Going the DistancernHow Homeschoolers Will Change Collegernby Mary PridernHomeschooling parents are all too aware of the hazardsrnthey face in signing up a beloved child for four ears at IyrnU, Good Old State U, or even Used-to-be Chrishan College.rnEven if the institution in question does not hand out condomsrnlike candy during orientation week and does not require coursesrnthat indoctrinate students in beliefs contrarv to their faith,rnsuch aberrations could pop up at any time. Plus, there’s thern”Roommate from Hell” problem. All this sexual actiih, drugrnuse, and whatnot has to occur somewhere on campus, and mostrnparents would probably just as soon that it was not happening inrntheir child’s dorm room.rnI have been pondering the college problem very seriously.rnAfter all, what is the point of homeschooling our kids for yearsrnjust to pay for the privilege of having them intellectually orrnphvsically harassed or seduced?rnMy suggestion: eliminate, skip, or sidestep the first two years ofrncollege.rnThose years on campus are the most fraught with politicallyrncorrect shibboleths and usually tiie least educationalh worthwhile.rnIncreasingly, they resemble the last hvo years of highrnschool —or even the last few years of grade school.rnMeanwhile, more and more homeschooled students arerngraduating from high school at age 17, 16, 1 >, or even younger.rnAt home, it just does not take as long to w hiz through the requirementsrnfor high-school graduation. So what do wc end uprnwith? Students who are ready for college academically but whornmay not be ready emotionally for [he college atmosphere of sex,rndrugs, and anticulturalism. blere are some alternatives.rnMary Pride is the publisher ofPractical Homeschooling andrneditor of The Big Book of Home Learning, now in its fourthrnedition. She and her husband. Bill, have nine homeschooledrnchildren.rnApprenticeship. There used to be a lot of noise in the homeschoolrncommunity about the value of apprenticeship as opposedrnto a college degree. Right or wrong, however, most personnelrndirectors believe that a college diploma is valuable, notrnfor the sake of the education, but because it proves that a potentialrnworker has the ability to stick to a long and arduous task dictatedrnbv authorit)-. (So they have told me, anwvay.) E-en if arnhomeschool graduate finds a business willing to train him, hernmay end up trapped in that same company forever, as otherrncompanies continue to enforce hiring policies that require arncollege degree.rnEntrepreneurship. Starting your own business immediatelyrnupon graduation from high school is an increasing trend,rnamong the Web-minded in particular (for example, my oldestrnson, Ted). We all know that Bill Gates ditched Harvard to startrnMicrosoft, so tiiis particular road-less-traveled is becoming morernsociall) acceptable. It also makes a certain amount of economicrnsense, proided the graduate in question has an actual moneymakingrnskill or idea. Wh- pay $100,000 or more to providern our child w ith computer-programming classes in the hope thatrnhe might get hired for an entry-level job, when he can makernSI 00,000 during the same period, teach himself more computerrnlanguages and programming tricks than the college can, andrnbuild an excellent portfolio?rnIn our case, there are additional factors. Ted has physicalrn]Droblems that keep him largely bedridden, so attending a campusrnfacilih’ would be out of the question. The amount of timernhe spends sitting up could either be spent taking courses orrnbuilding his business. He has chosen to be an entrepreneur,rnand so far, he is doing quite well.rnStill, most parents and students will incline toward that covetedrncollege sheepskin. What college-compatible alternativesrnare homeschoolers exploring?rn1 6/CHRONICLESrnrnrn