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A client called for a consultation, asking me about scholarships, and taking a “Gap Year” before college. After we spoke, I emailed her some additional resources. Maybe it will be a perfect fit for your family too! Here is the reading and resource materials for you to enjoy.
Gap year definition: Taking a year off is becoming more common, viewed more favorably, seen as benefit by some. Students are still considered freshman unless they take a college course of any kind. Some colleges defer enrollment, which means the student is accepted and then waits a year to actually attend. Other schools do not defer enrollment.
“Princeton’s president, Shirley Tilghman, said in an interview that such a program would give students a more international perspective, add to their maturity and give them a break from academic pressures.”
Our professor friend invited us to a lecture on economics at a downtown Seattle public policy Think Tank. He said that Alex would love the lecture given by one of the architects of Reagonomics. “I don’t know why I never thought of it before, but Alex would just love Discovery Institute. I guess I just didn’t think of it until I saw the lecture on economics.” My husband took Alex to the event, and we didn’t know what to expect. When he came home, the first thing he said was, “They offered Alex a job!”
Apparently, Alex was enraptured during the lecture, and when it was time for questions he spoke right up. He asked something about how Reagonomics was derived from the teachings of Jean Baptiste Say, or something like that. The President of the company was so impressed with just the question that Alex asked, that he invited him to come and work as an intern there. Shocked, my husband informed him, “He’s only fourteen!” The President responded, “We don’t discriminate based on age.”
I wondered what this organization was all about. Alex informed me that a lobbyist tries to influence public policy by convincing politicians. A think tank tries to influence public policy by convincing the public. They publish books and write articles for magazines and newspapers, to influence public opinion. I asked my husband what sort of crowd is attracted to a lecture at a “think tank” and he replied that he and his son were the youngest two people in the crowd. My husband is a professional engineer, and a manager at Boeing, but he told me he felt like the “least smart” person in the room!
For the last month of summer, we worked to prepare Alex for his new job. I was completely unprepared for putting my 14year old into the work force. We had to buy him a cell phone, and professional attire. He started working in September, his first week of 9th grade. At first they had him doing office work: filing, mailing, checking the website, and answering the phone. Later they gave him writing assignments. After working there for just 6 months, he had his article on Social Security published in the Seattle newspaper.
Alex worked for one day a week in an office building in downtown Seattle. He wore a suit, carried a brief case, and was treated like a peer by the other employees. It would have been completely impossible for him to have that experience if we had not homeschooled. Public schools simply don’t let students “skip school” every Wednesday, you know? Instead of sitting behind a desk, he was doing real work. And homeschooling gave us the freedom to do it!
Learn how to capture all of your homeschool high school educational experiences in a transcript that will amaze the colleges. Read about “The Easy Truth About Homeschool Transcripts” to find out more. Our new e-book launches on Saturday at noon (Pacific Time.) Be one of the first to order and get some AMAZING Bonuses!!
I’m thankful that my kids go to a Christian College. I loved hearing about their stories from Seattle Pacific University!
I love the Christian College “Roomies” tradition. My son Alex has gone on group dates with his floor – they call these events “Roomies” and it’s sort of like a dance, only no dancing and no dating. One “Roomies” they went ice skating, then to “Bubble Tea” and then to see the city lights from the local park. The second Roomies they bought a White Elephant Gift (Tillamook Yogurt and Cabbage – don’t ask!) and then they made gingerbread houses as a group, and exchanged gifts. I love hearing about good, clean fun.
I love the Christian College “No Shave November” tradition. Because college age men notoriously “forget” to shave, they decided to just call it a holiday on campus. For the entire month of November, many of the men simply don’t even intend to shave at all. My sons came home unusually hairy, and I found it hilarious! I love it that their rebellion has caused facial hair, rather than something horrendous. They recently confessed that next month is called “Decembeard” and the month after that is “Januhairy.” I may be doomed to a life with hairy sons. Here is a photo of Kevin and Alex and their pet beards (aren’t they adorably handsome?)
I love the Christian College giving Thanksgiving homework. The “Thanksgiving Extra Credit Assignment” was to “Be thankful in all that you do.” In addition, they could either bring a gift or homemade dish to the Thanksgiving meal, or they could perform a chore for the hostess of the meal – like wash ALL the dishes. In order to receive credit, they must send a photo of them smiling while doing the chore, and bring a note from the hostess expressing their thanks for the task. If a student wasn’t going to someone’s home for Thanksgiving, they had the option of serving at a food bank. Kevin was strangely happy to wash the dishes. His apartment doesn’t have a dishwasher. For him, just having the plates and glasses and silverware washed in the dishwasher was a huge treat. Here is a photo of Kevin washing the dishes from Thanksgiving.
It is wonderful to see our children thriving in college and loving the Lord! We are so thankful and so blessed!
What are you thankful for? Please let us know. We’d love to share your joy!
Michael Phelps has ADD – did you know that? His mother was able to take what could have been a detriment, and turned it into a huge advantage. I love this article titled “Michael Phelps’ Mom on How to Raise an ADHD Superstar.” It states that “Behind almost every ADHD success story is a devoted parent (or two).” Read the article from ADDitudemag.com
Did you read about my newsletter article about the boy homeschool graduate with learning disabilities? He went on to earn ELEVEN graduate degrees! Here is the article in USA Today.
I encourage you to find the Superhero within your own child! My husband has written a series of articles about finding the superhero your own homeschooled children. Read more!
Did you know that you can consult with me for free? This month you can call me on my toll free number, on Wednesdays between 1:00 and 2:00 pm, Pacific Time, and consult for up to 10 minutes for free. You missed me today, but call me next week! It’s fun – and free!
Some kids decide on a career when they are vary young, and others don’t decide until much later. Keep in mind that college students will usually change their major at least once in their college career. Statistically speaking, working adults change their career three to seven times in their lifetime. Even if your student choose a career now, it may be unlikely that they will continue with that career later. Choosing a career now can encourage students to go to college, but it’s not really necessary. If working through the books helps them to choose a career, then you can make sure the colleges they apply to will offer a major for that career.
Because of that, I suggest another strategy for kids who are undecided about a career. Consider going to a liberal arts college. At a liberal arts college, students take a class or two in a wide variety of subjects. The first two years of the exploratory curriculum will include some science, social students (psychology for example) English, politics, etc. Having a broad exposure to a varied curriculum will allow them to experience many subjects until they find the one that they love. In the event that nothing makes them say “wow!” a great liberal arts school can give them a general liberal arts degree. Many businesses like general liberal arts degrees. Most businesses train all their new employees anyway, and they simply want an employee with ANY bachelors degree. It can be a good fit for many different kinds of jobs.
Here’s how it works: You pick and choose from online classes across the nation. All the work is done at home. All the results from those different online experiences are all sent to one distant location, to a real university. If you choose to do it all 4 years of college, some (but not all) of the upper level courses require you to fly to the distance location for testing once a quarter. That University will provide “accreditation” for all the credits that are earned. Those accredited transcripts will be sent the next University he wants to go to. It’s possible to homeschool college for 1 quarter or all 4 years of college.
Real socialization doesn’t have anything to do with “school.” Real socialization is having fun! When we were homeschooling, we didn’t meet other kids at co-op classes. We got together to have FUN! We went on field trips, went to park days, met at support groups, and had show and share evenings. There is so much fun to be had! If you are looking for an opportunity for your children to find new friends, don’t get stuck in the rut of looking for a classroom setting. Look for a youth group, a volunteer opportunity, math or science club, musical group, or a job instead. Remember the priceless friendships of sibling, family, and church. Form a group of your own that meets for games, teen activities, fun at the park. Friendships happen when kids are having fun together, not when they are sitting in a classroom together. So search for activities that might interest your child, perhaps something they specialize in – or maybe just WISH they specialize in! My sons loved soccer, baseball, swim team, chess club, and youth group. They helped at Vacation Bible School, and taught classes (chess and charcoal drawing) to other homeschoolers. Finding fun is finding friends!
What fun activities do you do with your teenagers? How have they found their friends? Share your ideas!
Are you panicky about next year? Don’t be afraid! Take control of the situation! If you are just beginning high school, or never really felt you understand what was expected, consider getting my video “Preparing to Homeschool High School.” Equivalent to reading a book on the subject, it will get you up to speed quickly, so that you can feel confident about homeschooling through high school!
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with mothers recently about 17 year old boys. I just want to encourage everyone that it gets SO much better eventually! I was delighted about 3 months ago when I realized my 20 year old had matured to the pleasant, sweet, kind person that I had raised. Funny story – I was telling him that we had a bit of conflict with his 18 year old brother, and he said “Really? Gee, Mom, I never had any conflict with you and Dad!” Seriously, it was all I could do to not laugh out loud! We had plenty of conflict! He just doesn’t remember it! At that point I decided that we must have done something right when he was a teen. So hang in there – teenage attitudes may be rotten now, but one day they’ll grow up and become adults, and all your hard work will pay off.
We just completed a major redesign of our website that goes live today. My techie husband, who has worked very hard making everything beautiful, would much appreciate it if you would poke around the new site and let us know what you think. There is even a new “Contact Us” button on the site that you could test to give us some feedback! Thanks!
Once we determined that they knew enough to pass a CLEP, then we started to study for the test so that they would get a good score. It seemed like the REA books were the best prep once we go to that stage.
We used CLEP exams only for the things they already “sorta knew.” So, typically, just reading through the REA book and taking the practice tests was enough, since they already were able to pass the test based on previous knowledge.
My son Alex did take one CLEP in a different way – psychology. He didn’t want to take Psych in college (he was only 15 at the time and knew he didn’t want to discuss Freud in mixed company!) He simply read through the REA book, and then he was able to take the test. I had bought him a psych textbook, but I don’t think he read it much. I think it was mostly the REA books.
Read more about how to homeschool college in my Dig Deeper page!
When we did CLEP, I preferred using the Official Study Guide by College board as a entry-level “can we pass this” assessment. Here is the link:
I chose that book because it had a sample test from EVERY CLEP, and we were just looking for an over view assessment at that time.
I usually preferred Princeton Review study materials for everything, but in this one instance it seemed like the Official Study Guide worked better for us. Princeton Review seems to speak more in the natural tone of teenagers.
Filed under: 
and 
. This book and workbook are from a Christian perspective.
and 
. This is from a secular perspective, but has been around for decades. I haven’t read it recently, but I understand that the adult version of the current book does include job counseling for gays, so you may want to avoid the non-teen version.
Christianbook.com Curriculum Page
