I afresh had an absorbing chat with a few homeschool parents of average academy age accouchement who are in the action of authoritative affairs for top school. In the process, they aloft absolutely a few questions that I anticipate abounding added parents aswell admiration about.
Since these parents apperceive me as their children's science teacher, our chat by itself centered on science education. Fundamentally, we were discussing two things. First, what does a good, top academy science apprenticeship abide of? And second, what do colleges wish to see?
Science is such a ample affair that it isn't at all accessible what capacity top academy acceptance should study. Of course, a year anniversary of biology, chemistry, and physics is traditional, but why? Why isn't Earth science, which deals with some of the a lot of important issues of our day, such as climate, allotment of that amount curriculum? Is it ok to acting added specialized classes such as astronomy, botany, or forensics for the added acceptable classes? Should acceptance abstraction alone the branches of science that they a lot of enjoy?
There is no bright acknowledgment to these questions; the abstracts that humans appear to will accept as abundant to do with opinions and preferences as they will with facts. Personally, I anticipate that while biology, chemistry, and physics are all great, Earth science is just as acceptable and care to be in the spotlight added than it is. I doubtable it gets abbreviate shrift because of the extensive access of medical schools, which all crave applicants to yield biology, chemistry, and physics, but not Earth science. In my opinion, almost ample assay courses should accomplish up the greater allocation of top academy science, but abacus in one or two specialized classes can be wonderful, decidedly if they are in accession to the added accepted classes. If specialized classes alter too abounding ample assay classes, my affair is that acceptance will not get abundant accomplishments advice to codify an authentic annual of the way the apple works.
Even admitting it is assuredly accessible for acceptance to get a abundant top academy science apprenticeship in actual non-traditional ways, that action is risky. Some colleges, abnormally baby advanced arts colleges, would assuredly attending on abnormal courses of abstraction kindly, but a lot of colleges will wish to see SAT Subject Tests and AP Exams. In New York State, Regents exams may aswell be important. Notably, abounding of the schools a lot of acceptable to de-emphasize connected tests are actual expensive, so unless money is not an issue, it makes a lot of faculty to plan harder to get some able assay scores. This is abnormally important for homeschoolers, who apparently charge to yield at atomic 5 SAT Subject tests if they plan to administer to careful colleges. Therefore, it is all-important to include, and apparently emphasize, classes that will let acceptance flash on these tests. The alone three SAT Subject tests in science are biology, chemistry, and physics. Doing able-bodied on AP exams is aswell a reliable way to affect colleges, so these tests should be taken into annual as well. There are AP exams in biology, chemistry, physics, and ecology science. Regents, which can be important in New York State (and abnormally for SUNY and CUNY schools), action tests in assay (called Living Environment), chemistry, physics, and Earth science.
The parents that I had my contempo chat with accept daughters who are acerb biased appear the humanities. They like science, but they like English and history more. They do able-bodied in math, but they don't get abundant amusement out of it. With this in mind, they're currently because a two-year affairs of Earth science for 8th and 9th grades that will acquiesce the girls to yield the Earth science regents at the end of 9th grade, a two-year assay advance that will acquiesce the girls to yield the SAT Subject Assay in Assay at the end of 11th brand (and the Living Environment Regents Exam, for those of them who will be applying to SUNY or CUNY schools), and a one year conceptual physics chic in 12th brand which will not be affiliated with any connected test. Allure is conspicuously absent from this dieting because it isn't safe to do top academy allure in the home. Hopefully, at atomic some of the kids will yield a allure chic in association academy or at a academy that allows homeschoolers to yield classes a la carte.
This plan should plan reasonable able-bodied for this accumulation of kids. They will go off to academy with some holes in their science education, but they accept four abounding years of acknowledgment to abstracts analysis, beginning design, and analytical thinking. Hopefully, they will accept all the abilities they charge to be scientifically community and all the tests they charge to get into colleges that will amuse their needs.
