Conflicting High School English Recommendations

[3in9th]

I'm blarging over here! Help!

 

Up until this school year, my state required homeschool diplomas from outside sources. That has recently changed, but I'm wanting to see what others have done for high school English so I can better gauge what to do for the next four years.

 

NOTE: The state lawa also is strict in that my kids cannot fill any part of their English requirement at college or through dual enrollement.

 

Here's what one homeschool diploma recommends:

 

Basic

Literature

Each year, the student will read at least fifteen books in any subject area, fiction or non-fiction, including one classic. A list of titles of at least fifteen books will demonstrate that a student has met this requirement. An anthology that is considered by the publishers to be one year's course of study may count for ten of the required books. The Bible will be treated as an anthology and considered as a classic. So, 15 books or an anthology and 5 books

 

Composition and Language

Each year the student must demonstrate improvement in composition and language skills by writing three compositions, one of which is a long report using a minimum of three sources. The long report must be at least three pages (typed double spaced or hand written single spaced) in the ninth grade, five pages in the tenth grade, seven pages in the eleventh grade, and eight pages in the twelfth grade. Long reports must also include a bibliography page. While use of quotes gives authority to a work, overuse of quotes takes away from the quality of the work. Most papers should be non-fiction; however one long paper can be fiction if there are sources cited which indicate research on the subject.

 

Honors

Literature

The student's Honors English program should be based heavily on literature, including both fiction and non-fiction from various genres such as novels, short stories, poetry, drama, essays, and periodicals. It is recommended that each year's study be concentrated on a specific type of literature to include American Literature, English Literature, and World Literature. Each year, the honors student will read a minimum of twenty-five books, including at least three classics.

 

Composition and Language

The minimum composition requirement for each year of high school for Honors English is six papers, however an honors student should write significantly more, with an emphasis on the quality of writing.Yearly composition portfolios could include character analyses, narratives, persuasive papers, short essays, critical reviews, expository writings, and research papers. In addition, at least one research paper must be written each year - five, seven, eight, and ten pages for grades nine through twelve respectively.

 

And here's another:

English Course
In order to complete the minimum requirement for English, a student must meet all of the following each year:
___ Read 25 books or a literature anthology and 15 books or 10 books of the Bible and 15 books.
___ Read at least 3 classics.
___ Write at least 4 compositions.
___ Write a composition that is at least 10 pages (2500 words) long.
 

 

 

What have others done? Any PA homeschoolers out there who've BTDT?

 

[abdesigns]

As I was reading this, I was thinking, wow! I recognize these requirements. That's because we are in the same state, lol. I'm basing our English requirement on PHAA's. I'm not sure if we are going to go that route, or issue our own diploma, but, I figure that if they cover PHAA's requirements, then, if we change our minds, we are already covered.

[abdesigns]

Ps, they can cover their English through duel enrollment, they just have to make sure they read the recommended amount of books, and gave a speech on top of the college course. I think one of the diploma granting orgs say that two college English classes count as one high school course.

[Garga]

Where does it say in the state law that you can't cover English in DE? I'm in PA and haven't heard of that, so I need to know. Thanks.

 

ETA: Or where does it say that 2 college english classes = 1 high school class? I'm figuring that's b/c college classes are by semester while high school is by the year. But where does it say that? How do you know that? Maybe I didn't read the law as well as I thought I had.

[abdesigns]

It actually doesn't say it in the law about two college classes = one high school English, that's just one of the diploma granting orgs requirements. Sorry, I realized I didn't say that.

[3in9th]

Ps, they can cover their English through duel enrollment, they just have to make sure they read the recommended amount of books, and gave a speech on top of the college course. I think one of the diploma granting orgs say that two college English classes count as one high school course.

 

Wow! That sounds like a pain, but it might be reasonable given the 25 book requirement. I think that very much depends on the college, don't ya think? I went to a strong LA & S university and had a lot of papers and books required for each literature class, but then when I took a Lit course at a very strong STEM university...not so much. The papers and reading required there were laughable to me.

 

We're probably going to do our own diploma so I guess I'll look at a few and decided from there. Four papers seems skimpy, but 6+ with a 10-page research seems excessive.

 

In any case, aren't y'all glad we can now do our own diplomas?

[Garga]

 

 

In any case, aren't y'all glad we can now do our own diplomas?

Yes!!!

[daveswife]

My dd, a senior, is doing the Honors English option through ECHSDA. Here are their requirements:

 

1. Literature
The student's Honors English program should be based heavily on literature, including both fiction and non-fiction from various genres such as novels, short stories, poetry, drama, essays, and periodicals. It is recommended that each year's study be concentrated on a specific type of literature to include American Literature, English Literature, and World Literature. Each year, the honors student will read a minimum of twenty-five books, including at least three classics. Classics must be written at a high school level. Lists of appropriate classics can be found on websites, at the local library, or through an evaluator. It is vital to remember that the quality of literature read by an honors student is as important as the quantity.
Literary analysis is an important aspect of a good Honors English literature curriculum. The honors student should understand and identify literary terms (plot, setting, characterization, etc.) and devices (refrain, parallel structure, simile, metaphor, foreshadowing, etc.), and should be able to recognize logical fallacies and ad hominem attacks.

2. Composition
The minimum composition requirement for each year of high school for Honors English is six papers, however an honors student should write significantly more, with an emphasis on the quality of writing. Writing, proof reading, and revising are integral aspects of a composition course, therefore frequent writing assignments are expected. The honors student's compositions should show continual improvement in purpose, organization, language mastery, and effective elaboration of selected topics. Yearly composition portfolios could include character analyses, narratives, persuasive papers, short essays, critical reviews, expository writings, and research papers.
In addition, at least one research paper must be written each year - five, seven, eight, and ten pages for grades nine through twelve respectively. The research paper must include a title page, an outline, a body with a clear introduction and conclusion, correct use of parenthetical citations, a bibliography, a thesis statement which is followed throughout the paper, and evidence that the student's research was thorough and comprehensive. Follow MLA guidelines (or another standard format) to ensure a properly formatted research paper.

3. Language
It is essential that an honors student acquire a thorough knowledge of English grammar. Not only should the student be able to recognize the eight parts of speech, he should also be able to analyze and/or diagram sentences. One important goal of language and grammar studies is to prepare the student to produce written work free of mechanical errors.

4. Speech
An honors student should be familiar with persuasive, argumentative, informative, impromptu, humorous, and extemporaneous speeches. All require different preparation and are beneficial to the student's development as a public speaker. Therefore, the yearly speech requirement should come from one of these categories. The student must present a minimum of one self-prepared speech per year to a group outside the immediate family.

 

We've found that each year dd has written significantly more than what is required. For instance, her research paper this year was sixteen pages, as opposed to the required ten, and she's written more than six essays. Thankfully, she has had plenty of speech opportunities through our church and has been able to fulfill that requirement easily. As far as literature, we use a literature-based program, which schedules far more than the twenty-five book minimum. I think that if you want your student to do deep literary analysis, it's probably wise to choose 8-10 books for that purpose, and then schedule the rest to be simply read and discussed.

 

My son is a junior this year, so we're probably going to go with the parent-issued diploma option for him, though we've followed ECHSDA's requirements for an Academic Diploma (without honors) up to this point:15 book minimum, minimum of at least three compositions in addition to a longer research paper, and a yearly speech.  I'd say these requirements are easy for a student of average ability to fulfill.

[3in9th]

Quick question regarding the paper requirements. Do you think papers for other courses- science, history, arts, etc.- can count? I don't think we'll have a problem meeting the six, but it's the plus more that concerns me especially with their hard science class in the fall.

[abdesigns]

Personally, I think writing from all the classes are important. So, yes!!!! In our portfolios the first section after all of the boring paperwork (logs and such) is writing examples. I put writing from all the subjects there. Then move on to sections for English, math, science, etc. so writing is all by himself, with a sampling from everywhere. My evaluator loves for it to be set up this way.

[daveswife]

Quick question regarding the paper requirements. Do you think papers for other courses- science, history, arts, etc.- can count? I don't think we'll have a problem meeting the six, but it's the plus more that concerns me especially with their hard science class in the fall.

 

 

Absolutely!