Wednesday, July 14, 2010

College Plus

When we started homeschooling Katie at the beginning of her highschool years, her goal became to graduate in 3 years instead of the normal 4 years it takes to complete highschool. She stuck with HER goal and completed it this year, at the age of "just turned 17". She has displayed the drive and determination to complete such a goal and she did it while making A's & B's in all her subjects. But then the questions came up about what would be next for her life. We had done the traditional 4 year college plan for 2 of her older brothers and decided it was not the track we wanted her on. Too much freedom and being away from home was not enough accountability for our liking and we wanted to change that track with her.

Through some blog reading several years ago, I ran across the College Plus idea. This sounded right up my alley but no one else seemed too enthusiastic about Homeschooling college. But the idea never left my mind. However, as she approached her Senior year more and more further education conversations were taking place in our home. Over Christmas, as we traveled to grandparents, we started listening to the Vision Forum Entrepreneurial CD set that we had purchased. In looking to start a home business, we were listening to advice from folks who had been there and done that. On 2 of the CD's we heard wonderful messages about college. The 2nd CD on this subject was College Plus. We talked about it, debated back and forth, looked into it, and all 3 of us (Greg, Katie, and I) decided to pray about it. After 2 or 3 weeks of us all praying and asking the Lord which direction we should go in... we all felt College Plus was the answer. This will enable her to learn at her own pace, protect her from liberal, feminist college professors & teachings, get her a degree in less than the normal 4 years, allow her to pursue mission & volunteer activites, stay at home, travel with us, etc.

She filled out the application (online) and sent it in. One week later, we got a phone call that she was accepted. The young man who called, was very polite, knowledgable, helpful and answered ALL our questions (we put him on speaker phone). Greg, Katie and I all talked to him. He encouraged us to pray about our decision and make sure the Lord was leading us in this direction, so we kept praying and the Lord never put any stumbling blocks or no's in our way.
The next step was enrolling. Which was done in May. We ordered the enrollment materials and set up her first coaching phone call for Monday (2 days ago).

At 10AM on Monday our phone rings and Heather is calling Katie. Once again the phone is put on speaker and Katie & I can both hear & ask questions. Heather talked to both of us for over an hour, strongly encouraged Katie to seek the Lords Will for her life, to ask the Lord guidance in filling out her life purpose statement and discussed her likes & dislikes in classes. Then before she hung up, she asked permission to pray for Katie and offered up to the Lord the sweetest prayer for Katie and her future. (Now this would have definately sealed the deal for me, if I was wishy, washy before about the decision) But it does get better....

I asked Heather how long it took her to complete her own College Plus track and what she majored in. She completed her 4 years of college in 15 months and majored in History. She originally thought she wanted a teaching degree but realized that history could serve her well and that she could always get a teaching certificate if she wanted one later. She wants her career to be a wife and mother & to homeschool her children. She doesn't want a career other than that. The more she talked about it, the more I just laughed. This could have been Katie talking to me because these are all the things she has expressed in the last year. And as Heather is saying she didn't want a career...Katie is silently mouthing to me "I don't want a career either". The Lord sent us the PERFECT coach for Katie.

In blogging on 1000 gifts and the Simple Woman's Daybook, I've had several people leave comments about wanting to know how we like College Plus and wanting me to keep updating about her progress. I've also been emailing back and forth with a dear friend this week and they are interested in this also. So, the updates will come.

We are excited about her participating in this alternative college education. Its gonna be a fun ride and the outcome is the Lord's!

If you would like more information about College Plus please go to their website...
www.collegeplus.org


6 comments:

  1. This is such an exciting blog entry!!! Good for y'all, good for Katie. The only thing that saddens me is how "the world" automatically puts homemaking out of the "career" basket. I have worked harder in my seven and a half years as a homemaker than I worked in any other job, in college, etc. I have decided to call myself an unpaid worker, but one whose compensation is much richer than any paycheck could ever provide... :) And every time I hear a young woman say that she wants the same, it thrills me -- not because I feel validated that someone else chose the same thing, but because it is such a joy to know that the feminism in almost every area of our nation can't kill off this God-given desire. Hurrah!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dads that want to protect their daughters should do two things. First, visit the school of choice and the area on a Friday evening and see what the college age crowd is into; and then remember back to when you were a freshman and what you wanted to get into. There is no way I would want to expose my girls to that atmosphere or allow her to be around those boys. I am not real sure we should be allowing our young sons to go off to college either. Maybe when they are 25?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was talking to a mom the other day and she revealed that her 18 year old daughter was in a community college, and within the first two weeks in class, she was exposed to pornography! Again, this was on a community college!

    I think CollegePlus is the safest college option. To be fair, I am a CollegePlus student, but the reason I say it's such a safe option is because it's kept from the college classroom and the exposure of the liberal college campus. Plus, it's saved me a small fortune on college tuition.

    Granted, it's not always easy to do distance learning, but it's safe, cost effective and my parents can sleep well at night.

    Is college for everybody? No way, but I suggest students and parents bring it before the Lord to see His desire and the best path to travel down.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love having this option. We are still several years away from the kids even thinking about college, but it is good to know and be able to plan ahead for something like this, especially with my oldest being a girl. We will be praying and seeking God's direction in this, but I can easily see College Plus in our future.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gerri, Thanks for commenting. Please chime in anytime as a student on this journey also. We are tremendously excited about his opportunity.

    The 2nd comment listed is from Greg, my husband. Thanks for your input sweetheart!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an exciting time for everyone in your family. I am glad you are listening to God's call and not the world's.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to the farm ~ we are a blended family with 7 children (3 are married), 4 grandsons, 5 dogs, 3 rabbits, and 15 chickens living on 3 acres in Georgia. I love crafting, sewing, cooking & canning, recipes of all kinds, reading, playing with my little buddies, family time, travel, pinterest and most of all the Lord.