My Baby's in Kinderg...no, wait, COLLEGE!!!

The Eldest started her first college class today, which is also her first class... ever. She's been homeschooled all of her life so this is her first day of school. Oh, the jokes were flying from DH. Did I remember to give her milk money? Did I pack her lunch? You get the drift. ;)

I did help her as much as I could. I helped her pack her book bag and made sure she had a number 2 pencil, which she won't need until the first test. I gave her as many tips as I could think of for how to be successful in the class. I feel a little better about things since she's taking the same class I just finished, with the same professor. He's a people-person; very warm and caring, so I'm sure he'll look out for her as he does all of his students. I can help her get through her first class for now then she'll be on her own for the next semester, when she'll take more than one class.

The program she's in is pretty neat. It's a dual enrollment program for high school juniors and seniors where they can take college classes for credit and FOR FREE. This is open to public school students who meet certain criteria as to GPA, completed classes, and so forth. As a homeschooler, The Eldest had to take a brief placement test the college offers and that's it. The school board even covers her books! She has to return them in mint condition at the end of the semester, but she doesn't have to buy them. (I already bought the books for this class so we won't need to take advantage of that part of the program.) Oh, and I had to get a form signed by someone in the school board to take to the college to prove eligibility.

It's serving so many purposes for her. She's establishing a GPA now and can earn college credit at the same time, plus she's gaining experience with classrooms, taking notes, completing projects, and taking tests, all of which will help when she applies for her college of choice. She was getting anxious for some social interaction in addition to her Girl Scout troop so this will help out with that as well. (I gave her the option of regular high school but she said she wasn't interested, so this is a good alternative for her.)

I was pretty proud of her as she walked away from the car towards the building. I know she'll get through with flying colors, and I'm pleased DH and I were able to prepare her as much as we possibly could for this new step in her life.

PS: We took a picture of her for the scrapbook of her first day in school. :)