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Texas people - have you seen these new graduation guidelines?


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wow, in Nj pe and health (which also includes drivers ed.) is required all 4 years. They are not increasing the number of years (3 years) for math and science but they are upping the levels that those classes have to be, for ex. for math, alg 1, alg 2 and geometry will be the min. and in science it now has to be biology, chemistry and an additional science. They will start req. ecomonics but government is still not req.

 

dd went to public school for part of this year. In pe, it was all 4 grades, boys and girls together. She said there might be a huge 18 boy playing dodgeball against a small 9th grade girl. SHe also said it was amazing all the moves that the senior boys made on the freshmen girls (this was the only class that they would have together).

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When I went to high school (in TX), PE was a lame joke of a class. If you weren't in athletics or band, you had to take it, and most people in there really didn't care or learn much of anything. Health was even worse. And given that the most useful information in health class was removed the year after I graduated (when they went to "abstinence based" sex ed), I'm sure it's been even more so since.

 

Of course, with the class eliminated I suppose that also eliminates the debate on what to teach in it.

 

One of the nice things about TX homeschooling is, you can make your own requirements. Beyond the basic subjects the law says you're supposed to teach (not that they enforce it), you can make your own standards. Not too hard to make them more rigorous than "state standards". I'd be looking more at what the post-secondary educational institutions he's considering require, and stop worrying about state standards.

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I think they dropped the PE requirements because when they added in the 4x4 requirements, it made it very difficult to get it all in if you were involved in anything like band or sports. I'm not saying it was the right thing to do, but I believe that was the reasoning.

 

When I was in high school (in TX), 2 years were required, plus a semester of health. 3 years of band could take the place of 1 year of PE, so I only had to take one year.

 

I keep track of the graduation guidelines because the state universities require the Recommended diploma at a minimum. Some schools have exemption forms that I assume homeschoolers can use, but I'm not sure how that works. If the Recommended diploma requires 2 years of foreign language, I want to know that the colleges are looking for that. KWIM?

Edited by Rhonda in TX
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When I went to high school (in TX), PE was a lame joke of a class. If you weren't in athletics or band, you had to take it, and most people in there really didn't care or learn much of anything. Health was even worse. And given that the most useful information in health class was removed the year after I graduated (when they went to "abstinence based" sex ed), I'm sure it's been even more so since.

 

Of course, with the class eliminated I suppose that also eliminates the debate on what to teach in it.

 

One of the nice things about TX homeschooling is, you can make your own requirements. Beyond the basic subjects the law says you're supposed to teach (not that they enforce it), you can make your own standards. Not too hard to make them more rigorous than "state standards". I'd be looking more at what the post-secondary educational institutions he's considering require, and stop worrying about state standards.

Don't worry - I've been looking at colleges, too. It's still nice to see what the majority of Texas kids are doing during their high school years.

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http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/taa/stanprog012510.html

 

I edited my previous post because according to this info only 1 credit is required for P.E. but additional credits will be awarded as elective credits for additional years of approved P.E. courses.

 

This is good news for kids who excel in athletics. Now they can get credit for their talents just like the kids who excel in music, art and theater.

 

Good to see these changes.

Edited by Robin in DFW
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I graduated from public high school in TX in 2007. From my experience and those of the three sisters after me, PE was a joke. I never had to take health, thanks to some homeschool credit. I attend the University of Dallas, and I am pretty much positive they didn't care whether or not I had PE or health. (Then again, they are not exactly typical of colleges in general, so maybe other colleges care about PE?) Colleges like foreign languages, however. Three years is better than two. They also like more math and science, and advanced classes, etc.

 

If you are homeschooling in a state without homeschool curriculum requirements, the best source for curriculum guidelines is probably to see what colleges want! As far as I know, the Texas Recommended program corresponds to what most colleges see as the minimum, and the Distinguished program is what colleges like and what more exclusive colleges want. You could also look at AP program guidelines if you are planning curriculum for certain classes. At least for American history, there are guidelines online.

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