Cross-Posted - need help with credits for high school transcript

[Kassia]

1.  My daughter is taking Art Appreciation as a DE course this summer at the community college. It's a 3 credit course. She put a lot of time into it, but I don't think she spent 120 hours on it. Can I count this as a full high school credit for fine arts? We don't live in FL, but I saw that they only count Art Appreciation as .5 high school credit. http://www.fldoe.org/…/filepar…/5421/urlt/0078394-delist.pdf

Dd takes aerial acrobatics classes and performs a few times a year, but I really want to count that as extracurricular and not for credit if possible since she doesn't have a lot of other extracurriculars. If we had to, I could use that as a performing arts credit to go with the fine arts.

 

 

 

2.  When dd was in 8th grade, she became obsessed with learning Spanish and spent an enormous amount of time on it.  She taught herself all of the Spanish grammar and could write, listen, and read Spanish very well on her own.  She wanted speaking practice, so we enrolled her at the community college where she took four Spanish classes in a year - Spanish 1 and 2 in the summer (4 credits each) and then 3 and 4 in fall/spring (3 credits each).  She took the SAT Subject test in Spanish and scored 800.  Can I count that as four years of high school Spanish even though all of her DE classes were taken in one year?  I didn't count her 8th grade Spanish work at all for her transcript even though she spent so much time on it.  The FL credits are confusing since some of the Spanish classes count as 0.5 credit and others for a full credit.  

 

 

Thank you!  This is all so confusing.  I want to make sure it doesn't look like I'm padding her transcript and also to make sure she's taking *enough* credits.  

[CinV]

I would definitely count each of the Spanish classes as a full credit, but would stick with .5 credit for art apprec.. I don't think you will be viewed as padding the transcript at all. (I am really impressed with your dd taking four For Lang classes in a single year.)

[Kassia]

 (I am really impressed with your dd taking four For Lang classes in a single year.)

 

Thanks!  She already knew all the content from her own intense independent study in 8th grade.  We thought it would be a good introduction to DE classes for her since she had mastered the subject.  

[Kassia]

I would definitely count each of the Spanish classes as a full credit, but would stick with .5 credit for art apprec..

 

Do you think we could count her aerial classes as another .5 credit or would she need to take another art class (which she really doesn't want to do)?

[DebbS]

I think you could count her aerial aerobics & performances as an art credit but you might want to consider labeling it as Dance. Calling it aerial aerobics might make it sound more like a PE class.

[DebbS]

dp

Edited July 28, 2017 by DebbS

[Arch at Home]

We count a 3 hour dual enrollment class regardless of the content 1 high school credit. This is consistent with the local high schools as my students are also enrolled at the local high school.

[GoodGrief]

I'll say first that I don't stress too much about awarded credit hours, because generally colleges are going to be looking at the big picture of what she did rather than parent-assigned credit hours.

 

That said, I would count the art appreciation as 0.5 credits. The colleges will see though that it was a 3 hour dual enrollment course (you will have to send them a transcript directly from the college), and they can decide what that means for them. :-)

 

I like your idea of using the aerial acrobatics as an extracurricular. It's a unique activity, and a fine arts credit will not add much to her transcript. She may want to talk about this interest in an essay!

 

I'm not clear on her age...is she going into her senior year? Though you could technically count the four dual enrollment classes as four years of high school Spanish, I would try to get in some more recent language credit if at all possible, particularly since it was done during 8th grade, or some evidence that she was using the language in some way, in travel or an activity of some sort.

[Kassia]

I'll say first that I don't stress too much about awarded credit hours, because generally colleges are going to be looking at the big picture of what she did rather than parent-assigned credit hours.

 

That said, I would count the art appreciation as 0.5 credits. The colleges will see though that it was a 3 hour dual enrollment course (you will have to send them a transcript directly from the college), and they can decide what that means for them. :-)

 

I like your idea of using the aerial acrobatics as an extracurricular. It's a unique activity, and a fine arts credit will not add much to her transcript. She may want to talk about this interest in an essay!

 

I'm not clear on her age...is she going into her senior year? Though you could technically count the four dual enrollment classes as four years of high school Spanish, I would try to get in some more recent language credit if at all possible, particularly since it was done during 8th grade, or some evidence that she was using the language in some way, in travel or an activity of some sort.

 

She is going into her sophomore year and the Spanish DE classes were taken during freshman year. She also taught an Intro to Spanish course that she designed herself in the spring and is developing a Spanish 1 course that she is teaching online for the next school year.  That will all be community service since she's not paid for it.  

 

I'm not sure what to do for another .5 fine arts credit if I don't count the DE class as a full high school credit.  There are so many classes she wants to take and more art isn't included in that list!  Seems like all colleges want that full year of fine art for admissions.  

 

She would definitely talk about aerial in her essay.  Aerial, tumbling, hand balance, trapeze...those are her passions and the things that give her happiest.  Her motto is, "Life is better upside down."  :)

[TCB]

Do you have any community drama productions around you? She could do that for another 0.5 credit. Or art appreciation? There are some Great Courses or the Sister Wendy dvds that she could watch and then do some visits to local art museums.

[shinyhappypeople]

Re: art appreciation, a semester long college class counts as 1 high school credit.  Don't sweat the actual hours.  You're overthinking this.

Edited July 28, 2017 by shinyhappypeople

[Kassia]

Re: art appreciation, a semester long college class counts as 1 high school credit.  Don't sweat the actual hours.  You're overthinking this.

 

I am overthinking this!  It just feels like such a big responsibility to make sure she has everything that colleges will require.  I don't want to mess things up for her.

[Kassia]

Okay, if anyone is still reading this, I have one more question.  Dd really loves a professor at the community college and he teaches Intro to Humanities (3 credits).  

This is the course description:

This introductory course explores the impact of the humanities on people's lives. Emphasis is placed on understanding an artist's message as expressed through music, art, architecture, literature, and film. The course also focuses on the common bonds of humanity.

 

 

So, even though this isn't technically a fine art, I wonder if it would be good enough with the art appreciation class?  

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I would personally have no hesitation granting a full high school credit for the 3 credit art course.

 

If she takes the humanities course and it is 3 credits, then I would make that another 1 high school credit as an elective.

 

If you are not in FL I don't think you are bound by the FL course equivalency list.

[Kassia]

I would personally have no hesitation granting a full high school credit for the 3 credit art course.

 

If she takes the humanities course and it is 3 credits, then I would make that another 1 high school credit as an elective.

 

If you are not in FL I don't think you are bound by the FL course equivalency list.

 

Thank you.  I know the FL course equivalency list doesn't apply to us, but I like using it as a reference with the thought that maybe colleges view the classes similarly. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thank you. I know the FL course equivalency list doesn't apply to us, but I like using it as a reference with the thought that maybe colleges view the classes similarly.

If you were talking about a 3 credit US History course that only covered through the Civil War, I could see maybe doing half a credit (though what I'd do is take two DE courses and award 2 high school courses).

 

For a fine arts credit I think you are over thinking it. I don't think schools make general admissions decisions based on the strength of the fine arts class.

[GoodGrief]

She is going into her sophomore year and the Spanish DE classes were taken during freshman year. She also taught an Intro to Spanish course that she designed herself in the spring and is developing a Spanish 1 course that she is teaching online for the next school year.  That will all be community service since she's not paid for it.  

 

I'm not sure what to do for another .5 fine arts credit if I don't count the DE class as a full high school credit.  There are so many classes she wants to take and more art isn't included in that list!  Seems like all colleges want that full year of fine art for admissions.  

 

She would definitely talk about aerial in her essay.  Aerial, tumbling, hand balance, trapeze...those are her passions and the things that give her happiest.  Her motto is, "Life is better upside down."   :)

 

There may be colleges that want a full year of fine arts, but I don't think that is very common. In the case of those that do, a semester dual enrollment course would likely be just fine. I would not stress for another moment about that :-) I just looked at my daughter's college's admission recommendations (Princeton), and there is not a word about fine arts.

 

The colleges are going to be more interested in her foreign language study. Since she is so young, I, personally, would continue the study of Spanish. It's VERY cool that she is teaching Spanish and that will be wonderful evidence of leadership ability.

[Kassia]

There may be colleges that want a full year of fine arts, but I don't think that is very common. In the case of those that do, a semester dual enrollment course would likely be just fine. I would not stress for another moment about that :-) I just looked at my daughter's college's admission recommendations (Princeton), and there is not a word about fine arts.

 

The colleges are going to be more interested in her foreign language study. Since she is so young, I, personally, would continue the study of Spanish. It's VERY cool that she is teaching Spanish and that will be wonderful evidence of leadership ability.

 

Thank you!  Interesting because most of the admissions requirements I've seen say one year of fine/performing arts.  

 

I want her to continue with Spanish, but am not sure what she could do next.  She's taken all the classes available at the community college.  I suggested an online tutor to her, but she didn't want to do that.  She is going to speak to her Spanish professor soon.  He's fantastic and I know he'd continue to teach her on his own (he loved her and said she was one of the best students he's ever had), but she's so shy and introverted that she wouldn't be comfortable asking him even though she knows he would be happy to do it.  It's frustrating because it would be such a wonderful opportunity for her to work with him.  She is studying Portuguese on her own now and a little bit of Russian. I think it's cool that she's teaching Spanish, too!

[lmrich]

If you are really worried about it, add some more hours so you feel like she has earned the credit. Go to the musesums, watch the GC lectures, or even YouTube/TED talks about great art. Honestly, I think her Spanish acheivements will make her stand out. 

 

Dream - go to Spain and study Spanish art! 

[Kassia]

If you are really worried about it, add some more hours so you feel like she has earned the credit. Go to the musesums, watch the GC lectures, or even YouTube/TED talks about great art. Honestly, I think her Spanish acheivements will make her stand out. 

 

Dream - go to Spain and study Spanish art! 

 

Going to Spain would be an amazing experience for her, but she doesn't want to do it yet (she'll be 15 next month so maybe when she's a bit older).  Her Spanish professor knows people there that he sends students to stay with and made the offer to her so it's definitely something she's thinking about.  

[Corraleno]

I would count the college class as a full credit and not worry about the exact number of hours. For non-art majors, colleges are mostly just going to be looking for an art credit to check a box. The standard in many states is 1 "regular" college class (1 semester or 1 quarter) = 1 HS credit, so there's no reason you should go by Florida's rules if you don't live in FL. Even if your DD plans to apply to colleges there, presumably they understand that other states have other rules.  And I can tell you from personal experience that PS kids are not all doing 120 hours of "work" in every art class, yet they still get a full HS credit, so I just wouldn't worry about counting hours.

[Kassia]

Thank you!  I'm making myself crazy over this and need to let it go.  She will have a strong transcript and test scores so I can't imagine a college would reject her over .5 credit of fine art.

[GoodGrief]

Thank you!  Interesting because most of the admissions requirements I've seen say one year of fine/performing arts.  

 

I want her to continue with Spanish, but am not sure what she could do next.  She's taken all the classes available at the community college.  I suggested an online tutor to her, but she didn't want to do that.  She is going to speak to her Spanish professor soon.  He's fantastic and I know he'd continue to teach her on his own (he loved her and said she was one of the best students he's ever had), but she's so shy and introverted that she wouldn't be comfortable asking him even though she knows he would be happy to do it.  It's frustrating because it would be such a wonderful opportunity for her to work with him.  She is studying Portuguese on her own now and a little bit of Russian. I think it's cool that she's teaching Spanish, too!

 

Private tutoring is a great idea! I think it would even be appropriate for you to contact him about tutoring, given her age and the fact that this would be a private arrangement, as opposed to a college course. Another thing to consider, if finances and time allow, is some sort of immersion situation.

 

Finding appropriate foreign language resources can be a real challenge in a homeschool setting.

[Kassia]

Private tutoring is a great idea! I think it would even be appropriate for you to contact him about tutoring, given her age and the fact that this would be a private arrangement, as opposed to a college course. Another thing to consider, if finances and time allow, is some sort of immersion situation.

 

Finding appropriate foreign language resources can be a real challenge in a homeschool setting.

 

I agree that it would be ok to contact the professor to talk to him about tutoring dd in this situation.  He knows who I am and approached me several times when dd was his student to talk about her.  On the last day of class, while the students were filling out class surveys, he had to leave the classroom and talked to me for a long time and told me to keep in touch (I picked her up outside of her classroom at the time).  I think an immersion situation would be perfect for her, but she's not ready for that unless I was with her.  We did go to the Dominican Republic on vacation and she loved the opportunity to speak Spanish there and interpret for us.  :)  Finding foreign language resources can definitely be a real challenge for homeschoolers!  We live in a very rural area with no diversity, which makes it very tough.