since she's officially only in 8th grade at the moment and we're trying to delay her HS graduation until she's 15.
Why? It sounds like trying to stay on this timetable is causing most of the problems. There's nothing magical about the age 15 when it comes to college.
No, there isn't; but we do have a good reason.
She's a 2E kid with a hidden disability. Even that deserves a word or two of explanation here, because I think it's critical to understand that
ordinarily I'd say that early college would be a completely valid solution to her academic issues.
Right now, DD is statistically entering the highest risk period of her life for that disability-- female adolescents are a dismayingly high percentage of the total fatalities annually, and some estimates are that her odds of fatality will be as much as 1:40 in the next few years. Sobering for any parent. Those deaths were mostly thought to be because of risk-taking for social reasons and poor decision-making, but it is now believed that enhanced physiological vulnerability related to hormonal shifts at puberty may also be a significant factor.
Management of that disability is sometimes very complicated, even for us as adults. She's nearly died a few times, and we're
crazy careful, even compared to other families like ours. Fifteen is pushing
us (as her parents) to the very limits of what we can contemplate in terms of risk. We've paid close attention to those parents who have successfully launched kids with this disability; so we have a good idea what makes for a success. She'll need to be sufficiently mature that she won't take the risks that many adolescents would, even in the face of significant and ongoing social pressures. She'll also need to be VERY assertive, even with strangers or authority figures. Colleges
cannot act
in loco parentis. So for us, every additional year that passes is one step further into executive skills development-- and safety.
Long explanation without a lot of specific medical history, I know.
That's why she isn't going to go to college (well, not without Mom or Dad shadowing) at 12.
If my child did NOT have that disability? You
bet I'd be contemplating college right now. It's generally an excellent solution.
Unfortunately, we are in a state that doesn't mandate dual enrollment policies of any kind, anyway... and we also aren't "in" our own school district, being in a charter school out of district. Not that it would matter, since all that is actually "required" of our public schools is that they identify and differentiate curriculum for GT kids. Of course, that isn't defined under the law. No mention of "appropriate" or "individual needs," either. Oh, and there isn't any funding for any of it anyway. I bet it's obvious where the loopholes are there. LOL. The fact is that they
are "differentiating" material for her. She's been accelerated. She'd taking honors coursework. (School administrators everywhere are rolling their eyes right now and saying "What more do you WANT??") Now, if we make it easy for them (ie-- producing a good plan for Independent Study) then maybe we can come up with something that works for everyone. We just can't expect the school to pay for it, unfortunately.
I'd originally suggested star-party/constellation stuff to DD, but she really doesn't care about that material at all. She's more interested in the cosmology and astrophysics side of things.
The GalileoScope is a great tool; that's a kit, and my friend in Astronomy is the one that first told me about them over a year ago. They're a terrific bargain; very nice optics for the price, and VERY reasonably priced (~$50 from Edmunds Scientific).
Again, I really appreciate the various thoughts that everyone is sharing. This is really helpful to us as we consider all of the options available. Thank you!
