Storm Bay Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Do you do your high school classes all year, break it into semesters or do a mix of both? How do you break it down? I'd like to reduce the number of subjects dd does at a time next year. Some classes we'll do all year, such as math and science (she likes science). But what about history, literature, grammar, government, electives, etc? I suggested dropping one of her languages, but she wants to do both German and Latin in high school. If you break up science into semesters, I'd still like to know as my middle dd is not as interested in science as my other two are. Why she wants to do more languages than required is a mystery to me, since she doesn't yet jump up and down at the thought of school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 bumping--this moved to the next page very quickly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 For the most part, we have been doing full year courses. I say "for the most part" since this is how things went in 9th and 10th, although my son did do a 1/4 credit elective last year in a concentrated, year end burst. What has changed our dynamic this year is the CC which obviously operates on the semester system. My son is taking two consecutive sections of Western Civ, but took General Chem I last fall and is now enrolled in Microbiology. Personally, I think that it is best to study mathematics and languages year round, since too much is lost otherwise. My son also does two languages, Latin and French, but it is hard for him to maintain a strong pace in both. Latin is the priority. He has been doing roughy 3/4 of a credit in French per year. Essentially we delegated French to an elective status. I can see doing some courses on a semester basis, but if your goal is to include an AP exam, it is would be really tough. Homeschooling certainly allows for flexibility. I know several families that have done a government unit throughout the fall, studies that will culminate with the inauguration. Best, Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernmom Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 We're still new at this here but my son is doing semester courses. He doesn't like to take a lot of subjects at one time. In fact, he generally likes to do one subject per day or until an assignment is completed. We've started out slow (only 3 subjects for credit right now) to get the hang of it, but plan on 4 -5 courses per semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 but it has been handy to do half a year of World Geography and then half a year of American Government which will coincide with history because we're getting to the revolution, etc. We also do semesters (half years) of typing and computer. We could have done this for art appreciation, music appreciation as well - though these will really only be 1/4 credits because we do so little. I think we learn better when we see the subject more frequently. Otherwise both teacher and student have to spend a certain amount of time remembering "where we were". Best, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in MD Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I agree with the other ladies here about math and foreign language in particular though. Those need to be all year long for most students. We have done computer science in a semester format, one course each in the fall of his soph and jr. years. And we have done things like an art course for a semester. We are also doing our history this year as two separate 1 semester courses. He wanted to cover both the Ancients and Renaissance/Reformation so in order to get the depth we wanted we made it two courses and skipped the period from just after the Fall of Rome to the black death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Honestly, what we do is impacted by the formats of what is offered in our area. Community college courses are taken on a semester basis, but some of the other outsourced classes we take are year round. In general, from here on out, with the exception of math, I'll try to make in-home courses by the semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Thanks for your replies. I do agree with the math being year round, and, of course, it does make sense to do the languages. But I'm glad to hear that things like US gov't can be a semester course, and others in a similar vein. I think we'll end up doing a mix of all year and semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 We have mostly done full year but we are doing some semester classes including in science. For ninth grade, dd did marine science for one semester and later on she will complete her one semester criminalistics course. Her other science courses will be regular one year courses- chemistry, biology and physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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