NCAA Questions

[sally525]

My son will be entering 9th grade in the fall and we will be using the World Geography guide.I am trying to plan ahead. He would like to play baseball in college and I really need some help maneuvering the NCAA. I have called them to ask for a list of approved or banned curriculum and they can't give me one. So has anyone recently had to do this? I have found that they weren't sure about Teaching Textbooks so I guess we will try Forester's. My main problem is they want course work and grades for each core course. So does anyone have any ideas for geography? They seem to be use to the textbook approach were you quiz and give test. I don't want to endanger his chances to play later on. You don't register with them until their junior year and by then it's too late to add anything . He wants to continue with how he has been learning and not have to go to a textbook.

Thank you for any help!
Sally

[StephanieU]

I know the NCAA recently made changes. They used to have an approved curriculum list, but they did away with it. I think they realized how closed that list was. So those that went through the process when they had the list will have a different experience that you will have. I think the key is just following their rules to a T!

[flackattack]

I thought I would add a few thoughts because this is something I have processed a lot personally. I wish there was more info or advice out there on the NCAA and HOD specifically, but there is not. Maybe my processing can be helpful to someone... Anyway, I am certainly no expert in navigating the NCAA because I have not gone through the process yet, but I have done a ton of research on the topic because I have a son coming up the line that will have to comply with the NCAA. The one piece of advice that I have heard repeated over and over again is to make sure you are using resources that are clearly labeled as high school. Unfortunately a CM education will be a little trickier with the NCAA, but the more I have researched, the more confident I am that my son can use HOD in high school. I am thinking that the WG guide will most likely be the toughest sell with the NCAA because it has more books that are not labeled at a high school level, even though the guide looks plenty rigorous with all the resources/output combined. However, HOD has plenty of history credits in the other 3 guides, so really you would not even have to use that year for one of the 16 core courses required by the NCAA. (Here's a link for the info on the 16 core courses required: http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/fu ... re-courses) Or actually you could just use the high school labeled resources and award a 1/2 credit for WG just for the NCAA's purposes. For the regular transcript, I would still award a full credit and then list all the resources used. I actually plan to have my son do MTMM his freshman year. That probably will not go towards his 16 core courses, but it doesn't really matter because he will have plenty of history credits to choose from with the other guides. Also, if there is a book or 2 in the upper high school guides that isn't labeled at strictly a high school level, then I will likely just leave those off the NCAA worksheets. There are enough resources in the guides, so I am not worried about leaving a few off the worksheets here or there. It seems to me that when dealing with the NCAA, it is a fine balance between "playing that game" and still having the freedom to school your child in the best way you see fit. I am convinced that my son thrives best with a CM education, so I will continue to truck forward and trust that God will give me the wisdom I need to set my kiddo up for success... with the NCAA, but most importantly in life!

[sally525]

Thank you guys so much for your reply's! I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row for the NCAA and not sacrifice my son's education. I talked to Julie this week too and that really helped calm my nerves. Thanks Julie! If anyone has any other advice keep it coming! I really appreciate this board so much as there is no one I know who has been through this.

Sally

[ResasPieces]

I have called and talked to the NCAA homeschool department now a couple times with questions about using HOD. (Questions that likely thinly veiled the fact that I was freaking out about them possibly not accepting these beautiful high school plans!) They ended up reassuring me that they just have to make sure the courses are college prep and if they have questions about resources (living books vs textbooks) they aren't going to just stamp an x on it and throw it out. They will call us for more info and discuss things as needed. They want our kids to play...but have to have a safety net to make sure homeschooling wasn't just a guise for sliding a sub-par student through highschool using remedial resources.

As I have worked on the core course worksheets, I have found the course descriptions etc. in the front of the WG guide to be invaluable. I think the thoroughness of the information given there will pass the scrutiny of anyone who is evaluating the courses for content. There are only a couple of exceptions I have found, one being the 1/2 credit per year foreign language. For any course to count in NCAAs eyes, it needs to be the 'typical' amount of time per credit, i.e. 1 year of foreign language=1 credit. So for that specific class, we are subbing another resource.

I would love for those of us who are heading down this path to keep in touch here. So many of the posts I've read regarding NCAA on various boards have been negative and I'd love to have some positive feedback in print for others as we go through the process.

[Carrie]

Ladies,

I only have a moment to respond to this thread, but I wanted to briefly share the story of a family that emailed us in April about a similar topic.

The family of more than 10 children has been using HOD with their two oldest sons since they were in the third grade. The boys are graduating after using the final US2 HOD guide this year. The second oldest son was a heavily recruited football player who received many academic scholarships and football offers this year. The family shared that they received nothing but praise from the numerous colleges he was accepted into (over 25) for the quality of his education and how it was reflected in his test scores, transcripts, and essays. After being accepted into numerous NCAA universities, he signed with the NCAA college of his choice in February on National Signing Day. He will be a pre-med student. The family emailed us to share how thankful they were for HOD, and its part in where their sons are now.

I share this to encourage you that schooling with HOD through high school with thoughts of college sports and NCAA requirements in mind is possible. What the Lord desires for our students will come to pass, as nothing can circumvent the Lord's plan!!

I will also mention that as far as foreign language goes you can easily award a full credit in the year the student completes the credit rather than listing foreign language as a half credit each year for 4 years. So the student could list a full credit of Spanish I as a sophomore and then a full credit of Spanish II as a senior.

Also, the course descriptions and grading for each subject at the beginning of the guide are excellent for proving where you got your grades. You can print those pages from the HOD website to turn in. Most guides have over 50 pages of descriptions in the Introductions which are hugely helpful in this process. They were written to aid you in college entrance.

Blessings,
Carrie