Well, it looks like I am going to have to rethink the plans we have made for the kids as they move into high school. It turns out that one has to jump through a ton of hoops to get kids below the age of sixteen into our local Wake Tech Community College. The requirement is for the kid to take a bunch of tests at the parent’s expense. Then, and only if an administrator at the community college gives their personal approvales of both the test scores and the maturity of the kid, he can be admitted to the school. If the kid is admitted, the parent must sit in on every minute of the class–and this for the mediocre, politically correct education provided at the community college.
It also turns out that the “transfer” degree at the school is not a transfer degree in the traditional sense. All the Wake Tech transfer degree says is that if the state universities in North Carolina would normally accept a class that is part of the transfer degree program, then the credit will be given for the class at that university. The “transfer” part of the program sounds EXACTLY the same as just taking classes at the community college without participating in any program and then transferring them over to the big state university. The only thing one receives from the community college is an Associate of Science transfer degree which requires throw-away classes like psychology and sociology and is worth just about as much as a government high school diploma–the cost of the paper.
We were planning to send both of the kids to the community college for a couple of years each. Based on the abysmal and inadequate “transfer” program and age discrimination at Wake Tech, we have decided to just have them take as many CLEP tests as possible until they are sixteen. Then, if we have no other option, put them into a community college to take a couple of math and science classes that can be transferred to a real school.
Hey! What’s the rush?! Where’s the fire!?
Life goes fast enough as is! Besides, I doubt your children will require as much college as their Dad did. 😉
You homeschoolers!!! Take a breath! 😉
I think that “take a breath” thing is more appropriate for those water polo guys!!!
Ken,
Sorry to hear that you have hit a brick wall regarding having your children take college
courses at your local community college. Here in Sacramento, our community college
district appears to be friendly to young homeschoolers. If you are under 15, you do have t
to meet with the dean and write a short statement of why you feel a particular course will benefit you and why you should be allowed in as an Advanced Education Student. If you are wanting to
take a math course or English course or a course that has a prerequisite, then you will most
likely be required to “test into them” based upon your scores on the free college admissions
placement exam given regularly (sometimes daily).
I am interested in how you prepare for the CLEP tests. Do you have Kelley just take the
exam after completing the normal highschool course, or do you have her prepare by doing
her coursework using a college level text? Do you have her study the CLEP book for that
subject?
Ruthie
Hello Ruthie,
Thanks for the great note. It sounds like they have a super system in Sacramento. Their requirements seem entirely reasonable to me. I am glad you are going to be able to take advantage of that. With respect to the CLEP tests, Kelly has only taken two up until now. The way we prepared for them appeared to work fairly well for her. We are planning to use that same method in future tests. First, we decided we would have her take tests on material for which she had done a significant amount of preparation in the course of her normal homeschool program. Then, we buy the CLEP preparation book which she studies for five or six weeks. She reads and takes notes on the preparation material and takes the practice tests as she feels she is ready for them. After each practice test, she reviews her notes and the previous test(s). By the time she gets to the real test she is fairly well prepared.
On the Freshmen English Composition test, she had already done enough grammar and composition in her homeschool program that she was able to pass the test fairly easily. For the U.S. History I test, the preparation she got from the Sonlight U.S. history program was very good, but did not capture the flow of U.S. History and level of detail (dates, places, cultural milieu, etc.) that was required to pass the CLEP test. If we had to do this one over, we would have had her spend another week or two just memorizing dates, events, people, and cultural settings. That being said, virtually everything needed to pass the test is in the CLEP subject manual for U.S. History I. We are looking forward to going on to the U.S. History II test next year with this knowledge in hand.
We learned a lot about her strengths and weaknesses in taking the tests each time. I think the practice of having done these two and the knowledge that passing the tests is hard work will be a big benefit in future tests. It has been a very positive and motivational experience for Kelly to pass the tests. We highly recommend it for those who are so inclined. It was even good that, even though she passed the second test, she did not do as well as she did on the first.
I hope this helps. If I can be of any further help, let me know. One of the big things we have figured out with homeschool is that we barely have our arms around how or own two children learn and they are very different from each other. So I guess the best way to put it is that “mileage will vary.”