.If you were looking for our college preparation tips, those are over HERE (a podcast for how to use unit studies with a university-bound high school student) and also HERE (a quick write up on college help) . If you were looking for how to calculate high school credits with our units, keep reading!
CAN THESE BE USED FOR HIGH SCHOOL CREDITS? YES! IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!
You can use these units to cover all core school subjects (except math). Alternatively, you can use the units as an extracurricular or single-topic study. We’ll share the details of how you approach either situation below!
CREDITS FOR ALL SUBJECTS EXCEPT MATH
CREDITS FOR AN EXTRACURRICULAR
ALL SCHOOL SUBJECTS (EXCEPT MATH):
For those who want the simple answer:
Use ~8 units per year and list the following on your high school transcript:
- ELA
- 1 credit
- 1 credit
- Science* [fill in with physics, chemistry, or whatever is applicable based on the units completed]
- 1 credit
- 1 credit
- History -or- social studies and geography** [same note as above]
- 1 credit
- 1 credit
- Elective/job shadowing
- 1/2 credit
- 1/2 credit
- Ethics
- 1/2 credit
- Bible
- 1/2 credit
*Our units cover chemistry, biology, physics, earth science, and more. See our CAMPFIRE BROCHURE for details.
**We intertwine such subjects for an interdisciplinary learning approach to bring connections
For those who want to understand the method behind the madness, here’s the explanation:
It’s really simple. It’s all about total TIME SPENT in the class or on the subject throughout the year. This is called the Carnegie Unit Method, and it is the standard measurement used for credit calculations in America (and many other countries, as well). Most states aim for 120 total hours of work in a single school subject to equal 1 credit in that school subject, but some states vary on that exact number.
If you want more help with the details and record-keeping, keep reading!
Carnegie Unit method (for all Core School Subjects to be covered equally)
Regardless of which curriculum you utilize in your homeschool (or if you are public or private schooled), credits are counted by “total time spent,” aka the “Carnegie Unit Method” referenced above. This is one reason why public schools have timed classes. The state wants to make sure you are “doing school” every day you are supposed to, for the appropriate amount of time. Obviously, they want to avoid parents or teachers “schooling” the child for 10 minutes a day and calling it “good.” Here’s how it would look in public school, for a simple example:
-
- A full credit can be given to a student in any school subject when the student completes ~120 hours of work on a given subject.
- This varies by state; some require ~150+ hours; please check your own state requirements for any specifications
- This is why public school classes are typically 45 minutes long and ~180 days per year.
- (.75 hrs/day x 180 days per year = ~135 hours on that particular school subject = 1 credit for that school subject… with a few extra days for fun holiday parties and whatnot. YAY!)
- This varies by state; some require ~150+ hours; please check your own state requirements for any specifications
- A half credit can be given when the student completes ~60-75 hours of work on a given subject.
- A quarter credit is with ~30+ hours.
- A full credit can be given to a student in any school subject when the student completes ~120 hours of work on a given subject.
With homeschool in general, different families spend a different amount of time in each unit/lesson/chapter/etc. An “average” layout might look like this, for someone utilizing Campfire Curriculums with the Core Connections Companion:
How it might look in your home:
Unit A Example [Insert the name of any unit, like History’s Mysteries]:
- History or Social Studies and geography: ~45 – 60 minutes/lesson
- This much time is spent each day within the unit (if the student completes the entire lesson, including SYW pages, etc.)
- Science via Campfire Core Connections (physics/chemistry, etc.): ~45 – 60 minutes/lesson
- Only ~15 minutes of reading, followed by our directed hands-on application, writing, experiment, etc.
- Language Arts/English via Campfire Core Connections: ~45 – 60 minutes/lesson
- Only ~15 minutes of reading/analyzing, followed by our directed hands-on application assignments
- Ethics (Think Tank prompts with group discussion and critical thinking): ~30 minutes
- Only ~5 minutes of reading, which is followed by our directed discussion/debate
- Bible: ~30 minutes
- Only ~10 minutes of reading, which is followed by Bible reading on the topic and/or discussion
- Math: Not included
Complete ~180 school days per year (or however many your state requires) following the above, and you will get a credit for each subject (except math). As you can see, it’s very similar to the public school setup (the calculation is similar… we know homeschool itself is far different than public school, haha!).
How many units will you complete within those ~180 school days? For most, this works out to be 6 – 10 full Campfire units with Core Connections per year. Why the variation? Here’s why…
Some families all out and do every single SYW page, all of the Core Connections, every single activity option that we provide, all of the research papers we direct, read some associated books or watch documentaries, go on field trips, etc. As you can imagine, that’s going to take up a LOT more time than someone who skips some pages, rushes through the unit, skims a little etc.
More time spent = more Carnegie Unit Hours.
We have families who take 6 weeks to complete a single unit. We have others who do it in 3. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about which family you are. Whether 3 or 5 or 10 or 20 different units were used throughout the year, it doesn’t change the Carnegie Unit Method.
It’s like going on a run each morning for 30 minutes. The judges don’t care how far you go within that time. They care how long you’re running. The end.
It’s similar to public school when teachers might say, “We’re going to skip this chapter in the textbook because I want to spend more time on the following chapter or working on our final projects.” That’s okay! That is their prerogative. They are still spending the designated amount of time each day on the school subject with their students. Likewise, all YOU need to focus on is doing your regular school day (whatever that looks like) and doing it for the designated number of days per year (per your state). However many units you complete during that time is up to your family.
If you take twice the amount of time as other families, then you only need to do half the number of units. If you speed through a unit like a rocket, you’ll need to do more. Ideally, you will keep a good pace so you can learn an adequate amount of information throughout the year. Again, most families average between 6 – 10 units per year.
PS: We’ve never met a parent who actually sat there and counted the time spent in each and every subject (lol). I’m sure they’re out there, but to say that task would drive a parent insane is an understatement. Usually, veteran homeschool parents just set a regular amount of “school time” or “level of expectation” for their family each day and stick to it overall. They know that if there’s more time spent on “history” today (perhaps the child was really enthusiastic and went down a lot of rabbit trails), there will likely be more time spent on “science” tomorrow or the following week. It’s a bit of an ebb and flow, and it all balances out. Just stick to your routine, and you’ll be fine. It’s not like there is someone watching over your shoulder with a stop watch. :). That is one beauty of homeschool.
**IMPORTANT: You will also note that public or private school teachers don’t invite the children into the classroom just to sit there and read the textbook the ENTIRE 45 minutes. That’s not teaching. Typically, there is interaction, discussion, projects, a little reading, a little writing, etc. The same should be true in your homeschool. Campfire Curriculums directs all of that for you throughout the lesson with intentionally-timed prompts, so you don’t even need to think about it!
Using Campfire for only ONE school subject or an extracurricular
SIMPLE ANSWER: Each full unit = 1/4 credit toward one subject only.
Let’s say you already have your other school curriculum picked for other school subjects, and you’re only wanting to use Campfire Curriculums for your health course or maybe an extracurricular like “Volcanology.” Maybe you want to use it for only science or only [insert anything here]. How does THAT work? It’s easy! When you complete a Campfire Curriculums unit and apply it toward one school subject only, give yourself 1/4 credit in that subject. The end! Join two units together if you want 1/2 credit in one particular topic. Now at first, that math doesn’t seem to match what we wrote above, so keep reading to understand!
The Method Behind The Madness
Some people use the entire Campfire unit (including Core Connections) to count toward one subject only, and they do not divide it into different school subjects evenly.
Some parents have a hard time conceptualizing the difference, so we’ll try to help with an example!
If you write an essay on Volcanology, it can count as language arts… or it can count as a Volcanology elective. It’s one or the other.
In public school, for example, a language arts teacher might have you write an essay on something historical, but you don’t get to count it toward a history credit. It counts as your language arts assignment. Likewise, a history teacher might have you write a paper on something historical, and it doesn’t get to count as a language arts credit. It counts as your history assignment. Even though the task is identical, it goes toward different subjects exclusively.
As a homeschool parent, YOU are the teacher of all subjects, and you get to decide what what school subject your child’s work goes toward. In this example, you would get to determine whether that historical write up is going toward “history” or “language arts.”
The same is true regarding Campfire units.
If you are utilizing the entire unit toward ONE subject only (let’s say a “Volcanology” elective), then that “written paper” goes toward your focus in Volcanology (instead of language arts). The science information is focused on Volcanology and counts toward volcanology. The history of Volcanology included in the unit also goes toward the Volcanology credit (not part of a history credit). ALL of the focus and time spent in the unit is going toward a single subject: volcanology.
By the time you finish 1 lesson, you could have spent ~3 hours focused on volcanology in different ways—through writing, learning the history of it, the science of it, and more. That is 3 FULL hours toward a Volcanology credit in a single lesson.
By the time you finish 1 unit (12 lessons), that could be ~36 hours worth of focus on that one topic (3 hours/lesson * 12 lessons = 36 hours).
This is why it equals 1/4 credit toward a SINGLE subject.
Back to HOW IT WORKS or FREE SAMPLES