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emeraldkity4 · 06-01-2009, 09:23 PM

I don't think any country has this sorted.
I wish we could spend more time in childhood helping kids discover the ways they learn best and what interests them so that they have a clearer idea of the direction they could be successful in when they reach adulthood- but then that reminds too much of the tracking that is done in countries like the UK and Japan, where it is a good fit for some- but others who may be late bloomers are directed down a course that doesn't fit them and they have to fight like hell to find the right road.

In my area we have fairly low standards for high school graduation ( no foreign lang- only about 20 credits- which includes three years or so of math /science, no level criterion).
Since even our state schools all require foreign lang for admittance- at least two years of the same language for application, you need to be focused for college heading into high school ( since the first two years of a lang are generally scheduled around freshman level classes) and need a parent to demand you get the classes needed.

My younger daughter attended an inner city comprehensive school and I helped with college advising for students who may not have realized that they could go to college until junior year of high school. Then I had the task of helping them find a school that they could afford, with one that would admit them.

It was hard, because they were competing with students who had been groomed for college since K, and often their families thought they were " too big for their britches".
Even my inlaws thought that we were arrogant because we wanted our daughters to have the opportunity to attend college.

Its one thing if you decide after attending college, that you want to do something that doesn't require a diploma, or if you would rather apprentice to a trade, then write college essays, but it is another if that door is shut to you, because you weren't on the " college track" and it was never discussed as if it was even an option.

Nothing like having the door slammed in your face before you even head up the stairs.

06-01-2009, 09:23 PM	#2
emeraldkity4 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 7,033	I don't think any country has this sorted. I wish we could spend more time in childhood helping kids discover the ways they learn best and what interests them so that they have a clearer idea of the direction they could be successful in when they reach adulthood- but then that reminds too much of the tracking that is done in countries like the UK and Japan, where it is a good fit for some- but others who may be late bloomers are directed down a course that doesn't fit them and they have to fight like hell to find the right road. In my area we have fairly low standards for high school graduation ( no foreign lang- only about 20 credits- which includes three years or so of math /science, no level criterion). Since even our state schools all require foreign lang for admittance- at least two years of the same language for application, you need to be focused for college heading into high school ( since the first two years of a lang are generally scheduled around freshman level classes) and need a parent to demand you get the classes needed. My younger daughter attended an inner city comprehensive school and I helped with college advising for students who may not have realized that they could go to college until junior year of high school. Then I had the task of helping them find a school that they could afford, with one that would admit them. It was hard, because they were competing with students who had been groomed for college since K, and often their families thought they were " too big for their britches". Even my inlaws thought that we were arrogant because we wanted our daughters to have the opportunity to attend college. Its one thing if you decide after attending college, that you want to do something that doesn't require a diploma, or if you would rather apprentice to a trade, then write college essays, but it is another if that door is shut to you, because you weren't on the " college track" and it was never discussed as if it was even an option. Nothing like having the door slammed in your face before you even head up the stairs.
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