Do you remember the mom who said several years ago to only do 5 subjects?

[jld]

This was around 4 or 5 years ago, I think. She said to keep things simple, and even if you do several languages, for example, to just pick one for recordkeeping. I still remember her post, and I think that was wise advice. So many of us make things so complicated, and then we get overwhelmed.

 

She suggested math, science, English, social studies, and a foreign language. Did anyone follow her advice? Would you be willing to share your experience?

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

This was around 4 or 5 years ago, I think. She said to keep things simple, and even if you do several languages, for example, to just pick one for recordkeeping. I still remember her post, and I think that was wise advice. So many of us make things so complicated, and then we get overwhelmed.

 

She suggested math, science, English, social studies, and a foreign language. Did anyone follow her advice? Would you be willing to share your experience?

I don't know about others but we wouldn't be able to do that because of our ISP's requirements (full year of Bible every year) and our states requirements for graduation (2 full years of PE, 1 year of fine arts, etc). We do math, science, english and history/geography every year, and 3 years of a foreign language, so that wouldn't leave us any extra room for everything else if we did that. We have several other classes because we use a unit study (TRISMS) that generates them, not because we add classes to what we have planned. I would be short changing my children if I didn't give them credit for their work.

 

I can see the wisdom in not overwhelming a student with a multitude of courses but I also think the student should have a workload that best suits him/her, as well as meet the requirements/expectations of the colleges they want to apply to and be able to compare with other students who will also be applying.

[Greta Lea]

This was around 4 or 5 years ago, I think. She said to keep things simple, and even if you do several languages, for example, to just pick one for recordkeeping. I still remember her post, and I think that was wise advice. So many of us make things so complicated, and then we get overwhelmed.

 

She suggested math, science, English, social studies, and a foreign language. Did anyone follow her advice? Would you be willing to share your experience?

 

This is what we do. My ds also reads his bible daily and does a lesson once a week for his Awana class. Bible is an elective on his transcript. He's on the swim team, which covers his 1 PE credit that he needs. I will give him another PE credit this year for the swim team although he only needs one credit in PE for graduation with our umbrella school.

 

I got a great idea from Barb Shelton's Highschool Form-U-la book about how to get a fine arts credit in a non-formal way. She has forms in the book for the student to complete after going to a play or concert. I plan for him to go to about 4 plays or concerts a year (even the children/teen theater productions) and complete these forms.

[J-rap]

***

Edited March 1, 2023 by J-rap

[distancia]

I absolutely have to agree with that mom, although I never read her original post.

 

In order for my D to pick up her state required electives, I use what she is doing in her "free time" as her elective. For example, she goes to dance 2x a week and to aerobic 3x a week. Thus, she is fulfilling her PE requirement.

 

She likes to paint and sketch, and when it's rainy or stormy she will "hole up" in her bedroom for an afternoon and produce a good amount of work. She also goes to studio art sessions at the Adult Enrichment Center (ages 16 to 80) on most Saturday mornings (again, this is her choice) so I call it art.

 

Let's not forget about summer vacations! Drivers' Ed one summer counted as an elective (it does in the public school system, too) and most summers we spend at month or two in a foreign country attending language classes part-time (about 3 to 4 hours a day). This counts as a language requirement, and I can guarantee that my D learned more Spanish from all the times we have traveled through Central America than she did in 3 years of formal Spanish class in the public school system.

 

BTW, my D (now 17.5) has specifically requested that we devise her schedule so that she does only FOUR classes per semester, and go into them deeper. She prefers block/college scheduling as opposed to the 7 or 8 or 9 short classes of a traditional high school day.

 

And now that she is taking college classes--with commuting time added--it seems to be the best solution for her.

[Ellie]

I don't know about others but we wouldn't be able to do that because of our ISP's requirements (full year of Bible every year) and our states requirements for graduation (2 full years of PE, 1 year of fine arts, etc).

But there are no requirements for graduating from a private school in California, which is what your ISP is. Does your ISP require you to follow state requirements?

[Murphy101]

I haven't tried to do that, but that is my main focus. If I can work in electives, fine. If not, fine.

I haven't really worried much about them.

:bigear:

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

But there are no requirements for graduating from a private school in California, which is what your ISP is. Does your ISP require you to follow state requirements?

Yes. They require the state minimum, have their requirements (like Bible all year every year) and also have what they recommend for college bound students (require 2 years of math because that's the state requirements but recommend 4 if the student is college bound, etc).

Edited July 15, 2010 by Cheryl in SoCal

[Cheryl B in VA]

I got a great idea from Barb Shelton's Highschool Form-U-la book about how to get a fine arts credit in a non-formal way. She has forms in the book for the student to complete after going to a play or concert. I plan for him to go to about 4 plays or concerts a year (even the children/teen theater productions) and complete these forms.

 

I love this idea! We are going to an NSO rehearsal next Friday and I would like to start doing that but my library doesn't have that book. Any way that one page can be emailed to me? Last year my freshman went to at least 8 concerts and theater productions!

[LanaTron]

The half is the rest of Latin 1, which he will most likely finish partway through the year, I'll probably let him drop it. So he'll have math, French, English, science, and history.

 

He's in Scouts; plays French horn, sings, and does music theory/composition at co-op (which I'll give him some type of credit for on the transcript); participates in youth group at church, and wants to join debate club. And he wants a part-time job once he turns 15. :auto: Plus I have 3 other kids younger than him who are in scouts, etc., too. :willy_nilly:

 

I had wanted to do more academically, but our "extras" are too important to us.

[Greta Lea]

But here's a website that has a similar form for a concert or just listening to a piece of music at home...

 

http://highland.hitcho.com.au/musicforms.htm

 

(Click "Music Appreciation Analysis" and "Cultural Music Appreciation Sheet").

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

After reading some of the threads likely inspired by this one and looking into what is/isn't the norm for public and private schools in my area, I'm wondering what colleges would think of a transcript with only 5 credits per year. As lame as my states requirements are that is below their required credits (22), even lower than local private schools minimum (25 & 26) and way below what is suggested for college prep students. If kids graduating from private schools normally have around 28 credits and some public schools others posted about require 8 credits per year isn't a homeschool transcript with only 20 credits going to look weak?

Edited July 16, 2010 by Cheryl in SoCal

[distancia]

If kids graduating from private schools normally have around 28 credits and some public schools others posted about require 8 credits per year isn't a homeschool transcript with only 20 credits going to look weak?

 

Cheryl, your child isn't going to have 20 credit/5 credits per year. You are going to give credits for coursework in classes other than the core requirement.

 

My D's public high school required 28 credits graduate, but only 18 of them are academic courses required for a rigorous college transcript: 4 English, 4 Math, 4 Science, 4 Social Studies, and 2 of foreign language. The non-college route requires only 4 English, 4 Math, 3 Science, 3 Social Studies (total: 14 academic). The remaining 14 are all electives!

 

HERE ARE SOME OF D's ACTUAL H/S electives: .5 credit, a half a year of PE--and in her public high school, there was a class called "Board Games and Recreational "(ping pong, Twister) that was a PE class! Journalism 1 consisted of going into the classroom everyday and reading newspapers (her choice which ones) on computer...she became an expert Crossword Puzzler. Mass/Media Communications was watching TV shows and movies in the classroom (again, on a computer via streaming) and then writing a 3 paragraph paper every 2 weeks about her favorite show/episode. She also got a full credit for volunteer work outside of school. A full year credit for "The High School Freshman Experience" which was nothing more than discussions among classmates about how to "cope" with high school, how to deal with peer pressure, how to research on the computer, memorizing the school song, discussing the upcoming football games and pep rally dates.

 

Do your children do anything besides schoolwork? Do they take music lessons? Do they dance? Do they belong to a choir? Do they paint/draw/make jewelery/do woodworking? Do they travel abroad? Will they take driver's ed? All of these will count as electives!

 

Hope this helps you see what is REALLY going on college transcripts! [And you all can clearly see why my D, now in her senior year, has chosen to NOT return to p/s!]

Edited July 18, 2010 by distancia

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Cheryl, your child isn't going to have 20 credit/5 credits per year. You are going to give credits for coursework in classes other than the core requirement.

 

My D's public high school required 28 credits graduate, but only 18 of them are academic courses required for a rigorous college transcript: 4 English, 4 Math, 4 Science, 4 Social Studies, and 2 of foreign language. The non-college route requires only 4 English, 4 Math, 3 Science, 3 Social Studies (total: 14 academic). The remaining 12 are all electives!

 

HERE ARE SOME OF D's ACTUAL H/S electives: .5 credit, a half a year of PE--and in her public high school, there was a class called "Board Games and Recreational "(ping pong, Twister) that was a PE class! Journalism 1 consisted of going into the classroom everyday and reading newspapers (her choice which ones) on computer...she became an expert Crossword Puzzler. Mass/Media Communications was watching TV shows and movies in the classroom (again, on a computer via streaming) and then writing a 3 paragraph paper every 2 weeks about her favorite show/episode. She also got a full credit for volunteer work outside of school. A full year credit for "The High School Freshman Experience" which was nothing more than discussions among classmates about how to "cope" with high school, how to deal with peer pressure, how to research on the computer, memorizing the school song, discussing the upcoming football games and pep rally dates.

 

Do your children do anything besides schoolwork? Do they take music lessons? Do they dance? Do they belong to a choir? Do they paint/draw/make jewelery/do woodworking? Do they travel abroad? Will they take driver's ed? All of these will count as electives!

 

Hope this helps you see what is REALLY going on college transcripts! [And you all can clearly see why my D, now in her senior year, has chosen to NOT return to p/s!]

So it's not about only having 5 credits/year on the transcript, it's about having only 5 core classes/year with additional credits on the transcript for electives, PE, etc? I thought the post as saying there should be only 5 credits taken and recorded on the transcript yearly.

[distancia]

So it's not about only having 5 credits/year on the transcript, it's about having only 5 core classes/year with additional credits on the transcript for electives, PE, etc? I thought the post as saying there should be only 5 credits taken and recorded on the transcript yearly.

 

Correct. She is saying 5 SUBJECTS, meaning (in my mind) 5 academic subjects, and keeping the remainder electives.

 

Of course, the electives could be an academic subject, but that might very well end up being a detractor from the efforts that should go into core subjects. i.e. if an elective is Mandarin, the effort the student puts into the Mandarin may well take up the energy that the child should be putting into advanced French or Spanish.

 

In other words it is better to have 90% knowledge in 5 areas than 70% knowledge 6 areas. Spreading oneself too thin is not a great idea.

 

Also, in my state (Florida) and most others that give state scholarships to the public universities, GPAs are used in the scholarship calculation, and GPAs from ONLY the core subjects--English, Math, Science, and Social Studies--are considered. The quantity of subjects is not considered, nor is the skill level (unfortunately). So many of our students take the easiest English, the easiest Math, the easiest Social Studies, etc. to keep up their GPAs and have better scholarship opportunities.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Correct. She is saying 5 SUBJECTS, meaning (in my mind) 5 academic subjects, and keeping the remainder electives.

 

Of course, the electives could be an academic subject, but that might very well end up being a detractor from the efforts that should go into core subjects. i.e. if an elective is Mandarin, the effort the student puts into the Mandarin may well take up the energy that the child should be putting into advanced French or Spanish.

 

In other words it is better to have 90% knowledge in 5 areas than 70% knowledge 6 areas. Spreading oneself too thin is not a great idea.

 

Also, in my state (Florida) and most others that give state scholarships to the public universities, GPAs are used in the scholarship calculation, and GPAs from ONLY the core subjects--English, Math, Science, and Social Studies--are considered. The quantity of subjects is not considered, nor is the skill level (unfortunately). So many of our students take the easiest English, the easiest Math, the easiest Social Studies, etc. to keep up their GPAs and have better scholarship opportunities.

Thanks, that makes a lot more sense! My ds is doing 8 credits but only has 5 core subjects. 2 of those credits are Bible and PE (which I list on our transcript but don't "count") and our history unit study generates the 1 elective credit so I guess we are doing what the OP suggested. I was imagining there only being 5 credits on the transcript every year:001_huh::lol:

[2cents]

I don't remember the original post but this is close to what we do. I have it broken down into: math, science, history, language arts, foreign language and misc. Then I rough sched the curriculum for the year and if there is more than one curriculum for a category then I can stagger them easier so that we aren't doing everything at once. We get the best of both worlds that way-keeping it simple yet we can use more curriculum.:001_smile:

[Tamarind]

I've graduated one daughter from our home school; in fact, she's graduated from college as well and completed her first year with Teach for America, teaching high school science. She never studied more than five academic subjects per year.

 

In all, this was the distribution of her credits:

Math-4

Science-4

English-4

Social Studies-3.5

Fine Arts-2

French-2

 

Since she took dance classes in grades 11 & 12, we asked her dance teacher to write a recommendation to document her P.E.

 

My daughter read widely outside her assigned reading, but we didn't document this or try to assign course credit for it. I thought reading for fun should be just that. Although my daughter was active in multiple music activities, we didn't seek course credit for music either.

 

I've never seen a college require more than 20 credits. High schools may choose to document things differently, but I like to keep things simple.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I've graduated one daughter from our home school; in fact, she's graduated from college as well and completed her first year with Teach for America, teaching high school science. She never studied more than five academic subjects per year.

 

In all, this was the distribution of her credits:

Math-4

Science-4

English-4

Social Studies-3.5

Fine Arts-2

French-2

 

Since she took dance classes in grades 11 & 12, we asked her dance teacher to write a recommendation to document her P.E.

 

My daughter read widely outside her assigned reading, but we didn't document this or try to assign course credit for it. I thought reading for fun should be just that. Although my daughter was active in multiple music activities, we didn't seek course credit for music either.

 

I've never seen a college require more than 20 credits. High schools may choose to document things differently, but I like to keep things simple.

My children also have 5 academic classes but with Bible, PE and electives it totals 8 on the transcript. Even if colleges don't have a minimum they are comparing our students' transcripts with other students' transcripts, which are going to have more than 20, many will have a lot more than 20. My history is a unit study which generates more than just a history credit, and I'm not about to leave them off my students transcripts when they have earned credit for them.

[EKS]

This is what we're doing, five academic subjects per year plus one or two electives. This year the electives will be health and violin.