<p>I am beginning to have a strong feeling that my junior son who is on the young side is not going to be ready to head off to college after high school graduation.
He has a strong desire to go away to college but I think will be to immature and due to ADD and learning differences the transition will be more difficult since he is on the young side and can have poor impulse control.
I doubt he would be strongly in agreement about taking a gap year. How can you sell the idea. Or in our case I would have thoughts about requiring it. He is a homebody so seeing the world would not be a selling point.
He doesn't love school so I doubt I could push the PG year at a boarding school. Anyone have experience with PG year.
Per Carolyn question on the other thread. How hard is it for them to get back into the school mode after a year off?</p>
<p>I should be able to post more on this topic once I've had some time to talk with my son when he is home in a few weeks in the middle of his gap year...but my sense from him already is that being away from classroomm academicswill have a renewing effect. More details later...(And the real proof will be a year from now.)</p>
<p>As to how to introduce the idea. We had talked about it as an option all along in the context of going to college conversations (many of which seemed to fall on deaf ears--but he WAS listening). I'd just lay it out there in a nonchalant way and then start collecting examples of things kids do. The internet is full of options and the archives on CC is also a resource.</p>
<p>My son is doing a PG year currently.</p>
<p>It's not for everyone -- although if you pick your spot well it might work for your son.</p>
<p>In our case, he gets to go away for a year, take some AP courses, play on a nationally ranked high school team, grow up so he can start college at 18 rather than 17, and (not coincidentally) matriculate at the college of his dreams as part of a nationally ranked Ivy team.</p>
<p>It wouldn't work for my son without the sports. Most boys who are PGing are doing it with athletics in mind one way or another.</p>