How to count OYAN as an elective - how much time?

[monalisa]

If your dc has used One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN) as a high school elective, I need some advice.  Did you let them spend a specific amount of time per day on it, or expect a certain amount of written progress, or how did you schedule?

 

My 9th grade dd started it at the beginning of this year as a creative writing elective (I have her doing separate English), but is very bogged down and isn't making much progress in the written assignments (The Map).  I think the issue is she feels like the curriculum is assuming she has her story all planned out from the get go, which she doesn't.  Should I just let her spend an hour a day on it and be ok with that?   I am feeling nervous that it shouldn't take a 1 hour chunk out of prime time school day unless she is making progress that I can see with written proof, and that I can then count as an elective.  She's watching the videos and taking the quizzes, but the actual Map assigments are pretty sparse in what she's actually writing.  At this rate, I can't imagine she'll finish it in the school year, but maybe that's not the point.  I also think she didn't do enough creative writing with shorter pieces prior to taking on a novel.  

 

She is very unhappy with the suggestion that it not be done during the school day, and done as extra curricular when her other classes are done.    Unfortunately for her, I have zero interest in  or understanding of creative writing, so its hard for me to make it a priority equal to core high school classes.  

 

I don't really grasp how to count something as a high school elective I guess.    I know kids in B&M schools are taking electives for credit that aren't producing a lot of visible output, but I don't know how to apply that to OYAN.   Any words of wisdom?

Edited October 4, 2017 by monalisa

[regentrude]

An elective is any course that is not a required credit. If one English course per year is required, any additional English courses become electives that would be listed under "English". If one science course per year is required, any additional science courses become electives listed under science. Any course that is not in a required category (History of Martial Arts or Culinary Science) is an elective listed under "misc electives".

The fact that a course is beyond the required classes makes no automatic statement about its educational value or rigor.

 

You count something as an elective if it has academic merit. The line between "elective" and "extracurricular" is often blurred and with many things you get to choose which category you want to count an activity for.

Advantages of listing something as extracurricular: student can highlight this in the college app, it stands out more than just another course on the transcript, student can demonstrate continuous passion over the course of several years.

Advantages of counting something as a course: counts if you need the credits, lets you show a focus area in academics

 

ETA: I do not need to see written proof to judge whether my kids learned something or not.

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by regentrude

[monalisa]

Ok, thanks.  I do understand that much about electives.

 

I am hoping someone whose child has used OYAN can give me some thoughts about their experience.  The end result is supposed to be producing a novel, so if she's not moving steadily toward that, I'm struggling with using a chunk of the day on it.  Do I let her spend an hour a day on it, and not count it until she completes the novel?  Even if it takes more than one school year?

[regentrude]

The end result is supposed to be producing a novel, so if she's not moving steadily toward that, I'm struggling with using a chunk of the day on it.  Do I let her spend an hour a day on it, and not count it until she completes the novel?  Even if it takes more than one school year?

 

It's your homeschool.

You can choose to award credit based on time spent or  based on completion of a final product (the novel).

If it takes more than one year, you have the choice to award total credit upon completion of the course or fractional credit in every year she worked on the course.

[Calm37]

Neither one of my daughters, who are still involved in the OYAN community (one, 8 years and on 5 years later), finished their novels in high school. I think you will need to determine your daughter's level of interest in continuing with this. If she is interested, but not writing much, I think it's great to continue with the videos and notes. Some creative writers struggle to write down much until their skills are better, but they are growing all the same. Not interested? You could just drop it, or give 1/2 credit after another month or so.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Calm37

[Mom22ns]

My ds did OYAN and Other Worlds. We counted it as an English elective both times. I would estimate that he put in about 10 hours/week to get OYAN done, but less for Other Worlds (having already done OYAN). Ds was very motivated and wanted to do it, so there was never a complaint. His typical day in high school was 9-10 hours, maybe a little more. He is a slow worker and a perfectionist, so that is just what it took and he was ok with that. 

 

As for what to do with your dd, if she is ok with working on it 1 hour/day I would set it at that, and let her get a credit for however much gets done. They really aren't writing the story at all in the first months, just planning and writing an occasional scene which doesn't have to get used in the end if it doesn't end up working right. She really isn't supposed to have the whole thing planned, she is supposed to be figuring it out as she goes. It is ok not to know where she is going.