Re: As we move into high school, the design of the guides...
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:28 pm
Ladies,
As we're breaking for lunch here, I thought I'd stop back and answer a few more questions. I am so thrilled by the gracious patience all of you have shown as we discuss possible options for the upcoming guide's plans. It is a huge blessing for me to be able to dialogue with those who are using our programs. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for wading through this with me!
As far as the science plans go, one of the reasons that we've leaned toward multiple options for science in the high school guides is because the science sequence will often look different for different career paths and giftings. Even among those students going into a science-related field, the path will look different depending on the area of expertise needed. So, we will likely have options with a couple suggested 4 year paths. This will make it tough to choose one main science path for inclusion in the daily plans. This is why we'll probably need to be able to list all 3 options in this first guide and let each family decide which to pursue.
As far as whether the science will also include living books and CM style skills as part of the science, the jury is still out as to whether we will be able to pull this off. While this is my heart's desire, and we have managed to do this up until the high school guides, the amount of material being covered in science at the high school level (along with the amount of new vocabulary) will likely make for a very heavy schedule if we also add living books. Our main goal then, in this case, is to find science texts/materials that are as living as possible in their presentation. This is no easy task, yet we feel that the materials we've used with our oldest son thus far for high school science have fit this goal well.
As to whether narration will be a part of the science, we will have to wait and see. Most science texts have pointed questions, vocabulary, calculations, and applications that enhance the science text, so to forego these materials and replace them with narration may or may not be a wise decision. There are also the labs to consider, which are another difficult time-consuming area to complete at home. All of this may mean that the best path for science is to choose living materials, use the provided follow-ups that come with them in a manageable way, and make the labs reasonable and possible to do at home. I still am unsure whether to include the science options in the daily plan box or only in the Appendix. I, too, prefer them on the daily plan page. Yet, this would mean that the language arts may need to be all in one box. Space may end up being the deciding factor in this case.
As far as whether the guide will be based around a 4 day or a 5 day plan, at this point our desire is to remain with the 4 day plan in order to allow students to pursue specific areas of interest for credit on the 5th day of each week. This will make for longer school days 4 days a week, but it leaves the student with time to pursue other activities on the 5th day which is so important! An added benefit in thinking through earning credit with a 4 day plan is that it is pretty easy to see how to award credit. The hours needed for credit can vary widely, however if we use a general rule of 1 credit equalling anywhere from 120-180 hours of work (with the higher hours for a lab course), then thinking of 140 days of instruction at 60 min. a day would equal 140 hours of work (or approximately 1 credit) and 30 min. a day for 140 days would equal 70 hours of work (or .5 credit).
Now, I will say that for our 1-credit course in geography we are looking at a minimum of 60-80 min. a day (which puts the hours close to 180 hours for the year) and for math, science, and language arts we will also be beyond 140 hours by quite a bit and closer to 180. However, thinking in terms of 60 min. and 30 min. increments is helpful in ballparking hours for how much credit to award. This is of course an average guess of how long the work will take, as student work time can really vary, and it's also good to remember that counting hours is only one way to award credit. Credit can also be awarded for completion of a text, rather than by logging hours (which is something we will also keep in mind when recommending how to award credit).
In the daily plans, I like the idea of a checkbox for students/parents to check off or number for each box in the plans. I had thought of something similar, as at our house we do put a checkmark in the corner of each box (in the upper guides) once I have gone over that box with my student during our meeting time. I was weighing how to include such a feature in our high school guides. As to the graphics in the boxes, I do like them as they break up the text on the page, but we'll have to see as to how much space they actually take up as to whether to keep them.
I enjoyed thinking about how the text in the boxes of the guide leads to a conversation or dialogue. I find the same to be true at my house, as I can just jump in and start reading right from the box in conversational form. This is always a great lead-in for me as the teacher in getting into whatever the box holds. It just naturally leads to more conversation. So, I too love the conversational aspect of the interaction-type boxes in the guide.
You have all brought up so many excellent points and thoughts. I will treasure this thread as I begin to more specifically map out the guide now. If you have other thoughts on these topics, feel free to share!
Blessings,
Carrie
As we're breaking for lunch here, I thought I'd stop back and answer a few more questions. I am so thrilled by the gracious patience all of you have shown as we discuss possible options for the upcoming guide's plans. It is a huge blessing for me to be able to dialogue with those who are using our programs. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for wading through this with me!
As far as the science plans go, one of the reasons that we've leaned toward multiple options for science in the high school guides is because the science sequence will often look different for different career paths and giftings. Even among those students going into a science-related field, the path will look different depending on the area of expertise needed. So, we will likely have options with a couple suggested 4 year paths. This will make it tough to choose one main science path for inclusion in the daily plans. This is why we'll probably need to be able to list all 3 options in this first guide and let each family decide which to pursue.
As far as whether the science will also include living books and CM style skills as part of the science, the jury is still out as to whether we will be able to pull this off. While this is my heart's desire, and we have managed to do this up until the high school guides, the amount of material being covered in science at the high school level (along with the amount of new vocabulary) will likely make for a very heavy schedule if we also add living books. Our main goal then, in this case, is to find science texts/materials that are as living as possible in their presentation. This is no easy task, yet we feel that the materials we've used with our oldest son thus far for high school science have fit this goal well.
As to whether narration will be a part of the science, we will have to wait and see. Most science texts have pointed questions, vocabulary, calculations, and applications that enhance the science text, so to forego these materials and replace them with narration may or may not be a wise decision. There are also the labs to consider, which are another difficult time-consuming area to complete at home. All of this may mean that the best path for science is to choose living materials, use the provided follow-ups that come with them in a manageable way, and make the labs reasonable and possible to do at home. I still am unsure whether to include the science options in the daily plan box or only in the Appendix. I, too, prefer them on the daily plan page. Yet, this would mean that the language arts may need to be all in one box. Space may end up being the deciding factor in this case.
As far as whether the guide will be based around a 4 day or a 5 day plan, at this point our desire is to remain with the 4 day plan in order to allow students to pursue specific areas of interest for credit on the 5th day of each week. This will make for longer school days 4 days a week, but it leaves the student with time to pursue other activities on the 5th day which is so important! An added benefit in thinking through earning credit with a 4 day plan is that it is pretty easy to see how to award credit. The hours needed for credit can vary widely, however if we use a general rule of 1 credit equalling anywhere from 120-180 hours of work (with the higher hours for a lab course), then thinking of 140 days of instruction at 60 min. a day would equal 140 hours of work (or approximately 1 credit) and 30 min. a day for 140 days would equal 70 hours of work (or .5 credit).
Now, I will say that for our 1-credit course in geography we are looking at a minimum of 60-80 min. a day (which puts the hours close to 180 hours for the year) and for math, science, and language arts we will also be beyond 140 hours by quite a bit and closer to 180. However, thinking in terms of 60 min. and 30 min. increments is helpful in ballparking hours for how much credit to award. This is of course an average guess of how long the work will take, as student work time can really vary, and it's also good to remember that counting hours is only one way to award credit. Credit can also be awarded for completion of a text, rather than by logging hours (which is something we will also keep in mind when recommending how to award credit).
In the daily plans, I like the idea of a checkbox for students/parents to check off or number for each box in the plans. I had thought of something similar, as at our house we do put a checkmark in the corner of each box (in the upper guides) once I have gone over that box with my student during our meeting time. I was weighing how to include such a feature in our high school guides. As to the graphics in the boxes, I do like them as they break up the text on the page, but we'll have to see as to how much space they actually take up as to whether to keep them.
I enjoyed thinking about how the text in the boxes of the guide leads to a conversation or dialogue. I find the same to be true at my house, as I can just jump in and start reading right from the box in conversational form. This is always a great lead-in for me as the teacher in getting into whatever the box holds. It just naturally leads to more conversation. So, I too love the conversational aspect of the interaction-type boxes in the guide.
You have all brought up so many excellent points and thoughts. I will treasure this thread as I begin to more specifically map out the guide now. If you have other thoughts on these topics, feel free to share!
Blessings,
Carrie