“Why” looks different for each of us, and I think hearing from other homeschooling parents helps us understand that motives can be from saving money, to learning how to “do college,” to offering enrichment. Five HS4CC Texas parents shared their “why.”
“A big pro for us was extracurriculars- dual credit students can participate in all the same activities as regular students- one of mine writes for the campus paper, and is a board member in her honor society and student government. Another of my students was able to graduate 2 years early because of dual credit, and both were able to earn dual degrees and minors because of the extra time they were afforded because of dual credit.” -Nicole H.
“If your student is ready for college rigor, they save time and money by taking the same classes once (English comp, US History, Government, etc). We do it for intellectual challenge and for way less stress than AP classes, where credit is conditioned to one exam vs a semester’s body of work.” -Tullia W.
“My son HATES doing things twice, especially if it’s something he has no interest in. A lot of the HS [high school] content is repeated as a freshman in college.” -Kimberly S.
Megan J. writes “Two main reasons for me:
- Teach my kids how to transition to college life while they are still home. Navigate campus, meet with advisors and register for classes, deal with weather delays and last minute class cancellations, find out about and join clubs, teams and activities on campus, learn which office and who to go to when you need help, learn different professor styles and use RateMyProfessor, deal with the time management of multiple mid terms, essays and finals due at the same time, work together in a classroom or group where not everyone has the same goals (sounds basic but it’s true that even in college classes not all students take group work seriously and they’ll have to figure out how to manage the extra work).
- It takes these courses off my plate as a homeschool mom. I will happily give 2-3 classes a semester over to an enthusiastic professor. Near me, there are many hybrid and a la carte options for homeschoolers but honestly I don’t know if those teachers are any good! Additionally, college admissions won’t know if those classes are any good! At least the CC DE [community college dual enrollment] classes have some standard of rigor. We wouldn’t be mad if none of the classes transfer. For us, it’s about gaining experience on campus, having an appropriate level of work, and completing our personal high school requirements.
“We prefer to wait until jr or sr year of high school for DC [dual credit], but it’s child dependent. Some kids are ready and some aren’t. Also, we like to start with online DC courses. We also prefer to use DC for math when we get past trig / pre-calc because that’s mom’s (my) brain limit. 😅” -Kim E.
