help me figure out how many credits?

[ProudGrandma]

is this right...or what am I doing wrong??  Do you assign credit to art and music? or is that just extra curricular? 

 

Biology 1 credit

Algebra 1 Credit

Latin 1 Credit

Health/PE 1 credit

Writing 1 Credit

Geography 1/2 credit

Theology 1/2 credit

 

not sure what to do with: 

 

Art (she actually has a real art teacher and is learning art techniques) They meet weekly for about 2 hours. 

Music (taking piano and organ lessons) lessons are weekly for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes...she practices over 1 hour daily

 

 

[Pegasus]

is this right...or what am I doing wrong??  Do you assign credit to art and music? or is that just extra curricular? 

 

Biology 1 credit

Algebra 1 Credit

Latin 1 Credit

Health/PE 1 credit

Writing 1 Credit

Geography 1/2 credit

Theology 1/2 credit

 

not sure what to do with: 

 

Art (she actually has a real art teacher and is learning art techniques) They meet weekly for about 2 hours. 

Music (taking piano and organ lessons) lessons are weekly for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes...she practices over 1 hour daily

Combine art and music, count hours, and give a Fine Arts credit at somewhere between 120 and 180 hours. 

 

I'd break out "Health" from "PE" and give 0.5 credits each. Also, writing should be combined with literature to make a full English credit. The rest looks fine.  

[G5052]

It's really up to you. The rough criteria is some 60-90 hours for half a credit. In music and sports, I've seen some that say 2 hours of practice equal 1 hour toward the credit total.

 

IMHO credit requires that there be some sort of formality, progression, and evaluation along the way.

 

I counted my teen's martial arts work as P.E. because they're in a very formal program with a detailed syllabus. They both do a fair amount of reading and watching videos outside of class. My older one actually got his shodan (black belt) in high school and had to write a research paper. They practice 4 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, and study several hours a week. There are also weekend seminars and demonstrations.  So 1 credit of P.E.

 

My younger one was intensely involved with piano including competitions, but I counted that as an activity. Why? Because she has formal, graded art classes and already has a lot of credits for her age. I didn't want to overload her transcript. Certainly I could have counted piano that way too because of the level she was involved in at that point. Her achievements and ratings there are listed as activities.

 

I'm sure that others will weigh in.

[ProudGrandma]

the writing course she is doing is EIW...so that isn't a credit unto itself?  She isn't doing any literature this year.  Next year I am adding EIW for writing and EIL for Literature, but you are telling me that those will only be worth 1/2 credit each?

 

I can break up health and PE...why do you recommend doing that?

 

How many hours should equal a credit?

 

that might help me figure out some stuff too.

 

thanks.

[EKS]

If she is passionate about the art and music, then I would call it an extracurricular.  If not, as in you're making her do it or she's just going through the motions, then I'd give one credit for music, which I would call something like "Intermediate [or whatever her level is] Piano and Organ."  I'd give a half credit for art after one calendar year if the class is done year round.  And I'd call it "Drawing and Painting" or "Sculpture" or whatever the specific techniques are that she's learning.

 

I'd also change the name of the writing class to "Composition."  You *can* have an entire credit devoted to composition, just be sure she's spending enough time on it.

 

I agree with the PP who said to separate health and PE.  

 

 

[Lilaclady]

 

I can break up health and PE...why do you recommend doing that

 

 

thanks.

Some schools and some states want to see them separately even if they are both 0.5 credits each

[Pegasus]

Essentially, you will be making things easier on yourself and your student if your transcript looks "typical."  If you do not have specific requirements in your state to issue a diploma for high school, start looking at a few possible colleges if the student is college-bound for their entrance requirements.  In all likelihood, they are going to want to see 4 years of "English" for example. You are just going to confuse things if you have "Writing" or "Composition" listed separately from "Literature" and it could seem like double-counting since it is typical for lit and writing (along with vocabulary, grammar, etc.) to be combined into a single English credit.

 

One high school credit is generally 120 to 180 hours of effort. Most folks only count hours for courses where it would otherwise be difficult to determine when you are done.  For example, if you finish a math textbook, you know you are done.  If you are running for P.E., when are you done?

 

Health and PE are different requirements. That's why I suggested separating them.  Again, it is more typical to see them listed individually.

[Pegasus]

Here is just one example, from my state flagship, for college entrance requirements:

 

• 4 units of English
• 2 units of algebra
• 1 unit of geometry
• 1 unit of trigonometry, calculus, statistics, or other advanced math
• 1 unit of biology
• 1 unit of chemistry or physics
• 1 unit of additional science
• 1 unit of American history
• 1 unit of European history, world history, or world geography
• 2 units of a single foreign language
• 1 unit of visual or performing arts

[Lori D.]

the writing course she is doing is EIW...so that isn't a credit unto itself?  She isn't doing any literature this year.  Next year I am adding EIW for writing and EIL for Literature, but you are telling me that those will only be worth 1/2 credit each?

 

...

 

How many hours should equal a credit? that might help me figure out some stuff too.

 

Here's a helpful "credit hours" chart:

. . . . . . . . . . . .lite . . . average . . rigorous

1.00 credit = 120 . . . 150 . . . 180

0.75 credit =   90 . . . 110 . . . 135

0.66 credit =   80 . . . 100 . . . 120

0.50 credit =   60 . . . . 75 . . . . 90

0.33 credit =   40 . . . . 50 . . . . 60

0.25 credit =   30 . . . . 35 . . . . 45

 

120 hours is the "Carnegie credit", which refers to 120 hours of teacher/classroom contact -- it is assumed the student puts in additional hours outside of the class.

 

180 hours is the maximum for a credit, which comes from public school requirements of 1 hour/day x 5 days week x 36 week school year = 180 hours. Class length usually is less than 1 hour (often 40-50 minutes), BUT, it also assumes there is regular work done at home, which fills in that 40-50 minutes back up to 1 hour.

 

150 hours is a nice average, and the range around it -- 135 - 165 hours -- gives you flexibility if not all your courses take the same amount of time. Science usually is closer to 180 hours due to time for labs. History and Literature are also closer to 180 hours due to the extra time that reading and writing take. Electives, or "required" courses such as Health, Economics or Government often run closer to 120 hours when they are more of a "box-checking" course. If at all possible, shoot for consistency between your courses that are accrued through hours -- that's where that range of 135-165 hours makes things very handy. :)

 

You do not need to track hours for textbook-based courses such as Science or Math if your student excels in those areas and finishes early -- for these courses, if you are using standard textbooks that are providing the right amount of challenge for your student, then completion of the text is completion of the credit. If your student really struggles with Math, and takes 1.5 to 2 full years to complete Algebra 1, then you may wish to award credit appropriated to reflect the large amount of time the student needed, and award 1.0 credit each for Algebra 1, part a, and 1.0 credit for Algebra 1 part b.

 

 

As far as what makes an English credit: typically it is 1/2 Lit. and 1/2 Writing or Composition. But it is also fine to have an English credit that is completely focused on Literature or completely focused on Composition (Writing). Examples:

 

1.0 credit = Introduction to Literature

1.0 credit = Beginning Composition

1.0 credit = Intermediate Composition

1.0 credit = American Literature

 

or

 

1.0 credit = English 9: Intro to Lit and Composition

1.0 credit =English 10: American Lit and Composition

1.0 credit =English 11: British Lit and Composition

1.0 credit = English 12: World Lit and Composition

 

Typically, if you are doing both Literature and Writing for the English credit, you spend 5 hours a week on the credit, with about 2-2.5 hours/week = Writing (about 30 min./day, 4-5/week), and about 2.5-3 hours/week on the Literature (reading, discussing/analyzing).

Edited March 22, 2016 by Lori D.

[DebbS]

For art, if it meets for 30 weeks, you could give 0.5 credits for the year. It would be good if there was a little more to the course than art techniques though. For example, my daughter has take an art class every year that covers art techniques in class and then the students do art history research around those techniques out of class. So she studies not only the technique, but the art, the artists, the materials and time and place which makes the course a lot beefier.

 

With piano, it depends on what your daughter is going to do in the future. Since my daughter is going to major in vocal performance, I did give her actual credits for voice, music theory and for a study of opera. She is currently taking voice at the college where she will be attending next year so she'll get dual credit for that. But, piano, which she needs to know for her voice major, is an extracurricular along with her volunteer work, theater, dance, etc. activities.

 

Since you have a fine arts credit, what you do for piano will depend on several things. The first being how serious you daughter is about studying it now and in the future. It won't hurt to have more than the require arts credits as long as you still have all of the other necessary core requirements in math, sciences, english, etc.  That said, extracurriculars are needed on a transcript to show that your student is balanced and involved with the outside world.  Especially if you don't have many of these, then piano might look better as an extracurricular.

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by DebbS

[G5052]

Some schools and some states want to see them separately even if they are both 0.5 credits each

 

In my state, public schools do a year of P.E. (I think they call it "lifetime fitness"), 1/2 year of health, and 1/2 year of the classroom part of driver's ed. All for credit.

As I said earlier, we counted their martial art as P.E. and had them do a 1/2 credit of health.

 

I didn't record the driver's ed, although some do. We had plenty of other credits as it was, and I just turn mine loose on their own to do the classroom part online.

Edited March 22, 2016 by G5052