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I’m getting those calls and emails again. The ones where parents start with “Help! I don’t know what I’m doing!”
I hear it all. See if these worries sound familiar:
Can my child get into college?
Can she get good scholarships?
How can I provide opportunities for his future?
How do we apply to college?
What do I do first?
If you are confused with the whole process, and don’t even know what to do first, please contact me for an appointment or join the Gold Care Club for ongoing support. You don’t have to be alone! With the Gold Care Club, it really doesn’t matter what the issues are, you can get answers. I spend a lot of time pointing people in the right direction, forwarding articles, links, and classes. I have a wide variety of resources available for Gold Care Club members, and I would love to help you too!
Have you done everything that needs to be done to provide a college prep education? Do you know the steps for college admission and scholarships? Instead of worrying about it, DO something about it. Seek out the resources that will help you. The HomeScholar Gold Care Club.
Homeschooling is NOT the same as doing schoolwork at home. There is LOTS of freedom! Read what others are saying about my Gold Care Club!
I’m very careful to balance my home and my work, so I have limited speaking events. I hope you’ll be able to meet me this year!
MidWest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio March 31 – April 2 I’m speaking four times. Here is the schedule of my talks
THURSDAY, 6:30PM – 7:30PM, “Making a transcript” in Duke 211
FRIDAY, 8:30AM – 9:30 AM, “High School Grades and Credits” in Duke 211
SATURDAY, 1:00PM – 2:00PM, “High School Grades and Credits” in Duke 211
SATURDAY, 4:00PM – 5:00PM, “High School Record Keeping” in Duke 211
CincinnatiHomeschoolConvention.com
Ultimate Homeschool Expo Online
May 2-6, 2011
I’m talking about “College Scholarships for High School Credit” and “Homeschool High School: The “Why and How” for Every Child” UltimateHomeschoolExpo.com .
Washington Homeschool Organization Convention in Puyallup, Washington
June 17 -18, 2011
I’ll be presenting “Homeschool High School” and “Making a Transcript” WashHomeschool.org
Oregon Christian Home Education Conference at the Oregon Convention Center
June 24-25th
I’ll be giving four presentations, but the topics are still to be determined. Do you have a request? OCEANetwork.org
Convention in Your Home
The Gold Care Club has Monthly Webinar on a wide variety of high school topics. There is plenty of time to ask your questions with Gold Care Club monthly webinars! Gold Care Club If you prefer getting a package in the mail, you can purchase the “Convention at Home Kit” to receive a variety of products to hold in your hands and enjoy. Convention at Home Kit.
Planning for Next Year
I would love to speak at your group! As I mentioned, I have to carefully schedule my time around the needs of my family. If you would like me to speak at a convention near you, please ask the convention organizer to have me speak next year. I would LOVE to meet you! Find me on The Old Schoolhouse Speakers Bureau at HomeschoolSpeakers.com or email me.
Do you need a speaker at your next homeschool conference? Talk to your conference coordinator about having me come. I would love to meet you in person! Here is a list of my speaking topics, or you can read my profile on the Homeschool Speakers Bureau.
Homeschool calendar reminders are always available in my monthly newsletter. Make sure you receive my free monthly email newsletter, and make sure you read the calendar reminders section. That will help you remember all the important tasks of high school, from the visionary goals of freshman year, to the concrete tasks of junior and senior year.
Here are the calendar reminders for January, in case you missed them!
Seniors
Parents need to fill out the FAFSA now, even if it is just an estimate. You can correct the FAFSA when you finish your taxes in April, but they need an estimate as soon as possible – every day later means missed financial aid.
Juniors
Register for the SAT or ACT, and take it in March. Plan your college visits; what colleges will you visit? What week will you go? It’s important to do these things now, so senior year goes well.
Sophomores
Look online at two colleges, a private and a public school. What do they want from homeschool students? What courses do you need? Do you need to take a subject examination this year?
Freshmen
Be sure to cover the core classes: reading, writing, math, science, and history. Those are classes you need to cover every year.
Middle School
Avoid panic! Spend some time this month learning how to homeschool high school. That way next year you’ll begin high school feeling confident in your decision to homeschool.
My husband recently produced a promotional video for The HomeScholar. I would love it if you would share this with your friends and your homeschool groups that might need some encouragement to continue homeschooling through high school. Also, please take a moment and leave a comment to let him know what you think.
When is the best time to learn about homeschooling high school? When you are ready to learn!
“Lee, when is the best time to sign up with you to get support and advice? My oldest will be going into 8th grade when we start our new year in the end of July. I don’t want to get started with you too soon, but when it’s the “right” time?”
~ Vikki on Facebook
Hi Vikki,
I’m ready when you are – whenever you need support is the “right” time.
My opinion is that parents do best when they “learn how to do high school” during 7th and 8th grade, so they start confidently. Not everyone does it that way, though. On the Gold Care Club is the video of “Preparing to Homeschool High School” – a four hour series. We put one hour online each month, and you can spend four months watching that video, soaking up everything on the Gold Care Club. As you learn, ask all your questions during the weekly consultation time. That way you’ll go into 9th grade knowing you know what to do! Here is the link
If you don’t want to join now, you can get a four hour video overview of high school. You can hit the “rotate case” button and see the back and inserts of the video. It’s just a video presentation about all the high school issues in one easily-digestible DVD.
Let me know if you have more questions!
Click here to read more about why teaching your high schooler is highly overrated.
People think that dealing with gifted children is easy. Hah! No way! It’s amazingly stressful!
Hi Lee,
I just got a jolt when I read on your website that a rough conversion from PSAT to SAT is to add a zero to the end. So what do I do with a 14 year old who has a PSAT selection index of 201, average percentile of 97, Critical Reading score of 70, Mathematics score of 61, and Writing Skills score of 70?
~ Amazed in Auburn
To be honest, that was EXACTLY the place I found myself when son was 14. He got an 800 in reading, 790 in writing and math, with a perfect score on the essay. That was the moment I realized that I just *might* have to graduate him early. He is a senior at Seattle Pacific University now, and he’s 20 and headed to law school. Here’s a few things that will help.
Every once in awhile when I meet with clients, they get so excited about the new things they learn that they have to share with others. This is a blog post from someone I met at Starbucks. I had a wonderful time and, apparently, she did too! I bolded the fun part.
I have made known that our oldest is going to be homeschooled high school. I love getting the reactions from my homeschooling friends. They are just as supportive now as they were when I told them that I was putting them in school. Sometimes I think that must drive them absolutely crazy with my back and forth nonsense. They put up with me, though, and I love them for that.
My husband and I really thought that we wanted to homeschool high school, but it seemed like such an overwhelming task. I hear that homeschoolers get into college, but I was convinced that if I homeschooled my son I would ruin him forever. I am just very unsure of myself and need a lot of reassurance. I found Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, one night while I was searching the internet. I stayed up late into the night reading her blog and other articles that she has on her website. And she is in Washington!
My husband and I were able to set up an appointment with her for her high school crash course. Talk about hand holding! It was just what I needed to push me across the threshold of the final decision. I am not going to ruin my son. He is going to be able to go to college. I can make a transcript just like the public high school down the street. She answered all my questions about SAT, ACT, CLEP, AP, and PSAT testing. She helped me set up a plan for the next four years. It was wonderful. I still need to put it together, but the backbone is there. It was definitely three hours well spent.
The best part? My husband and I left the meeting as a team. We discussed what we were going to do together and with a feeling that this is attainable. Of course, I already knew that from friends that have been there-done that, but I needed someone to tell me how to do it for my child. That is what Lee did for me.
Even today I still feel 100% better about all of this. Maybe now I can get past all of this waffling and be commited to our decision without hesitation. With God’s help, I am in it for the long haul. It is going to be a wild ride.
Are you ready to get serious about homeschooling high school? Send me an email and let’s talk!
If you are overseas, homeschooling as a military or missionary family, I would love to help you. You can call me during my “Free Office Hours” using Skype for a free international call from your computer. Here is more information.
My free 10 minute consultations are available on Wednesdays, from 1:00 – 2:00pm Pacific Time. Here is a time zone map for you, so you can compare your time zone to Seattle Washington and calculate when to call me.
If you want to set up an appointment to call, I can do that. I will be able to talk for your free 10 minute consultation, and if you decide you need more time to talk, then we can extend our conversation to a normal one hour telephone consultation. A one hour telephone consultation is $50. If you have a list of questions, you can email it to me in advance. I can usually get through quite a few questions in one hour when I have them in front of me.
Parents living overseas might really benefit from an alternative, however. If you become a member of the Gold Care Club, you will receive a free weekly 20 minute consultations, audio and video courses that are internet based, and priority email support. Because of your location, you might really thrive with that kind of support. There are 4 or 5 one hour courses online all the time, and you could take them when you are in town, or when it is convenient for you to use the computer. The Gold Care Club is free for one month when you purchase my e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” for $37. We will begin selling Gold Care Club membership separately on April 21. It would be a great way for you to check it out and see if it will work with your situation and provide what you need. With the Gold Care Club you can call me every Wednesday (from 9:00 to 4:00 Pacific Time) and you should be able to reach me without difficulty.
I’m glad my business is primarily internet-based, because I really think I can support you in a way that will make sense for your family. I have many military, ex-pat, and missionary subscribers.
I believe decisions involving your children’s future should be made from a position of strength, not fear! I believe that you deserve to know about the abundant tools and helpful resources that are available to assist you in completing your homeschool journey. Most of all, I believe you are entirely capable of homeschooling your children through high school, with results that can exceed your wildest dreams!
I will be sending newsletter subcribers more information about the April 21 Gold Care Club launch over the next two weeks. You are really going to love how much time, money and frustration it will save you!
No matter where you live, if you need a friend, I’m here for you! Sometimes what you REALLY need is a veteran homeschool mom who will listen… brainstorm…. encourage and support you! Even though I live in Seattle, this morning I had a consultation with a mother in Florida. This afternoon I have an appointment with a parent in China. Tomorrow I’m meeting with a homeschooler located in Montana.
In fact, this is the time of year when my number one task is telephone consultations. Parents are starting to look ahead toward next year, and they reach out for support. If you have questions about classes, credits, tests, or high school, I’ll be glad to support you!
Send me an email to request a telephone appointment. My email address is homescholar@gmail.com. You can also call and leave me a message on the phone, 1-888-Lee-2Help, but it’s a little easier to coordinate by email. Remember that Gold Care Club members receive 20 minutes of telephone consulting free every week.
If you’re ready for a friend to come along side, I’m ready to talk with you!
My April newsletter comes out in TWO DAYS! This one is just chock full of money-saving goodness! Sign up here!
Let me demonstrate how to think through the process using the interest of the child and incorporating that into delight-directed learning.
A homeschool boy loves the show “Warriors” on The History Channel and just can’t get enough. He read the hosts biography and has a desire to imitate his hero. His mother wrote to me, looking for ways to translate this interest into “school.” Here are the suggestions I gave her.
Dear [Gold Care Club Mom,]
I don’t think there has been a program written like that yet, so you’ll have to do it yourself!
But first, let’s think about it. My son studied economics during every year of high school. Beautiful Feet has their “History of Horses” program. Let’s just assume that it CAN be done, and then brainstorm together.
Idea #1 How about the history of weapons? There are certain “history of war” books that will provide a timeline of every war. During each war, there could be some research, written reports, study the science of the times (tie it in to the history of science, for example, so that he studies that.) He could draw each weapon as well. Consider looking at the Teaching Company Lectures, because I believe they have some of the history of science topics.
Idea #2 Purchase a time period based curriculum (Sonlight, The Well Trained Mind, or Tapestry of Grace, for example.) Instead of using their curriculum as written, substitute their writing suggestions for a more personalized assignment. Spend additional research on your child’s interests, instead of the assigned research. That would provide a little more structure than idea #2.
Idea #3 Model your high school after your son’s hero. You and I both know that the hero’s resume’ is not what was required of him. It was who he IS. But to hold up your son to this ideal would really help in the long run. By following this hero, your child will be motivates to learn math, science, etc. Let’s look at his hero for a moment:
Terry Schappert: Terry began his military career 17 years ago with the 82nd Airborne Division. While assigned to a recon squad, he completed Ranger School. After serving in the Persian Gulf War, he moved on to his ultimate challenge, becoming a Green Beret.
This requires strong preparation in PE.
Since completing the Special Forces Qualification Course, Terry has been deployed on training and combat missions all over the world, most recently in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition to his military credentials; Terry is a licensed paramedic,
Biology and advanced biology are necessary for a paramedic. Some experience with blood and/or hospitals are a help. He might consider being a hospital volunteer. Paramedics also need math, so they don’t kill someone by giving the wrong dose of a drug or the wrong volume of IV fluids. Again, I’m a nurse, so trust me on this one.
has extensive martial arts training,
Excellent PE! Marial arts can provide not only PE, but also a passionate interest that could last for 4-years, with the ability to develop leadership as his skills improve.
speaks several languages,
Ask your son what language he wants to speak, then follow that.
and holds a degree in anthropology.
Anthropology is a branch of social science (social studies.) He would need to develop his history and comparative governments (US Government, etc.) as well as economics. Anthropology requires a strong background in statistics, a branch of math.
Terry is the eyes and ears of the viewer, as he travels the globe to discover exactly what it takes to be a warrior.
Great opportunity to discover geography. That might be a good “right now” course. We used Runkle’s “Wonderful World of Geography” and my boys memorized the location of every country in the world (no kidding.) It was great, because then as they learned more about history and current events, they could understand where they took place. And as your son watches his hero on TV, he will know exactly where these places are located.
And by the way, the history channel is a GREAT way to get history!
So go for it! Call me next Wednesday if you can, and we’ll talk about it more.
This is just an example of the great consulting that is available for free to my Gold Care Club members. Members get a special email address to send me their toughest questions. They even get 20 minutes of free phone consulting every week where we can talk over their concerns. It is a great deal for parents who are homeschooling high school. Interested? A free month of the Gold Care Club is available for families who purchase my “Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” e-book. I will soon be offering the Gold Care Club to families who do not wish to purchase the ebook. Stand by for details coming soon!
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