They're still homeschoolers at heart

I'm really happy to have my college age kids home!  As much as I want them near me, I was dreading the tornado that was sure to accompany their return.

But believe it or not, I came in this morning from the gym to find a clean kitchen.. and now they are organizing their college bins and belongings in the basement until August when they leave again...  #proud.

I need to get my job done now and get them materials for the CLEP & DSST exams they plan to take this summer, so they can get to studying.   I wish they had taken more of them during their high school years, but they just weren't ready.   Well, they're ready now! After comparing learning from a professor vs learning on their own...  wherever possible, they would much rather learn on their own.

Good for them... they're still homeschoolers at heart.

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

Preparing to take the CLEP History 1 Exam

You may remember that we are planning to take a CLEP approach to homeschool high school.   Originally, I started working with my 15 year old son, who passed the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Exam, and before long my 13 year old wanted in on the fun. 

We are now getting ready to take the History 1 Exam because my kids have a great grasp on history thanks to their Fine Arts and History program at Artios Academies. 

I had them use Hippocampus.com to watch the history videos and take the quizzes.  My daughter finished ahead of schedule so I had her take the short (65) question exam from the large blue College Board CLEP book.  She did exceedingly well, answering 2/3 of the questions right when you need to answer 50% right to pass the test. Her unofficial score was equivalent to a B in a college level class!  She hasn't even started using the recommended REA test prep book yet.  My kids will take the test in about 2 weeks, giving them time for more review and practice tests.
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Son Passed First CLEP Exam!

My son took the Analyzing and Interpreting Lit Clep this morning and scored a 52. You need 50 to pass. His score counts as a C (unofficially) for a college course, and since he is only 15 and in the 10th grade, I assigned him a B for his grade portfolio. He did do additional work for me while studying for the test... We will call it extra credit.

This was supposed to be the easiest of all CLEPs, but I disagree. It is only easy if your child or student is an avid reader of literature. While my son IS an avid reader, he does not do poetry, or "literature". He mostly sticks to big, honkin' manuals. I think it might be easy for my daughter who does like novels with flowery language, so I will plan for her to take it in the spring.

He is going to spend the next 6 weeks working towards the SAT with math review and working on his essay skills. After that we will tackle the History 1 CLEP.



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Attempting Spanish on our own

My son, and his friend took Spanish last year in a local classroom setting.  Not getting the results they hoped for we are going it on our own.  

The action plan: 

Review Spanish 1 and tackle Spanish 2 over the summer.  Then take the Clep Exam at the end of September.

We are using:

Learner.org free tutorial, Destinos (A telanovella that teaches spanish), plus the accompanying book that we ordered used from Amazon.com.

Rosetta Stone to teach pronunciation.

If they need more help, we will hire a Spanish tutor for the last month of study before taking the Spanish Clep Exam.

My daughter who has not taken Spanish 1 will follow the same program, but at a slower pace, hopefully taking the test next summer. 

Wish us luck, and if you have any experience preparing for the Spanish Clep exam, please leave a comment with tips and suggestions.

Video courses for clep exams

This site tells you which Anneberg media video courses to use when studying for CLEP exams

http://www.freeuniv.com/outside/annenres.html

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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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Random Clep info: practice tests

Yesterday I wrote about preparing my kids to start taking CLEPs.

For that reason, I will be compiling information that I may be able to use later... If you can use it too... then great!

Anyway, here is a site you can use to take practice tests for CLEP and PETERSON exams

http://tinyurl.com/94dgbb


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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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