Thinking of technical school for my son

[pandahoneybee]

I have a 10th grader who says he doesn't want to go to college BUT he would like to open a dog board business. SO I told him that he would have to do a technical school on starting a business...I still don't know if there is a place near us that would specialize in business type classes with business accounting,etc. It is going to be my little research project for the next couple of months. Just wondering how you all are dealing with teens who say they don't want anything to do with regular college....

[Shoe]

My teens don't seem to have a clue what they want to do, or what kind of educational preparation to take. Hopefully they'll get some idea in the next year or so.

[tnick2]

we asked dd to check out some of the colleges and trade schools for anything she thought she wanted to take after high school but there was nothing except at a trade school she wanted to take( photography). It does come with time.

[Kerry]

I have a 10th grader who says he doesn't want to go to college BUT he would like to open a dog board business. SO I told him that he would have to do a technical school on starting a business...I still don't know if there is a place near us that would specialize in business type classes with business accounting,etc. It is going to be my little research project for the next couple of months. Just wondering how you all are dealing with teens who say they don't want anything to do with regular college....

There is a community college in our area that specifically has dog grooming, but I've never seen one for dog boarding. It might be best to combine business classes with some sort of apprenticeship with a current dog boarding facility. Awesome choice for a career, though!!

[Robin]

You know, I've always pushed COLLEGE, COLLEGE, COLLEGE. It's only this year that I've thought, hey...there are alternatives. I do want my kids to all further their education, but I guess that doesn't have to happen at a university. Right now (and probably because I've beaten into their brains) they are all planning college.

[[email protected]]

My son is pretty firmly in the community college or tech school mind set which is fine with me. He wants to be a park ranger and there is a ranger school here in CA that he's very interested in. I think it's an 18 wk course. Luckily, we have a friend in the forest service so he's been very helpful in directing my son to at least 2 yrs of comm college in addition to the ranger training to help get a park job.

BUT, he's young so he's got lots of time to change his mind

[Jamie]

My second daughter is musical, but isn't interested in college. She plays 4 instruments...not sure how to encourage her...

[Lee Binz]

Perhaps your child could find some place to volunteer in this field, and see whether it's really what he wants to do? Internships are a very popular way for homeschool students to "test drive" a vocation/profession. Whether they're paid or unpaid, they can be valuable if only for the insights they provide. Students who successfully complete an internship may eventually even land a full time position at the same company. But even if they don't, internships can yield some valuable letters of recommendation, which can be used for finding paid jobs somewhere down the road. Biggest piece of advice: teenagers change their minds, so don't assume that your child won't go to college, even though he's not interested now. Keep his options open by giving him a college-prep high school education now, so that if he changes his mind, he can go on successfully to whatever he chooses!

[Jamie]

Sure, some high schoolers are just not interested in college... And there are so many opportunities elsewhere. But, as parents... It is so important to encourage them in whatever direction they feel their future is headed.