Posted on 08/02/2012 1:39:23 PM PDT by Chickensoup
I am homeschooling a daughter this year. She is bright (the mid 120s) and a little Asperger-ish. She loves tech nothing brings her joy like cracking into one of the laptops and repairing it.
She is looking at high school and for a variety of reasons she will need to have a portion of her schooling homeschooled. This gal wants to get going on growing up and living and I don’t think that college is in her future.
Rereading Charles Murray's book on REAL EDUCATION has inspired me to try to put together a curriculum that includes some education to achieve certifications in one or more technical computer-related area.
Advice appreciated
Tech ping please?
Homeschool ping please?
Thank you
She is looking at high school and for a variety of reasons she will need to have a portion of her schooling homeschooled. This gal wants to get going on growing up and living and I don’t think that college is in her future.
Rereading Charles Murray's book on REAL EDUCATION has inspired me to try to put together a curriculum that includes some education to achieve certifications in one or more technical computer-related area.
Advice appreciated
Tech ping please?
Homeschool ping please?
Thank you
Why don’t you think college is in her future? (if it’s okay to ask)
The best way to learn is to teach. Have her homeschool you.
I understand morse code isn't required anymore (spit).
/johnny
Be wary. The days of certifications with no diploma behind them leading to employment in the tech world are disappearing. More and more employers are wanting degrees first, and certs second. It’s not like the 1990’s where a novell certification was a gold card, and no other education required. These days even the techs at Fry’s all have degrees.
She is bright but lacks the interest and motivaation for a four year degree. If you read the Murray book you will see that there are tons of people who do best working in a field that they have interest in rather that doing mediocre work in an area that they think is punching a ticket.
And college is ticket-punching for many people.
The best way to learn is to teach. Have her homeschool you.
__________________________
You mean I would learn something? How would FR get along without my screeching Tech Ping posts asking the geniuses to again save me from another way I have landed my very cute a** in a technical sling?
Be wary. The days of certifications with no diploma behind them leading to employment in the tech world are disappearing. More and more employers are wanting degrees first, and certs second. It’s not like the 1990’s where a novell certification was a gold card, and no other education required. These days even the techs at Fry’s all have degrees.
_______________________________
I am wondering about that. Thank you
Do a search for “girls science camp” and your area. You’ll find everything from Microsoft computer science camp for girls only to local science and tech programs for homeschoolers.
Listen to this:
http://generationswithvision.com/broadcast/college-out-of-the-box/
Shipping your daughters off to college will soon be an anachronism.
Do a search for “girls science camp” and your area. You’ll find everything from Microsoft computer science camp for girls only to local science and tech programs for homeschoolers.
Thank you!
Shipping your daughters off to college will soon be an anachronism.
Thank you for the link. I am hoping this is the direction the world runs.
I struggle with the same problem with my daughter - she is going into 7th grade as a homeschooler, and she’s extraordinarily bright, loves math and techie things. I was the same way at her age, and I was fortunate that the only thing available was programming in BASIC, because now it’s hard to get kids interested in learning from the ground up. My nephew also had to fight to find computer learning, but he was finally able to take programming classes in high school.
Are you aware of the programming site called “Scratch?” That’s kind if a fun thing to do. I also echo the sentiment about the ham radio - a great idea.
I would suggest keeping with her maturity level and let her have a lot of fun - she’s still young, so let her enjoy the fun of computers for a while.
I would check into your local schools (both public and private) to see if they can do ad hoc techie classes, as well as your Community College, or see what online options are available. She probably ought to get a BA or a BS, but she can work on getting credit online - she can do this quickly, and she doesn’t have to see it as an impediment to growing up and earning money. She needs a goal or she’ll flounder, if she’s not old enough or experienced enough for employment. And just being technical doesn’t necessarily mean that she wants to do it for the rest of her life! The skills might just be an example of her personality type. Maybe she likes solving problems, and the routine of a tech job might be boring.
You can download the JDK free from the Oracle website and pick up some basic Java instruction books for self-teaching.
College might be a very good bet for her. She would learn a great deal of useful information. Engineering schools are anxious to enroll women with her skills and interest, so she should be able to get a scholarship.
I should mention that, without degrees, she may be stuck with lowly tasks — many companies will require degrees to avoid liability suit losses if an “unqualified” person is responsible for a project.
WHooo.....thank goodness, Charles Murray, and not Charles Manson
College might be a very good bet for her. She would learn a great deal of useful information. Engineering schools are anxious to enroll women with her skills and interest, so she should be able to get a scholarship
__________________
She may be intellectually ready for college in four years but not emotionally ready. Some kids need to hit the ground running and be independent. I need to prepare her for independence. College, if it is in the cards would come later.
I should mention that, without degrees, she may be stuck with lowly tasks — many companies will require degrees to avoid liability suit losses if an “unqualified” person is responsible for a project.
________________________
I understand, I want to get her out of the box successfully.
God! We need tort reform!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.