It’s normal for a teen to have between 6 and 8 high school classes each year. It’s a good idea to evaluate yourself if you have more than that, to see if you are expecting too much. So look at your schedule and see if you have some repeats. World History is a social studies class just like geography is a social studies class.
So, why take both?
Is it because your child loves it and that is their area of passion? If so, that’s fine. If not, if it’s just you planning classes, then it’s a double social studies, and you can leave one off. Same with the foreign languages. It’s a duplicate to have BOTH Spanish and Latin – if it’s your student’s choice to do that, then fine. If not, you might want to avoid duplicates.
Taking two of the same kind of class can really cause burn out of the kids. That proverbial “love of learning” can take a flying leap! It’s really hard on the parents, too. I say that speaking from experience! I did teach two foreign languages one year (at my kids request) and I thought I would go nuts! And one year I did do two English classes, and I felt like I spent the whole year pushing my kids to keep up!
Think about it this way. Each class represents about an hour of work or more per day. So 8 classes is 8 hours a day. If you were in the working world, how many hours would you be working? Eight! In general, the children shouldn’t be working for more hours than their adult parent at work.
My strong, strong advice is to avoid doubling classes. It’s too hard, and can cause strife. Unless it’s delight-directed learning, it’s usually just not worth it.
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Kristine says:
As I prepare for our first year of high school, this is the morning that several of my dd’s subjects are spread across my kitchen table. I’m considering exactly how her 7 credits will fit in with each other. Your timely post is an encouragement to me that we ARE on track, that this is do-able. Thank you!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Janet says:
The stereotype for college-bound highschoolers these days is 6 hours at school, a couple of hours at an extracurricular activity afterwards, and 2-3 hours of homework at night. They don’t sleep!
I’m wondering how many clock-hours 6-8 classes per year takes for most homeschoolers, and whether as homeschoolers we can give our kids a little more time to think and breathe than the above schedule?
August 15th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Lee says:
Janet,
I think homeschoolers can count some of those extra curriculars within their school hours – and I think they also can count things that are done in the summer. That’s why it’s important not to over do it during the school year, you know? Margin is SO important!
Blessings,
Lee
August 15th, 2009 at 12:21 pm