We've looked at those options, and they don't exist for her locally, believe it or not. Well, not meaningfully, anyway. They're actually high school courses administratively under the aegis of the local CC. On the genuinely college-level front, she can enroll as a non-matriculated student, (assuming that she can get a seat in a popular/high-demand course, which has been problematic), but the costs are actually MORE than if she were a regular college student, since our local district (and also her school's district) don't participate in the actually-on-college-campuses-DE program statewide, which also isn't great from a financial standpoint. It's cheaper to send her where we're looking than to let her take three classes at the local Uni as a non-Matriculated student. The size of the local uni is also a concern, as class sizes are in the 150-300 range.
Honestly, high school level coursework isn't what she needs. We're hoping that she can put up with it one more year-- during which time, yes, she'll be taking dual enrollment classes (but here in OR, those are not taught ON college campuses, but by high school teachers), but also four classes which are a total waste of her time, but necessary if she is to stay enrolled with them.
We're all very very weary of playing the game imposed by the K-12 system with it's notions of what constitutes academic challenge and depth. Even the DE-qualifying coursework that she's taken (and she's already had 4 of those in high school-- we just didn't pick up the credits because they don't advertise the program) were no better than anything else. It's appalling-- we've delayed DD graduating from high school by about a year, but doing more than that seems actively harmful at this point. It's not giving her a chance to actively explore much of anything, and it piles on the busywork instead and pretends that makes thing "more challenging." All it really does is starve DD for what she actually needs, and punish her for any divergent thinking via her latent perfectionism. They just fired the sole teacher who actually taught at the genuine DE level. Not that I'm feeling bitter or anything. :-/ I know for a fact that DD's curriculum is actually slightly MORE demanding than what her local brick-and-mortar peers are seeing, so it's all K-12 schools, not just hers... I mean, the lack of direct instruction is particular, but the level is slightly better, so it's six of one... half a dozen of t'other.
All that high school has done (even AP + honors, which are the DE options) is make her say "Wow, bummer THIS class sucks so much. The subject has such potential, too..." She's always so excited that the next year might be "real," and elated when she reads her new textbooks... then let down when it's the same old low-level assessments and discussion about how to memorize material. It really hasn't solved anything-- it's made the multipotentiality problem the same or worse. Enrichment is no longer enough, and we're approaching the breaking point again (I can tell, knowing my DD). Talking to an enthusiastic and welcoming Math department chair was the first glimmer of academic HOPE that I've seen my DD have since 9th grade. I felt faintly horrified that she's ordinarily so dejected about school and so inured to to idea that she learns NOTHING.
Seriously, guys-- we HAVE thought about this. A lot, even. We're also very familiar with the system, having been college faculty (in STEM).
It's why I tried to explain initially WHY I needed advice on particular materials and what type of learner my DD is, rather than asking if it is a good plan to start with. I realize that the unsolicited advice is well-intended, but we really wouldn't be doing things the way that we are if we had good alternatives.
