Accruing high school credits

[seewah]

Recently, our oldest son had some testing done and it was recommended that he start accruing high school credits and take a couple high school level classes this next year. He will be in 6th grade for the upcoming school year.

 

It was recommended that he take a high school science class at our co-op that uses Apologia Physical Science as the text.

 

Last year, he completed Easy Grammar Plus and will most likely be using Easy Grammar Ultimate this year. (I am under the impression that those are high school level texts.)

 

My confusion is coming when I start to think about keeping track of credits. I have several friends telling me different things. One says that you can start accruing credits now (in 6th grade). Another says that once you start accruing high school credits, you MUST finish in four years. You cannot take more than four years to do high school.

 

I have scoured the internet to try to find out what is state law (IL), but am coming up empty-handed. I am hoping someone on the board can help this newbie trying to find her way! :)

 

ETA:

Forgot to add that he will also be taking a high school level computer programming class at our co-op as well.

Edited June 25, 2010 by seewah

[Hunter's Moon]

Recently, our oldest son had some testing done and it was recommended that he start accruing high school credits and take a couple high school level classes this next year. He will be in 6th grade for the upcoming school year.

 

It was recommended that he take a high school science class at our co-op that uses Apologia Physical Science as the text.

 

Last year, he completed Easy Grammar Plus and will most likely be using Easy Grammar Ultimate this year. (I am under the impression that those are high school level texts.)

 

My confusion is coming when I start to think about keeping track of credits. I have several friends telling me different things. One says that you can start accruing credits now (in 6th grade). Another says that once you start accruing high school credits, you MUST finish in four years. You cannot take more than four years to do high school.

 

I have scoured the internet to try to find out what is state law (IL), but am coming up empty-handed. I am hoping someone on the board can help this newbie trying to find her way! :)

 

ETA:

Forgot to add that he will also be taking a high school level computer programming class at our co-op as well.

 

I don't know about your friend saying only four years of high school is allowed. I took Algebra I in 8th grade. I won't list that on my transcript because I took Geometry, Algebra II, and I will be taking Precalc and Calc and Algebra I is a prerequisite to the courses.

 

When you are making your childs transcript, I would suggest not using school years, but classes. For example:

 

Science:

Physical Science*

Biology*

Chemistry*

Adv. Bio.

Adv. Chem.

Astronomy

 

And then on the bottom of the transcript you can make a little key for them. So you could explain that all the classes with an (*) next to them means he took them in middle school, but they were high school level.

 

If you can prove your child took those classes in middle school, either with a SAT II subject test or other, than they shouldn't have any problems.

 

As long as the classes are high school level while he is in high school and your child doesn't take blow off science classes that aren't worth high school credits because he already got his credits, the colleges should be impressed and should accept him with open arms.

 

This is my understanding of the college admissions process, and I HTH!

 

ETA: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/33.html

 

That link may help. It has lists of what colleges want to see on a students course list. It does not say when they want them to be achieved, so I think your son should be alright and ready to go. They will definitely be impressed because as you see, they suggest only one advanced science course, so if your son had three or four years after the basics, he could focus on what he liked. If he liked Biology, he could take one year Adv. Bio. in high school, another year of Marine Biology, a year of Genetics study, etc. Same goes for all other high school level courses. You could always go more in-depth in high school if all the standards were covered in middle school. :)

 

Something specific I found on the site:

"You need algebra and geometry to succeed on college entrance exams, in college math classes, and in most careers. Take them early on and you'll be able to enroll in advanced science and math in high school—and you'll show colleges you're ready for higher-level work."

Edited June 26, 2010 by BeatleMania

[AnitaMcC]

My confusion is coming when I start to think about keeping track of credits. I have several friends telling me different things. One says that you can start accruing credits now (in 6th grade). Another says that once you start accruing high school credits, you MUST finish in four years. You cannot take more than four years to do high school.

 

I have scoured the internet to try to find out what is state law (IL), but am coming up empty-handed. I am hoping someone on the board can help this newbie trying to find her way! :)

 

 

IL has no restrictions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IL is one of the easiest states to homeschool. You can homeschool any way you want. Nothing says you can or cannot do something. Some students take five years to do high school and some take two years. What matters is meeting what colleges want for admissions.

 

You can start counting credits for high school once your Ds takes high school level courses.

 

Here is a link to what is available at Illinois state board of ed. This is what you should go by http://isbe.net/HomeSchool/default.htm

 

Some high lights from ISBE are: Parents who choose to educate their children at home are under a legal obligation to meet the minimum requirements stated in Illinois’ Compulsory Attendance Law (Section 26-1 of the Illinois School Code). Parents who choose to educate their children at home are obligated to teach their children “…the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in the public schools†and they are further obligated to offer instruction in these core courses in the English language. The “branches of education†include language arts; mathematics; biological and physical sciences; social sciences; fine arts; and physical development and health.

 

Parents who permit a child to attend a home school that is up to the standard of Section 26-1, as interpreted by Levisen, are free to decide the manner, time and materials which best suit the learning needs of their children. Parents may determine what type of home-schooling curriculum is best for their students, what materials to use, how much homework to assign, how homework is to be assessed, and what records of the student’s accomplishments should be kept. Testing is not required in the state of Illinois for homeschoolers. There are private testing resources if parents choose to have their children evaluated (see resources below). Parents who choose to educate their students in the home through the high school years may determine when their student has met the graduation requirements of their private home school and is therefore entitled to receive a high school diploma.

[seewah]

Thank you so much for your in-depth answers. Off to take a look at your links right now.

 

Again, thank you! :)

[Brindee]

From what I've read on here from other questions like this, some colleges ONLY want to see what was done in high school. Accumulating a bunch of highschool credits before high school won't impress them as much as seeing the "proof" from the SAT II's or some other form of verification that they've taken the course and understand it well enough to do well on those tests. You can set it up as Tigersgrowl said, so they can see that it was done. But, as I said, some colleges want ONLY what was done in the actual high school years. Some have said they might think the transcript it "padded", that's why you want the proof of proficiency in that subject.

 

FWIW, Physical Science and Algebra 1 are often done in 8th grade now, so are sometimes not even considered high school courses. All 3 of my kids did Algebra 1 in 8th grade, so I didn't count it on their transcripts, because it's assumed that when they see Geometry and Algebra 2 they'll understand that Algebra 1 was already taken. My kids have had plenty of credits for what they've done, and are doing, in highschool, so I don't need to add extra credits early. I just put what they do in the 4 years of high school. That's just what works for us, others do it differently (one of the major positives of homeschooling! :D). Oh, btw, I don't think there's a requirement that you can only do highschool in 4 years! I've read of some taking longer. Do what works best for YOUR family!

 

One good idea I've read is to check out possible prospective colleges to see what their requirements are, and what they'd consider a good/strong academic level. It varies a lot from state to state and school to school, so it's worth doing the research!

Edited June 26, 2010 by Brindee

[LoriM]

As the mother of gifted/accelerated children, I can attest that it seems "not fair" that they are doing the high school level work at their young age, and should (rightly) be receiving high school credit for it. So, you just have a decision to make:

 

When do you want to "graduate" this child and send him away or enroll him in college fulltime?

 

I ask that question, because if you are going to keep him home until he's 18, why bother getting credits now? So what if he's doing high school grammar and science? Won't he *continue* to do high school grammar and science right up to the end? GRIN.

 

I understand *completely*. My older daughter had TEN math credits on her high school transcript. Now, honestly, I usually just put the last four. After all, if she's completed College Algebra, PreCalculus, Calc I and Statistics at the CC, then it's understood that she had prerequisites to those courses at home, right? :) Similarly, if I'd put all the literature or writing or translating or history or science we'd done at the high school level on her transcript, it would have been ridiculous. The child is just ACADEMIC. And so, she consumed texts and topics like snack food.

 

Anyway, it wasn't a problem to have sufficient quality work there at the end of her senior year to compose a truthful but edited transcript that seemed realistic for the powers-that-be in university admissions offices, and that was supported by her test scores and community college coursework.

 

So, don't stress. Keep good records, and worry about counting credits when your 12 year old is a little bit closer to 18. Or 16. Or whatever age you think is good to go live in a college dorm. :)

 

Lori

[Mama Lynx]

I just recently found something on my local high school's website which specifically states that students can begin earning high school credit as early as 7th grade. This is in Virginia.

[Teachin'Mine]

I give high school credit for high school courses. Physical science, algebra, geometry all qualify. I don't think the grammar you mentioned qualifies for high school level, but I'm not familiar with their "ultimate" book. In high school, grammar is usually combined with other things to qualify for an English credit, but I may be wrong.

 

Some "correspondence" home schools give credit for high school classes completed before 9th grade, and others don't. I considered that when choosing the school. I'm not planning on her graduating early, but I can't understand why age plays into it. The text used, grades earned, and mastery of the subject count to me. :)

[KAR120C]

Some will want details on everything back to Algebra 1. Some will want only the four years prior to graduation. Some will allow you to submit a transcript organized by subject rather than year, and some will not.

 

Keep in mind, too, that you're talking about two different things at once. There's whether a class is "high school level" (whenever it happens to be taken) and there's whether he needs that credit to graduate (or be a competitive candidate for College X). Algebra 1 can be a high school credit class, but a kid taking it early probably won't need to have it on the transcript just because he's going to have a lot of other maths. If you were really planning to take four years of high school math early and then quit math altogether, that probably wouldn't fly... but starting early and getting extra math done before graduation should be fine.

 

What I would do (what I have done) is as soon as you hit a class that might be considered high school level, start keeping records as though you need them for a transcript. Our local homeschool group had a meeting with the admissions guy in charge of our county for UNC, and he wanted to know the textbook or materials, how grades or evaluations were done, and some kind of result (grade, narrative, etc.) And he wanted it all back to Algebra 1, even if it was taken early. But others here have had colleges specify that if they see, for instance, "Precalculus" in 9th grade they're going to assume the kid did fine in Algebra and Geometry before that and they don't need it spelled out.

 

When your kid is finally applying to colleges, you'll know then what you need. And if you have your records in order, making the transcript eight different ways is no more than a few hours' work.

[Ellie]

Last year, he completed Easy Grammar Plus and will most likely be using Easy Grammar Ultimate this year. (I am under the impression that those are high school level texts.)

Easy Grammar Plus can be used by anyone who is, oh, 10 or 11yo or older. IOW, a high-school-aged dc who needs grammar can use it, but I wouldn't categorize it as a "high school level" text. The Ultimate series is review, and there is one each for 9th through 12th. Since your ds has finished EGP, he would be fine with each Ultimate book.

 

 

My confusion is coming when I start to think about keeping track of credits. I have several friends telling me different things. One says that you can start accruing credits now (in 6th grade). Another says that once you start accruing high school credits, you MUST finish in four years. You cannot take more than four years to do high school.

 

I have scoured the internet to try to find out what is state law (IL), but am coming up empty-handed. I am hoping someone on the board can help this newbie trying to find her way! :)

 

ETA:

Forgot to add that he will also be taking a high school level computer programming class at our co-op as well.

You can't find anything because there isn't anything.

 

There's no rule that says all children must go through 12 year of school, including four years of high school. Many colleges have policies for considering students whose education was different than the norm--IOW, younger students, or those who don't have those 4 years of high school credits.

 

It is true, apparently, that some colleges specify that they want all credits on a student's transcript to have been earned in the four years immediately preceeding the college application; some of our WTMers have had that experience.

 

With an accelerated student, seems to me your best bet would be to look for those alternatives instead of trying to make your ds fit in mold that isn't his. :-)

 

Many of us in California allowed our dc to do community college instead of high school; our dc began attending when they were 14 (not all of them zoomed through in two years, though).

[mcconnellboys]

The fact is that there is no hard and fast rule for this. There are lots of urban legends, but the folks running the schools, those at the school board, etc. don't even know the answer and (at least in this state) there is no legislation that controls.

 

Children in many school districts who are considered gifted often are allowed to take higher level classes than their grade, even high school level classes, in some instances.

 

If a child is taking algebra in sixth grade, then it is expected that he will continue to progress in math and finish up through calculus level work by the time he graduates high school. If that is done, then it's a moot point which credits of higher level math you count as the "high school" level work. Presumably you'd want to choose the highest 4. No college I know of requires more than 4 credits of math at this time to get in, so you don't really need to "show" the lower levels of algebra. If things like trig, pre-calc and calc are on the transcript, it's presumed that the foundation of algebra was laid first.

 

I think what professionals want to prevent from happening is that you'd do 3 credits of "high school level" math in middle school, then quit and do no more math as a teen. If you did that and didn't go into college early, you'd be rather rusty in math by the time you got there (assuming you have to take any more math courses - and you do at most schools).

 

I'd say that's the same for any other subject. It's fine to start doing high school level work early. And if your child is really precocious and wants to enter college early, then that may be doable if he's completed enough high school level courses and has either ACT or SAT scores to support that. But most instructors want to see kids continue in the basics, such as math, lit/writing, etc. throughout their teen years until they enter college so that they haven't forgotten the basics.

 

My older son began high school level work in earnest in seventh grade. I had three years worth of credits on my home transcript before he decided that he did not wish to enter college early, but in fact wanted to back up and attend school with others before his teen years were over. The private school where I enrolled him put 8 of my credits onto his transcript, in order to make it flow with the sorts of classes and schedule they offered.

 

He had other things, such as Latin and Logic, two college courses, etc. on my transcript that I highlighted for college counselors when I submitted his application packets last fall. I simply put ninth grade, tenth grade, eleventh grade on his transcript - no dates. I attached a cover letter explaining that he had been accelerated, then decided that he did not wish to go to college early, hence our backup. I mentioned those items that had not been included on the private school transcript which I wanted to highlight and explained why they had not included those. I also mentioned that the courses the school credited on his transcript were not added in to his GPA, so they would need to do that to get an accurate final GPA. I had no questions from anyone.

 

I would keep track of all high school level work he does. Keep a running, loose transcript. You can decide later what to do with it. If he wants to graduate early and move on to college, he can. If he doesn't, you just need to make sure you're not checking off all the basics early and quitting on those.

 

Things that might be requirements but that are not ongoing courses, such as the one credit of humanities that is required here, for instance, don't matter so much insofar as when you take them. PE for high school credit should be done when he is actually a teen and can do more the level of activity that would be expected of a teen, as that's sort of the point, but other than that, it may not matter when he takes something like an art class or economics, etc.

[creekland]

In our experience colleges have not considered any courses taken in middle school for credit regardless of what level they were at.

 

Alg 1 in our ps is a 7th grade course for talented math kids. Average math kids do it in 8th. Slower math kids do it in 9th. We did Alg 1 in 7th for my two math talented boys. It's still no problem getting 4 years of math in the "normal" high school years as they had either Alg 2 or Geometry, Pre-Calc, Calc, and Stats. My oldest didn't actually do stats as his major and college didn't require 4 years worth of math, so he ended with Calc. There are other options that could be in there as well if more were needed.

 

My middle son will only be getting 3 Social Studies courses in the high school years partially because he did World History at a high school level in 8th grade and partially because he really wants to focus on science and will have 3 science courses next year (junior year). Something had to give to make room for those. When I contacted a couple of colleges he's interested in to be certain it wasn't a problem they all told me it wouldn't be as long as HE could explain why he made the choices he did for his education. This is a son who academically could start college next year as a 16 year old (already has the ACT scores to get in almost anywhere - and enough credits if I backed up his years to when he started earning them), but we're parents that don't believe kids need to get started on adult life young, so we're filling in more education and letting him enjoy his time here with his peers. He is doing some cc courses, but I consider them to be more at an honors high school level. They are helpful for real science labs however - and for recommendations + confirmation of mommy grades.

 

As long as the student is still progressing, I've found I'm not really concerned with exactly how many credits they have and what counts or doesn't. When in doubt, check with colleges they might be interested in.

[seewah]

Wow! The replies to my question have been EXTREMELY helpful!

 

Thank you all so much for providing some advice and sharing your experiences with me!

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

As the mother of gifted/accelerated children, I can attest that it seems "not fair" that they are doing the high school level work at their young age, and should (rightly) be receiving high school credit for it. So, you just have a decision to make:

 

When do you want to "graduate" this child and send him away or enroll him in college fulltime?

 

I ask that question, because if you are going to keep him home until he's 18, why bother getting credits now? So what if he's doing high school grammar and science? Won't he *continue* to do high school grammar and science right up to the end? GRIN.

 

I understand *completely*. My older daughter had TEN math credits on her high school transcript. Now, honestly, I usually just put the last four. After all, if she's completed College Algebra, PreCalculus, Calc I and Statistics at the CC, then it's understood that she had prerequisites to those courses at home, right? :) Similarly, if I'd put all the literature or writing or translating or history or science we'd done at the high school level on her transcript, it would have been ridiculous. The child is just ACADEMIC. And so, she consumed texts and topics like snack food.

 

Anyway, it wasn't a problem to have sufficient quality work there at the end of her senior year to compose a truthful but edited transcript that seemed realistic for the powers-that-be in university admissions offices, and that was supported by her test scores and community college coursework.

 

So, don't stress. Keep good records, and worry about counting credits when your 12 year old is a little bit closer to 18. Or 16. Or whatever age you think is good to go live in a college dorm. :)

 

Lori

 

Thank you so much for this post, Lori! This entire thread has been incredibly helpful.

[Mama Lynx]

In my experience, colleges have accepted middle school credits. I skipped 9th grade, and because I had no 9th grade credits my high school put my 8th grade courses on my transcript. No college I applied to questioned it.

[homeschoolally]

Thank you so much for this post, Lori! This entire thread has been incredibly helpful.

:iagree: This thread has answered many of my questions as well. Thanks!

[Pamela H in Texas]

IMO, you can do a combination of things.

 

First, I assumed that the college would be smart enough to figure out that a child taking PreCalc successfully took the lower level maths successfully also. Same with starting high school with Spanish III. I figure they can deduce that "K took Spanish III in 9th grade so must have taken Spanish I and II in jr high."

 

Second, you can always note pre-reqs. I wouldn't put Algebra I on the transcript part itself (we did subject, not year based, btw), but we had a notes section where I could put "Algebra I and Geometry taken prior to 9th grade."

 

We DID use a legend though because we used such a hybrid of classes. So we had a character designated for college courses and such.

 

BTW, I *highly* suggest keeping accurate records SOON. You may not graduate this child early so it won't matter as much (again, a child with an A in Diff Equations, obviously passed high school math), but if y'all decide to graduate early, you'll want detailed records for at least the 4 years prior. I would want detailed records on ALL high school level courses (though we didn't start thinking about it til said child was jr high age...I'd do differently just in case if I had it to do over). Even if you think you'll do it one way, things may change along the way. We ended up graduating dd earlier AND later than we thought due to circumstances, sooooooooooooo

Edited June 28, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I have been so overwhelmed about hs'ing high school. The credits issue has worn me to a frazzle, but I've had so many light-bulb moments while reading this thread that I'm beginning to think I can do this!

 

Thanks again to all for sharing your experience and knowledge.

 

One major takeaway for me is realizing that 100% of my son's 8th grade curriculum for next year qualifies as high school work. (I hadn't understood that; I was just going on to the next thing in each subject. Yesterday I carefully perused our state requirements and double-checked my hs materials. It is all freshman-worthy.)

 

So...even though I want him to have four more years of homeschooling, I should count everything next year as if it were for 9th grade. That way, if something changes (economy worsens, family problem, unforeseen opportunities) he will be able to graduate a year earlier.

 

I'm going to record everything and just not write the grade level on it until he's done. At the least, I'll be learning how to record for high school before I actually need to.

 

Edited to add: I see that Pamela already explained this concept!

[Julie in MN]

If a child is taking algebra in sixth grade, then it is expected that he will continue to progress in math and finish up through calculus level work by the time he graduates high school. If that is done, then it's a moot point which credits of higher level math you count as the "high school" level work. Presumably you'd want to choose the highest 4. No college I know of requires more than 4 credits of math at this time to get in, so you don't really need to "show" the lower levels of algebra. If things like trig, pre-calc and calc are on the transcript, it's presumed that the foundation of algebra was laid first

 

ITA.

 

If a student is doing "typical high school level work" in junior hi, then they have the opportunity of doing "advanced work" in high school. I don't consider that "unfair" -- I consider that "opportunity."

 

My oldest was public schooled and he took both Algebra I and II before high school. It wasn't on his transcript and I didn't consider that unfair but simply an opportunity for him to do higher quality work.

 

Julie