If I went back to high school…

[Teaching3bears]

Helping DS with homework makes me wonder:   If I went to high school would I pass?  Would I do any better than I did the first time?  After university and a graduate degree I still don’t think I would.  I got A’s,B’s, and C’s in high school.  The A’s when I liked the teacher and the teacher was straightforward.  The B’s when I did not understand what the teacher wanted or did not connect with the teacher and the C’s when I had given up completely, was experimenting with doing badly, and/or I thought the subject matter was useless.

When I help my son, I find myself frustrated with the wording of the questions he has to answer and all the complicated evaluation rubrics he has to go through.  I feel critical of many assignments, the same as I did in high school, though it seems like the work has become more complicated and nitpicky.  I find myself thinking “what is the point of this?” In the same way I did then.  Funny, I did not feel like this about his or my elementary school experience or my university experience.  Just high school.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Teaching3bears said:

When I help my son, I find myself frustrated with the wording of the questions he has to answer and all the complicated evaluation rubrics he has to go through.  I feel critical of many assignments, the same as I did in high school, though it seems like the work has become more complicated and nitpicky. 

That was what made us consider Canadian universities. My oldest love the option of credit by exams. Even if he didn’t do as well in the class, a high enough AP exam score would secure him the credit. 
 

ETA:

I took the Cambridge A levels exams for university admissions. High school grades didn’t matter.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Arcadia

[bookbard]

Grades weren't really a thing when I went to high school - you did get an A B C D E for each subject at the end of each year, but it was meaningless, it didn't 'go' anywhere. The only thing that mattered was how you did on the final exam at the end of high school. I'd do better on the essays now, but I don't think I'd be able to learn 50 pages of Latin off by heart like I did when I was 16. Hooray for cramming, I learned everything in the last few months before that exam and it worked for me. I still do remember the first few lines of Aeneid 2 - O Queen, you have revived a terrible sorrow . . . 

[SKL]

I would pass, but it wouldn't be quite as easy a ride as it was.  😛 

I kind of wish I could learn chemistry along with my kids.  I never had to take chemistry.  But they don't have a textbook.  Everything is in their stupid Chromebook and too annoying to access.  Even my kids wish they could go back to paper.

[Teaching3bears]

6 hours ago, Arcadia said:

That was what made us consider Canadian universities. My oldest love the option of credit by exams. Even if he didn’t do as well in the class, a high enough AP exam score would secure him the credit. 
 

ETA:

I took the Cambridge A levels exams for university admissions. High school grades didn’t matter.

Can you explain this? I don’t know anything about this.  What is credit by exams? Can anyone do Cambridge A levels exams?

[Carrie12345]

I think I would do better overall. I wouldn’t ace it in a school that weighs homework heavily because I still hate homework. And I still can’t wrap my brain around calculus or some physics concepts. But I now have 14 years of knowing I have adhd and learning some hacks that work for me, including the power to ask for more clarification. I think that would give me a nice boost.

[MEmama]

29 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said:

Can you explain this? I don’t know anything about this.  What is credit by exams? Can anyone do Cambridge A levels exams?

British system, high school subject exams similar to US APS. Ireland has something similar called the Leaving Certification, the results of which which determine which universities and fields (IIRC) you are eligible for.

DS opted against UK universities partially because grades are typically based on only one or two exams. 

[Indigo Blue]

8 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

I find myself frustrated with the wording of the questions he has to answer and all the complicated evaluation rubrics he has to go through.  I feel critical of many assignments, the same as I did in high school, though it seems like the work has become more complicated and nitpicky.  I find myself thinking “what is the point of this?” In the same way I did then.

I felt the same. I don’t think you’re imagining it. Unnecessarily complicated and nit picky is the perfect way to describe it. I don’t like being cynical and so negative about that, but, admittedly, I am. We don’t have great schools here in the first place. 

I was a lot younger when older ds went through school, and homeschooling was something I thought I could never do. In retrospect, I wish he would have been brought home, too, (we brought younger ds home years later when he and I had had enough. Younger ds did not want to be there) but he was doing very well, and he was really happy in spite of it all.

I was thrilled at how clear, thorough, and effective homeschool curriculum was in comparison. I know everyone doesn’t feel this way, but this was our experience. Not to mention the classrooms were complete chaos. 
 

 

[TexasProud]

Ha. I would be valedictorian at our local high school.  Now other districts no. But I am really good at figuring out what a teacher wants and providing it. And the work is ridiculously easy.  When I went to high school I didn’t care about grades, but I still made mostly A’s ( graduated 13 out of 625)

Now at my neice’s school, not so much. They have a much more rigorous experience. 

So depends on the school. Plus now I almost can’t stand not to get an A.  I am much more of a perfectionist than I ever was in high school. In high school I cared more about choir and drama than my academic classes. It was the entire reason I went to school. 

[Arcadia]

4 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

Can you explain this? I don’t know anything about this.  What is credit by exams? Can anyone do Cambridge A levels exams?

credit by AP exam (similar to getting credits by getting high scores for CLEP exams) https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/getting-credit-placement/search-policies

e.g. https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/admission-requirements/ap-exam-credits/ap-credits/

Cambridge A Levels is offered at some schools in the US @MEmama

search page https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/why-choose-us/find-a-cambridge-school/?Location=United States&City=Orlando, Florida

example of a Florida school with the program https://p15cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_68484/File/Academics/Curriculum Guide/2025 Cambridge Diploma Route.pdf