Our Middle School Principal and I have had a tough relationship - and I have only known him for one year.

I wanted my daughter in 8th grade English as a 7th grader and he refused. He said that she would be fine. Well, she has her pronouns down - again. She cannot stand the bullies in the regular courses. For some reason, they have a grip on the math program, but no other.

I work at the Community College and had her tested - accuplacer. She placed safely into College Comp. She will be taking the last developmental course this summer and I had to go through a lot to get the Principal to agree. He had to sign the form.

I decided to not put her in the college course, but the last developmental course - mostly for the teacher, and the class times. I think she will like this instructor - and for her, that is important.

So, she is the youngest student ever registered at this cc - 12 years old.

Good for your DD.

I wish that was a possibility for us. Oddly enough, we have several universities in the area that will allow high school seniors to take classes, but the community college doesn't. Even so, there are no local options for us before high school.

I hope your principal learns something from your DD's experience - many gifted kids don't fit the one-size-fits-all mold of the standard curriculum.

You can get your child tested for college level courses. We take the accuplacer. I actually pushed this through. It helps that I work there and know the staff, but I had to get signatures.

Her instructor used my daughter's papers to illustrate imagery. My daughter was a little embarrassed because the rest of the class is adults.

That's wonderful. Good for your girl!

She asked me yesterday what she should call her new "peers". I told her that we call them students. So many adult instructors try to call them kids and that is a huge no-no.

Glade that your daughter is doing well in the community college class.

My daughters were in a local community college when they were in 6th and 7th grade (they were 10 and 11 at that time). They were allowed to take the French class because school district did not offer French in middle school. They had gone through a host of placement tests, interview, principal approval, etc.

It was a pretty funny sight. The class contained mostly college age students, a few high schoolers and a number of adults in they 50-60. DDs soon realized that adults were not that 'smart' (sure, a person in 50s can hardly compete with kids in learning a new language).

Since then, they took French and other subjects to suppliment their high school classes. Although their passion for French had faded, the early experiences with college were definitively positive.

Thanks for the input. She is enjoying the class. The reading material is more adult - and she likes it. It is good to hear from someone who has done this. This is the only opportunity I have since we are in the middle of nowhere.

Hi Ellipses,

The discussions and assignments in community college could involve adult content which could be problem for kids this young. I remembered that I have to search all over for a French movie (their assignment) that does not have nude scenes.

Another word of caution is about grades in community college. The college application is just around the corner. My daughters ended up sending separate transcripts from cc in addition to their HS transcripts during college application. The transcripts from cc include everything that they took. It is not clear how seriously universities look at their early grades (before high school). But you don't want Cs or Ds in there.

I've had experience with the transcripts. Mine were mostly A's, some B's, but it didn't seem to matter to the colleges at which I applied. The only problem was when I applied for medical school and needed to send in transcripts from every college attended, and they did not understand that I had been in middle school and high school when I took the classes (and had part-time enrollment with some gaps, depending on what my district allowed).

DS11 has been very happy with his math courses at the CC. I still think they've been some review, but he only has 2 classes/week and doesn't have to sit in an hour every day of middle school math. He scored perfectly on the final, which the teacher said had never happened before. Next semester he'll have entirely new material. I'd like to have him take other CC classes (science, e.g.) but it would disrupt his middle school classes (already he's pulled out twice a week and misses 2 social studies classes). It would probably work well with homeschooling, but he wants to finish out middle school, so we're sticking to math.

Cym-

It's great to hear that ds is doing so well at the cc! I'd suggest that you ask his profs for letters of recommendation now, while he is fresh in their minds.

Cym,

I love hearing that your son is doing well. Since we're in the same state, you're cutting the trails for me!

Thanks Lorel,

Do you think a letter of recommendation that is 3-4 yrs old (by the time he applies to college, assuming he's not going earlier) is worthwhile/will be considered? A lot of applications seem to want 2 teacher recommendations--wouldn't they prefer ones that are more recent?

I am considering Davidson Academy residential option if they do that which needs recommendations.

Cym

Hi Shari,

I get a little panicky about running out of classes and ending up online (I really like having a live teacher for DS), so we'll see what happens after next year. Your location is perhaps better for some options (UNM or scholarship to the good prep schools, mentorships with high tech folks, etc.) I'll be watching you too.

Cym

Cym-

I've actually been surprised at how many letters ds13 has needed already. He has applied to several summer programs and such that ask for letters of recommendation. I imagine that by the time he applies to full time college (whenever that will be!), he will have newer, more impressive recs. It just doesn't hurt to ask now, and it can give you a window into what the teachers observe. I wouldn't ask for no reason, but if your son is going to apply to any programs, it is useful for the instructor to have specific examples to refer to in a letter, rather than, "Oh yes, I recall that he was a good student."

Some programs require you to use their form, but if the teacher has a letter on file, s/he can tweak it to fit the bill.

This is great to see. We're not there yet since my oldest DS isn't quite 6, but I'm always thankful for parents who are paving the way.

I saw the caution on the grades and feel compelled to add to it. My stepkids both took language courses at the local community college (UC system) when they were freshmen/sophomores in high school. Neither did so well. Now, 5 years later, my stepdaughter is trying to finish up her associates to transfer to Davis as a math major. However, her cumulative gpa is drastically low because those bombs back in high school factored into the overall gpa. As transferring gets more and more competitive, even a B might be a negative someday down the line.

Thanks Lorel--I will definitely ask his teacher for a recommendation for upcoming programs or schools. With oldest DS applying to colleges this fall, that's how I see everything these days--college apps.

This is all very interesting. You learn something new everyday on this forum.