Credit vs Personal interest

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Where do you draw the line? How do you decide? Is it by output, merely by hours spent, something else?

 

I'm trying to wrap my mind around the credit concept. Our days seemed so much easier before everything needed to be wrapped in tidy little packages called credits....

 

Not really even easier....just less limited.....I guess we were going broader than I had realized...it's hard to narrow things down....

 

[Luckymama]

Where do you draw the line? How do you decide? Is it by output, merely by hours spent, something else?

 

I'm trying to wrap my mind around the credit concept. Our days seemed so much easier before everything needed to be wrapped in tidy little packages called credits....

 

Not really even easier....just less limited.....I guess we were going broader than I had realized...it's hard to narrow things down....

Can you elaborate more on your question(s) so others can help?

[elegantlion]

For us, some of it had to do with output, some had to do with a continued interest. For instance, ds wanted to do computer programming. One year he really unschooled a credit. I kept a loose track of hours, he brought projects to me, and had to explain them to me in non-programmer language. Most of them he had showed me his progress along the way. At the end of the year he had enough hours and projects for me to feel comfortable giving him a credit in "Introduction to Computer Programming." 

 

Since then he has continued to program out of interest and I do not track hours or require projects, so it's an extra curricular - no grade, no credit. 

 

He also has spent several hours working on a linguistics project. He's played with alphabets and languages and created languages. Over the years, it's been well enough for the hours to give a credit. However, he has not created much quantifiable output and what he has created has been random and wide-reaching, not progressing in any great depth. Also, because it's something he's marginally interested in and not wanting to pursue in college, and he had enough other credits, I did not feel it warranted a credit. 

 

If you go back and read some of the threads stickied at the top, there is some great wisdom about how to count those marginal credits. Sometimes you don't know if it's going to be credit worthy until afterward. There may be ways to gather multiple things into one credit. One year ds earned a credit in "Themes in Human Cultures." He wanted to diverge from a traditional history credit, so we spent time with certain themes like Development of Time, Ethics,  and a few areas I totally spaced off right now. It was an engaging and interesting year that evolved during the year. 

 

I found there was more flexibility in high school than I thought, but you also have to be disciplined to make sure the whole journey stays in forward motion. 

[Jenny in Florida]

For us, some of it had to do with output, some had to do with a continued interest. For instance, ds wanted to do computer programming. One year he really unschooled a credit. I kept a loose track of hours, he brought projects to me, and had to explain them to me in non-programmer language. Most of them he had showed me his progress along the way. At the end of the year he had enough hours and projects for me to feel comfortable giving him a credit in "Introduction to Computer Programming." 

 

Since then he has continued to program out of interest and I do not track hours or require projects, so it's an extra curricular - no grade, no credit. 

 

This is similar to how we handled things for our kids.

 

Each of my kids was deeply involved in two or three activities over their high school years. Sometimes, we leveraged their involvement to pull together credits. Other times, we treated their involvement as extracurricular. Sometimes, what started out in one category migrated to the other.

 

For example: Both of my kids sang with a fairly rigorous teaching choir for all three years of high school. Each of them got credit for credit only one of those years. In order to earn credit on their transcripts, they had to do more than simply attend weekly rehearsals and participate in performances. During the year in which each earned the credit, we carefully tracked attendance at both rehearsals and performances, and I took points off their grades for missing. I required attendance at concerts by professional singers and other vocal groups. My students then needed to participate in a discussion about each of those performances and write brief reviews of a certain number. At the end of the year, they had to write self-evaluations.

 

In successive years, although both kids continued to sing with the choirs, we considered it an extracurricular activity. They continued to attend concerts and performances for fun, but there were no requirements for discussions or written work. 

 

By the way, I think it's important to note that "extra" doesn't mean "less important." The activity that took up more of my son's hours during high school, without doubt, was dance. During his last year before college, in particular, he routinely spent 15 - 20 hours at the studio weekly, more when prepping for a performance or competition, but we opted to consider it an extracurricular rather than to give school credit. He's now dual majoring in dance and musical theatre.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Thank you! I hope to come back later to comment more directly on the posts.

 

I appreciate your responses so much! They are helping me clarify my thoughts and feelings. They have also helped me see a lighted path....

 

Many, many thanks!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I found there was more flexibility in high school than I thought, but you also have to be disciplined to make sure the whole journey stays in forward motion. 

 

 

By the way, I think it's important to note that "extra" doesn't mean "less important."

 

Thanks again for your detailed responses. These two sentences in particular went to the heart of my concerns.

 

The first concern – staying in a forward motion – is one we've decided to remedy by outsourcing some subjects to carefully chosen instructors. Outsourcing actually serves many purposes beyond keeping us on track with credits, but that is certainly one of them.

 

The second concern – viewing “extras†as “less important†-- has led me to some reflection about myself and the teen in front of me. I've realized that due to concerns of credits and my homeschooling high school version of keeping up with the Joneses, we've lost some of the essence of what got us this far so successfully.

 

I'm past the point I can support dd in both the core subjects and the extras. Many books and one other person discussing every subject is no longer enough for her; it hasn't been for some time. It was an epiphany that struck me one day as we were sitting in the study doing our work....

 

“This is absurd.â€

 

Within days I had outsourced her first subject – Spanish. I had no idea that within weeks I would be researching other subjects. Not because I couldn't do them. The question was if teaching or even planning these subjects would be the best use of my time and energy. Not to mention asking myself if I was truly the best person for the job. Capable and best are words with vastly different meanings....Would I hire me? What am I bringing to the table that is superior to the options available to us?

 

While trying to rally myself from the blow that the answers gave to my self-esteem, it occurred to me that by passing along the subjects others could do just as well, if not better, I would be freed to do that which I truly can do best – researching and finding opportunities to support her interests and life, intellectual and otherwise, outside of credits and school.

 

There is so much going on in her life and mind right now. Being overly concerned with what counts as a credit is something I'd rather not be focused on. We may end up doing some ex post facto credits for interests, but I'm not going to count on them. There are plenty of options for dealing with core subjects and credit concerns. Supporting her interests and supporting her as a person is something that is much harder to outsource.

 

(Yes, Charlotte, I hear you. I'm pulling out your first volume to refresh my memory right now...)

 

The end of my homeschooling days are closer than I care to admit. I don't want these final years, months, and days to be filled with grading, counting hours, and keeping us on track in several subjects. I want them to be like they were in the beginning.... Lots of reading and discussing until we had finished. Moving on only when we were ready...lingering when it felt right. Literature, poetry, music, art, science, history, psychology, philosophy...  And time outside. Lots of time outside...

 

When she was little, her intellectual life away from me was filled with the written thoughts of others. Now, in addition to those, her intellectual life away from me will be filled with the spoken words of teachers and mentors, as well as conversations with other students and kindred spirits. This is right and good. It's as it should be for her. I am speaking of no one else.

 

Thanks again for sharing your journeys. You've helped me find my way and given me courage.

[TarynB]

Thanks again for your detailed responses. These two sentences in particular went to the heart of my concerns.

 

The first concern – staying in a forward motion – is one we've decided to remedy by outsourcing some subjects to carefully chosen instructors. Outsourcing actually serves many purposes beyond keeping us on track with credits, but that is certainly one of them.

 

The second concern – viewing “extras†as “less important†-- has led me to some reflection about myself and the teen in front of me. I've realized that due to concerns of credits and my homeschooling high school version of keeping up with the Jones's, we've lost some of the essence of what got us this far so successfully.

 

I'm past the point I can support dd in both the core subjects and the extras. Many books and one other person discussing every subject is no longer enough for her; it hasn't been for some time. It was an epiphany that struck me one day as we were sitting in the study doing our work....

 

“This is absurd.â€

 

Within days I had outsourced her first subject – Spanish. I had no idea that within weeks I would be researching other subjects. Not because I couldn't do them. The question was if teaching or even planning these subjects would be the best use of my time and energy. Not to mention asking myself if I was truly the best person for the job. Capable and best are words with vastly different meanings....Would I hire me? What am I bringing to the table that is superior to the options available to us?

 

While trying to rally myself from the blow that the answers gave to my self-esteem, it occurred to me that by passing along the subjects others could do just as well, if not better, I would be freed to do that which I truly can do best – researching and finding opportunities to support her interests and life, intellectual and otherwise, outside of credits and school.

 

There is so much going on in her life and mind right now. Being overly concerned with what counts as a credit is something I'd rather not be focused on. We may end up doing some ex post facto credits for interests, but I'm not going to count on them. There are plenty of options for dealing with core subjects and credit concerns. Supporting her interests and supporting her as a person is something that is much harder to outsource.

 

(Yes, Charlotte, I hear you. I'm pulling out your first volume to refresh my memory right now...)

 

The end of my homeschooling days are closer than I care to admit. I don't want these final years, months, and days to be filled with grading, counting hours, and keeping us on track in several subjects. I want them to be like they were in the beginning.... Lots of reading and discussing until we had finished. Moving on only when we were ready...lingering when it felt right. Literature, poetry, music, art, science, history, psychology, philosophy...  And time outside. Lots of time outside...

 

When she was little, her intellectual life away from me was filled with the written thoughts of others. Now, in addition to those, her intellectual life away from me will be filled with the spoken words of teachers and mentors, as well as conversations with other students and kindred spirits. This is right and good. It's as it should be for her. I am speaking of no one else.

 

Thanks again for sharing your journeys. You've helped me find my way and given me courage.

 

This is beautiful. :001_wub: :grouphug:

 

Thank you for starting this thread and thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts.