Course description questions

[swimmermom3]

I think my course descriptions are out of control. I am including ds's first two credit hours (9th and 10th grade) for feedback. These descriptions for three English classes take one entire page, but since they are English classes, they include reading lists and performances attended.

 

English

 

Lit and Comp 9

This English course examines the major elements of literature (such as plot, characterization, setting, point-of-view, etc.) as reflected in a wide variety of short stories, poetry, drama, and novels. The study of different cultures and global issues is linked with reading and analyzing literature from these diverse cultures. This allows students to develop a deeper appreciation of other peoples through literature. Emphasis is placed on achieving state standards in writing, reading, speaking/listening. Night by Elie Wiesel.

Provider: XYZ High School – awarded 0.50 credit hours

 

Honors Ancient Literature & Composition

This English course examines elements of literature such as epics, sagas, oral tradition, and comedy and tragedy and the role classic literature plays in inspiring the development of other major works of literature and art. The student will study a wide variety of works including:  The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Theogony, Birds, Clouds, the Theban plays and selections from The Art of War, The Aeneid, The Ramayana, The Analects, and The Tale of Sinuhe. The composition portion of the course places a strong emphasis on constructing well-written essays.

 

Live Performances: Students will read and study the following works before attending the live performances: Hamlet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

 

Resources: Full literary works and excerpts mentioned in the course description, The Lively Art of Writing by Lucille Vaughan Payne; The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The Ancient World, Beginnings – 100 C.E.; The Great Courses lecture series: Iliad of Homer and Odyssey of Homer, both by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver.

 

Evaluation: oral and written exams and essays

Provider: Home study – awarded 0.50 credit hours

 

AP English Language and Composition

This highly interactive course is designed to prepare students for the AP English Language and Composition exam in May. Students will learn to understand complicated texts and write with complexity, clarity and polish. To reach this goal, this course will involve extensive reading, writing, and online discussion. Students should anticipate reading 30-50 pages (mostly engaging nonfiction essays) and writing one essay (or the equivalent) weekly. We will also study image as text, critiquing Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoons and photographs. Students will track down logical fallacies in politicians' speeches and read satire from Jonathan Swift and Langston Hughes. In addition, students will choose novels, plays, and nonfiction works to study either independently or in interactive book clubs with their classmates throughout the year. Students will compose journal entries, discussion question responses, argumentative papers and analytic essays. They will also write several personal creative narratives. They will research and write an argument paper on security sector reform that will be entered in the National Peace Essay Competition.

 

Reading List: Hunger for Memory by Richard Rodriguez, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel, Hard Times by Charles Dickens, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Enrich Maria Remarque

 

Other Resources: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, The Language of Composition: Reading – Writing-Rhetoric by Renee H. Shea, and Cliffnotes AP English Literature and Composition.

 

Live Performances: Students will read and study the following works before attending the live performances: Antony and Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew, both by William Shakespeare

 

Evaluation: essays, written discussion responses, and book club documentation

Provider: Maya Inspektor at Pennsylvania Homeschoolers (online) – awarded 1.00 credit hours

 

Is this on par with what the rest of you are doing? Is is overkill? What do I edit?

[Matryoshka]

Wait, if dd went to ps two full years, do I have to write course descriptions for her ps classes??! :willy_nilly: :svengo:

[JanetC]

Wait, if dd went to ps two full years, do I have to write course descriptions for her ps classes??! :willy_nilly: :svengo:

 

You could cut-n-paste them from the high school course catalog.

[swimmermom3]

Wait, if dd went to ps two full years, do I have to write course descriptions for her ps classes??! :willy_nilly: :svengo:

 

I've included them, but they are copied from the academic catalog.  I think they are kind of handy to have in there. You know, first semester with public school where ds read one book and second semester with me where he read oh, The Iliad, The Odyssey and a few other "minor" works like those. :D

 

 

[Matryoshka]

Oh, and if you want to see overkill, you should see what my friend did for her dd - she has a full page for each course, with a paragraph or more description, then a list of bulleted objectives, then materials, then a breakdown of grading. She has at least 5 additional pages at the end of single-spaced, two-columned free reading lists (in two languages! ). Two transcripts including lots of stuff done back in middle school, one sorted by subject, the other by year. All in sleeve protectors, then bound.

 

I have lost all perspective; everything else seems quite succinct. ..

[JanetC]

Is this on par with what the rest of you are doing? Is is overkill? What do I edit?

 

They're a little longer than many of mine, but they are not overkill.

 

Editing suggestions: Watch for repeated words:

 

The study of different cultures and global issues is linked with reading and analyzing literature from these diverse cultures.

 

 

could be:

 

 

Literature selection emphasizes cultural diversity and global issues.

 

 

(You said culture twice in this sentence, and the previous sentences made it clear that reading and analyzing literature is part of the class.)

 

Watch for passive voice:

 

 

This allows students to develop a deeper appreciation....

 

 

Could just be:

 

Students develop a deep appreciation...

 

And even, merging this with the next (also passive) sentence:

 

 

Students develop a deep appreciation for other peoples through literature and achieve state standards in writing, reading, speaking/listening.

 

 

[Matryoshka]

I've included them, but they are copied from the academic catalog.  I think they are kind of handy to have in there. You know, first semester with public school where ds read one book and second semester with me where he read oh, The Iliad, The Odyssey and a few other "minor" works like those. :D

 

LOL.  Sounds like last year when dd did American Lit through mid 1800's at home, then 1800's on in the spring at cc.  With me she read two novels, wrote four papers, and also read a ton of short stories, poetry, essays and speeches.

 

At the CC, only short stories and poems, no novels or papers, just discussion. 

 

The CC half is obviously a full credit according to the standard algorithm; when I was trying to work with the ps told me they'd just award her the full year credit for that for English and what she did with me wouldn't count... :glare:

 

[Carol in Cal.]

I've included them, but they are copied from the academic catalog.  I think they are kind of handy to have in there. You know, first semester with public school where ds read one book and second semester with me where he read oh, The Iliad, The Odyssey and a few other "minor" works like those. :D

You over-achiever, you!

[swimmermom3]

They're a little longer than many of mine, but they are not overkill.

 

Editing suggestions: Watch for repeated words:

 

 

could be:

 

 

(You said culture twice in this sentence, and the previous sentences made it clear that reading and analyzing literature is part of the class.)

 

Watch for passive voice:

 

 

Could just be:

 

And even, merging this with the next (also passive) sentence:

 

Thanks, Janet.  I will change that with great satisfaction since I copied it from the high school's catalog. :D

 

 

[Matryoshka]

You could cut-n-paste them from the high school course catalog.

 

Oh, like I did with the CC courses... duh me. :tongue_smilie:

 

Since they're not homeschooled classes, will it matter that their course descriptions (and the CC ones) are a bit anemic?  Do you guys include names of outside teachers, or just where taken?

 

And would I include a list of resources for a ps class?  I'm kind of hoping not, because our ps is apparently allergic to textbooks, especially the science classes.  They run by hand-outs.  "Hand-outs from the internet and/or stuff the teachers made up" is not going to sound good as a resource list...and no, the teachers don't give out syllabi...

 

[JanetC]

 "Hand-outs from the internet and/or stuff the teachers made up" is not going to sound good as a resource list...

 

 

Resources: Course packet prepared by instructor.

 

[JanetC]

Thanks, Janet.  I will change that with great satisfaction since I copied it from the high school's catalog. :D

 

 

 

Oh sorry, here's a edit of passive voice in a home study description:

 

The composition portion of the course places a strong emphasis on constructing well-written essays.

 

 

Could be:

 

Composition assignments emphasize well-written essays.

 

[EKS]

I only wrote descriptions (which I submitted as a second transcript to the Common App) for courses that were home based.  Courses my son took at an accredited institution were covered in the School Report, and for schools that didn't use the Common App, they weren't covered at all (as they aren't when a b&m schooler applies to college).

 

Here is my most extensive English description:

 

American Literature: This course focused on American literature: novels, short stories, poetry,

drama, and speeches, as well as grammar, writing mechanics, and composition. Works studied

included The Scarlet Letter, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Red Badge of Courage, Pudd’nhead

Wilson, The Jungle, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea,

Fahrenheit 451, Our Town, The Glass Menagerie, The Crucible, “The Devil in Tom Walker,â€

“Rip Van Winkle,†The Minister’s Black Veil,†“The Fall of the House of Usher,†“An

Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,†“An Episode of War,†“The Story of an Hour,†“A Wagner

Matinee,†“Winter Dreams,†In Another Country,†“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,†“ A

Worn Path,†“ The Scarlet Ibis,†“The Night the Ghost Got In,†“The Life You Save May Be

Your Own,†“The First Seven Years,†“The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,â€

speeches including the Gettysburg Address and I Have a Dream, and poetry by Dickenson,

Whitman, Eliot, Cummings, Frost, Hughes, and others. (1 credit)

 

Here is a math description where my son took a course through a non-accredited provider and I'm granting credit:

 

Honors Precalculus I: Algebra: The honors option of this course was taken with Derek Owens

(www.derekowens.com) who provided video lectures, a course workbook, homework

assignments, quizzes, chapter tests, and a final exam. The course covered the material typically

studied in a college algebra course or the algebra portion of a precalculus course and included the

following topics: functions and their graphs, polynomial and rational functions, exponential and

logarithmic functions, analytic geometry systems of equations and inequalities, sequences,

induction, counting, and probability. The text used was Precalculus by Michael Sullivan. In

addition, the ALEKS College Algebra course was used for review. (0.5 credits)

 

Here's a history course:

 

American History: This course covered the history of the United States, beginning prior to the

Columbian contact and culminating with the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 with

particular attention given to the experience of Native Americans and African Americans during

that time period. The text used was The American Odyssey: A History of the United States edited

by Morton Keller, Mary Beth Klee, Joshua Zeitz, and John Holdren. Additional readings

included 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Black Elk Speaks, Up from

Slavery, Black Like Me, and selections from Education for Extinction and Souls of Black Folk.

The video lecture series History of the United States from the Great Courses was used as a

supplement. (1 credit)

 

And a science course:

 

Astronomy: This course focused on material generally studied in an introductory astronomy

course at the college level and included the following topics: light, matter, and energy,

telescopes, phases of the moon, eclipses, the solar system, stars and their lives, black holes, the

Milky Way, galaxies, quasars, cosmology, and extraterrestrial life. The text used was The

Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millennium by Jay M. Pasachoff and Alex Filippenko.

Additional readings included The Pluto Files, Pale Blue Dot, and Contact. The video lecture

series Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy from the Great Courses was

used as a supplement. In addition, the student attended star parties and lectures at the local

observatory. (1 credit)

[Matryoshka]

Hey, and speaking of my over-achieving friend and her manifesto, do I need to include a "list of objectives" for each course?  I hadn't even considered doing that.  I think she said she got the idea from a Lee Binz book?  Please tell me I don't have to. I don't wanna...  :foot stomp: 

[swimmermom3]

I only wrote descriptions (which I submitted as a second transcript to the Common App) for courses that were home based.  Courses my son took at an accredited institution were covered in the School Report, and for schools that didn't use the Common App, they weren't covered at all (as they aren't when a b&m schooler applies to college).

 

 

I feel rather clueless and am grateful that you shared this information.  Could you please explain the School Report, Kai? Is that something ds's high school would send to the colleges ds is applying to along with his official transcript from them?

 

So I would only need to do descriptions for my classes, Derek Owens, Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, and Spanish Online Learning?

 

Thank you too for including samples of your descriptions; they are very helpful.

 

[EKS]

I feel rather clueless and am grateful that you shared this information.  Could you please explain the School Report, Kai? Is that something ds's high school would send to the colleges ds is applying to along with his official transcript from them?

 

So I would only need to do descriptions for my classes, Derek Owens, Pennsylvania Homeschoolers, and Spanish Online Learning?

 

Thank you too for including samples of your descriptions; they are very helpful.

 

 

The School Report is the section of the Common App that the counselor fills in.  If you are acting as your son's counselor, then you would be the one to fill it in.  

 

In the School Report there are sections for general information about your school (which are generally not applicable to homeschoolers--federal lunch aid %, for example), class rank, GPA, school profile (which is an uploaded document), counselor evaluation (which I uploaded as a letter, the "counselor letter" you see people refer to on here), transcripts (I uploaded two, the actual transcript which had all of my sons courses from all sources and my home based course descriptions).  Then there is the section that is specific to homeschoolers.  If I remember correctly, it asks about why we homeschooled, the grading scale, and for descriptions of outside courses.  This is where I gave descriptions for courses from accredited institutions (in my son's case these were Oak Meadow, a local private school, and the community college).  

[Luckymama]

Can I just say how much I appreciate all of you lovely people asking and answering questions that would have stumped Future Me?

 

:grouphug:

[Matryoshka]

I only wrote descriptions (which I submitted as a second transcript to the Common App) for courses that were home based.  Courses my son took at an accredited institution were covered in the School Report, and for schools that didn't use the Common App, they weren't covered at all (as they aren't when a b&m schooler applies to college).

The School Report is the section of the Common App that the counselor fills in.  If you are acting as your son's counselor, then you would be the one to fill it in.  

 

In the School Report there are sections for general information about your school (which are generally not applicable to homeschoolers--federal lunch aid %, for example), class rank, GPA, school profile (which is an uploaded document), counselor evaluation (which I uploaded as a letter, the "counselor letter" you see people refer to on here), transcripts (I uploaded two, the actual transcript which had all of my sons courses from all sources and my home based course descriptions).  Then there is the section that is specific to homeschoolers.  If I remember correctly, it asks about why we homeschooled, the grading scale, and for descriptions of outside courses.  This is where I gave descriptions for courses from accredited institutions (in my son's case these were Oak Meadow, a local private school, and the community college).  

 

I'm still not figuring out which part of the School Report contains those courses taken at an accredited institution?  Are they just on the separate transcripts directly from those institutions (like a ps high school or CC)?  (In which case where do those get uploaded?  Do I upload those or do I somehow request that those get added from the other institution?)

 

And would I include separate grade reports/transcripts from places like Wilson Hill or dd's German Saturday School, or do I just include the final grades from those on the comprehensive homeschool transcript  (I mean, I know the homeschool transcript will have everything, just wondering if they'd expect some kind of grade reports directly from smaller or non-accredited outside providers)?

[JanetC]

I'm still not figuring out which part of the School Report contains those courses taken at an accredited institution?  Are they just on the separate transcripts directly from those institutions (like a ps high school or CC)?  (In which case where do those get uploaded?  Do I upload those or do I somehow request that those get added from the other institution?)

 

And would I include separate grade reports/transcripts from places like Wilson Hill or dd's German Saturday School, or do I just include the final grades from those on the comprehensive homeschool transcript  (I mean, I know the homeschool transcript will have everything, just wondering if they'd expect some kind of grade reports directly from smaller or non-accredited outside providers)?

 

Here is how I am doing it:

 

For the community college, I am having DD download her unofficial transcript from the school website, and I am attaching that as a separate transcript in the transcript section (you are allowed up to 4 transcript documents). When we get to the final report, I will have her pay for an official transcript which I will forward either by common app or snail mail to the college of her choice.

 

No, they probably do not want separate transcripts from your smaller, not accredited providers. I have put those on my homeschool transcript. I have also described all of my smaller providers in the "Homeschool" section of the school report.

 

 

If the student has taken courses from a distance learning program, traditional secondary school, or institution of higher education, please list the course title and content, sponsoring institution, instruction setting and schedule, and frequency of interactions with instructors and fellow students (once per day, week, etc.) --

 

 

I have described the outside providers under this prompt, but noted that courses are on the transcript and course descriptions.

 

Here are some sample provider descriptions:

 

XXX Home Education Co-op, CityName

XXX is an open-to-all cooperative founded in 2004 to provide classes, events, and a sense of community for local homeschoolers. The group consists of families united to meet their needs and aspirations with the common purpose of educating our children. Classes are taught by various certified teachers, local experts, and parents; classes meet for approximately 55 minutes per week, 32 weeks per year.

 

MyDD attended XXX from 5th grade to 10th grade and then switched to NameofCommunity College. During 9th and 10th grades, she took co-op classes in art and theatre. Classes or groups of classes requiring more than 90 hours of work per school year were awarded one-half high school credit in fine arts.

 

Flute Studio of Melody Lastname

Melody Lastname holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Wonderful University School of Music, where she was a member oft he Mu Phi Epsilon Music Honorary Society. She performs in the CityName area with A Women's Musical Organization and A Regional Winds Quintet, and has been teaching private students since 1981.

 

MyDD has taken flute lessons from Melody from 5th to 12th grade. Fine arts credit was awarded for flute depending on the number of hours of study each year.

 

[EKS]

I'm still not figuring out which part of the School Report contains those courses taken at an accredited institution?  Are they just on the separate transcripts directly from those institutions (like a ps high school or CC)?  (In which case where do those get uploaded?  Do I upload those or do I somehow request that those get added from the other institution?)

 

And would I include separate grade reports/transcripts from places like Wilson Hill or dd's German Saturday School, or do I just include the final grades from those on the comprehensive homeschool transcript  (I mean, I know the homeschool transcript will have everything, just wondering if they'd expect some kind of grade reports directly from smaller or non-accredited outside providers)?

 

The homeschool section of the School Report has a place where you're supposed to input course descriptions for outside courses.  They do not specify "accredited" but I did (every single time I referred to this set of courses).  I'm guessing that some people list co-op classes and Derek Owens-type classes in this section, but I wanted to make a clear demarcation between what *I* was granting credit for as a homeschooler and what my son had earned credit for at a legitimate accredited institution.  I had transcripts sent from all the accredited institutions as well.

 

The only non-accredited courses from an outside provider my son took were physics and a semester of precalc from Derek Owens.  Since he does not grant credit, I listed him as I would any resource (you can see what I did in the description upthread).

 

So my transcript had everything listed and it had a key that showed where each course was taken.  My course description document had only home based coursework and included non-accredited courses from Derek Owens, the School Report had short descriptions of accredited coursework, and I had official transcripts sent from all accredited institutions.

[JanetC]

Can I just say how much I appreciate all of you lovely people asking and answering questions that would have stumped Future Me?

 

:grouphug:

 

Don't get too attached to these answers. The CommonApp changes every year! (Note all the people confused about the new location of the counselor recommendation!)

 

Keep a running transcript and course description document for the high school years, for sure, but realize that the application-specific documents may need to be tweaked to whatever the new version of the homeschool profile or the counselor letter may be.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I haven't finished mine but yours (Swimmermom) look very similar to what I expect to end up with.  For science, math, and some social science I think I will be making note of publisher, edition, and possibly year of the text(s) used.  While for lit that doesn't seem as relevant I think it will be in those subjects.

 

Based on the conversations I had with admissions officers this summer--a paragraph + book list is typically sufficient to their need and many are grateful for anything they receive as it seems more uncommon than common to have solid documentation in a form they can understand.  They said they do appreciate contact information for the "teacher" (read-parent) so they can come back with any questions if needed.  More a just in case situation rather than that they always contact parents.

 

(PS--Loving this thread-I need to keep being pushed through this process!)

[Matryoshka]

 

(you are allowed up to 4 transcript documents).

 

Okay, four tanscript documents - I'll have

 

1. Comprehensive homeschool transcript with everything she did

2. Course descriptions for home-based courses

3. Transcript from 9th/10th at ps  (do I upload this - I think they're happy to give me a doc - or does it have to come directly from them?)

4. Transcript from 11th/12th grade CC classes

 

 

No, they probably do not want separate transcripts from your smaller, not accredited providers. I have put those on my homeschool transcript. I have also described all of my smaller providers in the "Homeschool" section of the school report.

 

 

So you're saying I should just forgo those grade reports from the smaller places entirely and only put them on the comprehensive homeschool transcript?

 

For the community college, I am having DD download her unofficial transcript from the school website, and I am attaching that as a separate transcript in the transcript section (you are allowed up to 4 transcript documents). When we get to the final report, I will have her pay for an official transcript which I will forward either by common app or snail mail to the college of her choice.

 

And Final or Updated Transcripts as semester grades and eventually spring grades come in - do they just upload and overwrite the previous in-progress transcript?  I won't have any space to add new ones...  I'll have four right from the start...

 

 

If the student has taken courses from a distance learning program, traditional secondary school, or institution of higher education, please list the course title and content, sponsoring institution, instruction setting and schedule, and frequency of interactions with instructors and fellow students (once per day, week, etc.) --

 

 

I have described the outside providers under this prompt, but noted that courses are on the transcript and course descriptions.

 

So the small providers are getting described here - do I bother describing things like the ps she attended or the CC?  I could easily upload the ps's School Profile for them.  Is there space for that?  What about the CC - oh, and she took one class at a State U too...yikes, will I have room for all this with only four docs?

[Matryoshka]

(PS--Loving this thread-I need to keep being pushed through this process!)

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:   Thanks, Lisa, for starting this - I've been like a deer in the headlights! 

 

[JanetC]

Hey, and speaking of my over-achieving friend and her manifesto, do I need to include a "list of objectives" for each course?  I hadn't even considered doing that.  I think she said she got the idea from a Lee Binz book?  Please tell me I don't have to. I don't wanna...  :foot stomp: 

 

A course description and a course learning objective are almost the same thing. Objectives are worded with an emphasis on what the student performs to meet a line item in a descriptive course description. (Yes, I need a better adjective there!)

 

Description example:

 

The course covered the material typically studied in a college algebra course or the algebra portion of a precalculus course and included the following topics: functions and their graphs, polynomial and rational functions, etc

 

Objective example:

 

The course covered the material typically studied in a college algebra course or the algebra portion of a precalculus course. Students met the following objectives:

 

* Recognize, evaluate, graph, and transform functions

* Simplify and evaluate rational expressions

* Find zeroes of polynomial functions

etc.

 

 

In other words, they have a lot more verbs!

 

Yes, objectives are nice. No, you do not absolutely have to do them if your course descriptions say what you want to communicate about your homeschool.

 

I have objectives for the community college classes because they are provided on the school website. The readers who saw those loved them, quite possibly because the bullets made for easy skimming. I did not go back and tweak all of the stuff I write after 9th and 10th grades to be objective-oriented however.

[JanetC]

 

And Final or Updated Transcripts as semester grades and eventually spring grades come in - do they just upload and overwrite the previous in-progress transcript?  I won't have any space to add new ones...  I'll have four right from the start...

 

 

You will get a mid-year report and a final-report for semester and final grades - these are separate from your initial school report.

 

Once you submit your school report, you cannot update or overwrite it.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I included all courses in my course descriptions including the ones from outside providers.  For outside providers, I simply cut and pasted theirs and only added stuff if it was really unclear.  Most of theirs were fairly short. If they were lengthy, I did edit them.   For homegrown courses, I tried to keep mine brief enough so that I would not overwhelm them, but detailed enough so that they would know what my kids did.  I made liberal use of tabs and bold font as headings for each course so that I could fit more information without taking up too much space on the page.  

 

My transcript page noted where courses were taken.  For outside courses, I put a subscript in parentheses and put a key at the bottom to show where they were taken.  My dual-enrolled classes at the college where highlighted and noted in the key.  I put my evaluation methods and grading scale in the school profile, noting any differences between how I evaluated and graded (mastery) and how outside providers (educational partners) evaluated/graded. 

 

Here are some examples from mine: 

 

Homegrown course:

 

Short Stories and Film                                      Semesters: 2                         Credits: 0.5

This course is a study of short stories and films where the brevity of form influences stylistic choices used to express literary elements.  Students read 23 short stories over the year, studying themes and comparing and contrasting stylistic choices.  Students also used the same techniques in analyzing films.  Texts used: The World’s Greatest Short Stories ed. By James Daley,  Great American Short Stories ed. By Paul Negri, The Oxford Book of American Short Stories ed. by Joyce Carol Oates, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by Washington Irving, A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury, Movies as Literature by Kathryn and Richard Stout.  Films viewed:  Rear Window, Super 8, Arsenic & Old Lace, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, A Lion in Winter, To Kill a Mockingbird, Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

Dual-Enrolled course:

 

First Year Writing                             Quarters: 1                          Credits: 0.5                          North Central College

(ENG 115 - 3 credit hours)

This course is a study and practice of writing: planning, drafting, and revising for particular aims. Students learn to summarize, interpret, analyze, and question selected readings, with an emphasis on rhetoric. Basic research is introduced, including the use of internet, databases, and more conventional materials.  Texts used: Back to the Lake: A Reader for Writers (Cooley).  Instructor:  Dr. Dee Anna Phares

 

Outside Provider Course:

 

AP US History                                     Semesters: 2                         Credits: 1                              PA Homeschoolers 

As preparation for the AP U.S. History exam, the course covers U.S. history from colonization through the present, including political, social, cultural, and economic themes. The main textbook is supplemented with a video series, primary source documents, internet research, magazines, novels, or visits to historical sites. The class takes place in an asynchronous online environment and includes 14 short essays, editorial cartoon analyses, interviews, and lively discussions. Students also write two longer research papers, one biography and one analytical report.  Texts: America: A Narrative History, 7^th or 8^th edition by Tindall and Shi; Barron’s AP U.S. History Guide, by Kellogg.  Instructor: Daniel Burns

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Hey, and speaking of my over-achieving friend and her manifesto, do I need to include a "list of objectives" for each course?  I hadn't even considered doing that.  I think she said she got the idea from a Lee Binz book?  Please tell me I don't have to. I don't wanna...  :foot stomp: 

 

The only description in my packet that has something like this is for AP Computer Science.  I don't love the description, which I modeled on sections of the provider's description.  But I don't know enough about the topic to be more succinct and it is ds's desired major, so I'm letting it stand in the greater detail.

[ThisIsTheDay]

Oh, and if you want to see overkill, you should see what my friend did for her dd - she has a full page for each course, with a paragraph or more description, then a list of bulleted objectives, then materials, then a breakdown of grading. She has at least 5 additional pages at the end of single-spaced, two-columned free reading lists (in two languages! ). Two transcripts including lots of stuff done back in middle school, one sorted by subject, the other by year. All in sleeve protectors, then bound.

 

I have lost all perspective; everything else seems quite succinct. ..

 

My course descriptions include what is bolded in red.

 

I wrote them just in case they were needed.  None of my dd's schools requested them, but one school told me to include ANYTHING that would put the student in a favorable light, so I went with that.  ;)  I sent course descriptions with transcripts to each school where she applied.  I seriously doubt anyone read through them entirely, but there were a few unique courses I was really proud of, so I like to think they at least read those.

 

I'll do the same for my current 12th grader.

 

Otoh, I have a very good friend who wrote no descriptions at all, and her kids got into their first (and only) university choice.

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My transcript includes every course my son took, with a superscript code to identify outside courses (CC, Lukeion Project, German Online).  My course descriptions describe every course taken.  Descriptions of outside courses identify where the course was taken and draw heavily on the providers' own descriptions (with some editing for clarity or consistency of tense).  I plan on having the descriptions uploaded as one document with the transcript.  

 

So far, ds is requesting transcripts from CCs separately to be sent to the schools he's applying to.  I may have him request copies to include as part of the Common App or I may stick with sending them directly.  I am not including grade reports from other providers like Lukeion, that are not accredited.  I did give name and professional background for some courses, like Latin.  I didn't list every community college instructor.  My rational here is that if the college hired them, there is a presumption of professional competence.  If they are a small online provider, then more information may be needed.

 

I realize that college admissions staff have a lot to read, so I'm not going to send a full page per course.  On the other hand, it's my main opportunity to explain course content and make an impression regarding the nature of the coursework.  I don't want to leave them guessing.  I certainly don't want them guessing and coming to the wrong conclusion.

 

Examples:

 

Geometry: A year-long course that covered a full geometry curriculum, including advanced problem solving geometric applications.  Problem sets utilized a discovery approach to encourage an in depth understanding of concepts and facilitate applications to real world situations.  Concepts studied include: triangle similarity and congruence, complicated area problems, mastering the triangle, special quadrilaterals, polygons, the art of angle chasing, construction, power of a point, 3-dimensional geometry, transformations, analytic geometry, basic trigonometry and geometric proofs.

Textbook: 

Rusczyk, Richard. Introduction to Geometry, Art of Problem Solving Incorporated, 2013.

 

College Algebra (PDQCollege Math 101, 3 credits):  One semester college course that emphasized functions (algebraic and transcendental), relations, theory of equations and inequalities, matrices, binomial theorem, sequences and series, and curve fitting using a graphing calculator. This course taken on campus at PDQ College (place, CA) under High School Special status (dual enrollment).  Student earned three college credits and one high school credit.  [At PDQ College, Pre-Calculus can be completed by successfully completing MATH 244 (Pre-Calculus) or both 101 (College Algebra) and 104 (Trigonometry) for a total of six credits.]

Textbook:

Hornsby, John. A Graphical Approach to Algebra and Trigonometry, 6e, Addison Wesley, 2014.

 

This one is an example where I tried to really spell things out.  College Algebra can mean several different things; I wanted to be clear that it was equivalent to the first semester of a Pre-Calculus course.  I also wanted to be super clear that the credit was earned while he was still a high schooler.

 

English 10 - Roots of Steampunk Literature: A one year high school literature course.  This course was an exploration of works of classic English fiction, particularly of the Victorian Age, when industrialization, science, steam power and a vast colonial empire pushed the boundaries of the possible. Course also included The Diamond Age, an example of modern Steampunk science fiction to underscore continuity of human reactions to scientific advances.  The student read and drew comparisons between works and between the expectations of the past and of present culture.  Compositions focused on essays that discussed technical aspects and wider application of the novels.  Students also participated in a dramatic reading of Macbeth. 

Selected Texts: 

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations.  

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Complete Sherlock Holmes.  

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth.    

Stephenson, Neal. The Diamond Age.  

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  

Stoker, Bram. Dracula.  

Verne, Jules. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.  

 

It does make the entry longer, but I liked the look of the listing rather than including books read in the body of the description.  It also maintained a more similar form with the other entries.

 

AP US Government and Politics: A one-semester Advanced Placement course that explored the foundations and systems of American government.  Students studied the historical underpinnings of government, connections between citizens and government, organization of US government, efforts to preserve and increase civil liberties and rights, and how government policies are formed.  Students used a college level text and were expected to maintain a daily habit of news reading.  Class included research projects, participation in small group coop class simulations such as Mock Congress and Mock Supreme Court Oral Argument.  Field trips included the US Congress, The Supreme Court, and The Pentagon.  Unit exams that included both multiple choice, interpretation of graphs and data analysis, and essay questions based on previous AP exams.  Course was approved as an Advanced Placement syllabus by College Board.  Students were expected to sit for the AP exam. 

Textbooks: 

Edwards, George C. Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy.

Hall, Kermit L. The Pursuit of Justice: Supreme Court Decisions That Shaped America.

Machiavelli, NiccoloÌ€. The Prince. Matthews, Christopher. Hardball: How Politics Is Played, Told by One Who Knows the Game.

Serow, Ann Gostyn. The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity.   

Wood, Ethel. American Government: A Complete Coursebook.  

Advanced Placement US Government exam (May 2014): Score 4/5

 

Key points made here were that the course was an official AP course and the AP Exam scores (which are also on the one page transcript).

 

Latin 2 (Provider Name, online class):   One year, online course covering chapters 20-40 of Wheelock's Latin, 7th ed.  Comprehensive course included instructor graded weekly class participation, translation assignments and graded quizzes.  This course completes a student's grammar studies with full mastery of forms, vocabulary and grammar.  Assessments included comprehensive semester midterm and final exams as well as the National Latin Exam (Level 2). Course instructor: First Name Last Name(MA Latin, State University).

Textbooks: 

Wheelock, Frederic M., and Richard A. LaFleur. Wheelock's Latin. (chapters 20-40) 

Groton, Anne H. Thirty-eight Latin Stories: Designed to Accompany Wheelock's Latin (6th Edition Revised).  (Selections)

National Latin Exam - Level 2 (March 2014): Gold medal- Summa cum laude

 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

BTW, on a technical level, my document is in Times New Roman 10 pt, which is smaller, but still very readable.  I went with 1.15 spacing for paragraphs and single spacing for the booklists.

 

I have a header with the student name and High School Course Descriptions.  I probably ought to include the school name in the header.

 

I also like the idea of putting the counselor contact info on the descriptions.

 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I think my course descriptions are out of control. I am including ds's first two credit hours (9th and 10th grade) for feedback. These descriptions for three English classes take one entire page, but since they are English classes, they include reading lists and performances attended.

 

English

 

Lit and Comp 9

This English course examines the major elements of literature (such as plot, characterization, setting, point-of-view, etc.) as reflected in a wide variety of short stories, poetry, drama, and novels. The study of different cultures and global issues is linked with reading and analyzing literature from these diverse cultures. This allows students to develop a deeper appreciation of other peoples through literature. Emphasis is placed on achieving state standards in writing, reading, speaking/listening. Night by Elie Wiesel.

Provider: XYZ High School – awarded 0.50 credit hours

 

Honors Ancient Literature & Composition

This English course examines elements of literature such as epics, sagas, oral tradition, and comedy and tragedy and the role classic literature plays in inspiring the development of other major works of literature and art. The student will study a wide variety of works including:  The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, The Odyssey, Theogony, Birds, Clouds, the Theban plays and selections from The Art of War, The Aeneid, The Ramayana, The Analects, and The Tale of Sinuhe. The composition portion of the course places a strong emphasis on constructing well-written essays.

 

Live Performances: Students will read and study the following works before attending the live performances: Hamlet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

 

Resources: Full literary works and excerpts mentioned in the course description, The Lively Art of Writing by Lucille Vaughan Payne; The Bedford Anthology of World Literature: The Ancient World, Beginnings – 100 C.E.; The Great Courses lecture series: Iliad of Homer and Odyssey of Homer, both by Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver.

 

Evaluation: oral and written exams and essays

Provider: Home study – awarded 0.50 credit hours

 

AP English Language and Composition

This highly interactive course is designed to prepare students for the AP English Language and Composition exam in May. Students will learn to understand complicated texts and write with complexity, clarity and polish. To reach this goal, this course will involve extensive reading, writing, and online discussion. Students should anticipate reading 30-50 pages (mostly engaging nonfiction essays) and writing one essay (or the equivalent) weekly. We will also study image as text, critiquing Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoons and photographs. Students will track down logical fallacies in politicians' speeches and read satire from Jonathan Swift and Langston Hughes. In addition, students will choose novels, plays, and nonfiction works to study either independently or in interactive book clubs with their classmates throughout the year. Students will compose journal entries, discussion question responses, argumentative papers and analytic essays. They will also write several personal creative narratives. They will research and write an argument paper on security sector reform that will be entered in the National Peace Essay Competition.

 

Reading List: Hunger for Memory by Richard Rodriguez, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel, Hard Times by Charles Dickens, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Enrich Maria Remarque

 

Other Resources: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, The Language of Composition: Reading – Writing-Rhetoric by Renee H. Shea, and Cliffnotes AP English Literature and Composition.

 

Live Performances: Students will read and study the following works before attending the live performances: Antony and Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew, both by William Shakespeare

 

Evaluation: essays, written discussion responses, and book club documentation

Provider: Maya Inspektor at Pennsylvania Homeschoolers (online) – awarded 1.00 credit hours

 

Is this on par with what the rest of you are doing? Is is overkill? What do I edit?

 

I don't think getting 3-4 per page is bad, especially for courses with a lot of texts to list.  If you want to make them a little more compact you could be consistent in either listing the works read within the description paragraph or as an entry below the descriptions, but pick one or the other.  Change Reading List to Texts or Selected Texts and list everything together.  Put the plays in with the reading list and just say that the student attended two live drama performances.  

 

I would pick a tense and stick with it.  I used past tense for most of mine.  I think you could also use present tense.  It looks like you have a mix of present and future.  (I think future tense works well for the description given before the class, but reads oddly in a document describing what the student did.)

 

I didn't call out home study as a provider in my descriptions, but I think it makes sense with yours, since you are combining PS, homeschool and outside providers.  For me everything that wasn't listed was done at home.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

So--I just had a thought and that lead to a question...

 

How would you head each page to identify that document as belonging to your student?  Does this even matter in the age of Common App and electronic docs?  Should I be including a student name (first or last name first)? SSN? School name (or should one even "name" their homeschool)? Or some other identifying info as a header on each page?

 

I realize a transcript is self-explanatory to an admissions officer but how about page 4 of your course descriptions...

 

And thank you--I'm so glad there are people I can actually ask questions like this who don't think I'm totally nuts for asking in the first place.  (I've been going quietly crazy the past few weeks listening to parents of kids in b&m schools complaining about all they have to do to help their kids with Common App...)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

So--I just had a thought and that lead to a question...

 

How would you head each page to identify that document as belonging to your student?  Does this even matter in the age of Common App and electronic docs?  Should I be including a student name (first or last name first)? SSN? School name (or should one even "name" their homeschool)? Or some other identifying info as a header on each page?

 

I realize a transcript is self-explanatory to an admissions officer but how about page 4 of your course descriptions...

 

And thank you--I'm so glad their are people I can actually ask questions like this who don't think I'm totally nuts for asking in the first place.  (I've been going quietly crazy the past few weeks listening to parents of kids in b&m schools complaining about all they have to do to help their kids with Common App...)

 

I have a header that says 

 

High School Course Descriptions

First Name Last Name

 

 

Since I'll be submitting them to service academies directly rather than via Common App, I may go ahead and add the candidate number after the name.

 

I'm tempted to add the school name from the transcript, but I honestly don't think it matters that much.  I did want the various pages to be identifiable if they were ever printed and separated.  (Do they even print anymore?)

[Kareni]

Lisa,

 

One way you could shorten your course descriptions is to eliminate the "Evaluation:" statement.

 

 

So--I just had a thought and that lead to a question...

 

How would you head each page to identify that document as belonging to your student? 

 

We used a footer with my daughter's name, page number, etc.  I actually chose to mail my daughter's documentation to each of the ten colleges to which she applied.  That way I was able to personalize a letter to each college.  My daughter and one of her references used an online process.

 

 

 

Since they're not homeschooled classes, will it matter that their course descriptions (and the CC ones) are a bit anemic?  Do you guys include names of outside teachers, or just where taken?

 

 

I included the location where classes were taken but not the name of outside teachers.

 

In the next post, I'll include some of my daughter's course descriptions.

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

 

 

[Kareni]

My daughter applied to ten colleges.  They ranged from the Honor's College of our state university through liberal arts colleges of varying selectivity to an Ivy League college.  Looking back, I think at least half of them requested course descriptions.  (One also requested a portfolio and one suggested a portfolio.)

 

A few sample course descriptions ~

 

This one was taken at the local community college:

 

 

WR 121 - English Composition: Exposition and Introduction to Argument

This is the fundamental course for all writing students that introduces students to the conventions of academic writing. It emphasizes defining and developing a significant topic and using principles of clear thinking to support an assertive thesis. Students should understand their subject matter, audience, purpose, and point-of-view, and demonstrate that understanding through the organization and development of their essays. Students should analyze and evaluate other writers' work to sharpen their critical abilities as readers and writers.
4.000 Credit Hours (Class taken at ZCC in 11^th grade.)  Awarded 0.50 credits.

 

 

The next one was taken at our local homeschooling resource center (similar to a co-op):

 

 

Literature:  A Little Middle English

In this class students read portions of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, stories which have delighted English readers for 700 years.  Students read and interpret the stories together using the original Middle English text.  Several short reflective writing topics are assigned. (Class taken at Y Co-op in 10^th grade.)  Awarded 0.25 credits.

 

 

The next two were home designed courses:

 

 

World Literature from 1700 to 2000

A study of 18^th through 20^th century short stories and novels with the intent of familiarizing the student with selected literary works of enduring quality.  This interdisciplinary course (see the associated History course below) allows the student to explore this time period by reading its literature while also studying its historical context.  (Class taken at home in 9^th grade.)  Awarded 0.50 credits.

 

World History from 1700 to 2000
This reading-based course covers world-changing events of the 18^th through 20^th centuries which have shaped our culture today; it complements the associated Literature course (listed above) by giving the student a context for the literature studied. The course also includes musical recordings, documentaries, and videos of or about the time. Map work and short writing assignments are required. (Class taken at home in 9^th grade.) Awarded 1.00 credits.


You'll note that I did not include textbook names or novel titles in my course descriptions. I included separate reading and textbook lists with that information.

 

For classes that my daughter took at the local community college (indicated as ZCC above), I copied course descriptions from the college catalog.  Likewise, when my daughter took at class through PA Homeschoolers, I used their course description.  (I believe that I shortened it somewhat.)

 

For classes like Algebra 2 and Geometry where my daughter used a standard text, I used a search engine (Google) and input the terms "Algebra 2 course description plus the author of the text" and used those course descriptions as the basis of my own.

 

The World Literature and World History courses I listed above were homemade courses.  Once again, I used a search engine to look for the course descriptions of similar courses taught at the high school and college level.  I adjusted those to best describe the courses my daughter did at home.

Regards,
Kareni

[Junie]

Thank you for all of the ideas!!!

 

I am in the process of creating my own course catalog.  Then, I will be able to cut and paste from my own catalog to make a transcript for ds15.  And dd13.  And dd11...

[Mom22ns]

AP English Language and Composition

This highly interactive course is designed to prepare students for the AP English Language and Composition exam in May. Students will learn to understand complicated texts and write with complexity, clarity and polish. To reach this goal, this course will involve extensive reading, writing, and online discussion. Students should anticipate reading 30-50 pages (mostly engaging nonfiction essays) and writing one essay (or the equivalent) weekly. We will also study image as text, critiquing Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoons and photographs. Students will track down logical fallacies in politicians' speeches and read satire from Jonathan Swift and Langston Hughes. In addition, students will choose novels, plays, and nonfiction works to study either independently or in interactive book clubs with their classmates throughout the year. Students will compose journal entries, discussion question responses, argumentative papers and analytic essays. They will also write several personal creative narratives. They will research and write an argument paper on security sector reform that will be entered in the National Peace Essay Competition.

 

Reading List: Hunger for Memory by Richard Rodriguez, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel, Hard Times by Charles Dickens, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Enrich Maria Remarque

 

Other Resources: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, The Language of Composition: Reading – Writing-Rhetoric by Renee H. Shea, and Cliffnotes AP English Literature and Composition.

 

Live Performances: Students will read and study the following works before attending the live performances: Antony and Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew, both by William Shakespeare

 

Evaluation: essays, written discussion responses, and book club documentation

Provider: Maya Inspektor at Pennsylvania Homeschoolers (online) – awarded 1.00 credit hours

 

Is this on par with what the rest of you are doing? Is is overkill? What do I edit?

 

Here is my course description for the same class for comparison. I use the same layout (title, materials, description) for each course.

 

AP English Language (Pennsylvania Homeschoolers)

Materials: The Language of Composition, The Elements of Style, Hunger of Memory, Walden, Cliffsnotes AP English and Composition, five AP level novels

Description: This highly interactive course is designed to prepare students for the AP English Language and Composition exam in May. Students will learn to understand complicated texts and write with complexity, clarity and polish. Essentially, the goal of an AP English Language and Composition course is for students to develop maturity as readers, writers, and thinkers. To reach this goal, this course will involve extensive reading, writing, and online discussion.

[angela in ohio]

The descriptions for our English courses are the longest, just by nature of listing works studied. I don't think those are terribly long, assuming the rest of the subjects are probably shorter.

[Nan in Mass]

We snailmailed the common app and the documents. At the time youngest was doing applications, it was possible to print it out, fill it in, and mail it. I put "See attached transcript" (or whatever) in the first blank rather than try to fit my odd son into their little boxes. I used N/A liberally. I only included course descriptions for the colleges that specifically requested them or were small enough that I knew could handle them. If we had the option of using the college,s own application, we did.

 

I used the counselor recommendation as a place to discuss a few of the more challenging things my son had done and how he had risen to those challenges and grown, how he had demonstrated that he would be able to handle college level work, and why he homeschooled (just a simple sentence about flexibility). I used the school report as a place to discuss how our homeschool was structured (we did follow a schedule, for example), how I assessed the student, how I assigned credit, and our school,s philosophy and goals. They were each a page.

 

I didn,t grade, so I had two versions of the course descriptions, a longer one that was more a narrative assessment and included more information about which things my son had done well and which he,d struggled with, and a briefer one with less assessment (but still some) and a less thorough discussion of what he did. I sent the long form to colleges that specifically asked for a narrative assessment if the school didn,t use grades. Otherwise, I sent the shorter, less chatty version. Neither was really short. The descriptions of do-a-textbook courses were a paragraph paraphrased from the table of contents or intro in the textbook. I copied the community college descriptions and included the info that the course was taken on campus (important for demonstrating ability to handle a classroom situation) and included the grade. The other descriptions were longer, a few almost a page, because I wanted to list some of my son,s more interesting learning experiences (like being given some yen to improve the living quarters of a temple in Japan).

 

I made the transcript fit on one side of the page. I chose to make their transcripts reflect my sons' unique educations rather than emphasize that their education was equivalent to a standard high school education. (Both approaches have their advantages.) Since I wanted to include the cc grades, I needed a column for grades and did what everything I have read said not to do - I used pass fail for the home classes. That way, it didn,t look like a ton of incompletes. I gave the courses the most descriptive names I could come up with rather than English 1, English 2, etc.. I somewhat arbitrarily (I actually used that word in the school report) labelled any classes that involved extensive travel or community college honours. I used superscripts to indicate the cc classes and explain why the other classes were honours. For the gpa I used his cc gpa. I included test scores, gymnastics awards, and a few hobbies and clubs. I organized the courses by subject and gave no indication of timeframe, just credits. I had a note on the bottom that said that 1 credit = 1 year,s worth of work in the subject. I emphasized my son,s independent projects by having a section labelled "Independent Projects", like the sections for math and science.

 

We sent all colleges a "Partial Reading List", whether they asked for one or not. I organized that by subject (without headings) and it included textbooks, so it served as sort of very abbreviated course descriptions.

 

We included a cover letter that included a list of the items in the packet. Every item had the student,s name and birthday in the header.

 

Nan

[Sandi F]

After skimming through this topic, I feel confused: the home school section of the Common App (circa 2015) asks for the title, institution, and content of courses taken at an institution of higher learning, a distance learning program, or a traditional secondary school. My daughter has taken classes at a community college, through a distance learning program (online), and in a weekly homeschool tutorial setting--but surely the weekly tutorial is not a distance learning program?

 

This is my second time around with the Common App. Honestly, I feel more confused than I did in 2011. While I did give an extensive description of every course my older daughter took when I completed the counselor section of the Common App back in 2011, the Home School section has changed A LOT since 2011. Is it needed to give a description for courses taken at a weekly tutorial? My interpretation of this question was that only courses from those 3 categories (traditional high school, college, or distance program) needed the description, etc.

 

Frankly, this question baffled me. A transcript is available from the community college, so isn't that validation enough?

 

(Off topic, but I am also very torn about whether or not to complete the Academic Rating for my daughter. I don't teach any tutorials myself, so I really have no way to honestly rank my daughter against her classmates. So I haven't done the ratings, but I read somewhere that schools like to have the statistics from those ratings.)

[angela in ohio]

After skimming through this topic, I feel confused: the home school section of the Common App (circa 2015) asks for the title, institution, and content of courses taken at an institution of higher learning, a distance learning program, or a traditional secondary school. My daughter has taken classes at a community college, through a distance learning program (online), and in a weekly homeschool tutorial setting--but surely the weekly tutorial is not a distance learning program?

 

This is my second time around with the Common App. Honestly, I feel more confused than I did in 2011. While I did give an extensive description of every course my older daughter took when I completed the counselor section of the Common App back in 2011, the Home School section has changed A LOT since 2011. Is it needed to give a description for courses taken at a weekly tutorial? My interpretation of this question was that only courses from those 3 categories (traditional high school, college, or distance program) needed the description, etc.

 

Frankly, this question baffled me. A transcript is available from the community college, so isn't that validation enough?

 

(Off topic, but I am also very torn about whether or not to complete the Academic Rating for my daughter. I don't teach any tutorials myself, so I really have no way to honestly rank my daughter against her classmates. So I haven't done the ratings, but I read somewhere that schools like to have the statistics from those ratings.)

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to work this for my second dd. For older dd, she had taken just a few courses at the CC and Latin online. So I just filled those in the box. I also included basically the same info in the course description document that I uploaded with the school profile (or transcript?... anyway, wherever I put it.) This dd has taken a half dozen classes at the local public school and over a dozen at the CC. It seems silly to re-type that all in the box, so I'm thinking of writing "see attached course descriptions."

 

The ratings are "compared to other students in his or her class." In the counselor recommendation, they mean their graduating class. Since dd does not have any other students in her graduating class, I mark "No basis." When a recommender who has her in a class fills out their recommendation, they can assess how she compares to other students in particular classes. I always assume colleges roll their eyes when a parent fills that section out.

[Sandi F]

Thanks: I decided to mark "no basis" as well for the Academic Ratings section. It seemed the honest thing to do.

 

When I looked back at the 2011 Common App, I discovered that all we had to do then was to give a course title and level, dates, and the primary text. "Primary text" presented a problem for some literature and history tutorials, but--compared to the current Common App's requirement for "content" and information about the schedule or interaction--that was a walk in the park.

 

But did anyone else encounter the word limit problem when completing the Home School section of the Common App? I spent a few hours typing up my descriptions, probably giving way too many details. Then, to my horror, I started running out of space.Yep: I spent a few more hours weeding all my descriptions down so they would fit.

 

It's submitted now, so I'm going to enjoy fall and my older daughter's fall break tomorrow!

[swimmermom3]

Many thanks to everyone that has participated in this thread so far. I am back at work on the course descriptions and will share the Mathematics page, which I believe is finalized unless you all tell me otherwise. You can see that I have borrowed shamelessly from many of your examples.

 

Mathematics

Geometry                                             Semesters: 2                        Credits: 1.00                        XYZ High School

The coursework covered topics such as polygons, circles, area, volume, the Pythagorean Theorem, 3-dimensional geometry, congruency, and similarity. Students performed individual and group investigations that lead them to geometric discoveries. They constructed geometric figures, studied a variety of geometric terms and definitions, formulated conjectures, and wrote proofs. Materials: Larson, Ron. Geometry. Evanston, Ill.: McDougal LIttell, 2007.

 

Advanced Algebra II                            Semesters: 1                        Credits: 0.50                        XYZ High School

This course combined years three and four of the sequential math curriculum (squeezing two years of math into one). Advanced Algebra II emphasized a discovery approach to understanding and applying linear, quadratic, exponential, rational, and periodic functions. Students investigated linear programming, logarithms, and trigonometric relations. Materials:  Foerster, Paul A. Algebra and Trigonometry: Functions and Applications. Classic ed. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1999.

 

Honors Algebra 2                                 Semesters: 1                        Credits: 0.50                        Derek Owens

The second semester of this course covered exponential and logarithmic functions, rational equations and functions, conic sections, sequences and series, trigonometry and graphs of trigonometric functions. The honors option included additional problems on each topic that were of greater complexity than the standard course problems.  Materials: video lectures, a course workbook, homework, assignments, quizzes, chapter tests, and a final exam from online provider, Derek Owens.

 

AP Statistics                                          Semesters: 2                        Credits: 1.00                        PA Homeschoolers

This college-level course in statistics introduced the student to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. The student was exposed to four broad conceptual themes:

1)   Exploring Data: Observing patterns and departures from patterns,

2)   Planning a Study: Deciding what and how to measure,

3)   Anticipating Patterns: Producing models using probability theory and simulation, and

4)   Statistical Inference: Confirming models.

Materials: Starnes, Daren S., and Daniel S. Yates. The Practice of Statistics. 4th ed. New York: W.H. Freeman, 2012; Fathom, Dynamic Data Software, Concord Consortium Software.  Instructor: Carole Matheny

Advanced Placement Statistics exam (May 2014): Score 4/5

 

Honors Precalculus                              Semesters: 2                        Credits: 1.00                        Derek Owens

This course was designed to develop an understanding of topics which are fundamental to the study of Calculus. Upon completion, students were able to:

1. Use the unit circle and right triangle definitions to evaluate and graph trigonometric functions and their inverses, to derive trigonometric identities, and to simplify trigonometric expressions.
2. Use multiple methods to solve problems involving trigonometric equations, right triangles, and oblique triangles.
3. Demonstrate knowledge of vector definitions and perform vector operations.
4. Convert equations and graphs between rectangular and polar coordinate systems, and apply to complex numbers.
5. Use multiple representations to define, construct and analyze conic sections.
6. Create, graph, and analyze parametric equations.

The honors option included additional problems on each topic that were of greater complexity than the standard course problems.  Materials: Sullivan, Michael. Precalculus. 4th Ed. Prentice- Hall, 1996.

 

(This takes exactly one page)

[TeaTotaler]

Does anybody know what the size limit is for uploading course descriptions into the Common App?  I'm still working on mine and don't want to make them too detailed if I will need to shorten them.

Thanks.

[Sandi F]

The word limit for the question asking us to list courses taken at an institution of higher learning, traditional secondary school, or distance program seemed to be around 942.

 

However, there seem to be other places to input course descriptions. I'm still not sure I did it "right" (probably why I am following this forum). Because ARE local weekly tutorials truly distance programs?

[cjzimmer1]

Does anybody know what the size limit is for uploading course descriptions into the Common App?  I'm still working on mine and don't want to make them too detailed if I will need to shorten them.

Thanks.

 

I just uploaded course transcriptions as a second transcript.  I don't know if there is a size limitation but mine is 12 pages long.

[mamato4]

Okay, now I'm in a tizzy. For the homeschool section asking about the outside courses, I just put the basic info of course name, met how many times, setting, provider. I was going to add something about referring to the more detailed course description for more info. I have a 10-page course description which I was going to upload as a second transcript.

 

DD did take quite a bit of outside classes. I don't think I'll be able to stay within the word-number limit.

 

Should I still copy all that course description info onto the homeschool section outside courses?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Does anybody know what the size limit is for uploading course descriptions into the Common App?  I'm still working on mine and don't want to make them too detailed if I will need to shorten them.

Thanks.

 

500 KB is the limit I've run into.  Making a Word Document into a PDF will increase the file size somewhat.  I was able to put a 7 page course description in with no problem.  My 11 page scan of transcript and documents was too big.

 

Scanning in color is a lot more memory intensive than in black and white.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Okay, now I'm in a tizzy. For the homeschool section asking about the outside courses, I just put the basic info of course name, met how many times, setting, provider. I was going to add something about referring to the more detailed course description for more info. I have a 10-page course description which I was going to upload as a second transcript.

 

DD did take quite a bit of outside classes. I don't think I'll be able to stay within the word-number limit.

 

Should I still copy all that course description info onto the homeschool section outside courses?

 

I think basic info for the CA box is fine, with greater detail in the course descriptions.

 

I think that one reason the homeschool supplement exists is because some homeschool families didn't provide any contextualizing info, but just a list that might have been pretty basic (math 9, math 10, math 11, etc).  Colleges like to compare apples to apples and have some idea what a family means when they say Algebra.