How do you handle electives? So far in school when I took them it was something fun, like an extra pe class, geography, and Art, and Creative writing classes, orhelping out in office... but what do you do for a kid who is homeschooled, is home most of the time anyway, Home Ec we tried but she is so constantin sewing or other home ec stuff that it seems as if she is not doign it just for school... and does that matter? Can I count it as elective time? What is required in your state for electives? How would I find out how many credits and what are credit amounts for electives? You know when we started all I thought abotu was reading writing and Math! then there was science and history stuck in there and now electives at the jr/sr high levels. And what about Language, I am told that I have to teach her language. ( dd12 is in 8/9th this year) HELP! :idea:
I would love to know this too. And what if you are sure you have a child that will never go to college? Are the courses different then? Is there a different list of courses then? NC sent me a list that is for college track but what if the child needs occupational track?
Well I hope this will help! A good place to start is with your local high school. I have a link of my local high school to just give you an idea of what your looking for. Click on each department to see what is offered and how they give credit for it. http://www.brenhamisd.net/bhs/ct/index.htm BUT here is the thing, YOU are the teacher deciding what is give a full credit or 1/2 credit. But by looking at your local high school it does give you a good rule of thumb as to how they give credits. Most high schools decide anywhere from 21 to 24 credits for graduation with 24/25 being more college bound. Obviously if they are college bound then more advanced math, english and history you would want to include. AND ABSOLUTELY yes to sewing,etc. as home economics. But read what your local high school gives for credit for that class. If they are not college bound, then if they have say their basic 2 or 3 years of math and english, then in the junior/senior years they would want take courses that help them with whatever trade school, if any they want too. I encourage my high school moms in my group to not rule college out so quick....it doesn't hurt to take those courses, unless you know for SURE they aren't going, like say senior year. But thats an IF as the best. With the hormones raging at their ages, some just can't make their minds up and might regret later not taking a heavier academic load in high school. In addition, you want to come up with a grading scale on decide what is your A, your B,etc.. Then you can have them tested, administered by you to go with the transcripts. One mom that I am helping right now with her junior daughter grades all the papers, but will wait to administer her overall grade until the diagnostic test comes back. This is why: If the test score is considerable lower than the A+ you gave her,then well.mmmmmmmmm. Then college will wonder. It *jives* better when your overall grade and the tests are more in line.. Usually a year or two of language is *normal* for high school... Again google for your local high school it should provide plenty of information to see what THEY consider a *normal* high school education and then tailor it to fit your daughter. As long as you keep good records starting in 8th grade, you are fine.. If you need sample transcripts let me know or any other help for graduation parties,etc. Does this help? Tina
Deena.... I have seen lots of things done, but there is a real neat site that I just finished adding to my site..that has ideas for parties, diploma,etc. I am a drawing a complete blank but I know where to find it Look at my site www.hsiz.org Click on Academics, then Click on High/School and it should show Graduation. I have tons more information to add. Oh if there were more hours in the day:lol: I keep TONS of things floating around in my head, but I remember that one because I just added it...
maybe it wuould be better here in California if I try checking with the requirements of a college my kids would want to go to? And work towards that, because part of why we don't homeschool is that our local schools don't cut the mustard. It has been told that we are at or below the fifty percentile level for our hundred percent of testing level. In otherwords, what most states would consider fifty percent on the scale we consider a hundred. Deena, what does your local high school require, I think Wa state would be what I would rather follow. if you don't know maybe I will see if my sister can get me a list from her sons , hes almost the same age as my son come to think of it haha. Basically I am one of those who, if I am really schooling my children all the way through I want them to be above requirements when they go to register for college. All three have ideas of what they want to do , one wants to be involved in either computor animation, ( creating video games,or some such thing like that movies and all that are going that way so this is a good feild!) and he also has on the back of his mind that he is to be a preacher, but he is fighting that onelol, go figure? and his other other one , the guys behind the scenes in forensics. Second child, music major most likely as she wants to lead worship and be a music minister, her fall back choice is firefighter, or a teacher. Third child- professional ball player, archetech ( I know I spelled that wrong sorry) so he can design and have built his own home some day, and afford to do it how he wants!
I was looking at the BJUP site for requirements for the college track. They had a link to the Lighthouse Christian Academy that they are somehow affiliated with, that had 3 tracks and the requirements for each. That might be something to look at too. If I could find that paper I'd give you the link. It may be good to get a few different perspectives. TMom, I don't have the link for the local highschool either. I'll have to look that one up. (Boy, a lotta help I am, eh?!)
Hmmmm, maybe it wasn't through BJUP??? I dunno, I just thought that's where I started from... Anyway, I did find the paper. It's through ACE (Accelerated Christian Education), the Homeschool part, and then the Lighthouse Christian Academy--Courses of study. They have listed the requirements for the Honors Diploma, the College Prep. Diploma, and the General Diploma. Here's the site address: www.aceministries.com/homeschool/study.asp Hope that link works and leads you to at least some info. you might find helpful! I tried it out and it worked. I guess they also have a vocational diploma, but that gets into PACES, and I'm not sure how those work. You'd have to check out ACE's site to get more info. on that.
so basically I am looking at between 22 to 28 credits and each class is woth one credit ... thats easy enough to figure I guess. I think I will also look for ideas in the sites with private schools electives to see what I can find that I can call an elective too... I know ARt, Pottery, HOme Ec ( included sewing, cooking, cleaning,chidlcare, etc) Music maybe? If I can get her into a class that would be great but can I put down Horse Riding as a PE credit do you think? We found a riding stable near by and I am going to price it because she loves horses as much as I do!
oh and reading further down lol on that wonderful site thanks Deena! I see the requirements for foreign language too! cool thas another one to add, I want her to have a full course load, as if she were out to school so she feels well, like she went up from grade school to JR High like she would have this year. We are even changing her location for school! She emptied out her desk, and Johnny will take that one over and give his away or sell it for 5 dollars at garage sale, its a real school desk with the lift top and all that! I hate to get rid of it but no place to put it hahah
okay, lol one more question... I wonder how long to spend on each class.... like if I do typing as an elective, 30 mins> or is that enough?
http://www.sumner.wednet.edu/forparents/pages/2005GradReq.html Okay thats what my nephews school which is the same one my neice goes to and it really seems like for public.governemmnt/union schools is really excelling has lot of oportunities and stuff.
I went to a workshop just on this at our last conference, since Rachael will be 7th grade. Basically, if they complete the book, it should be worth 1 credit. If they spend just one semester on it, it should be 1/2 credit. Carl is teaching a computer class this year from our home to HS kids, and he says it's worth 1 credit. You should check and see what your state requires for graduation...how many maths, sciences, etc. Then in addition to that, check what the colleges want, beyond what the state requires. Foreign language, for example. Remember that electives are JUST THAT...classes the kids CHOSE to take because they're interested in that subject. They can be ANYTHING you want...mechanics, nature study, etc. She also said that she has "Community Service" as an elective. I'll see if I can find my notes and share them with you!
And don't rule out those college admissions counselors.... Anymore any of the information that I am receiving it is saying that those counselors are looking more and more for unique, self driven, independent learners. More than anything else, your child just needs to be themselves and have their high school transcript reflect their leanings. Some of my notes also say that yes the colleges do look at the transcript, but they also look at the test scores.:roll: That stigma will forever, I guess be there.:roll: You know there is no way one test can really show your child's knowledge, but that is what the colleges still look at. Then not to underestimate the importance of a transcript, that is complete and professional, I know of one case where the young lady scored almost like perfect on her PSAT but wasn't accepted I think to Syracuse in New York because she didn't have a transcript. Then I have heard of some colleges, I think it was in Pennsylvania area that unless the transcript came from an umbrella school, they would not be accepted into college. So each area is different. In Texas, it is very common to prepare your own high school transcript and submit that along with testing to the higher colleges and they get accepted. Again, I understand that if they want college regardless if they only have to take 2 classes in their senior year, they want to see that heavy academic load along with any volunteer work.. For example, if they coach the little kids on the weekends for soccer, that would be written down. So for your high school planner, he/she should have a planner that is 7 days so they can record all of their work, academic and volunteer.
The woman who did the workshop also said that, if your child has volunteer work, to ask the person in charge to write a letter to "validate" the work they did. Sort of a reference letter. Sometimes that is feasible, sometimes not. Rachael was part of a weekly "Book Buddies" at the library where she was paired off with younger children. She would read to her partner and play reading games. That would be something I might ask for a letter. She also helped collect money/canned goods during the 4th of July parade for a local food pantry. A one-time thing, so I probably would NOT ask for a letter for that. I think HSLDA has done a lot as far as colleges go. Very few refuse homeschool transcripts now, especially if the test scores are good.
my oldest has helped out at Outreaches in Oakland California for youth , run by youth, and my dd will do the same as she is going into youth next year. We already planned to have youth pastor write up a letter saying how many hours Dan has done, so will do same for dd, she helps with Get Real Recovery Bible study's childrens program too, so I know that part is taken care of in my family for sure. also you can get a transcript for free somewhere on line I forget where I saw it though, sorry.
I haven't been here in a while, but I saw this thread and thought I would respond. First, I would definately get a copy of your state's requirements. In my state we use a church umbrella system, and the director provided me with a print out when my oldest ds began high school last year. That being said, electives can really be anything, and I've found that simply tailoring them to the childs interests works really well. My son has been learning the guitar for 3 years, he's loves to draw and paint, and he's learning a computer programming language. That makes for music, art and computer electives very simply! Once a week he and I sit down and he gives me the run down on what he's been doing and how much time he's spent (roughly). I make copies of some samples of artwork, ect, to keep with his records. I figure that all of these lists will come in handy when it comes time for college apps. I was also told that they can have as many electives as they want. Our state requires 2, but he can have as many as he wants, even if some are only 1/2 a credit. Another thing I might note...I was told to keep a list going of anything and everything my son does that is considered even remotely educational, for all of these things can be added to his high school transcript. (such as designing a logo for my business using computer graphics) That would include anything that they do that is noteworthy, but perhaps didn't have enough time spent to qualify for even a 1/2 credit. Hope this helps!
You could possibly group some of those things together, too. For example, the logo design, could be considered "Graphic Design", or "Business Education", or even just "Vocational Education", if he's done other things in one of those areas.
Jackie: Thanks alot for the idea to taking picture of them volunteering. One thing though you have to be careful what picture you take and you have to get the other person ok before you take them. My dd's have been volunterring at a assit. living home helping the ladies, and men with bingo and all kinds of things and we can't take picture. they wouldn't let us. Darn it. But, there are other things they do we can get picture with. Thanks again
ok cool I am getting lots of ideas now for electives, here they made 8th grade science into computor science, so we are teaching that as an elective. then her music, and drama, she is in the church Christmas play and they are already practicing. so that would be Creative Arts as well or performing arts... I think I am getting the hang of it... fun fun fun! Oh and she really does practice often so we coudl set a time for that and discuss ways of acting as well like we did when I took Drama class.
