High School Academic Credits
Further to:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012 GED - For Homeschooled Students
After Gregory completed his GED at the Holland College Learning Centre in Morell, PEI, we discovered that Academic credits can be earned there as well.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012 GED - For Homeschooled Students
After Gregory completed his GED at the Holland College Learning Centre in Morell, PEI, we discovered that Academic credits can be earned there as well.
As a result, after three of our boys had completed the GED program (please see note below re changes in GED testing), we encouraged them to obtain an Academic Grade 12 credit in English, Mathematics and one Science. They had done most of this work at home, but did not have any credits for their homeschooling work.
The instructors Anne Morrison and Peter Shepherd, were very helpful, in that they placed each of our boys at the highest level they could manage. The instructors worked with our boys one on one to help to fill in any material that was lacking.
A student may work on two courses at once, and these can potentially be completed in two months. In our case that our boys are homeschooled students, the work had already been partly or fully completed at home. Students work on one chapter in the course at a time, after which they write a quiz. If they have a good pass, they move on to the next chapter. The instructor's goal is to facilitate timely completion of the courses. The student is moved forward as long as the material is well understood. Two exams - mid-term and final, are written for each course. To strengthen math and language skills, the instructors give out short exercise sheets to be completed, as the first item of each day.
In the case of our family, Anne Morrison asked our boys to submit a record of their homeschooling work, as well as their non-schooling activities, that is, work related, skills learned, informal learning, volunteer work, interests and hobbies etc. These records were submitted to the Department of Education, and as a result each of the boys was awarded a full high school diploma - an unexpected bonus! This was a test case for the Department of Education; it is the first time this has been done on PEI. It is one example of the increasing accommodation that the PEI Department of Education is showing towards students' needs and situations.
The Morell Learning Centre courses begin at the end of October and go until the first week of May. It is open to students 18 years of age and up. The hours of study are from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. This year a change has been made in that the learning year has been divided into three semesters: October 27 - Dec. 19, Jan 2 - Mar. 2 and Mar 5 - May 1. The student must register on the first day of each semester for the courses they wish to take. The expectation is that these courses can be completed in that semester. Any courses not completed in one semester can be continued in the next semester. Open seats are available for students who are not receiving EI payments. Open seat students give the instructor an idea of their schedule and may come to class when it works out for them, according to their needs - home or job or other requirements. Students receiving EI are expected to be present full-time. At the end of the school year - the first week of May, a graduation ceremony is held at Morell High School, for students who have completed courses. Certificates and diplomas are given out, and progress is noted of present and former students. In the case of students not having completed a course, they may continue to work on them when the Centre opens again the following October.
High school credits, as elective credits,
may be earned in other ways - ie. Cadet Programs, Co-op Work Programs.
may be earned in other ways - ie. Cadet Programs, Co-op Work Programs.
For your interest see this link:
by Stella Shepherd
The Employment Journey
Anne Morrison has updated me re GED testing:
The GED exams are now in the process of moving to having people write their GED exams online. Nobody in our center has done that yet, but I truly expect that it could be mandatory as early as the coming fall. Other centers on the Island have had students write that way this past year. One advantage is immediate results except for the essay. This method will require some specific computer training especially for our older students.....
Anne
