What is the purpose of this course? What materials are used to teach it? What skills will my child learn and develop?
The answers to these questions are how you will construct your course description. You’ll want to write a course description for each high school class and especially for core academic subjects (English, math, science, history, and foreign language).
Course descriptions provide backup documentation should anyone have questions related to the courses you show on your teen’s transcript, and there are several instances in which course descriptions are essential:
- If your students plans to compete for academic scholarships, they will not only need descriptions of core subject courses, but also descriptions of honors courses, Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and dual-enrollment courses.
- Rigorous and selective colleges, which include the five military academies, also require descriptions of core subject courses along with descriptions of honors courses, Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and dual-enrollment courses.
- The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires thorough course descriptions to be submitted as part of the eligibility process for any student wishing to play sports in college. (The NCAA requires even more detail than what we outline below along with other rigorous eligibility specifications. If your teen has any interest in playing college sports, we recommend that you become familiar with the eligibility requirements as soon as possible.)
HSLDA members can download a detailed sample course description at the bottom of this article. And the following outline will help you get started writing the description:
Course Description Outline
Course title:
Evaluation of Credits:
Need help with this? Check out 3 Ways to Determine High School Course Credit!
Grading categories and percentages:
The percentages of all the categories must total 100%. Before you begin teaching a course, gather the materials and determine how you plan to formulate the course grade. This greatly simplifies the determination of a final grade at the end of the course.
Course overview:
This should include goals, objectives, emphasis, skills, major projects, etc. Demonstrate good writing skills—this is key because readers assume these are the skills you have taught your student. Although the level of detail you choose to give in
the overview may vary, we recommend that you keep in mind the audience who will read it. The final wording of the course description can wait until your student has completed the course.
- Is this a core academic or an elective course?
- Who teaches, tutors, and assesses your teen’s course work to award a final grade?
- What main ideas describe the full course?
- What main units/ideas are presented?
- What key skills does the student learn and develop in the course?
- Are there significant assignments, such as research papers, presentations, projects, lab work, etc.?
Materials:
Here’s what you need for each type of resource:
For textbooks, lab books, nonfiction, test booklets, workbooks, etc.—list the title, author, publisher, and copyright date. Example: Constitutional Law for Enlightened Citizens by Michael P. Farris (HSLDA, 2012)
For DVDs, CDs, and computer software—list the title, producer, and date.
Example: Constitutional Literacy (Distant Moon Media, 2012)
For literature—list the title and author.
Example: The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
For online resources—list the title and URL.
Example: The Founding Fathers, https://www.generationjoshua.org/GenJ/programs/civics-education/distance-learning