Comments on: Homeschool: How to prepare for CLEP tests – Introduction http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/ But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3:18 KJV Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:56:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dad http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/comment-page-1/#comment-10563 Dad Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:10:26 +0000 http://chapmankids.net/blog/?p=2956#comment-10563 Thanks for the great note Nancy. I think you are probably right with the Psychology class about the ability of the parent to teach. Now that our kids have both gone on to college, we have found that the CLEP preparation and testing was very well suited to helping the kids get ready to take tests, but less well suited for actually engaging with the material. That being said, I think the homeschool courses we delivered in parallel with CLEP preparation were much more well covered than the ones we covered with textbooks and course material alone. Our daughter CLEP'ed out of Psychology, but our son is just finishing up the equivalent class in college. He was fortunate in that he got a very good professor (a neuroscientist) and I think he got more out of his Psychology studies than our daughter. I think that is probably always true when a good professor is available. Our son studied for the Western Civilization I CLEP test, but never took the class. He is so math and science oriented that he struggled a little bit in that class when he took it in the fall. Even though we covered that material in homeschool fairly extensively, I think the CLEP preparation is what saved him. He ended up with a good grade in the class, mostly because of the rote memorization work he did studying for CLEP. I really do not believe that effort was wasted in that he was able to get more from the lectures due to his knowledge of the raw facts. Thanks again for commenting. It sounds like you have a pretty amazing co-op group. It is interesting that there are good number of kids who do not want to go on to college. Even though our son is going on to a Bachelor's Degree, his final speech topic for his Public Speaking class this semester was "Why you should consider NOT going to college." Peter Theil, Charles Murray, Richard Vedder, and other are strongly advocating for the idea that society would be more well served with fewer people going to college. Thanks for the great note Nancy. I think you are probably right with the Psychology class about the ability of the parent to teach. Now that our kids have both gone on to college, we have found that the CLEP preparation and testing was very well suited to helping the kids get ready to take tests, but less well suited for actually engaging with the material. That being said, I think the homeschool courses we delivered in parallel with CLEP preparation were much more well covered than the ones we covered with textbooks and course material alone. Our daughter CLEP’ed out of Psychology, but our son is just finishing up the equivalent class in college. He was fortunate in that he got a very good professor (a neuroscientist) and I think he got more out of his Psychology studies than our daughter. I think that is probably always true when a good professor is available. Our son studied for the Western Civilization I CLEP test, but never took the class. He is so math and science oriented that he struggled a little bit in that class when he took it in the fall. Even though we covered that material in homeschool fairly extensively, I think the CLEP preparation is what saved him. He ended up with a good grade in the class, mostly because of the rote memorization work he did studying for CLEP. I really do not believe that effort was wasted in that he was able to get more from the lectures due to his knowledge of the raw facts.

Thanks again for commenting. It sounds like you have a pretty amazing co-op group. It is interesting that there are good number of kids who do not want to go on to college. Even though our son is going on to a Bachelor’s Degree, his final speech topic for his Public Speaking class this semester was “Why you should consider NOT going to college.” Peter Theil, Charles Murray, Richard Vedder, and other are strongly advocating for the idea that society would be more well served with fewer people going to college.

]]> By: Nancy http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/comment-page-1/#comment-10562 Nancy Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:47:27 +0000 http://chapmankids.net/blog/?p=2956#comment-10562 Hi - Our co-op group are just finishing our first class for high school credit/CLEP credit and we chose the Computer test to be our first. We have since discovered it's not necessarily the easiest and though we thought that the kids all knowing so much about computers already would find it relatively easy, that hasn't be the case at all. Of the 7 kids, 1 will be probably be able to plass the CLEP test now and 1-2 need a little more study before they can pass. The biggest problem was motivation. Several don't have any desire to go to college at all ever (these are mostly 9th and 10th graders) and see no reason to put much effort into this. We're looking at psychology for this fall and are looking for different ways to prepare. I found your site through a google search and I thank you very much for your insight and suggestions. I think this could be a much more interesting class to the kids and easier for parents to teach as it is not nearly so technical. Thank you again. Hi – Our co-op group are just finishing our first class for high school credit/CLEP credit and we chose the Computer test to be our first. We have since discovered it’s not necessarily the easiest and though we thought that the kids all knowing so much about computers already would find it relatively easy, that hasn’t be the case at all. Of the 7 kids, 1 will be probably be able to plass the
CLEP test now and 1-2 need a little more study before they can pass. The biggest problem was motivation. Several don’t have any desire to go to college at all ever (these are mostly 9th and 10th graders) and see no reason to put much effort into this.

We’re looking at psychology for this fall and are looking for different ways to prepare. I found your site through a google search and I thank you very much for your insight and suggestions. I think this could be a much more interesting class to the kids and easier for parents to teach as it is not nearly so technical.

Thank you again.

]]> By: Dad http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/comment-page-1/#comment-7995 Dad Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:08:14 +0000 http://chapmankids.net/blog/?p=2956#comment-7995 Your welcome Trish. We would love to hear how it goes with what you decide to do. Your welcome Trish. We would love to hear how it goes with what you decide to do.

]]> By: Trish http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/comment-page-1/#comment-7994 Trish Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:24:44 +0000 http://chapmankids.net/blog/?p=2956#comment-7994 Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, even to the extent of adding links! Awesome. I may do the same thing as you and use the novels that Sonlight uses (although we will get them at the library). I was going to have my daughter read American novels this year for literature anyway, so we'll tie it all in. Thanks again! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, even to the extent of adding links! Awesome. I may do the same thing as you and use the novels that Sonlight uses (although we will get them at the library). I was going to have my daughter read American novels this year for literature anyway, so we’ll tie it all in. Thanks again!

]]> By: Dad http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/comment-page-1/#comment-7993 Dad Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:09:20 +0000 http://chapmankids.net/blog/?p=2956#comment-7993 Hello Trish. Thanks for the great comments. You asked exactly the same questions I asked when I started giving the kids CLEP tests. To make a long story short, we have chosen REA because they work for us. We made a brief deviation from that with U.S. History I, but got half way through the other program and switched back. For us, it really appears that if the kids do a close reading of the REA books, take lots of notes, and then study the notes, they are fairly well prepared. We do read novels that go with the material and the best supplementary texts we can find to go with them. Our daughter took both US History tests and passed them. Based on the knowledge we derived from that experience, we are changing the program up a little. Our son (age 14 by the time he takes the tests) will take the US History I CLEP right after the first of the year, then the US History II at the end of the year. To prepare for the tests, we will use the REA History study books, novels from the U.S. History year from <a href="http://www.sonlight.com" rel="nofollow">Sonlight</a> and a text book we really like on US History titled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Patriots-History-United-States-Columbuss/dp/1595230017" rel="nofollow">A Patriot's History of the United States</a> (which we are reading aloud together as a family). We would have liked to have used what Sonlight provided, but it is the single area where we really believe they have fallen down by selecting what we believe was an agenda driven and abysmally written series by Joy Hakim titled <u> A History of the USA</u>. We hope Sonlight changes someday to something we can recommend. Our daughter was well prepared for the tests and we think our son, with the improved materials, will be even more prepared. Does that help? If there is anything else with which I might help, please do not hesitate to ask and I will give it my best shot. Hello Trish. Thanks for the great comments. You asked exactly the same questions I asked when I started giving the kids CLEP tests. To make a long story short, we have chosen REA because they work for us. We made a brief deviation from that with U.S. History I, but got half way through the other program and switched back. For us, it really appears that if the kids do a close reading of the REA books, take lots of notes, and then study the notes, they are fairly well prepared.

We do read novels that go with the material and the best supplementary texts we can find to go with them. Our daughter took both US History tests and passed them. Based on the knowledge we derived from that experience, we are changing the program up a little. Our son (age 14 by the time he takes the tests) will take the US History I CLEP right after the first of the year, then the US History II at the end of the year. To prepare for the tests, we will use the REA History study books, novels from the U.S. History year from Sonlight and a text book we really like on US History titled A Patriot’s History of the United States (which we are reading aloud together as a family). We would have liked to have used what Sonlight provided, but it is the single area where we really believe they have fallen down by selecting what we believe was an agenda driven and abysmally written series by Joy Hakim titled A History of the USA. We hope Sonlight changes someday to something we can recommend. Our daughter was well prepared for the tests and we think our son, with the improved materials, will be even more prepared.

Does that help? If there is anything else with which I might help, please do not hesitate to ask and I will give it my best shot.

]]> By: Trish http://chapmankids.net/blog/2009/03/20/homeschool-how-to-prepare-for-clep-tests-introduction-2/comment-page-1/#comment-7990 Trish Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:24:27 +0000 http://chapmankids.net/blog/?p=2956#comment-7990 I ran across your blog when I did a Google search for "using CLEP study guides for homeschool". I'm selecting curriculum for my daughter going into 11th grade (our second year of homeschool) and was thinking about CLEP study and exams as a way of killing two birds with one stone (i.e. H.S. and college credit). It looks like you use additional, more traditional curriculum as well as the REA study guides. It that because it would be too dry and boring using only the study guides? Did you compare the various CLEP study guides before selecting REA? Do you think it's feasible to use only the study guides and maybe supplement with readings - non-fiction and historical fiction, maybe? (I'm thinking about U.S. History here.) Do the study guides provide enough information to be considered a comprehensive overview of a subject? Thanks for any comments and insight you can give, Trish I ran across your blog when I did a Google search for “using CLEP study guides for homeschool”. I’m selecting curriculum for my daughter going into 11th grade (our second year of homeschool) and was thinking about CLEP study and exams as a way of killing two birds with one stone (i.e. H.S. and college credit). It looks like you use additional, more traditional curriculum as well as the REA study guides. It that because it would be too dry and boring using only the study guides? Did you compare the various CLEP study guides before selecting REA? Do you think it’s feasible to use only the study guides and maybe supplement with readings – non-fiction and historical fiction, maybe? (I’m thinking about U.S. History here.) Do the study guides provide enough information to be considered a comprehensive overview of a subject?

Thanks for any comments and insight you can give,
Trish

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