Susan of Croton Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 With a rising 7 and 8th grade HS students in Ossining, NY, I am thinking of various options as I plan for next year including offering 8th grade Earth Sciences with an eye toward preparing them for a NY State Regent's exam. My understanding is that for SUNY admissions, a Certified Diploma is needed, which, if it is a diploma issued by Mom, needs 5 passing scores on Regent's Exams. Is it a worthy goal to interrupt my classical approach to, in essence, teach to this test at this time? After all, SUNY may not even be their destination, and my diploma would suffice for admission to other universities. Second, if I decide to enrol the kids in a NY public high school in 9th grade or beyond, would their lack of any Regent's preparation prove a handicap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 With a rising 7 and 8th grade HS students in Ossining, NY, I am thinking of various options as I plan for next year including offering 8th grade Earth Sciences with an eye toward preparing them for a NY State Regent's exam. My understanding is that for SUNY admissions, a Certified Diploma is needed, which, if it is a diploma issued by Mom, needs 5 passing scores on Regent's Exams. Is it a worthy goal to interrupt my classical approach to, in essence, teach to this test at this time? After all, SUNY may not even be their destination, and my diploma would suffice for admission to other universities. Second, if I decide to enrol the kids in a NY public high school in 9th grade or beyond, would their lack of any Regent's preparation prove a handicap? Hi Susan, Regents are not required for entrance to SUNY schools. There are 5 ways to show high school completion that are recognized by the State Board of Regents: 1. Superintendent's letter: This option is to get a letter from the super that says you've followed the 100.10 Regs and reported for all 4 years of high school. 2. 24 Credits in College: Once in college the students take college courses with a spread of credits across several disciplines. 3. Go to college and take the 24 credits and get an equivalency diploma 4. Take the GED 5. Take and pass 5 Regents to show equivalency. Regarding your second question: Once in a public high school, your child will be able to take the Regent exams s/he missed. We have several friends whose children studied for and passed the Algebra Regent when they entered PS. They had taken Algebra at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Hi Susan,Regents are not required for entrance to SUNY schools. There are 5 ways to show high school completion that are recognized by the State Board of Regents: 1. Superintendent's letter: This option is to get a letter from the super that says you've followed the 100.10 Regs and reported for all 4 years of high school. 2. 24 Credits in College: Once in college the students take college courses with a spread of credits across several disciplines. 3. Go to college and take the 24 credits and get an equivalency diploma 4. Take the GED 5. Take and pass 5 Regents to show equivalency. Regarding your second question: Once in a public high school, your child will be able to take the Regent exams s/he missed. We have several friends whose children studied for and passed the Algebra Regent when they entered PS. They had taken Algebra at home. :iagree::iagree: This is correct information. My kids never took a regent....older 3 went to college....oldest 2 have graduated from college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschickie Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Susan as the other posters have said you do not need to take the Regents if you are homeschooling. You can do the Regents exams if you choose but they are not necessary. The other thing is that for the science Regents there is a lab component. Many districts will not take homeschooler's lab work for this portion of the test. The state has specific lab work that need to be done and a certain number of labs. Personally I would not worry about it. Your children should have no problem getting into a state school as long as you have your letter of completion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 My son never took any regents exams or any outside classes: he went the super's letter route. Anyways, he was accepted to Geneseo, Oneonta, and Binghamton SUNY's with no problems, but opted on Siena. Myra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nynyny Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 With a rising 7 and 8th grade HS students in Ossining, NY, I am thinking of various options as I plan for next year including offering 8th grade Earth Sciences with an eye toward preparing them for a NY State Regent's exam. My understanding is that for SUNY admissions, a Certified Diploma is needed, which, if it is a diploma issued by Mom, needs 5 passing scores on Regent's Exams. Is it a worthy goal to interrupt my classical approach to, in essence, teach to this test at this time? After all, SUNY may not even be their destination, and my diploma would suffice for admission to other universities. Second, if I decide to enrol the kids in a NY public high school in 9th grade or beyond, would their lack of any Regent's preparation prove a handicap? If your student plans to major in the sciences, taking Regents exams can be worthwhile. Unless your student has an interest in environmental sciences, I wouldn't bother with Earth Science though as not only does your child have to complete 1200 minutes of lab time, but he must also complete a lab practical at the public school (unless things have changed in the last few years). The lab practical must be done in the school under teacher supervision. There is no way around it. My ds did it, but we are not bothering with it for my dd. The Regents chemistry exam is easy to score 100%, as it is entirely composed of past years' exam questions. Our district accepted ds' lab book from Mr. Moskaluk's honors chem class with no problem. Your student could also take the SAT subject exam in which he only needs to place at the 18% (of test takers) for Chemistry, 21/15% for Bio E/M, 13% for Physics, to reach Regents equivalency, as long as he has the 1200 lab minutes documented and approved. I contacted the state dept. to check on these numbers and they are correct! So far, in ds' experience, NYS adcoms have shown more interest in his Regents Chem exam grade than in his SAT Chem subject test score. http://www.nysut.org/files/bulletin100225_regentsalternatives.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anne1456 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 For homeschoolers taking Regents exams is not necessary, and taking science regents can be difficult. A student is not even allowed to sit for the science exams without 1200 documented lab minutes. Depending on your school district getting your lab minutes certified could be a long and drawn out process, so unless your school district has dealt with this before I probably wouldn't bother. Honestly I wouldn't bother with Earth Science at all, if you are determined to do a science regents the Bio or Chem ones make more sense. As for enrolling them in 9th grade or later I don't think it would be a problem. Regents exams aren't that difficult, and the class preparation should be sufficient. If you think you might enroll your children for high school you might want to have them sit for the Algebra regents if they have already done algebra, so they could start in Geometry in 9th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykatie Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 The NY Dept. of Ed. allows you to substitute other exams for regents for the 5-test option, too. Here's the link (hope it works!): http://www.p12.nysed.gov/apda/hsgen/archive/list.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Well, as someone who has a Regents Diploma I can't say it has been a door opener but if I recall correctly it did help with the SUNY system. Not having any prep prior to 9th grade will not make a difference in their ability to pass a regents class and the exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 The NY Dept. of Ed. allows you to substitute other exams for regents for the 5-test option, too. Here's the link (hope it works!): http://www.p12.nysed.gov/apda/hsgen/archive/list.pdf Thanks! I didn't know this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nynyny Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 You don't need to take the Regents exam in your school district. You may take it at any NYS school--we have used two different schools. Getting the lab book looked over doesn't take long--just find a cooperative teacher and you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan of Croton Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Thanks to all who posted on this thread with reassurance and experience. I am ready to tackle this stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I didn't know sitting a regents exam was even an option for homeschoolers. I was under the impression you had to be enrolled etc. Hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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