Physical Science w/Lab a High School Course?

[CAtoVA]

Would it be a good idea in your opinion to count Physical Science w/Lab as a high school credit course? Other HS'ing parents in my real life are giving me conflicting advice. My DS is taking Physical Science w/lab now in his 8th grade year at a homeschool co-op. It's quite rigorous with experiments almost every week and written lab reports required for all experiments. Mathematics equations have been a part of many units. There are also required tests for every unit and chapter review questions too.

 

My DS is not really a STEM kid so a career in STEM is probably not in his future. He's somewhat dreading taking Biology with lab next year so I was thinking maybe this year's science could count as a year of 9th grade HS science w/lab and he could take a year off from lab science next year (probably do health though) or do something he actually likes such as Conceptual Physics or History of Science. If we had to double up science in the last year or so of HS I suppose we could do that.

 

Fwiw, our local public high schools offer a choice of Earth Science w/lab or Biology w/lab for 9th graders and neither of the courses look more rigorous than what my son has been doing this year which has required math, experiments, and written lab reports. Thanks!

[historymatters]

In Ga., Physical Science is considered a legitimate high school course. I counted it for 1 credit for my son.

[Pen]

Where I am Physical Science at high school level IS a high school course for purposes of high school diploma. But asfaik dc cannot count it for high school credit if taken in 8th grade. (Only Algebra 1 or above math gets to count as a high school credit taken prior to 9th grade.)  Here they do not need lab sciences every year in high school though, so not doing a lab science in 9th would be fine.

 

Probably you should check your own state rules as well as college entrance requirements for colleges he might apply for.

 

Do you have to decide now because you turn it into a charter or umbrella that starts generating a diploma?  Or could you wait till you see more of what he has done over the next couple of years?

[CAtoVA]

I don't think I have to decide now for sure, I was just thinking about my DS's transcript for next year. This year he is taking Algebra I so that will go on his HS transcript. He also is taking high school World History at the co-op (he was allowed a grade exception to take the class) and I was planning on putting that on his HS transcript as well. I have not done grades or transcripts for middle school so this is new for me.

 

I am not aware of there being a restriction regarding classes other than math that may be put on a high school transcript in my state. I know if public school kids want to take a language class at a local high school, and they are in 8th grade, the students travel to the high school for the class and the credit goes on the HS transcript and toward graduation.

[MerryAtHope]

Having it be "acceptable" and having it be "advantageous" are different things. I think it is acceptable but may not necessarily be advantageous. 

 

I think it really depends on the type of student, and that there are two issues here:

 

One--is "Physical Science" acceptable for high school credit

Two--should you count a class taken in 8th grade for high school credit.

 

I'm not against counting Physical Science for high school credit. Some high schools include it, and as long as the text company identifies it as potentially high school level, it's likely acceptable for many colleges. I included it for one of my kids--however, he took it in 9th. 

 

In most cases, I don't see a strong reason for counting it for high school when taken in junior high though. I would count a more regular college-prep course (a high-school level biology or chemistry course for example) taken in junior high, but don't see the advantage of counting Physical Science because it tends to be a slightly lower-level type of class (and I think it will be viewed that way no matter how rigorous the class was that your son took). I would probably only count it if there is some compelling reason that the student can't get in enough high school science courses otherwise. (For example, let's say you have a student who has some learning disabilities and you want to give that student more wiggle room and more time for completing other requirements. Or maybe you have a student who wants to do honors or AP courses in other subject areas, and needs a year without science to fit those in. Or maybe you have a student who wants to do an extra-curricular that really requires a huge time requirement and you need wiggle room for that reason.) 

 

In addition, you'll want to know what colleges that your family would consider require for science. For example, our flagship state university lists the science courses that are acceptable, and Physical Science isn't one of them. (That particular school requires 2 lab sciences but recommends 4. So, a student hoping to attend there would need at least 2 other lab sciences that are on their list.) However, the other state universities in my state are not as specific. To me that says that Physical Science is not considered as rigorous and won't be what some schools are looking for--while others won't care as much. That may or may not factor into your decision process.

 

If you have a more middle-of-the road type of student, it may not matter as much. If you have a student who might place in the top 10% of ACT/SAT scores and is competing for top scholarships--I think counting it could be detrimental in some cases because it just won't be as competitive at highly selective schools. But if your student has other areas that really shine and stand out, again it might not be as much of an issue. 

 

Overall, I think provide the best education that you can for your student to open up as many opportunities as possible--but teach the student in front of you (don't stress yourself and your student to meet some outside standard if it's really not a good fit). Only you can really decide if counting the Physical Science as a high school science is the best route to go for your son after considering the other things he really wants to do in high school and what his goals are for college, etc... If you really need the wiggle room, it will probably be okay in many cases--but have a good reason for choosing that route.

 

HTH some!

[CAtoVA]

Thank you for your thoughtful analysis, MerryatHope!

 

The more I think about it the more I think I will keep Physical Science in junior high and off my DS's high school transcript unless we end up in a bind somewhere (unlikely to happen if we plan well). He still may take a break from lab science next year and only do health. He will be doing a foreign language for the first time (Latin) and his second year of high school World History as well as Geometry. I am planning a rigorous literature class (his first) and he is taking Open Tent essay writing so really two full classes for the one english credit. I think he can take a breather from a class he is not looking forward to taking (Lab Biology) and we'll double up later on when he has room from taking advanced history and math courses earlier in high school.

[kiana]

There's also no reason that he *has* to do biology next year.

 

You mentioned conceptual physics -- that would be a completely reasonable 9th grade class, look fine on a transcript, but have sufficient overlap with a rigorous physical science class that it should be a bit lighter for him and give him some wiggle room on the rigorous classes. It also leaves breathing room later on if he wants to reduce science.