College Update

My second child and oldest daughter homeschooled to and through high school, supplementing with classes at Logan High. We dropped her off at college in Aug to begin that leg of her education and I wanted to report on that.

The two of us, with her dorm room unpacked, and just before I left.

For a bit of background, she did not get a diploma from a public High School. She got a homeschool diploma, took multiple CE classes at a local high school, and submitted a homeschool transcript. She was awarded a scholarship to her college based on her GPA. She elected to ATTEND this particular college because of this scholarship AND because they offered her chosen program, Commercial Music (and it's one of the few 4-year programs there), and because they offered her an additional music scholarship based on an in-person audition she attended.

I mention the above because that is what I think parents are curious about - how the process of college admissions works, the kinds of classes one takes to prepare, etc.

I wanted to add a few observations that were surprising and were NOT on my radar. These may be of curiosity to families just beginning the homeschool journey. (They certainly would have been to me!)

So when we dropped this daughter off, one thing that struck me was how much more MATURE she seemed than the other incoming freshman.

That's a sweeping statement with multiple caveats: 1. I hardly had a broad sampling in the few hours I was on campus, nor have I had the experience at other schools to contrast incoming freshman classes. 2. I SPOKE to even fewer people than I saw, so this was a snap judgement on my part. 3. Her college is a very small and rural school that generally only offers associates degrees, so that may be related to the maturity level of those who choose to attend.

But on the first two points, when I shared with my daughter this observation after she'd been there a week and spoken and spent time with many more students, she agreed that she also felt more mature.

Though I'd heard many homeschool moms claim that homeschooling better prepared kids for college, a) I was skeptical that was true, and b) I was MORE skeptical it would be true for MY kids, mostly owing to our very casual approach.

So, IF she really IS more mature than many incoming freshmen, I'm the first to be SHOCKED! (Though I didn't explicitly tell her, I was happy with her choice to go to Snow specifically because she is such a YOUNG 18-year-old - her b-day was exactly 1 month before we dropped her off - and I thought she had a lot of maturing to do!)

So we began together to try and understand where that added maturity came from (IF it is real), and we have a few theories - the stuff that was NOT on my radar that I thought was worthy of sharing.

1. 1. She has been managing her time and life for years. I was too busy to keep track of her varying high school schedule, so she would remind me when I needed to take her, pick her up, etc. Simultaneously to academics, she was in serious pursuit of her passions, so she managed her time on her own to move those forward too. And none of this has been "on the beaten path." There's not a single program we've 'plugged into' that's met all the needs and had all the boxes checked off alongside peers in the same program.
2. 2. Her passion has been music. Music is exacting and demanding - not something that can be mastered quickly or faked. It requires ongoing discipline, but the same could be said for sports, dance, etc.
3. 3. Our family travel. Yes, she did some time away from our home for girls camp, for FSY, to do a brief nanny stint for my brother's kids, and she attended a Shakespeare camp. But lots of kids do this. And I never thought our family travel would have an impact on the kids' maturity because they had their PARENTS managing all the logistics. BUT she was able to watch capable adults navigate in unfamiliar surroundings, make new connections, and pursue unique and cool experiences in new locations.
4. 4. Finally, because homeschooling meant she was HOME more often, she was able to participate in a broad swath of adult life: shopping, meal planning and prep, cleaning, etc. I think this has led her to a deeper confidence that she's got this "life thing" and has nothing to fear.

Another caveat: this may just be HER. Her personality - a fiercely independent spirit pretty much from birth?

AND OF COURSE, the year has just begun. What will her grades be? What will her challenges be? Will she be able to suck up all the learning from ALL the aspects of life and emerge a more capable human being that has more power to be a benefit to the world? Time has yet to tell!

But if you are wondering if it's OK that as a homeschooler, you spend less time on academics in favor of your kids diving deep into something they love, or making them help around the house, or having an amazing family adventure, or that you have so much on your plate that you neglect to manage their time all the time, the answer MAY be something like this:

Not only will your kids be fine, these may just be the features of your homeschooling experience (NOT the bugs!) that make a big difference in the confidence your kids gain to face the world as adults!