I've been home-edding, following this christian curriculum for the last 9 years. When Mary was going to college they had a problem recognising the qualification(which is the christian equivalent of GCSEs) but she got in with her portfolio, interviews, and she came out tops in her English and maths test. Fast forward to the present time. We were given to understand that these qualifications were accredited by some BODY and was recognised by colleges and Unis alike. I thought Mary's college was the odd one not understanding what we had. As it turns out, it's not actually validated by anyone(inspite of ongoing talks with the Govt). They have had several students go on to higher education, many coming out with 1st class honours etc, so the academic content is not in question. It's the fact that after all your hard work, you now have to convince folks that you have a valid qualification!! This problem does not arise in the states(where the curriculum comes from) bc 1) they are fully aware of the system 2)It's been around for years in the USA 3) Some Colleges in USA actually scout homeschoolers. Many have a very open mind and so long as you can demonstrate that you are fully capable, you can get in. Many students who went through the system went to Universities in the states.
Not so in Narrow minded Britain! (Sorry people, I don't mean you lovely folk!). Everything is rigid here. You name it. From food, clothes, supplements to our tiny houses that cost an arm and a leg. I've never understood Americans who want to come and live here. I guess I'm suffering from 'the grass is always greener on the other side'...but I digress. You need a valid paper otherwise, you could have a fight on your hands. So in the light of all this, I've made the momentous decision so go over to GCSEs. We have 1 year to do everything that others have been doing in school for 3 or so yrs. I might add that all this is costing 1000s. I had no idea how I was going to come up with that amount of money. My dear friends, who I'm helping pioneer a village christian school came up with the idea of their Trust funding the cost of the GCSEs in exchange for my boys doing some work on their several acre farm. So it's been arranged and we have a challenging but exciting year ahead of us, and once more God has proved faithful!
2 comments:
Thank God that a solution-and a wonderful one at that-has been provided. I've also been wondering about my kids' high school education.Homeschooling is so ill-thought of, and that's besides the mutters about banning altogether.I love overseas curricula,but if it won't make it easy for them to get into uni/college or wherever,then I'm going to have to do some hard thinking.Thankfully that's still a way off, but yes,thank you for reminding me that I'm going to have to do a lot of research regarding conversion etc. I know your boys will be blessed as they work on the farm too.God bless with this next challenge.I love how you mix hair and life,it's really great.
Thanks Thandi. Home schooling is more demanding than a full time job. That combined with being a full time mum is extremely challenging to say the least. It's good to plan for/be prepared for when your kids are older so you're not caught off guard. I'm really grateful to God for all he's doing in our lives.
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