Homeschool Girl Denied Access to College Due to Age

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2010/05/30/Denied-college-because-of-age-shes-13/UPI-22951275253263/

A 13 year old homeschooling girl in Florida is being denied entry to a community college to continue her education, despite having passed all the necessary tests.

I'm actually of 2 minds on this one. On the one hand, there is something to be said for emotional maturity factoring into how one gets placed into classes.

However, my other part of my mind thinks that my hard-earned taxes go into paying for OUR community college, and I'm thinking I should be able to reasonably access what I'm paying for. Plus, she'd just be sitting in class taking notes and tests; it's not like she'd be hanging around campus.

And, add into all that the fact that many public school kids do dual enrollment at community colleges frequently. I guess I'm wondering how young is too young in this college's mind, and who are they to dictate what this girl's parents think is OK for her to hear in terms of discussion and what she's not to hear.

 

Our CC says you must be 16 (which is 10th grade-ish most of the time)..... and I think that is a decent age to be able to attend IMHO.

I'm not sure.... if she's ready to go into the classes then why not if the parent agrees. Heck you pay for the credits.....

 

I must confess that I don't like it when parents push their children like this. While education is important, it's not the be all and end all of growing up. How would a child of 13 cope in a college environment? If she's been homeschooled successfully this far, why not continue with homeschooling to increase the breadth and depth of her learning?

We've sent all of our children to the local PS at elementary school age. In several cases, we were asked whether we'd like our child moved ahead a year, most recently with our youngest. While, as the typical competitive dad, I initially thought it to be a good idea, my wife always resisted. She would prefer our daughter, for example, to be the big successful fish in a small pond, not a small struggling fish in a big pond. I accepted her reasoning. The more time has gone by, the more I realize she was right.

There's really no rush for a child to grow up too quickly. It seems we steal their childhood years in so many ways, and this is just another example of that.

 

I'd agree with Steve. Extend the breadth of her information intake and education. Have her learn a new skill! I hate to be the "What if"-er around here, but the article is right. She is a little too young to be going to college. She is going to be walking aorund on a Campus, by herself, during the day going to classes, even though she still lives at home. There are alot of creep-o's out there and those creep-o's do go to college. You just never know if she goes to one class and just doesn't make it to the other, you know what I mean? Other than that, I think she is emotionally unready for the college atmosphere. No doubt she is a bright child, thats obvious, but don't thrust her in there yet.

The parents shouldn't be spending time talking about if their daughter COULD go to college, and focus on whether she SHOULD go to college. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

 

I don't have a problem with that. Homeschooled or not, this is college, not public school. These are adults. They are expected to be, well, adults. Many of these students aren't 'college aged', but older.

I personally would not feel comfortable putting my child in that situation at 13, even if he/she could do the work. Emotional maturity matters just as much as an SAT or ACT score IMHO. Many 18 year olds aren't ready to handle it, much less your average 13 year old. Why the rush? I agree, study more in depth at home until age 16.

 

Hey, maybe she could apply at whatever college Doogie Howser went to???

 

I didn't read the article...I know, shameful. Anyway, had a couple gut reactions. Why couln't she take online courses if her maturity level is not college ready yet? I attended summer classes and programs for gifted students at a university when I was that age. My SAT scores could have easily allowed me to take classes and I was mature enough to have handled it. I had a great relationship with the professors in my field (at the time it was biology). If her maturity level is appropriate, let her excel on campus. If her maturity level is not college ready, let her excel online.

 

I think we're making judgements without knowing all the facts. My gut reaction is that she probably isn't mature enough yet. We're seriously considering Rachael at 16 taking a class or two at a small community college, and frankly I'm very ambiguous about it. But then we found out she can't possibly do it next year, so I'm letting out a sigh of relief, lol!

But if she's gone as far as possible with her parents, perhaps an exception needs to be made. For example, can a parent accompany her to class?

I might add that I saw a story, possibly on PBS, about a young lady about that age who was a veterinarian. She has a job, and her mother has to accompany her to work each day. She is very competent at what she does. So even though Sonita jokes about Doogie Howser, lol, it DOES happen.

 

Don't most community colleges start at 16? I personally see 13 just too young. Kudos to having a child graduate so young but goodness 13 you are still a child. I am starting to feel sorry for parents pushing their youngers into college so early. Good for the college for saying no to the 13 year old.

 

I don't believe for one second that she has gone as far as she can go at 13. Maybe by the standards...but seriously, can't her parents provide her an education for a few more years. She could learn a foreign language....take more science classes...or volunteer her time..develop a business plan as a class and maybe see if she can run it.. there are options to keeping her busy and home until she is 16. I am in agreement with Steve on this one. No 13 year old is mature enough to go to college...and I thinking having a parent go with her would be weird. Unless...the parent can take the same classes for the same credit and they can go to college together! LOL. That was me 1/2 joking. lol.

Now, I have no clue if the parents are pushing the child. She may be a genius..and the parents had no choice but to keep plugging away and the child just accomplished a great amount of work in a short amount of time. But...I don't think she needs to go to college now. So, she goes to college now and graduates when she is very young..then what? She gets a job. She teen years are filled building up her resume and her 401K? She works 40+ hours a week at 18 in a high pressure job or goes to law school or med school? That's just too much. She needs to be a kid. You only get one life...why make it all about school and work? We mature and learn through our social experiences as well. Geesh..the parents could take her one field trips for a few years... or find a project for her..or have her tutor.

Yep, I'm against it.

 

So what SHOULD the cut-off age be?

 

I would allow my 16 year old to take college classes. Even then, I think you need to be aware that your 16 year old is sitting side by side with adults. However, I have known plenty of 16 year olds to take college classes to their benefit. I would allow online classes maybe a bit younger...depends. This is just my opinion. I am curious to see what others think.

 

If they have a policy of age 16 then I would go the online route. There is so much available for advanced learning online.

 

I have to agree with Ava on this one, I don't believe any child at that age is ready for the real world and that is what I call college. What would her parents do if she end up pg. They would blame the boy, well yea to some degree but hey she is in a adult area doing adult things, what do they think will happen.
I just don't understand why people want to push there children anyway. What do they get out of it? Putting them in Pk at age 3 why? Let them be kids. Why can't kids just be kids anymore?
I really think its the parents that push the kids they want to go around thinking there kid is the smartest and the best at everything, even if it takes there childs life away.
I always said they will have plenty of time to be adults and get out in the real world just let them have fun be kids and enjoy life.
I tell my girls, just do the best they can, enjoy life its to short to go around trying to be better then everyone else. Do what makes you comfortable. Don't worry about others, if they don't want to enjoy life and be kid that is there problem.
I always tell my girls time goes so fast there child hood will be gone before they know it.


Ok I know the tomatoes are coming, thats ok I clean my screen the other day ready for them.

 

What about those kids you've heard about in the past, going to Harvard at 10 and so forth? Whatever happened to them??

Answers at Yahoo says: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080617185918AAum3vj

oohooh, another one! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/14/10-year-old-scholar-takes_n_101716.html

One more: http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/youngest_ever.htm

http://www.calstate.edu/newsline/Archive/02-03/030611-Bak.shtml

None of these really says what happened after, though....
I wonder about that homeschool family that had ten kids, and one of the daughters was teaching in college when most people her age were just entering. She'd done most of her college at home by extension courses....

 

Thank you, Lindina!

We CANNOT JUDGE this family. We don't know their child. We don't know that they are "pushing" her. Children HAVE graduated at a very young age, though they are few and far between. If the parents feel this is best for their child, who are we to criticize it?

 

I agree. We don't know this child or if any pushing was involved. For some children it would be more damaging to hold them back. I guess a better question would be why do some have the assumption that children who are capable for college at age 13 are pushed?

 

Because that seems to be the usual rule.

On the other hand, I've been privileged to meet some truly brilliant people, and they are in a class of their own intellectually. They just think differently, and their talent is just so natural. None of these attended college at 13 - but at 16, yes. At that point, they excelled in classes at some of the world's top universities. I still keep in touch with one of them - a top professor at the University of Cambridge in England.

While I still think that college at 13 is too young, I was wrong to jump to the conclusion that the child was pushed. Thanks for correcting me. I probably assumed that because the college she's trying to attend is not Harvard or Princeton and the like. It really does depend on the circumstances. Some children are pushed, but others are genuine geniuses.

 

I also don't recall if they said if the article said the parents wanted her to go for a full schedule or just to take a class or two. While I think a full schedule might be a bit much for most 13 year olds [don't know about this particular 13 year old], I could see taking a class or two as reasonable, even at 13.

My son is 7 and doing 5th grade math. At some point, he'll most likely need to move on to community college to do the higher maths. I don't push him at all [my husband's an electrical engineer, but I was an English teacher LOL]. He just naturally moves at the pace he's set for himself. In fact, I've stalled him a couple of times, but he gets so bored that we just simply have learned to keep moving on with him.

I don't think I would personally ever send my 13 year old for a full community college course load, but there ARE a lot of teens in our area that take CC classes for dual credits because of schedule conflicts with courses in their public schools. I think I could see doing a subject if we needed to at some point.

 

I don't plan to allow my child to finish high school until age 18, BUT I have no problem with college classes being taken early. Sitting in college classes full-time at age 13 would be too much for most kids, but I'm sure there are some that would fit in well. I have one son taking an online college course this year. Some have assumed I was pushing him. I can understand where they are coming from since he is only 8 but I am not pushing him. But it is a class on a topic that consumes him. He spends his free time learning more and more about that topic. I couldn't find a curriculum that would teach things he didn't already know until I found a college course. He loves it and frankly I needed someone to teach him that understood the subject. I just asked him what his favorite part of school was and he named that class. Now, if you want to talk about spelling you could say I am pushing him. He does not like to do spelling and I make him do it, but I don't suppose that is the pushing that is being talked about.