Paths to Learning: Assigning Credits for Sonlight® Cores 2013 program editions and beyond

Friday, March 21, 2014

Assigning Credits for Sonlight® Cores 2013 program editions and beyond

Many parents I talk to ask me how to translate the Sonlight® Core Programs into high school credits. I am not an expert on this, nor do I have any special insights or training into granting high school credits. But, I have graduated two children who used Sonlight® for high school and I can offer some idea of what is possible. My two children we accepted into state universities and a Christian college without any problems. They went on to state universities and did very well.

This is not any kind of official advice, just one mom giving you a place to start as you consider translating Sonlight cores into high school credits. You may also want to check this post on creating high school transcripts. You may also want to read this post on making a "Contract for Grade" as a way to give grades for non-test classes.

Sonlight® High School Courses changed with the 2013 editions. At this time Cores 100-400 were updated so that there is a History/Bible section and a Literature section. This actually makes it easier to assign credits.

Core F: Eastern Hemisphere and accompanying language arts.
[I do feel this course is high school worthy. My older boys went to public high school starting in 10th grade and the Core F materials are more than they did for world history; but use your own judgment. You may want to add extra research or more in depth writing. I added further reading and more advanced writing.]

• World Cultures or Eastern Hemisphere or Eastern Hemisphere Geography: 1 credit
• English: 1 credit [If you increase the difficulty and expectations of the writing assignments and make sure they do the research in the Eastern Hemisphere Notebook]
• Geography: ½ credit if you student does all the mapping assignments and does a bit more research on the areas studied
• Bible: ½ credit

Core G or H or W LA
[I do feel these are high school worthy but I would only count one for high school credit. In other words, I would not use G and H for two years of study. Both are fine for a freshman course, but if you only have one year to do these and you want high school credit, then my advice would be to do Core W and possibly add in a few books from G and/or H if you want to go more in depth. My older boys went to public high school starting in 10th grade and these studies are more in depth than they did for world history, but use your own judgment. You may want to add extra research or more in depth writing]

• Ancient World History [G] or Modern World History [Core H] or World History [W]: 1 credit
• English: 1 credit [You may want to break this down into composition and world literature, ½ credit each, but I just called it an English class]
• Bible [an elective]: ½ to 1 credit depending on time spent

Core 100-American History in Depth (2013 and beyond)

History and Bible Portion #120-MD
• American History : 1 credit
• Bible [an elective]: ½ -1 credit depending on time spent
Literature and Language Arts Portion #130-MD
• English : 1 credit [You may want to break this down into composition and literature, ½ credit each, but I just called it an English class. You could call it American Literature for 1 credit and composition for 1/2 credit. I think it would be fair to call it English (1 credit) and American Literature 1/2 credit]

Core 200- History of God’s Kingdom  (2013 and beyond)

History and Bible Portion #220-MD
• Church History or Western Civilization or World History [depending on what you child needs and what type of college, secular or Christian, they are applying to]: 1 credit
• Bible or Christian Apologetics- 1 credit
Literature and Language Arts Portion #230-MD
• English [You may want to break this down into composition and literature, ½ credit each, but I just called it an English class]
• If you child just does only literature part, you may want to call it Classic Literature and give 1 credit for it, and perhaps give ½ credit for composition.

Another mom I know counted Core 200 this way:

#220-MD
Western Civilization: 1 credit
Bible 1: Christian Apologetics: 1 credit
#230-MD
English 1: Introduction to Classic Literature and Composition: 1 credit

Core 300- 20th Century World History  ( 2013 and beyond)

History and Bible Portion #320-MD
• World History, Modern World History or World History 20th Century: 1 credit
• Bible study: 1 credit
Literature and Language Arts Portion #330-MD
• English : 1 credit
• *Modern World Literature: 1 credit

*As a note, I would give this if the student has done most of the writing assignments. If they did considerably less, I would give 1 English credit and maybe ½ credit of World Lit.

Core 400: Government/ Civics  (2013 and beyond)
[Total of 2-4 credits, using any of these combos, depending on what you covered, what writing was done, if you did the Bible, etc]
History and Bible Portion #420-MD 18 week course

American Government - 1/2 credit OR US History and Constitution: 1/2 credit
Bible: 1/2 credit

Economics #570-00 18 week course

Economics 1 Credit or if you do the AP tract, 1-2 credit

Economics Overview -- Shorter course, 1/4-1/2 credit

Money, Possessions and Eternity by Alcorn (#RR110)
The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance by Roberts (#570-10)

Literature and Language Arts Portion #430-MD

American Literature: 1 credit
English: 1 credit
Or perhaps English 1 credit and 1/2 credit American Literature

Core 520: World History and Worldview Studies #520-MD

This could be called World History and/or Intro to Philosophy - I would give one credit for each. If you just want a World History course, you could use just the two "Streams of Civilization" books along with "The Universe Next Door."

Core 530: British Literature #530-MD

• British Literature: 1 credit
• English or Composition: 1-2 credits depending on the time that is spent

Psychology #590-00--10th grade and up