| Now that homeschoolers have proven to be high | | | | transcript as AP or honors courses, and students |
| achievers in both academic and social realms, they are | | | | receive weighted grades (one extra grade point) for |
| being actively courted by many colleges. However, just | | | | each class. College credit is awarded by the college |
| as many homeschool parents paused before placing | | | | the student attends in the future, and it is based upon a |
| their young children on the big yellow school bus, they | | | | passing score on the CLEP exam. Not all colleges |
| are now considering whether the traditional model of | | | | award credit for exams, so it is important to select a |
| sending young people to live on a college campus for | | | | school that does. |
| four years is an ideal way to meet the goal of higher | | | | Dual-credit classes are another way to get a jump |
| education. Homeschoolers have blazed trails in | | | | start on college. To earn dual-credit, a student studies |
| elementary and secondary education, and they are | | | | a subject in a community college class instead of a |
| now earning early college credit through exams or | | | | high school class, and earns both high school and |
| dual-credit classes, completing college at home, or | | | | college credit. Mature teens may be ready for the |
| simply choosing to attend a local college while living at | | | | challenge of the classroom atmosphere, and taking |
| home. There are more options now than ever before! | | | | dual-credit classes can provide a gradual transition into |
| Why Not Live on Campus During College? | | | | a more structured learning environment. |
| According to Dr. Jeff Myers of Inspired Leadership, | | | | College From Home |
| spending four impressionable years of life living closely | | | | If you have heard of the Swann family, you know the |
| with the world is similar to the immersion method of | | | | idea of college from home is not new. Each of the |
| learning a foreign language. If parents are willing to | | | | Swann's many children was homeschooled, not only |
| have their child absorb the good, the bad, and the ugly | | | | through college, but also through graduate school, |
| along with academics, four years in a dorm is the way | | | | receiving their master's degrees at an age when most |
| to go. Most parents feel that older teens still need daily | | | | other teens are graduating from high school. This |
| mentoring, stabilizing family relationships, and spiritual | | | | family used traditional correspondence courses for |
| answers to the questions that inevitably arise when | | | | each level of schooling, and this is still possible, but the |
| studying academics presented through a secular filter. | | | | Internet has dramatically increased the number of |
| According to Anne Miller of the Home Educators | | | | options available. Students at home can participate in |
| Association of Virginia, whose four oldest children | | | | classes which include a variety of online elements, |
| were attending college at the time of this writing, living | | | | including virtual labs and real-time discussions. The |
| at home keeps young people from developing a | | | | degree earned at home is just as marketable as a |
| self-centered attitude as they continue to serve the | | | | degree earned on-campus, and it often comes with |
| family through helping with home chores and interacting | | | | less spiritual risk. |
| with younger siblings. | | | | Attending College While Living at Home |
| Earning College Credit in High School | | | | This final option is probably the most familiar - students |
| Students who are capable of undertaking challenging | | | | attend a traditional college, but live at home, rather than |
| work can accumulate a year or more of college credit | | | | on-campus. While this option limits the choice of a |
| while still in high school. Traditional-school students take | | | | college to one within reasonable driving distance, it |
| Advanced Placement (AP) classes, followed by an | | | | provides several advantages. In addition to being more |
| AP test, in order to place out of entry level courses in | | | | economical than on-campus living, this option provides |
| college, but homeschoolers can go a step farther and | | | | students with the familiar, supportive environment of |
| earn actual credit by taking a CLEP (College-Level | | | | home and family in which to process all the new |
| Examination Program) test, rather than the AP exam. | | | | information they are receiving. Second, they have |
| Students can prepare for exams by doing extra study | | | | instant access to spiritual, academic, or personal |
| on their own, taking an AP or honors class (online or | | | | counseling from someone who knows and loves them, |
| traditionally), or by participating in an advanced co-op. | | | | and who shares their spiritual worldview. Third, the |
| Advantages of earning college credit while still in high | | | | presence of other family members of various ages |
| school include:o Time - One 90-minute CLEP exam | | | | with various needs helps to remind young people that |
| covers one or two semesters of a subject, and by | | | | they are not the center of the universe - |
| taking several carefully selected exams, it is possible to | | | | self-centeredness can be a problem for students |
| shorten the time it takes to earn an associate's or | | | | whose primary consideration is "my schedule, my |
| bachelor's degree by a year or more.o Money - The | | | | classes, my choices." And finally, this option enables |
| cost of earning 3-6 credits is about $75.o Advanced | | | | students who are academically ready for college, but |
| placement - Instead of sitting through a basic class that | | | | younger than traditional college age, to benefit from the |
| covers material learned in high school, students can | | | | home atmosphere while they mature. |
| skip directly into more advanced and interesting | | | | Just because our teens are growing up, it isn't |
| classes. | | | | necessary to follow the path of the world in their |
| Students who plan to use CLEP exams to get a jump | | | | education. If we don't want the results we see in the |
| start on college need to create a high school | | | | culture around us, we can change the input. The |
| curriculum plan that includes advanced-level course | | | | purpose of college is an education, resulting in a |
| material for subjects in which tests will be taken. | | | | degree, and each family has many options for |
| These subjects will be recorded on the high school | | | | achieving that goal. |