Advanced Exploration Education Science VS IPAC

[chillin'inandover]

My son will be doing the advanced Exploration Education Science in Rev2Rev for high school credit. If Advanced EE is a physical science credit for high school, what should the Integrated Physics and Chemistry course be considered credit wise? The description for Advanced EE includes physical science and some chemistry. It seems there is a repeat with this plan. My son will be doing this next year as a 7th grader and I plan on awarding high school credit. The Advanced EE says that it is high school worthy. When reading he prefers nonfiction books. I will be using the inventors study.
My son has always loved science, and I believe he is ready for the advanced challenge. He has a mini lab in our home that has chemistry labs. For the past 4 years he has documented in his science notebook "stuff" he has discovered. The idea of a science notebook came from HOD. I love Biological science so the Chemistry has stretched me. My quandary is what to do about the IPAC as far as high school credit. I have graduated two from high school, but they were not interested in science.
My son struggles with writing, both the physical aspect and the composition. I may need to slow the writing area of the guides down, but it would be nice to accelerate the science. I like to have a well rounded education while allowing extra opportunities with the child's passions.

[LynnH]

First I would check with the colleges he might be interested in and make sure they would count a credit done in 7th grade as a high school credit. I know none of the ones around here would. In fact there are some that won't even count a credit done in 8th grade as a high school credit with the exception of Algebra 1.

[sahervey]

I agree with the previous poster. I don't think most schools would allow that to be counted if he's only going to be in 7th grade. Some schools won't even allow 8th grade credits to count towards high school. Double check on that. Let us know what you find out, too.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Agreeing with the previous posters. Here we can only count hs credits in 8th grade and then they are very explicit in that they can only receive 3 credits max in 8th grade for high school. They have to be in Science, Math, or Foreign Language. I would call around and check on what is acceptable in your area.

[StephanieU]

My question would be why you want to count science done in 7th grade as high school? Do you not plan on doing 3-4 years of science in high school?

[chillin'inandover]

I have checked the requirements and they offer science, math, and English high school credits in middle school6-8th grade. I wanted my son to do this because of his strong interest in science. I wanted the college prep classes, but also want some interest driven science for his Senior year that would be electives. Some interests are horticulture, environmental studies, astronomy, marine biology, and meteorology. The local high school and community college offer these classes. I want to offer college prep science. These electives could be done at home too. My hubby would like to teach environmental studies and my sister in law is a marine biologist.
Science has changed since my high school days. Biology is taken after chemistry for example. I may include HOD WG biology and MTMM for a more complete Biology that is being offered at our local high schools. This brings me back to my original question, what would IPAC be considered credit wise? Maybe advanced EE could be physics. This is offered in grade 9 instead of physical science. They even have .5 credit in physics to analyze roller coasters. The HOD science IMHO looks wonderful and has been wonderful for my son. I have seen my brothers and hubby lose interest as a senior in high school and it is my desire not to have this happen with my son. Perhaps if he has opportunities that are interest driven vs solely academic he will finish strong.
I have found the more I find to challenge (not overwhelm) him the happier he is. He doesn't get into trouble. Christ is definitely molding his character.

[LynnH]

You could call Advanced EE introduction to physics possibly, but it doesn't have enough math to be considered a physics course. It also doesn't include all the chemistry that the IPAC course does. If you don't want to call IPAC Physical Science then maybe split the credits up and call it Introduction to Chemistry and Introduction to physics. It sounds like you checked with the public schools to see what they offer, I would make sure you check with colleges to see what they will accept. High schools can say they give you high school credit for 6-8th grade classes, but that doesn't mean the colleges will accept those. My dd took Honors classes in 9th grade and they were weighted grades ie a B in that class equaled an A in a regular class. All the colleges she applied to would not accept weighted grades, so it counted as a B with no consideration for the rigor of the class. Things vary so much from college to college and even state to state. Here they still do Biology before Chemistry.

[StephanieU]

How about calling whatever you do in 8th grade as Physical Science, then do chemistry and biology in 9th and 10th (what ever order makes sense to you), and then that leaves 2 years of high school for science electives. You could also do electives over the summer, double up, etc. But, I don't think most colleges would count chemistry or biology done in middle school as high school credit, and these two are normally required for admission.

[chillin'inandover]

Thank you for your response. I will contact EE advanced at my state conference in April. I will contact IPAC lab as they are family members of our co op member.
Both of my dd attended the same University. One has graduated, and the other has 1 year left. I used Apologia Biology and Marine Biology for their science. The took Meterology and Women's Biology at the community college in high school. In our state they have dual enrollment that is paid for by the state. Neither dd took chemistry because of the tears and frustration. My son will not skip chemistry.
I am thankful and appreciative of our opportunities to homeschool and tailor our child's education to their passions and gifts, which God has blessed them with. My ds has such diverse interests, and different than his sisters. I don't know if college is in my son's future, but I want to include that in my school preparation. We have been blessed with the flexibility of the Christian university that my daughters attend(ed). I am glad that I still have time to plan, but I confidently go forward knowing that God ultimately has the plan.