Rigorous Course Study for Highschool

[TheApprentice]

My ds is 13 and will be in 8th grade next year. He went to school for elementary, I'm home schooling for middle school, and he's not sure if he wants to go to high school. This ds wants to go into engineering, so could anyone share their 9th - 12th grade course load that is very math/science driven and rigorous? I'm doing research now because time is moving fast, and we need to make a decision, because I will be designing next year's curriculum based on what he will do for high school.:001_unsure:

[Teachin'Mine]

Math isn't one of those things that you can rush or skip ahead in - in my opinion. So the best way to plan is to figure out where he is in math, and what level he'll likely be on in 9th. Then when you know what math he'll have, you can plan for science accordingly. Plans have to be flexible as you don't know for sure where his strengths or interests will lie in another few years.

 

Generally a good physical science, or integrated science, course in 8th will put them at biology in 9th as it doesn't have any math pre-requisite. If he's beyond algebra I in 9th, then he can do chemistry or physics first depending on how far along in math he is. There's other options as well. You can do a conceptual physics class which has little math and can be done before or concurrent with algebra I.

 

We're doing physics first, followed by chemistry and biology.

[kiana]

It might be a good idea to share where he is at the moment in math and science.

 

For engineering school:

It is absolutely imperative that he is totally, completely, 100% rock-solid in his algebra and trigonometry. He should be taking math every year, with a rigorous course (there are too many courses to list each individually). If he has the opportunity to take the AP calculus, that's very good -- but don't skimp on the algebra and trig to get there. If he isn't making solid B's (say 85% on exams with very few conceptual errors) at the end of precalculus, I'd rework precalculus rather than rushing to calculus. If he's weak in algebra/trig, he'll be floundering all the way through.

 

The biology course should be decent, the chemistry and physics courses should be very solid and involve math as the courses he will be required to take at university will involve loads of math. If he has the time and opportunity to AP in Chemistry or Physics C (I wouldn't do Phys B as most engineering schools require calc-based physics), this could lighten his first year's courseload as engineering courses are notoriously overloaded.

 

Many engineering schools now require or strongly recommend economics as a general education course. It may be a good idea to get some exposure before engineering school.

 

Some exposure to computer programming, in any language whatsoever, but serious programming, would be a great idea as most of the engineering schools do *lots* of programming to solve complex problems.

[Julie in MN]

Here's a good thread for ya

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221374&highlight=engineer

[regentrude]

The single most important skill for him will be math, particularly a solid algebra and trigonometry knowledge. It is good to have calculus, but many schools prefer their stuents to not test out of calc 1 and take the whole sequence at college.

Having rigorous science courses is nice, but not as essential as absolutely rock solid math. I am teaching introductiry physics for engineers and scientists, and students who struggle usually do so because their math preparation is inadequate; not having had physics before makes it harder, but does not seem to be as big an issue.

 

We are aiming at a rigorous math/science highschool education for our kids. DD has taken algebra in 7th, is taking geometry and algebra 2 in 8th grade and will progress through algebra 3 with trigonometry, precalculus and calculus by the time she graduates.

We are skipping physical science and started with actual biology in 7th grade, algebra based physics in 8th grade, and will take chemistry, AP bio and calculus based physics during highschool.

 

This may not be helpful for you; you need to evaluate where your son stands in math and take it from there because you can't skip steps and can't rush.