housemouse Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Ds and I spend some time going over the "final list" of what he would like to tackle for 9th grade and we have way to much but he does not want to budge much in letting go of some things... This is what we have Math- geometry (BJU) Composition -Essentials in writing 9 (full credit according to the publisher but works well for ds so we will keep it) Literature- Essentials in Literature 9 (full credit according to the publisher but works well for ds so we will keep it) History- Modern American history Japanese- Irasshai with video, student text, Mango Japanese Science- Honors Biology (fundafunda) Science-Environmental science Engineering- Catapult academy Engineering Instrumentation and Analysis And he wants to cover Government and Economics too. All this adds up to 9 full credits. None of the classes are easy like art/PE, etc. He also does Archery 4-5 hours every week. And then there is the usual library events (we have lots even for kids his age), park days, hanging with friends, family time and just plain down time. How realistic is this? Thank you very much for any advise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I would choose the main classes that have to be completed and graded for the year. The others can end up being half a credit or none if time doesn't allow. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 What's worked for my DS is to have him sit down and actually total up the hours it all will take each day and what that schedule would look like in reality. Include all practices and lessons and jobs/chores and whatnot as well as realistic times per credit (at least 1 hour per credit per day). When faced with a schedule that shows him working on something structured from 8am to 9pm with only breaks to eat and no free time, he usually changes his tune lol Sent from my Z988 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Similar advice. I'd look at what you can't be flexible on - what has to be finished either because it's required yearly (English, math) or because you are paying to outsource and you are on someone else's schedule. Do you have wiggle room just within these classes that don't have much flexibility? If you don't, I'd think about cutting back on outsourcing. If it's managable then great. Next, I'd prioritize everything else. Are there things you absolutely want to finish? Are some things on a home schedule that can take two years? I think it's fine to do several extra courses and then figure out how much credit later, or just not finish in a year. I organize my transcript by subject rather than by year because we don't start and finish on a typical calendar year for all subjects. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I would only do 6 classes. Each high school class takes on average 1 hour per day, and sometimes more when there's a research project, exams etc. Thinks hours-per-day 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Assuming these are reAlly good college prep courses you're looking at 8.5 hours per day ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Brooks Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Why not pick four core classes that are very challenging and two easier, fun classes. "All work and no play makes jack a dull boy." My DD wants to do more than she is humanly able to do. Other kids can handle much more and not flinch; my DD would crumble under her ambition. It's my job to keep her keel even and herbsailing smooth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) I would wait on environmental science until he has had chemistry in addition to biology. ES is usually labeled as "easy" in people's minds, but a good course will require the student to know a lot of science going into it. For history, government, and economics, I'd have him work through those sequentially--so if he's serious, have him double up on history (or triple up) and when he's done, he can move to government, and so forth. The other thing you can do is overlay the government and economics courses on top of the history course. This would mean adding reading, discussion, and essays (or whatever) at various logical points in your history course. Then at the end of the year you can decide how much of a credit to award each thing. Or you could award the credit for the extras at the end of two or more years. I'd give the lit and comp classes one credit total and call it Literature and Composition or English 9. If he's taking much longer than 7 (or so) hours per week, I'd consider compacting some of the material. Also, he needs to remember that he has three other years (and college!) to learn stuff--it doesn't have to all get done this year. Edited January 25, 2017 by EKS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I agree with EKS--a proper environmental science course requires chemistry as prerequisite. He might consider doing one of the other courses during the summer. My D has always studied something during the summers----maths and languages (not at the sane time!) specifically. You might consider block scheduling. D has done courses in semester blocks---bio at double-speed one semester, AP Environmental the second semester. He could do 4 classes one semester and 4 classes the second. I believe that maths and languages should be studied without interruption, so it might be better to stretch geometry and Japanese over the full year and do 3 other classes in the fall with the remaining 3 others in the spring. My D is very motivated. She likes studying as much as she can to get to the "good stuff" as soon as possible. It's very difficult to slow down an intrinsically motivated student. Summer work and block scheduling has been great for her. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) He sounds excited for high school! That's great! :) But you don't do all of high school in one year. That's why high school is four years. ;) So now the two of you can shift thinking to how to spread out all of those interests over the high school years so DS can have several interesting things going on in every year of high school. :) Not that DS has to have a "typical" high school plan, but it does help to look at the "typical" as a starting point: A typical year of high school: 1 English 1 Math 1 Science 1 Social Studies (History, Geography, Government, Economics...) 1 Foreign Language 1-2 Electives (or: 1 Fine Arts and possibly 1 Elective) = 6-7 hours/day of work + 1-3 hours/day for extracurriculars 7-10 hours/day total On DS's wish list: 1 English* 1 Math 2 Sciences (Biology, Environmental Science) 2 Social Studies (American History, Gov't & Econ**) 1 Foreign Language 1 Elective (Engineering) = 8 courses to choose from * = based on what I can see from the table of contents and samples, EiL + EiW each look like no more than 0.5 credit of time/work to me, so together, EiL + EiW = 1 credit in time/rigor ** = most Gov't and Econ programs are 0.5 credit (1 semester) each -- unless doing AP, which has a 2 semesters for each; so typically, together, Gov't + Econ = 1 credit (1 year) in time/rigor Looks like DS gets to pick which Science and which Social Studies he wants to do this year, save the not-picked choices for next year, still have time for his extracurriculars and some "down time", and he'll have a great 9th grade line-up. :) Enjoy! Edited January 25, 2017 by Lori D. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I would not give separate credits for the Essentials in Literature and Composition courses — the Lit course consists of half a dozen short stories, a few articles, one novel (The Hobbit) and some poetry; there are no essay assignments. The Comp course assigns 4 essays and a research paper. Together those = 1 English credit, and that's still pretty light IMO.When planning 9th grade, it's helpful to roughly plan out all 4 years of high school. It seems like your son is trying to squeeze all his favorite subjects into 9th grade, instead of thinking in terms of a 4 year transcript. I would suggest: 9th Grade Math: Geometry (1) English: Literature & Composition (1) Soc. Studies: Modern American History (1) + Government (.5) Science: Honors Biology (1) For. Language: Japanese (1) Elective: Engineering (1) Total Credits: 6.5 10th Grade Math: Algebra II (1) English: [choice of literature & composition] (1) Soc. Studies: [choice of history] + Economics (.5) Science: Chemistry (1) For. Language: Japanese (1) Elective: Environmental Science (1) Total Credits: 6.5 If your state requires PE, you could also give a half-credit per year for archery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
housemouse Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 Thank you very much for all the replies. I double checked with Essentials in writing company and they stand by their 1 credit for each- composition and literature. And yes, we have an approximate lineup for all 4 years of high school but it is full. 9th grade (8 credits) 10th grade (8 credits) English English Geometry Algebra 2 America History Honors Physics (Wilson Hill) Government & Economics Astronomy Honors Biology Japanese Environmental Biology PE/Health Japanese Computer Applications (FundaFunda) Engineering Religion- New Testament 11th grade (8 credits) 12th grade (8 credits) English English Pre-Calc (online class) Calculus (online class) World History Constitutional Literacy (0.5 credit) Japanese DE fall semester Japanese DE fall semester Japanese DE spring semester Japanese DE spring semester Chemistry or Honors Chemistry AP Chemistry or DE Chemistry Engineering computations with MATLAB Engineering design and Entrepreneurship Religion- Old Testament Personal finance/recordkeeping He also plans to continue with archery 4-5 hours every week. And then there is the usual library events (we have lots even for kids his age), park days, hanging with friends, family time and just plain down time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I would choose the main classes that have to be completed and graded for the year. The others can end up being half a credit or none if time doesn't allow. Exactly what I would recommend. Make one of the science classes the priority class along with the other classes (I wouldn't could the English classes as separate--but I'd have in my head or on paper the amount I was shooting for and if it ended up being overwhelming I'd drop some units). The other science classes can be worked on if there is time--and I would do them one at a time not all at once. So, if he finishes one science, he can go on--so he can put extra time into the science if he wants so he can get to the others. High school subjects take longer. Also, if your ds has not had his puberty slump. . . .. . (that's what happened to us!Derailed by hormones). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 You probably don't have to worry so much about the number of "credits"; the real question is how much work will each of those classes require. For example, what EIL/EIW considers a "credit", as a pp pointed out, might be a little light compared to what some other Eng. programs would consider a "credit." So, yes, EIL and EIW could be counted as two credits, but they probably won't be as much work/time as some two full classes would be. So, your ds could probably do both, call it two credits if that's what EIL/EIW calls it, but not have it be too overwhelming. You could do the same with some of the other courses, esp. if you're doing it on your own at home and if there isn't a standard body of knowledge required as there is for "Algebra I" or "Biology".... Lighten them up a little so that he can still study the wide range of subjects/areas he's interested in, just don't go into as much depth. If he hits on an area that he really likes and wants to spend more time in, then he could decide at that point what to drop in order to free up time to put into the area he's more interested in. Deciding how many "credits" to call whatever he does is kind of secondary. Maybe. I'm not sure. Don't see any other way to fit all his interests into the finite amount of time in a day. Obviously he can't go into a ton of depth on all of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Thank you very much for all the replies. I double checked with Essentials in writing company and they stand by their 1 credit for each- composition and literature. Interesting. I've used Essentials in Writing for several years, and it never takes more than 30 minutes per day to complete the course. I always use it as the "composition" part of our English credit, and do something else for literature (EiL wasn't out in time for me to consider, but I like to use a lot of Sonlight books anyway.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 You are correct to be concerned. There is a thread somewhere on WTM, I think it was begun last year, by one of the other fathers, about being overwhelmed by the workload. At that time, my DD, an excellent student, was struggling with the workload. Part of that was because I suggested she try for 7 units each school year, instead of the 6 1/2 that is the minimum for graduation (she is in Texas Tech University High School, so we are Distance Learners, but the issue is the same). We backed off and my DD is excellent with Time Management but as I recall, 9th grade was a huge leap from 8th grade. From many of the responses in that thread, the DC of the OP and my DD were not the only kids who had a big increase in their school workload. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) ...I double checked with Essentials in writing company and they stand by their 1 credit for each- composition and literature. Regardless of what publishers say, you might consider waiting and deciding about how much credit to award on the transcript until after you've completed several English credits so you can compare the time & rigor of the EiL+EiW option with other programs/classes, so that you are confident that YOUR credits are fairly consistent with one another overall, so that you have a solid transcript without any "padding". :) In the early years of high school you're mostly tracking credits and grades and materials used, and don't tend to need a formal transcript until applying to colleges later in high school, so it's unlikely you'll need to make any decisions about awarding credit for awhile. :) ...we have an approximate lineup for all 4 years of high school but it is full. 9th grade (8 credits) 10th grade (8 credits) English English Geometry Algebra 2 America History Honors Physics (Wilson Hill) Government & Economics Astronomy Honors Biology Japanese Environmental Biology PE/Health Japanese Computer Applications (FundaFunda) Engineering Religion- New Testament 11th grade (8 credits) 12th grade (8 credits) English English Pre-Calc (online class) Calculus (online class) World History Constitutional Literacy (0.5 credit) Japanese DE fall semester Japanese DE fall semester Japanese DE spring semester Japanese DE spring semester Chemistry or Honors Chemistry AP Chemistry or DE Chemistry Engineering computations with MATLAB Engineering design and Entrepreneurship Religion- Old Testament Personal finance/recordkeeping He also plans to continue with archery 4-5 hours every week. And then there is the usual library events (we have lots even for kids his age), park days, hanging with friends, family time and just plain down time. Lots of good stuff here, and it's a good idea to have a tentative 4-year plan. It's also good to make that plan in pencil ;), as all kinds of things can change during high school -- student's interests change, new opportunities or classes appear that weren't on the horizon when making the plan, an unexpected life circumstance forces changes, etc. Also, transitioning into full high school work can be more difficult and take longer for a student to fully ramp-up than expected, so I always suggest to families who are planning for their first homeschool high school student start with only 6 credits and see how the first semester goes. You can always add another 0.5 credit to the spring semester. Or, if you know your student can handle a heavier workload and you plan for 7 or more credits, also be sure to have a "backdoor" plan in case curriculum choices or outsourced options flop, or the load turns out to be too much, or something changes or comes up. For example: - Would a 0.5 credit course be better off knocked out during summer? - Or would a 1 credit course fit the time scheduling better if spread out over 2 or 3 years, and just accrue the credit more slowly? - Or, what subject(s) could be dropped and done later? - Can a subject bump from 1.0 to 0.5 credit? (i.e., do some courses HAVE to be 1.0 credit?) - Can a subject be dropped from formal study to informal exploration via personal interest or extracurriculars? - Or, can a subject be dropped entirely and overall you still fulfill "requirements"? Below are possible ideas to "keep in a back pocket" about your specific 9th grade plans. BEST of luck as you plan out high school, and esp. 9th grade! :) Warmest regards, Lori D. "Wiggle-room" ideas for your 9th grade plan: Environmental Biology - Drop as a formal class and just add additional Environmental Science-based articles and readings to the regular Biology course. (Actually, it looks like the Funda-Funda Biology has the student do regular reviews of articles on science topics of their choice, so that would be an ideal way to dip a toe into the Environ. Biology in 9th to see if your Engineering-based DS really WANTS to commit a 0.5 credit or 1.0 to studying it more formally.) - Or, in 10th grade, do 1 semester (0.5 credit) each of Astronomy and Environmental Biology, rather than 1 year (1 credit) for each. Japanese - Do 0.5 credit per year, accumulating just 2 credits overall of Japanese. - Or, similar to what you have listed in your overall plan, do just 0.5 credit of Japanese in each of 9th and 10th grades, and then either 2 semesters of DE in 11th for a total of 3 credits, or 4 semesters of DE in 11th & 12th for a total of 5 credits of foreign language. Government Looks like you'll already be formally covering a big part of this as the 12th grade Constitutional Literacy course, so Gov't could be dropped from being a formal 0.5 credit in 9th grade, and enjoy participating in a Gov't-based extracurricular instead, that would also give you exposure to the other non-Constitution parts of a Gov't credit: - YMCA: Youth & Government (model legislation program) -- "Youth IN Government" in the East - TEEN Pact (government and the political process; Christian) - Teen Court, Youth Court, Mock Trial (model judicial branch of government) - Junior State of America (teen events on civics/politics; speakers & discussion sessions) - Model United Nations (mock U.N. session) Economics - Drop formal study of Economics in 9th grade and substitute informal personal interest exploration (examples: read Econ resources, such as The Economist; watch online videos on Econ. topics; listen to podcasts on Econ. topics; etc.) - Save formal study of Economics until 12th grade, and make Personal Finance part of the formal Economics credit for 0.5 credit, and Accounting or Bookkeeping as the other 0.5 credit. ETA: PS Getting back to your original post -- you mentioned it's your DS who wants all of these courses and won't budge. I guess my thought is that YOU are the administrator and know best how much the 2 of you should try and tackle and still be able to do it all WELL. My suggestion would be to say he gets to pick SIX credits for 9th grade (English and Math must be 2 of the 6), and you schedule 2-3 hours a week (say, 2 afternoons after the school work is done, schedule 90 minutes on 2 days a week) to give him time to explore the other interests he couldn't do as formal credits, and help him figure out resources for exploring. Also, together, track the resources and hours from those personal interest studies and, if he still wants to pursue a formal study of that subject later on, you can add in the personal exploration hours. You can also let him know that together you can "revisit" the 9th grade plan along about November, and if he's flying through what will be a total of 6 credits at the end of the year and doing WELL in them all, that you can add another 0.5 credit course from the ones he's interested in, to your 9th grade spring semester. That's "budging" on both sides that would be to the good all the way around. :) Edited January 26, 2017 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.