Journal of a Busy Mom

living one day at a time

First College Credits Earned through CLEP!

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At the beginning of this year I wrote a post about CLEP. I invited several families I knew to my house to learn more about CLEPing. Here is the link: Homeschool Clepping.

This last weekend, my daughter passed her first CLEP test! Analyzing and Interpreting Literature. She passed with a 55. She was so excited and motivated to continue, which is what I was hoping for.

We used a website called Instantcert which offers preparation for CLEP tests and DSST tests and more. She also did several practice test found in her CLEP study guide:

 

And she used practice tests found on Petersons.

She is going to attempt Biology next. Hopefully, we can get a study group going to make it more fun. We will be primarily using the same resources plus: The CLEP prep site which has amazing lesson plans for studying.

Planning My Homeschool Year 2015-16: Course Design & Grade Standards

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This is probably the hardest step in planning my school year. This step is not required by the P.S.P I belong to, but it helps me to stay on top of things. I only do this in-depth step for my high schooler. I do a modified version for my son which I will share later.

Again, I have been using these two amazing books: The High School Handbook and Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La

Course Design: A course design is a detailed explanation of what is the course requirement. In the Course Description I do an overall explanation of what are the goals and objectives. In the Course Design I give specifics on how we will achieve those goals.

A Course Design might be as simple as:

  • Complete all chapters in the textbook
  • Complete all 12 chapter tests

As I design the course I also have to consider how many credits this course is worth. If I am doing a 5 credit class (75 hours) I guesstimate what each requirement will take. When using a textbook, it is a little easier since 1 textbook usually equals 10 credits. Some curriculums will say “one semester” which would translate to 75 hours.

The harder part is when I am creating a class. I have created classes like: Study Skills or Home Economics. I don’t know exactly how long something will take so I have to go with what I know about my child (reading speed, interests) and what I know from experience. I am also relying heavily on the expertise of the ladies who wrote the above books. They have many course designs that are easily transformed to something that fits my child and our life situation.

For our Home Economics class I decided to use the Betty Crocker Cookbook as her base textbook and then supplement with other cookbooks, Pinterest, and other websites.

I am also including holiday baking, etc as part of the curriculum. For example, helping with appetizers and desserts for Thanksgiving counts towards Home Ec hours. Baking Christmas cookies also counts.

    The Grade Standard explains:

  • How each course will be graded
  • How student can earn the grade

Going back to the Home Ec class, I am not grading each cooking session, but I am requiring 45 hours of Home Ec. When those hours are completed, they earn an A. So part of her grading sheet will include an hourly log or check off list to help keep track of her time spent on tasks.

Some other classes are more complicated. A core subject will be graded based on assignments, quizzes or test. Some classes, like English, will have written papers to add to grade. Most of the time I break down the grade like this; 50% assignments and 50% quizzes and tests. If the subject has several components, I will assign a percent to each component for a total of 100%. For History, she has 10% co-op attendance, class assignments, reading assignments, home work assignments, and exams.

Planning My Homeschool Year 2015-16: Course Descriptions

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Course Descriptions. That is the next step in my planning process.

What are course descriptions? Well, they are exactly that: a description of the course you are requiring your child to take.  I belong to a PSP(private satellite program) which requires families to fill out course descriptions for all children regardless of age. I find that these are most important in high school.

What is included in a course description:

  • Name of student, Grade, dates the course is happening and how many credits.
  • Course name, description and goals of the class.
  • Curriculum
  • Grading for the class
  • Hours allotted

For example: I am doing a Home Economics class this year for Sewing. The course name would say Home Economics-Sewing Module. I am assigning 1 Credit for this module. That is 15 hours total. In my course description and goals, I outline what I expect to happen in those 15 hours.

For example:

  • demonstrate ability to thread a needle
  • demonstrate ability to sew a button
  • learn to repair a small rip/seam
  • take a 3 hour Beginner Sewing class at Joann’s
  • take private lessons from a sewing teacher for the remaining 12 hours and learn how to use her machine to : repair seams, rips, repurpose items, clothing construction and more.

In the curriculum area, I would write “teacher created”. I don’t know what Joann’s uses or the private teacher.

How I am going to grade this course is simple: participation, demonstration of the skills above and completion of at least 2 projects.

I have found a great resource on line. The homescholar.com is amazing. Here is an example of a course description of American History.

I have also shared some great books on previous posts and here they are again:

Senior High: A Home-Designed Form + U+ La by Barbara Shelton

The High School Handbook by Mary Schofield

I create a course description for all the courses my children are taking. This helps me to get focused on what is the purpose of the course. As I mentioned before, it’s a requirement for me, but even if it wasn’t it is great record keeping and proof of coursework.

At the end of the course, I add when the class was completed and the grade. This goes in the Grade Portion. See Homescholar example.

Ligia