Have you been slow to jump in and get your teen’s feet wet? Are you still intimidated at how much there is to figure out and too much to study for?  Worried that it won’t be perfect? Well, in this quick post, I’m going to give you a QUICK action plan to earn 3 college credits this summer! Right now!

The Rules

Worry about transferability later.  I know, that sounds crazy and scary, but the key here is to just jump in!  These credits won’t hurt your budget and they won’t take a lot of time.  Once you’re in, you can start learning how to plan and sequence their future credit that lines up with their target college goals.  This plan is about STARTING!

Failure is an option.  Seriously, it’s ok.  If your teen fails the exam that awards college credit, the repercussions are zero. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.  No pressure.  The credit I’ve picked out for you should set your teen up for success, but if they bomb, that will be our little secret.

Start today!  It’s easy to think you’ll have more time later, but this process should have you earning college credit by the end of next week if you start now.  So go for it!

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TODAY

STEP 1

(parent) Go to Modern States and create an account in your teen’s name.  It’s free and takes 10 seconds!  Make sure the name you use matches any official ID they’ll use later. Write down their username and password in a safe place.

Forms of ID when Homeschooling for College Credit

STEP 2

(parent) Inside Modern States, select the course CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. Click the “Continue to Course” button.

STEP 3

(parent) Hand your teen their username / password, and get them started on the first video.  Have your teen watch each video in turn, and complete the quizzes.  The course won’t take more than an hour or so per day for a week.  Hint:  if your teen is already very capable of reading and analyzing literature, they can let the instructional videos play in the background while they do other things like cleaning their room or making lunch. 

THIS WEEK

STEP 4  

(teen) Watch videos and complete quizzes consistently.

STEP 5

(parent) Find your nearest CLEP testing center by searching here.  WHERE they take the test doesn’t matter, their score isn’t saved by the testing center.

STEP 6

(parent)  Decide if you want your teen to take their exam at home (new for 2021) or at a testing center. You can call your testing centers and ask if they have a testing center fee.  Expect the fee to be around $20. More than $20?  Call around… Breaking News: CLEP at Home!

STEP 7

(parent & teen) Upon completion of the course, Modern States will give your teen a coupon (voucher) to register for the CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature exam for FREE ($85 value).  They’ll even reimburse you for any testing center fees (or at-home proctoring) so save your receipt!  Make sure you follow the procedure on their website carefully.  It can take 5 days to get your voucher.

CLEP Voucher Request

 

NEXT WEEK

STEP 8

(parent)  As soon as you receive your teen’s voucher, visit the Official CLEP site and buy their CLEP exam for your testing center taking the first available spot. Tomorrow? Sure!  Resist the temptation to push it back so they can spend more time studying.  If they’ve completed the Modern States course, that’s all they need for this exam – it’s GO TIME.

STEP 9

(parent & teen)  Arrive at the testing center a few minutes early to allow for parking and paying (testing center fee if applicable) as well as verifying identification.  Forms of ID when Homeschooling for College Credit  Once your teen is settled, go enjoy a cup of tea and read a good book- you have 90 minutes to burn.

STEP 10

(parent & teen)  Collect your score report from the testing center administrator and go celebrate!  No matter what their score, they’ve started on their journey to earning college credit, and that calls for a celebration!