What Exactly is a High School Credit and How Do I Count It?

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So, what exactly is a homeschool high school credit and how do I count it? Great question.

A homeschool high school credit equates to the amount of work time spent on a particular academic course. This credit, along with others, is kept for the entire freshmen through senior high school years and is placed on a transcript.

How Do I Log High School Homeschool Credits?

There are several different ways to log high school homeschool credits. If your child completes a high school level textbook in a particular academic course such as history, science, math, English, or foreign language, you can consider the material covered equal to one credit.

Typically, a one-credit course requires one school year, or 120-180 hours of work. A one-half credit course usually only requires one semester to complete or 60-90 hours of work.

Try not to stress about covering the entirety of a textbook. It is not always possible or necessary. You do not have to complete every question, quiz, or activity. Nor do you have to read the book from cover to cover. Your rule of thumb should be to cover at least 75% of the text.

How Do I Assign High School Credit for Life Skills or Unschooling?

For those of you who do not use a standard textbook, you will want to log work hours. This is especially helpful for unschoolers who complete many hours of life skills. Skills such as sewing, art, music, technology skills, animal husbandry… normally fall in the lower credit hours–120, and are still counted as one-credit courses.

180 hours typically includes science labs. An average measure of time for normal coursework in subjects like English, history, or math is 150 hours. However, do not bog yourself down being overly rigid in tracking every minute. An hour a day, five days a week for a thirty-six week school year easily qualifies for one credit in a specific subject.

Half-credit courses equal approximately 60 hours and quarter-credit courses are comprised of approximately 30 work hours. These also tend to be elective courses.

If your child is participating in dual enrollment courses, you should know that community college courses (one-semester courses), are equal to a one-year high school course (one-credit) even though the college credit will read as three credits. High school credits and college credits are calculated differently.

 

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April 6, 2014