If you’d like to start working with your teen on potential careers, Sophia offers 3 different Career Readiness courses that might want to look at. In this post, I’m going to break down all 3 and show you the pros and cons of each.
Sophia’s online self-paced courses can be used by your homeschool teen for high school and college credit. These courses transfer well into Sophia partner colleges. Read about how to use Sophia in your HS4CC program.
Career Readiness Comparison Chart
| IT Career Exploration | Intro. to Career Readiness | Career Readiness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| potential college credits (*possible duplication /may not get college credit for both) | 1 | 1* | 3* |
| suggested high school credit (combine all 3 for 1 high school credit) | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.50 |
| time investment | 1-4 weeks | 1-4 weeks | 1-12 weeks |
| predicted credit type | elective | elective | elective |
| # Challenges (small quiz) | 7 | 4 | 13 |
| # Milestones (multi-chapter test) | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| # Touchstone (homework assignment) | 2 (not graded) | 2 | 4 |
| Downloadable Syllabus pdf | Syllabus | Syllabus | Syllabus |
| Details of Touchstone Assignments (homework) | (1) Self-Assessment (Not Graded): Students will complete a self evaluation assessment that will allow them to apply the 10 Skills that they have learned in the unit to their own life. (2) Career Evaluation Assessment (Not Graded):Students will complete a career evaluation assessment that will allow them to apply what they have learned about the 5 IT careers in the unit to their own life. | (1) Building a Resume: Students will use the tools, templates, and examples to create their own professional resume that highlights their skills and experience for potential employers. (2) Practicing for an Interview: Students will record themselves answering three practice interview questions | (1) Building a Resume: Students will use the tools, templates, and examples to create their own professional resume that highlights their skills and experience for potential employers. (2) Practicing for an Interview: Students will record themselves answering four practice interview questions. (3) Creating a Skill Development Plan:Students will reflect on their strengths, opportunities for improvement, and ways in which they have demonstrated employability skills, identify self-reflection as a valuable process for learning and development, draft elements of a career plan which include strategies for developing employability skills for advancing in college, work, and life, and discuss how employability skills connect to their overall goals. |
| Proctored Final Exam | No | No | No |
| Passing Score Pass/Fail only- no grades | 70% overall | 70% overall | 70% overall |
Using Sophia Courses in Your Homeschool
Sophia uses a subscription model. You pay per month, so it is advised that when you are ready to use a Sophia course in your homeschool, that you clear your teen’s schedule so they can complete the course in as few weeks as possible. Homework assignments must be turned in during active enrollment, but grading may occur outside of active enrollment.
PRO TIP: Homework assignments can be worked on any time, even before the class begins.
How to Award High School Credit
Since these courses are self-paced, and each student works at different paces, I’ve outlined a wide range for planning. If your teen completes about 2 sections per week, they’ll finish toward the larger number of weeks. If your teen completes 1 section per day (doable) or more (for motivated students) they can finish in as little as 1 week. Since these courses are billed monthly, my personal preference with my teens has been to focus on one course at a time and work quickly, but there are no rules, these are truly self-paced.
If your teen completes all 3 courses, you should confidently enter Career Readiness and 1 high school credit. Sophia will report a final overall percentage which you can convert into a letter grade.
Suggested: 90-100 A, 80-89 B, 70-79 C
Upon successful completion of the course, the FINAL STEP is to record the credit on your teen’s Credly transcript. (How do I use Credly?) The Credly transcript holds dozens of types of college credit when it occurs outside of a college. This is the transcript you will later send to their target college (not a Sophia transcript).
Costs
Sophia currently charges a flat fee of $99 per month (before coupon) without limits. You can take/complete as many courses as you like inside the month
Sophia Discount 10% off when you enter “HS4CC” and use this link to activate your discount. Using this link tells Sophia that you came from Homeschooling for College Credit which in turn keeps them sending us exclusive coupons!
