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| GRADUATION | FAQ |
Planning the High School Years Parents who plan their student’s high school years find high school much easier than parents who don’t plan. This is why FCA requires parents to keep accurate records and turn them in to FCA on time. Twenty-one high school credits are required to graduate (click here for requirements) . High school normally lasts 4 years which means taking about 5 courses per year, although high school may be finished in as little as 2 ½ years (2 full school years plus 2 summer schools, including 1 credit of English each summer). The Stanford Achievement Test given by FCA may be taken in any year for parents to determine whether or not a student has gained mastery of that year’s subjects. Assigning Credits for Transcripts A home-educated student should be treated differently than if he or she were in public school in that the student should be required to learn the assigned material to receive credit. If the material is not mastered, the subject should be dropped or taken over. Parents may create their own subjects (ie. during family travel, working in the family business, etc.) by writing a course description and including what is required to gain mastery and be awarded credit. One hundred fifty (150) academic hours are normally sufficient to earn one high school credit. Do not give credit for such courses as “spelling” or “grammar” (as these should be included in each year of English). Also, list actual subjects: Algebra I rather than Math; Biology, rather than Science; World History, rather than History or Social Studies. Transcripts are only for academic coursework. Some activities during high school do not belong on a transcript but are more appropriately placed in a student’s portfolio or resume. These include honors the student has received: community, volunteer and missions work, etc. One elective which may be included on a transcript is a student’s part-time job (called “Cooperative Learning” or “Co-op”) Planning Graduation & CollegeThe teaching parent is responsible to make certain the student fulfills all requirements for graduation. FCA uses the information provided by the parents to prepare a credible transcript representing the student’s academic work. Therefore, the information provided by the parent must be accurate. If the student will be applying to a private university, that university’s current catalog should be obtained for its admissions requirements. Colleges differ widely as to what they require to be admitted. Students usually increase their scores on the college entrance ACT and SAT tests each time these tests are taken (after Algebra 1) and colleges usually accept the highest score. Warning: When a student applies for a scholarship, some colleges average all ACT or SAT test scores taken. This could hinder the student’s chances for a scholarship if the student has taken these tests several times in the lower grades “for practice”. The PSAT should be taken in October (or the sophomore year for those completing high school in 3 years) for the purpose of entering the valuable National Merit Scholarship Competition. Parents: If you want FCA to send your student’s final transcript to a college or colleges, do not assume FCA knows to which college you want the transcript sent. Please let us know in writing. |