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How many credits for graduation?


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How many credits does your state require?

 

I am in New Jersey and according to them you need 120 credits.

 

Does that sound correct? I think I 'm confused after looking at Oak Meadow where it says you need 21+ credits for high school.

 

New Jersey also requires Algebra 1, Geometry and a third year of math.

 

We are doing Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Do you include that in your high school transcript?

 

Thanks for any help. I am trying to wrap my head around all of this as I get my planning started.

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Obviously, NJ is like CA in the way they call their hs credits. If you think 1 credit = 1yr you'll understand everyone else.

 

In FL it's 24, in Maine it's 17.5, when I graduated in TN it was 19. . . You see the story.

 

As long as they cover the basics needed for college admissions, your good IMO.

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NJ does have a lot of requirements for public high school graduates. Dh works at a private school in NJ and they are not required to meet those graduation requirements. I spoke to the admissions department at Rutgers, and their requirements for admission are not nearly as broad as the NJ state requirements for public high school graduation. I remember reading on the HSLDA website about the homeschooling requirements for NJ, and they were by no means equivalent to what's required to graduate from a NJ public high school. By law, as NJ homeschoolers, I think we're supposed to have the kids do PE every year for 2.5 hours per week and two years of American history in high school. One year of American government can substitute for one year of American history.

 

HTH! If I'm wrong about anything here, I hope someone will correct me.

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I was scouting around on line and it looks as though NJ considers one year of a high school English, math, or science to be equivalent to 5 credits. Therefore if 120 credits are required that would be analogous to 24 of the high school credits you typically hear discussed here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I was scouting around on line and it looks as though NJ considers one year of a high school English, math, or science to be equivalent to 5 credits. Therefore if 120 credits are required that would be analogous to 24 of the high school credits you typically hear discussed here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

Yes, this is right. For some reason what would be ONE credit elsewhere is FIVE credits in Jersey. So 120 credits here = 24 credits (which is an average of 6 classes per year).

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My ISD requires 26 credits to graduate. I don't have to follow their rules though.

 

They require:

4 credits English

3 credits Math (must go up to at least Algebra II)

3 credits Science

4 credits Social Studies

2 credits foreign language

1.5 credits p.e.

0.5 credit Health

1 credit Technology Education (computer use)

0.5 credit Communication Applications (speech class)

0.5 credit ACE (some specially developed course that all 9th graders have to take)

1 credit Fine Arts

5 credits Electives

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NJ does have a lot of requirements for public high school graduates. Dh works at a private school in NJ and they are not required to meet those graduation requirements. I spoke to the admissions department at Rutgers, and their requirements for admission are not nearly as broad as the NJ state requirements for public high school graduation. I remember reading on the HSLDA website about the homeschooling requirements for NJ, and they were by no means equivalent to what's required to graduate from a NJ public high school. By law, as NJ homeschoolers, I think we're supposed to have the kids do PE every year for 2.5 hours per week and two years of American history in high school. One year of American government can substitute for one year of American history.

 

HTH! If I'm wrong about anything here, I hope someone will correct me.

Here's HSLDA's analysis of NJ law. It says in part, "The child must attend a public school 'or a day school in which there is given instruction equivalent to that provided in the public schools for children of similar grades … or receive equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.' Home schooling is generally allowed under the "elsewhere than at school" portion of the statute." The comparison to public school requirements is given, which includes the P.E. hours, but remember that the subjects are not required; homeschoolers are just supposed to provide *equivalent* instruction. That seems like a small point, but it's a big deal legally.

 

IOW, there isn't a *homeschool law* that requires 2½ hours of PE weekly; there's a requirement for equivalent instruction elsewhere than at school.

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NJ does have a lot of requirements for public high school graduates. Dh works at a private school in NJ and they are not required to meet those graduation requirements. I spoke to the admissions department at Rutgers, and their requirements for admission are not nearly as broad as the NJ state requirements for public high school graduation. I remember reading on the HSLDA website about the homeschooling requirements for NJ, and they were by no means equivalent to what's required to graduate from a NJ public high school. By law, as NJ homeschoolers, I think we're supposed to have the kids do PE every year for 2.5 hours per week and two years of American history in high school. One year of American government can substitute for one year of American history.

 

HTH! If I'm wrong about anything here, I hope someone will correct me.

 

This is odd, but I didn't actually see a history requirement for Rutgers at all!! :001_huh:

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The thing to remember is that colleges are expecting incoming students to have a certain level of skill in the basics. My experience has been that they want the transcript for their file, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything to them. The emphasis is on SAT or Entrance Exam scores.

 

It's ok to use the public school's required credits as a starting point or a framework, but you are not bound in any way to follow it. Ellie is correct that the law in jersey isn't actually a law at all. It's a court decision (State v. Massa) wherein the court concluded that children outside of school must receive an "equivalent education". As a matter of fact, the family in the case used mostly old books and National Geographic magazines to teach their children, and the court found in their favor.

 

Here's the case if you're interested http://www.enochnj.org/pdf/massa.pdf.

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