I love hearing about families involved in 4-H! As a rule of thumb, ALL 4-H activities are educational in nature, just like Eagle Scouting is almost always educational in nature. It’s fun to discuss the different ways to divide those activities into meaningful high school courses.
Hi Lee,
I’m wondering how to use my daughter’s 4-H activities as school. She’s very active is sewing and ceramics and I would like to count them toward home ec. and art, but I’m not sure how to do that. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks
~Rita in Montana
Think about what she has done for 4-H and what paperwork she has provided for each project, then label them in educational words like: fashion design, home economics, textile crafts, etc. Group each activity together into clumps that are similar. Put all the “art” things into one group, and all the “cooking” things into another group. Other kids may lump things into “science stuff” or “biology stuff.” Once you have a group that represents about 120-180 hours of work, Ta-Da! You have a high school credit!
Remember the Golden Rule of Homeschooling: No double dipping. If you use some hours for PE, you can’t use the SAME hours for art. But if you have 150 hours of art activities and a different 150 hours of animal husbandry then you can have a credit of art and a credit of animal husbandry.
One of the great things about 4-H is the required paperwork. It’s a huge pain to do, but once you have completed the paperwork you have some great documentation for your high school classes. You can provide these as “work samples” if they are requested, and they can be the backbone of your course descriptions.
If you need some help with translating activities into grades and credits, there is a lot of information about that in my e-book, “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts.” I have a whole chapter about delight directed learning in my book on transcripts, so if you need more help, you can find it there! It comes with a free audio course on “making a transcript” and that will also help. Plus you can always call me to ask for clarification or advice during my free consultations.
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“Occupational education” is the easiest class you will ever teach! It happens to be one of the subjects required by Washington State law, but I’m convinced it’s the easiest thing to achieve. Here are the simple steps:
Wait until the child becomes motivated by money
The child will seek (or be forced to seek) a job
Count hours on the job
When you get to 150 hours, call it a credit
Retroactively write a course description, as necessary
Piece of cake.
Interested in learning what a successful book of course descriptions looks like. Check out my Comprehensive Record Solutionhere.
Which foreign language should you teach in your homeschool? So many factors come into play!
I find that a language you have learned in the past is helpful, because you will understand the very beginning of the curriculum, which is always the biggest hurdle. It also will help you with the sound of the accent (even if you can’t say it, you’ll be able to hear it.) For that reason, it makes sense to teach a foreign language you are familiar with.
On the other hand, Spanish is SO widely used and there are SO many supplemental activities, that it’s pretty tempting! All those supplementals can really help the language seem more important, and provide “real wold” learning that improves comprehension. For that reason, it makes sense to teach a foreign language that is common where you live.
Any foreign language at all will help you find a job or get into college. It’s more important to have a few years of ANY foreign language than that it is to have just a little bit of a particular foreign language. For that reason, it makes sense that you allow the child to choose any language they are interested in learning.
Remember the key to foreign language is consistency every day, most of the year. 15 minutes per day is enough to make forward momentum. Any language program, and any language choice can fail if you don’t work on it regularly. To work regularly, you can all do a foreign language with all your children together, even if they are working at completely different levels using completely different curricula. For consistency, it makes sense to choose a foreign language that your whole family can work on together
There is no one “right” foreign language to take, but I hope this points can help you make a decision.
How many credits approximately should a college-bound homeschooler have in electives?
~Kitty
Dear Kitty,
Thanks for the question! There are two answers to that:
1. College bound students should have as many electives credits as it takes to add up to 24 or more total high school credits when combined with their core classes.
OR
2. High school students should have as many electives as they WANT to have based on how much time they spend on their favorite activities.
Think of “Electives” as another word for “delight directed learning.” It sounds more like educationalese when you say “electives” though! But to successfully negotiate college admission, electives should really have the interests of the child at heart. There may be some electives that parents mandate, but most of it should be things they learn for fun.
There are unlimited electives when you are homeschooling high school. In a public or private school children are limited to the kinds of classes and AP courses that are offered. Not true with homeschooling! We can provide almost any course imaginable!
So enjoy the process of gathering up elective credits in high school. They are often the most fun to do and may last with your student the longest!
Do you need a computer science course? It’s easy! You can do almost anything for a computer science course. Colleges want to know that your children are computer literate: Microsoft Word, internet skills, email, keyboarding etc. In some states, a graduation requirement is “Technology” and you have to have a “technology credit” for high school. It’s a VERY broad requirement, and almost anything goes.
If your child is already computer literate, then you could give them credit based on the skills they possess. You may want to write a course description listing your child’s skills. Ask the child to help. A more “computer savvy” teen will have more programs they can use. One idea is to go to the “programs” file of your computer and ask them all the things they are familiar with. Can you use excel? Power Point? Some kids are online constantly, so ask them if they can YouTube, or program a website, or if they blog. Those are great skills to learn.
If your child is NOT computer literate, then you can create a class. I would focus on basic “Microsoft Office” skills, basic typing with Mavis Beacon, and basic internet skills. Remember that the goal is computer literacy, and independence at college.
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If you are thinking about putting grades and credits on your transcript, you may wonder how to include co-op experiences, especially if the coop wasn’t a perfect fit for your family. I received a question from a mom who wanted to know what to do with a misfit foreign language class.
Hi Lee,
I just want reassurance that it doesn’t matter how much is accomplished as long as you put in the hours, right? My son took a Spanish class this year and despite waaay too many hours working at it, he is basically walking away with very little. I had the opposite problem with my daughter. She took French and was not challenged. She learned 14 words a week. Oh, brother! She could have done so much more. I did learn, however, that academics in a co-op are not for me. I’m definitely a homeschooler. We’ll use it for drama and art in the future.
Thanks!
~Melanie
Dear Melanie,
{{{hugs!}}} I wish that wasn’t how coops work! When kids are working on their level, they should be awarded some success!
Yes, Spanish at his level, working an hour a day for a whole year, should really be a whole credit. Now, at your coop, if they give you an accredited transcript, then his accredited grade will remain on his transcript. I don’t know how your coop is run, though. If it’s just a homeschool coop, with no accreditation, then I would absolutely count his high school credit based on the hours worked, and NOT based on certain test scores. With your daughter the linguist, encouraging her to work at her own speed can allow her to move very, very rapidly!
I think you’ll have much more success and feel like your children are learning more if they are able to go at their level.
When I see successful foreign language programs in coops, it’s often a class that is just a time to get together and “play” with other kids while talking in that language. The seat work is better done at home, in other words. If they miss coop, then only use that for the play aspect of the foreign language, not the book aspect. That way they can learn at their own pace.
I was just consulting with a Gold Care Member, a certified teacher. She said, “When I was a teacher in high school, a credit means they sat in class for a year.” Sat in a class! Our goal for our children is NOT the amount of time sitting in a class – our goal is learning! So if they are sitting in class for a year, YES give them the credit. But make sure they while they are sitting there, they are learning at their level all the time. Because you want them to learn, and not get frustrated because they are either so far behind, or bored because they are so far ahead.
Watch this clip on “I love Lucy” Then have a nice cup of coffee, and move on without beating yourself up about anything. Your children did a year of foreign language. Cool! Lots of families don’t get to that every year. So you are successful too!
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Do you know of a good source for learning computer technology? My daughter knows the basics and practices the key board.
~ Margie
Hi Margie! It’s good to meet you!
For computer technology, I don’t have a particular curriculum in mind. I will say that a lot of teenagers are pretty good about learning technology on their own, because they are interested. Consider getting tutorials from the library, or even tutorials that come with some of the Microsoft Office software and using those as your “curriculum.” Once she knows keyboarding skills as a basis, then it’s most helpful to learn basic programs that we use all the time: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Some parents will watch what their children do for fun, and then include that in their technology course. So if your child likes Photoshop, or YouTube, or website design, or blogging, you can include those experiences as well.
Margie, thanks for the questions. It sounds like you are doing a GREAT job of paying attention to the details about high school. I’m really impressed that you are thinking it through, and I’m confident you’ll succeed – because you’re trying! Good job! It’s sounds like your daughter is in a PERFECT position to be prepared for college!
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We started foreign language study with Latin, because I didn’t want to speak anything with a funny accent. We used “Latin Road to English Grammar.” Alex was in 5th grade when we started, and Kevin was in 7th. I didn’t know Latin, but the kids did VERY well with the program. It’s definitely high school level. The first year it took us 30 minutes per day, with me spending an additional 1-2 hours on the weekend, learning ahead of them. The second year of Latin it took about 45 minutes a day, and I still learned ahead of them. The third year of Latin, I completely gave up learning it with them. It took them an hour a day, but they seemed to enjoy the challenge.
Latin was a great fit for my engineering son. The mathematical quality of the language really helped him enjoy it, because he learned it the same way he did his math. When we finished with Latin, Alex wanted to continue in college. He had been 2 or 3 years without any Latin, but when he took the Latin placement test, he placed into college level 3000 Latin. Because they didn’t offer Latin 3000 that year, he actually started in a Latin 4000 class in college, and he wasn’t lost, and he loved it, and he is still taking Latin even today!
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My children played sports; soccer, swimming, baseball. The loved the physical activity! Although we are proud of their achievements in sports, I can’t say that either of my boys is the next Tiger Woods. They enjoy, even love sports! Although they have wonderful skills for recreational league soccer, for example, we didn’t aspire for greatness in that arena.
Recreational league sports are so fun! They require minimal commitment, and they are less competitive than other teams. There is another way to go: competitive sports teams. Competitive teams (Baseball Little League, high school varsity teams, Select Soccer teams, etc.) are a completely different ball game, so to speak. They require many more hours of practice, games are much farther away, and it has a greater financial commitment as well.
When you look at sports teams, weight your options carefully. If your child is there to have fun, then pursue a recreational league. If your child is passionate and gifted in a sport, then consider a more competitive league. It is not necessary to aspire for greatness when your child merely has potential. Remember, they can always enjoy a sport and excel within their peers on the recreational league. The costs of a competitive sports league can be great, financially and in terms of time. You may want to reserve those experiences only if your child is both gifted AND passionate about the sport.
Look at it this way; my husband loves to play softball. He enjoys playing on our church softball team, where he can have a good day or a bad day, but always have fun. If he were put on a semi-pro adult softball league (yes, that’s a real situation – we have had friends on those teams!) then he would be frustrated and feel like a failure. You want your kids to have fun, so make sure they enjoy the situation.
And remember, whether recreational league or competitive league, it can all go on your high school homeschool transcript!
Matt here. I must take exception to Lee’s comment above. I am certain I could play softball at a professional level. All I would need is a little more practice…and a smidgen more talent…perhaps a bit more strength, speed and discipline as well. Other than that I’m sure I would do just fine.
Oh my goodness! I’ve discovered another incredible resource for foreign language! If your child loves Facebook and is able to write a short sentence, have them try Facebook in another language. What a wonderful opportunity to try working their foreign language skills in a fun way! It sounds like it would be a great fit for a highly social child!
When we were homeschooling, I was pretty excited when I figured out that DVD movies have subtitles in French, Spanish, and sometimes other languages as well. In fact, when you go to the library or video store, you can look specifically for DVDs in different languages. We would watch them in English with French subtitles – or vice versa! Our favorite movies were animated, so we didn’t get annoyed by the way the lips moved.
I have also heard that you can set your computer video games into different foreign languages. The joy of homeschooling is that you can think creatively when you’re studying subjects. You don’t have to settle for “just” a textbook. You can teach or supplement your foreign language is the way that your child learns best.
To set Facebook in French, go to Settings, Account Settings, and then Languages.
Matt here. I’m late again. Today is Lee’s birthday so I should have put this out yesterday….Anyway, if you have a moment and are on Facebook, it would be lovely if you could wish her a happy birthday on Facebook! Better yet, become a fan of her new HomeScholar Business page. She’s had it a bit rough today with all her babies away at college….Thanks for understanding!
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