I was reading through Proverbs, looking for some direct instruction about finances, and I stumbled upon something very interesting. Read these scripture verses, and see if you notice a theme:
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold. (Proverbs 3:13-14)
Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold (Proverbs 8:10)
How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! (Proverbs 16:16)
Now I might be a bit slower than your average bear, but it seems to me that the Lord is saying that wisdom is more important than gold or silver. Wisdom is worthy of searching for and pursuing. Wisdom and knowledge are worth the effort, and worth all the hard work. It’s more important than investing in gold – AND it will get you a better annual average rate of return!
For some families, these verses may help them as they consider the cost of college. College is worth the effort. College may be worth the investment. Nobody knows your family, your finances, and your child’s future income better than you. With all those factors in mind, it may be worth taking a college loan – particularly since it has better dividends then gold and silver (which are doing pretty well right now, what with the government printing money like crazy, LOL!)
I say this with some trepidation, however, because the Bible also has a LOT to say about debt (none of it good). This is DEFINITELY something you should pray about and consider carefully.
One of my Gold Care Club members was talking to me about college debt, and how much debt was OK. From a secular perspective, you want to look at some specific statistics. Look up the statistics for one college at a time. What percent of students graduate on time? What percent of students are employed within 6 months of graduating? What is the average income for graduates? What is the average income for students getting a specific degree? How much debt does the average student accumulate at that college? Then take all the information and put it all together. Can the average student get a job that will pay off the average debt in a reasonable amount of time?
The Lord appears to be a big fan of investing your money in wisdom. It’s worth it. How MUCH to invest can vary from family to family. It’s worth going over the numbers though. After all, it’s better to get wisdom than to pursue gold!
My experience with LD and ADHD is not first hand, but through friends and college advisers. In talking with them, I came to recognize that the core issue of the LD crowd is the same as it is for the gifted crowd:
Teaching every subject at their level all the time.
That’s how I provide guidance. I can tell you that I have spoken to many colleges who are eager to have all children, and are well prepared to accommodate, and my Gold Care Club message is all about preparing for college.
Beyond “expertise” though, much of homeschooling high school is about having support. I can be your buddy, your friend who is GLAD you’re homeschooling your child and thinks it’s a GOOD idea. I can be your second pair of eyes on your curriculum and records, and another caring parent researching issues online. In other words, sometimes it’s not about me knowing more than you, but about me going through it with you.
How about this idea. You could get the Total Transcript Solution and try Gold Care Club for free for a month and see if it works for you. Surely you’ll need a transcript anyway, and it comes with some great classes along with the Ebook. And then you can try the Gold Care, see if it meets your needs, and only stay on for the monthly fee IF it meets your needs, you know? No harm, no foul that way! Here is the link to the Total Transcript Solution so you can read more about it.
The women quoted in the article are very close friends of mine, and I know their children very, very well. Please be encouraged – these are real people.
I am now the Seattle Homeschool Examiner. You can read my homeschool articles here.
This must be the season for writing course descriptions. I’ve had a lot of how-to questions recently. The HomeScholar Gold Care Club can help you with the task of writing course descriptions. I’ve tried to provide course description help for visual learners, auditory learners, and those who learn best through relationship.
Each month, I feature a course description for a single class in the tools and templates section of the Gold Care Club. The “Course Description of the Month” will also include a few paragraphs about how I wrote it, and describe a concept that can be learned.
The featured course description changes on the 20th of each month. This month it is Geometry, and I talk about how my son didn’t finish the book in the usual time schedule. Next month the course description will be Occupational Education, and it demonstrates a class that was learned naturally.
I also have an entire book of all the course descriptions that I wrote for my son, so you can see the sum total of a single homeschool applicant packet. It’s called the Sample Comprehensive Record.
That book is $10 cheaper when you purchase it as a Gold Care Club member. Here is the member link for the special price. (requires membership)
Currently on the Gold Care Club there is a “how to training course” on writing course descriptions, called “Course Descriptions – Demystified! “ It’s an audio course, so you can listen to it in the car. I rotate the “how to training” classes each month, and this course will not be available after October 20th, until it is rotated onto the site again.
Some of my members work best in conversation with another mom. They use their weekly consultations to collaborate on writing their course descriptions. Each week they write one or more course descriptions and then email them to me. I then send them my comments and suggestions, or we can talk about it on the phone. By working together, some of my friends put together GREAT course descriptions. I’ve been extremely impressed!
I’m also working on an e-book with training, downloads and tools that will walk parents through the whole process, but I’m not quite done with that yet.
My e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” comes with a free month on the Gold Care Club, as well as many other bonuses. It is a great way to make short work of both transcripts and course descriptions!
When should you start planning for high school? The best time is during Junior High – 7th and 8th grade. Donna emailed me this week to find out when she should start.
We are Canadians living in the US and likely staying – at least for sometime. I love the idea of having someone walk me through all of the steps required for US college admission; however, I am wondering when would be the best time to purchase this resource so that I can try your Gold Care Club and be able to take full advantage of it to see whether or not it is a good fit. I have four children and the oldest is entering grade 8. Should I be waiting until next summer to get the most value out of this resource? I just like planning ahead and am, unfortunately, not well versed with the US system.
~ Donna from Canada
Dear Donna,
Thanks for your inquiry! I really encourage parents to do much of their research during 8th grade for two reasons. First, some of the classes you will be teaching may be high school level, and they might end up on the high school transcript. Secondly, learning about high school BEFORE high school and really eliminate the biggest problem: fear. I think it may help you to jump in now, so you feel 100% comfortable for your oldest child. By the time your younger ones are high school age, you’ll be an old pro like me! (well, at least a “pro,” LOL!) Learning about high school is much easier during 8th grade because there is very little pressure, and you can learn at your own speed without being stressed because “the transcript is due tomorrow!”
On the Gold Care Club you can purchase all my videos for a significant discount. So for the best value, you can purchase the E-book on transcripts, get the Gold Care Club free for a month. Then watch and listen to the “How to Training Courses” that are available online. Within a couple of weeks you will know if I’m a “good fit” with your homeschool. If you are enjoying my courses, then you might consider making a purchase, using your Gold Care Club membership. After a month of the free Gold Care Club, you’ll know if it’s a good value for you to continue, or if you want to cancel after your free month is over.
Right now on the Gold Care Club are the following courses:
Preparing to Homeschool High School, the first hour of a live presentation
How to Create Course Descriptions
Gifted Education at Home
How Do You Know You Can Homeschool?
Grades and Credits
Homeschool High School Excellence
Dad’s Corner: Raising Boys vs. Raising Men, and Mere Homeschooling
That is 7 hours of audio and video information about high school – more than we usually provide in a month. Especially since we are on the first hour of the rotating four hour course on Preparing to Homeschool High School, this is an especially good month to start.
Homeschooling is NOT the same as doing schoolwork at home. There is LOTS of freedom! MyGold Care Clubwill give you all the help you need to succeed!
Where to start? If you are just beginning to homeschool high school, where do you even begin?? I have a video called “Preparing to Homeschool High School” that is just perfect for beginners. It’s a three DVD set that will talk you through the basics. Intended for parents that have a 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th grade student, it can help parents who are looking at high school and don’t know what to do about it. The video series will talk you through the courses to provide, the tests to take, and strategies for success.
I don’t tell you what to do, I give you the information to make informed decisions for yourself. If you are just beginning to homeschool high school, or if you know someone who is, this would be just perfect!
Homeschooling is NOT the same as doing schoolwork at home. There is LOTS of freedom! My Gold Care Club will give you all the help you need to succeed!
I’m amazed at how often my son Kevin studied chess when were were homeschooling! I remember giving him choices about things, but my GOODNESS he loved chess! I’m working on my e-book companion for the Sample Comprehensive Record, and was working on a downloable template for Power-Glide French. That course had the students write some essays during the year; some about France, and some in French. One of Kevin’s essays was about FIDE – Federation Internationale d’Echecs, or in English, the World Chess Federation. His French essay was “D’Echecs” or in English….. well… CHESS!
Try having your student write about something they like. Or give them the choice to write about *anything* that will match the writing assignment. It doesn’t always work, and it certainly doesn’t completely eliminate bad attitudes, but if you let them write about what they love, sometimes it will make it easier.
I have to confess, though, that at the end of each year I wasn’t so easy-going. I remember my son Alex was in love with American History. His “Learn to Write the Novel Way” project was about American History and economics. His history was about American History and economics. His English papers were all about American History and economics. Finally, in the spring, we had enough. I carefully explained that he still had the choice to write about anything he wanted, but his papers could no longer include the words “Thomas,” “Jefferson,” “Adam,” “Smith,” or “economics.” We managed to get a little bit more variety that way.
Thank you everyone for helping us make yesterday’s launch of the Gold Care Club a great success. Once again, we were working late into the evening making sure everything went smoothly. My biggest thanks to Gaurav and his team at Pragmites, who have been helping us learn all about e-commerce. These are my personal super-heroes!
Congratulations to Rickie! She has won a full month of Gold Care Club support in our launch contest giveaway! We had SO many wonderful entries, it was really hard to choose. Thank you EVERYONE for your creative and heart-felt responses! In the end, it boiled down to my husband’s weakness for verse. Congratulations, Rickie!
Here is Rickie’s winning entry:
Once a woman who lived in the woods,
Decided to homeschool, she knew that she could.
So, together with her children,
They cuddled together and read,
Explored and created,
Said their prayers before bed.
They had fun and adventures as they learned and they grew.
Then, one day, the oldest started high school!
Now, we needed a transcript, a way to record,
All the books and the field trips, the texts and reports.
We worried, we wondered, we’d never done this before,
Then Lee Binz said she’d lead us, she’d open the door.
Colleges and universities our transcripts would read,
Our children could choose where to go to succeed.
We need your help. we’re not too proud to ask,
Help us, Help us , teach us our task!
Our thanks and gratitude we send in advance.
I hope that the rest of you will also try the Gold Care Club. I believe I can really meet the need of your family.
We are launching the Gold Care Club at Noon today (April 21). Be standing by your computer to win our amazing early responder give aways! If you explore a little lower on this blog you will find some tips on how to win!
This is the last day to enter to win a free month on the Gold Care Club.
All you need to do to enter is comment on this blog post with the answer to this question:
“Why do you deserve a free month on The Gold Care Club?”
Posts should be (about) 100 words or less and will be judged on the basis of creativity and humor. The contest will run through midnight (Pacific Time) on April 20. We will be announcing the winner tomorrow morning via email an on the blog.
An remember, the Launch of the Gold Care Club is tomorrow at 12 noon Pacific Time. Please mark you calendars and be standing buy to win some great prizes!
OK, well not TOP Secret. But tips for you, my faithful blog readers. As you know, we launch the Gold Care Club in less than two days. There are these really cool bonuses that will go out to the first SEVEN people who order at noon on Tuesday 4/21. The only problem is…LOTS of people will be trying to get through. Well here’s a tip for you. There are several stages for the purchase and here is a way to move through them quickly.
As you are waiting for the moment of launch (noon, Pacific time by Atomic Clock). Be pushing your refresh button often. You will know it is the live page because it will say “The HomeScholar Gold Care Club is Live NOW!. Page down once or twice until you see the first big Join Button. Hit it.
First is the “setup your user name and password stage”. One key is to ALREADY know your user name and password when you get there. In other words, don’t pause to think of one. And don’t forget to enter the password confirmation.
Second is the “enter your payment information stage.” First enter your zip code. Next is the credit card number. This is the most important step because credit card information can be hard to read and type accurately, especially under time pressure. Here’s a tip…have your credit card number written down in Notepad or Word and just cut and paste it. That way you won’t have to worry about messing up! Next enter the credit card expiration date and validation code. Make sure to check the “I agree to payment terms…” on the bottom. Hit “PAY NOW”
Once payment is approved you will get to the “Complete your Order” stage. Don’t even pause here. Just click button and your done.
That’s it. Once complete, your order is official and your position will be logged into ClickBank. You will then be taken to the thank you page. Take a deep breath and relax. On this page, I have a little surprise for you. It’s a “one-time offer” with a very special price on one of my most popular products. You don’t have to rush through this page because your order has already registered. Take a look at that offer. If you decide to purchase you will be taken to another shopping cart page to complete the order. There is NO RUSH! For this special one-time-offer I am waiving shipping charges for US residents, so it makes it even a better deal. Remember, this offer will be one-time only, so if you click the “Close” button it will be gone forever.
Once you have been decided on the one-time offer you will be taken back to the “Thank You” page. From there you can log into the Gold Care Bonus download page and see your bonuses and then access the Gold Care Club site. Please remember to write down your user name and password so you remember. The log in is “case sensitive” so be careful.
Anyway, these tips will give you an edge on ordering. It is my way of thanking you for reading my blog! For more information on the Gold Care Club, go to my offer page here.
Blessings,
Lee
PS. Here is a bonus video. Lee wanted everyone to see the “early responder gifts.” This is what the all the excitement is about.
It’s important to do your research about colleges. My favorite statistics to check for any college include:
What percent of students actually graduate in 4 years
What is the average amount of debt per student
What percent of students are employed after they graduate
What percent get admitted to graduate schools?
It’s amazing what you can learn when you read the fine print. We found a college where only 50 percent of kids graduated WITHIN SIX YEARS! Can you imagine half the parents paying for TWO WHOLE YEARS EXTRA??? I was shocked!
Learn more about how to evaluate colleges in “Finding a College” on DVD. And when you are doing your research, remember to look at the fine print!
Tomorrow is wrapping day! That’s when Lee will wrap up all the great bonuses for our early responders. I’ll make sure to post some pictures tomorrow! Have you entered our drawing for a free month membership to the Gold Care Club. All you need to do is post here with an answer to the question: “Why do you deserve a free month on the Gold Care Club?” The rules are easy so make sure you read them first. 4 days until Launch! Check out the offer here!
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