Credit for under 13 year olds

[videogamesrock]

A bit off topic - but a parenting question. If your child started taking ACE courses by the age of 13 and somehow finished college by 16, would you allow he/she to stop going to high school if they no longer wanted to go?

[homeschoolmom1]

That is indeed a parenting and even a philosophical question touching on the purpose of high school, a high school diploma and education in general. I am biased, because we homeschool. To me, education does not end with any particular school diploma or university degree. On the flipside, a diploma does not prove that learning has occurred. But, in our world as it is, diplomas and degrees are necessary to open certain doors. In my opinion, a Bachelor degree at a young age kindof trumps a highschool diploma. So, to answer your question, yes, if a highschooler with a Bachelor degree would express interest in leaving high school, I would let him/her. I would call it "homeschool" for a couple of weeks and order him a beautiful high school diploma issued by homeschoolmom1 and I would spend a bit if time crafting a nice transcript for him. Then, I would encourage him to take a half a year or so to decide what to do next (i.e. program the next Tumblr, become a plumber, do nothing for a while but hang out, travel, pursue another Bachelor degree, spend 2 years taking coursera and edx courses). I think a large part of the non-social aspect of high school is entry into college, so the student you mention does not need that any more for that purpose. From what I hear, high school can be a huge time sink with plenty of busywork. I would understand anyone who wants to get out of that. Just my personal opinion. Curious to hear what cookderosa and rowan think.

[dfrecore]

I recently stopped homeschooling my kids, but was prepared to take them all the way through high school with it if that's what we wanted to do. I have spent a lot of years homeschooling, and researching various options. And I've tried hard to get my kids to have a homeschool mindset, where they look to pursue other options outside of regular "school" to learn things and pursue passions.

I absolutely would have let my kids finish high school early if that's what they wanted to do. Now, obviously, they wouldn't get to sit around and play video games all day every day after that. But really, I don't think that would have been a problem. Most kids who do want to finish school early have other plans for their lives. They want to learn things that aren't typically taught at high schools. Or they want to start at college because they see courses there that interest them. Or they want to do missions work. Or a million other things that interest them. A lot of high school nowadays seems to really teach students to be "in the box" in terms of, take these required courses, take these electives to look good to colleges, apply to college, go into debt and get a 4-yr degree.

Even now, my son is only 12, but is looking at what he can do outside of the required high school classes when he starts, because he has other interests. He asked about taking automotive maintenance and repair during summers at our local CC. He wants to take Russian or German or Arabic online (they only offer Spanish at the school he's going to go to). My 14yo daughter thinks welding classes sound cool (she's in an ILP program at our Charter HS and she can do dual enrollment during the day right across the street). She wants to take art and architecture and interior design classes.

So I would have loved it if my kids "stopped" HS at 15 or 16 and started working on things they actually were really really interested in. That would be awesome. And even better, they have more freedom to do what they want because they have the financial support that maybe a 20yo doesn't have.

[videogamesrock]

How many of today's children work while in HS?

[dfrecore]

How many of today's children work while in HS?

Mine do, they each started refereeing at the age of 11. My daughter has $3000 saved up for her first car.

But, I will say, it can be really hard to work in HS. There are tons of companies that won't hire anyone under the age of 18 for insurance purposes. Ah, the joys of living in CA, as usual.

But, my kids have already scoped out jobs that they might want to do when they turn 16, and while Chick-Fil-A and In-N-Out Burger are up there (they pay above minimum wage), there are others, and they're finding out what those are. They are also trying to figure out what they can do before 16, like babysit, or mow lawns or walk dogs.

I think this is a parenting thing though - if you tell your kids that they will be required to work to buy a car, pay for gas and insurance, and pay for some of their activities, they just kind of think "I guess I'd better figure out what kind of job I want when I turn 16." If they know that they don't have to work, and that they will get a free ride, why would they work?

[videogamesrock]

I think this is a parenting thing though - if you tell your kids that they will be required to work to buy a car, pay for gas and insurance, and pay for some of their activities, they just kind of think "I guess I'd better figure out what kind of job I want when I turn 16." If they know that they don't have to work, and that they will get a free ride, why would they work?

I hear of so many kids not working through high school and the parents just give what they want. Then when they go into the real world and they have this entitlement attitude. Working and not relying on anyone is one of the best ways to learn how to be an adult.

[OakLakeNC]

Videogamesrock, I've had the opposite experience. Around here it is nearly unheard of that someone would get to be 18 without having had a job. That is just my perspective from my socioeconomic class. Richer familes don't need their kid to work and poorer familes often have logistical issues getting a teen to a job. I know my parents drove me to work when I was 15-17 years old. If we haven't been a two car household then me working as a teen wouldn't have been possible. Teens in urban areas might have more places they can walk to for jobs, but that would bring up safety concerns too (like if the were walking home after dark).

My son is 14 and will be in high school next year. He is applying to two vocational high schools. His first choice is an aviation acedemy. You can earn some aviation mechanical credentials at that school- they partnership with the community college and TIMCO. The second is a middle college this type of high school is 5 years and you earn an associate degree. If he doesn't get into either of these, we might look at alternatives like homeschooling. The regular public high schools here just don't offer enough.

[cookderosa]

A bit off topic - but a parenting question. If your child started taking ACE courses by the age of 13 and somehow finished college by 16, would you allow he/she to stop going to high school if they no longer wanted to go?

such a loaded question, but I'll still log in. I have a 16 year old who is finishing 10th grade and will have his associates, so his next 2 years his bachelor's will be intertwined with his high school - my 12th grader will have his associates and diploma, but it's only really an issue for the 16 year old since he's so far ahead.

(1) depends on the state law. Each state is different, and I can't emphasize that enough. Some states have compulsory education laws that require your child to be in school until age 17 - so you'd need legal advice here. In addition, your state may have high school graduation requirements not met by completing a college degree - but in some states, as few as 21 college credits equals a high school diploma, so first things first, be a law-abiding citizen or your teen will suffer.

(2) Wanting to go. My kid's don't get to decide whether or not they want to go to school or where to school when they live in our home - hubby and I are in charge of the education of anyone living under our roof. You know where you get to make those decisions? At the kitchen table in your own apartment.

(3) I'm am of the opinion that fast forwarding through college is awesome, fast forwarding through k-12 is a mistake - so in our home, the answer would be "no" based on our parenting philosophy.

[cookderosa]

How many of today's children work while in HS?

All 4 of my kids work - even the 12 year old who is in the second year of owning his own business. My youngest entrepreneur is my now 16 year old who started his business at age 9. No one is on their way to being a mogul, but they like to have spending money to buy things like soda and candy - things that I don't buy, which is why they all started early (of course as they got older their wants changed). My now 22 year old did not start working until 15 but worked all through high school as a life guard and swim teacher year round. My now 18 year old started working at 15 as an employee, but has flipped things on ebay since he was about 13. He paid cash for his first car and motorcycle- so he's got it together. He's at work now, he'll do school when he gets home at 7. He has 2 jobs, his flipping job and he works 40 hours at a luxury car dealership as a porter (he drives lambos - hard life). My 16 year old owns his own gumball business (the one who started at 9 with 100% of his own money) and also is a lunch /dinner server at a nursing home (all my kids did this at 16). His gum business bought him 2 (almost 3) gaming computers. My 12 year old is a trash can retriever - he pulls in trash cans each Friday morning for 6 clients. He's done this every Friday for 2 years and it's enough $ for him that he bought a kayak and bait. All our kids have at least $1000 in the bank, the required threshold before they are allowed to spend anything. As I write it out, it sounds very unusual, but it's really very usual for them - it's just always the way it's been.