ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I have 2 situations that I need your help with. 1) my freshman daughter....we very loosely used North Star Geography. I do not think that she did a full credits worth of work (but probably 1/2 credits worth)...and from what I can tell, many colleges, and other high school require 1 full credit of high school geography. So unless I am wrong, I need to do something to add to give her a full credit. Any suggestions for me?? 2) next year my son will be a freshman and I need to find a different geography program that will actually get done. So I need some suggestions for him too. We did not like North Star. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I used Runkle Geography for 1/2 credit. I am unaware of colleges specifically requiring a year of geography. I don't care so much about what other high schools do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) I have 2 situations that I need your help with. 1) my freshman daughter....we very loosely used North Star Geography. I do not think that she did a full credits worth of work (but probably 1/2 credits worth)...and from what I can tell, many colleges, and other high school require 1 full credit of high school geography. So unless I am wrong, I need to do something to add to give her a full credit. Any suggestions for me?? 2) next year my son will be a freshman and I need to find a different geography program that will actually get done. So I need some suggestions for him too. We did not like North Star. I have not come across any college with such a requirement. I would give her half a credit and move on. What about designing your own course? That's the only thing that would get done in my homeschool: some Physical Geography textbook as a spine, supplement with National Geographic, documentaries, books. Edited March 23, 2016 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) I think maybe I am jumping to the conclusion that 4 history credits automatically means geography, world History, US HIstory and government/civics...but I guess it doesn't have to mean that...but I don't know what other options might fulfill that requirement. The other issue is, my son who is just a year behind my daughter...if he doesn't "need" a geography course, what does he take then, his 9th grade year? My 10th grade daughter will be doing World History in the fall. And, what then do I do for my daughter who has only 1/2 credit worth of work for her 9th grade year. How do I fill that gap? Edited March 23, 2016 by NEprairiemom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I think maybe I am jumping to the conclusion that 4 history credits automatically means geography, world History, US HIstory and government/civics...but I guess it doesn't have to mean that...but I don't know what other options might fulfill that requirement. I have not seen any requirement for four history credits either. The requirement is usually 3-4 social science credits. Ours were: World History Ancients, World History Medieval+Renaissance, US history within World Context 1500-1900, US within World Context 20th century (0.5 cr), Government (0.5 cr) There are lots of other options. As a homeschool, you don't have to imitate what public schools do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) maybe I am just too nervous about missing something really important that will come back later to haunt us. I feel like my daughter is really getting the raw end of the deal...I keep making mistakes with her freshman year...and I feel so bad about it. Please help me get it all straightened out. thanks. Edited March 23, 2016 by NEprairiemom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat in MI Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 In our state, geography is included in American History and World History courses. So the transcript would read American History and Geography which really means they do map work along with the history studies. In MI students only need 3 social studies credits (American History & Geography, World History & Geography, Government/Economics) We are in the same position you are in; using Northstar Geography and not liking it. I am either going to add more to it as we finish out the year or just make sure geography is added to dd's history studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 maybe I am just too nervous about missing something really important that will come back later to haunt us. Look at the admissions requirements of the universities your kids may be interested in and work backwards. That way you know what you need to cover. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 In our state, geography is included in American History and World History courses. So the transcript would read American History and Geography which really means they do map work along with the history studies. In MI students only need 3 social studies credits (American History & Geography, World History & Geography, Government/Economics) We are in the same position you are in; using Northstar Geography and not liking it. I am either going to add more to it as we finish out the year or just make sure geography is added to dd's history studies. so what would you do differently if you had to do it again (which I do)? AND what would I put on a transcript as far as this? geography 1/2 credit? what about the other half? SIGH!!!! I feel like such an utter failure right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Look at the admissions requirements of the universities your kids may be interested in and work backwards. That way you know what you need to cover. one option would be a community college where they have open enrollment...one of the other options doesn't require any history...but recommends 3 years. Which all sounds good...but she is just a Freshman...what if she changes her mind and all of a sudden decides to do something completely different? then what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 but what do I do with my son next year?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 What does your son want to do next year? Ancient history? World Geography? Government (might be good in an election year)? American history? You're likely to have the best outcome by letting him select what he wants to study. Choose the subject, then choose the materials. As for your daughter, if it turns out that the college she has her heart set on requires one credit of world geography (though I agree with others that is highly unlikely -- I have never seen that requirement at even ONE college), then she can add in another half credit her senior year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 AND what would I put on a transcript as far as this? geography 1/2 credit? what about the other half? There is no need for another half. You can simply have a half credit in a certain subject, period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 so in other words, you are saying I shouldn't worry right now about my daughter...and then let my son do a different history. you are right abut government...being that it is an election year...I have sort of toyed with the idea...but I wasn't sure what curriculum to use for that...for a 9th grader...since that is usually covered as a senior, right? I could even see having my daughter join in with that too...but I am not sure. hmmm. thanks for the thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmos Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 so in other words, you are saying I shouldn't worry right now about my daughter.. Has she stopped working on the geography? If she has completed a nice 1/2 credit but you still have time left in the school year, perhaps she could work on something else instead for the next few months. A 1/2 credit of health would be good to get out of the way. Or maybe there's some elective she would like to spend time on like photography or cooking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat in MI Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 (edited) I picked geography because I was trying to follow HOD's recommendations in starting with geography. I knew that program would be too overwhelming for my dd. Anyway, to do it differently, I would definitely pick a different geography. (No idea which one ) I have been adding to the program . She is reading Around the World in Eighty Days, doing additional map work - memorizing where the countries are, Also, I'm going to add in youtube videos about geography, and I am going to add current events, so she is pulling together all of the parts - physical geography, human geography, etc. Yes, I will call this one full credit because I know it is way more than her brother had in ps. HTH Blessings, Pat Edited March 23, 2016 by Pat in MI 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 but what do I do with my son next year?? My dc's have normally done social studies together. That way I only have to find the documentaries once and both get to spend the afternoon watching telly. Not everyday, normally once a week. Mine are two years apart in grade. We had a disaster of an attempt at a year of world geography, no one liked it. We quickly just folded into a history course. Your ds can always spend his senior year doing something like economics, sociology, or psychology. He might want to try a Clep exam at the end and get some college credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Probably no help as I don't live in the USA, but we do IGCSE Geography & IGCSE Global Issues for grade 9/10. We don't take the exam, just use the books. Dd has never 'liked' Geography, but seems okay with doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Many high school courses are only 1/2 credit. In public high school, for example, I took .5 credit classes in psychology, sociology, cultural geography, and government. .5 credits were offered in economics, but I didn't take it (wasn't required back then). I don't remember if American history was a full credit or half at that time. All of your social science credits need to add up to 4 credits (if you have a 4 credit goal for social science classes), but they do not need to all be 1 credit classes. So you might end up with .5 credits each in geography, economics, and government. Plus a full credit of American history and a full credit of world history. Which adds up to 3.5 credits. You can choose any social science subject to study for that final .5 credit in order to end up with a total of 4. You could study a period of history in depth for .5 credit or do a course such as psychology, for example. That is actually where I think the fun of homeschooling comes in, because you can choose a topic to study that relates to the student's personal interests. For example, my daughter is a dancer, so she might do .5 credit in the history of dance. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Also, for your son, geography is not actually a required high school course around here. Does he want to study geography? Would he like to learn something about a different social science instead? There are many areas of history that could be explored, for example. If you want him to learn geography skills, you can work on them in the context of history, instead of having a completely separate geography course. Otherwise, we have NorthStar, so I don't have other suggestions for you. I hope someone else chimes in with programs that they liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 Geography is offered/required for high school in some districts /states but not all. If your homeschool laws don't require you to match those, then ... you don't have to. 1/2 credit classes are quite common in social studies /science. The usual requirement is 4 years of social studies/social science. Most common is a sequence that includes a year of World History, a year of American history and some combo of Government, and Economics... then an addition of something like psychology, sociology, geography, specialized history... adding up to another full credit. The sequence of these things varies GREATLY from one location to the next. (I'm a high school social studies teacher by background). If I were you, I'd combine the two kids for a semester/year of Government this fall. In fact, I'd keep them combined all three years they overlap. The prereqs for HS social studies are minimal... and it would be easier for you to have them on the same subject AND would result in livelier discussion (one would hope!) Do gov't, World History, American history -- and then for DS's senior year pick something interest loaded. To fill the blanks on that 1/2 credit -- I'd either finish out Geography (Is she really only 1/2 way through? Are you counting hours of work or progress in the curriculum/text?) There's a Great Courses lecture on "Understanding Cultural and Human Geography" that would be a good starting place. It's about 12 hours. Then some documentaries, some reading and a couple of high interest research projects to round it out? OR have her pick something in history that does interest her and build or find a course around it. I'd build something but this is my area, it sounds like you prefer a prepared curriculum. My high schooler's current plan is: .5 credits American Government (Completed 9th) .5 credits Introduction to Economics and Personal Finance (current 9th) 1 credit Human and Physical Geography (10th grade) (may take the AP exam) .5 credits History and Culture of the United Kingdom (10th grade - we're traveling to the UK and will be exploring many historical sites so I want him to make connections there, we'll do reading, listening to audio lectures, etc in preparation) 1 credit World History (11th grade) 1 credit American History (12th grade) (may CLEP or AP exam) (He might turn this into something more like "History of the American West" if he manages to land a docent position at our Living History Museum but those are competitive and he didn't get one this year) plus he currently hopes to also do Micro and Macro Economics at the CC (Economics is a high interest area for him) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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