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Credit for high school math and how to show on transcript


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Hello everyone,

 

I have a rising 11th grade son, who has some challenges.  He completed Algebra 1 with Life of Fred in 9th grade, but he felt he needed a change in 10th for Algebra 2, so he switched to ALEKS.  He "mastered" 61% of the ALEKS content by the late winter/early spring, but the constant reviews thrown at him kept him from making much progress after that.  He seemed essentially stuck.  He asked to try Life of Fred Advanced Algebra at that point, and because we were nearing the end of our school year, he only finished about 1/3 of material.  Some was review, but he did get through the chapter on logarithms.  Some upcoming content in LOF he has already done in ALEKS, so I'd say he would need to complete 4 more chapters to cover everything in a typical algebra 2 course (conics, functions, linear programming, and sequences, series and matrices).

 

He had agreed to work over the summer, but I can see the kid needs a break.  He had a tough spring due to his health, so I have decided to let him put math aside for now.  My question is how do I show this on his transcript?  He's done about 70% of the work for Algebra 2, I'd say.  Should I give no credit for math this year (which probably doesn't look good on a transcript) and award credit when he completes the course? Or should I give him .5 credit for 10th and .5 when he finishes next year?  And then what would I call each course--Algebra 2A and Algebra 2B, maybe?  Or can I simply give him credit for what he was capable of doing this year and award a full credit?  He did work on math every day for at least an hour, giving him over 170 contact hours.  I guess another question is what to award for a grade.

 

I would love for him to work on geometry next year, because I think he would enjoy it.  The further he gets into Algebra 2, the more I see him struggling with it.  I am fully committed to letting him work at his own pace, but I'm just not sure how to award credit in a case like this.  Or if it's ok to say enough is enough with algebra 2 and let him move on.

 

Sorry for rambling.  Any suggestions or insight you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

 

Nancy in NH

 

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I don't know much about the state laws and graduation requirements you are dealing with or what your or his goals are, but it seems that you might want to shift your transcript from "by year" to "by subject".  That way you just give full credit when he completes the math and you don't worry about the year he did it.  Since he is really struggling in some areas, though, he may have some serious gaps that need addressing.  It might be prudent to hire a math tutor or continue Algebra 2 at a really slow pace while you start him on Geometry, since you think he might do well with Geometry.  High School level Geometry requires a lot of math, though.  What are his weak areas?  Is he planning to go to college?  

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I don't know much about the state laws and graduation requirements you are dealing with or what your or his goals are, but it seems that you might want to shift your transcript from "by year" to "by subject".  That way you just give full credit when he completes the math and you don't worry about the year he did it.  Since he is really struggling in some areas, though, he may have some serious gaps that need addressing.  It might be prudent to hire a math tutor or continue Algebra 2 at a really slow pace while you start him on Geometry, since you think he might do well with Geometry.  High School level Geometry requires a lot of math, though.  What are his weak areas?  Is he planning to go to college?  

 

I'm not concerned about the state graduation requirements--they will be met with algebra 1 & 2 and geometry.  College is an uncertainty at this point, though we have discussed our local community college as a possibility.  He may opt for an apprenticeship after high school.  He is still very uncertain.  And if more time is needed after 4 years, we'll consider that, too.

 

It's not that he is struggling with the work, he just needs to work at a slower pace due to his challenges (some due to his health).  And there are times when he just needs a different approach.  We work that stuff out.  I think even he has a good idea when he needs to stop and review--he used that option in ALEKS whenever he felt he wasn't sure about something.  I'm pretty solid in math, and my oldest is a math whiz, so he's got plenty of support at home.

 

Mostly, I am just trying to find a way to document what he's learned on his transcript and give him proper credit for it.  I do like the idea of shifting to "by subject", so I'm going to give some thought to reconstructing his transcript.  Thanks for the suggestion.

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Isn't it general practice to assign credits either the year started or the year completed? Or am I missing something? It sounds like he mostly completed it this year, so I would think you could give him credit this year. Or leave it as an Incomplete until he finishes. When he does, plug in the grade earned. If he didn't finish due laziness/behavior issues, that's a different story. But health issues? I would cut him some slack.

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So in 10 hours you have a typical 180 credit requirement- don't complicate things.  If you are documenting hours for your transcript then that is how you are assigning credit.  If you don't want to change the transcript (which if he doesn't attend college it is most likely not needed) don't.  I know he's probably tired and needs a break and perhaps you take two or three weeks but then just do math for 1 hour per day just to finish up- not the book - just the 10 hours.  When you prepare the transcript just show it for the year he started it.  Don't worry about what is covered.  Everyone text book out there has a different set of subjects/topics covered.  Probably the hardest to compare would be a LOF textbook because he covers stuff much earlier than other courses - just look at the Prealgebra book with Physics!  Thinking about the topics you listed for Alg. 2, I know MUS didn't cover that in Algebra 2 but my dd scored extremely well in the CC math placement test and didn't need all that advanced math skill.  My oldest ds used the PreCalc MUS book and he didn't see those problems on the placement test at the CC, either and he placed right into his classes, too.   I'd just continue to plug along and use what works.  Kids with LDs and health issues - count the hours not whether you finished the book.  Heck public schools don't finish books and frankly neither does the college course.  If you want to finish the whole book, which I guess in LOF you have to or you get lost - then finish it and start the next one.  You'll most likely be in the same place next year but the point is he's learning at his pace.  The beauty of homeschooling.  If you think there is a sliver of a chance that he might pursue CC (I always go with the possibility) take a look at the your CC's requirements.  Do they have a math placement test?  Do they provide samples?  You can get a good idea of what is needed to take and pass those tests.  Over the summer the homeschoolbuyers coop offers free "admission" to high school level math (I think it is your teacher) and if you sign up for that you can move around on the website and may find your CC's info right on there with with links to lessons to review what is needed for those placement tests. Don't make it more complicated.  He has done the work and deserves the credit.

 

 

 

 

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