high school credits

[Jadarville]

I am a brand new homeschooler having made a very fast decision to remove my son from public school for his mental health. He is an 11th grader and turns 17 next month. The school gave me his transcript and he has 20 of the school required credits and to quote his former guidance counselor needs 5 more to graduate. I am now learning from all the browsing I've been doing, that under option 3 he is not legally required to have those credits, that we should research potential colleges and find out what their admission requirements are. If he has reached a potential college's requirements, am I able to say (once he turns 17, and obviously continuing his compulsory education until then) ok, you've graduated let's apply to colleges, take a break, whatever the case may be?
thanks :>

[Dianna]

I am a brand new homeschooler having made a very fast decision to remove my son from public school for his mental health. He is an 11th grader and turns 17 next month. The school gave me his transcript and he has 20 of the school required credits and to quote his former guidance counselor needs 5 more to graduate. I am now learning from all the browsing I've been doing, that under option 3 he is not legally required to have those credits, that we should research potential colleges and find out what their admission requirements are. If he has reached a potential college's requirements, am I able to say (once he turns 17, and obviously continuing his compulsory education until then) ok, you've graduated let's apply to colleges, take a break, whatever the case may be?
thanks :>

Hi, and welcome to homeschooling and our forums! :wave:

Since the State Department of Education doesn't issue diplomas to anyone other than their publicly-schooled students, they can't decide how many credits a homeschooler must have to graduate. An association may have specific requirements of its own, but most associations leave it up to the parent.

In my research and experiences with my own high schooler, students typically earn anywhere from 24 to 32 credits (although the various state requirements are usually less than that - starting around 20 credits for a diploma and going up from there).

Since your son has had a traumatic experience at his school, consider just documenting the courses he's already taken, and then focus on courses that he finds interesting. If he's lost the enjoyment of learning, my goal would be to try to get that back for the rest of this year and next year.

Your strategy of looking to see what specific colleges require is also an excellent idea. If he hasn't taken a foreign language, you can focus on that. If he's lacking a math or science credit, go ahead and try to get that in. But don't forget to also incorporate subjects he's interested in and let him delve into them as far as his interests allow. This will help him to regain his motivation to learn, if he's lost it due to his experiences.

Before you graduate him early, consider whether or not you'd want him to go to college full-time a year younger than his peers. My son took a couple of math courses at our local college during his senior year and that was a great experience for him. However, I don't think I would've wanted him to be a full-time student with the majority of students at least a year or two older than him. You may have a different take on it, and that's fine; I just wanted to throw out some things to think about.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help. :smile2:

Warmly,
Dianna

[SChomemomof3]

I am finding more and more homeschoolers attending tech colleges during their high school years and getting high school and college credits for one class.

[Jadarville]

Thank you very much for the insight regarding my son's willingness to learn. I think that is a good suggestion to concentrate on areas he is more interested in. I don't intend to have him sign up for college any time soon, I think he needs a break from the whole environment for now.

[SChomemomof3]

Good luck with the schooling adventure. Ask any more questions you have maybe we can help you.

Lorna:biggrin2: