Can the same credit hours count toward two classes?

[AmyontheFarm]

I'm counting hours for my last kiddo, as we're using NARHS this go round. It's not really a big deal--I estimate. She usually ends up with 200+ hours per class. Just looked--she's at 263 hours for piano right now, not counting a college class! NARHS will accept a standard textbook class, such as Saxon Alg II, but they'll also accept a "self-designed" course--where you list a plan, count hours, list books, videos, labs, whatever, to show evidence, along with papers or programs, photos, lab reports, etc. It's not that hard to pull together. 

 

Margaret in CO, we are using NARHS also.  Put the kids daily lessons into skedtrek which helps me track what they have gotten done and how long it took them. 

[Rebel Yell]

You don't? I don't mean that to be snarky. I just mean, when they say that a high school credit is between 150-180 hours, I thought that meant literal hours. Colleges count credits as hours as well.

 

For my state, we report either 180 days of instruction OR 990 hours of instruction. I have found that I start the year thinking, "Oh, these 180 days will be a breeze!" But by about February, I realize we've taken off more time than I realized due to Christmas or vacations or "dad's home today!" or a mental break,etc.

 

I need guidelines to keep me on track. I *want* to hit the 180 days and I find it a challenge. If I don't create a goal, I know myself and know that I might miss it.

 

The 160 hours for an English credit will be my goal. Without it, I'm pretty sure I'll get to the end of the year and realize I did less than I thought. Of course (of course!) this is not true for everyone. But it is true for me. I didn't even blink at the idea that the hours should actually be counted, both because that's in the name "credit hours" so it seemed self-evident, and because I need the goal to keep me on track. :)

Colleges might "count" hours but if you look at the differences between professors and students for the same class you will find that some don't care if you show up for class, just do the assignments and take the test. Some kids could spend hundreds of hours, some will spend a few dozen, both will get the same credit for the same grades earned.

 

My state (PA) says 180 days or 990 hours, but NOTHING in the law defines a school day, or a "credit" (law actually says "years" for subjects) so I always planned my kids subjects by what was required by the future plans. And if they finished a typical-1-credit course they got one credit whether it took 4 months, eighteen months, or the typical nine, regardless of hours spent.

 

And back to the questions if same hours count for two classes: first, look at your laws. Does anything specifically say that can't? Next, look at why you're wanting it to count twice. If it is laziness or to be deceptive, then probably not a good idea, even if legal. If it's because your student has done a ton of work that covers several subjects then why not? Is it really necessary or worth the time to pick apart every minute to assign it to a specific subject? Most of the time, no.

 

Of course anyone with special circumstances such as sports eligibility or custody issues etc may need to do things more precisely.

 

Side note: once DH had a job that required him to document every literal minute of his work time and assign it to a specific project. Some of his work was truly for several projects meaning it could be used to benefit or complete both. It made his billable hours a nightmare, and honestly took almost as much time as doing the actual work. So much more productive and freeing to just do the project without detailing every minute.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Yeah they technically count hours in college, but literally speaking that varies.  Nobody stands there with a stop watch.  And I notice that taking these once per week courses were probably the biggest wasters of time.  We never spent the full 3 hours on class stuff.  Sometimes not even 2 hours.