8filltheheart Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I just spent the day writing 25 course descriptions. I have never detested anything about homeschooling as much as I have this! Absolute and total yuck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) I'm sorry but I just had to laugh. My eldest is just starting high school so I recently started writing up course descriptions for things she is working on now. I enjoyed the process but I only did about 6. I can see where doing so many at one time would be arduous. I hope to write several a year as we go. Pegasus Edited to add: Google is your friend. You don't have to come up with everything from scratch. Find a few general course descriptions and tweak them to fit. Edited July 7, 2011 by Pegasus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 You know, I've recently started dreading having to do that for high school and my kids are only in 6th and 4th grades this year. It's enough to make me want to force them to go to community college even if they turn out to be academic geniuses and qualify for full scholarships to an ivy league school. I can hear it now. They could have gone to Yale if only their mother would have written up 25 course descriptions and a glowing guidance counselor recommendation, but we just couldn't make her do it.:tongue_smilie: Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 So are course descriptions required if you use something that has a scope and sequence already listed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christy B Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Oh, dear. When I stumbled upon this the other day, I suspected it would come in handy. I think I will hang on to it for sure! http://secondary-curriculum.abss.k12.nc.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=1835370&fid=10676723&sessionid=b7c9f2f5403e900cdec1d91a922bafd0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourOaks Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Wow, you ladies now have my mind spinning. I just realized I need to DO THIS!!! Could you tell me how you are going about writing these descriptions? How long is a typical description, what should be included, etc? This is something I have yet to come across in my research. Would any of you be willing to share a description or two to give me an idea of what I should be doing? THANKS SO MUCH!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 So are course descriptions required if you use something that has a scope and sequence already listed? Dd is applying to a school that specifically specified how they wanted course descriptions from homeschoolers. They needed to include a booklist in a 2-3 sentence description. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 I'm sorry but I just had to laugh. My eldest is just starting high school so I recently started writing up course descriptions for things she is working on now. I enjoyed the process but I only did about 6. I can see where doing so many at one time would be arduous. I hope to write several a year as we go. Pegasus Edited to add: Google is your friend. You don't have to come up with everything from scratch. Find a few general course descriptions and tweak them to fit. Trust me.....I did search quite a bit. However, not only did a lot of the descriptions not meet this school's "format" criteria, dd also has a lot of self-created courses on her transcript that I had to generate a description for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 Wow, you ladies now have my mind spinning. I just realized I need to DO THIS!!! Could you tell me how you are going about writing these descriptions? How long is a typical description, what should be included, etc? This is something I have yet to come across in my research. Would any of you be willing to share a description or two to give me an idea of what I should be doing?THANKS SO MUCH!!! I did not have to do this with my older 2 (state university and CC student). This school had specific criteria that I had to meet: 2-3 sentence course description which includes a booklist and how grades were determined. It wasn't "hard." It was just tedious. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I did not have to do this with my older 2 (state university and CC student). This school had specific criteria that I had to meet: 2-3 sentence course description which includes a booklist and how grades were determined. It wasn't "hard." It was just tedious. :tongue_smilie: Ok, I'll ask... which school? Is it one my guy is considering? If so, at least we have something similar already due to the portfolios we keep for PA. I guess I'd have to tweak it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 This makes me really, really glad I've been doing this. I type it up at the beginning of the year and then tweak it at the end of the school year. I doubt seriously that anyone would want it. But my poor brain would turn to mush if I had to recreat them all at the end of senior year!!! Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I'm writing course descriptions now (and as we go) so that I don't have this problem later. I am SO glad that I get to see what others go through first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I learned my lesson the hard way. I didn't write up the course descriptions, though I did keep a portfolio, as dd went along. I honestly didn't think we'd need them. ONE college, just one out of the 12 or 13 (she applied to so many my head spins) wanted them. None wanted to leaf through the portfolio....grrr....because we had some AWESOME stuff in there. So, I spent a rather frantic day (because she waited a little too long to decide she wanted to apply after all) writing up the course descriptions and listing the curriculum, plus attaching her Great Books study list. She got into that college...and then, after all my work, didn't choose them! I think my brain twitched for a few days after that. Anyway, the lesson was learned. I will be keeping course descriptions current for every year and not go through that rapid writing marathon again. You need chocolate, latte, and a trip to Barnes and Nobles....it heals all wounds! LOL Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Ah, yes! The joy of writing course descriptions .... Here are a couple of threads that might be of assistance to some: Would love to see your "course descriptions" Course descriptions for *math* courses? -- I posted a few math course descriptions in this thread Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Dd is applying to a school that specifically specified how they wanted course descriptions from homeschoolers. They needed to include a booklist in a 2-3 sentence description. So out of curiosity, if you are using a homeschool or online curriculum as a basis for a class, do you mention that or do you just list the booklist? I'm wondering, for example, if you would list Tapestry of Grace or Sonlight, or something like the UCCP open courses. Or would it be better to just cite the books read or texts used? I should probably do this for our classes this year, just to practice. (Just like I need to be better at tracking daily/weekly work accomplished.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 So out of curiosity, if you are using a homeschool or online curriculum as a basis for a class, do you mention that or do you just list the booklist? I'm wondering, for example, if you would list Tapestry of Grace or Sonlight, or something like the UCCP open courses. Or would it be better to just cite the books read or texts used? I should probably do this for our classes this year, just to practice. (Just like I need to be better at tracking daily/weekly work accomplished.) I didn't for this dd. W/certain exceptions, I wouldn't expect universities to recognize any homeschool providers. (not to mention that I alter things so much that they rarely recognize any pre-planned materials anyway.) If I have to write course descriptions for my ds, I will include AoPS and opencourseware info. The problem I had with these course descriptions was keeping them so short. 2-3 sentences with all materials and content just isn't a lot of space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygirlsouth Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 I just spent the day writing 25 course descriptions. I have never detested anything about homeschooling as much as I have this! Absolute and total yuck!! As we say in the south, "Bless your heart!" ;) I was in your shoes this time last year for my Senior, so now when speaking to moms of high school students I remind them to work on those course descriptions, book lists, etc. throughout high school and I even offer to help them. I have a rising Soph.and guess what I worked on this summer? I'm doing it differently this time, as I don't ever want to be in that situation again! It was "absolute and total yuck" in my estimation as well. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjbucks1 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 EEKK!! I guess I need to start doing this as I go. A question for those of you who are writing the course descriptions along the way. Are you just typing them up and keeping them all in a word document? And, do you include how you calculated the grade? Ds is just eneteing ninth, but he did ALg II, Latin, and Biology this past year. I was planning on giving him credit for those subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonor Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Oh, dear. When I stumbled upon this the other day, I suspected it would come in handy. I think I will hang on to it for sure! http://secondary-curriculum.abss.k12.nc.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=1835370&fid=10676723&sessionid=b7c9f2f5403e900cdec1d91a922bafd0 Thank you for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbeygirlsouth Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 EEKK!! I guess I need to start doing this as I go. A question for those of you who are writing the course descriptions along the way. Are you just typing them up and keeping them all in a word document? And, do you include how you calculated the grade? Ds is just eneteing ninth, but he did ALg II, Latin, and Biology this past year. I was planning on giving him credit for those subjects. I keep it all on a word document, but initially I write it down in a record keeping notebook as I tweak things throughout the year. With my recent grad the curriculum was pretty straightforward but with my other dc I've altered the curriculum and added so much that the "tweaking" of the course description is necessary. I know this is what the OP was talking about and it can be a bear to work on no matter how you slice it. I include the grade calc on the transcript itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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