Choosing an educational route for your student is a heavy decision most of us toil to make. Once we settle on a choice, the hard work of navigating that educational system begins. Our choices are varied and the consequence of our choices increases as your students moves from one educational institution to another. When it comes to homeschooling in high school, you have a few choices. There are pros and cons to the choices you make in these years, and knowing your college goals will inform how you navigate your high school years.

There are many ways to take classes in high school from forming your own, buying a curriculum, taking online classes to taking community college classes. Today I’m sharing our experience with community college classes. This isn’t the only way, but it’s one way to get high school/college quality classes for free with the perk of earning college credit and high school credit. It’s important to remember that each school, college and institution have their own rules on how to go about doing this, and I’m just sharing our experience with community college in California. Please check with your school and college before embarking on your community college journey as your grades will be visible to the university you wish to transfer to. Please check your college and university to see which grades are added into your cumulative GPA and which ones are just visible on your transcript. This differs from university to university.

Are you considering taking college classes while in high school? If so, there are a few things you should know. Whether you homeschool, go to a public school or attend a private school, high school students are can take community college courses. You can even take them if you are younger! If you’re a K-8th grade student, you can also take community college classes though there are additional restrictions. No matter your grade, if you are still in school, you’ll need to get approval from the principal of your school before you can sign up for classes. Permission forms are available at the community college you wish to attend. Remember that this may take days to weeks to get the paperwork in order, so plan ahead. You’ll also have to register as a community college student and get an Student ID number before registering for classes. Community classes are free to student, but you’ll still need to pay for textbooks.

What happens when you skip high school and go to community college to fulfill your high school classes? Can you even skip high school? Well, not all good things happen when you decide to skip or partially skip high school. We knew that we were going to go the community college route with our children and anticipated sending them to community college during high school either in addition to high school or in lieu of high school.

At first, it seemed like a brilliant idea, and so far it’s been great except for one major flaw and a few unfortunate things. First, the small things. I didn’t mind that my first son went to college at 15 and was surrounded by students who ranged in age from their teens into their 20’s. As a homeschooler, most functions, activities and even some classes are designed for mixed ages. I actually love that about the homeschooling option. Kids don’t feel territorial about their grade/age group. Young play with old and vice versa. For me it was a beautiful thing to see. However, the students who were in their late teens and 20’s were taking classes with my 15 year old which were designed for students in 8th or 9th grade. Very quickly my son saw that many of these students either didn’t know how to learn, didn’t care about learning or their academic future or were just passing the time in college. Few were dedicated students out to transfer to university. In fact, many of the friends he made, are still dawdling after three years.

The major problem or loophole we encountered was the following. As a high schooler who is college bound, most likely your education will be well-rounded and include English , literature, math through pre-calculus or at least algebra and trigonometry, biology, chemistry and physics and world and US history. As a college student, all those classes may not be required depending on your major. Your general educational requirements may include film study, anthropology and environmental studies to fulfill your humanities or science requirements. And while those classes are good in and of themselves, they are not literature, biology and world history. The biggest loophole was expecting that classes I had intended to do in high school were not necessary with the route we chose. How could he not take biology in college! How is it not a requirement. Certainly it would if you majored in a health care profession, but I was disappointed that he didn’t have to take some subjects. Certainly he could have stayed an extra year for me to do those classes, but that was unlikely. We didn’t want to prolong his community college experience and lose the momentum.

Pros and Cons of Community College For a High School Student

Going to community college early or as a high school student has some wonderful aspects, but it is also an option that posses some challenges. The positive and negative aspects of going to community college early are subjective. I outline some of the things we liked about this experience as well as the challenges. Something I didn’t specify was the different experiences each of my (so far) three children had in community college. For some the transition was longer (in part because it was online college experience during covid in my opinion), for some the classes were more challenging earlier because they matriculated out of basic classes. While we avoided night classes, there were occasions when that was unavoidable.

Enrolling in community college early can offer many benefits, but there are important considerations to keep in mind before making that decision. One major factor for our family was social readiness. We didn’t want our children to feel awkward or isolated by appearing too young compared to their peers. It was important that they looked and felt like they belonged on campus, which for us was around late 9th to early 10th grade. We also prioritized safety by selecting classes during daylight hours when possible. Once our children transitioned to full-time college students and officially exited high school, it became easier to register for preferred classes at ideal times and with well-rated professors, thanks to earlier registration windows.

Another concern was the nature of college coursework, which is designed for adult learners. High school students may not always be mature enough to handle certain topics, and as a religious family, we found some content—particularly in English courses—unsuitable. These courses were often required, and unfortunately, as parents of college students, we had no authority to intervene. All communication must come from the student, even when they’re still in high school. This was a learning curve that required us to teach our children how to compose formal emails and communicate professionally with professors. While it may seem overly formal, it helped them build strong, respectful relationships with their instructors—something that’s invaluable when navigating college-level academics.

Exposure to campus life brought its own challenges. While the opportunity to interact with diverse groups and ideas was ultimately beneficial, it also introduced our children to perspectives and situations they hadn’t encountered before in their sheltered upbringing. Because they lived at home, we were able to have ongoing conversations that helped them process and reflect on these experiences, building discernment over time. We also advised them not to sign up for anything on campus—like credit cards or recruitment opportunities—especially since they were underage and legally restricted from doing so. These conversations were important because once they turn 18, they’re legally adults and responsible for the decisions they make, including signing binding contracts.

Sports was another area of concern. Although our children didn’t participate in college sports, we considered the physical risks of competing with older students. Depending on their size and maturity, it might not be safe for younger students to join.

Lastly, we emphasized that college grades are permanent and appear on transcripts, even for non-transferable classes. This meant that students had to take every class seriously and only pursue community college courses if they were prepared for the academic expectations. While GPA for non transferable classes were not included in their overall GPA, those courses and their grades did appear on their transcript.