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Cindy
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Hi Elena and all,
Oh goodness, it has been so long since I posted here! Life goes on and changes... but I still love CM and see some of you all on other lists.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I have 2 sons in College Plus and am happy to share. We were pleased with it and now I am working for them supporting the western US.
I researched it for 2-3 years.... well watched and read up on it. I had some of the same concerns mentioned here and talked to them up front. I am very pleased with the method and quality of education. The people are fantastic Christians, and open to Catholicism. I was ver upfront when we enrolled about our faith, and also when I began working with them.
They do not make you sign a Statement of Faith-- and I gave them mine.. the Nicene Creed! lol Actually Andrew Paduwa is an endorser of CP and a good friend of the founders, so I stole the idea from him as he has the Nicene Creed on his website as his Statement of Faith.
The coach who works with my sons is very respectful, though not many coaches are very knowledgeable about Catholism. I have helped educate them a bit...lol.. on wo to work with Catholic families. I would LOVE to have Catholic coaches there one day.
The Life Purpose Planning is a wonderful idea for the young people to start thinking about gifts/passions/talents and how to then choose a career/major. They don't talk about vocations, etc. I used a supplemental book with my sons call Lifeworks, which is Catholic.
So the coach mainly works on other things, like the study skills and testing and I do most of the Life Purpose discussions with my sons, which is what I did anyway.
My 17 yo has over half of college done and is getting a BSBA in Gen Mgmt. My 20 year old started a year ago and has about 40 credits. (he is a writer... and his taking his time... lol)
Happy to help however I can. It is just one more option that fits the needs of some, but we are pleased.
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Cindy in Texas
It Is About The Journey
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Cindy
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Oh... by the way... I got a call from a homeschool mom who found me on the internet.... was it from here? I love talking to moms, just curious! :)
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Cindy in Texas
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teachingmyown
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Cindy, what about College Prep? My oldest dd is almost 15, 9th grade. Is there a real benefit to the College Prep program? If not, when should a student start College Plus?
I am still not fully certain what you get when you enroll. Is the student doing a full course of study through them or is she doing her own curriculum and just getting help with studying for the CLEP tests? I will admit I am having a hard time keeping my daughter on track with her pieced-together curriculum this year. Neither of us want to enroll full time in a high school program like MODG, but I am stressing the "create your own program and transcript thing". 
Thanks!
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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Cindy
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| Posted: Feb 07 2011 at 10:33pm | IP Logged
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Hi Molly,
Most students start CP at age 16 or older, but some start younger. They are careful to make sure the student is ready first. They need to have at least biology and Alg 1 done, and have critical thinking skills in place to do the tests. I also think motiviation is key... whatever that motivation happens to be... like most things it is key for succuess.
ie it won't work well if mom wants them to do it but the dc does not! :)
What they provide is coaching, degree planning and study modules for each CLEP. You would keep doing you own curriculum for the Sci and Math until they were at the point to take those CLEPs which the coach helps you determine.
You work on one CLEP test or study area at a time, immerse yourself in that area, then test and move to the next. They also provide study skills and Life Purpose Planning before CLEPing to help with success and motivation.
The goal is to encourage self-study, and they have online practice tests and encourage the student to reveiw what they don't know and use online and study guide resources to learn the material.
It is not the *easy way to get a degree, but is a *different way that encourages self study, internships, coaching and life experience.
This was long but probably still did not do a good job. Take a look at the webiste www.collegeplus.org. If you are interested, apply and the Program Advisor for your area will call you and can help explain it more.
Prep.. that is foundational-- takes about a hour a day for 10 months, they do study skills and critical thinking work. Used to do worldview, but I think they are not going to this year, which is good for Catholics, as it was Biblically based... Ok, I think, I didn't do it, but they are not doing that this year I think.
Personally I think it would be a good foundation to most study if the dc is interested.. and also they study and sit for 2 CLEPs at the end for potential 12 credits.
I hope this helped...
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Cindy in Texas
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Cindy
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P.S. Molly... we are a pretty relaxed homeschool family, unschooled a lot. It is working for my sons well even though we were not big into curriculum or test takers. But they liked the program and it fit their goals. It really is individual. I hope this helps!
(but if you do have strong curriculum under your belt, it does not hurt! )
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Cindy in Texas
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Martha
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What are the study materials they recommend or how does the program teach those skills?
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Martha
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Elena
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Here are the initial study items that came with College Plus, but you can buy those without joining College Plus. My son really benefited from them, especially the speed reading. He has really improved his reading speed and kept his comprehension.
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Elena
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MarieA
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Hi Cindy, I am the mom that called you the other day. And yes, I found your name listed on this forum. It was wonderful to speak with you. Thank you for taking time out of your day for me.  I did speak to Jonathan yesterday and now just need to fill out the applications.
Elena, I am glad to hear how pleased you are with the program. I initially heard about CollegePlus from a long time friend. Her son has been enrolled for a year and is doing very well with it.
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Faithr
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My son who did College Plus for a while (we've discontinued though because we are just doing CLEP and no other part of the program.) absolutely loves those initial study materials. He has reread both the memory book which he is actually teaching to his younger brothers and the speed reading book. Also, he's been reading a lot more since he read that speed reading book. He was an okay reader before but he tended to want to hear heavy, more difficult reading in audio. But I've noticed a return back to a lot more actual reading recently.
Blessings,
Faith
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Martha
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I think I'm going to look into just doing the study pack materials on our own and proceed from there.
Over the weekend, I filled out the online thing to have them contact you. A guy called Monday to schedule a session including son and parent. No problem.
Until the scheduled call. It was very poorly and u professionally handled, IMO. I wouldn't let the guy who called be an academic coach for free. I don't know if he is representative of the norm there or not, but he call me representing the company and I was not impressed. At all.
ETA: I posted on FB how the call went.
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Martha
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Elena
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Jon Taylor is our college plus coach. I've been very pleased with him. He is courteous with me and he has a good rapport with Sam. I also like how he has guided his studies and how he summarizes the discussions in an e-mail after the phone call.
Aside from the study materials, here are the other "plusses" I see to College Plus.
1. Someone other than myself keeping Sam on task and working toward a goal.
2. The relationship between CP and Thomas Edison University for a seamless transition towards a degree.
3. The documentation that my son is a full time student in good standing, which comes in handy for a lot of things including insurance and job applications.
4. The access to study materials and practice tests on their site.
5. The forum with other CP students to give study hints and encouragement.
I don't see this path for my third son, but for my second and fourth sons, and possibly my youngest, this seems like a good route.
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Elena
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teachingmyown
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Okay, still trying to envision what this looks like from 9th grade through graduation. We are very relaxed schoolers here. So I would especially like to hear Cindy's story, but if Elena and Faith could chime in, too, that would be great!
Thanks!
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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vmalott
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Molly,
A local former homeschool mom and a parent mentor has created this document to give some of an idea as to how we can help our children earn college credit while still at home via CLEP and other tests:
Credit By Examination
She outlines a 4-year course of high school study with the corresponding CLEP and DSST tests one would take.
Although her self-directed ("unschooled") daughter did not follow this course of study for all of her high school years, I believe she did take a few tests. I am pretty sure the daughter wound up taking several tests during her college years and wound up eventually getting a degree from Union Institute and University.
I hope some of you will benefit from this woman's research and experience.
Valerie (who hasn't posted here in AGES!) 
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Valerie
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guitarnan
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Hi Valerie!
Thanks for this resource. I've had a few IRL friends ask me about College Plus, and this document is very helpful.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Martha
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just an FYI, there are several things to note about that doc.
First, normally colleges won't give credit for college math and fundamentals. It is one or the other.
Second, some of those courses don't make sense in the order they are given. For example, US history before govt, would be tremendously easier as US history covers much of govt. Natural sciences after bio and chem and chem would likely be better too I believe - could be wrong on that one. I'd have to go check my list.
Also, tho any of the CLEPS are doable or they wouldn't exist, some she listed are notoriously hard. Such as astronomy.
Also, tho technically the CLEP is pass/fail, there is a score and many colleges insist on more than just a passing score to get credit. Somewhat like needing more than a 3 to get credit for an AP.
I think the document is fine for illustration purposes, but *I* wouldn't suggest using it as an actual plan of action.
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Martha
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Cindy
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| Posted: March 28 2011 at 7:30pm | IP Logged
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Hello again,
Just dropping in to see if there were more questions about CollegePlus! Sorry for the delay!
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Cindy in Texas
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Lady Dove
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I have a quick question. Do our kids still need to take the SAT/ACT when doing college plus? Or any other standardized test or college admissions exam? I'm just curious because I would love for my kids to do College Prep/Plus, and make sure I am doing everything possible to make sure they go to college, God willing!
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Elena
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They don't have to take the SAT/ACT if they get their credits through CLEP and then the rest of their degree from Thomas Edison or other college. CLEP proves that they can do college work! 
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Elena
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Chari
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Just curious.....can anyone who was using College Plus give an update about how things were/are going?
Thanks and blessings!
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Elena
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My son Sam has taken the Biology CLEP test and the General Math CLEP and passed both of them. So he now has 12 credits with CLEP.
He also took Natural Science which was very difficult and he missed that one by 2 points. People have told me since then that it is much easier to do the Biology CLEP than natural science because NS is so broad and difficult to prepare for.
He is also trying to get ready for Analyzing Literature, which is supposed to be one of the easiest CLEPS - but not for him! Hopefully he will have that in the next couple of weeks.
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Elena
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: College Plus
