Guest Liezl Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I am a South African living in Zambia. For my children to go to university in South Africa, they will need a recognized matriculation certificate. Unfortunatly, Sonlight isn't. After investigating some options, it seems my best bet is to do University of Cambridge's AS levels for Grade 12. Has anyone done this? How did you do it? Did you combine Sonlight with AS levels? Any advice? Thank you for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Hello I haven't done AS levels, but I did IGCSEs with Calvin, so I understand how the system works. The problem with trying to combine with Sonlight is that AS levels have a very specific curriculum, laid down by the exam-setting board (company). So, for example, if the AS syllabus says you have to study Wuthering Heights, you can't substitute a Sonlight book, because the exam questions will not line up. How many AS levels do you need for university entrance? And how closely do they have to relate to the course your child wants to study? What I did with IGCSEs was to do them in some subjects but not all, so that I had time to teach some areas more flexibly. AS levels are more time consuming, however, so I don't know whether that is possible. Just for reference, a standard university-bound pattern in the UK would be: Age 16-17: study for and take five AS subject exams Age 17-18: pick three of these AS subjects to continue studying to A2 level. One thing that I have heard about the high school levels of Sonlight is that Sarita did not actually teach her own children through that level: they all went to school for high school. This may or may not matter to you, and it may or may not make a difference to the effectiveness of the materials. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liezl Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 South African universities require 4 AS levels and 1 IGCSE OR 5 AS levels. Did you do Sonlight prior to Cambridge? How did your child transition? Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I am a Sonlight user and while we are not preparing for IGCSE and AS levels several of my friends are. The first thing you need to do is identify which exams your child needs to take for their degree. I suspect some of these will not be the Sonlight prepared courses but the Apologia sciences and the maths. Some of the Syllabus can be downloaded on line I think. I would do that first and see what you need to cover. For the sciences I know Apologia appears to be an odd mix for the GCSE not IGCSE exams. A science teacher friend is constantly amazed at the mixed presentation of the books compared to the Syllabus. As he puts it when working with my kids they have bits from every level including University level. Apparently my dds science vocabulary is highly impressive. After doing a comparison with what they have already done and the Syllabus then order the coursework. There seems to be alot of choice as to which text according to a friend. Our family is taking the US route. Maybe a couple of exams here. Science and Maths most likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) South African universities require 4 AS levels and 1 IGCSE OR 5 AS levels. Did you do Sonlight prior to Cambridge? How did your child transition? Thanks for your help! ... then carried vaguely Sonlight style (for example, SOTW and lots of historical/classical fiction). As they got older, I used more text books - Galore Park, which feeds into the GCSE system. The three things that we needed to work on were: - understanding the rigidity of the style needed for exam taking. For GCSE, in order to get the information down in the time allowed, each paragraph had to rattle through in a particular formula (say it, back it up, expand it). - getting used to taking exams at all - accepting that the syllabus was strict and the only way to get good marks was to learn exactly what was in it. The examiners' reports for previous years (normally available on the exam board websites) were particularly helpful in allowing us to see the detail of what we needed to do to pass the exams. If you want to do science AS levels, it would be good to check now what practical requirements they entail to achieve the qualification. I know that it's difficult for UK home educators to achieve them, but I think the international versions make it easier. Laura Edited October 31, 2012 by Laura Corin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 The South Africans I know who have done Sonlight have used the program for primary school, but then switched to Cambridge textbooks along the way for high school. As Laura said, there is a very specific curriculum that needs to be covered and also specific ways to answer questions in a 'Cambridge style' for the exams. Most of the homeschoolers we know have done IGCSE before going onto AS levels. Thisyahoo group is for South Africans doing CIE at home. Quite a number of the people on the group started off with Sonlight. We did not use Sonlight, but have followed a literature rich route for primary school (Story of the world with loads of supplementary readers, "living books" for science, etc.). To ease into more formal study from textbooks and to experience writing exams for the firt time, my daughter has just started with pre-IGSCE (Cambridge Checkpoint exams) in English, Maths and Science. She will be writing the exams at the end of next year for grade 9. We'll continue doing our own Afrikaans, history (WTM style), art and music appreciation, logic, etc. She hasn't chosen her subjects for IGCSE yet and I don't know hom much additional time she will have to do anything extra when she does start. For the first time, I'm using a 'boxed' curriculum and we've gone with CLEducation.co.za. They provide study guides based on the prescribed textbooks, tutoring help, exam preparatin guidance, etc. I needed the hand holding to understand how it all works, but I can already see us going it alone next year. I've just gone through the research process, so please feel free to ask if you have more questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liezl Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Thank you all for your helpful hints, tips and advice. For now I needed to work out which route I would go and how to go about it, but I am sure as time goes by I will have more questions :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liezl Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I wonder how CLEducation compares with BIDC? (referring to quality of service more than price) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I wonder how CLEducation compares with BIDC? (referring to quality of service more than price) I've sent you a private message in reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 We have just started down the path of the Cambridge International Exams (CIE). My son will do 1 IGCSE exam next year (equivalent of year 11 in NZ and 10th grade in USA). We are starting early, so that I can teach him *how* to study for them. You absolutely positively need to get a text that is written for the exam you want to take. The CIE curriculum is specific, and although you might be able to pass the Chemistry exam if you use a non-IGCSE chemistry textbook, you would not do much better than a pass. There is just stuff that you have to memorize that you might not find in other textbooks. If you decide to go this route, you are committing yourself to their interpretation of what should go into each year's study. You just are. You cannot do Sonlight and then take an AS English exam, you will fail. What I like about CIE is that it is well respected worldwide and for a good reason. The exams are difficult and require quite a bit of study. If you are not interested in following the specific curriculum put out by Cambridge, then you should look for a different path to university entrance. I can't help a lot now as we have just started down the path, but so far I am impressed with what I have seen. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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