Honors & Dual Credit Opportunities

Friendship Christian School seeks to provide an opportunity for our high school students to reach their highest potential as well as prepare them for college by offering Honors and Dual Credit classes. The Dual Credit classes are approved through Colorado Christian University and Maranatha Baptist University.

Honors classes include English, Physical Science, Geometry, Algebra II, Biology, Precalculus, and Chemistry.

Dual Credit classes include Old Testament and New Testament Survey, English Composition, Intro to Literature, Precalculus, and Calculus.

Below are the course descriptions for the dual credit classes offered.

Old Testament Survey (Dual Credit Opportunity): The Holy Bible, Encountering the Old Testament (Arnold and Bayer), MacArthur Bible Handbook (MacArthur)

This college-level course focuses both on the big picture of the Old Testament as a whole and on the specific books of the Old Testament. The emphasis for each book will be the authorship, purpose, theme, and flow. Students will discover each book within its historical context and will learn to apply life principles from the content of the material. This course is approved for 3 college credits through Colorado Christian University.

New Testament Survey (Dual Credit Opportunity): The Holy Bible, Encountering the New Testament (Elwell and Yarbrough), MacArthur Bible Handbook (MacArthur)

This college level course looks at the Bible as a whole and examines each book for specific information. Emphasis is given to identifying the authorship, purpose, theme, and flow of each book as it relates to the historical context in which the book was written. Students will gain a better understanding of the connections among the New Testament Books and will identify fulfillments of prophecy as they unfold in Scripture. This course is approved for 3 college credits through Colorado Christian University.

English Language And Composition (Dual Credit Opportunity): Handbook of Grammar and Composition (A Beka Book), Workbook V for Handbook of Grammar and Composition (A Beka Book), American Literature for Christian Schools (BJU Press), plus selected pieces from literature

English Literature And Composition (Dual Credit Opportunity): Handbook of Grammar and Composition (A Beka Book), Workbook V for Handbook of Grammar and Composition (A Beka Book), British Literature for Christian Schools (Bob Jones Press), plus selected pieces from literature

This advanced course includes the refinement of skills in grammar usage and mechanics. It also emphasizes vocabulary development in preparation for the reading comprehension section of the SAT. In addition, reading comprehension and analytical skills are developed through the study of British literature from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present. Independent and group projects develop critical thinking skills. Students become proficient in MLA formatting through writing assignments such as compare/contrast, argumentative, and literary analysis. Creativity is encouraged with student-directed topics. Mechanics, grammar, and style will also be taught throughout the year, and students will evince growing skills in revising their compositions by using correct and effective sentence structure and coherent, unified, and emphatic paragraph development. The students will be guided by their grammar handbook, the Composition Checksheet, and by teacher and peer reviews. This course is approved for 3 college credits through Colorado Christian University.

Honors Precalculus (Dual Credit Opportunity): Precalculus: An Investigation of Functions by David Lippman and Melonie Rasmussen

Precalculus begins with a review of basic trigonometry from Algebra II. Topics include radian measure, reference angles, trigonometric ratios, and triangle solutions. Students then review linear and quadratic functions and apply that knowledge to finding zeros of functions and graphing. They learn about other types of functions, such as power functions, exponential functions, piece functions, trigonometry functions, and rational functions. Graphing these functions, along with finding domain, range, zeros, and asymptotes, is discussed. Students learn interval notation and continue the study of functions with inverses and compositions. They are introduced to the properties of logarithms and work with various types of equations. Students learn to prove various trigonometry identities are taught about conics and indirect and direct variation. They study limits, foundational to the study of calculus in the 12th grade. A basic study of statistics, as well as a review of geometry formulas needed for calculus, completes the year. This course is approved for 3 college credits through Maranatha Baptist University.

Calculus (Dual Credit Opportunity): Calculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic (Pearson Prentice Hall)

Advanced Placement Calculus is taught as a college level course meant to challenge those students who have completed Precalculus. Students begin with a study of limits motivated by the need to find instantaneous rates of change, and then they advance to derivatives. Most of the first semester is spent discovering the relationship between derivatives, rates of change, tangent lines and graphs of functions. Second semester begins with estimating finite sums which leads to the development of the definite integral and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. The course ends with many applications of integration derived from graphs and data. Most tests are divided into two parts.

Music Appreciation (Dual Credit Opportunity): Listening to Music, 8th ed. by Craig Wright (Cengage Learning) Ledgerwood Devotionals: Music Investigations Bible Study by David Ledgerwood

Music Appreciation will be a study of how to listen to music. The student will be able to understand what is happening and what the composer wants to communicate through a cognition of the type and style of the music, its historical context, its function (musical purpose) and the performance characteristics (timbres, style, context). This music will be drawn from all historical genres. Because we are a Christian School, the class will include a short discussion of Hymnody and Hymnology. This course is approved for 3 college credits through Maranatha Baptist University.