Our school has seven periods a day. One is a “long period” and has lunch as part of it. It’s a rotating schedule. So students could take seven classes if they wanted to.
My kids typically had:
English
Science
Math
Foreign Language
Social Studies of some kind
Band
PE/Health
My kids both ditched foreign language after 10th grade (honors Spanish 4) so they had an elective period in 11th and 12th grade. One took culinary arts. The other had a study hall.
They easily could have taken a semester personal finance course.
PNWedwonk, I think your problem is your district. Students in my district take 7 classes a semester, can opt to take summer classes and some coursework (most commonly math but also foreign language) can be begun in middle school. Students routinely graduate with numerous ‘electives,’ particularly if by electives you mean classes in addition to what is minimally required for graduation, including academic classes.
Anyway, I am glad to see that most of what has been listed is offered/required in our school system. Personal finance is an elective that one of my kids took. Their school didn’t offer any home ec, though, although it still offered shop, it was just called something else. The lack of home ec is unfortunate; lots of kids would find great use from a class in basic sewing and cooking.
The one thing I would require: more foreign language but, then again, I think it should be mandatory from at least grade 3 on. Lots of the private schools offer some foreign language for little kids but the public schools are seriously lacking in this regard.
Sigh, I think you are right about that. S & D got around it by getting PE waivers and doing elective type stuff like visual art, choir and creative writing in outside classes and cooking and finance at home. But I really wish I lived in a state that valued public education like Massachusetts, for example.
I have worked in 6 states…and never worked in a district where there were only 6 class periods in HS…or where there was a limit on classes in HS due to state funding.
Seattle, WA. The state pays for only five. Localities are limited in how much they are able to raise from real estate taxes (the idea is that the state provides the correct amount of education for everyone and rich districts shouldn’t be able to buy more than that.)
Seattle always passes the local levies so collects the maximum the state allows, but it isn’t enough. The legislature is actually in contempt with the Supreme Court right now because it was ruled that they were not funding “basic education” as they are required to by the constitution (it is their “Paramount Duty” in fact), but the Republican East part of the state refuses to increase taxes, so we are stuck. WA has no income tax so the taxes we do have are really regressive.
PTSA and other parent group funding becomes very important. We have two language immersion K-5 schools (about 500 students each) that raise $500,000 or more every year to pay for native speaking Instructional Assistants (Classes start at almost 30 in kindergarten). We have three IB programs that receive no additional funding from the district for coordinators or TOK teachers so the parents have to fund raise (or find grants) to compensate the building budget for the additional costs.
I love Seattle, but sometimes I feel like the liberal West part of the state is being held hostage by the conservative East part (which is massively subsidized by corporate taxes from the more industrial West.) And don’t get me started on corporate tax subsidies to the really big players…
The OP forgot math- such as basic algebra and geometry. ALL students should take courses that would allow them to have the same diploma and be eligible for colleges, although not necessarily all colleges.
I dislike that some high schools are known to have separate designations on diplomas for college/noncollege tracks. Every student who finishes HS should have enough credits to allow them options for further education if they later choose it. Let the colleges determine how many courses are needed in various fields. HS guidance counselors should be aware of their state public colleges/Us requirements and recommendations plus generally what most elite colleges would add.
I think it is fair to allow some courses, such as personal finance and health to be taken in middle school to fulfill requirements- or to be tested out of. Middle school should require exposure to tech ed, art, music, “home ec” and such courses.
I think middle school is a tad too early for personal finance. However, students here do not take PE/Health everyday. That period in high school could also contain courses like personal finance.
I am not a huge fan of acceleration for math and foreign language in middle school (anyone who wants to know why can read my past posts), but that is also a way to have some wiggle room in HS for elective courses. My kids both took honors Soanish 4 in 10th grade. No FL in 11th or 12th which opened up time for other courses.
When I grew up, we did the required Home Ec and shop as 8th graders. I agree these are important skills for all kids, even if all you remember is how to sew on a button, how to properly set a table, and how to make a wooden napkin holder or a birdhouse (I still remember the jar of hair our shop teacher showed us as a reminder to keep our ponytails away from the lathe).
Our current school district requires 2 semesters of computer literacy, 4 semesters of PE/Health, and 2 semesters of business/personal finance over the 4 years. What I saw with my oldest was that fulfilling these requirements and fulfilling the recommendations/requirements for the “college track” left little to no room for anything else. He spent 3 years trying to get into the CAD class and it was impossible with his APs and other requirements. It was only when he quit band senior year that he got to pick another elective.
Our district offers a wide variety of classes that sound interesting, but sometimes I think kids off the AP/honors/4 years of everything track get to take more advantage of those classes. Our HS is small and may only have one section of a class—AP English is only 1st block, Honors Chem is only 3rd block, etc–in other words, it’s either Art or Honors Chem, but no option for both.
One thing I do wish we had: more language options than just French and Spanish. I understand in theory the desire from colleges to see a few years of a foreign language, but just as some kids do not have an ear or a talent for music, some kids do not have an aptitude for languages. Or even if they can read/write it, they have difficulty speaking it. Maybe Latin or German as a 3rd option?
My middle kid struggled through Spanish 2 and is gritting his teeth for Spanish 3 because he doesn’t want to shut the door to certain colleges. I would rather he be able to take a class he was interested in, but I guess it is what it is if he wants to apply to particular schools.
Some people have touched on this already with classes addressing misconceptions about marketing, vaccines/antibiotics, etc. I think a broader “common sense” education should feature in any H.S. curriculum. The class would feature topics like:
-How to distinguish facts from opinions.
-Common logical fallacies
-Psychological biases most of us have
-Healthy skepticism of advertising (especially political ads)
-How to tell if someone making a claim has an agenda
-Ways researchers can get the conclusions their grant providers want (the pharmaceutical industry being the culprit with the greatest impact on Joe Blow’s pocketbook)
-Reading/watching the news without taking everything at face value
I think some of these insights matter as much as any civics class. It’s important for high school graduates to know about our three branches of government, federalism, and so forth. It’s also important to make sure they aren’t easily misled on an everyday basis.
I would like to see some type of High School Exit class. In the class you would go over things like college essays, resumes, cover letters, thank you letters, job search skills. Maybe how to apply to scholarships. Just pretty much going over all the options that you have after highschool.
HS teacher chiming in here. There have been lots of great suggestions, but I have to say- also a lot of things that I might say come under “parent” responsibility. Especially in things described as home repair, basic sewing/cooking, and other “common sense” agendas… JMHO
Sounds reminiscent of the two-year [Theory of Knowledge](Theory of knowledge (IB course) - Wikipedia) course all IB diploma candidates take. I’ve always thought a condensed and perhaps simplified version of the course would benefit students outside of the IB program.
1 year of Foreign literature translated to English
3 years of history - US, European, Asian
1 year of Civics
1 years of Economics - Micro and Macro
1 year of Logic
1 year of Art History
1 year of Music Theory
4 years of a foreign language
3 years of Physical Sciences - Physics, Chemistry, and Biology
1 year of Computer Science
4 years of Mathematics - Geometry, Precalculus/Algebra 2, Calculus, Statistics
No compulsory PE - but kids can participate after hours
No compulsory arts - but kids can participate after hours
No other life skills courses like shop, home economics, personal finance, etc. which should be taught at home
Even colleges that practice holistic admissions generally have a list of required or recommended high school classes. Of course if you don’t like holistic admissions that probably won’t change your mind.
@1Wife1Kid The fact that you included Art History and Music Theory as a graduation requirement intrigues me. Why would you require these two classes, rather than just a basic art class or a music class (like choir or band), with the option for students to take music theory and art history as the “after hours” elective? Just wondering!
I graduated HS two years ago, and very often I see incredibly popular tweets/FB posts/whatever along the lines of “I don’t know how to do taxes or make a resume, but thank gooodness I know the Pythagorean theorum!” (sarcastically, of course).
The funny thing is, the kids who really need those classes… are going to skip them. I get implementing common sense education, but the kids who are smart/resourceful enough to figure things out will waste their time/lose a spot for a different class in their schedule, and the kids who aren’t will skip.
Fundamentals of science, math, history, and English literature should be consistent. A form of art (history, drawing/painting/sculpture, dance, music, etc.) would ideally be a requirement, though maybe just 1 class during the 4 years. I believe PE should be mandatory for students not playing a varsity sport. Economics & health are important as well.
@Pinkpoet - Not everyone has the skills to be an artist or a musician (I know I don’t), but I feel that everyone should be provided with an opportunity to appreciate art and music. That’s why I prefer the appreciation courses over actual performance. JMHO