She is omnibus gifted, which is a definite bonus-- it has allowed her to still be educated via a "school" (she's effectively been accelerated four grades) which means that we don't have (and hopefully won't have) the same issues convincing our local community college to let her enroll at 12. It isn't as though they have to take our word for it. (We got a lot of that kind of push-back when we homeschooled. Maddening.)
HowlerK,
I would make some inquires NOW. I've heard stories about CCs not being thrilled about taking kids under age of 16, and I don't think a High School Diploma is nescessarily going to help. A lot depends on the individuals who are making decisions. I've heard of situation where the Parent was expected to sit next to the child during class, and I don't get the picture that that is going to work well for your family.
Love and More Love,
Grinity
Definitely true, what Grinity posts above;
absolutely make inquiries to BE SURE that an institution has no "issues" with a very young registrant. Many will. Some of those concerns have to do with the limitations placed on institutions of higher learning-- they are often specifically prohibited under the law from acting
in loco parentis. When dealing with children under the age of sixteen or so, this has profound implications for the institution from a liability standpoint, and sometimes from an insurance one.
We had the first of those conversations when DD was just eight years old, so we understand what they have as concerns, and what we will need to do to reassure them and work with them so that it's possible.
We also
know other families that have taken this same path forward
with the same institutions. Our very first step
is going to be a "history" of side-by-side enrollment with a parent in a community/non-credit course or two starting this year. Art, Tai Chi-- that kind of thing. DD is fine with that and so are we. Next step will be for-credit foreign language next year-- again, side-by-side with a parent. This is also fine, since it's something we not only don't
mind doing, it's something we've planned to do as a family anyway.
That's a strategy that we've crafted with input from the institution's administration, other families that have done similar things, and DD herself. If she
were not okay with taking a class or three with mom and dad, then this would be a lot less likely to work. She's also (by virtue of the aforementioned disability) entirely accustomed to mom and dad being just, well, "there" like flies on the wall at most extracurricular activities.
Anyway. Grinity has some
excellent points here. Hopefully I've clarified why this is likely to work out well for my DD-- and the considerations that we've had to apply in formulating this plan.
