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How many courses in an academic year? 2 maths?


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How many courses are typical/reasonable in an academic year.

One of mine will probably still be doing LIal's Algebra in 9th, though almost done. He worked half way through CLE Algebra before we switched to Lial's.  

At this point I'm thinking of running him through a different Algebra course, hopefully at a faster pace, when LIal's is done. Or I might try to finish up the second half of CLE Algebra with him. Part of this is because I need 3 math courses for the state graduation requirements, and I don't think this particular child will want to go beyond Algebra II. Part of it is because I think another pass through would be of benefit to him. 

But I don't want to limit him either by pushing geometry to the sophomore year unnecessarily.

So, if there's time, I'm thinking I'll run him through Math U See Geometry next year too. I think he could do that quickly, and possibly be done with both next year, especially given he does math in the summers. That would mean potentially two math courses on his transcript in one year. Is something like this likely to look suspicious to colleges? 

When I look at other typical/expected courses, it doesn't seem to leave much room, at least on paper (language arts, history or geography, lab based science, foreign language, 1 year PE/health all expected for graduation at our local high school) 

How many courses are typical for one year in high school?

 

 

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Below 4 year plan pdf is from one of my neighboring public high school so it has guidelines for California’s requirements but the table on the first page (of two pages) would probably still be useful as an example.  They allow two summer courses per year (9th to 11th) to be counted for their students. My oldest is likely to be doing two math courses next year so one would fall under his elective. 

https://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/cms/lib/CA01000848/Centricity/Domain/3100/Four Year Plan-2017-2018.pdf

 

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6 credits is pretty standard, more if you are hoping to try to get into top schools. The required courses still leave plenty of time for electives each year (plus you can follow interests even within some of those major course areas with some creativity). Here's a brochure from HSLDA that lays out 3 levels of high school programs. You might look up several colleges in your region that you would consider, and see what they require. That combined with your high school's general coursework and any state requirements can give you a pretty good picture of what to do. 

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17 hours ago, sbgrace said:

How many courses are typical/reasonable in an academic year...

From what I've read on these boards, and see in the local public school, anywhere from 5 to 8 credits per year of high school falls within normal range -- 6 credits per year is very typical. (Note: usually everything is calculated in amounts of "credits" rather than number of "courses", since some courses are much more frequently just 0.5 credit (like Health, PE, Economics, or Gov't), rather than 1.0 credit, so the number of courses completed in a year may be higher than the number of credits for that year.)

Fewer than 5 credits in a year means a student will have to take summer school, or additional credits in a following year, or take an additional semester or year of high school to meet typical high school graduation requirements and college admission requirements. 8 credits a year often reflects a public school doing "block scheduling" and completing 4 credits per semester. More than 8 credits in a year often reflects that a student is doing a lot of dual enrollment, as most 1-semester college courses = 1 YEAR (1.0 credit) high school.

17 hours ago, sbgrace said:

...I'm thinking I'll run him through Math U See Geometry next year too. I think he could do that quickly, and possibly be done with both next year, especially given he does math in the summers...

MUS Geometry is VERY light, and even my math-struggler was able to knock out the entire program in less than 1 semester. So if you wanted to do it as summer school, or during the school year and then start Alg. 2, either way MUS would be quick.

17 hours ago, sbgrace said:

...That would mean potentially two math courses on his transcript in one year. Is something like this likely to look suspicious to colleges? ...

No. Geometry is frequently done simultaneously with another math, so not a problem.

What *may* be a problem is that MANY high schools, and many colleges require FOUR math credits to have been completed -- many high schools require it for graduation, many colleges require it for admission. If your student is not going into a STEM field, and if the college of choice doesn't require that 4th math to be higher than Alg. 2, I'd encourage taking *something* for a 4th Math credit -- Intro to Statistics, Business Math, Accounting, or Consumer Math, for example -- in case your student suddenly changes his mind about what he wants to do late into high school, or the college he wants to attend requires 4 credits.

Directly below are two possible schedules for completing 4 Math credits. The first possible schedule is if the future college does not require above Alg. 2, and it keeps Alg. 2 in 11th grade, giving the student the most time for math-portions of the brain to develop and to have Alg. 2 fresh for ACT/SAT testing at the end of 11th grade, AND leaves 12th grade more flexible for dual enrollment or pursuing credits in the student's field of interest. The second possible schedule is no summer school, and if the student does need a 4th math that is above Alg. 2:

9th grade = Alg. 1
summer = Geometry
10th grade = Business Math or Accounting or Consumer Math
11th grade = Alg. 2
12th grade = ----

9th grade = Alg. 1
10th grade = Geometry, start Alg. 2
11th grade = finish Alg. 2, start Pre-Calc or Intro to Statistics
12th grade = finish Pre-Calc or Intro to Statistics

17 hours ago, sbgrace said:

When I look at other typical/expected courses, it doesn't seem to leave much room, at least on paper (language arts, history or geography, lab based science, foreign language, 1 year PE/health all expected for graduation at our local high school) 

How many courses are typical for one year in high school?

Actually, it's not as hard or as inflexible as you would think. Six credits per year of high school is a very manageable load, and that equals 24 credits, which still leaves your DS at least 1 credit each year for an Elective of his choice. And, don't forget that you get flexibility by choosing to gear your English, Science, and Social Studies credits around DS's interests. : )

Here's a very typical college prep set of credits, that also includes your local requirement for 1 credit of PE/Health:

4 credits = English
3-4 credits = Math (through Alg. 2, with possible 4th math credit)
3 credits = Science, with labs
3 credits = Social Studies (1 credit = Amer. History, 0.5 credit each Econ & Gov't)
2 credits = Foreign Language
1 credit = Fine Arts
1 credit = Elective: PE/Health
4-8+ credits = Electives
22+ credits = total

With this set of credits, if your student takes 6 credits per year, he would have 18 required credits (counting PE/Health as a required credit), and have room for 6 Electives -- that's 1.5 credits per year of high school, which could look like 3 semester-long Electives, or 1 year-long + 1 semester-long Elective for each year of high school.

And 6 credits per year also leaves room for extracurricular activities -- esp. if your student knocks out a 0.5 credit course each summer, or if you accrue your PE credit hours on weekends and over the summer...

BEST of luck in your planning for high school and beyond! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

17 hours ago, sbgrace said:

 

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2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

 

Actually, it's not as hard or as inflexible as you would think. Six credits per year of high school is a very manageable load, and that equals 24 credits, which still leaves your DS at least 1 credit each year for an Elective of his choice. And, don't forget that you get flexibility by choosing to gear your English, Science, and Social Studies credits around DS's interests. : )

 

Thank you for all the detail, and also for pointing this out. The one I'm stressing over is my child with special needs, and catering toward his interests will help I think. 

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Number of courses/credits per year also depends on the type and level of courses are being taken. 

A top, private, college prep high school in the SF Bay Area has a typical load of 5 courses"The minimum load a student may carry is four academic courses; a typical load includes five academic courses. A program with six academic courses is very heavy and almost never advisable. Freshmen are not allowed a six solid load."

The local public school allows a load of 7 courses, but, iirc from when we looked at it for our sons, a student could only take one math, one science, one Eng course each year, so not all of those 7 courses are academic courses.

We tried to align with the private, college prep schools rather than the public schools and went for 5 solid, college prep courses/year, including 1 math, 1 English, 1 lab science, 1 history/gov/econ/Great Books, and 1 foreign language every year plus two or three elective courses over the four years. Worked well for us.

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