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I can’t really do a lot of “consulting” on Facebook, but sometimes I can help in a moment of panic, and provide a quick tip!
Jeannine wrote on my Facebook wall “HELP!!!!! What do you consider an honors course to be? I am putting together David’s transcript and am not sure if I should leave that category on the grade criteria. Also Lee, what about listing his time in Boy Scouts and his making Eagle? Do I just list the Eagle with the date or do I list that he was in Scouts all four years of HS?”
I’m here, I’m here! No need to panic! OK – Honors= more than high school level. Anything taken that was AP/CLEP/Community college can be considered Honors. Just put “Honors” before the title of the class. Boy Scouts – usually you can count that as PE, 1 credit, 4 years – often you can specify what KIND of PE, by saying something like “PE: Outdoor Survival Training” or something else cool-sounding. You put the Boy Scouts in the Activity section and indicate when he made eagle scout. These blog posts will help:
Jeannine went on to ask – “In the article on Boy Scouts you say that it is worth 1 credit of PE each year. Are you saying that he should get 4 credits of PE? I do realize that you said that Boy Scout parents will try to cut down the number of credits so that may just be what I am doing.”
If you do the hiking/camping thing, it’s usually PLENTY for a credit of PE each year, but I wouldn’t give TWO PE credits each year.
Jeannine – Lee Binz You are a life saver as always!!!!! I don’t know what I would do without you to keep me from losing my mind over this (okay maybe not losing my mind because you have to have something before you can lose it ). I am sending you a HUGE cross country hug {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{LEE}}}}}}}}}
}}}}}Have you found me on Facebook? Please “LIKE” my page! If you are too embarrassed to ask for help there, just search my blog, or search my website. You’ll find lots of answers!
Curious about The HomeScholar? Read more on our About Us page.
As a nurse working in a hospital, I learned that the warm touch of hand-holding can improve heath and healing. I think it’s true for homeschoolers as well! I loved what Anita wrote in this note about hand-holding!
Dear Lee, I want to thank you so very much for all the hand holding for my first graduate. It was so nice to be able to email you with questions that I had regarding my daughters transcripts and course descriptions. As only a 5-year veteran of homeschooling, it really calmed my nerves to have you in my back pocket.She was accepted to all three of her choice colleges and we didn’t even apply to any of the “safe” ones. Scholarship hunting is going well too, especially since I have everything ready to go at the push of a button now. So far the scholarships she has received are from her ACT scores
The bonus with this is her brother, who is just two years behind her, has his transcript up to date as well now.
Thank-you again so much for your help and support. It really means a lot.
Sincerely,
Anita
Hand-holding helps! If you would like to learn more, I have some free classes that may encourage you!
That free month on the Silver Training Club that you get with the purchase of my Total Transcript Solution can can be your time to get some great homeschool high school parent training! You even get 20 minutes of free phone consultation each week for the first month. It is a great deal for parents who want to homeschool high school with excellence!
One key to high school curriculum is to invest in your weaknesses. This means that you put your curriculum budget money towards your area of weakness. Identify your weaknesses, perhaps Math or foreign language or art, for example, and spend your money on strong curriculum in that area. Your weakness should also be the area where you’re most willing to make mistakes in curriculum. If you make a poor choice in math curriculum for instance, and your child hates math and has a fit every single day, that’s a weak area where you need to be willing to really invest and try something else.
Weaknesses are also where you put your time first. If your child has a weak subject area, that’s the first thing they should do each day. As soon as they get it done, they can move on to other subjects. Your weak area is also what you should do no matter what falls apart in your life; if everything goes by the wayside, you still get you weak area done first.
Another aspect of investing in your weaknesses is to invest in your own education as a homeschool parent. When I was a nurse, we had continuing education that was required of us every year. Homeschool parents need to be continually educating themselves as well. Do you know how to homeschool on the next level? Are you comfortable with 10th or 11th grade, if that’s next? This does not mean that you have to pre-read every book that your student will read or that you must learn Calculus before they do. It just means that you continue to learn how to homeschool high school.
Do you like getting this sort of help for homeschooling high school? Gold Care Club members get extended answers to their most challenging high school issues.
Kathleen shared her two favorite tips for homeschooling high school.
1. Start transcripts as soon as your child is doing high school work.
2. Save every academic thing in a folder so you can use it later.
Read her experiences here, so you can be encouraged too!
Dear Lee,
I wanted to let you know how much your newsletters have meant to me. My daughter, Michaela, is graduating this year and she has already been accepted to the 4 private Christian colleges she applied to with the highest academic scholarship award from each one. She has been invited to participate for a full-tuition scholarship at two of these colleges. We are currently preparing for that, as well as a music scholarship for the worship team and another for theater. Your newsletter this month ( How to Win a Scholarship Competition ) was providential in giving me more insight on how to prepare for the interview coming up next month. Michaela also plays basketball and we are still hoping that she may be asked by one of the coaches to play with a partial scholarship since this has been her goal throughout high school. We are believing that God will pave the way so that we can combine scholarships that will enable her to attend college without incurring any debt.
I knew once we hit Michaela’s junior year it would start to get crazy. The BEST thing I ever did was start Michaela’s transcripts when she started doing high school work–and that was in 8th grade. And every time we did something, a college class or a field trip, a Joyce Meyer Conference (for Bible), or a missions project, anything, I printed it off the internet, dated it, and put it in a folder.
That little nugget of advice from you has SAVED me. One of Michaela’s questions on her essay scholarship is what kinds of extra-curricular CULTURAL activities have you done? Whaaaat? I started to panic until I got into my little folder and realized that Michaela had gone to the San Diego Latino film festival and the San Diego Latino museum for her extra-credit coursework in Spanish at the college. Though not terribly huge, we have SOMETHING to fill in the blanks.
My 15 yo (sophomore this year) took the PSAT last October and scored 185. She’s nearly done with high school because she’s done most of her high school coursework with Michaela, except for 1 math and 2 science classes and a couple electives. She started taking Spanish last year at the local CC and she’ll be taking chemistry in the fall as well.
I was just too busy to try and help Michaela prepare to CLEP, and some of the colleges she was accepted to won’t take them anyway, but the plan for our next daughter is to focus more on CLEPS because she’s nearly done with High School now.
Again, had it not been for your wonderful newsletters and all your advice through the years, my daughters would not be in the position they are today. So if you ever feel like what you’re doing is not worth it… know that you have been a tremendous blessing to me, to my daughters, and to so many other families.
What you are doing and have already done is empowering so many parents to take control of their children’s education and send a strong statement to the government that “we won’t allow them to brainwash our children.”
Thank you so much for all that you have done for us.
As admissions officers at selective colleges like to say, an entire freshman class could be filled with students with perfect grades and test scores. But academic achievement in college requires readiness skills that transcend mere book learning. It requires the ability to engage actively with people and ideas. In short, it requires a deep connection with the world. CNN.com
Math prodigy proud of his autism
At age two, Jake Barnett was diagnosed with autism and his future was unclear. Now at age 13, Jake is a college sophomore and a math and science prodigy. Jake says his autism is key to his success. 60 Minutes – CBS News
Home-schoolers form JROTC unit
Christopher McNally has been interested in the military since he was a child, but has never been able to join a JROTC program at school, because he is home-schooled. For the past six months, with the help of a few home-school friends, Christopher, 17, decided to take matters into his own hands and create a home-school JROTC program in Charlotte – only the second home-school program in the nation to be formed, he said. CharlotteObserver.com
Internet addiction causes brain changes similar to alcohol and drugs, study finds
“I have seen people who stopped attending university lectures, failed their degrees or their marriages broke down because they were unable to emotionally connect with anything outside the game,” she said. “When someone comes to you and says they did not sleep last night because they spent 14 hours playing games, and it was the same the previous night, and they tried to stop but they couldn’t, you know they have a problem,” Bowden Jones added. FoxNews.com/Health
As the resident homeschool adviser to your children, it’s important that you don’t drop the ball when it comes to deadlines, plans, and requirements. You will need to keep track of the academic calendar and what courses your children need to cover, when they need to study for specific tests, what year to take those tests, and what specific tests they should take.
My husband works as a project manager. He doesn’t actually build the building, but he manages the people who build the building. As a homeschool parent, that’s your job: you are the project manager when it comes to applying to college and getting into college. You don’t write the essay your child needs for college entrance or scholarship application; the child writes it himself. But you do make sure that the essay’s done and turned in. Likewise, you make sure that the test is taken, but you don’t take the test yourself.
As an academic adviser, you also have to prepare the academic records—the information colleges want to see upon application. Academic records are just words and numbers on a piece of paper that represent what you’ve done as homeschoolers. Don’t stress about this part; just take what you’ve done in your homeschool and write it down the way that colleges want to see it. There are lots of resources on my website to help you create course descriptions and transcripts, so don’t be afraid of this step.
Have you ever wondered why some books are easier to read than others? It’s not just because of the vocabulary words they use; it’s also due to how much white space is on the page. You need that ‘white space’ in your life, too, otherwise known as ‘‘margin.” Margin means having some free time and some down time. Your children need free time in their homeschool, so they can develop whatever God-given gift they were given. After covering core classes, make sure that you also give your students some white space. All the activities your child does may be wonderful, but neither they nor you can do it all. You must say ‘no’ to some good options, so that you keep some margin and keep your sanity.
Let me repeat that. Say ‘no’ to some good options. So hard to do, and so very important!
Sometimes a homeschool parent will start to look at high school and college, and begin to freak out. That stress will lead to them trying to cram twelve years of school into one year. This really is counter-productive, and will stress out the parents and the students alike, so they actually get less done, not more. Build some margin into your homeschool, so that there is space and time to accomplish both the important things, and those things that might not be planned, but are equally important.
Encourage Delight Directed Learning at the High School Level
6 Tips to Make Learning Fun!
Not everything that homeschoolers study is easy to translate into a high school credit.
What do you do if your child learns best by living, instead of studying textbooks? What if your child soaks up knowledge like a sponge, without being directed in any way? Can you still put that activity on a high school transcript?
I once heard a mom say, “My son’s interested in something that’s not a real academic course – he just loves mapping the moons of Jupiter.” Another mom once told me, “I really need to teach my child music because all he ever does is play bluegrass, and bluegrass isn’t real music.” I almost laughed out loud! Bluegrass music is real music, of course, and mapping the moons of Jupiter is astronomy! Both of these students were engaged in what I call “delight directed learning.”
Delight directed learning is when a person pursues learning about a topic because they take great delight in it, and not just because it’s a required course.
When you’re looking for resources, parents have unlimited choices when it comes to delight directed learning. Make sure you include curriculum that covers all the basics for sure – you can’t skimp on reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. But you also want to look for curriculum that will encourage your child’s passion! If they love art, music, or science, remember to buy those! If they ask for microbiology, or economics, or Russian History, follow their interests and get it for them.
Read the article to learn 6 tips to make learning fun!
Avoid Tests
Find a Mentor
Don’t Work Ahead
Follow Behind
Cover Core and Capture
Love Learning
It’s possible for kids to learn things JUST because they love it! Your job as parent is to pick up the mess they leave behind, and turn it into a wonderful course description of what they have learned! I think that’s the best kind of learning!
Learn the secrets of successful test preparation from nationally acclaimed speakers who will equip you with practical tools and tips.
I will explain the differences between the SAT and ACT, and how to choose which one is right for your student. We explore why homeschoolers have the advantage when it comes to these tests, and then discuss practical tips to help your student prepare for Test Day.
In the second half, Andrew Pudewa explains powerful concepts behind successful essay writing, including specific components of high-scoring essays. This is a real meat-and-potatoes ebook filled with useable information and lots of helpful links so you can dig deeper into the subject. This is one ebook that you will want to print out for future reference.
If you have a student who plans to take these tests, you won’t want to miss this free ebook!
Don’t you just wish sometimes people would tell you EXACTLY what tests a high school student needs to take? Unfortunately, it’s not that easy!
The number and type of tests depend on the college your student may attend. Some will require certain tests, or allow other tests, or encourage or discourage community college classes. Sadly, that means no pat answers to what seems like a simple questions.
It can be helpful, though, to think about three reasons WHY you might give your child certain tests.
1. Meet requirements
Take the tests that are required by the college your student will attend. Almost all colleges require the SAT or ACT, but some will require subject tests. Others don’t “require” AP exams but will “expect” those test scores of applicants. So know what your colleges require and expect from applicants. If they require additional tests, it’s often AP or SAT subject tests.
2. Proof of rigorous education
Some colleges will like to see outside documentation from tests or community college classes. For them, outside documentation will provide the proof of your homeschool transcript – back up documentation that your homeschool grades are reasonable and true. For proof of rigorous education, they will often accept test or community college class for that information.
3. College credits
Some universities will give you college credits for certain tests, and that can shorten the numbers of years your child spends in college. That can add up to some pretty hefty savings! Do your research carefully to see if your college will provide college credits for CLEP or AP or community college courses. Each university will have their own policy, so you have to check.
When deciding which tests to take, remember there is a combination of factors to consider: meeting requirements, proof of education, and earning college credits.
). I am sending you a HUGE cross country hug {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{LEE}}}}}}}}}
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Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
