Graduation requirements?

[skimomma]

As we are starting to look ahead to dd's last year of high school, I looked up our state's (Michigan) graduation requirements.  Within our current plan, we do not meet those requirements.  There is one subject that dd has not taken that I do not plan to have her take.  We covered the subject informally within the context of other courses but there is no way I could justify a listing and grade for it as a stand-alone course.  I have read in several places that homeschoolers are not bound to the state graduation requirements.  Does this mean I can still issue a diploma even if her transcript is missing a state-required .5 credit on this specific subject?  Without even worrying about the specifics of my case, does a homeschooled student have to adhere to state graduations requirements to earn a homeschool graduation diploma?

[RootAnn]

Can you issue the diploma? Yes

Does the homeschooled student have to adhere to P.S./ State requirements? I believe this might depend on the state & how it handles homeschoolers. In the state I currently live in, homeschoolers do not have to adhere to public school's graduation requirements (which, in this state, are set by local school districts). 

[EKS]

If it's health, I'd just issue the half credit with an A and be done with it.  You would not believe how lame my son's ps health class was.  Coloring.  Lots of coloring.

[klmama]

At least in my state, there are requirements for students in public and private school that do not apply to homeschools.  However, there are a number of subjects homeschoolers are required to cover, even if they don't earn as many credits as the public school students have to earn.  The subjects don't all have to continue into high school - for example, high schoolers generally don't have formal spelling instruction anymore - but, it still has to have been covered at some point.

If it's health, and you've already covered the material through other coursework, you might want to get a used copy of a health text and review it with your dd over the summer, quizzing her orally.  It doesn't have to be rigorous - it just has to be done.

Edited November 11, 2019 by klmama

[skimomma]

11 minutes ago, EKS said:

If it's health, I'd just issue the half credit with an A and be done with it.  You would not believe how lame my son's ps health class was.  Coloring.  Lots of coloring.

 

It's not Health....which is not a state requirement but dd did take.  It's Econ.  I am all about the subject and do think dd should take it.  But we have covered much of it within other subjects and due to some special circumstances, we already have to cram in one credit each of World History and US History and a half credit of Government in a span of three semesters.  Adding Econ would topple the delicate and already-overstuffed plan I have in place.

[BookwormTo2]

It looks like Economics is required for graduation in Michigan. Here's what I would consider doing. For Economics, look up AC/DC Macro teacher Jacob Clifford. He has a website which offers a study guide/packet ($14) for the CLEP Macro test and AP Macroecomics exam. I'd have my dd watch the ACDC videos for Macroeconomics, take notes, and fill in the study guide along the way. I think if you buy the study guide you have access to all the Macro ACDC videos. If she then wants to try and take the CLEP Macro test, great, but that doesn't have to happen. For Government, what about taking a look at the CLEP REA book for US Government? She could take the diagnostic and then study what it says her knowledge weaknesses are. I know a teen who passed the US Government CLEP recently, and she studied intensely for it about 6 weeks. 

[skimomma]

53 minutes ago, BookwormTo2 said:

It looks like Economics is required for graduation in Michigan. 

 

That is the root of my question.  What does "requirement" mean when it comes to a homeschool diploma?  We have some options when it comes to covering the "requirement" but before I start to wade through them, I want to make sure I actually *have* to.  We do not submit the diploma to the state in any way.  The only function it will have is for college admissions requirements and employment purposes.  I won't go into the boring details of how our plan got so jacked in these last two years of a 12 year homeschool journey but it is and I am trying to focus on what we have decided are the most important subjects. I just want to know if there is some sort of state graduation requirements police or other way this could trip us up down the road.  Given the number of unschoolers I know of in this state, I have to believe this won't be an issue.

[daijobu]

I would check with the colleges you are applying to and see what they require.  For example, we were surprised that CalTech has fairly lenient requirements for coursework outside of math and science.  

• 4 years of math (including calculus)
• 1 year of physics
• 1 year of chemistry
• 3 years of English (4 years recommended)
• 1 year of U.S. history/government (waived for students in schools outside the U.S.)

 

Thinking again, though, I would expect most successful applicants to exceed these very minimal requirements.  I'm personally unaware of any colleges that require economics, though this article states otherwise.   My own public high school didn't offer economics (in the sense of micro or macro), but rather consumer economics, like how to buy a car, how interest rates work, how to write a check and balance your checkbook.  To me, regular econ feels like a college level course.

 

[Amateur Actress]

I am from Michigan.  It is my understanding that homeschoolers DO NOT have to adhere to Michigan graduation requirements.  My son graduated from our homeschool in May.  He did have Econ, but he only had one year of a foreign language, not two.  Michigan requires two years for their schools (or 1 year FL and an additional year of visual/performing arts, which he also didn't have). The college he wanted to go to didn't require any foreign language so the one year was enough.  
 

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/home_schools_122555_7.pdf

[skimomma]

11 minutes ago, Amateur Actress said:

I am from Michigan.  It is my understanding that homeschoolers DO NOT have to adhere to Michigan graduation requirements.  My son graduated from our homeschool in May.  He did have Econ, but he only had one year of a foreign language, not two.  Michigan requires two years for their schools (or 1 year FL and an additional year of visual/performing arts, which he also didn't have). The college he wanted to go to didn't require any foreign language so the one year was enough.  
 

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/home_schools_122555_7.pdf

 

Thanks!  That helps ease my mind.  That was my understanding (for MI) too but I felt like I needed a second opinion.

[skimomma]

18 minutes ago, daijobu said:

I would check with the colleges you are applying to and see what they require.  For example, we were surprised that CalTech has fairly lenient requirements for coursework outside of math and science.  

• 4 years of math (including calculus)
• 1 year of physics
• 1 year of chemistry
• 3 years of English (4 years recommended)
• 1 year of U.S. history/government (waived for students in schools outside the U.S.)

 

Thinking again, though, I would expect most successful applicants to exceed these very minimal requirements.  I'm personally unaware of any colleges that require economics, though this article states otherwise.   My own public high school didn't offer economics (in the sense of micro or macro), but rather consumer economics, like how to buy a car, how interest rates work, how to write a check and balance your checkbook.  To me, regular econ feels like a college level course.

 

 

Yeah, dd's first pick right now does not require Econ.  It DOES "highly recommend" speech which she didn't take.  Doh!  But "highly recommend" is not the same as "required" so I am not going to fret on that one....right now, anyway.....  I too was surprised at how minimal the requirements are for the schools we looked up.