Do you try to make HS credits match what public school requires?

[Rhonda in TX]

In Texas, homeschools are considered private schools, so we can set graduation requirements at whatever we want. However, Texas colleges require exactly what the PS requires, so it seems that as I look at homeschooling HS a year from now, I'm getting very caught up in matching what PS does. If your child will attend college, do you worry about matching the PS requirements, or do you still do your own thing?

[laurad1125]

:lurk5:

[J-rap]

That way, I know I am getting at least the minimal requirements, and also because I want to keep all options open. For example, my son was interested in attending college overseas; I didn't know what overseas colleges thought of homeschooling, or if they would accept a homeschool degree. Our ps allows my kids to transfer all of their homeschool credits over to the ps even during the last semester of their senior year, and that way they can graduate through the high school if they wish and get an "official" degree.

[TravelingChris]

I don't know about how similar my courses are to what is taught in VA but I think i have the basics down. On the other hand, when we were in Florida, the requirements changed drastically. It was all about getting career orientation in high school. Or, if the student was academically inclined, getting high school done in three years. We didn't do either. My dd is academically inclined but we did high school in four years. I had no reason to rush her out the door and she is already younger than almost all other kids in her grade (mid August birthday). SOmetimes states add in strange requirements but most of the colleges continue to require just the basics. What do the Texas schools want?

[StartingOver]

We investigated what colleges wanted, and used those standards. I wanted them to be able to go where ever they chose. It worked out great for us, and was beyond TX graduations requirements.

[Yolanda in Mass]

If your child will attend college, do you worry about matching the PS requirements, or do you still do your own thing?

 

Nope, don't worry at all about PS requirements. All I care about is what the colleges are looking for since that's our goal. Couldn't even tell you what the People's Republic of Mass government schools require for graduation, besides the useless high stakes test, that is. I think most experienced, knowledgeable homeschoolers can figure out for themselves, through research, what constitutes a good preparation for their kids' goals, be that college, or trade school, or the work force.

Yolanda

[LoriM]

I did, for the most part. Our transcript said "English I, English II, English III and English IV" for example. "Spanish I." "Algebra II." "PreCalculus with Trigonometry." "American History." "World History I: Ancient History." "World History II: Medieval History." "Civics." "American Government." "Biology with Lab." "Chemistry with Lab." "Physics with Lab."

 

Latin I, II and III were pretty weird, but she also had Spanish I, II and III, so that made up for it. :)

 

Probably the strangest "non-public" course names we had were Ethics I, II, and III (10-12th), which I chose as a course title rather than "Rhetoric." She did have a public speaking course as well, but Ethics allowed me to double up some Bible and rhetoric work into one category.

 

HTH,

 

Lori

[Chris in VA]

We did a pretty standard 4 years of each core subject plus electives, as that's what colleges want. I changed the titles of some things to reflect more of what the particular college ds wanted to go to said they wanted. For instance, he did 4 years of World History, but one was 20th cent, which had a ton of Am Hist in it, so we called it something like The 20th Century: American History in The World Context.

[Rhonda in TX]

What do the Texas schools want?

 

Nope, don't worry at all about PS requirements. All I care about is what the colleges are looking for since that's our goal. Couldn't even tell you what the People's Republic of Mass government schools require for graduation, besides the useless high stakes test, that is.

 

Here's an example of what I'm seeing. There is a link within there to the actual PS graduation requirements. Do other states' colleges do the same thing?

 

I've looked at a private school DD is interested in (my alma mater :D ), and it's different. They are not tied to any particular state and just say things like - 3 credits of science required from among the following classes: physical science, biology, chemistry, etc.

[FaithManor]

We actually didn't worry so much about that but our own expectations.

 

DD had algebra 1 and 2

Geometry

Trig/Pre-calc

Statistics and Analysis

Two years of English Grammar and Composition

1 year of English Lit

1 year of American Lit

American History

Western Civilization

Ancient Civilizations

Economics

Civics/Government

Astronomy (math based course)

Biology

Chemistry

Advanced Chemistry

Physics

Advanced Biology

Two years of high school Latin

1 year of Spanish (this is where we were light - but all of the colleges she applied to accepted Latin and were actually thrilled that a prospective nursing student was even able to study Latin!)

A foray into Greek that wasn't enough for a high school credit but definitely helpful with medical terminology when combined with all of the Latin.

Art appreciation (one year)

Logic and Rhetoric

 

She had more math and science than local students, the same amount of English, more history, less modern foreign language and though she studied piano very seriously plus had a lot of musical pursuits, we didn't give high school credit for this. The logic was also unusual. But, we do have Henry Ford High School, Cranbrook, and a couple of other classical/prep high schools in Michigan so I do think admission's departments had encountered these before.

 

Faith

[Ellie]

I did not. We did community college instead of high school, but if we hadn't, I'd have evaluated what dds wanted to do when they finished learning at home and then planned accordingly.

[elegantlion]

In Texas, homeschools are considered private schools, so we can set graduation requirements at whatever we want. However, Texas colleges require exactly what the PS requires, so it seems that as I look at homeschooling HS a year from now, I'm getting very caught up in matching what PS does. If your child will attend college, do you worry about matching the PS requirements, or do you still do your own thing?

 

I'm curious about this as well. We will most likely live in TX when ds graduates and I've perused the TX guidelines. Most of the colleges I've looked up say they want to see incoming freshman following at least the "recommended" TEA guidelines, and they will consider homeschoolers with modified transcripts.

[Barb_]

No, we don't but it's not an issue at the schools we're looking at. Then again, no matter where your student applies, there are minimum standards set for that college--a good reminder for anyone as they begin planning high school work.

 

Barb

[Janet in WA]

We looked only at college admissions requirements.

[Susan C.]

Here's an example of what I'm seeing. There is a link within there to the actual PS graduation requirements. Do other states' colleges do the same thing?

 

I've looked at a private school DD is interested in (my alma mater :D ), and it's different. They are not tied to any particular state and just say things like - 3 credits of science required from among the following classes: physical science, biology, chemistry, etc.

 

Hi Rhonda,

The requirements look like what I saw for ds. And, the electives are supposed to be upper level as well....

 

Funny, we killed ourselves to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics. The science requirement is Biology and two after that have a Biology pre-requisite. But, the course descriptions for chemistry and physics said they assumed they were never taken.... And, we pushed the math hard as well... and ds has friends at college who can't even take college algebra.

 

So, I guess you have to be competitive? Probably even more so for homeschoolers.

 

So, I did what I call the big four every year: English, History, Math, Science. Two years of Spanish, 1 year drawing, 2 years PE (dd choice), computer, that leaves two more for the 24 required. Not much wiggle room!