What does it take for you to designate something as "honors"?

[LauraQ]

I have no qualms about designating my daughter's Science as honors as she does Apologia, must finish the book, do *all* labs (unless duplicate of Singapore Science lab), plus supplement with readings from Singapore Science and do about 1/2+ of their labs.

 

To me, Omnibus is honors for history & literature as these courses are chocked full of books that even college students would have to "wade through" and are IMO above & beyond (in difficulty & volume) than what I had to do in high school for International Baccalaureate English or history.

 

What are your standards? I'm not talking AP here--I won't have my kids take *any* AP tests, I'll not call any of their courses AP on their transcripts, and at most they *might* take a CLEP test or two.

[TravelingChris]

Being above the level of the normal level and doing very good at it. Let me give you examples. Doing college work in high school or doing high school work at least two years ahead of schedule. So my ninth grader took a class with 11 and 12 grader and was the best student in the class. I labeled that as honors. My kids did college level work in high school- again honors.

[DebbS]

What are your standards? I'm not talking AP here--I won't have my kids take *any* AP tests, I'll not call any of their courses AP on their transcripts, and at most they *might* take a CLEP test or two.

 

Actually, you can't call any course 'AP' unless you have had your curriculum approved through the College Board.

 

I would think that to call a course an honors course it would have to take more time/week than a standard course and be more in depth and/or a higher level of difficulty. In addition, I would think that you have to prove it on your transcript somehow either through testing or a syllabus that shows what the course covered, how it is at the honors level rather than a standard course and also the criteria for evaluating the student.

 

I will only be labeling courses 'honors' if I can back that claim. This year we are doing an AP course that has been approved by the college board and my son will be taking the AP test that follows. Personally, I feel comfortable with testing as one of the ways (though not the only way) to back up what he's done.

[2cents]

Work that is in addition to the required coursework. It should be more in-depth and done well. That would qualify for honors for my school.

[regentrude]

I will only be labeling courses 'honors' if I can back that claim.

 

So if my 9th grader audits a College Physics class and does all the work, including exams, but is not formally enrolled, you would say I can label this honors and back up my claim by supplying course description, syllabus etc?

[Bev in B'ville]

that since no national standards exists to define what entails an "honors" course, most colleges/universities erase that designation - and any associated weighting - from transcripts before they are even considered by the admissions committee.

 

My dd is a senior this year and we have been to several colleges/universities and sat through their admissions lectures. Not one - so far - allows honor designations to stand. All have said they remove them from the transcript before consideration. Several have even said they remove weighting from AP courses, too.

 

Just thought you should know.

 

Homeschoolers are already under pressure to "prove" through outside sources their mommy grades. If you are certain your child is performing above grade level I would have them take the SAT Subject test in that area. The SAT Subject test is designed to test high school level ability. If your child takes those tests earlier than would be expected by a normal high schooler then I would think admissions committees would take note of that (especially if you point it out ;) ).

 

The previous poster was also correct about AP. You cannot call any course AP without College Board approval. You can, however, have your dc do the coursework expected from an AP level course and then take the AP test (and perhaps call the course "Advanced [subject]" on the transcript along with the reported AP score).

 

The bottom line is your mommy grades have to stand when compared to their test scores (ACT, SAT, SAT Subject, AP, CLEP, etc.) A high mommy grade when compared to, for example, a low ACT score will immediately draw attention.

 

HTH.

[DebbS]

So if my 9th grader audits a College Physics class and does all the work, including exams, but is not formally enrolled, you would say I can label this honors and back up my claim by supplying course description, syllabus etc?

 

Yes...I would call that honors and note it as an audited college course on the transcript giving the grade that reflects the students exams and course work - probably the grade that the professor would have given had your 9th grader been enrolled. As an alternative, I would have my child take a standardized test whether than be the SAT subject test, and AP test or a CLEP. But...that's what I would do...there are other alternatives.

 

For me, it is important that my mommy grades and the content of my home school courses reflect some kind of reality because I think that will provide the best benefit to my children in terms of their own self-evaluation and for outside evaluation by university admissions.

 

My kids are taking a few high school level classes this year through a home school academy. Several of their teachers are professors at some very prestigious universities. These professor bios will be included in the detail section of my transcript and I will also have something on the main page that indicates that the grade was given by somebody other than myself.

[angela in ohio]

When I took Honors classes in HS and college, they were either (1.) the regular class with a few extra writing and/or reading assignments, or (2.) the next level of work if one already knew what was taught in the regular class.

 

With that in mind, I am designating as honors any class where we do the regular text plus extra readings and papers. I am also considering great books courses like Omnibus honors because of the amount of writing and reading, as they are what the student can do because they don't need regular level of high school English and writing instruction.

 

I'm not too worried about which courses to designate, though, because, as PP said, I know the designation means little to colleges. (We will instead use AP and SAt subject tests to back up the grades.) For me, it's more about having my dc understand which courses they are expected to do more than the average load in. :001_smile:

[Laurie4b]

Well, in a local public school, this has been the content of an honors course in American Lit, 25% of the course: Read the Great Gatsby, write a 4 paragraph paper on it, do a movie poster of it, do a creative project on it , have a homework day, watch other students present their creative projects, watch the movie for a couple days... and now start a second book. Not saying I think this is good, just saying...

Edited September 11, 2010 by Laurie4b

[AnitaMcC]

What are your standards? I'm not talking AP here--I won't have my kids take *any* AP tests, I'll not call any of their courses AP on their transcripts, and at most they *might* take a CLEP test or two.

 

In general what I designate as honors course...

 

Use text books that are considered honors/AP or college level, complete the text book, go above and beyond the minimum of labs, projects, and/or research paper, and earn a 85%+ overall grade.

 

The labs must include a thorough lab report consisting of purpose, procedure, data, data analysis, error analysis, and conclusion for each laboratory.

The project/research papers must utilize at least 3 additional resources not being used specifically in the course, a visual aid/display, 5 page essay paper.

 

Some examples of what I expect in their courses to earn full credit towards diploma...

 

For Ds's chemistry he is using Zumdahl text with Teaching Company chemistry videos, is to do 16 labs, and do one project or research paper per semester. He will also do SAT practice tests for the chemistry subject test once a quarter. To make this honors level he will need to do 5 additional labs and 2 additional projects/research papers.

 

For Dd's music history she is using a Kamien Music Appreciation text and Aaron Copland "What to Listen for in Music", she will do one project or research paper per semester pertaining to the music eras (medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and modern) within historical context. To make this honors level she will need to do 3 additional projects or research papers.

 

For English Composition we are using "Writing Clear Essays" and they will complete 14 chapters. There are several exercises per chapter and they will do 2-3 per chapter. They will complete one 2-3 page essay per chapter, plus they will do a SAT essay prompt every other week. Also will do a SAT practice test once a month. To make this honors level they will need to do 1 additional essay per chapter.

 

For World History this year... they have five units (21 chapters). They will read, answer homework questions from the text. Take chapter quiz per chapter, watch 1-2 videos per chapter, do one essay per unit. Do one research project per semester. To make this honors level they will need to do two essays per unit, and do two more research projects.

 

I don't make any math courses as honors.

 

They will take AP or CLEP exams for some courses. These are strictly for their college benefit and to give some backing proof to our courses. I do plan for them to take any and all SAT subject tests that we can do.