I know I will get truly and deeply flamed for this, but...unless you live in the wilds of Siberia, homeschooling is a sad disservice to kids, unless the home has a science and chemistry lab and a qualified person to teach those subjects, and maybe a foreign language lab and teacher, etc.

But back to your question: to enter an accredited university, the student must have completed the A-G subject requirements in academics and passed a college entry test such as ACT or SAT with qualifing scores. My advice to this young lady would be to find a community collge - no entrance exam, just an assessment test to see what she needs to learn. Even with a GED, she may have to take quite a bit of makeup work before she can even begin regular college work. After two years of successful community college, she can transfer to a university and finish her last two years.

There are also other options: she can get a certificate or AA degree at a community college if she wants a lesser type of career. For example, say she wants to be a nurse, she could get a LVN (2years)degree at a community college or if she wants to be an RN, she would transfer and go for two more years (total 4) to a university.

The unfortunate thing here is that she did not have access to career counseling, another thing people just don't have at home. No wonder she sat around for a year - she is probably neither prepared nor motivated to go out into the real world. Very sad, I would almost call this negligence.

You won't get any flaming from me, I'm not a fan of homeschooling a child like her (no special issues, etc.). She hasn't taken the SAT, I don't think. But I know she got a very high score on the GED. She's very bright. Close to straight As in public school and was skipped ahead a grade when she was tested before she entered high school (after a mix of private and home schooling). She is just very used to only doing what she wants (blame her parents, I do). So much comes easy to her that she tends to have trouble getting motivated to do things that don't.

I looked up "A-G subject requirements" and I think the only thing she is missing is foreign language, mathemetics (she has 2 years I think, not 3), and lab science (not sure what she has there, but pretty sure she doesn't have the advanced classes required for nursing, like Chemistry).

I'm just so afraid she is going to lose motivation to pursue nursing when she learns how behind she is. Her mother and I had arguments about her being home schooled. My other niece just entered school for the first time at the age of 9 1/2. She's doing great, thankfully.

Nursing programs here are not easy to get into even with a good transcript with the right high school classes. Without the science lab and advanced math courses, she can forget it. But she can enroll at the community college and take the missing classes and then apply. She can also take classes on being an assistant in a doctor's office and even work there as she studies. Those classes are offered at the community colleges here in California and through ROPs too.

She has basically limited her options, but that can be remedied at her local community college. Too bad she just did not do it right in the first place in high school, but all is not lost. It will just take her a little longer, giving her a chance to grow up a little more in the process.

Get her going with applications to the community college. With all the economic downturn, colleges too are making cuts while more people are going back to school.

I don't believe that all is lost here. She may not be able to get into a 4 year college right away, but with determination she can go in thru the back door. She definitely needs to get to some type of community college. Our local community college does require the ACT but I believe it is just to see where a student is at. They have all types of catch up courses and she may need to take these first. She should contact the community college and talk to some type of career counselor. That person would put her on the right track.

I have never homeschooled. I can say I'm not totally against it. I can see the benefits if the parents are willing to work just as hard as the kids. I think it really depends on the situation. Some parents do a great job and others do a lousy job.

Homeschooled kids can and do get into college. My kids had to trouble at all, but that is because I planned their high school classes to prepare them for college. Easy enough to do.

For your niece, I would strongly encourage her to go the community college route since based on what you have written, she is not prepared for a 4 year school at this time. Whatever she needs can be found at a community college. Then she can decide what she wants to do. Most community college has articulation agreements with the area 4 year colleges, so she can transfer easily.

Homeschooling does not have to get in the way of her career plans. She simply needs to come up with a plan and then find out what she needs to do in order to accomplish it. I wish her well.

I'm a homeschooling mom. The girl needs to call the school she wants to attend, and ask them what they require. She then needs to work to fulfill the requirements. They may even suggest where she should go (community college, etc.) to get the courses she needs. Our local nursing school (ranked in the top 100 in the country) actually offers the students the remedial courses they need. If the girl is serious, she'll follow through. I'm sure if the girl had known during high school that she wanted to attend nursing school, her mom would have helped her get the courses she needed then. I know I would have.

DavidQuack, I am just curious - how does a severely dyslexic, non-teacher-certified mom teach chemistry, biology, advanced math, foreign languages, computer skills and all the other A through G subjects required to attend college? Or do all homeschooled students plan to "spend an extra year or two" catching up at a community college before they can even begin real university-level work?

I work at a continuation high school and more than 75% of our students come to us severely credit-deficient due to being home schooled. Some of them are 17 years old and don't even have the basic arithmetic skills they would have had by the fourth grade. We don't allow people to practice law or medicine unless they are qualified and licensed. I just don't understand how something as important as a child's education can be left to totally unqualified amateurs, some of whom have little or no education themselves.

Scarlett,
I can answer your question.

>how does a severely dyslexic, non-teacher-certified mom teach chemistry, biology, advanced math, foreign languages, computer skills and all the other A through G subjects required to attend college?

There are many ways to do this. I will list out several options: DVD curriculum, tutor, CD program, community college classes while still in high school, homeschooling co-op classes, on-line classes. My list is not exhaustive, but is meant to show that there are many ways for a student to learn a topic. I've homeschooled my teens through high school and they got credit in many subjects that I knew nothing about. Sometimes they could just read the text and learn the material. Then I'd grade their quizzes and tests. (BTW, this worked very well for science classes. When they got to college, they found themselves very well prepared and got top grades.) Once you step outside of the 'classroom box', you will find many ways to learn.

>Or do all homeschooled students plan to "spend an extra year or two" catching up at a community college before they can even begin real university-level work?

No, not all homeschooled do this, but some do, And some public school high school graduates also need to go this route.

>Some of them are 17 years old and don't even have the basic arithmetic skills they would have had by the fourth grade.

This also happens to public schooled students. From what I have read, the most popular classes on college campuses today are remedial math and remedial English. Since most college students are publicly schooled, I have to assume that this is a big problem in the public school system.

Don't know that, but maybe you can try searching on line.

I know for a fact that about a dozen homeschooled students received acceptance letters from Princeton this year.

I know several who attend MIT.

Yeah, homeschoolers do get into college.

I haven't read all of the responses, but I will weigh my opinion.

I was always a great student, until high school. Even then, all of my honors (college level) classes were kept high priority for me and in those I was an A/B student. For my other on level courses, I was failing. I lost all motivation for most of my classes and in my third quarter of tenth grade, talked my mom into allowing me to homeschool. I had a hard time adjusting to transferring schools three times in three years, and public school just wasn't for me.

I was incredibly hard for my mom to agree to this, as she worked a full time job and would only be able to supervise what I did all day at night when she came home. To her surprise, I completely excelled at homeschooling and before entering the 11th grade, I took my SATs and scored very well. Because of this, I just entered my local community college to take a couple classes per semester to work toward a degree.

I decided long ago that I wanted to be a nurse, so that is what I was working towards. I got a 4.0 in college, NO problems at all, and got accepted to the ONLY nursing school I applied to (thank goodness), and started one week after turning 18. I passed my boards and was an official Registered Nurse while I was still 19 years old.

I am so glad that my mom let me go this route so that I could be ahead of the game. I am now 21, and LOVE what I do. Some of the friends that I went to school with are now graduating from college, while I have already been working as a nurse for two years.

I truly believe that you have to be completely dedicated to homeschooling should you choose to do it, and it is not for every child... but there are many that excel at it!

BTW, She can have a transcript- her mom makes it for her since she was homeschooled.

Great post pedsrn09
BTW, my daughter is in a RN program and is going through it at an accelerated rate due to being homeschooled. She was able to begin the program while still in high school and so is the youngest in the program.

I am a registered nurse. She needs to take classes at a community college and finish the prerequisites for nursing school. She then could finish an ADN program. This is an Associate degree in nursing. There are community colleges that offfer ADN. Then she could go to an RN to BSN program to finish the nursing degree, because I hear that soon all RN's will be required to have a Bachelor's degree in Nursing. By the way with the ADN one does earn RN status. My sister in law is a teacher who homes schools her kids and does a wonderful job with her kids. I am considering homeschooling my son. My husband has a teachers certificate and I am an RN so I think we are qualified. I think home schooling is a good thing. I do not agree with the people on here that are against it.

To Scarlett you can get your RN====not just LPN or LVN at a community college

My kids are homeschooled. I test them annually (state requirement). Their composite scores fluctuate between 94-99% (except for one off year when DS got an 88%). A combination of co-op classes, CD instruction, and community college classes (for dual credit) will fill in the gaps for some of the upper levels of classes during high school.

A homeschooled transcript is just as valid as an institutional transcript when applying to colleges. Like institutionally educated students, they will also be submitting ACT and/or SAT scores, a resume of activities and achievements, etc. Colleges have come to really embrace homeschooled students, as they tend to be better prepared academically and well-adapted to expectations of self-learning and study skills.

Homeschooling is not a new phenomenon; there are 30+ years of data that validate that it not only works, but that homeschooled students typically outperform their institutionally-educated counterparts on SATs and ACTs and other objective testing methods. There are abundant opportunities for sports, clubs, and other group activities. It's an adventure and a way of life that builds amazing young people ready to enter the adult world with poise, grace, and rock-solid skills. I can't imagine raising my family any other way.

Homeschooling is not a new phenomenon; there are 30+ years of data that
validate that it not only works, but that homeschooled students
typically outperform their institutionally-educated counterparts on SATs
and ACTs and other objective testing methods.

That's probably not just a function of being home schooled. Intelligence is largely hereditary and generally speaking people with greater intelligence earn more. So parents who have the ability to home school their children and can afford to do so, probably have higher than average intelligence levels and therefore so do their children.

Comparison of academic performance should really be done with children of similar socioeconomic levels. Of course, this is only a generalization and not meant to imply that every kid from an affluent is intelligent and every kid from the inner city is not.

mike_kaiser_gw: "Comparison of academic performance should really be done with children of similar socioeconomic levels."

The studies have crossed socioeconomic lines and educational backgrounds. There is little difference in homeschool student outcome whether parents have a high school diploma or a college degree, whether the household is affluent or of modest means. Studies have not determined if parents raising children in chaos and squalor are capable of providing an effective homeschool education, though I question if children of neglect necessarily do well in any academic setting. However, the parents who are coming to gardenweb.com to contemplate backsplash tile options or the winter hardiness of southern magnolias are probably more than capable of taking control of their kids' education.

I don't advocate that homeschooling is the only way or the perfect way to educate children, but I do enjoy sharing the fruits of my family's homeschool journey. I encourage those who are considering homeschooling to do their own research, and to make a thoughtfully reasoned decision based on evidence, not romanticized hopes or fear-based doubts.

I'm not saying homeschooling is good or bad but rather that homeschooled children may do better on standardized tests because their parents can homeschool.

Government schools are a brainwash. I disliked my experience having had to attend them. Government schools are all about salaries and benefits and pensions for unionized teachers.

If you want your children to be 'your children' don't put them in day care. Don't send them to a factory school.

My wife and I have college degrees and we home schooled our children. There's nothing to it.

If your SAT / ACT score meets the requirements of the college you want to attend, that's all that is necessary.

She basically screwed herself by taking the GED. She will not be considered a homeschooler since she took the GED. Therefore, homeschool admission policies will not apply to her. She needs to check the admission policies for GED applicants for the colleges that she is interested in

It amazes me how people put down home school because it's not their way of doing things. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean it isn't a good way of doing things. Each and every child is different. Public school is not all it's cracked up to be. Public school or home school is not for everyone. You have to figure out your child and work accordingly. Although this child's mother seems to have not home schooled correctly, this child can still get things done. If you home school, you need and umbrella school to help keep up with your transcripts for you. My daughter has a real diploma from home school through the umbrella school. Also you have to teach your children according to a college track guideline. Even though it seems this wasn't done, this child can still get her nursing degree. It may take a little longer, but who cares about that? Who says you have to have everything instantly? Call a community college, ask what classes she needs, and get started. It's all in what this child wants. You can't make anyone be what they don't want to be, if she wants to be a nurse she can be.

If you home school, you need and umbrella school to help keep up with your transcripts for you. My daughter has a real diploma from home school through the umbrella school.

Ann, I thank you for your contribution to this discussion, but must clarify a misstatement you made. No, you don't need a transcript from an umbrella school, nor do you need an umbrella school to provide a "real" diploma. Plenty of homeschoolers have transcripts and a diploma created by their parents, and it is a legal transcript in all 50 states. Once in a blue moon, some college, or a military recruiter, or employer will challenge the legitimacy of a homeschool diploma. In every instance when that has come to the attention of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA.org), they have successfully proven the diploma is valid, and overcome the institutions' objections.

Homeschoolers have fought too long and hard to reassert our God-given rights to spread misinformation about the needs of umbrella schools or to cast doubt or other aspersions against the legitimacy of a parent educator-issued diploma.

We home schooled our daughter (she's 30 now) - we live in Minneapolis. Every year we would make a list of subjects - math / English / science / etc. This was the basis for a transcript. Our daughter took the SAT. Her scores were good enough that she was accepted in all the schools she applied to. I sent them transcript for 9th through 12th grade - signed it on the bottom. All the schools accepted it.

Government schools are nothing more than an indoctrination camp.

This organization may be of help.

College Admissions HQ

My son who is entering 9th grade next year & my daughter, who is soon to enter 10th grade, are both homeschooled. If your child plans to attend a 4 year university right away after HS, as parent, it is your job to do a little investigating. In the HS years they should take all the college prep classes that the colleges require. For example for CAL States: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, 2 years of science with a lab, 4 yrs English, 2 years Foreign Language, 3 years of History, etc. Then you as the parent should put together a high school transcript documenting all these courses & years of study. Your student should take the SAT or ACT. Then with a parent issued diploma, they can apply for university. The Cal States state that homeschooled highschoolers can be admitted on the same grounds as traditionally schooled students. Which means they must have completed all necessary prep classes with a high enough GPA and score high enough on the SAT. Now if your homeschooler does not plan to attend 4 yr college right away (just like many public schooled kids) you can forgoe the SAT prep and some of the college prep classes in HS. Many kids in public school do not take the college prep route and plan to attend a community college before transferring to a 4 year & this route is fine for a homeschooler too. In the end both routes end with a 4 yr degree. Community college courses are just as rigourous as 4 yr college classes and transfer students do just as well as those who started at university from the start. There are some benefits to attending community college first as well. It is less expensive. It also gives kids two extra years to really plan what career path they are going to take and to choose the correct university. It is a great option & definitely not a "backdoor" way into college as others have so rudely and wrongly called it. There are plenty of people who are accepted into great 4 year universities every year and yet choose to go the community college route for a variety of reasons. The mother of your neice sounds like she just misplanned a little. She should have prepared a HS transcript & made sure her daughter was taking collge prep classes. But it's not too late to construct a transcript and then she can choose one of two options: 1) complete the missing college prep classes at home & add them to the transcript, take the SAT & apply OR 2) go directly to community college and begin the next level of her education right away. It's not a big deal at all and is exactly what many public schools kids with public school diplomas do! They will place her in the correct classes for her level as far as English & Math and she can begin enrolling in the classes she'll need for a nursing major. After successfully completing her 2 yrs of community college work she can transfer to the nursing school that is right for her, provided she does well, and from what you say about her, I'm sure she will. Also remember that 3/4 of homeschoolers go on to college. That number is higher than what public schools can boast.