Friday, April 1, 2016

Tips for Homeschoolers, Day 5: Trials, Challenges and Finishing Well!


Trials, challenges, and finishing well. This topic mashes together in my thoughts, so this will not come across as three paragraphs, one on each subtopic!

I will, however, start with finishing well. This sounds like the topic I need to end with, but in actuality finishing well is a process that needs to begin as your oldest is entering 7th grade. Does that surprises you? Let me explain.

Finishing, obviously, means graduating your child from high school. To do graduate your child, you need to look up "high school graduation requirements in" your state. Once you know that, you need to set up a basic plan to get this done.

In my state these are the requirements:
English
4 credits
Mathematics
1 Algebra

1 Geometry

2 Other Math (math each year of high school)
Science
1 Biology (2 with labs)

2 sciences in earth, life, environmental or physical
Social Studies
1 US History

1 World History

1 Local, state and national government
Fine Arts
1 credit
Physical Education
½ credit
Health
½ credit
Technology
1 credit
Other
2 credits foreign language or ASL OR

2 credits advanced technology AND

3 credits in electives

         OR

4 credits by successfully completing a State -approved career & technology program AND

1 credit in an elective

Students must have a minimum of 21 credits to graduate, but if you add that up, the recent change in Math (every year of high school) upped the credits to 22! If you divide, that is more than five classes some years. How does one do it? And why do I need to know this for 7th grade?

Well, there is a factor that is not obvious that you need to know. If your 7th grader is working at high school level and takes high school courses in 7th grade, they count towards high school. So first you need to make a plan (which can be mushy-gushy and change), and as you implement the plan you need to make a transcript. Here is a sample plan:

7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
English
English
English
English
English
Mathematics
Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2
Pre-Calculus
Calculus
Consumer Math
Science
Biology/Lab
Marine Biology
Chemistry/Lab
Earth Science
Social Studies


Ancient History
World History
US History & Govt. 1
US History & Govt. 2
Technology
Foundations of Technology
Fine Arts
½ Art
½ Music Appreciation
Physical Education
½ credit
Health
½ credit
Spanish
Spanish 1
Spanish 2
Spanish 3
Spanish 4

Does that put things into a different perspective? So if your 7th grader can handle high school level courses, you can spread things out. Count those credits. The way I set it up there are 25 credits, which can mean you do not need to do all this. Ancient History is an elective, as is Earth Science, and Spanish 2 & 3. Theoretically so are some of the math courses, except for that weird new rule in my state that I am not sure how to apply.

The transcript for the above plan might look like this:

Family Home School
1234 Family Lane
City, ST 12345
High School Credit Report


Student Name:    Student’s Full Legal Name          Date of Birth: XX/XX/XXXX

Social Security #:    XXX-XX-XXXX                           Phone Number: 123-456-7890

Address: Student’s Full Address, same as school

We hereby affirm the completion of the following courses by our child.

Date: ______________________

Father: _________________________   Mother: _____________________________



Subjects and
Required Credits

Ninth Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Tenth Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Eleventh Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Twelfth Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Description                 Grade Credit
Description           Grade Credit
Description                 Grade Credit
Description           Grade Credit

Bible / Christian Service


4
Ancient Biblical History

A

1

History of the New Testament

A

1

World Religions

A

1

Biblical Literature and Poetry

A

1


English


4
Ancient World Literature and Composition

A

1
Medieval World Literature and Composition


A

1
Classic Literature of the Western World: 1800s; Composition
A

1
Classic Literature of the 1900s and Composition

A

1

Math


3

Algebra I*

B

1

Geometry*

B

1








Algebra 2

 A

1

Pre-Calculus

B

1

Calculus

B

1

Consumer Math

B

1

Science

3

Biology with Lab*

 B

1

Chemistry with Lab

B

1

Earth Science

A

1

Foundations of Technology

A

1

Marine Biology

B

1

Social Studies

3

Ancient History

 A

1

World History

 A

1

U.S. Hist. & Govt. 1

 A

1

U.S. Hist. & Govt. 2

 A

1

Physical Ed./
Health

1

PE*

A

0.5

Health *

A

0.5






Fine Arts







Art
A
1/2
Music Appreciation
A
1/2

Foreign Lang.


Spanish 1*

B

1

Spanish 2*

B

1







Spanish 3

B

   1

Spanish 4

B

1
Elective














Extra Curricular


Boy Scouts


Boy Scouts








Total Credits by Grade

Ninth Grade

9.5


8.5


5.5


5.5
*Early Credits.  Taken in 7th or 8th Grade.
Certification: I hereby certify that this student took each of the courses listed above, and that all letter grades were computed by an objective third party or through some other objectively verifiable method. Each credit represents one or more of the following: (1) 150 hours of class time, not counting homework; (2) successful completion of at least ¾ of a
standard high school textbook, including all publisher-prepared problems,  quizzes, and tests; (3) private high school courses worth one traditional  credit; (4) community college courses worth at least two credit hours; or (5) private courses taught by a private school teacher.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My current student did not do any high school in 7th or 8th grade and has found it difficult to stay motivated to do high school courses to graduate! He wants to go to college, but found it difficult to respect assignment deadlines I set to complete course work. We opted for dual enrollment (discussed in a recent post), so his school plan looks like this:

Miner’s SAMPLE HIGH SCHOOL PLAN

9th
10th
11th
12th
English
Medeival Lit./Comp.
19th Century Lit./Comp.


(college)

ENGL 101
ENGL 102
ENGL 201
Mathematics
Algebra 1
Algebra 2
Geometry

(college)



Pre-Calculus
Science
Biology w/Lab
Chemistry

Aeronautics
(college)


Astronomy w/Lab

Social Studies
World History
US History & Govt. 1


(college)


20th century history
Geography (summer)
Technology
Videography



(college)



Computer Science 110
Fine Arts

½ Art +
½ Music


Physical Education
½ credit



Health

½ credit


Spanish
Conv. Spanish (Rocket Spanish)

SPAN 101
SPAN 102

This plan contains 23 credits, which gives me some wiggle room if he can't handle this plan. His final transcript might look like this:
Family Home School
1234 Family Lane
City, ST 12345
High School Credit Report


Student Name:    Student’s Full Legal Name          Date of Birth: XX/XX/XXXX

Social Security #:    XXX-XX-XXXX                           Phone Number: 123-456-7890

Address: Student’s Full Address, same as school

We hereby affirm the completion of the following courses by our child.

Date: ______________________

Father: _________________________   Mother: _____________________________



Subjects and
Required Credits

Ninth Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Tenth Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Eleventh Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Twelfth Grade

Year: 20XX-20XX
Description                 Grade Credit
Description           Grade Credit
Description                 Grade Credit
Description           Grade Credit
Bible / Christian Service

4
Poetry of the Bible and Religious Studies

A

1
Ancient Biblical History

A

1
History of the New Testament  

A

1

World Religions

A

1

English


4
Medieval World Litera-ture and Composition Ancient World Literature and Composition

A

1
Classic Literature of the Western World: 1800s; Composition


A

1
ENGL 102: Critical Reading, Writing and Research *

A


1
ENGL 201: Introduction to World Literature *

A

1

ENGL 101*

A

1

Math

 3

Algebra 1

B

1

Algebra 2

B

1

Geometry

 A

1

MATH 165: Pre-Calculus *

B

1

Science

 3

Biology with Lab

B

1

Chemistry


B

1

ASTR 101: Introductory Astronomy with Lab *

A

1

Foundations of Technology

A

1

Social Studies

3

Medieval History

 B

1

World History

 A

1
HIST 104: History of the 20th Century *

 A

1
POLY 101: American Govt.*

 A

1

Physical Ed.

 ½

 Physical Education

A

 ½










Health

 ½




Health

A

 ½







Fine Arts

 1



Art
A
½






Music Appreciation
A
½

Foreign Lang.

 2
Conv. Spanish (Rocket Spanish)
B
1




SPAN 101*

B

1

SPAN 102*

B

1
Technology
 1
Videography
A
1










Extra Curricular


Boy Scouts


Boy Scouts


Boy Scouts


Boy Scouts


Civil Air Patrol


Civil Air Patrol


Civil Air Patrol


Civil Air Patrol


Church Youth Group


Church Youth Group


Church Youth Group


Church Youth Group


Total Credits by Grade

Ninth Grade

7½


7½


6.0


6.0
*Dual Enrollment Credits.  Courses taken at Campbell County Community College.
Certification: I hereby certify that this student took each of the courses listed above, and that all letter grades were computed by an objective third party or through some other objectively verifiable method. Each credit represents one or more of the following: (1) 150 hours of class time, not counting homework; (2) successful completion of at least ¾ of a
standard high school textbook, including all publisher-prepared problems,  quizzes, and tests; (3) private high school courses worth one traditional  credit; (4) community college courses worth at least two credit hours; or (5) private courses taught by a private school teacher.

 So you start with a plan and then you work the plan. Suddenly trials and challenges surface. What do you do?

No brief blog post can answer that. Every family is different; every student is different. Every challenge is different. Even the way we deal with a challenge is different last year than it might be next year.

First you pray. Second, you walk your way through the trial the best you can, one day at a time. Since 1992 I have walked through:
- My step-father's heart by-pass surgery.
- My father's death. Settling his estate.
- My step-father's dimensia, hospitalizations, nursing home stays, hospice and finally death.
- Getting my mother to get her affairs in order.
- While doing that, learning she was mortally ill. Barely finished with signatures - she died five weeks after we learned she had lung cancer.
- Starting to settle her affairs and having to open and settle my step-father's estate because she never dealt with it.
- Since then, my mother-in-law has also passed.

Through this time each of my children has had various times when we wondered how we would survive. Ups and downs. And, not surprisingly there were times we wondered if our marriage would survive. As a family, right now some things are better, some are the same, and some are still horrible. 

Trying to be faithful to what the Lord calls you to, you always try to stay close to him and put one foot in front of the other. "Do the next hard thing." And sometimes you can't. But it is like the poem "Footprints in the Sand" -- when we can't go another step, He carries us.

For me personally, planning is huge for getting through stuff. Sure, plans need to be flexible, but when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This is true for chores, laundry, meals, dentist visits, high school and college. If you plan a meal and buy the food, have the meal plan posted and the food waiting to be cooked, you're more likely to succeed in making dinner than if you get to five o'clock wondering what you should cook. If you get to summer knowing what school courses you are covering next year and what books you have and which you still need, you can plan a budget and shop for what you need. You're less likely to overspend or to get to the next year with no math book.

I feel like I'm rambling now. I hope this has been helpful. Watch for free printables coming soon in a future post. I'll wrap this up now. Feel free to comment if you have specific questions.

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3 comments :

  1. This is really good! I have two in high school now- one graduating next year! I was really nervous about it all when they were headed into middle school, but I heard a good talk at a homeschool convention that really helped me to think through it and feel more prepared.

    I think you do a great job helping people to understand. I'm going to share this. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Leah! You are very kind. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you, Leah! You are very kind. :)

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