How early to start working on college credits?

[TrailRunr]

I would highly discourage anything other than AP and courses at the community college. Even CLEP is risky, but far less risky than ACE. I certainly would not spend money on SL, study.com, shmoop, saylor, etc. because they will be worthless if the child wants to go traditional. If the student is insistent on going to the big-3 or WGU, then my answer above doesn't apply. Nontrad is better for those who are already working. I'm not sold on nontrad being ideal for teens.

For AP and community college, start them early as long as they want to do it and are able to do it. 10th grade would be great if it is possible.