Torn about putting my daughter in PS 12th grade ...

[5KidzRUs]

I am torn about putting my 17 year old daughter in PS 12th grade - She has been homeschooled her whole life and has never spend a single day in a PS. She would be the HS child that would talk to the teachers like peers and not take cr*p from the school bully. I worry about her aclimating since she doesn't know PS etiquette.
On one hand I would like to because she is such a social creature and would love the PS routines, class, girls, boys, bells, styles ... ect. She is pretty and social and would make a lot of friends.
On the other hand, I can just enroll her in the local private college for nearly free.
I think that postponing her college another year might do her some good ... OK, I am worried about my baby growing up and starting her life - away from me. My oldest son and my husband are both in Iraq and I am not ready for another child to grow up ... yet! LOL!

Thanks in advance for your advice and opinions :)

[Melinda in VT]

I think a senior in high school is old enough to have some significant input on her education. What does she think?

[abbeyej]

Well, if she's a bright girl and "a social creature", I think she'll be able to adjust to appropriate ways to behave in a public school setting in about two minutes flat. :) Given her age, perhaps she should have a significant role in making the decision about whether to go with the public school or college in the fall. It sounds like, tough as it would be to let your little one grow up, you feel that either would be an acceptable option... Is that right?

[Sunny]

Are you sure this is an option? In our state, we can't put our kids into high school after homeschooling that time.
Even if it is possible, I guess at that age, I would probably enroll my dc in the community college and have dual enrollment. I think the social structure would be a bit more mature, while HS is probably going to be more younger politics that your daughter just doesn't need as a life skill.

[Tammy]

nt

[Jackie in AR]

Even if it is possible, I guess at that age, I would probably enroll my dc in the community college and have dual enrollment. I think the social structure would be a bit more mature, while HS is probably going to be more younger politics that your daughter just doesn't need as a life skill.

This is what I would do, too. She could still live at home another year while she adjusted to taking college courses.

Great point, Sunny, about how navigating through the social structure of most schools is not a needed life skill.

[Claire]

What does she want to do? My dd definitely wanted the high school experience. A friend of hers is going the homeschool dual enrollment community college route, but it's definitely a more mature social scene. It has been slow for her to develop friends in the cc college setting. It sounds as if your dd would do well as a high school senior.

My dd is actually switching schools for her senior year, so she will be going to a new school without already having friends there. However, she is eager and looking forward to it because it is a larger school with diversity and the types of art classes that my dd wants. I think she will do fine there. We thought about cc, but the truth is my dd needs another year to mature and hone her academic skills before being on her own that much.

[Janet in WA]

Why are you just now considering this -- for her senior year?

[Ellie]

she'd still be living at home, yes? Well, then, she's not really grown up yet :-)

Have you actually talked to the public school? There's a good chance they wouldn't accept her credits.

Even if they did, I dunno...seems like a waste of time to me.

[Excelsior! Academy]

I had a friend that homeschooled her dd after preschool. The dd begged to go back to school. The mom put her back in for her Junior year. The girl had a blast, but admitted she didn't learn much. It was basically social hour that extended all day. Needless to say, she pulled her dd after her Junior year and homeschooled her for her Senior year. The girl was not happy, but is now graduated and on to bigger and better things.

If you are expecting academics, she might not learn as much as you would expect. As far as the social scene and adjusting, she'll probably do just fine. I doubt I will put mine in that late in the game, after seeing how that situation turned out. I would probably do what others suggest and enroll my dd's in college courses. JMHO

[Amy in NH]

Um, yeah. Public school would be a waste of time for a previously homeschooled 17 yo senior. Most school districts won't assign a diploma unless you can verify credits for the homeschooled work, so I doubt she'd get a diploma at the end of the year. I turned 17 in November of my senior year and graduated in January, 1/2 year early. I started part time night classes at the community college classes, living at home, working part time, while I was taking my last semester of finals at high school. I don't think 17 is too young to start college, particularly if she is living at home. MHO: Don't waste her time.

[abbeyej]

I'm interested that so many have asserted that putting a child in for a year of public school is unequivocally a "waste of time". I think in many, many cases it is. But it depends very much on the individual child, school, and circumstance. Since we have essentially no information about the particular student in this case or the school she would be attending, I can't see how any of us can say that it "would" or "would not" be a complete waste of time (academically, socially or otherwise).

Also, some schools are very willing to work with home schoolers in assigning credit for high school work, and some are absolutely inflexible and will not allow it at all. I'm going to assume that the OP is savvy enough to know that she must discuss this matter with her local school.

All I'm really trying to emphasize here is that children and schools and home schools are different. Not every child "home schooled" through the 11th grade is ready for college (regardless of where they live). Some are ready well before that.

I also think for a child of that age, having a say in this next step is terribly important.

[Ottakee]

If she wants to go, I would let her go. I would not put a 17 year old in college full time--1 or 2 classes might be OK but I would rather see her in highschool than college full time. Maturity and experiences do come to play here. Also, in highschool she would be getting a taste of freedom, the "world" out there, etc. while still being under your roof and influence.

[elizam]

Iuldn't put her in PS. She's made it this far--she hasn't missed out on anything in PS--seriously. I regret putting my ds in PS middle school 2 yrs ago. :(

[Mrs Mungo]

If she wants to go, I would let her go. I would not put a 17 year old in college full time--1 or 2 classes might be OK but I would rather see her in highschool than college full time. Maturity and experiences do come to play here. Also, in highschool she would be getting a taste of freedom, the "world" out there, etc. while still being under your roof and influence.

I graduated high school at 17 and went on to college. I'm just saying...

[Shannon831]

I graduated high school at 17 and went on to college. I'm just saying...

Me too. It is totally dependent on the individual child as to whether they can handle that or not. I was absolutely ready for it. I know other 17yo's who are not. I think starting with a few classes would be wise. At 17, you have the luxury of putting one foot in the pool at a time.

[Margaret in CO]

I wouldn't and one of the reasons is that in CO, they wouldn't accept her credits. Oh, the law says they have to, but I've never heard of anyone that has had 3 years of credits accepted--though several people here have tried. We started our 15yos with part time college enrollent and it's worked very well. There was nothing at the ps that we couldn't get better classes at our local college.