Revised 9th grade plans- better?

[DragonFaerie]

Okay, I have revised and (I hope) finalized our plans for 9th grade.  I have this down as 8 credits.  How does this look now?

 

English I: Language and Composition- 1 credit (Easy Grammar 9; Sentence Composing for High School; The Lively Art of Writing; The Creative Writer I; Marie's Words for vocabulary)

              

Intro to Literature- 1 credit (Windows to the World; Excellence in Literature I with Honors option)

 

Algebra 1- 1 credit (Saxon)

 

Biology- 1 credit (Kolbe Biology)

 

World Geography- 1 credit (Expedition Earth, Smithsonian’s Geography Encyclopedia, Mapping the World With Art)

 

Logic- 0.5 credit (1 semester; The Art of Argument)

 

P. E.- 0.5 credit (0.25 credit per semester; dance company, 5 hrs. per week)

 

Electives:

Intro to Music History and Appreciation- 1 credit (Accent on Composers, Idiots Guide to Music History, This Day in Music, Amazing Musical Instruments

 

Music Theory I- 1 credit (Alfred’s Essentials of Music Theory)

 

(I have no qualms with awarding two elective credits for music because in addition to this curriculum she will also be doing 3.5 hours per week of music instruction from band, private clarinet lessons, and private theory/piano/voice lessons.  Between all the instruction and the curriculum, she’ll have more than enough hours to justify the credits.  And as she wants to major in music in college, it makes sense.)

 

[GoodGrief]

I missed your other thread, so not sure what the original plan was.  This is certainly not lacking in any way.  Personally, I'd give her a full credit (0.5 per semester) for the dance, if it's 5 hours/week (and probably additional for performances/comps, I assume?) I don't think you need to apologize for the music credits!  I fully believe in giving the kids credit for what they are doing, and music programs will probably want to see that on her transcript.

 

I'm not sure that she requires two different language arts courses, but you may have addressed that in the other thread.  I'd consider substituting one of those for a foreign language, so she could get four years of that.  The math, science, and social studies are a solid plan. 

[DragonFaerie]

I missed your other thread, so not sure what the original plan was.  This is certainly not lacking in any way.  Personally, I'd give her a full credit (0.5 per semester) for the dance, if it's 5 hours/week (and probably additional for performances/comps, I assume?) I don't think you need to apologize for the music credits!  I fully believe in giving the kids credit for what they are doing, and music programs will probably want to see that on her transcript.

 

I'm not sure that she requires two different language arts courses, but you may have addressed that in the other thread.  I'd consider substituting one of those for a foreign language, so she could get four years of that.  The math, science, and social studies are a solid plan. 

 

I thought about giving her a half credit for dance, but I wasn't sure if that would be "standard" for a P. E. credit.  And yes, that doesn't include extra practices for performance weeks.

 

I also wasn't sure about the two language arts credits, but she needs extra work in writing.  And given the amount of work/curriculum I have planned for that, I thought it warranted it's own course.  But I also didn't want to not do literature, hence the two classes.  For what it's worth, this is the only year she'll have two.  After 9th, we'll just be doing straight literature classes only.

 

As for the language, she's going to do three years of Gaelic (her choice).  I didn't have her start on it in 9th because she's already got a pretty full load, especially with the extra language arts course.  For 10th, she'll only have literature and probably will only have one music elective, so I thought that would be a better time to start on the foreign language and not overload her right out of the gate.

[Kareni]

My thoughts echo Gr8lander's in the heaviness of the English load.  I'd be tempted to pare that down to 1.5 credits at most and begin the foreign language if at all possible.

 

If PE is not required by your state (it's not in mine), I'd consider dance as an extracurricular activity.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[DragonFaerie]

My thoughts echo Gr8lander's in the heaviness of the English load.  I'd be tempted to pare that down to 1.5 credits at most and begin the foreign language if at all possible.

 

If PE is not required by your state (it's not in mine), I'd consider dance as an extracurricular activity.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

P. E. is not required in my state, but why should I not give her credit for it?

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I agree with Kareni-if PE isn't required just skip it.  Dance probably looks better as an extracurricular anyway.  Conventional thinking being if you give class credit for dance it is no longer able to be listed as an extra curricular and you don't want to look weak in that area either.  I'd go with it as an EC.  Plus many admissions folks dismiss non-academic classes so PE isn't always considered in admissions.

 

English I:  If you intend to complete those all in full--that is a ton of work.  I'd pare down to 1 grammar, 1 vocab and 1 writing.  They should be getting writing experience across the curriculum at this point too.

 

English Lit:  Trying to do both Windows and EIL Honors in 1 year is nearly a double load. 

 

I'd consider beginning a foreign language.  As I have kids who are taking an oddball foreign language too, I would advise you to look at how Gaelic would play out in the language requirements of any college programs she is considering.  It can either make it a great and interesting choice or end up resulting in needing more language credits in college.  Also-depending on her specialization in music in college she may need a particular foreign language to satisfy that major.  I'd be checking into that now as well.  For example-back in the day vocal performance used to require French, German or Italian I think.  I'm not sure how it plays out in other specialties.

 

For music theory-I would encourage you to check out the requirements for AP Music Theory early on and consider scheduling courses to prepare for that class/exam.  Given her prospective major that might be useful to have.

 

[DragonFaerie]

I agree with Kareni-if PE isn't required just skip it.  Dance probably looks better as an extracurricular anyway.  Conventional thinking being if you give class credit for dance it is no longer able to be listed as an extra curricular and you don't want to look weak in that area either.  I'd go with it as an EC.  Plus many admissions folks dismiss non-academic classes so PE isn't always considered in admissions.

 

English I:  If you intend to complete those all in full--that is a ton of work.  I'd pare down to 1 grammar, 1 vocab and 1 writing.  They should be getting writing experience across the curriculum at this point too.

 

English Lit:  Trying to do both Windows and EIL Honors in 1 year is nearly a double load. 

 

I'd consider beginning a foreign language.  As I have kids who are taking an oddball foreign language too, I would advise you to look at how Gaelic would play out in the language requirements of any college programs she is considering.  It can either make it a great and interesting choice or end up resulting in needing more language credits in college.  Also-depending on her specialization in music in college she may need a particular foreign language to satisfy that major.  I'd be checking into that now as well.  For example-back in the day vocal performance used to require French, German or Italian I think.  I'm not sure how it plays out in other specialties.

 

For music theory-I would encourage you to check out the requirements for AP Music Theory early on and consider scheduling courses to prepare for that class/exam.  Given her prospective major that might be useful to have.

 

Ah, thanks.  That makes sense about PE vs. EC.  About the English I and English Lit, I'm not sure we'll do all of everything I have planned.  The Creative Writer may fall by the wayside, for example, if she decides she doesn't want to do that.  And some of the EIL will be done over summers, too.  I won't be calling it honors on her transcript, I don't think.  I just listed honors here because we'll be using some of the honors choices instead of some of the regular books.

 

You also make a good point about the FL.  That's kind of another reason for me to put it off a year.  I'm hoping maybe she'll change her mind about what to do by then. 

 

 

[Grantmom]

I hope this isn't off topic of the OP, but I wanted to chime in and ask about PE.  Does it really matter if PE is required by your state?  I mean, how would that affect your college application?  I really hate the idea of jumping through all these hoops, like making a credit for PE, when really we are just active people who do a lot of physical activities as part of our lives because we love to do them.  My kids hike, bike, camp, rock climb, play a competitive sport that is a huge time commitment, etc.  So, do I need to make some part of that into a PE credit? 

[Mom22ns]

I hope this isn't off topic of the OP, but I wanted to chime in and ask about PE.  Does it really matter if PE is required by your state?  I mean, how would that affect your college application?  I really hate the idea of jumping through all these hoops, like making a credit for PE, when really we are just active people who do a lot of physical activities as part of our lives because we love to do them.  My kids hike, bike, camp, rock climb, play a competitive sport that is a huge time commitment, etc.  So, do I need to make some part of that into a PE credit? 

 

Some states have actual requirements for homeschooler to graduate. If you aren't in one of them, then no, you don't need to worry about that at all. There are no such requirements here. The only thing I look at are college entrance requirements. We have found some state universities have a PE requirement. Would they wave it? Possibly, but if the college your child wants to attend has PE on their list of required subjects, it might be worth creating a PE credit. If not, it is generally better to have a good list of EC activities and interests rather than trying to make every moment of life count as credit :).

[Grantmom]

Do some people create different transcripts for different college applications?  As in, including different things that might relevant to that particular college, but not to others?  I just looked at three popular state universities in my area, and none of them say anything about PE.  

 

Maybe, if the college doesn't require PE, just including a note on the transcript that comments about health and fitness were a part of daily life and were incorporated into leisure and learning activities all the time?

[Haiku]

Eight credits is a lot. From what I have heard, college admissions officers are often skeptical of homeschoolers who try to pack in the credits because they just assume that the course wasn't very rigorous. Trying to take 8 credits in a standard high school would be very difficult.

 

I would drop the PE credit and cut the language arts credits down to one.

 

I'd also look at awarding just a half credit for world geography. Around here, that does not earn a student a full credit. And If she really needs extra help with writing, the time would be more profitably spent there.

[Mom22ns]

Eight credits is a lot. From what I have heard, college admissions officers are often skeptical of homeschoolers who try to pack in the credits because they just assume that the course wasn't very rigorous. Trying to take 8 credits in a standard high school would be very difficult.

 

I would drop the PE credit and cut the language arts credits down to one.

 

The LA credit was discussed in her previous thread. She has good reasons for maintaining two credits and has very full courses planned that justify the credits.

 

Dropping the PE takes her down to 7.5. 

 

Many schools now have block scheduling and offer 8 credits/year. The largest school district in our area does just that. Admissions reps are not going to be thrown by 8 credits - let alone 7.5 :). I do think they will look twice at two Language Arts and two music credits in the same year. Those are red flags, but those are the classes and credits this child will be taking/earning. It follows her needs and her passions. That is what homeschooling is about, so I think she has a plan that fits her dd.

[JanetC]

Two English credits seems high to me, too.  And, within the English credits, there is a lot of overlap in all the materials chosen.  Are you planning on doing every single lesson there, or picking-and-choosing?  Less is more.

 

[DragonFaerie]

Two English credits seems high to me, too.  And, within the English credits, there is a lot of overlap in all the materials chosen.  Are you planning on doing every single lesson there, or picking-and-choosing?  Less is more.

 

I'm going to be picking and choosing.  We'll do WttW during the first semester and then I'll pick and choose from EIL for the second semester (and probably keep going with it through the summer, too).  With writing, we'll be doing Sentence Composing first and then the Lively Art of Writing; not both at the same time.  Easy Grammar is just 10 minutes a day or so for review and not something we'll continue beyond this year.

 

Also, a PP suggested only giving half a credit for World Geography, but that really is going to be a completely, full-year course.  That is her social sciences course for this year.

 

ETA: I just realized that I didn't list Glencoe as part of her World Geography course.  She'll be doing Glencoe World Geography, Expedition Earth and Mapping the World With Art. I think that should be plenty to justify a full credit.

 

[snowbeltmom]

The LA credit was discussed in her previous thread. She has good reasons for maintaining two credits and has very full courses planned that justify the credits.

 

:iagree:

 

Many of the public schools in my area are on a block schedule consisting of four, one credit classes each semester.  It is very common for kids to receive 2 credits in English in one year.