High School Dual Enrollment

In many (most?) states, home schools are permitted to count for credit high school subjects taken in 7^th and 8^th grade, as long as they were taught at the high school level. I was able to take advantage of this with my first two students. With my current student I have not done this – I may go back and reevaluate this, but I don’t think he’s going to get any high school credits from his middle school course work. The college planning charts could be done differently if the student has early credits. Here is the chart for my student’s high school plan:

Subject	Req. #	9th	10th	11th	12th
English	4	English	English	English	English
Math	3	Algebra I	Algebra II	Geometry	Pre-Calculus
Science	3	Biology w/Lab	Chemistry w/Lab	Physics	Aeronautics
Social Studies	3	Medeival Hist.	US Hist./Govt. I	US Hist./Govt. II	Anc. World Hist.
Foreign Language	2		Spanish I	Spanish 2	(Spanish 3?)
Health	1/2			Health
PE	1/2		Physical Ed.
Fine Arts	1		Music Apprec.
Technology	1	Videography
Electives	3	(additional Math, Science, Social Studies, Language)
Total	21	5	5.5	6.0	5.5

As with all plans, plans change. In 9^th Grade we were originally doing Spanish I, but we dropped it.  Higher grade courses might move around. The student’s high school plan was designed around entrance requirements to major in Engineering in college.

Our challenge this year has been outside interests vying for the student’s attention (and winning), not enough time being applied to academics, not enough material being covered in the time the teacher had planned, etc. Student knows he does not respect mom’s deadlines the way he would someone else’s.

As an option, in the Spring semester of 10^th grade we investigated dual enrollment at our local community college. The student tested college level in English and Reading, high school level in maths. High school students are not permitted to take high school courses in dual level (even though they offer them, think “remedial”). We signed the student up for English 101. Three weeks in, so far the class is going well, although the student is feeling stressed. We decided to drop Spanish I for now, after I did the following analysis.

The whole concept of using dual enrollment now has given me reason to evaluate how the high school plan might be implemented differently, in a way that my particular student can better handle. The college allows dual enrolled students to take up to 7 credits per semester. The courses complete the high school requirements, but also count towards college.  Determining which college courses to take in high school is greatly affected by which college major the student is pursuing. Looking at the course requirements my student would face to pursue engineering, I was compelled to advise him to consider a different major. He just isn’t working at a level in math that makes it likely that he would succeed in some of those required courses.

That said, with careful evaluation and further discussion, the decision was made to craft the plans around a college major of Computer Science/Information Systems. Mom and Dad think the student might major in Cyber Security when the student transfers to a four-year college.

Here is our current revised plan.

Subject	Tot. #	9th	10th		11th	12th
Bible	4	Bible Poetry	Bible History		20th Century Religions	World Religions
English	4	English 9	English 10	ENGL101	English	English
Math	3	Algebra I	Algebra II		Geometry	Consumer Math
Science	3	Biology w/Lab	Chemistry		Astronomy	Aeronautics
Social Stud.	3	Medeival Hist.	US Hist. /Govt. I		US Hist./Govt. II	Anc. World Hist.
Foreign Language	2				Spanish I	Spanish 2
Health	1/2		Health
PE	1/2			Physical Ed.
Fine Arts	1		Art	Music Apprec.
Tech.	1	Videography
Electives	3		(additional Math, Science, Social Studies, Language)
Total	21	5		8.0	6.0	6.0

The suggested/required courses for Computer Science Information Systems is:

Subject	Semester 1	Semester 2	Semester 3	Semester 4
English	ENGL 101 (3)	ENGL 102 (3)
		SPCF[DM1]  (3)
Math	MATF[DM2]  (3)
Computer Concepts	CMSC 110[DM3]  (3)	CMSC 140 (3)	CMSC 243 (3)
Science		NSLD[DM4]  (4)	HUMD (3)	NSND (3)
Social Studies	BSSD[DM5]  (3)		BSSD (3)
Electives		Elective (3)	Elective (3)	Elective (4)
Electives			Elective (3)	Elective (3)
Health				HLTF (1)
Fine Arts	ARTD (3[DM6] )			ARTD (3)
Electives	(additional Math, Science, Social Studies, Language)
Total (60)	15	16	15	14

Using careful planning, I can interweave his high school graduation requirements with dual enrollment classes and help my son enter college as a sophomore instead of as a freshman. Here is what it can look like:

Subject	Tot. #	9th	10th		11th		12th
Semesters			1	2	1	2	1	2
Bible	4	Bible Poetry	Bible History		20th Century Religions		World Religions
English	4.5	English 9	Eng. 10	ENGL 101	ENGL 102		ENGL 201
Math	4	Algebra I	Algebra II		Geometry			MATH 115
Science	4	Biology w/Lab	Chemistry w/Lab			ASTR 101	Aeronautics
Social Studies	4	Medeival Hist.	US Hist./Govt. I		HIST 114			POLI 101
Foreign Language	2	Conversational Spanish	Spanish I (1/2)			SPAN 101	SPAN 102
Health	.5		Health
PE	.5		Physical Ed.
Fine Arts	1		Music Apprec./Art
Technology	1	Videography
Total	27	7	8.0		6.0		6

ENGL 101: Introduction to College Writing

ENGL 102: Critical Reading, Writing and Research

ENGL 201: Introduction to World Literature

MATH 115: Mathematical Ideas

ASTR 101: Introductory Astronomy with Lab

HIST 104: The World in the 20^th Century

POLI 101: American Government

SPAN 101 and SPAN 102: Spanish 1 and 2, college electives

HLTH 100: Principles of Healthier Living

Using this plan, when he graduates high school he will have 26 credits. If he takes one additional course during a summer session, he will have one full year of college finished when he graduates high school. Let’s say he takes GEOG 240 (Applied Geography, 4 credits) during the summer – then he will have only two semesters left to complete his Associates Degree before transferring to the University. So his college courses overlap his high school courses this way

10th		11th		12th		Sophomore Year
1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2.
	ENGL 101 (3)	ENGL 102 (3)		ENGL 201 (3)		COMM 121 (3)	ENGL 264 (3)
					MATH 115 (3)	PSCI 101 (4)	COMM 220 (3)
			ASTR 101 (4)		CMSC 110 (3)	CMSC 140 (3)	CMSC 243 (3)
		HIST 114 (3)		[GEOG 240 summer] (3)		POLI 101 (3)	SOCY 100 (3)
			SPAN 101 (3)	SPAN 102 (3)			HLTH 100 (1)
						ARTT 112 (3)	MUSC 110 (3)
3		13		15		16	16

This specific classes may change some, but this is a framework for us to start with. So if my student sticks with this plan, he will be done with his first year of college when he graduates from high school. I don’t know if he will stay with this plan, but it has been a good exercise plotting it out just in case. If he completes this plan, he will earn an Associate of Science Degree and then transfer to a four year university.

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 [DM1]Speech Foundation

 [DM2]Math Foundations

 [DM3]Computer Concepts

 [DM4]Natural Science with Lab

 [DM5]Behavioral and Social Sciences

 [DM6]Arts Distribution