It’s that time…again. Time to revisit the dual credit question. Every time one of my boys begins what would be his 9th grade year if he was in public school, I begin to pay attention to discussions among my home school mom friends about dual credit (earning college and high school credit at the same time). Since this is, as we affectionately call him, #5’s 9th grade year, it is the 5th time I have agonized over whether to do dual credit or not.
There are a lot of pressures out there to follow the dual credit route. Pressure from fellow home schoolers to do what “home schoolers are supposed to do”. Pressure for my boys to keep up with the public school kids. Pressure to save money and time.
It seems like a no-brainer. Why wouldn’t I want my son to save time by earning high school and college credit at the same time? Why wouldn’t I want to save money by having him get a nice chunk of college credit at the local community college instead of the expensive private school he wants to attend? It shouldn’t even be a question. The answer should be, “Yes! When can we start?” But I have hesitations. Hesitations that have kept me from pursuing dual credit courses for #5’s older 4 brothers.
Why? Do I have doubts that my boys can do the work? Do I fear that their education has been subpar? Is there not a college close by they could attend? No, no and no. I think my boys are geniuses…well, not geniuses…but they are very intelligent. I am confident that the education they have received at home is sufficient to allow them to do whatever they desire — college or no college. We’ve always lived within 30 minutes of an adequate community college.
So what’s causing me to hesitate to encourage them to spend their high school years getting college credit?
It’s all about learning. Learning at their own pace. Learning what interests them. Learning to love learning. That’s why I chose to home school my boys. I want them to learn how rewarding learning is. I want them to learn how fascinating God’s creation is. I want them to learn how far they can go in whatever they choose to do.
The high school years have been such a rewarding time for the boys. Other than meeting the requirements their dad and I have set for their graduation, they are free to explore what interests them. If they want to spend time learning to program computers, they do. If they want to spend time learning photography, they do. If they want to spend time perfecting a skill of any sort, they do. They don’t have to quit learning because the bell has rung. They don’t have to stop working on a project because they have to be at a class. I have been amazed at the things they have taught themselves as well as what they have learned from mentors. Things they would not have time to do if they were taking dual credit courses.
But that’s not all. I know students taking dual credit courses find time to do other things. There’s something else that just nags at me. This is the one that I will probably get the most flack over but I’m going to say it anyway.
I don’t want my 16 year old to be in a classroom full of 18, 19, 20… year olds. I don’t want my 16 year old, who is at such an impressionable age, to be influenced by college aged kids who may or may not be the best examples. I don’t want my 16 year old to sit at the feet of a college professor who has little regard for God.
I know. I sound like an over-protective mom. I sound like a mom who isn’t ever going to let her boys grow up. But it’s not true. I do want them to grow up. I even wrote about how important it is to let our children grow up.
Let me ask a question. Why do so many of our teenagers turn their back on God? Why do so many of our teenagers make bad decisions? I’ve seen sweet kids that held such promise as pre-teens all of a sudden make life altering decisions, bad life altering decisions, when they turned 16.
What happened? Driver’s license.
Think about it. A 15 year old needs to go to baseball practice. Mom or dad drive him. The most valuable time of the day — that time spent driving the 15 year old around. Time to talk. Time to enjoy each other’s company. That 15 year old turns 16 and gets a license. The newly licensed drive needs to go to baseball practice. He drives himself. That time spent with mom and dad is non-existent. We as parents want to encourage independence, which is a good thing, but we end up giving up the valuable time spent in the car, sharing our day with our teen.
I know it’s not just the driver’s license fault, but it is this age that teenagers want more independence and we want to encourage independence so we give up more and more time spent with them. During this most critical time in their life, parents are squeezed out of the picture while coaches, friends, employers, fellow employees, and yes college professors are filling up more and more of that time.
It’s inevitable. More and more people, more and more things will begin to take the place of mom and dad in my teen’s life. I don’t want to stop it, I just want to delay it. I want our family to remain a major portion of my teen’s influence as long as possible. If he is spending hours at the local community college, he’s not spending time with mom and dad. If he is spending hours at the local community college, he is spending time with older college students who will have the opportunity to be a negative influence on him. If he is spending hours at the local community college, he is spending time at the feet of professors who do not respect God.
Will I ever be willing to let my boys leave the nest? Of course! Those two or three extra years spent in our little nest give them that extra dose of confidence that allows them to stand firm against the evil influences they will eventually face. Those extra years gives them time to learn more about themselves and what they might want to study when they do attend college. Those extra years give them the maturity to handle the upper level courses with ease.
I can confidently say, “Yes! I want my boys to get a college education!” But I can also confidently say, “No! I don’t want to hurry the process along.” Instead of taking classes for the sake of collecting credits, my boys will get to spend those last few years in our home school exploring their own interests as they mature into young men of faith and conviction.
Or not…#5 and his dad and I are still talking about it. :)
