subject: Earning Early High School Credit In Homeschool [print this page] Early high school credit in middle school? Are you kidding? How does that happen?
You mentioned (The Best Time to Start Your Homeschool Transcript) about middle school students taking high school courses and not realizing it. How is that done? Wouldnt a person know what grade level book they are using, typically? My twins are going into 8th grade next year. Are there any courses that we could do to help us get a step ahead in high school? Thank you for your help.
Not all homeschoolers use graded textbooks, so it can be difficult to tell when your homeschool student is doing high school work. The most common early high school credits are algebra and foreign language. However, math textbooks rarely say High School Algebra it usually says Algebra. And a foreign language curriculum may say French and a parent using it in middle school may not realize they mean high school level French.
If you are using a graded curriculum that is clearly labelled WARNING: HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL then its pretty easy, but its usually not that clear. As long as parents know that it can happen, that some junior high classes really are high school level, then they can keep their eyes open.
The best classes to prepare for high school are reading, writing, and math. Reading and writing are fundamental skills that everything else will hinge upon. Math is a skill that builds incrementally, so you have to be consistent in order to become successful.
Middle school is a time to focus on fundamental skills in some things, and work ahead at a high school level for other things. Thats the great thing about middle school you really cant be behind. Since the purpose is EITHER remedial OR advanced, and each subject can be taught separately, you can provide exactly what your child needs and still be at just the right level in everything.
