Want to help your homeschool student get a jump-start on college? Mid-America Christian University, powered by TEL, offers a full suite of dual enrollment courses in a wide range of subject areas. Pick among science, math, communications, business, and many other courses. They even offer Latin!
However, if you’re like most parents, you only want one or two courses to start. (MACU limits students to three courses per semester.) So, which ones should you schedule for this upcoming high school year?
First, you can rest assured that you have time to think about it. Starting immediately has benefits, but there’s no enrollment deadline, and your student can begin anytime.
Feel free to think about these recommendations before choosing your first MACU course. Whatever you decide, it’s a great first step toward college readiness.
How to Pick a Dual Enrollment Course: Start with interests
Getting right down to business can be tempting, but your student’s first experience in college might be better if it’s interest-led. By picking a passion project, such as Appreciation of Music and Fine Arts, you can ease them into the rigor of college with a topic they already know and love.
Bonus: This is an excellent way to gauge their commitment to a new field of study and may give them the information they need to pick a future college major.
Fill in the gaps for homeschool students
Another approach is to look at what you have planned for the upcoming year and what you’re still missing.
Haven’t found a math curriculum you love? Opt for a college math course instead.
Been putting off technology credits? MACU has a computer literacy course to cover it.
You can fill in the spaces with courses based on topic or educational categories. Some parents might even select dual enrollment classes that free them up to do other things – like work from home a few more hours instead of teaching biology.
Look into ways the MACU courses can fill in more than just the learning gaps. Consider your family’s values and plans for the upcoming homeschool year and how the ideal course would make it better – not just add another thing to the plate.
Get a head start on the future with dual enrollment programs
One of the most popular approaches to picking a college course is to consider what a student will need for their eventual degree. The danger in this approach is that kids can (and do) change their minds.
However, there’s little harm in taking more courses than what’s needed for a future degree. After all, it still counts as both high school and college credit. (Even if they ditch their STEM ambitions for a life in the arts, that chemistry course will transfer for gen ed credits toward most liberal arts programs.)
Your future engineer could take any number of STEM courses, such as Intro to Chemistry. It comes with labs and counts towards the entrance requirements to many engineering programs.
Why there is no “right” course for college credit
With the courses offered at MACU, your homeschool student gets a rigorous education from the convenience of your home. They can be taken at any time and are completely self-paced. Your student has six months to complete the course from the time of registration, making it an ideal choice for busy scientists or artists with lots on their schedule.
But even if you pick a course that doesn’t really “fit” into your grand plan for the future, it’s not wasted time. Students who take part in a homeschool dual enrollment program learn valuable life skills like time management, communication, and accountability. Dual enrollment students often find themselves at higher levels of college readiness. They can meet the demands of college life when they eventually know what they want to do.
With such big benefits – and at a deeply discounted cost compared to other dual enrollment options – there may not be a wrong course after all.
Ready to get started? Choose from the many available courses at MACU, and enroll in minutes!
