Academic Electives and credits

[Nicholas_mom]

Hello,

 

Quick question....what are academic electives?  And how many credits do your kids do for an academic credit?

 

Another words -- is academic electives always 1 credit in 1 yr or can it be 0.5 for 1 yr and be considered academic elective?

 

 

[regentrude]

you can have fractional credits or whole credits.

 

I had some electives that earned a cumulative credit over four years of highschool, with 0.25 cr/year

[Nicholas_mom]

What would be an example of a academic elective for a  student who is interested in STEM and writing?  If he likes astrobiology/astrophysics, (geology, planet geology) as well as, writing science fiction - what academic electives do you think would be good? And drawing and painting Space Art???

[Bootsie]

The definition of an "elective" will vary.  Basically, it is something where the student has a choice of what to take rather than meeting a specific requirement.  If four years of math are required for high school graduation, then the four math courses are not electives.  DD went to a private high school where theology was a required course for graduation; thus it was not technically an elective.  DS was homeschooled and the state does not require theology (and I would not require it), thus theology would be an "elective."  But, I do not specify elective and non-elective courses on his transcript; they are still divided by subject area.  He did have some 1/2 credit electives.

[regentrude]

An elective is anything that is not required. If you require four math courses, any further math courses become "electives". That does not make them different.

Examples of academic "electives" my DD has taken: the two physics courses she took beyond satisfying the "four science credits" requirement; any foreign language course beyond the required four foreign language credits - etc.

 

I find the label "elective" rather useless.

 

[Bootsie]

What would be an example of a academic elective for a  student who is interested in STEM and writing?  If he likes astrobiology/astrophysics, (geology, planet geology) as well as, writing science fiction - what academic electives do you think would be good? And drawing and painting Space Art???

 

The purpose of academic electives is to allow the student to explore some areas of interest and to broaden his education.  So, a special science course, beyond the requirements for graduation, could be an elective.  Or, the student could benefit from taking a course that focuses on the financial markets and the stock market or one that focuses on Japanese culture, at it would be an equally valid elective.

 

[Lori D.]

On 4/28/2017 at 10:44 AM, Nicholas_mom said:

Hello,
Quick question...

Those are quick questions, but I'm going to give you long answers in return in order to define terms and explain how we decided how many credits to do. ?
 

On 4/28/2017 at 10:44 AM, Nicholas_mom said:

....what are academic electives? 

Defining terms here:

A required credit is just what it sounds like: it is a credit that is needed to fulfill eligibility. There are usually 2 places you run into a list of require credits:

1. high school graduation (must complete required credits while in high school in order to earn diploma)
2. college admission (must have completed required credits while in high school to be eligible for college)

Example: here's a list of required credits that is the type and amount of required credits you often find for both high school graduation and college admission:

4 credits = English
4 credits = Math
3-4 credits = Science
3-4 credits = Social Studies
2-4 credits = Foreign Language
1 credit = Fine Arts
4-8+ credits = Electives, at least 2 of which must be Academic Electives
22-28 credits (or more) = total

Academic credits are credits in English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language. So, in the example list of required credits above, there are a total of 17 required Academic credits: 4 credits each for English, Math, and Science; 3 credits for Social Studies; and 2 credits for Foreign Language.

Fine Arts credits are credits in the performance/creation of Art, Music, Theater, Visual Arts, Studio Arts, Digital Arts, OR in appreciation of Art, Film, Theater, etc. In the example list of required credits above, there is just 1 credit of Fine Arts.

Electives are credits that are courses that are:
1.) not required credits
2.) or, credits in excess of required credits
3.) or, credits in subject areas that don't fit into the 5 Academic subject areas or Fine Arts area

Examples of electives: Logic, PE, Health, Computer, Religious Studies/Bible, vocational-technical courses, personal interest areas developed as courses, etc.

And finally, ACADEMIC ELECTIVES are Academic credits in excess of the amount of required credits. So, Academic Electives are additional credits in one of the 5 Academic credit areas (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Language) beyond what is required. 

So, referring back to the list of required credits above, if your student is required to take 4 Science credits, and completes a total of 4.5 Science credits, the additional 0.5 credit of Science can be considered an Academic Elective (of Science). If your student only is required to take 2 credits of Foreign Language, but takes a total of 4.0 credits, the student has 2.0 credits of an Academic Elective (in Foreign Language).
 

On 4/28/2017 at 10:44 AM, Nicholas_mom said:

And how many credits do your kids do for an academic credit?

To decide how many Academic credits -- additional credits in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language -- that our DSs would do, I looked at what our state requires for high school graduation for public school students (since our state does not require homeschoolers to follow a set of requirements for graduation), AND, I looked at the entrance requirements for a handful of universities that I thought DSs might attend, and I blended those 2 sets of requirements to come up with a list of overall required credits much like the example I listed above.

Ultimately, each of our DSs ended up with 24-25 total credits, with 18 Academic credits, 1-2 Fine Arts credits (depending on the DS), and the remaining 5 credits as Electives.

Many families just make it simple and go with the "4x5" plan -- 4 credits in each of the 5 Academic credit areas -- so, 4 credits each in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language.

As far as planning for Academic Electives -- really, you do not have to worry about this too much. Academic Electives is more of "a thing" for public high schools, and is listed for admission to some (usually more competitive) universities. Just make sure you are meeting the requirements for the colleges your student plans to apply to, and if the college requires several Academic Electives, just plan on taking a few extra credits in some of the 5 Academic credit areas.

If you have a STEM student, then go above and beyond in Science and Math.

If you have a Humanities-based student, then go above and beyond in English, Social Studies, and/or Foreign Language. You don't even have to label specific courses on the transcript as the "designated Academic Electives", as it will be clear to the admissions office how many credits overall you have in each subject area.
 

On 4/28/2017 at 11:10 AM, Nicholas_mom said:

What would be an example of a academic elective for a  student who is interested in STEM and writing?  If he likes astrobiology/astrophysics, (geology, planet geology) as well as, writing science fiction - what academic electives do you think would be good? 

Additional credits in the Academic credit areas of English and Science sound like they would work well for a STEM student interested in writing. Things like the Astronomy-based courses you mentioned would be great.

Also, additional Math class(es), since Astronomy is a Math-based Science.

And ideas for additional credit(s) in English:
- Technical Writing
- Creative Writing
- Journalism
- Science Fiction Literature course
- short story Literature course
 

On 4/28/2017 at 11:10 AM, Nicholas_mom said:

... And drawing and painting Space Art???

No, drawing and painting would count towards a Fine Arts credit. And additional credits beyond the 1 required credit in Fine Arts would be additional Fine Arts credits, or regular Electives, not an Academic Elective.
 

On 4/28/2017 at 10:44 AM, Nicholas_mom said:

...Another words -- is academic electives always 1 credit in 1 yr or can it be 0.5 for 1 yr and be considered academic elective?

 

Yes, ANY type of credit can be a partial credit in whatever amount was accomplished. The amount of credit you award reflects the amount of work/time spent on that course:

0.25 (quarter of a credit, or 9 week course)

0.33 (third of a credit)

0.50 (half of a credit, or a 1 semester course)

0.66 (two-thirds of a credit)

0.75 (three-quarters of a credit)

1.00 (full credit, or 2 semesters / 1 year course)

 

So if, for example, your DS did a "pot pourri" of science classes, in varying amounts of credit, that's fine. Just list each course and amount of credit awarded; hypothetical example:

 

SCIENCE

grade year .  course . . . . . . . . . . . . . credit . . . grade

9 . . . . . . . . Biology . . . . . . . . . . . 1.00 . . . x

10 . . . . . . . Chemistry . . . . . . . . . 1.00 . . . x

11 . . . . . . . Physics . . . . . . . . . . . 1.00 . . . x

12 . . . . . . . Advanced Physics . . .1.00 . . . x

10 . . . . . . . Astronomy . . . . . . . . . 0.50. . . x

11 . . . . . . . Astrobiology . . . . . . . .0.25 . . . x

12 . . . . . . . Astrophysics . . . . . . . .0.25 . . .x

. . . . . . . . . . . total credit/GPA . . . . . . . .5.00 . .  x.xxx

 

So in this example, if 4 credits of Science are required, DS has earned a total of 5.0 credits, with the 1.0 credit beyond the required credit counting as an Academic Elective.

BEST of luck in wearing the administrative hat part of homeschooling high school! :hat: Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 24, 2018 by Lori D.

[Corraleno]

And finally, ACADEMIC ELECTIVES are Academic credits in excess of the amount of required credits. So, Academic Electives are additional credits in one of the 5 Academic credit areas (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Language) beyond what is required. 

<snip>

 

No, drawing and painting would count towards a Fine Arts credit. And additional credits beyond the 1 required credit in Fine Arts would be a regular Elective, not an Academic Elective.

 

I disagree with this definition of "academic elective" — I don't think they are limited to just the basic 5 subject categories, and I definitely think that Fine Arts counts. I would also consider subjects like engineering and computer science as academic electives, even though they are not part of the "basic 5" high school subjects. 

 

To me, nonacademic electives are things like PE, driver's ed, home ec, woodshop, "career prep" type courses, work study, etc. Those are the kind of courses that many high schools give "elective credit" for, but they are not academic courses.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Corraleno

[Julie of KY]

Ultimately, electives are whatever colleges deem them to be. As far as graduating, you just need to meet your requirements and if you need "academic electives" for your state, I'd deem them to be any elective that the student is learning material (like book learning rather than pottery).

 

If you do your transcript by year, then just list all the courses taken. If listed by subject, add more math to the math section, more science to science, etc. I made a separate category for computer science. I put my one credit of fine arts under electives, but if I had more then I'd separate it out.

 

 

[Lori D.]

 

I disagree with this definition of "academic elective" — I don't think they are limited to just the basic 5 subject categories, and I definitely think that Fine Arts counts. I would also consider subjects like engineering and computer science as academic electives, even though they are not part of the "basic 5" high school subjects. 

 

To me, nonacademic electives are things like PE, driver's ed, home ec, woodshop, "career prep" type courses, work study, etc. Those are the kind of courses that many high schools give "elective credit" for, but they are not academic courses.

 

I was basing this definition on the descriptions from some college admission pages that require academic electives, and also from some high school districts, which specifically state those first 5 subject areas are Academic credits and therefore Academic electives, and they separate Fine Arts out from fulfilling Academic Electives.

 

As with all things having to do with administration, homeschooling, high school, and college, there is NO one size fits all, and YMMV, and it's always best to check with what the local regulations require, what the local high schools are doing, and most of all, what the college of choice wants for admissions, and then arrange the transcript and record keeping accordingly. And when there's leeway -- your homeschool, your choice!  :)

 

 

Personally, I absolutely agree with you when Fine Arts are just as rigorous as the 5 Academic areas -- as with students who are taking a lot of Fine Arts, and are taking advanced courses in their area of passion / gifting (example: Music Theory). :) However, I think that at least half of high school students are "box checking" when it comes to Fine Arts, and in those cases, the Fine Arts are not more rigorous or academic than Home Ec or Woodshop, or Health or Vocational-Tech courses.

 

Thankfully, the idea of "Academic Electives" is more a matter of semantics and is not really a critical issue in the big scheme of homeschool administration and college admissions. ;)

Edited April 29, 2017 by Lori D.

[Nicholas_mom]

Thank you everyone!!! :)  I think I got it now!