sbaloue Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I am in the process of writing course descriptions for my 9th grader. They are not hard, I hope I am doing them right :001_huh:, but they are tedious. How much information do you include? I have been cutting and copying from different websites and sources and then changing the information around. I am also writing some in my own words. My concern is that when, and if, some college 2-3 years down the road asks for the information, I will have it ready and waiting. Plus, it is wonderful to see what and how much information we are covering. That said, the process is still tedious and a little boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Good for you! I did half of 9th grade and then stopped for some reason... It was dreadful and I hated it. Now, at the end of 11th, I am determined to finish off what we've done so far. The longer I wait, the harder it is going to be to remember what we did. Fortunately, I kept really good records last year, which was complicated, and this year is simple, so I should be ok. And hopefully I didn't leave too much undone for 9th. I'm not sure why but this is one of the chores that I hated the most. I did about half for my oldest. Then I realized that he wasn't going to need them for his college and abandonned the project. I have done quite a lot of them. I just hate them. I stole from table of contents and similar course descriptions, too. I tried to keep them to about a paragraph. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I am in the process of writing course descriptions for my 9th grader. They are not hard, I hope I am doing them right :001_huh:, but they are tedious. How much information do you include? I have been cutting and copying from different websites and sources and then changing the information around. I am also writing some in my own words. My concern is that when, and if, some college 2-3 years down the road asks for the information, I will have it ready and waiting. Plus, it is wonderful to see what and how much information we are covering. That said, the process is still tedious and a little boring. I feel your pain. I just finished writing the explanation for lack of gpa, class rank and varsity sports for the USNA STEM camp for both of my kids. Though it was kind of rejuvinating to see how much they have done over the last couple years. And they were honestly shocked to see their test scores again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 You may wish to read these other threads that were tagged 'course descriptions'; I posted some of my daughter's course descriptions there. Writing the course descriptions is indeed tedious but well worth doing! Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbaloue Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Thanks for all the replies. An special thanks to Kareni for the link. I saw some course description that I may have to copy and then "tweek". The good thing is I only have two students that are two years apart. Both are basically doing the same thing, with my younger one focusing more of science, so once I write the course descriptions I am done for both. I am trying to keep up and not get behind. My oldest has always being my trail balloon, but I am determined to get this right!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I tend to procrastinate on the things I dread ... I haven't started course descriptions yet. :tongue_smilie: What is the best way to present these descriptions? Would you do it by subject if the transcript is done by subject? Or by year if the transcript is done that way? Or if there are different sources for the courses - like ones put together at home, distance learning courses, online courses, cc courses - would you group them that way? Or is just plain alphabetical the best approach? Is it okay to just copy the course descriptions from the various programs, or should they be made more specific to your child? I'm going to slowly go through the lists of threads on this subject, so my apologies if this has already been answered in the past. I usually read these threads, but the guilt of not having done anything yet soon takes over. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 What is the best way to present these descriptions? Would you do it by subject if the transcript is done by subject? Or by year if the transcript is done that way? My daughter's transcript was organized by subject arranged chronologically from 9th through 12th grade. I listed her course descriptions in the same order. If you have a published course description available to you from a course supplier (i.e., community college or PA Homeschoolers), I would use that and save your creativity for the courses you developed. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 My daughter's transcript was organized by subject arranged chronologically from 9th through 12th grade. I listed her course descriptions in the same order. If you have a published course description available to you from a course supplier (i.e., community college or PA Homeschoolers), I would use that and save your creativity for the courses you developed. Regards, Kareni Thank you! In arranging them chronologically, did you indicate which year each course was completed? I'm thinking of doing this since some colleges seem to want a transcript by year, and this might satisfy that requirement without having to do a whole separate transcript. And as I'm thinking about this, I'm thinking it might be better to put the year on the transcript instead of in the course descriptions. Sorry OP - I should have started a new thread. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I kept the old cc course catalogues for this. If you use a textbook, the textbook often includes a course description. Or you can make one based on the table of contents. TWTM is helpful, also. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 In arranging them chronologically' date=' did you indicate which year each course was completed? I'm thinking of doing this since some colleges seem to want a transcript by year, and this might satisfy that requirement without having to do a whole separate transcript. And as I'm thinking about this, I'm thinking it might be better to put the year on the transcript instead of in the course descriptions. [/quote'] Here is the first line from the Mathematics portion of my daughter's transcript: Geometry A 1.00 (The A and the 1.00 are under the 9th grade year column of the transcript. The A is the grade my daughter received for the course, and the 1.00 is the credit value of the course.) In the course descriptions, here is the listing for Geometry: Geometry This classical geometry course is heavily dependent on deductive reasoning and the proof writing process and also relies on compass-and-straight-edge constructions. Topics include points, lines, planes; rays and angles; congruent triangles; geometric inequalities, parallel lines; quadrilaterals; transformations; area; similarity; right triangles; circles, concurrence theorems; regular polygons and the circle; geometric solids, non-Euclidean geometry and coordinate geometry. (Class taken at home in 9th grade.) Awarded 1.00 credits. So, you can see that I commented on where the class was taken ('home' as opposed to the community college, homeschooling resource center, or through PA Homeschoolers) as well what year (9th grade) and what credit value was granted for the class (1 credit). I did not choose to list materials used in my daughter's course descriptions; I included separate reading and textbook lists. I'd be happy to send you (and anyone else who is interested) copies of my daughter's transcript and course descriptions. Simply send me a personal message with your email address. You will almost certainly be required to submit a transcript. Course descriptions are valued by many colleges and required by those that are more selective. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.