And just as the body is changing, their thinking process is going through many changes. Girls seem to start the maturity process towards adulthood sooner than boys do. And the girls want to start building what I call 'their nest' settling decisions about post high school life. With boys, it seems their inner time clock chimes at a different, later time, at about 11th grade. For girls, usually about the time they begin 9th grade, they begin the process of formulating goal-oriented ideas and settling down.
Boys usually wait a couple more years.
Some students do want to move into the local college arena earlier but wish to retain the security and balance of homelife while making the adjustment. There are many good reasons for acceleration, and often, homeschooled students have the time and motivation to devote to the extra study it takes. It is important for both the parent and child to agree together on the serious step of acceleration. It may not be advisable for the student to accelerate rapidly or to accelerate at all because the student is looking too quickly toward the future and not realizing all the little steps that must be made along the way. The student also may not understand that the workload is increased.