are my thoughts:

1) Yes, you should BOTH pursue college together. It will likely motivate both of you in unique ways and it will be a memory and source of pride you will share forever.

2) No, she is not too young, and there is no other reason either why she shouldn't start now. We have a 14 year old and he has accumulated approximately 45 credits through CLEP, Sophia and Study.com so far. Given his age, we are taking it very slowly and are not just focusing on credit bearing courses. We mix in Brilliant.org, freecodecamp and various other materials (Art of Problem solving for math, Institute for excellence in writing) that don't offer college credit.

3) I second the thought to NOT do a GED. Like you suggest, we will simply issue a diploma and high school transcript when we see fit. For us, that will be the month before he turns 16. As soon as he turns 16, we will enroll him at TESU (because that is their minimum age for enrollment.)

I would be cautious regarding dual enrollment at an actual college, because any grade she gets will follow her. If it is a bad grade, it can be difficult to overcome for graduate applications, and it gets logged in the national clearinghouse database. For that reason, we have been focusing on ACE credit courses. Our son failed one study.com class, but then he repeated the proctored exam and passed on the second attempt. No problem, he did not have to beat himself up over it and nobody will ever know. On the other hand, dual enrollment courses would give you RA credits and can be dirt cheap or even free while still a high schooler.

4) My recommendation for both of you: take advantage of the super cheap study.com offer that expires on 08/31/24. Look it up here on this forum. Decide if there are two course that either interest you or that Sophia doesn't offer. Sign up for one month for $75 and do those 2 courses. I plan to enroll our 10 year old and have her take "Presentation skills in the workplace" and "Intro to Computer Science". She is really a couple of years younger than when I wanted to start her, but we will simply just give it a shot and if she fails, she can take it again in a few years from now and there is <$40 per course lost in that scenario.

5) After the one month of study.com, cancel that subscription and try Sophia for a month. During those 2 months, read up on different options, universities, degrees etc on this forum and start to formulate a game plan. This would give you an idea of the different format between study.com and sophia, which are commonly used sources around here. If exams are more your cup of tea, you can do CLEP for free with Modern States. There are a thousand ways to skin this cat, and you have to find what works for you. It is possible that your daughter has a different learning style from yours, too. Overall, you can do this! In about 2-4 years, you will both have degrees that didn't break the bank.

Thank you! That's very encouraging. I already started on Sophia today for myself and may get her going after summer break (she worked well into summer so we're giving her a little time off). I'll check out some of the other routes, too.

---

BTW, how many kids do you have? What are their ages?  Your best option is to get the bulk of your credits with Sophia.org, work on the classes together if needed, you can get up to 90 credits and then decide to get admissions into TAMUC afterwards (or head over to UMPI, it won't really matter which institution).  For dual enrollment classes, take the ones that are not offered at Sophia.org (like science labs that are in-person or online).

We only have the one 15 year old still at home, the others are long out of the house. I'm starting with Sophia right now. Thank you and others for the TAMUC suggestion!