My renewed call for homeschooling questions resulted in a very good inquiry about homeschool high-school students taking summer classes at the local community college.
The question is paraphrased below:
DeeDee asks: My oldest daughter is 15 years old and will be finishing 9th grade in the next month or so. She is a very talented artist self taught artist with than 2 dozen sketchbooks full of good drawings, and now she has begun to paint as well.
A homeschooled young lady in our neighborhood who told my daughter that she had taken some summer classes at the local Community College last summer and she suggested that my daughter take a few art classes. Is this possible? Will a Community College enroll a homeschooled teen for summer art classes! Also, would this be something that would eventually count toward elective college credits when she is ready to attend college for real?
Here is what you need to do.
Call your local community college and tell them that your daughter wants to take non-matriculated art classes this summer. This means she wants to take classes without applying to be an official student at the college. A student does not have to matriculate unless they want financial aid, are taking a full course load, or are seeking a degree. The college should have no problem accepting your 15-year-old daughter. You only need to tell them her age, that she is homeschooled and that she is interested in art classes. They will likely put her in a beginner class.
Granted she does well in this class, when the time comes for her to begin her college career, the credits for this class will in most cases count toward her college degree. The best part is that these credits can also count toward her high school program. Yes. When taking college classes, your child will get two credits for the price of one.
Another option your teenage homeschooled daughter has for taking a course at a local community college is to audit a class. To audit a class means to enroll in and attend the class, but not receive a credit. Your student will have the experience of attending the college course but not get college credits. Auditing a class generally has the same cost as taking the course for credit, but causes less stress on the child. You can still count the course toward a high school credit in your child’s homeschool portfolio.
As a person with a Fine Arts degree, I have a bit of information you may not be aware of. Most beginning drawing classes at colleges involve the use of nude models. In fact, I can only remember one or two visual art classes where we did not have at least one nude model during the course. I remember having no models for art history, but that is all. You will need to decide if such a class is appropriate for your daughter, and inquire with the school about the professor’s class prospectus before enrolling your child.
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*Words a homeschooler Should Know