Are these enough credits for 10th grade?

[mjbucks1]

I was wondering if 6 credits is enough for 10th grade.  This is what I have planned so far for ds:

 

AP Physics B (through PA Homeschoolers)

AP Latin (through Lukeion)

TOG Year 3 English

TOG Year 3 History

Precalculus/Calculus (finishing the Saxon Advanced Mathematics book and then moving on to calculus)

Debate (rigorous homeschool speech and debate club)

 

   Ds also swims, and practices 4-5 days/week for 3 hours.  Last year ds had 7 credits (AP Chem, AP Comp Sci, TOG Year 2 for history and English, Latin III, precalculus, and debate).  While he did very well, he had his "nose to the grindstone" all year, working on homework nearly all day Saturdays and half the day on Sundays.  He hasn't complained too much, but I would like him to have a little more down time next year if possible.

   I have looked at several colleges with regards to prerequisites, and he will have 4 years of all core courses (more if you include high school level courses taken in middle school), but I want to make sure I am not missing something.  I just don't want 6 credits to look like a "weak" year on his transcript.  I also know he will need a few more electives, like a fine arts credit and possibly a health class, but we can fit those in easier next year or senior year.

   Thanks in advance for any imput offered!!

 

Michelle 

[Ellie]

Six courses each year is plenty, IMHO.

[Julie of KY]

Your schedule looks fine. The rigor of the course will stand out.

[Nscribe]

A 10th grade year AP Physics B, AP Latin and Precalc/Calc is a challenging year regardless of the rest of the courses being taken (debate, history and English).  I would be very reluctant to add anything further, especially given his swim schedule.  Cummulatively, he will have completed 4 AP's before entering his Junior year in a variety of areas.  He is on track to present a very impressive body of work.

[mjbucks1]

Thank you all!  I was thinking this schedule was o.k., but I just wanted to double check :D!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I was wondering if 6 credits is enough for 10th grade.  This is what I have planned so far for ds:

 

AP Physics B (through PA Homeschoolers)

AP Latin (through Lukeion)

TOG Year 3 English

TOG Year 3 History

Precalculus/Calculus (finishing the Saxon Advanced Mathematics book and then moving on to calculus)

Debate (rigorous homeschool speech and debate club)

 

   Ds also swims, and practices 4-5 days/week for 3 hours.  Last year ds had 7 credits (AP Chem, AP Comp Sci, TOG Year 2 for history and English, Latin III, precalculus, and debate).  While he did very well, he had his "nose to the grindstone" all year, working on homework nearly all day Saturdays and half the day on Sundays.  He hasn't complained too much, but I would like him to have a little more down time next year if possible.

   I have looked at several colleges with regards to prerequisites, and he will have 4 years of all core courses (more if you include high school level courses taken in middle school), but I want to make sure I am not missing something.  I just don't want 6 credits to look like a "weak" year on his transcript.  I also know he will need a few more electives, like a fine arts credit and possibly a health class, but we can fit those in easier next year or senior year.

   Thanks in advance for any imput offered!!

 

Michelle 

 

I think the classes for 10th grade look pretty good.  Definitely high level work.

 

If your ds is hoping to swim in college, have you looked at the NCAA eligibility requirements for homeschoolers.  Students need 16 credits in core subjects.  Online courses are only acceptable if they have gone through the NCAA review process to be blessed as "non-traditional courses."  I haven't kept up with PA Homeschoolers' status, but Lukeion has not gone through this process, and does not have it on their to do list.  (Which is not intended as a slam on Lukeion.  I generally agree with their assessment that NCAA's hoops are a less important use of finite time and resources than developing and offering classes.  But it does mean that I can't just check a box with their Latin courses.) 

 

You might want to tally up the courses that would fall into the core course category and make sure you won't have trouble with the NCAA worksheets for homeschoolers.

 

What about stretching our a Fine Arts credit over several years?  I know that we rarely get useful work done in the car driving to and from swimming.  My son is willing, but he's either not really awake or too knackered to retain something like a Teaching Company lecture.  But I'm thinking that we could do a composer of the month and listen to that in the car.

[mjbucks1]

If your ds is hoping to swim in college, have you looked at the NCAA eligibility requirements for homeschoolers. Students need 16 credits in core subjects. Online courses are only acceptable if they have gone through the NCAA review process to be blessed as "non-traditional courses." I haven't kept up with PA Homeschoolers' status, but Lukeion has not gone through this process, and does not have it on their to do list. (Which is not intended as a slam on Lukeion. I generally agree with their assessment that NCAA's hoops are a less important use of finite time and resources than developing and offering classes. But it does mean that I can't just check a box with their Latin courses.)

 

I am not sure if he is going to swim in college or not, but I am aware of the NCAA requirements.  I know Lukeion is not approved, but his credits should be fine without Latin (he has a few highschool courses from 8th grade, but even without those he should still be fine).  I checked earlier this year, and PA Homeschoolers was on the NCAA list of approved courses.  I must add that I think it is ridiculous that I could "teach" Latin at home (without any credentials) and the NCAA considers this fine, but Mrs. Barr's course is not.  I don't blame her for not jumping through the hoops, either!   

[at the beach]

A 10th grade year AP Physics B, AP Latin and Precalc/Calc is a challenging year regardless of the rest of the courses being taken (debate, history and English). I would be very reluctant to add anything further, especially given his swim schedule. Cummulatively, he will have completed 4 AP's before entering his Junior year in a variety of areas. He is on track to present a very impressive body of work.

I agree! Very impressive schedule. And since you are trying give him more breathing room, I would defintitely resist adding anything else. Best wishes for a great year! :)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I am not sure if he is going to swim in college or not, but I am aware of the NCAA requirements. I know Lukeion is not approved, but his credits should be fine without Latin (he has a few highschool courses from 8th grade, but even without those he should still be fine). I checked earlier this year, and PA Homeschoolers was on the NCAA list of approved courses. I must add that I think it is ridiculous that I could "teach" Latin at home (without any credentials) and the NCAA considers this fine, but Mrs. Barr's course is not. I don't blame her for not jumping through the hoops, either!

I'm with you on the silliness of the NCAA requirements. We loved our year with Dr Fisher. NCAA gets too wrapped up in trying to control any and all fraud and has tossed the baby out with the bathwater.

I don't know if my swimmer will end up swimming in college but I'm keeping doors open. I figure if 4+ courses a year meet the core requirements then we're ok.

[TechWife]

I was wondering if 6 credits is enough for 10th grade.  This is what I have planned so far for ds:

 

AP Physics B (through PA Homeschoolers)

AP Latin (through Lukeion)

TOG Year 3 English

TOG Year 3 History

Precalculus/Calculus (finishing the Saxon Advanced Mathematics book and then moving on to calculus)

Debate (rigorous homeschool speech and debate club)

 

   Ds also swims, and practices 4-5 days/week for 3 hours.  

 

 

First, yes. Six credits is enough for tenth grade.

 

Is your son an exceptional student? I'm just concerned about all of the high level classes he will be taking. AP courses are college level (or are supposed to be). Calculus is typically a course for high school seniors (at least in my area). TOG is known to be a rigorous program as well.

 

If you use the "rule of thumb" for two hours per day for a college class, then you are looking at this level of work for him, daily: 

2 hours for AP Physics

2 hours for AP Latin

1 hour for TOG English

1 hour for TOG History

1 hour for Pre-Calc/Calc

3 hours for swimming

1 hour for debate (that would be the minimum for competitive speech & debate from what I have observed)

 

That's 11 hours of work a day for a 15-16 year old boy. Is that acceptable for your family's goals and for his goals? If not, consider switching at least one of his courses out for a less demanding one. 

[Luckymama]

First, yes. Six credits is enough for tenth grade.

 

Is your son an exceptional student? I'm just concerned about all of the high level classes he will be taking. AP courses are college level (or are supposed to be). Calculus is typically a course for high school seniors (at least in my area). TOG is known to be a rigorous program as well.

 

If you use the "rule of thumb" for two hours per day for a college class, then you are looking at this level of work for him, daily:

2 hours for AP Physics

2 hours for AP Latin

1 hour for TOG English

1 hour for TOG History

1 hour for Pre-Calc/Calc

3 hours for swimming

1 hour for debate (that would be the minimum for competitive speech & debate from what I have observed)

 

That's 11 hours of work a day for a 15-16 year old boy. Is that acceptable for your family's goals and for his goals? If not, consider switching at least one of his courses out for a less demanding one.

11 hours including two extracurriculars seems perfectly normal to me, after having two students go through high school.

[TechWife]

11 hours including two extracurriculars seems perfectly normal to me, after having two students go through high school.

 

I'm not questioning the cultural normalcy. I'm just  pointing out to the OP how much time they have committed for their student. Just because something is culturally normal, doesn't mean it's appropriate for a particular student or family. The OP expressed that they wanted their student to have a more down time this academic year, after all. 

[Catwoman]

I would gently suggest that if your ds had to work on his homework for most of the weekend last year, perhaps you were overdoing things and trying to challenge him too much, so while it's good to hear that you're cutting back a bit this coming year, the courses you have chosen may still be a bit excessive. (I'm not talking about the number of classes, just the amount of work involved in them.)

 

It just seems like an awful lot. What are his goals for the future? Does he have specific universities in mind that will require the level of work you're requiring of him?

 

I don't know your ds, so I have no idea how he feels about being so heavily committed to school and activities, but if I had been in his situation in 9th or 10th grade, I would have burned out very quickly. It doesn't sound like there is a reasonable balance between schoolwork/activities and free time. I may be in the minority here, but I think free time is incredibly important for kids of all ages.

[Teachin'Mine]

IMO his schedule looks good! He's clearly a very capable student and likely works more quickly than others might. He probably also is aiming for very competitive schools. Course load and rigour matters for admission and for prep for handling the more demanding university classes. I would think that physics and Latin might take less than 2 hours and math might take more than 1 hour, so I'm not sure it would be as many hours as suggested. The beauty of homeschooling is that the course assignments can always be adjusted as necessary. IMO 10th grade is the time to ramp up in prep for college classes in 11th and 12th. JMO

 

To answer your original question, yes it's enough.

[mjbucks1]

I realize that for some teens, this schedule seems quite rigorous.  But I do want to assure everyone that DS is accademically gifted, has chosen his classes, and wants to continue to swim, even though I have explained how much more free time he would have without swimming.   In fact, yesterday evening he told me how he is ready for AP Latin to start.  He loves Mrs. Barr at Lukeion!  I have also continually asked him if he wants to switch to something other than TOG, but he assures me he enjoys TOG and wants to stay the course (this is our 3rd year using TOG, BTW).  And ds absolutely LOVES debate, and since he took debate last year he is well aware of the time requirements. 

Ds is aiming to major in computer science and engineering at a competitive school, and he is well aware of the requirements.  He already has fantastic ACT/PSAT scores, and did very well in his two AP classes last year, so I think this is a realistic goal.  I do think having one less class this year will give him more free time.  However, the biggest "time eater" is swimming, which he absolutely loves.  Ds will be 16 soon, and I think it is important to give teens a choice in their activities and allow them to manage their time wisely.  I do not want ds to burn out, and that is why we continually discuss his course load and activities to make sure he is handling everything well. 

Thank you all for your replies!

 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I hear you on the time commitment. With travel 3 hours stretches to 4 and weekends melt away when meets start.

I had to slack my grip on reading somewhat and let my swimmer do more books as audio and teaching company lectures.

Sounds like you've got a great kid. If you're in the DC are pm me. I'd love to meet another homeschool swim family.