Homeschool Memories, Dual Enrollment Rules

Finally feeling much better after a surgery and then complications from said surgery. Fun.

Schools here in Florida are starting up again this month, and one county started Monday! Wow! I grew up in New York state and we went to school the Wednesday after Labor Day. Those first few days would be hot as summer and then the cooler weather would come in. By mid-September the weather would be crisp and cool in the morning and then heat up to maybe 75 during the day. Those are great memories!

As a homeschooling mom I would start gearing up towards the end of August with school supply purchases (during the sales) and figuring out what we were going to do "for school" that year. Unschooling is extremely flexible, of course, so we did whatever we were interested in doing. The kids read a lot of books, we traveled a lot, we watched interesting videos about interesting topics and we did science experiments. Some days we didn't get out of jammies until lunch! Those were the days!

Locally, college classes start around the 24th of August so many students are getting ready to dual enroll. For all parents with Dual Enrolled students please, please read these simple "rules" for the homeschool parent. (or ANY parent)

1. Let your child handle the paperwork, advising and course registration - you told the college he is as mature as an adult, so allow him to be!
2. If there are conflicts in the classroom, let your child handle it! He must first talk to the instructor. After that he can talk to the department. But PLEASE have your student talk to the instructor first! Alone! One way to help is to role play what he needs to say when he talks to the instructor.
3. Do not call the Dual Enrollment office or any other office at the college to get information about your child. They can't tell you. It is illegal! There are privacy laws in place that protect the privacy of the student no matter what age.
4. This is a public institution and your child will be in a classroom with adults. Religion is not taken into consideration. Also, instructors can swear, show R rated movies, nudity and discuss adult topics. They are allowed. The students are adults as far as they are concerned. The instructors have no idea that your child is Dual Enrollment. They don't have a list or anything. As a parent, look at anything along these lines as a learning experience. If your child tells you she was watching some nude scene in a movie in Humanities, then you can discuss it! Great starting point for discussion at home!
5. Stating the obvious. Do not do his work for him!
6. When talking to the Dual Enrollment office or Advising, let your child do the talking! If he wants to be a fireman, but you think he should be an engineer, well, too bad! Allow your child his own dreams! Sure he may change his mind later, but I have seen pushy parents get bitten on the butt when their kids end up dropping out and getting a fast food job!