Having so much trouble with electives

[Hunter's Moon]

I know, I keep changing my list, but I am just so confused. I want at least 7 credits. Currently, I will only have 6 1/2. Here is my list:

 

English III with American Literature- 1 year

Pre-Calculus- 1 year

U.S. History II- 1 year

Chemistry w/lab- 1 year

Italian III- 1 year

 

Electives

Native American Studies- 1/2 year

Health- 1/2 year

Art History- 1/2

 

I know, it is heavy in the History department, but I want to be a History major.

 

I was thinking of adding a 1/2 year credit to make it 7, or dropping Native American Studies and adding a full year credit to make it 7. I can't decide which yet, because the only 1/2 year credits I can think of are history/science oriented. Would it be bad to add more? I was thinking of adding the Astronomy Selects Lifepac for a 1/2 year because I wanted to do Astronomy anyways and I need a 1/2 year, but are these too many "academic" electives?

 

In 9th I took Video (1 year) and Music (1/2 year) and this year I took Video (1 year) so i think I have enough "arts" electives.

 

Anyone have any idea what I should do? Would it be a bad idea to add Astronomy along with the Native American Studies and Art History or would colleges be impressed?

 

I know the Astronomy course is light, so no biggie if I do add it.

 

Any other elective ideas for full or 1/2 year appreciated.

 

Thanks everyone for putting up with my indecisiveness.

 

Also, I was looking at a Home Economics course, full year. What do colleges consider this, as in what type of elective?

[Storm Bay]

Have you had US Government yet? Is that required? Around here it is, so that would be a thought for another 1/2 a credit. I can't help you with your other questions.

[Hunter's Moon]

I'll be taking U.S. Government/Economics my Senior year for my History credit. Thanks though.

[Kimm in WA]

1/2 credit of some type of physical fitness for PE credit???

[Nan in Mass]

Clothing construction (sewing)?

Cooking?

Economics?

Personal Finance?

Other sciences?

Literature?

Writing?

Write your own novel?

Poetry?

Poly Sci?

Anthropology?

Archaeology?

Rock Climbing?

Snow boarding?

Aikido?

Dance?

Theatre?

Shakespeare?

Personal fitness?

Car repair?

Wood shop (build your family a garden shed GRIN)?

Speech?

Herbal medicine?

Natural history?

Orienteering?

Child development?

 

If I were you, I would go for something I myself wanted to learn, something that would make me a more interesting adult, something that would enrich my adulthood, something that would be useful to me. Your schedule is full of academics. Perhaps you would like to do something that was fun for a change. Or do the astronomy if that is what interests you most and you would most like to learn.

 

-Nan

[FairProspects]

I was a History major and a High School History teacher before kids, so I thought I'd pop in here.

 

Have you thought about what era of History you would like to study/specialize in in college? I ask because that could inform your elective choices now.

 

One area that surprised me in college was the extensive language requirements of my History work. I had taken Spanish from 6th-12th grade and I AP'ed out of college classes, but I had no Latin or French, both of which I needed for Medieval Studies. My good friend is now frantically studying her way through Polish, which she needs for her History field. Depending on which era is your favorite, I would think about adding more language work (Latin would be great because it spans so many eras) because you will need it in college to read primary sources in their original languages.

[Hunter's Moon]

Thanks everyone.

 

Latin is a great idea!! I never thought of that. Wouldn't I have to use a little kids Latin program though since I've never taken it?

 

I am not entirely sure exactly what part of History. I am really interested in the Tudor Dynasty, though, so that is a possibility.

[Mama Lynx]

Thanks everyone.

 

Latin is a great idea!! I never thought of that. Wouldn't I have to use a little kids Latin program though since I've never taken it?

 

 

 

Not at all! Have you had any foreign language?

 

There are several "older" programs you can start with at your age, especially if you are good at languages: Galore Park's Latin Prep series, Henle Latin, Cambridge Latin ...

[Hunter's Moon]

I'll be taking Italian III next year, so I am a bit scared to add Latin, but I'll look into it.

[Sumiller]

I'll be taking Italian III next year, so I am a bit scared to add Latin, but I'll look into it.

 

Actually, I'm wondering if your background in Italian may help your Latin studies.

 

An excerpt from Latin Book One (Scott,Horn):

 

Thus we have today the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Rumanian languages, each of which is really Latin in a changed form. These are known as the Romance languages.

I am using this Latin book with my ds13. It is available online for free w/answer key. If you're interested check it out at the yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Latinbk1/ The files section contain the lessons and answer key.

[AngieW in Texas]

Have you done personal finance yet? The Dave Ramsey high school course is quite good. The activities that went with it all seemed to be oriented towards groups. You can skip those and still have a course worthy of a 1/2 credit.

[Susan C.]

Hi,

I think I would add Am. Govt. 1/2 credit if you want 7 credits. That way, you have American Lit, US History, and Govt. all together since they are all in the same category. Then I would use the extra slot in your senior year to add a history of your interest. If you are interested in Tudors and Stuarts, that would go very well with your lit. in senior year, British (unless you have already done British lit??). So again, in 11th grade I would concentrate on US content courses, and 12th grade, British.

 

You'll have to see how much you can accomplish in a school day. We found when we add the 7th credit, another class suffered, my dd ran out of day. We added logic at the beginning of this year, and no grammar happened, so I had to let go of logic second semester so we could fit the grammar in.

 

You are doing fine!! You will change your mind several times before you settle on what you are taking.

Edited May 15, 2010 by Susan C.
reformatted

[Cornflower]

Italian is a Latin based language. Maybe that could work.

 

Cindy

[Brindee]

Have you done any Logic? If you don't go with Latin, and haven't had Logic, that could make a good 1/2 credit. If you do The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox it can be called Intro. to Logic and count as a 1/2 year credit.

[Hunter's Moon]

I decided against Latin, since my past two years of Italian I barely learned anything so I really need to focus on that this year.

 

I was looking into Logic, and will look closer. Thanks everyone!

[merylvdm]

My oldest daughter took Logic ... she used a number of books including the 2 mentioned in the previous post. My older son has taken Psychology and Epidemiology and Game Theory. My younger son has taken Meteorology. I expect all my high schoolers to take Accounting. And some have done Entrepreneurship.

Most Teaching Company DVD series can be turned into cool Electives. Otherwise we use college level textbooks and courses. I also look at what schools are offering and get ideas for electives from them.

[Teachin'Mine]

Honestly, I'm glad you decided against Latin. If you need it for your further studies, you can always take it in College, or even study it on your own. Your schedule is extremely rigorous - in my opinion, and I wholeheartedly agree with the poster who said to add in some fun! Think of what you've always wanted to do or to learn, and then do that. Maybe you have adult education courses available to you, and you can incorporate one of two of those into your elective. :)

 

Are you into Renaissance Faires? Maybe do something related to making a period costume and then go to the faire. That would tie in nicely with history. Or maybe you're interested in reenactments. Maybe get involved with this with your family, or by joining another family, or maybe just go to a few of the reenactments and study about the things that interest you there. Some of this could easily be done over the summer too to help lighten the course load next year.

[Rosie_0801]

Are you into Renaissance Faires? Maybe do something related to making a period costume and then go to the faire. That would tie in nicely with history. Or maybe you're interested in reenactments. Maybe get involved with this with your family' date=' or by joining another family, or maybe just go to a few of the reenactments and study about the things that interest you there. Some of this could easily be done over the summer too to help lighten the course load next year.[/quote']

 

:D

http://www.amazon.com/Tudor-Tailor-reconstructing-sixteenth-century/dp/0896762556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274078120&sr=8-1

 

If you can't sew, go back in history a little:

http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Tailors-Assistant-Garments-1200-1500/dp/0896762394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274078165&sr=1-1

 

If you want to get into re-enactment to boost your history studies (and find ideas to boost your credits, renaissance dance for half a PE credit, for example), I'd consider the idea of joining the SCA and seeing if you can get apprenticed to a laurel, and/or be a lady in waiting. (If you are interested, you can ask me what that means. If you're not, there's no need for me to bleat on about it.)

 

 

:)

Rosie

Edited May 17, 2010 by Rosie_0801

[Storm Bay]

Yes, the language aspect is important. My middle dc is a history buff. Right now she's studying German & Latin, but she's not in high school yet. I plan to have her study some other languages as well as long as she's interested. Latin is a good key to the other Romance languages, but there are at least 2 types you can study, and you may be surpised at how Italian & Latin help each other. It will help with English, too, since about 50 percent of English words have Latin Roots.

 

If you plan to specialize in Italian history, then Italian & Latin are good. Of course, there are also specific eras you may end up specializing in. If you want to study American, Canadian or British history, then that's a whole different kettle of fish.

 

My aunt majored in Slavic studies (pretty funny, I think since she's 100 percent Icelandic genetically and in heritage) and studied at least 2 years of Russian to help with this, but not until she was in university, so it's not too late to start another language then.