Those w/ kids going this route, do you homeschool?

[MomOfMany]

It never occurred to me to bribe!
Oh the possiblities...

You're welcome. I must confess I bribed my 14 year old. I told her she could get a cell phone when she earned 30 credits.

Danielle

[PsychTestOut]

We started taking CLEP's at age 13. To date: 15 credits.

Awesome Gooberman!

[jackzack87]

I wish I would have known about/done this route coming out of HS (I was homeschooled) I think that CLEP study would have been great senior studying, and getting a year(or more) up on credits would have been amazing. I'm recommending it to my younger siblings, and I think that they would benefit amazingly for it.

Even if you don't end up going to TESC/EC/COC, most colleges still accept up to 30 credits - so it's really a no loss situation.

[AGVI]

AP, CLEP, DSST, and similar exams offer a great option for students who want to earn college credit early. There are options for "homeschool" or traditional school students.

Depending on state requirements, some parents will be able to homeschool students and skip traditional high school graduation requirements. Just align high school curriculum to the college degree graduation requirements, skipping high school in its entirety. This is a good option when there are no state homeschool attendance requirements.

Another option for homeschool students would be to take exams that align with typical high school graduation requirements (English Comp & English Lit, Algebra 1-2, US History, World History, American Government, Civics/Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and a few electives). This would provide a broad coverage of topics that typical high school students take.

An option for students in public or private school would be to supplement the in-class course with an exam study course. This option just gives students a more enriched course without a lot of extra study/work.

Depending on your state requirements, you can always enroll in an umbrella school/program to avoid problems with meeting attendance requirements. Some states have great charter schools that will support your selected curriculum.

IMHO, college in lieu of high school is a feasible option. I'm not too familiar with TESC or COSC, but am familiar with EC (earned a BS and MLS from EC).

Good Luck!

[Levi]

As the oldest of five boys, I was homeschooled too, but unfortunately, did not take any CLEPs until after I had graduated. However, this summer, my 16-year-old brother took CLEP Biology and College Algebra. He passed Bio but failed College Algebra by one point. The reason he chose those two tests was because he had just completed high school biology and Algebra 2.

My 19-year-old brother just started taking CLEP tests about six months ago, enrolled at Verity Institute, and now already has more than 60 credits through CLEP/DSST.

We sometimes joke that the youngest son (8 years old) will have his college degree by age 14. :p

So, homeschooling definitely does give an advantage when combining high school and college. As with PonyGirl and Rmroberts, by the time I reached middle school, I was pretty much on my own, and knew how to independently teach myself. My mother focused mainly on the younger children. I only wish I had started college sooner.

[burbuja0512]

I homeschool my 15-year-old. My kids have always done public school, but he has ADHD type I (inattentive, not hyper) and was continually being passed through school. Each year was filled with meetings and counselors and teachers telling me that "next year, he'll get the hang of it, after all, his test scores are very high. He's smart, just needs to pay attention."

Come 9th grade and I saw that it was not going to get better. I didn't want to homeschool! I work full time and have other kids 5 total including my step-daughter. I didn't have time and was ANGRY at the public system. Boy am I glad we made the switch!

There was a lot of trial and error at first. We've discovered that he is an excellent independent learner on the computer, but not with books. I started him on ALEKS and he is in College Algebra. (doing better than me, I might add) I am lucky enough to work from home, so I am here for him all day. I do travel, but it doesn't matter. He has his routine, almost all computer-based. Now that I discovered CLEP'ing for myself, he is intrigued and we're working on figuring out what he'll study first.

For the OP whose daughter wants to homeschool, if you're even remotely considering it, PM me and I can tell you how I've managed with work and lessons. I only recently started working from home, but it wasn't that much harder when I didn't.

I didn't want to homeschool him initially, but it has been such a wonderful thing. My only complaint so far is that we are definitely isolated in the homeschool community. We joined a group of local homeschoolers, and while we found several teens for my son to hang out with (and he still has his public school friends), I was the only working mom and definitely felt a little out of place. I'm sure I'll get over that.

[PsychTestOut]

Thank you all for posting. I too get frustrated with the public schools as it seems I have to spend so much time doing the actual "teaching."

Burbuja, it sounds like we have a lot in common. There's a chance we've even been on the same work at home type forums. I am also majoring in Psych and putting together apps at present for doctoral programs.

I'm not eager to make any "big" changes now, because there is a good chance we will be relocating next year. Over Christmas break though my DD and I have already discussed having her start looking over study material for the A&I Lit CLEP as it sounds like a good one for getting one's feet wet.

[Gooberman11]

For you homeschoolers out there who finish your degree early, what a your plans after college? We could be finishing at 17. Are you guys heading into Master's programs? Work force? Still living at home? Just curious...

[burbuja0512]

For you homeschoolers out there who finish your degree early, what a your plans after college? We could be finishing at 17. Are you guys heading into Master's programs? Work force? Still living at home? Just curious...

I can't speak for everyone, but I've been telling my kids that they need masters-level education before they should stop going to school and enter the workforce. This of course, varies by profession. For example, an associates degree in nursing can take you much further initially than a bachelors degree in business or liberal arts.

I don't know what they'll end up doing and just hope that they follow my guidance. Once they're 18, I can't force them to do anything, so I'm hoping to help them get as many college credits as possible while I can.

[a4tunatemom]

For you homeschoolers out there who finish your degree early, what a your plans after college? We could be finishing at 17. Are you guys heading into Master's programs? Work force? Still living at home? Just curious...

My daughter graduated with her bachelor's degree in criminal justice from TESC at 17. She is on the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force and she works part time for Krav Maga Maryland while she is working on her Master's degree. Krav Maga is contact combat defense training that is used by law enforcement, FBI , CIA, etc. Happily for me, she still lives at home!

Danielle