Dd wants to skip 8th grade and does this plan sound OK?

[goldielocks]

Dd is doing some high school level work for 8th grade. She wants to be bumped to 9th so she can graduate with friends in our Homeschool group. Should we just make 8th grade her 9th grade year? If not, where do I put the high school level stuff she's doing in in 8th grade on her transcript?

 

She wants to be an editor or journalist.. Loves reading and writing.

 

Below shows her interests in studies.

 

This school year (core) she will complete:

World history (ancient-medieval)

World geography

World lit/comp, -lit, grammar, vocab, essay, editing

Pre-algebra

Biology w/ labs

Botony

 

This spring she'll begin Algebra I and work through summer to bring her up to speed, not finishing before the fall, but continuing Algebra I through the year, until it's finished, not speeding through it.. Just not taking summer break from math.

 

This fall she's planning on:

World history (renaissance-ref.)

British lit/comp

Marine biology

Finish Algebra I, begin geometry

Geology -maybe

Journalism

Composer study (classical music)

 

Then the following year:

Gov't

American history

American lit/comp

Chemistry (she wants Apologia)

Finish Geometry, begin Algebra II

Health services at tech school

 

Then:

Pre-calc

Anatomy & physiology

Economy

Modern/recent history, current events

Health services at tech school (result: CNA)

 

Thank you for your thoughts!

Edited January 11, 2015 by goldielocks

[Michelle_NC]

I would let her keep going at the current pace and then decide at the end if she wants to graduate a year early or not.  She can call herself a 9th grader now if that makes a big difference to her.  She might be ready to move on to college a year early or there might be a benefit to staying the extra year - I wouldn't limit her options at this point.  Heck - she could even do 5 years of high school.

 

My dd started dual enrollment this year and considers herself a college freshman even though I consider her a high school junior.

 

Best of luck!

[rdj2027]

Have you thought about a foreign language?

 

[8filltheheart]

while there are reasons for graduating early, graduating at the same time as friends is not one I would rank very high as a good reason.

 

When you say she is doing some 9th grade work in 8th grade, is she doing everything at a high school level--both input and output? What are her college aspirations? Are the schools at all competitive? Does she need scholarship $$?

 

We are anti-early graduation, so I am biased against it even when they have spent most of middle school doing high school level courses. But, the advantages are that my kids have zero transition problems with college and are competitive for scholarship $$.

[Laura4535]

I agree with 8filltheheart. I would want a better reason.

 

"If not, where do I put the high school level stuff she's doing in in 8th grade on her transcript?"

 

You'd leave it off, with the exception of maybe ma if she was doing algebra 1 or higher in middle school.

 

I'd definitely add a foreign language as it's a valuable school and most colleges want 2-4 years of it. 

[wapiti]

At a glance, there needs to be foreign language and also I don't see an English language course for the "senior" year.  She sounds motivated to catch up the math.  If she is interested in selective or highly-selective schools, I would not accelerate, in order to build a more impressive transcript; if she will not be in a position to aim for selective schools, then that wouldn't matter.

[texasmama]

As someone who is steeped in Algebra 1 with two different kids currently, I would hesitate to plan to get through Algebra 1 in a spring and a summer.  While some kids can do this, I would not make it a "plan".  That is a lot of pressure.  One of my Algebra 1 students will get through his program in two full semesters and a summer.  The other is an outlier because we changed to a different program about 9 weeks into the year, but I mapped out a tentative schedule today and I don't think it is possible for him to get through his Algebra program prior to his 9th grade year beginning in August...and this is my 14 year old.  He is not setting any land speed records getting through it, and even with a kid who does well in pre-A, it is hard to predict how the Algebra dominoes will fall, IMO.

 

I have a 12 year old son who is doing mostly 8th grade work, but his written output is not up to middle school speed.  He can call himself a 9th grader, and that will be accurate with math, science, history, foreign language, literature, and logic, but his writing will most definitely not be at a 9th grade level so he may take an extra year mid "high school" to get up to speed unless this skill catches up with the rest of his subjects.  He understands this, and we will evaluate his situation one year at a time, which is what we do for all of the kids anyway.  (ETA:  Without the writing output increasing next year, I cannot in good conscience give high school credit for some of the above subjects.)

 

I have not homeschooled high school, though, so take that for what it is worth.

[8filltheheart]

If not, where do I put the high school level stuff she's doing in in 8th grade on her transcript?

 

 

I missed this earlier. I do include my kids' classes completed prior to highschool for the subjects math, science, and foreign language. So far my kids have had 1-7 high school credits carried up from middle school.

[abacus2]

My main concern would be math. Algebra I is such a foundational level of math, and many students who don't struggle in any other area academically need two years to really get it down. I would not accelerate it. Geometry and Algebra II, however, can be taken at the same time if necessary

 

Does ninth grade really match her maturity level? Do you believe that one year from now she will be on par emotionally and developmentally with high school sophomores? Is she old or young for her current grade?

 

I honestly don't think graduating with friends is a bad reason and skipping half of 8th and 9th is better than suddenly deciding to finish and graduate after a junior year. 

[Lori D.]

Yes, you can do this. :) Lots of people on this Board have done so, and I know several people locally IRL who have successfully done so.

 

Whether you decide to skip a grade or not, I would recommend starting the transcript now, since some of the classes she is doing are high school level. If you end up not skipping 8th, the only thing that would normally be put on a transcript from middle school are things like: Biology (or higher science), Algebra 1 (or higher math), and Foreign Language. Even if History, Fine Arts, Electives, etc. are of a high school level, typically those are NOT included on the high school transcript when accomplished in middle school. 

 

Unless you *must* declare grade level due to your state homeschool regulations, I personally would keep this at a low-key level, in case something comes up. Then it's a mild disappointment to have to go another year, but not the end of the world. ;) The only point at which you really DO need to "declare" a grade in high school is if taking the PSAT; students who score high (98-99%) in 11th grade become National Merit Scholars and are potentially eligible for some big scholarships. You do NOT have to make that decision until you really are sure it is the student's 11th grade year -- which locks you in as far as PSAT, but not as far as doing a "5th year of high school". :)

 

The burden of energy/effort in making "early" graduation happen needs to be on your student. Sounds like your DD is focused, responsible, and researching what it would take to graduate "early" (i.e. skip a grade), so that makes it much more feasible. Awesome! 

 

In regards to making this decision based on graduating with friends: I get the "social" aspect of wanting to graduate with friends, but that set of friends may completely change in 1-2 years, or no longer be available to be close with if the students end up doing online courses, dual enrollment, or involvement in extracurriculars that the others are not doing. I've seen that happen a lot. Just my experience locally, but very few homeschoolers who were good friends together throughout homeschool high school are still close after the first year following graduation -- typically they all go very separate ways, often living across country to attend different universities.

 

One thing I would also discuss with DD now is what is the plan for AFTER graduation? That one year of having a senior year with friends is only a small part of the entire adult future. Will she be *ready* for college (or adulthood) at the younger age? Is the plan to go to college? Community College? Have a gap year with specific goals that help her explore and build for her future? Work, volunteer or other?

 

Even though she is young, I'd strongly suggest doing some career exploration now. Unfortunately, Journalism is a dying field right now, with an extremely poor job outlook. Entry level jobs require a Bachelor's degree, and average annual income right now is only $37K/year -- there are many vocational/tech jobs requiring only an Associate's degree that earn a similar amount of money. And a 4-year Bachelor's degree is an expensive commodity right now (average of $10K/year for a state university). So, a lot of money going into getting the degree needed to work as a journalist, and a low-paying job on the other end -- IF you are lucky enough to find a job in that field at all. Editors earn more, but it, too is a "negative growth" field (i.e., declining availability of jobs). In contrast Technical Writing (and with all of her interest in science and Health Services, she could focus on medical technical writing) is a fast-growing field, only requires a Bachelor's, and earns almost twice as much as a Journalist.

 

Since she is interested in Journalism, Writing, and Editing, I would think instead of the low-paying CNA, I'd focus on Technical Writing courses, finding internships and working on networking and meeting people in the field to get some real-life experience to go with the degree, and to increase the odds of landing a job (since, in low-growth/negative-growth fields, it really is contacts that get your foot in the door of landing a job). 

 

Graduating "early" puts more pressure on a student to just accomplish required credits, with less time to explore interests or be involved with internships or other activities that would help build a "resume" towards college admissions and  scholarships. Sometimes, having more maturity also allows students to score higher on ACT/SAT tests -- which are used heavily by colleges in awarding merit scholarships. Will a lot of financial aid be necessary or important for DD's future?

 

 

BEST of luck as DD begins planning now for her future! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

PS -- ETA -- Regarding the specific list of credits:

 

Typically, if wanting to be college admission ready, going with the "4x5 plan" ensures covering most college admission requirements: that comes out to 4 credits each of English, Math (Alg. 1 and higher), Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language. A list of credits that would get a student into a majority of standard schools (NOT competitive, selective, specialized, or top tier schools) looks like this:

 

4 credits = English

4 credits = Math (Alg. 1 and above)

3 credits = Science (with labs)

2-3 credits = Social Studies

2-4 credits = Foreign Language

1 credit = Fine Arts

4-8 credits = Electives

 

I don't know how many credits the Health Services translated to, but potentially, your DD has a very light credit load, if planning on college admission -- I'm guessing it comes out to about 18-22 credits total? She is missing Foreign Language (2 credits minimum as admission to most colleges), and English in the 12th grade year (unless the Journalism in 10th is a also a full credit, and not just the writing portion of the English credit).

 

And if she is really desiring to work in Journalism, Writing, or Editing, why a Certified Nursing Assistant certificate? That seems not only very far from her stated interest, but not a very high-paying job for the amount of training and vocational ed. required for a national average wage of $11/hour… :( The only positive I see there is that it is a fast growing field, and would be easy to find a job… Not at all trying to dissuade you or DD, just trying to understand why DD decided to include this piece into the overall puzzle. :)

 

I'd also be sure that the credits that are currently being accomplished and that DD wants to count towards high school credits *really are* of high school level work… Based on the list in your post, here's what I see you have and how it matches up with typical college admission requirements:

 

"9th"
1 credit = English (World lit/comp, -lit, grammar, vocab, essay, editing)

0.5 credit = Math (Algebra 1)

1.0-2.0 (?) credits = Science (Biology & Botany)

1.0-2.0 (?) credits = Social Studies (Ancient history & World geography)

Total = 3.5 to 5.5 credits
 

"10th"
1.0 = English (Journalism & British lit/comp)  (or is Journalism a full credit in addition to British lit/comp?)

1.0 credit = Math (Algebra 1, Geometry)

1.0-2.0 Science (?) credits = Science (Marine Biology, maybe Geology)

1.0 credit = Social Studies (Medieval history)
1.0 credit = Fine Arts (Composer study)  (NOTE:  make sure that the Fine Arts credit for state requirements or college admissions isn't looking for actual hands-on/output of some sort, such as Photography, Digital Arts Jewelry-Making, Theater, Music Performance, Watercolor/Drawing, etc.)

Total = 5.0-6.0 credits

"11th"
1.0 credit = English (American lit/comp)

1.0 credit = Math (Geometry, Algebra 2) (if not a strong math student, NOT good to jam Alg. 2 in less than 1 year)

1.0 credit = Science (Chemistry)

1.5 credits = Social Studies (American history & Gov't)

0.5-2.0 (?) credits = Elective (Vo/Tech = Health services)

Total = 5.0-6.5 credits

"12th"
0.0 credit = English (missing a credit here)

1.0-1.5 credit = Math (Algebra 2, Pre-calc)
1.0 credit = Science (Anatomy & physiology)
1.5-2.0 credits = Social Studies (Economics, Modern/recent history, current events)
0.50-2.0 (?) credits = Elective (Vo/Tech = Health services/CNA)

Total = 4.0-6.5 credits

 

Overall:

3.0 credits = English

3.5-4.0 credits = Math

4.0-6.0 credits = Science

5.0-6.5 credits = Social Studies

0.0 credits = Foreign Language

1.0 credit = Fine Arts

1.0-4.0 credits = Electives (Health Services/CNA)

Total = 17.5-25.5 credits

 

[The Girls' Mom]

It can be done more easily with some kids than others.

 

I thought my oldest was ready to skip 8th. However, she ended up needing that extra year to really get through Algebra. Also, her maturity just wasn't on par with graduating early. So we ended up taking two years for 9th grade..lol.

 

On the other hand, my twins skipped 8th with no trouble so far and are doing very well. They are very mature for their age, and really fit in better with their slightly older friends. They are still set to graduate a year early.

[8filltheheart]

I don't think the issue is with high school. I think the issue is with competitiveness for college admissions and scholarships.(and there are plenty of kids who struggle with the transition to college even after being top high school students.)

[J-rap]

My daughter went from 8th grade to 10th grade.  She was mature for her age, very capable, and yes -- her friends were all a year older.  :)  She ended up skipping 9th grade, but then calling the subjects she took during her 8th grade year, 9th grade.  (So it was more in hindsite that we made that decision.)  She did take 3 years of a foreign language then during her 10th, 11th, and 12th grade years.  She didn't have time to do math beyond Algebra 2, but it didn't matter in her case.  (She did Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 in high school.  We did a full year for each.) 

 

Normally we were against early graduation too, but in her case (and she was our third child), it just felt right.

 

She ended up taking kind of a gap year after high school.  She studied in France in an immersion program, to continue her foreign language studies.  When she entered college the following year, she passed out of all of the French levels and could jump right to French Lit.  Because she graduated a year early from high school, she felt better about taking that gap year, which in the end was to her advantage in college.

 

She graduated from college Salutatorian.  I only mention that to say that it didn't hurt her to skip a year in high school and graduate early. 

 

[goldielocks]

Have you thought about a foreign language?

Yes, she'll have at least two years of Spanish.

[elegantlion]

Note: My son is graduating a year early, but it has to do with chaotic life situations and he will be attending locally for probably two years. 

 

We considered letting him skip a grade in 7th, mainly because of maturity and academics. Instead of making a decision, we adopted a wait and see approach. In 8th grade I kept meticulous records and used high school materials. In hindsight, that was a great idea because having those records handy was so nice when I needed them a few months ago. However, it became apparent he needed more time with writing and math, so we opted not to grade skip. Then life happened and it's on the table again. 

 

A lot of maturing and change happens in those high school years. I would not make a final decision, but perhaps plan as if setting goals to be the determining factor. As Lori mentioned when you start testing you need to declare a grade level. This was one area I should have planned better with early graduation. Ds took the ACT the first time this year, which turns out to be his senior year. I would have had him take it last year and again this year if I'd planned better. If he were applying to competitive schools, I would not be graduating him early.

[Luckymama]

We will not skip dd. Our homeschool philosophy is similar to 8's :) Dd has been studying at a high school level since 7th grade when she took the AoPS geometry class.

 

We live literally 1.5 miles from the campus of our state's flagship university. We can afford to pay tuition for dd to take classes there starting next year, one or two classes a semester.

 

She wishes to be very competitive for college admission and scholarships, just like her older siblings were :)

[goldielocks]

Sorry. I am "typing" on a tablet. I didn't include all subjects for each year of her plan, making it look as though she's lacking in credits quite a bit. I can add that later today from the laptop.

 

She is mature for her age. Her friends are all a year older, none her age. Her work output is high school level.

 

The Health Services Assistant is offered free at a tech school for high school junior and seniors half day each year, or for adults (not free) as a one year course. She wants to do this to have a decent job right out of high school. This has been her plan since last year.

 

Lori D. I will share the technical writing idea and other info with her. Sounds like something she'd really like.

[goldielocks]

Here's a more organized plan (much easier to type on a laptop)  :001_rolleyes:

 

Language Arts:

Literature and Comp (not necessarily specific lit, geography lit, biograph, etc, creative writing, essay, vocab, editing, grammar, how should we list it?)

World Lit and Comp 

British Lit and Comp

American Lit and Comp

High School Journalism (cr??)

Poetry and Creative Writing (may sprinkle throughout the years)

 

Math: (on a spring to winter schedule, not normal "school" schedule)

Pre-Algebra (zero credit, finishing soon)

Algebra I

Algebra II

Geometry

Pre-Calculus

 

Science:

Biology w/ labs

Botany 1/2

Marine Biology

Chemistry

Anatomy and Physiology

Intro to Physics 1/2 (maybe, she doesn't want any physics)

 

History:

World Geography 1/2 

World History (ancient - medieval) (how do I list?)

World History (ren - modern) (how do I list?)  

American History  

Government/Economics  

 

Spanish I   

Spanish II  (at least...)

 

Biblical Studies 

Art 

Choir 

PE 

Home Economics 

Personal Finance 1/2

 

Health Services Assistant (free 1/2 day at tech school, junior and senior year, how many credits?)

Possible dual enrollment classes after 16yrs...

[Laura4535]

For a catch all lit/comp name I'd put English 9 or I (or whatever grade/number). That's what the high schools around here do. For World history you could do I and II.

[G5052]

Yes, I'm doing this with my younger one.  Similar career goals too.  She was doing all high school work in 8th grade, so we oriented everything towards graduating a year early.  She's very mature and focused, so I don't anticipate that changing although nothing is official until she's done.  With the county, she's in 9th, but with me she's in 10th.

 

Some competitive schools want three years of a single foreign language, so you might think about that.  Mine will have three years of Latin and take the SAT II, and then one or two semesters of college Spanish.

[Lori D.]

Sample transcript of your credit list, listed by subject:

 

ENGLISH

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

English I: Lit & Comp .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

English II: World Lit .   .   .   .   .   .   .1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

English III: British Lit .   .   .   .   .   .  1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

English IV: American Lit .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Journalism .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   4.50  /  x.xxxx

 

MATH

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

Algebra 1 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Geometry .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Algebra 2 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Pre-Calculus .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   3.50  /  x.xxxx

 

SCIENCE

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

Biology (with labs) .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Chemistry (with labs) .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Marine Biology .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Anatomy & Physiology .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Botany .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   4.50  /  x.xxxx 

 

SOCIAL STUDIES

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

History: Ancient-Medieval .   .   .   .  1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

History: Renaissance-Modern .   .   .1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

History: American .   .   .   .   .   .   .   1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Geography: World .   .   .   .   .   .   .  0.50  .   .   .x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Government .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Economics .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   4.50  /  x.xxxx 

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

Spanish I .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  1.00 .   .   .  x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Spanish II .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  2.00  /  x.xxxx

 

FINE ARTS

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

Art .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Choir .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  0.50 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  1.00  /  x.xxxx

 

ELECTIVES

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

Vo-Tech: Health Services CNA* .   .2.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Biblical Studies .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

PE .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

Consumer Sciences .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  5.00  /  x.xxxx

 

* = earned at XYZ Tech School in completion of CNA certificate

** = dual enrollment at ABC Community College

 

TOTAL CREDITS = 25.00

OVERALL GPA = x.xxxx

 

__________________________

 

Comments and suggestions, FWIW ;):

 

1. English

At the high school level, the credit is called English, rather than Language Arts. A typical English credit is 1/2 Literature and 1/2 Writing/Composition. Typically, vocabulary is a small supplemental part of the Literature, and the Grammar is no longer a separately-taught topic, but is actually put into practice in the writing (proper sentence structure, revising, and proof-editing).

 

In a separate Course Description document, list the types of literature you covered (specific novel, short story, and biography titles; essays; poetry; etc.), and for what types of writing you did (creative writing, research paper, essays, etc.).

 

2. Math

Pre-Algebra is typically not listed as one of the high school math credits, unless the student is working at a remedial level. In the above sample, I listed Pre-Calculus as 0.5 rather than 1.0 credit, since you will be finishing Pre-Algebra as part of the 9th grade year, and the higher maths really will take you a full year each. If you really need a full credit for Pre-Calc., your DD could take it as a 1-semester course via dual enrollment in the spring semester of the senior year, and that would count as 1.0 credit. 

 

3. Science

You can list beside each science if it had labs. Or, if all the sciences have labs, then list that next to the subject heading: "Science (with labs)". Since you have plenty of science credits planned, and DD is not interested in Physics, and because homeschoolers always plan for more than can realistically be accomplished ;), I dropped off that 0.5 credit of Physics. You will likely prefer to use that time for something else by that stage of high school.

 

4. Social Studies

The typical "catch-all" subject heading for Hist., Geog., Gov't, Econ., Psych, Anthro, Sociology, etc. is "Social Studies". You can title your courses in many different ways -- "Ancient & Medieval World History"; "World History: 5000BC-1500AD"; etc. Sometimes it is easiest to just mimic how the local schools entitle their courses ;).

 

In the separate Course Description document you can describe what time period was covered, with what materials, and with what types of output. Be sure to match exactly the course titles on the transcript and the course description document.

 

5. Foreign Language

Colleges require the credits to be of the same foreign language (so, 2.0 credits of Spanish, rather than 1.0 credit each of Spanish and French). Many, but not all colleges accept Latin and American Sign Language, so if you decided to go for one of those two, you'd want to check in advance about the policy of the college you're interested in.

 

6. Fine Arts

Fine Arts and Electives are more where you start looking at hours to determine amount of credit. For example, Is choir an actual class, or a extracurricular? And if it is an extracurricular, you don't want always want to count that as a credit, because you need a nice list of extracurriculars for college admission and scholarship applications to show that a student is well-rounded and has interests beyond just academic credit completion.

 

7. Electives

The subject heading for anything that is not any of the above subjects. :tongue_smilie:Since Bible and PE activities are frequently year-round, and since those are not high-academic credits, it's nice to acknowledge time spent on those topics, but not so much credit as to make the transcript look inflated; so typically 1 credit each is a good compromise.

 

For other Electives and Fine Arts (and "home-made" courses), how much credit to award is typically based on amount of hours:

 

.   .   .   .   .   .   minimum   average  maximum

1.00 credit = 120 - 150 - 180 hours

0.75 credit =   90 - 112 - 135 hours

0.66 credit =   80 - 100 - 120 hours

0.50 credit =   60 - 75 - 90 hours

0.33 credit =   40 - 50 - 60 hours

0.25 credit =   30 - 38 - 45 hours

 

As much as possible, you want your credits to be consistent -- so if for most credits you are spending about 135-165 hours on 1.0 credit, then you'll want to match that for your Fine Arts and Elective credits, too. That's why I rolled the Home Ec and Personal Finance into one credit (with the suggested "modern" course title of "Consumer Sciences") -- typically, Personal Finance materials don't even take 20-25 hours -- not even enough for a minumum 0.25 credit.

 

For your Health Services CNA, is that 1/2 day a week at a high school or college level? If at a high school level of work, then I'd guess that would be about 4 hours week x 18 weeks (?) = 72 hours/semester, so a nice 0.5 credit per semester for each of 11th and 12th grades, which comes out to 2.0 credits. If at a college level of work, then the extra volume and higher level of difficulty would likely make that come out to 1 semester of college course = 1 year (1.0 credit) high school credit.

 

For any dual enrollment, see how your state counts it; if you are free to determine for yourself how to count dual enrollment credits, look at how much time was spent, as well as volume of work and difficulty of work. For example, I personally counted the 3 unit community college (CC) writing class (3 hours/week of class, 15 weeks of classes, little at-home work, not difficult work) as only 0.5 credit. In contrast, I counted the 4 unit CC foreign language course as 1.0 credit (4 hours of class/week x 15 weeks, plus another 4 hours/week at home, plus covered the equivalent of 1 year of high school class material).

 

Also, be sure to use the course title and number from the school where the dual enrollment occurs as the title for the course on your transcript and course description document.

 

 

Hope that helps! And best of luck in your high school planning. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[goldielocks]

Some competitive schools want three years of a single foreign language, so you might think about that. Mine will have three years of Latin and take the SAT II, and then one or two semesters of college Spanish.

She probably will have two years of Spanish at home, then Spanish at the local university for dual credit.

[Lori D.]

She probably will have two years of Spanish at home, then Spanish at the local university for dual credit.

 

JMO: It's really difficult to do a good job of Foreign Language at home and have it really be of the difficulty and completeness of an actual class. Unless you outsource to an online class as the foreign language at home, my suggestion would be to take one year at home with whatever you had planned to use for Spanish to get a little bit familiar with the language, and then do 4 semesters of dual enrollment, which would also take care of any future foreign language need for a degree:

 

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

course .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   credit .   .   . grade .   .   . completion date

Introduction to Spanish .   .   .   .   . 0.50 .   .   .  x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

SPAN101* .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   .  x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

SPAN102* .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

SPAN201* .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   .  x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

SPAN202* .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1.00 .   .   . x .   .   .   .   . 00/0000

total credit / GPA .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   4.50 /  x.xxxx

* = dual enrollment credit with ABC Community College

 

JMO! :) Best of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[G5052]

 

JMO: It's really difficult to do a good job of Foreign Language at home and have it really be of the difficulty and completeness of an actual class. Unless you outsource to an online class as the foreign language at home, my suggestion would be to take one year at home with whatever you had planned to use for Spanish to get a little bit familiar with the language, and then do 4 semesters of dual enrollment, which would also take care of any future foreign language need for a degree:

 

 

I agree.  Unless you are very involved and already very fluent, most of us are going to have trouble teaching to the level that will get them placed in a higher level for dual enrollment.  

 

I know the local dual enrollment coordinator very well (he's a homeschool dad and I'm a professor there), and he told me last semester that the only homeschooled kids that placed into second semester or higher had outside teachers.  He knows that I grew up trilingual and was curious why we do Spanish there.  Well, that's why.  I'm not as fluent as I was and don't have the hours to make sure that Spanish at home matches what the college expects.  I also outsourced past Latin 2.

 

None of my friends who did it at home, even with BJUP and some of the other solid at-home programs, were able to place either. It's frustrating, but foreign languages at home are a rough area to excel in. There are indeed people around who have done it, but not me. A woman's gotta know her limitations..

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Dd is doing some high school level work for 8th grade. She wants to be bumped to 9th so she can graduate with friends in our Homeschool group. Should we just make 8th grade her 9th grade year? If not, where do I put the high school level stuff she's doing in in 8th grade on her transcript?

 

She wants to be an editor or journalist.. Loves reading and writing.

 

Below shows her interests in studies.

 

This school year (core) she will complete:

World history (ancient-medieval)

World geography

World lit/comp, -lit, grammar, vocab, essay, editing

Pre-algebra

Biology w/ labs

Botony

 

This spring she'll begin Algebra I and work through summer to bring her up to speed, not finishing before the fall, but continuing Algebra I through the year, until it's finished, not speeding through it.. Just not taking summer break from math.

 

This fall she's planning on:

World history (renaissance-ref.)

British lit/comp

Marine biology

Finish Algebra I, begin geometry

Geology -maybe

Journalism

Composer study (classical music)

 

Then the following year:

Gov't

American history

American lit/comp

Chemistry (she wants Apologia)

Finish Geometry, begin Algebra II

Health services at tech school

 

Then:

Pre-calc

Anatomy & physiology

Economy

Modern/recent history, current events

Health services at tech school (result: CNA)

 

Thank you for your thoughts!

 

My middle son has been working at the same level as his older brother for many years.  That means that he was doing the same level of work as an 8th grader that his brother was doing in 9th grade.  I am not planning on graduating him early (even though he is very bright and would be well up to the work load).

 

I will count selected courses completed in 7th and 8th grade as "for high school credit," including foreign language and math courses of algebra and above.  This is in accordance with the credit policy for the local school district.  (I give credit and also count the course in the gpa, as does the local school.  There are a variety of opinions on the topic of counting credit, including in gpa or just listing the course.  I think there are compelling arguments for different schemes and think the most important thing is being consistent and clear in your school profile.)

 

I have kept records and could graduate him early later on if we decided to.  But I don't have a strong reason to do this.  The local community colleges allow high schoolers to take some courses before graduating from high school.  We have lived in some areas with very strong public or private schools - areas where students are graduating with 6-12 Advanced Placement courses or taking calculus as juniors and moving to more advanced maths as seniors.  I explained to him that he had the opportunity of a really strong academic prep 8th grade and one more year to play with his academic choices in high school.  I feel that this gives him the strongest foundation for college work, rather than rushing through high school.  (BTW, I think that some homeschoolers tend to underestimate the high rigor that some students at some schools are working at.  I'm thinking of AP courses, IB programs and rigorous honors courses.  Not all public schools are academic wastelands.  My kids are aiming at competitive colleges, so they need to have backgrounds that are in a league with similar students from other schools.  "High school level" can describe some really disparate levels from reading short stories and one abridged novel to reading a dozen challenging novels and writing several papers.)

 

We will qualify for little to no need based financial aid.  So he needs to be the strongest possible candidate when college admissions roll around in order to qualify for merit based aid or honors colleges at schools we can afford.

 

In the courses you list, the pre-algebra for math would be reason to give me pause for skipping a grade.  In several of the districts we've lived in, algebra was standard in 8th grade for the college prep tracks.  Some districts have algebra as a 9th grade class.  But you are talking about putting her in a position where she is at least a semester behind at the outset, by having pre-algebra as a ninth grade course (even if you are counting spring to winter as your school year, college admissions don't run on that schedule).  

 

Having a weaker foundation in math restricts the level of sciences that a student can work through.  Either you end up using conceptual level courses or having to delay certain courses until the math is mastered (ex, waiting on chemistry and/or physics).  Even a student who doesn't plan on a STEM degree may find that completion of the standard science courses is the opening argument for college admissions.  Furthermore, a student who wants to pursue writing may find that they need to be conversant with statistics, science discussions and math based scholarly reports in order to do her job well.

 

Based on our experience with math and teens, I think you may want to plan for math to take longer than expected, not to be accelerated.  Freshman year was an emotional, tumultuous time for my kids.  It was good to be able to take a breath and retrench when needed.  My oldest has been taking pre-calculus at the community college.  It will take him two semesters to get through the two 3 credit college courses.  The first semester took him about 350 hours of class time and homework time (the online math homework site kept track of time on the site).  There was a one semester option - it was a SIX credit course that met every day Monday - Friday.  Of the 60 some students who started the two sections at his CC (nearly all of them high school graduates), something like 25 were still around at the end of the semester.  It was very nice to have him taking the course as a junior where if it went poorly, he could drop the class and have a fall back plan.  High school is stressful enough without creating stress you don't have to.

 

 

At our house, to graduate with friends wouldn't be a compelling argument for skipping a grade.  Friendships shift a lot over high school.  And in our personal circumstances, we or the friends are very likely to have moved before the end of high school anyway (my kids will live in at least three states before graduating from high school).  In my own high school days, I had a ton of friends who were a year ahead of me.  I was able to delight in their senior year and the ups and downs of college applications and going away to school, even through I wasn't personally at that point.

 

Just my $0.02 but unless you are talking about a student who is already working at a very advanced level, I wouldn't be in a hurry to skip a grade.

[Daria]

Do you have to decide now?  Is there any reason why you can't teach her current courses on a high school level, and then decide down the road when you know where she's looking for college, and what she wants to study, and whether or not you think she's ready to go at 17?

 

[goldielocks]

Do you have to decide now? Is there any reason why you can't teach her current courses on a high school level, and then decide down the road when you know where she's looking for college, and what she wants to study, and whether or not you think she's ready to go at 17?

After she and I talked, that is what we decided to do. In the homeschool co-op yearbook, her picture will be with the freshman. In three years she'll walk with her friends. We'll decide later when she will officially graduate.

[goldielocks]

Here is the Recommended High School Coursework for the college dd is interested in..

 

It is strongly recommended that students complete the following coursework in high school to maximize their success at University:

 

English/Language Arts - 4 units

Social Studies - 3 units

Mathematics - 4 units*

Science - 3 units

Fine Arts - 1 unit

Additional Coursework - 3 units **

Electives - 6 units

 

* At least one mathematics course should be taken each year. It is particularly important that students take a mathematics course in grade 12.

 

** Public high school students are required by the State Board of Education to complete units in practical arts (1), physical education (1), health education (1/2), and personal finance (1/2).

[Jenny in Florida]

My son graduated the equivalent of two years early. Basically, he was just ready to be done with high school, and he was close enough in credits to make it possible to push through. So, we allowed it. Like your daughter, all of his friends are one or two years older, and he had been in classes and extracurricular stuff with those older kids for a good number of years. So, we had more or less always planned on having him graduate with his buddies. Like your daughter, my son had begun high school work a bit early. By what would have been his eight grade year, his entire courseload (some outsourced online, some with me) was high school level. Then, after he started dual enrollment and got a taste of college (and accumulated some credits at an increased pace), he surprised us by deciding to graduate a year earlier than we had planned.

 

Unlike some other folks here, I think that, as long as the student is genuinely comfortable academically, wanting to graduate at the same time as your peer group is a perfectly valid reason for bumping up by a year. There's nothing magical or biologically imperative about graduating from high school at the exact age of 18. 

 

Edited to add: In terms of transcripting, there were a few high school courses my son completed especially early that we decided not to count for credit, although we did want to show them on the transcript. So, I arranged his transcript by subject, rather than year, and included those courses in the appropriate categories, without grades and with a note that they were completed prior to 9th grade. It worked just fine for him.