How to put together an English class?

[Daria]

I'm considered a homeschooler by my state, but in reality, I outsource everything.  

 

However, I'm thinking of doing something different for my son's last 1/2 credit of English. 

 

I need a program that is secular;  that he can do mostly on his own; and that accommodates a theater and college class schedule that will have periods of time when he can work intensely, and periods when he can't work at all.  Student is an average student, with an interest in Ancient history and myth, a wonderful writer's voice, and lousy grammar. 

 

Does this sound like a reasonable set of activities to make a 1/2 credit of 12th grade English?  Too much?  Too little?  Can I get label it "honors"?  Are there better options? 

 

Fix it Grammar (daily, from now until the end of the year, maybe 20 hours total?)

 

Great Courses class: Classical Mythology (12 hours) 

 

Read and do the activities in Classical Mythology and more, A Reader's Workbook

 

https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mythology-More-Reader-Workbook/dp/0865165734

 

Bravewriter SAT/ACT essay class (during his college's winter break) 

 

http://www.bravewriter.com/online-classes/sat-act-essay-class

 

Bravewriter Literary Analysis: Macbeth:  (after college gets out for the summer)

 

http://www.bravewriter.com/online-classes/literary-analysis-macbeth

[JoJosMom]

I am no expert - at all- so take this with a grain of salt.  Since each Brave Writer class is 1/4 credit, I would say this definitely looks sufficient for a full credit.

 

As for grammar, have you considered having your student take Brave Writer's Groovy Grammar Workshop?  The target audience is a bit younger than your student, but I think it would be a good fit for review/reinforcement of the fundamentals.  It is listed as a class taken by the student, but I know that it can be done with the student doing it solo.  If you have questions, you could certainly email them.  HTH.

[Julie of KY]

It looks like enough to be a full credit. If you are only needing a half credit, then I think you can do less.

 

Each Brave Writer course is "listed" as a 1/4 credit. I don't use them for a full 1/4 of my English course, but you could. Do you specifically need the Brave Writer SAT/ACT course? Otherwise, I'd replace it with one of the Expository Essay courses. You have classical mythology - sounds fun.

 

As the bulk of an English credit is reading (and analyzing) literature as well as writing, then I'd ask if you want to add any other literature.

 

Do you need daily/weekly grammar review? At that age I'd only do it if still needed. Otherwise, I'd teach grammar through editing writing.

 

It's really easy to overload an English credit.

 

I don't label any courses as honors so I'm not a good person to ask that. College reps have told me that the honors label really only distinguishes students within a school as to whether they are taking the more rigorous course or not. They have told me it is essentially meaningless on a homeschool transcript.

 

 

edited to add: If you wanted a minimal 1/2 credit, then you could simply do two Brave Writer courses (1/4 credit each) and call it done (especially since one involves literature). I do more than this for my English, but in the situation of just trying to get it done, I think it's fine.

Edited October 16, 2016 by Julie of KY

[Daria]

I am no expert - at all- so take this with a grain of salt.  Since each Brave Writer class is 1/4 credit, I would say this definitely looks sufficient for a full credit.

 

As for grammar, have you considered having your student take Brave Writer's Groovy Grammar Workshop?  The target audience is a bit younger than your student, but I think it would be a good fit for review/reinforcement of the fundamentals.  It is listed as a class taken by the student, but I know that it can be done with the student doing it solo.  If you have questions, you could certainly email them.  HTH.

 

The Macbeth class says it's a 1/4 credit, but the ACT essay class doesn't.  Also, I feel as though I should only be counting things that would be counted if he was in Brick and Mortar school, and the ACT essay class seems like it would be an extracurricular, so I'm hesitant to count it too much.  Maybe that doesn't make sense, though, I'm very new to this. 

 

Because he's pretty heavily involved in theater, and he's taking dual enrollment classes, he's got large blocks of time when a class just wouldn't work.  The ACT class and the Macbeth class fit, but the Expositional Essay and Groovy Grammar classes don't. 

[Julie of KY]

Well, I think you can count whatever you want for English - I'd include both literature and writing. I'm assuming he already has the first half of a credit for 12th grade English so all you have to do is fill in the rest.

 

The reality is that you should pick whatever will serve him best. It won't matter much to colleges as whatever you do is unlikely to be known to them - just the fact that he took English.

 

In my area, all the high schoolers spend a good amount of class time doing test prep for ACT/SAT. I'm not sure what class it falls under, but they do a section at a time and cover multiple tests as part of the schoolyear. I don't know how it is done elsewhere.

[Daria]

Well, I think you can count whatever you want for English - I'd include both literature and writing. I'm assuming he already has the first half of a credit for 12th grade English so all you have to do is fill in the rest.

 

The reality is that you should pick whatever will serve him best. It won't matter much to colleges as whatever you do is unlikely to be known to them - just the fact that he took English.

 

In my area, all the high schoolers spend a good amount of class time doing test prep for ACT/SAT. I'm not sure what class it falls under, but they do a section at a time and cover multiple tests as part of the schoolyear. I don't know how it is done elsewhere.

 

He has the following classes on his transcript right now:  

 

Advanced English (at PS, this is what our district calls 9th grade English taken in 8th grade)

Honors English 9 (at PS)

Honors English 10 (online)

1/2 of AP Composition (online) (We could also finish this, as another option, and might finish it anyway)

Dual Enrollment Freshman Composition

 

So, either 3.5 or 4.5 depending on whether you count Advanced English.  Our district doesn't count it towards the 4 year English requirement, so my inclination is to count it as elective.  

 

I'm figuring the Greek myths and the Macbeth would cover the literature, and the Fix It Grammar and the Essay class would cover the writing. 

 

If I could make a case for this as entire credit, that would be great.  His first choice college doesn't award credit for DE classes that filled HS graduation requirements, so if I could move the Freshman Comp to elective it would be helpful.  However, I want to make sure I'm doing it "correctly", and I'm not sure that it feels like a full credit to me. 

 

Any suggestions on things to add to turn it into a full credit class?