No shame in not passing CLEP

I just read an awesome homeschool blog where the mom was celebrating a CLEP pass.  It is very exciting.

I touched on CLEP exams some time back as my hope was that my son would put a ton of college credits behind him before graduating.  But Alas, that did not happen.  He did get 6 English credits that the college he is going to will accept, and plans take one more in math before the end of this school year. Maybe he will even attempt one of the two tests he did not pass last time.    But in the end, he is the type that needs to actually sit through the class to pass it, so his CLEP success has been limited.

Let's face it CLEP exams are HARD.  It is a college level test, so there is no shame in not passing it when you are only 15 or 16 years old. There may be shame in not trying though. For us, even when he did not pass,  it was a learning experience in figuring out his strengths and learning how to study.  Studying for the tests have also given him the exposure needed to pass the classes in college when he takes them formally.

Next year, my daughter plans to spend her entire senior year taking CLEP exams (she failed one as a high school Freshman and hasn't wanted to take one again) Now she plans to take at least 4.  I feel like she will have an easier time as she just barely missed the one she did fail, and now she is older and more mature.

One important thing to remember is that CLEP is not for everyone.  Students should look at the colleges they hope to attend to make sure that CLEP exams will be accepted.  If they aren't, you can still take a few CLEPs to prove your worth, but you may have better success getting AP tests or SATIIs accepted for college credit.


Read: Homeschool Questions and Answers: AP and CLEP Exams


How to Study for the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP

Getting Carried Away with AP?

Taking the CLEP route

Taking the CLEP route

I have decided to get my kids started taking CLEP courses next year.

In my own words, CLEP exams are tests used to allow students to test out of a College course. For homeschoolers, they are a great AP substitute because it allows a student to study college level coursework and take a test to prove they learned it. No one can argue that MOMMA assigned a grade with no real basis.

While CLEP exams will allow students to fast forward through college, that is hardly my concern. My interest in CLEP exams is to show that my kids really know what they know and to make them more attractive to the best colleges (should they plan to go that route.)

I will mostly be working with my 14 year old son and a 16 year old friend. My daughter will probably take some as well just to get a feel for it.

The first test the boys are planning to take is supposed to be the easiest... Interpreting and analyzing Literature, but the test isn't exactly a no brainer for me.

I am planning to have them read a literature anthology this summer and then we will discuss the book and learn terminology. I am working on planning all that out right now.

I will probably be writing alot about our CLEP adventures as we go through them.

ps. I am hardly a CLEP expert to learn more about the process here is a website you should visit. http://clepprep.tripod.com/

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Curriculum plan 2009-2010

Woke up 3 hours late today... too late to go to church. Still on LA Time.
Spent the rest of the day working on curriculum plan for the year and then for the next week.
Can't believe it is almost 1am and I am not sleepy. Still on LA time!

What are we using this year? Most of our curriculum this year is free with the homeschool budget going into their Fine Arts Program and testing fees. (I paid for Rosetta Stone last year and am enjoying the perks of that expense this year. We are a test family for lifetime learning as they perfect their online curriculum that used to be available by CDrom)

Daughter:

• Lifetime Library for language, science, and history
• Khan Academy for math (Algebra 1)
  
• Rosetta Stone for Spanish (taking up most of the budget)
• Thinking about supplementing Spanish with Byki.com
• Artios Conservatory for Fine Arts (Theater /Music Concentration)

This is a take-it-easy year with lots of classical reading to get her accustomed to high school level work

Son:

• Khan Academy for Math (Algebra 2)
• Rosetta Stone for Spanish
• CLEP exams W/ REA guides for Language, Science, History, and Math by year's End will be using lifetime library and Learner.org as base curriculum.
  
• May use InstantCert website for help with CLEP Exams
• Artios Conservatory for Fine Arts (Film/Art Concentration)
  

Plan is to do Math and Spanish Daily and begin with Language Arts Clep, Science CLEP in 2nd Quarter, History CLEP in 3rd Quarter, Finish the year with Math and possibly Spanish Clep




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Great Deals on School & Homeschool Curriculum

Preparing for my son's Junior and Senior Year

AHHHHHHHH! I just sat down with my son to talk about his classes for the next two years.... his last 2 years homeschooling.

I feel faint. 

Anyway, we have decided that he would spend the next two years tackling physics and calculus. And of course there would be more grammar, literature, history, and Spanish.

Tentatively, the next two years will look like this.



*This summer: 
~"Trigonometry in 20 minutes a Day" as a prerequisite for Calculus.  (Trig is the only thing from a pre-calc book that he did not understand)
~Computer Science CLEP Exam

Next year, Grade ll:
~*Calculus 1part and part 2 (Hippocampus)
~Non majors biology (hippocampus)
~US History 2 (Hippocampus) (He will attempt the US History 2 CLEP next summer for college credit)
~Spanish 2 (Rosetta Stone) (he will attempt the Spanish CLEP next summer)
~English/Grammar:  I am designing a literature/wiritng course... he hasn't read as much as I would have liked the last 2 years, so I have picked 7 books to read and write about. (Because he passed the Analyzing Lit Clep, he has already reached his requirements for this subject)


(The good news Is I won't be spending much money this year as Hippocampus is free and we own Rosetta Stone) 
His electives will include Film Photography, Graphic Design, , History of Film, Chorus, Christian Worldview, and Piano (ArtiosAcademies, a local homeschool program)  This is where the bulk of my homeschooling money will go.  Free homeschool sites have made paying for this program possible.

His FINAL (SENIOR) YEAR:

~*Physics part 1 &2 and CLEP Exam
~US Government (if he wants another history at that point)
~Classes at Artios Academies will include more music and film related classes and a SENIOR project!

(note*  with the Hippocampus program, the Calculus 1 and 2 and physics 1 and 2 is the same as precalc and calc, and intro to physics and physics.)

My daughter and I are still mulling over the next 3 years for her.  I will sit down and compile that information soon.  (If I don't put these things in writing, I fear I may forget something)


READ: Home School, High School, & Beyond: A Time Management, Career Exploration, Organizational & Study Skills Course

*This post has been updated... after getting a better understanding of calculus and physics and prerequisites, we thought it might make better sense to do a year of calculus, then a year of physics.  It also cuts his classes next year from 5 to 4.... I added back another science (biology) after going on a couple of college tours. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Assigning Letter grades from CLEP Scores (updates)

I was curious so I googled.

Someone on my CLEP email list mentioned that their sons took the CLEP today and one got an 80 a perfect score and the other got a 66.
I wondered how that translated into letter grades, and here is was I found:

**update:

I just got an email that lists (unnoficial) A and B grades for all cleps

Click Here! to increase your chances of passing.

This is straight from the College Board

Business
Financial Accounting	65	50
Introductory Business Law	60	50
Information Systems and Computer Applications	59	50
Principles of Accounting2	53	50
Principles of Marketing	65	50
Principles of Management	63	50
Composition and Literature
Analyzing & Interpreting Literature	60	50
American Literature	58	50
English Composition with Essay	63	50
English Composition without Essay	59	50
English Literature	62	50
Freshman College Composition	59	50
Humanities	56	50
Foreign Languages
French Language, Level 1	64	50
French Language, Level 2	69	59
German Language, Level 1	59	50
German Language, Level 2	67	60
Spanish Language, Level 1	56	50
Spanish Language, Level 2	68	63
History and Social Sciences
American Government	63	50
History of the United States I	56	50
History of the United States II	57	50
Human Growth and Development	63	50
Introduction to Educational Psychology	62	50
Introductory Psychology	59	50
Introductory Sociology	59	50
Principles of Macroeconomics	62	50
Principles of Microeconomics	64	50
Social Sciences and History	62	50
Western Civilization I	57	50
Western Civilization II	56	50
Science and Mathematics
Biology	57	50
Calculus	64	50
Chemistry	65	50
College Algebra	63	50
College Algebra-Trigonometry2	58	50
College Mathematics	62	50
Natural Sciences	62	50
Precalculus	61	50
Trigonometry2	58	50

¹The American Council on Education (ACE) granting of credit at the C-level.

²These examinations are no longer available to students.

previous findings:

http://www.back2college.com/clepgrades.htm

CLEP Exam	'A' Score	'B' Score	'C' Score
American Government	71	65	50
American Literature	64	55	50
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature	60	53	50
College Algebra	60	54	50
English Literature	67	55	50
Freshman College Composition	59	54	50
History of the United States I	59	54	50
History of the United States II	59	55	50
Principles of Macroeconomics	61	54	50
Principles of Management	60	56	50
Principles of Microeconomics	60	54	50
Psychology (Introductory)	58	54	50

This does not include all of the CLEP exams but you can reason that a 50 is a C and a 70 is an a+ at least

Examination PC Courses Credit Minimum Required Scores for:

A-Level B-Level C-Level

Biology (general) BIOL 1408 4 64 57 50

Business Law, Introductory BUSI 2301 3 70 60 50

Macroeconomics, Principles of ECON 2301 3 74 62 50

Microeconomics, Principles of ECON 2302 3 78 64 50

College Composition ENGL 1301 3 68 59 50

English Literature ENGL 2322 3 60 55 50

General Chemistry CHEM 1411 4 76 63 50

American History I* HIST 1301 3 62 56 50

American History II* HIST 1302 3 64 57 50

American Government (federal) GOVT 2305 3 76 63 50

College Algebra MATH 1314 3 76 63 50

Trigonometry MATH 1316 3 66 58 50

Calculus/Elem. Functions MATH 2413 4 72 61 50

General Psychology PSYC 2301 3 68 59 50

Human Growth & Development PSYC 2314 3 76 63 50

Sociology, Introductory SOCI 1301 3 68 59 50

College Spanish SPAN 1411 & 1412 8 60 55 50

This one is from panola college

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