what is a good first class for community college

[Veronica in VA]

My dd just turned 16 and I was hoping to enroll her in CC in the fall. For those of have BTDT, what is a good first class to take? I know some of it is dependent on the teacher, but I don't want to overwhelm her with her first class. Also, how do you cut down on the work at home?

Just a little confused today!

Veronica

[Quiver0f10]

I have started mine off with a writing class, but that's because I am not a strong writer myself and wanted to make sure the bases were covered. What is your Dd interested in?

[Veronica in VA]

She does enjoy writing quite a bit. She loved biology after an initial rough start, and I did think of chemistry, but I don't think that would be a good first course.

Veronica

[Chris in VA]

My ds will be taking American Government and Spanish. He tested very well in English placement, and I'd like him to take the first comp course, but he can only go part-time as a dual-enrolled kid.

Some say go with something they really like. Some say go for a freshman level class that they will need in the future. Some say put them in something you don't want to teach! lol

As far as cutting down on work at home, I just use the CC classes to sub for what we'd be doing at home. Am Gov will be his history, and Spanish, well, is Spanish. He needs two more years of high school language to get into the college of his choice, so we are going the CC route in order for him to get it done in one year (each semester counting for 1 year of hs).

[Vicki]

We picked something my children excelled in because we wanted their first experience with college to be successful.
God bless,
Vicki

[Pamela H in Texas]

I haven't btdt yet (I'll let you know this fall). My daughter is taking, at the college:

English, History and Calculus
I haven't decided about Chemistry also yet.

And she's doing AP Computer Science from home.

Here, the first 2 courses are paid for and then she can take up to 2 more with approval.

[Kelli in TN]

We wanted dd to take English comp this summer as I feel we are weak in the writing dept. Unfortunately, the day after she signed up the class was cancelled!

She will take American History in July and then in the fall she will take Spanish and English Comp. In the spring she will take Spanish 2 and either a math or a science.

[2cents]

Mine took Eng Comp and College Algebra. American Lit would be a good one for a starter too.

[CynthiaOK]

My oldest did Freshman Comp 1 and College Algebra 1st semester of 11th grade. I knew he would be fine in the math, but was sweating the writing class. But he scored an A in the Comp class, too. I know we homeschoolers stress over not doing well in writing, but from what I saw in that class, we're ahead of many of the other kids out there (probably varies on what university we're talking about though).

I do agree with the idea of picking a class you know she will be successful in. And if you're lucky it will also be one which you don't want to teach at home :D

[hsmamainva]

My daughter took College Composition & US History her first year at the cc (11th grade).

This coming year (12th grade), she'll be taking British Literature, Psychology and Principles of Public Speaking (she can't wait for this last class, as she's shy by nature, and she's hoping it will help her by teaching her how to speak in front of a group!)

As far as cutting down on the work from home, my daughter goes to the cc 2 days a week and homeschools 3 days a week, pretty much year round. She hasn't had a problem in keeping up with either the cc classes or at home.

[Jan P.]

I think an introductory computer class is not a hard class to take. Most teenagers have some experience with using the computer, so they are not as threatened by the material they need to know. Also most of the grade will probably be "hand on" type material -- building a web page, typing a paper in Microsoft Word, building a Powerpoint show, etc.

HTH,
Jan P.

[Michelle in MO]

I'll probably enroll my oldest in an English class and a math class: the English because she excels in all things verbal, and the math because she needs someone to teach her advanced math who is beyond my level of expertise! :D

[LoriM]

My dd took College Algebra, Chemistry, English Composition, and Spanish I her first semester as a dual enrolled high schooler. She found 13 semester hours pretty easy to handle. She was still doing quite a bit at home for me in history, ethics and logic, literature, and general house responsibilities.

One thing I highly suggest is that you write a four (or six) year plan that includes her intended major in college, and choose courses that apply or are foundational for the coursework she'll pursue later.

[Rachel]

We have started out with Math and English.....

Be very careful of classes that open the door for political/religious/ethical ideology being taught by a professor.

If you are a Christian they can seriously undermine your teaching and confuse a young teen. Even if you aren't a Christian it could still be more than a young teen can handle early on.

My friend even tried a drama class at the CC and came up with this problem.........all of my science classes I've taken over the last year are VERY evolution oriented and have had multiple political statements made by teachers (don't know why??)

So be careful.........also always, always, ALWAYS..check out ratemyprofessors.com and check out the individual teachers........you'll find out about their style, how good a teacher students think they are and you can ususally find out if they use their position to push their own political agendas.........

[Mary in WA]

We did Computer Keyboarding first, along with Golf. Then, moved on to slightly harder subjects, Japanese Literature and English Composition (because I knew the teacher)... Next semester it was full blown... US History, Logic, and Latin. The boys started at age 15, but my daughter was only 14. She took her time and graduated from the two year college the day after she graduated from our homeschool co-op school. I do think the Keyboarding is a great beginning class... all the other classes were easier because they could type so fast... one went to 120 wpm. (I think he wrote the the the the over and over though!)

[Alyce]

my dd did that one first and my son will do it this Spring. It's something most people are interested and has little writing so they can get used to one thing at a time. After that I hit the English's etc.

[percytruffle]

It depends how much she is ready to handle. My dd started cc classes at 17. Her first semester she took pre-Calc, College Comp I, and Chemistry (the one intended for science majors). Her second semester she took Calc I, College Comp II, and Chemistry II. She did very well, all A's and A-'s. She liked the challenge of a class and really connected with the professors. At home she did a couple of minor things for me like government.

Ds will start taking classes there this fall. He is taking College Comp I and Trig (the second semester of college algebra). In the spring he will take College Comp II and Pre-Calc. If all goes well he may wish to add a third class, but he will be doing physics and Medieval History at home, so we don't want to over schedule him.

[Veronica in VA]

Thank you all so much!! Now I need to sit down with the course catalog and my dd and figure out our plan.

Veronica

[Anna]

We allowed each of our kids to choose their first CC course. Only advice we gave them was to decide on something which they thought they would really enjoy.

[Lisa in TN]

My dd took English Composition 1 first, and that worked well for her.

My ds took an introductory class in computer programming. He liked the subject matter and did well in the class, but it was more time-consuming than the English course.