What does an Honors English class look like?

[Crissy]

In what specific ways is it different from the standard English class?

[Paz]

From what I've seen of my ds's classes in ps, honors classes are more like the regular classes we took in high school. We were grouped according to our abilities and there were the more advanced classes and then average classes in certain subjects. His classes seemed to be the same only they can receive a 5.0 instead of a 4.0 for that course. Now some of his classes and teachers were great but ds took all honors and some AP classes partly for the challenge, and partly to avoid the chaos of the regular classes where kids didn't really want to learn. I have seen some online schools that have the same curriculum for both the honors and regular classes but the honors classes add a more challenging assignment each quarter or add some additional papers or research projects.

[MIch elle]

Compare the AP/Honor/Level 1 English lists for the high school my ds will be attending this fall - Senior List.

 

HTH,

[Crissy]

Thank you both.

Michelle, your link was helpful.

 

Anyone else? Are you offering honors level English to your high school student? If so, how are you differentiating your course from a typical English credit?

[Plucky]

Don't forget you can also have your child take the AP test and there are AP books to study from as well. Those can be included in a rigorous English class and qualify as honors/AP.

[DollyM]

Anybody can study literature from an AP course of study and even complete the course of study, but it doesn't actually necessarily mean you can put "AP" next to the course title on your homeschool transcript. The College Board determines what courses "qualify" as AP. On the other hand, any kid can sit for the English AP exam, and if he gets a score of 4 or 5 you certainly cOULD put THAT on the transcript, but in a separate section for 'test scores' (NOT next to the name of the course.)

 

A homeschool transcript CAN have "Honors" without getting the 'approval' of anybody. :glare: :001_smile: I listed "English 9 Honors" for DD - because she did:

1-more work (completed AG grammar, AND a vocab program, AND a study of Adler's HTRB, AND a separated writing program, AND

2- read more pieces of literature than was necessary, and meatier pieces of literature, AND

3 - I had her read at least one piece of LITERARY CRITICISM for each piece of literature - reading what OTHERs thought about the work, AND

4 - I had her write analytical essays on each major work, sometimes comparing two major works, and always insisted upon a "somewhat controversial" thesis statement (instead of a "ho hum" thesis statement.)

For all THAT work, I had no issue calling it "Honors."

[Plucky]

True. But if you make course descriptions along with grades backing up your justification and noting that the child scored so high on an AP exam then you are more likely to be believed by the college that it is an honor's class. I personally don't plan on noting a class as honor's/AP unless it is through some kind of online or local class that is semi-verifiable. We may well do "honors" work but I'm not sure I'll put it on the transcript as such. We do plan on taking running start classes. I think SATs have to really back a lot of the classes and grades as well. I'm still learning a lot as I go along. :)

[gardenschooler]

My oldest is in Pre-AP English (10th grade) at the ps. Overall, the expectations are just higher.

 

They don't use the school's textbook (Elements of Literature) except for a few things (poetry, Julius Caesar). They read entire works.

 

The reading is also just more - often, the teacher will have them reading two different books at the same time to compare/contrast (she did this with 1984 and Brave New World). There is a good bit of reading assigned over weekends and breaks.

 

They seem to be very heavy into the literary analysis. Lots of writing - LOTS.

 

Dd also says it's very independent, but they will sometimes work with a partner and present their project to the class. Not much hand-holding or spoonfeeding.

 

They also have debates once a week with a history class on current events. Dd says these get very heated.

 

Not much time for working on writing skills, grammar, or vocabulary. They're supposed to have all that down pat by then.

 

Two things stick out in my mind, really, that are indicators of a child being able to be successful in an honors (or higher) level English class.

1-Being able to churn out some writing - lots of it, and good writing. Not just a page or two. Dd's working on a hefty research paper, but she spent all of her summers writing (crazy stories, not research papers) so it's not torture. She likes to write. She's not sweating this paper too much. I think there may be something of benefit to the idea of journal writing or freewriting - it gets them comfortable with just writing.

 

2-Reading comprehension, and being comfortable reading several levels ahead of 'grade level'. Also being a fast reader.

 

I *tried* to prepare my dd for this level when we decided she'd go to ps starting in 10th, because they're tracked by their English class, and the standard and honors classes are just not good enough, IMNSHO. When in doubt, I just did more. Not necessarily better, but more. I didn't really know what to do, so I just piled it on. :) Most of the time I used the most boring curriculum there is (WS, WW, BJU), but I tried to add lots of books from WTM. I also relied heavily on SparkNotes. We took a few outside classes (nothing fancy, just your run-of-the-mill co-op writing classes). She's had an A in this class all year, but she's a hard worker and pretty organized.

 

Now I've got to do something about my 8th grader! She's staying home for high school, and I've pushed all year to get her to write more often and just longer pieces of writing. While I've seen improvement, we still have such a long way to go. I need to find some way to make her want to write on her own, so she gets a 'flow' going with it.

 

Sorry for rambling. I don't know if I even answered your question at all, Crissy, but maybe some of this will help.

[carol]

Literary Criticism was mentioned. Where can one get good literary criticism at?

 

Carol

[Hannah C.]

From my experience in a Texas public high school:

 

I never took a regular English class. However, I was told by friends that they read the books aloud in class. One friend who ended up in regular told me she could sleep through it and still get an A.

 

Pre-AP/Honors classes did not do that, as far as I know (I only took pre-AP when it was the highest level offered). There's more writing and more discussion of the book. I'm not sure how this compares to AP in junior and senior year.

 

AP classes are in preparation for the AP tests. Since the AP test is supposed to get you out of the first year of college English, the class is supposed to be equivalent to college English. Mine definitely were.

 

I do not think it would be possible to put a homeschooling class as AP on a transcript. However, you can take the test without taking an AP class, and any AP test scores can and should be reported to any colleges your children apply to!

[Karenciavo]

Thank you for this discussion. I haven't been sure if I should put down my son's work as honors, but now I think I will.

[Bev in B'ville]

First, be aware that most colleges when they receive transcripts quite literally erase the honors designation and recalculate the GPA accordingly. They do this because "honors" is a relative term. Honors at one school might be average at another school. There are no firm rules as to what constitutes an honors class, unlike the AP classes, which the College Board oversees. (Of course, when your dc interviews with colleges/universities, his/her academic portfolio can show the amount of work done.)

 

Next, you can't use the AP designation on your transcript for a class that wasn't approved by the College Board. However, you can put something like "Advanced English*" (note the asterisk) and refer to the AP score. We're doing this with history next year. Even though it's not an approved AP class, I will still modify the GPA accordingly and back that up with the AP score.

 

Check with the college(s)/universities that your dc is interested in attending. They will be able to give you more information on how they treat the honors course designation.

 

HTH.

[Jane in NC]

 

I'm choosing not to label coursework as 'honors' because I feel it is a comparative term within a school more than a objective standard.

 

Same here.

 

We do Great Books ala TWTM. Great Books Honors?? The literature list speaks for itself, so there is no need for the subjective label.

 

Jane

[Crissy]

All of your replies have been immensely helpful in my planning. Thank you!

He will do the level of reading and writing we have planned, but leave the honors designation off the transcript.

 

Whew! That was easy.

[Jenny in Florida]

I just didn't think it would be meaningful to colleges.

 

She did have some honors and AP stuff on her transcript, but only when it was supervised by an outside agency.

 

Now, with that said, I routinely attempted to make her curriculum at least equivalent to a traditional honors-level course. One of the things I did was to search online for syllabi of various courses, both honors and regular college prep, just so I could get a feel for what was being required "out there" at both levels.

 

One of the most useful definitions I ever found for "honors" was from Keystone National High School. This is from their FAQ:

 

What are Honors courses?

 

Honors courses are courses that represent an academic level of excellence that is above and beyond the standards of a normal Keystone course. Keystone's mission is to help students achieve their potential, and part of that is providing a challenging and rigorous Honors Program.

Honors courses are designed so that the student must complete -- on average -- an additional 20 hours of work. That additional work is focused on obtaining and testing higher-order thinking skills such as the synthesis and evaluation of course content. These thinking skills may be applied through an additional research project, an evaluation of a scientific study, or other applications.

 

Hope that helps!--Jenny

[Michelle in MO]

An honors English student will both read more and read more challenging work. S/he will also write more and more deeply.

 

I think you can get the best sense by browsing some online syllabi. Here are a few:

 

9th grade

 

9th grade

 

9th grade

 

10th grade

 

10th grade

 

11th grade

 

12th grade

 

 

 

 

 

I'm choosing not to label coursework as 'honors' because I feel it is a comparative term within a school more than a objective standard. The reading lists are often similar, but the quality of work done is so variable.

I also feel it is a slightly suspect term when used on a homeschool transcript. ymmv :):)

 

 

I'm not sure what I'll do on our transcripts yet. I may follow Jane's example; since we're doing the Great Books reading a la Omnibus, the reading list may speak for itself. And (I forget who mentioned it) but it may well be that colleges ignore that. If my oldest performs as well on the PSAT next year, along with the SAT's and ACT's, then an honors designation will be unnecessary.

 

Thanks for these links!

[Jan P.]

THe only reason I would use an Honors designation is that I'm in an umbrella group that does class ranking which has to be included on a transcript of student trying to get a state scholarship. I don't like this, but the grades in our state and our homeschool group are weighted. A parent would be "hurting" their student if they did not try to have their students either do honors, AP, or dual enrollment classes for grading purposes. I don't like this because it puts my children in competition with other homeschoolers, and it can be what sets the curriculum instead of what the parent thinks is best.