How do I give this credit on his transcript?

[TheApprentice]

In the fall, ds will take Smarr's Survey in American Literature, Jensen's Grammar and Jensen's Punctuation, Word Within a Word, and Fairview's Guide to Composition. Smarr's is going to cover about 17 different literature choices and it seems a bit unfair to ds to just give 1 credit and call it English 9. The literature course itself is a years worth of work. So my concern is that I'll either short change my son's work or it'll look like I'm trying to pad his transcript if I give 2 credits. One credit for American Literature and 1 credit for English Comp. and Grammar.

 

What should I do?

[Ellie]

One credit for English.

 

Smarr looks very good, and if I were hsing again, I'd try to use it, but really, when I was in school, I read that much, and it was still one credit for English.

 

If you have to write course descriptions for college, you can include the titles of the works read.

[Musicmom]

If you call it English 9, it would not look good to give it more than one credit. Another option (which is what I did) would be to break it into 2 courses on the transcript, and put specific course titles with the appropriate credit for each. For example:

 

Survey of American Literature 1 credit

Grammar & Composition 9 .5 credit

 

Our lit courses were always a whole credit's worth of work in themselves, and then we did advanced grammar and a separate writing curriculum on top of that, so I felt it was worth the extra half-credit. I also liked having the more specific titles to highlight the kinds of lit we'd done.

[Jenny in Florida]

One credit for English.

 

I agree.

 

There are at least two conversations going on at the moment about English credits, and there is a variety of opinion. As I've said before, though, I don't want to do anything on my student's transcript that is going to cause any college admissions department to question whether the transcript has been padded. Since every high school I know of gives one credit for an English course that includes literature and composition, that is what I'm going to put on our transcripts, too.

 

Yes, it takes more time than some other classes. But for us, that's not the point.

[TheApprentice]

I understand that giving 1 credit is the conventional way, but usually high school students read 4 to 6 books in a year, whereas Smarr's is quite a bit more. So I guess that is where I'm not sure what to do. I do like your idea Musicmom, I may do this.

[1Togo]

Apprentice,

 

I agree, and I have been thinking about this as well. The English courses at our local high schools don't read anything like the Smarr course. Also, writing, grammar, etc. is often light unless it's a good AP course. We, also, do a heavy load for English, so I've been trying to decide how to award credits. .5 credit for English and 1 credit for a specific literature focus seems fair.

[Ellie]

I understand that giving 1 credit is the conventional way, but usually high school students read 4 to 6 books in a year, whereas Smarr's is quite a bit more. So I guess that is where I'm not sure what to do. I do like your idea Musicmom, I may do this.

Most literature anthologies include more than just whole books; they include short stories, poetry, and more. A well-rounded literature course does that. Reading 4 to 6 books is nothin'. I used to read more than that on my own, in addition to what I did in school. :-)

[abbeyej]

It sounds like a solid credit of English -- but not two. I think you underestimate what a *good* college prep English course in a school would cover. It should be novels and short stories (the Smarr list seems like a good mix, but there are only a handful of full-length works listed there), some review of grammar and usage concepts, continuing work with vocabulary (whether handled separately or in context of lit study), and writing.

 

That said, Smarr claims to including grammar, vocabulary, and writing. Are you doubling up with all of those extra materials, or are you replacing those aspects of the Smarr lesons?

[TheApprentice]

It sounds like a solid credit of English -- but not two. I think you underestimate what a *good* college prep English course in a school would cover. It should be novels and short stories (the Smarr list seems like a good mix, but there are only a handful of full-length works listed there), some review of grammar and usage concepts, continuing work with vocabulary (whether handled separately or in context of lit study), and writing.

 

That said, Smarr claims to including grammar, vocabulary, and writing. Are you doubling up with all of those extra materials, or are you replacing those aspects of the Smarr lesons?

 

Along with what Smarr's does, my ds is also going to do Word Within the Word for vocabulary, Jensen's Grammar and Jensen's Punctuation for grammar, and Fairview's Guide to Composition. I don't trust that Smarr's would have enough in this area, but then by adding these extras, it is more than 1 credit.:confused:

[abbeyej]

Well why not just eliminate the overlap from Smarr? Just do the literature portion of the class and replace the rest with the materials of your choice. Then you've got one credit and you don't have to worry if you think the Smarr grammar and vocab are sub-par. Just pull in the Guide to Composition to support the writing assignments in Smarr rather than doubling up.

[Jenny in Florida]

Most literature anthologies include more than just whole books; they include short stories, poetry, and more. A well-rounded literature course does that. Reading 4 to 6 books is nothin'. I used to read more than that on my own, in addition to what I did in school. :-)

 

I asked one of my kids' friends the other day how many books his class had been assigned this year in ninth grade (public school). The answer was nine, plus he had to read one additional book per quarter from a list. They also had a summer reading assignment before the year even started. So, his class read 14 books this year. And many of them weren't fluff. I know they read To Kill a Mockingbird and Animal Farm, as well as other good titles that elude me at the moment.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[Jenny in Florida]

Along with what Smarr's does, my ds is also going to do Word Within the Word for vocabulary, Jensen's Grammar and Jensen's Punctuation for grammar, and Fairview's Guide to Composition. I don't trust that Smarr's would have enough in this area, but then by adding these extras, it is more than 1 credit.:confused:

 

I mentioned on another thread that I wondered, too, if it is "legit" to give credit for things like punctuation at the high school level, when it seems to me those kinds of mechanical skills really should have been mastered before? Don't get me wrong: My son will be reviewing punctuation and spelling next year, because he needs to do so, but I don't really think he should be rewarded with an additional high school credit for the fact that he didn't learn that stuff in earlier years.

[TheApprentice]

Ok. I'll give 1 credit, but he still has to do everything.;)

[Jenny in Florida]

Ok. I'll give 1 credit, but he still has to do everything.;)

 

Yep! Mine, too!

[chepyl]

I dont remember everything from 9th grade, bit I know we had summer reading with a test on day one of school, 4 novels, a Greek tragedy, Julius Caesar, Illiad and the Odyssey, short stories, at least one novel that we read aloud in class, vocabulary, grammar review, several papers, weekly tests on grammar and vocabulary, plus all the stiff I can't remember. I would do one credit.

[Nscribe]

Yep! Mine, too!

 

Mine three! She will simply be doing more work than might otherwise be a credit, but I think it will benefit her to do so. I would much rather put the extra time in for 9th grade, than wait and try to conjole/pry/force the same out of an older teen.

 

English as a 9th grade course may well wind up taking two credits worth of time. I would just rather see it early in the high school game, than later.