Printed in the Oct 2010 Christian County Headliner News
Starting back to school is always a mixture of excitement, nervousness, stress, exhaustion, and lots of money. My senior is thinking about finishing up his textbooks and beginning the College Plus program that has students Clep out of the basic college courses while they are still in high school. Hanna is a sophomore this year and is also hoping to study her textbooks and then take the Clep.
College Plus is a wonderful program that is meant for the serious student that can be self motivated to study subjects in depth and then take a test on it. If passed, they earn credits toward college.
Hanna has decided to do American History first. She is going to finish up her high school textbook, which we are using . Upon completion of that course, she will study a Clep American History book, followed by taking the Clep test.
There are numerous colleges that accept Clep and Dantes tests in place of taking the actual course in college. This saves families large amounts of money as well as time that would have been spent going to classes.
Of course, I have heard some people say that kids need the “experience” of college. For us, I cannot justify thousands of dollars for this “experience”. I do not want to get into a discussion on the value of college. I hope all of my children will have a degree or certification in a trade. I am for a college degree if they will actually use it. But, does it need to take the average 4 years? What if our children could get the same educational value in one in a half years for only five thousand dollars?
I am not going to make my children attend a brick and mortar school. If life takes them in that direction, and they feel they need that to succeed in life, I will support it.
But, I believe success cannot be measured from the outside, but comes from within. If my oldest son decides not to go to college, but instead starts his own business. From that business he is able to provide for himself and a family. He can pay his bills and is happy. Is that success? I say yes.
If he decides to go to college and get a degree and then enter the work place. He gets a job that is able to support him and a family and is happy. Is that success? I say yes.
He and my husband have been talking about starting a business together. They may go to a technical college to get certification in heating and air conditioning. They will work together and build a strong relationship with each other and our families. Is that success? I say yes.
This is the time of year when I look at each of my children and evaluate their gifting, their interests, and their dreams. I ask them what they want out of this year and what they think of their future. I then take it all to prayer and come back to them with a school year tailored to each one of them. I look not to my own standards or societies, but the individual definition of success is in each of their lives.
I don’t teach a textbook, I teach a student. Textbooks, unit studies, DVDs, internet, co-ops, are all just a tool, not the goal.
Starting back to school is always a mixture of excitement, nervousness, stress, exhaustion, and lots of money. My senior is thinking about finishing up his textbooks and beginning the College Plus program that has students Clep out of the basic college courses while they are still in high school. Hanna is a sophomore this year and is also hoping to study her textbooks and then take the Clep.
College Plus is a wonderful program that is meant for the serious student that can be self motivated to study subjects in depth and then take a test on it. If passed, they earn credits toward college.
Hanna has decided to do American History first. She is going to finish up her high school textbook, which we are using . Upon completion of that course, she will study a Clep American History book, followed by taking the Clep test.
There are numerous colleges that accept Clep and Dantes tests in place of taking the actual course in college. This saves families large amounts of money as well as time that would have been spent going to classes.
Of course, I have heard some people say that kids need the “experience” of college. For us, I cannot justify thousands of dollars for this “experience”. I do not want to get into a discussion on the value of college. I hope all of my children will have a degree or certification in a trade. I am for a college degree if they will actually use it. But, does it need to take the average 4 years? What if our children could get the same educational value in one in a half years for only five thousand dollars?
I am not going to make my children attend a brick and mortar school. If life takes them in that direction, and they feel they need that to succeed in life, I will support it.
But, I believe success cannot be measured from the outside, but comes from within. If my oldest son decides not to go to college, but instead starts his own business. From that business he is able to provide for himself and a family. He can pay his bills and is happy. Is that success? I say yes.
If he decides to go to college and get a degree and then enter the work place. He gets a job that is able to support him and a family and is happy. Is that success? I say yes.
He and my husband have been talking about starting a business together. They may go to a technical college to get certification in heating and air conditioning. They will work together and build a strong relationship with each other and our families. Is that success? I say yes.
This is the time of year when I look at each of my children and evaluate their gifting, their interests, and their dreams. I ask them what they want out of this year and what they think of their future. I then take it all to prayer and come back to them with a school year tailored to each one of them. I look not to my own standards or societies, but the individual definition of success is in each of their lives.
I don’t teach a textbook, I teach a student. Textbooks, unit studies, DVDs, internet, co-ops, are all just a tool, not the goal.
Sheri -
ReplyDeleteThis is great stuff. Would you let CollegePlus! reprint this?
Cheers!
Caitlin
Caitlin.Muir@CollegePlus.org
WELL SAID!!! I agree completely!
ReplyDeleteKerri in AL :-)