Should I give a half credit for a study skills class?

[Heathermomster]

Please help me decide which way to go.  Initially, I planned on doing the following things without credit but then started to rethink the issue.

 

For two hours per month, DS works with a CBT for goal setting and other executive function work.  Every day, he spends at least 30 min per day working on cognitive and metacognitive exercises assigned by the CBT.  DS will also be taking a semester long ACT prep class, which amounts to 18 hours of class with an instructor.  I plan on teaching DS the Cornell system and maybe purchasing this book for additional study skills.  We could easily review outlining, mind mapping, and research methods for an upcoming research paper that will be due next May.

 

So, should I go ahead and keep hours and make a course out of this?  We will do the work either way.  I'm just wondering whether this is high school transcript worthy, or does the work fit elsewhere?

 

 

Thank-you

Edited July 28, 2016 by Heathermomster

[Lori D.]

JMO: Well, unless you are super light on credits and absolutely need it to flesh out the transcript I probably wouldn't credit it, as things like Study Skills and Driver's Ed can look like padding. What you describe sounds like "real life" and "life skills" and "high school life skills" types of activities. :)

 

Also, I've not heard of giving credit for LD treatments/therapies -- just in the same way getting physical therapy for an injury or physical disability is not counted for credit. I also think colleges assume a student is automatically learning study skills and prepping for ACT/SAT testing as more of a fact of high school, rather than as something done for credit… again, just my take on it.

 

If you do decide to grant credit, I'd suggest going roughly for consistency -- so if a majority of your credits are taking average or rigorous amounts of time, then I'd make the Elective: Study Skills consistent hour-wise as well -- so, 75 to 90 hours for 0.5 credit for Study Skills. Just me, but I'd only count a fraction of the hours for cognitive and metacognitive exercises (if at all), since it's mostly about practice and not as much about "learning new material" the way a typical academic credit is structured… In case it helps, here's a credit-hour 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

 

And, just for context: I did not count for credit our 10-hour study skills co-op, or the at-home ACT/SAT prep (about 20 hours of video and book tips and practice testing), or the 15-min./daily therapies that DS with mild LDs did in high school… I think I put the Study Skills co-op, along with the 15-hour Public Speaking co-op, on the extracurricular list, and thought of the rest as high school life skills. Just my choice. :)

 

Wishing DS success in his therapies, and BEST of luck in sorting out the administrative aspects of homeschooling high school! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Lori D.

[Corraleno]

I would not give credit for Study Skills unless you were really desperate for credits and the student just wanted to graduate & get on with life. I would not put it on a transcript for a college bound student.

[Ravin]

I would put it on the transcript. Why shouldn't he get credit for all that hard work?

 

I also don't think it's padding. As someone who sort of coasted through a lot of high school because I'm good at academic stuff, and in the process developed exactly zero study skills which I DID need when I got to college level work, I think such a class on a transcript shows a student is serious about college readiness. There are WAY too many college freshmen who start without that basic skill set even though it may be assumed from other things on a transcript.

[regentrude]

I would not give credit because that appears as if you are trying to pad the transcript - unless the student is not capable of completing a normal course load and needs this credit to graduate.

Edited July 28, 2016 by regentrude

[Rockhopper]

I would, and will. My DS took a one semester study skills class from Landry, and we considered it an elective for credit.

 

I had typing on my transcript back in the day, for goodness sake, and got accepted at an Ivy....

[katilac]

I tend to say don't put study skills on the transcript, but I would strongly consider it if the student has executive function issues that are affecting his other work, and that are specifically being addressed. 

 

 

[Heathermomster]

DS completes normal work and doesn't require any transcript padding.  In fact, his ACT scores are already high enough to enter any university in our state, and that was without any ACT prep.  EF is a problem though and a lot of time and resources have been spent this summer to help him with planning and organization.  

 

I'm going to wait and decide what to do  PS kids in my state are all required to a take a Career Preparedness class that involves study skills, career placement type work, and banking.  If I go the Career Preparedness route, I could add the CBT time, which literally involves planning and goal setting taught by an Ed.D, and omit the ACT class and the cognitive work.

 

Ok, so I m good now.  Thank-you Ladies.   :D

[Pistachio mom]

Hi Heathermomster,

I have been following your discussion and the posts and thought to contribute even though it is late. If it were me, I do think I would put this as a course on my student's transcript due to the instructional component (not the theraputic time) and amount of time with the coach. If you name your course title carefully it will communicate the learning opportunity that you described. To get ideas for naming this course, you could do some web searches to see what other colleges and high schools call this type of course - especially if a school to which your student wants to apply has something similar. I am thinking something like college study skills, advanced/personalized study techniques,  I especially like your "career preparedness" type of ideas too. Even if your student does not "need" the elective credit, it does reflect the learning. So whether you include it as a credit or figure out how to name it as an extracurricular, I think the skills learned are worth listing.

 

When I was in high school, my state required the schools to teach a "Life Management Skills" elective in order to graduate. Some of the content you described also reminds me of the Freshman Orientation class I had to take in college. When I checked into the formerly called College Plus program - I think it is called Luminate or something to do with light and knowledge now - maybe Lumerit, they do have study skills, speed reading, and organizational skills as content options.

 

[MerryAtHope]

DS completes normal work and doesn't require any transcript padding.  In fact, his ACT scores are already high enough to enter any university in our state, and that was without any ACT prep.  EF is a problem though and a lot of time and resources have been spent this summer to help him with planning and organization.  

 

I'm going to wait and decide what to do  PS kids in my state are all required to a take a Career Preparedness class that involves study skills, career placement type work, and banking.  If I go the Career Preparedness route, I could add the CBT time, which literally involves planning and goal setting taught by an Ed.D, and omit the ACT class and the cognitive work.

 

Ok, so I m good now.  Thank-you Ladies.   :D

 

I did a "College and Career Prep" class for my kids, which included time spent on study skills. Maybe you can combine them into that type of credit?

 

Personally I think more kids would benefit from study skills type classes before college--I know I would have! That's part of why I did this with my kids.

[City Mouse]

Many public schools offer a 1 semester study skills class, so I don't see any reason that your child should not get credit.

[Carrie12345]

I would put it on the transcript. Why shouldn't he get credit for all that hard work?

 

I also don't think it's padding. As someone who sort of coasted through a lot of high school because I'm good at academic stuff, and in the process developed exactly zero study skills which I DID need when I got to college level work, I think such a class on a transcript shows a student is serious about college readiness. There are WAY too many college freshmen who start without that basic skill set even though it may be assumed from other things on a transcript.

 

I don't think I'm going to wind up putting Study Skills on dd's transcript b/c I'm sprinkling all throughout and, frankly, I don't want to deal with tracking it!  But I completely agree with the above, given my own same experience, and given my son's lack of effective instruction in ps.  He did take a (required) semester study skills course in high school. I saw the materials from it at parent orientation.  It was very basic, what I would consider early middle school stuff, not nearly enough to carry someone through high school, let alone college.  But it was a .5 credit for showing up!

[Pegasus]

We include study skills on the transcript as my DDs take a course called college success as duel enrollment at a local CC. It will even transfer as an elective credit to the state flagship university.

[msrift]

I'd be on the fence about including a study skills credit. Even so, the 'college prep' track at my high school had a required class entitled "College Lit and Study Skills" that focused on note-taking skills, programmed vocabulary (word roots, prefixes, etc), researching colleges, practicing filling out college applications, and writing application essays, as well as some literary analysis instruction.

It was a weird class that seemed to incorporate a lot of skills that they wanted to make sure everyone got, but that didn't really have a home in any other mandatory class.