Homeschooling High School tends to make people nervous. Parents who feel capable teaching their children in the younger years start to worry about what will happen when their children are old enough to go to High School. Fears about teaching upper level classes, how to track credits and grades, how to prepare for standardized testing, diplomas, and getting into college are all issues parents with upcoming high schoolers deal with.
There is this worry that if the curriculum that you are using with your child isn't accredited, that means it doesn't "count." I actually have had two recent phone calls and an email asking me about this. I had a lady tell me she had completely messed her daughter up because she had been using a curriculum for the first half of 9th grade and since it wasn't accredited it wouldn't count and she would have to start over. This is NOT true.
You are just as much in control of your child's high school homeschool curriculum as you were in elementary and middle school. You do not need to go through an online accredited school for your child's credits to "count." Some people choose to use an online accredited school but that is a choice, not a requirement.
When my oldest was getting ready to start high school, I took a look at the basic requirements for our state's local public schools. I wanted to make sure she at least meant the same credit requirements that the local students were required. We took those courses and then others that she was interested in or that I felt were going to beneficial to prepare her for college and life. I counted credits based on the number of hours spent on the course and/or the course recommendations for what credits to award. I wrote a post about choosing classes and counting credits here.
We had a transcript made by the Arkansas Education Alliance that had a sign and a seal on it and showed all of her credit hours and classes she had taken. Her test scores and GPA were also listed on the transcript. All of the colleges she looked at accepted this diploma with no questions.
In the state of Arkansas, for homeschoolers to get a driver's permit you have to have your Notice of Intent form signed and notarized. Some parents were given the information that they needed an accredited transcript to do this. That is not true. Now that the NOI is online you have to log in to your account, print out the form, and have it notarized. You must take that paper with you to take the written permit test and again to get your license after you pass the road test.
I did a more detailed post about homeschooling high school the senior year that talks about ACT's, the FAFSA, and applying to colleges here. My knowledge is based on our experience. I am NOT an expert. The HSLDA is a great resource for all of your legal homeschooling questions and if you are in Arkansas the Education Alliance is a fantastic resource.
Happy Homeschooling!
Our Family
Showing posts with label Homeschooling High School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschooling High School. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Homeschooling High School: The Senior Year
In a little more than 3 weeks, my oldest will be graduating! Unbelievable. I know that High School can be very intimidating for homeschoolers. Parents fear that they won't be able to teach the more in depth subjects. They fear that they won't keep good enough records or be able to create a transcript that will be appealing to colleges. They worry that their homeschooler will have trouble getting accepted to the college of their choice. Some may even worry that their high schooler is "missing out" on opportunities that Public School children have.
I am in no way any kind of expert on homeschooling high school (maybe I will be by the time Emelia graduates!) but we have managed to get through the high school years successfully and I wanted to share a little bit about what I have learned along the way especially during the senior year.
Don't stress! You can successfully homeschool through high school! Before the 9th grade year, take a look at what (if any) requirements your state has for homeschoolers to graduates. Since our state does not have any specific requirements, I took a look at what the requirements were for public school students who were college bound so we could meet those. Here is a suggested course of study for college bound students:
Subject Suggested Credits Possible Courses
English 4 credits Composition, American Lit, British Lit, World Lit, Rhetoric,
Creative Writing, Speech/Communication, Journalism, Debate;
also consider AP courses
Math 4+ credits Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus,
Calculus, AP Calculus
History 3-4 credits ESSENTIALS: World History, American History, American
Government. CONSIDER: Economics, Geography,
Constitutional Law and AP courses
Science 3-4 credits Physical Science, General Science, Earth Science, Biology,
Chemistry, and Physics. CONSIDER: AP courses
Foreign Language 2-4 credits French, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, etc. (2 years same
language preferred)
Physical Education 1-2 credits Many options available
Fine Arts 1-2 credits Art, Music, Drama, Photography, etc.
Electives 5 credits Practical Arts, Life Skills, Home Economics, Bible, Computer
Skills, etc.
Total Credits: 23-27 credits
Then make a tentative plan with your student showing what they will be taking when. I say tentative because this can (and probably will) change. This is just a general idea. Keep track of their courses and grades. This is something I did not do a good job of. When I was keeping her records, I was very vague in what I wrote down and then 3 years later when I was trying to do her transcript I could not remember the full title of the course. Thankfully I have this blog and could look back to see everything we did.
Find out which tests the colleges your child is considering has for their admissions requirements. Most of the schools in our area required the ACT, but some schools prefer the SAT. Have your child start preparing for these tests early in their junior year. These tests are important not just to get accepted, but also for scholarships. I would suggest having your child take it at least once in the junior year so they can get a feel for what the test will be like. You can take the ACT as many times as you want and they will replace the lower scores with higher ones. If you happen to score lower on your second try you still keep the higher score so you have nothing to lose by taking it more than once. The test costs $35 each time you take it. We used an ACT prep book that I bought at Walmart. Chelsea took the ACT twice once as a junior and once as a senior, and did very well her second time. If I had it to do over again, I would've had her take it one more time.
At the end of the junior year take a look at the courses and credits they have earned so far and make plans for the final year. A lot of people ask about concurrent courses. These are courses that a high school senior can take an earn college credits while still in high school. We chose not to do these. They may be a good idea for some students, but if you earn too many credits than you will no longer be entering college as a freshman which can lower your scholarship opportunities. CLEP tests are another thing worth looking into. You pay to take a test and if you score high enough you earn college credits. We did not do these either.
Plan on taking your standardized test early in your senior year and start choosing which colleges (if you haven't already) your child is interested in so you can visit and apply. In January, things start getting busy as this is when you need to start getting ready to fill out the FAFSA and completing other college paperwork.
Filling out the FAFSA is not optional to go to college. Everyone has to fill it out. Everything that I read said to fill it out ASAP. So, the day after I filed our income tax, I filled it out. The problem with that is that they have something called an IRS Retrieval Tool and if you start filling it out too soon after filing you can't use it. I didn't think this was a big deal and skipped using it and entered in my numbers manually. Every school we sent the information to required you to use the Retrieval Tool. So, I had to go back and edit the forms using the tool which made the first time I filled it out a waste of my time. And as of today April 29th, we are still waiting to hear back from her two schools about how much financial aid she is eligible for.
The colleges we looked at were very homeschool friendly in their admission processes. They required the ACT scores of 19 in each area. We also needed to provide a transcript to them. One school however did not require any transcript or other paperwork. Chelsea got an unconditional acceptance based on her ACT scores.
I had her transcript made by the Arkansas Education Alliance which is an organization in Arkansas who works for homeschoolers rights and provides things like ID cards and transcripts. They are signed by the president of the Education Alliance and have a seal on them. I sent all of her information in to them and they created her transcript and calculated her GPA. I was happy with the way the transcript turned out, but I personally would have counted some of her credits differently. They automatically counted her Home Ec courses as .25 a semester and I would've counted them as .5 because she has had so much course work in these areas and definitely deserved at least .5 of a credit.
The biggest amount of stress for me came during the month of February. We were receiving all these things in the mail from colleges needing us to send things in, plus had to redo the FAFSA, plus had to fill out the paperwork for her graduation ceremony, and had to get her transcript information sent in. But, we got it completed and sent in.
I think trying to stay as organized as possible is the key. I am not good at organizing by nature, but after going through the high school years with Chelsea, I will be more organized for my next child. I am so thankful that I have this blog as a record of things we have done. Also, encouraging your child to work on staying organized themselves is a big help. When our old computer crashed, I was very thankful Chelsea had a printed copy of her transcript we were working on filed away in her college folder.
Do not let the high school years intimidate you! You can successfully homeschool through high school and prepare your child for college or whatever future plans they have for their lives!
I am in no way any kind of expert on homeschooling high school (maybe I will be by the time Emelia graduates!) but we have managed to get through the high school years successfully and I wanted to share a little bit about what I have learned along the way especially during the senior year.
Don't stress! You can successfully homeschool through high school! Before the 9th grade year, take a look at what (if any) requirements your state has for homeschoolers to graduates. Since our state does not have any specific requirements, I took a look at what the requirements were for public school students who were college bound so we could meet those. Here is a suggested course of study for college bound students:
Subject Suggested Credits Possible Courses
English 4 credits Composition, American Lit, British Lit, World Lit, Rhetoric,
Creative Writing, Speech/Communication, Journalism, Debate;
also consider AP courses
Math 4+ credits Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus,
Calculus, AP Calculus
History 3-4 credits ESSENTIALS: World History, American History, American
Government. CONSIDER: Economics, Geography,
Constitutional Law and AP courses
Science 3-4 credits Physical Science, General Science, Earth Science, Biology,
Chemistry, and Physics. CONSIDER: AP courses
Foreign Language 2-4 credits French, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, etc. (2 years same
language preferred)
Physical Education 1-2 credits Many options available
Fine Arts 1-2 credits Art, Music, Drama, Photography, etc.
Electives 5 credits Practical Arts, Life Skills, Home Economics, Bible, Computer
Skills, etc.
Total Credits: 23-27 credits
Then make a tentative plan with your student showing what they will be taking when. I say tentative because this can (and probably will) change. This is just a general idea. Keep track of their courses and grades. This is something I did not do a good job of. When I was keeping her records, I was very vague in what I wrote down and then 3 years later when I was trying to do her transcript I could not remember the full title of the course. Thankfully I have this blog and could look back to see everything we did.
Find out which tests the colleges your child is considering has for their admissions requirements. Most of the schools in our area required the ACT, but some schools prefer the SAT. Have your child start preparing for these tests early in their junior year. These tests are important not just to get accepted, but also for scholarships. I would suggest having your child take it at least once in the junior year so they can get a feel for what the test will be like. You can take the ACT as many times as you want and they will replace the lower scores with higher ones. If you happen to score lower on your second try you still keep the higher score so you have nothing to lose by taking it more than once. The test costs $35 each time you take it. We used an ACT prep book that I bought at Walmart. Chelsea took the ACT twice once as a junior and once as a senior, and did very well her second time. If I had it to do over again, I would've had her take it one more time.
At the end of the junior year take a look at the courses and credits they have earned so far and make plans for the final year. A lot of people ask about concurrent courses. These are courses that a high school senior can take an earn college credits while still in high school. We chose not to do these. They may be a good idea for some students, but if you earn too many credits than you will no longer be entering college as a freshman which can lower your scholarship opportunities. CLEP tests are another thing worth looking into. You pay to take a test and if you score high enough you earn college credits. We did not do these either.
Plan on taking your standardized test early in your senior year and start choosing which colleges (if you haven't already) your child is interested in so you can visit and apply. In January, things start getting busy as this is when you need to start getting ready to fill out the FAFSA and completing other college paperwork.
Filling out the FAFSA is not optional to go to college. Everyone has to fill it out. Everything that I read said to fill it out ASAP. So, the day after I filed our income tax, I filled it out. The problem with that is that they have something called an IRS Retrieval Tool and if you start filling it out too soon after filing you can't use it. I didn't think this was a big deal and skipped using it and entered in my numbers manually. Every school we sent the information to required you to use the Retrieval Tool. So, I had to go back and edit the forms using the tool which made the first time I filled it out a waste of my time. And as of today April 29th, we are still waiting to hear back from her two schools about how much financial aid she is eligible for.
The colleges we looked at were very homeschool friendly in their admission processes. They required the ACT scores of 19 in each area. We also needed to provide a transcript to them. One school however did not require any transcript or other paperwork. Chelsea got an unconditional acceptance based on her ACT scores.
I had her transcript made by the Arkansas Education Alliance which is an organization in Arkansas who works for homeschoolers rights and provides things like ID cards and transcripts. They are signed by the president of the Education Alliance and have a seal on them. I sent all of her information in to them and they created her transcript and calculated her GPA. I was happy with the way the transcript turned out, but I personally would have counted some of her credits differently. They automatically counted her Home Ec courses as .25 a semester and I would've counted them as .5 because she has had so much course work in these areas and definitely deserved at least .5 of a credit.
The biggest amount of stress for me came during the month of February. We were receiving all these things in the mail from colleges needing us to send things in, plus had to redo the FAFSA, plus had to fill out the paperwork for her graduation ceremony, and had to get her transcript information sent in. But, we got it completed and sent in.
I think trying to stay as organized as possible is the key. I am not good at organizing by nature, but after going through the high school years with Chelsea, I will be more organized for my next child. I am so thankful that I have this blog as a record of things we have done. Also, encouraging your child to work on staying organized themselves is a big help. When our old computer crashed, I was very thankful Chelsea had a printed copy of her transcript we were working on filed away in her college folder.
Do not let the high school years intimidate you! You can successfully homeschool through high school and prepare your child for college or whatever future plans they have for their lives!
Thursday, July 4, 2013
High School Curriculum 2013/2014 School Year
We have made our finalized curriculum choices for the 2013/2014 school year. Chelsea will be a high school senior this year, graduating a year early as she will have enough credits to graduate after this school year. Arkansas does not have specific requirements for homeschoolers to graduate, but we follow the suggested guidelines from our local Education Alliance for college prep, completing 23-27 credits during high school.
Senior Curriculum
Math- Math U See Algebra 2
Science- Science For High School Physical Science
Economics- Compass Classroom Economics For Everybody
Government- Notgrass Exploring Government
Writing- IEW SWI C
Poetry- Classical Academic Press- Art of Poetry
Chelsea is looking forward to completing her senior year and seeing what her future holds!
Senior Curriculum
Math- Math U See Algebra 2
Science- Science For High School Physical Science
Economics- Compass Classroom Economics For Everybody
Government- Notgrass Exploring Government
Writing- IEW SWI C
Poetry- Classical Academic Press- Art of Poetry
Chelsea is looking forward to completing her senior year and seeing what her future holds!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
High School Credits
One thing that many homeschool parents start to get worried about in the high school years is keeping track of high school credits. This really is not as hard as some people may think. Some states do have guidelines in place and I urge you to check into your states homeschool laws and find out what guidelines you need to follow. If you are in a state that does not have specific guidelines (like me) there still is a lot of information out there on counting credit hours and how many credits your high schooler needs in order to graduate.
As a general rule, most courses that the textbook takes a whole year to complete in the main subject areas (math, science, english, foreign language, history) will equal one credit hour. Elective courses that only take half of a year to complete receive 1/2 credit. Another way to figure out how much a course is worth would be to figure out the number of hours your child has worked in a particular subject area. This way if you are using several sources or unit studies and not a traditional "text book", or if you review 5 different math curricula in one year (does this happen to anyone else?) you will know how much credit to give. 120-180 hours is worth one credit. Many traditional text book course take about 150 hours (50 min/day, 5 days/week, 36 weeks.) Courses with labs may take closer to 180 hours and electives will be in the 120-150 hour range. Using those numbers as a guideline you can figure out 1/2 and 1/4 credit courses also.
Now that we know how many hours equal one credit, how many credits and in what areas does your child need? As I stated above, my state does not require anything specific for homeschool high school graduates. I go by the guidelines suggested by the Education Alliance for college bound high school students. If my child knew for sure they weren't going to college I would follow the Public School basic requirements for graduation for our state. The Education Alliance recommend the following credit hours for college bound students:
Subject Suggested Credits Possible Courses
English 4 credits Composition, American Lit, British Lit, World Lit, Rhetoric,
Creative Writing, Speech/Communication, Journalism, Debate;
also consider AP courses
Math 4+ credits Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus,
Calculus, AP Calculus
History 3-4 credits ESSENTIALS: World History, American History, American
Government. CONSIDER: Economics, Geography,
Constitutional Law and AP courses
Science 3-4 credits Physical Science, General Science, Earth Science, Biology,
Chemistry, and Physics. CONSIDER: AP courses
Foreign Language 2-4 credits French, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, etc. (2 years same
language preferred)
Physical Education 1-2 credits Many options available
Fine Arts 1-2 credits Art, Music, Drama, Photography, etc.
Electives 5 credits Practical Arts, Life Skills, Home Economics, Bible, Computer
Skills, etc.
Total Credits: 23-27 credits
Don't let worry over counting credits for high school make you feel inadequate. It really is not a big deal at all and is very easy to do. Homeschooling high school is not hard, and in fact I think it is much easier than homeschooling elementary school!
As a general rule, most courses that the textbook takes a whole year to complete in the main subject areas (math, science, english, foreign language, history) will equal one credit hour. Elective courses that only take half of a year to complete receive 1/2 credit. Another way to figure out how much a course is worth would be to figure out the number of hours your child has worked in a particular subject area. This way if you are using several sources or unit studies and not a traditional "text book", or if you review 5 different math curricula in one year (does this happen to anyone else?) you will know how much credit to give. 120-180 hours is worth one credit. Many traditional text book course take about 150 hours (50 min/day, 5 days/week, 36 weeks.) Courses with labs may take closer to 180 hours and electives will be in the 120-150 hour range. Using those numbers as a guideline you can figure out 1/2 and 1/4 credit courses also.
Now that we know how many hours equal one credit, how many credits and in what areas does your child need? As I stated above, my state does not require anything specific for homeschool high school graduates. I go by the guidelines suggested by the Education Alliance for college bound high school students. If my child knew for sure they weren't going to college I would follow the Public School basic requirements for graduation for our state. The Education Alliance recommend the following credit hours for college bound students:
Subject Suggested Credits Possible Courses
English 4 credits Composition, American Lit, British Lit, World Lit, Rhetoric,
Creative Writing, Speech/Communication, Journalism, Debate;
also consider AP courses
Math 4+ credits Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus,
Calculus, AP Calculus
History 3-4 credits ESSENTIALS: World History, American History, American
Government. CONSIDER: Economics, Geography,
Constitutional Law and AP courses
Science 3-4 credits Physical Science, General Science, Earth Science, Biology,
Chemistry, and Physics. CONSIDER: AP courses
Foreign Language 2-4 credits French, Spanish, Latin, German, Russian, etc. (2 years same
language preferred)
Physical Education 1-2 credits Many options available
Fine Arts 1-2 credits Art, Music, Drama, Photography, etc.
Electives 5 credits Practical Arts, Life Skills, Home Economics, Bible, Computer
Skills, etc.
Total Credits: 23-27 credits
Don't let worry over counting credits for high school make you feel inadequate. It really is not a big deal at all and is very easy to do. Homeschooling high school is not hard, and in fact I think it is much easier than homeschooling elementary school!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
What To Do About Math?
The subject that I have the hardest time finding curriculum for is Math. I did very well in Math when I was in school, although I admit I didn't like it very much, but I struggle with finding the "perfect" Math curriculum. I don't even mean for my family as a whole, but for each individual child. I started out using Math U See and I really liked it, but I did feel like it left quite a few things out in the younger years that I thought were important and I had to add on my own. I switched and went to Horizons after a recommendation, but it was too distracting for my younger children and was full of busy work that we never were going to do. Then, we switched to Abeka. It is affordable and my 9 year old likes it, but it is written for a classroom not a homeschool, and again is full of busywork that we will never do.
Recently I reviewed Math Mammoth with my 2nd grader and really like it so far. I am thinking I will be using it for all of my boys next year, but that still doesn't solve my Math trouble with Chelsea (14). She is having a terrible time with Algebra. I think most of her problem lies in the fact that she never "got" a lot of the concepts from PreAlgebra. She became very good at guessing which multiple choice questions were the correct answer, but when it comes to solving the equations, she can't remember which steps go first.
So now we have decided to revisit PreAlgebra, but we will not be using Abeka. I really think with Math especially you should stick with a curriculum if it works for your child, even if it has some short comings. Chelsea was very successful when we were using Math U See. She is an independent learner and likes watching the video lessons without having to wait for me to teach. Right after the holidays she will be starting PreAlgebra, and then we will move on to Algebra after she has proven to be proficient in all off the basic concepts.
What about you? Have you found the perfect Math curriculum for your child?
Recently I reviewed Math Mammoth with my 2nd grader and really like it so far. I am thinking I will be using it for all of my boys next year, but that still doesn't solve my Math trouble with Chelsea (14). She is having a terrible time with Algebra. I think most of her problem lies in the fact that she never "got" a lot of the concepts from PreAlgebra. She became very good at guessing which multiple choice questions were the correct answer, but when it comes to solving the equations, she can't remember which steps go first.
So now we have decided to revisit PreAlgebra, but we will not be using Abeka. I really think with Math especially you should stick with a curriculum if it works for your child, even if it has some short comings. Chelsea was very successful when we were using Math U See. She is an independent learner and likes watching the video lessons without having to wait for me to teach. Right after the holidays she will be starting PreAlgebra, and then we will move on to Algebra after she has proven to be proficient in all off the basic concepts.
What about you? Have you found the perfect Math curriculum for your child?
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Having Fun With Mystery of History
This year we (10th, 4th, 2nd, K) are using Mystery of History Vol 1Creation to the Resurrection. We are loving this curriculum! It is especially nice to be able to do history with all of the children at the same time. Chelsea of course being in the 10th grade has to do more of the activities to make it a High School level. Anthony being in K may not remember everything we are doing, but he will go through the course again in a few years. Since we do history 2 days a week, we are doing all 3 weekly readings and one activity on Mondays, and the timeline figures, mapping exercises, and memory cards on Wednesday, and so far that has been working out well.
This week we learned about The Sumerians, The Tower of Babel, and The Epic of Gilgamesh. For our activity we made our own cuneiform tablets using clay, a rolling pin, and a butter knife. In the book, it asks how hard it would be to erase your mistakes if you wrote your schoolwork on a clay tablet. So Anthony decided to try to erase his writings. He took the flat side of his butter knife and scraped it across his clay and it took away all of his writings.
Here is a picture of the timeline board we created. I used a tri fold science project board and colored strips of paper. We are using Amy Pak's timeline figures from www.homeschoolinthewoods.com. Making the timeline has really helped the boys understand B.C. time. It was very confusing to them at first why 4500 B.C. came before 3500 B.C. not after, but putting it on the timeline has made a big difference and it is their favorite part of history.
In addition to the readings, timeline, mapping, and memory cards, Chelsea also does one activity from each section. For example, one of the activities for older students this week was: investigate who Nimrod was in the Bible. Find out what his name meant and what his association was with the Tower of Babel. Write 2 paragraphs on this topic and file it in your notebook.
 |
| A closer shot of the timeline figures |
In addition to the readings, timeline, mapping, and memory cards, Chelsea also does one activity from each section. For example, one of the activities for older students this week was: investigate who Nimrod was in the Bible. Find out what his name meant and what his association was with the Tower of Babel. Write 2 paragraphs on this topic and file it in your notebook.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Not Back to School Blog Hop- Curriculum Week
It takes months of researching, planning, and preparation for me to make my final curriculum choices for my family. My biggest goal for this year was to not only find things that they (and I) would find interesting and enjoy learning, but to plan on doing as much as we possibly can together. My children love doing hands on projects and that's how they learn best. This year I will have children in grades 10,4,2,K, pre-K, plus a 2 year old and an infant. I am really excited about our curriculum choices this year and know we are going to have a great year!
Elementary Curriculum:
History-Mystery of History Vol 1 Creation to Christ
Science- Apologia's Zoology 1 Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
Bible-readings to go along with MOH
Math-Abeka
Spelling- All About Spelling
Art- Artistic Pursuits
Reading (for 2nd grader) The Reading Kingdom
Writing (for 4th grade) Writing Tales
High School Curriculum:
History: Mystery of History Vol 1
Bible- Assignments to go along with MOH
Science- Apologia Biology
Math-Abeka Algebra 2
Latin-Classical Academc Press
Art-Artistic Pursuits
Literature/Writing-Excellence in Writing American Literature
My 4 year old and 2 year old will be tagging along as interested and I also will be using Before Five in A Row and the Brill Kids Little Reader program with them.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Apologia Science
I have been doing a series on the curriculum choices we have made this year, many of it brand new to us. So far I have blogged about Excellence in Literature, All About Spelling, and Mystery of History. Chelsea has used Apologia Astronomy and General Science a few years ago, but the boys have never used it before. For the last couple of years we have used Abeka Science. It really was not as in depth and hands on as I usually like, but it was free and last year having morning sickness all day for 6 months, I really wasn't able to do much more than read out of textbooks. This year, we will be doing Apologia's Zoology 1 Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day with the boys and Chelsea will be using High School Biology.
What I love about Apologia Science:
One question I have been asked is if the notebooking journals are necessary to buy. No, they are not. You can easily buy a 3 ring notebook and make your own (that's what we did before they came out with them.) Each textbook has an online site you can go to that has many free notebooking sheets you can print. I did buy one notebooking journal that I am going to have the boys work on together. It is a very nice product to compliment the text book with a lot of fun activities. I think Nick (9) could easily do one on his own, but Alex (7) and Anthony (6) would be a big challenge so they will do it together and we will see how it goes.
I also decided that I am going to buy lab kits this year. I have to buy the dissection kit for Chelsea anyway, and I know if I don't have the materials on hand to do an experiment when I need them or can't find what we need, the experiment won't get done. I have seen the lab kits for as much as $80 which includes literally every single thing you need to complete the experiments. I can handle having to provide some cotton balls or a tea bag, I just wanted a kit that had some of the harder to find materials. I found this kit on www.homesciencetools.com and at $25.95 it was just what I was looking for. They also have the dissection kit for Chelsea for $30.95 and I will be ordering both of those at the end of this month.
I am very excited to be using Apologia Science this year and can't wait for the school year to begin in a couple of weeks!
What I love about Apologia Science:
- Creation based
- Texts are written to the student
- Full of fun, interesting,educational information
- Great hands on fun experiments to reinforce the lesson
- Notebooking exercises to go along with the lesson
- Hard cover text book with lots of great pictures
- Teaches uses the immersion approach so students have the opportunity to really learn a lot about a topic instead of just getting little chunks of information
- Elementary texts can be used with a wide range of ages
One question I have been asked is if the notebooking journals are necessary to buy. No, they are not. You can easily buy a 3 ring notebook and make your own (that's what we did before they came out with them.) Each textbook has an online site you can go to that has many free notebooking sheets you can print. I did buy one notebooking journal that I am going to have the boys work on together. It is a very nice product to compliment the text book with a lot of fun activities. I think Nick (9) could easily do one on his own, but Alex (7) and Anthony (6) would be a big challenge so they will do it together and we will see how it goes.
I also decided that I am going to buy lab kits this year. I have to buy the dissection kit for Chelsea anyway, and I know if I don't have the materials on hand to do an experiment when I need them or can't find what we need, the experiment won't get done. I have seen the lab kits for as much as $80 which includes literally every single thing you need to complete the experiments. I can handle having to provide some cotton balls or a tea bag, I just wanted a kit that had some of the harder to find materials. I found this kit on www.homesciencetools.com and at $25.95 it was just what I was looking for. They also have the dissection kit for Chelsea for $30.95 and I will be ordering both of those at the end of this month.
I am very excited to be using Apologia Science this year and can't wait for the school year to begin in a couple of weeks!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Homeschooling High School: American Literature/Writing
I have confessed in the past that I do not make my children diagram sentences. While I do think that knowing the different parts of speech and how to use them well, I don't feel that spending years diagramming sentences is time well spent. What I do want them to learn to do and be able to do it well, is write. Writing is something you have to do well to succeed in college. Every class that I took had papers that were required (except for Math.) Every day in the "real world" you have to write something whether it is an email to a friend or colleague, a Thank You card, or a Blog Post ;). This year, Chelsea will be in 10th grade and one of the biggest things I want her to focus on is Writing.
I was looking for a Literature Program that had a good amount of writing to go with the reading. I also wanted something that was written for the student so she would be able to work through it herself. I read some recommendations and reviews for Excellence in Literature and decided that was just what we were looking for. We chose to do their American Literature course this year. I am very impressed with how thorough the program is. The goals of the program are to:
I was looking for a Literature Program that had a good amount of writing to go with the reading. I also wanted something that was written for the student so she would be able to work through it herself. I read some recommendations and reviews for Excellence in Literature and decided that was just what we were looking for. We chose to do their American Literature course this year. I am very impressed with how thorough the program is. The goals of the program are to:
- Introduce students to great literature from Western literary tradition.
- Teach students to read with discernment.
- Train independent, self motivated learners.
- Provide tools that students can use to strengthen writing skills.
- Introduce students to online and off line research.
- Prepare students for college classes by expecting carefully researched, well though out material to be presented in standard format.
For each kind of paper the student is expected to write, there is an example of that type of paper. There also is an evaluation rubric in the back of the book to aid in parents evaluating the students writing. There are additional reading/writing assignments included for those interested in earning Honors Credit.
I found this program to be very affordable at only $29 for a one year course. I was able to find all but two of the necessary books for free in ebook format from www.gutenberg.org and loaded them all on our family Pandigital Novel (e reader.) I look forward to Chelsea starting this program in August and will give you more information on how it's going once we start our new school year.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Next Year's High School Curriculum
Chelsea has almost finished 9th grade. She still has some Math and Spanish she needs to finish up before she is completely done. For 9th grade she earned credits in the following courses:
English Literature 1
Spanish 1 (she finishes today) 1
Algebra 1 (she finishes next week) 1
Physical Science 1
Bible 1/2
World Geography 1
Home Ec 1/2
Phys Ed 1/2
We used Abeka for everything but Math, PE, and Home Ec. She also started working towards an Art credit and a Latin credit with review items we got ;ater in the year that she will continue next year.
For 10th grade we will no longer be using Abeka, but instead be using a variety of curriculum.
Latin 1- Classical Academic Press (continuation from last year)
Art-Artistic Pursuits (continuation from last year)
History- MOH volume 1- using along with the boys with Chelsea doing all of the older activities and literature selections to make it enough for High School
Bible-readings from the Old Testament to go along with MOH
Science- Apologia Biology
American Literature- Excellence in Literature
Health and Nutrition-Growing Healthy Homes
Algebra 2-Abeka
PE-aerobics, yoga, bicycling,
Whatever else happens to come our way in the form of review items.
English Literature 1
Spanish 1 (she finishes today) 1
Algebra 1 (she finishes next week) 1
Physical Science 1
Bible 1/2
World Geography 1
Home Ec 1/2
Phys Ed 1/2
We used Abeka for everything but Math, PE, and Home Ec. She also started working towards an Art credit and a Latin credit with review items we got ;ater in the year that she will continue next year.
For 10th grade we will no longer be using Abeka, but instead be using a variety of curriculum.
Latin 1- Classical Academic Press (continuation from last year)
Art-Artistic Pursuits (continuation from last year)
History- MOH volume 1- using along with the boys with Chelsea doing all of the older activities and literature selections to make it enough for High School
Bible-readings from the Old Testament to go along with MOH
Science- Apologia Biology
American Literature- Excellence in Literature
Health and Nutrition-Growing Healthy Homes
Algebra 2-Abeka
PE-aerobics, yoga, bicycling,
Whatever else happens to come our way in the form of review items.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Homeschooling High School
Two words that are likely to strike fear in the heart of a homeschooling mama "High School." For some reason we (and I am speaking of myself too) consider ourselves perfectly capable of teaching during the younger years, but start to get worried somewhere around the 8th grade that we will not be capable of teaching our children. Maybe it's because we just don't remember that much from when we went to school (like Algebra that I hadn't done in 15 years!) Or maybe our child has a talent/interest in something we know nothing about. Maybe it's because we have several younger children also and are worried about being able to spend the proper amount of time teaching High School, or that we won't prepare them properly for the college they want to attend. I remember the first year I started homeschooling and I asked a dear friend, "What am I going to do when her knowledge surpasses mine?" Whatever the reason that we get nervous about this time period in our child's life, it is entirely possible to homeschool successfully though the High School years, and your children will be much better off for it.
What I was told when I asked the question about what to do when her knowledge surpasses mine is that by the time she reaches High School she will be able to teach herself. This I have found to be true for a lot of things. One of the goals of homeschooling is to teach your child to think for themselves and be able to work and learn independently, and by High School they should be able to do this much of the time. Also, with the Internet and multiple courses and classes being offered online, the sky is the limit for exposing your child to any number of classes that you only wished you could have taken in High School. There are also numerous online school opportunities such as Bob Jones or the Abeka Academy that you could enroll your child in and have everything taught and graded by one of their teachers. Also, use the people around you that may have a skill in an area your child would like to learn more about. Other people can be a great resource in the education of your children.
I thought I would share how I got started and some great resources I have found for those who are getting ready to homeschool High Schoolers. First I think, you have to get a general idea of what your child might want to do. Do they want to go to college, learn a trade, go into business for themselves? This may help you to decide which path to take. My daughter wants to go to college so that is the direction we are heading. Next, I looked up our state's requirements for graduation. Arkansas has the Education Alliance which is a great resource for Homeschoolers. On their website http://www.arkansashomeschool.org/ there is a great article about homeschooling High School, preparing for College and suggested High School Credit requirements depending on the path your child wishes to take. You can find that article by clicking here. Also for a donation of any amount, they will prepare your High School Transcripts for you. I sat down with Chelsea and drew up a basic 4 year plan so we had an idea of what classes she would be taking when and to make sure we had all of the "required" courses covered.
I have found some great resources for homeschooling High School. We had the opportunity to review this planner from TOS which I thought was a great resource for any High Schooler. Donna Young also has some great information and planners on her website which you can find by clicking here. Lee Binz has a ton of information and advice for parents homeschooling High School. Go to her website by clicking here.
Don't let the thought of High School intimidate you. Many people successfully homeschool their children through High School and they get to go out into the world as intelligent, confident, prepared adults. You can do it! Enjoy the time you have with your children because before you know it, they will be heading out the door to college or a career.
What I was told when I asked the question about what to do when her knowledge surpasses mine is that by the time she reaches High School she will be able to teach herself. This I have found to be true for a lot of things. One of the goals of homeschooling is to teach your child to think for themselves and be able to work and learn independently, and by High School they should be able to do this much of the time. Also, with the Internet and multiple courses and classes being offered online, the sky is the limit for exposing your child to any number of classes that you only wished you could have taken in High School. There are also numerous online school opportunities such as Bob Jones or the Abeka Academy that you could enroll your child in and have everything taught and graded by one of their teachers. Also, use the people around you that may have a skill in an area your child would like to learn more about. Other people can be a great resource in the education of your children.
I thought I would share how I got started and some great resources I have found for those who are getting ready to homeschool High Schoolers. First I think, you have to get a general idea of what your child might want to do. Do they want to go to college, learn a trade, go into business for themselves? This may help you to decide which path to take. My daughter wants to go to college so that is the direction we are heading. Next, I looked up our state's requirements for graduation. Arkansas has the Education Alliance which is a great resource for Homeschoolers. On their website http://www.arkansashomeschool.org/ there is a great article about homeschooling High School, preparing for College and suggested High School Credit requirements depending on the path your child wishes to take. You can find that article by clicking here. Also for a donation of any amount, they will prepare your High School Transcripts for you. I sat down with Chelsea and drew up a basic 4 year plan so we had an idea of what classes she would be taking when and to make sure we had all of the "required" courses covered.
I have found some great resources for homeschooling High School. We had the opportunity to review this planner from TOS which I thought was a great resource for any High Schooler. Donna Young also has some great information and planners on her website which you can find by clicking here. Lee Binz has a ton of information and advice for parents homeschooling High School. Go to her website by clicking here.
Don't let the thought of High School intimidate you. Many people successfully homeschool their children through High School and they get to go out into the world as intelligent, confident, prepared adults. You can do it! Enjoy the time you have with your children because before you know it, they will be heading out the door to college or a career.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Homeschooling High School:Home Economics Project
For her first semester of High School, Chelsea decided she wanted to do Sewing for Home Economics (cooking will be next semester.) She has taken a few sewing workshops with 4-H over the last couple of years which has increased her sewing skills quite a bit. She has made pants, a shirt, a bag, a pillowcase, stockings, and several items from the Home Furnishings Workshop that was right before school started this year. For her project, I asked her to decided what she would like to make and she decided to try to make a dress for Lily since she had never made a dress before. Over the summer we picked up a pattern and all of the supplies while we were visiting my parents' house since our Walmart no longer carries fabric or sewing pattens. I wanted her to complete this project by December 1st and she could work on it whenever she wanted to as long as it was finished by the deadline. Well, Chelsea is a bit of a procrastinator and waited and waited to get started on this project. Every week on her assignment sheet it would be there as a reminder, but she still waited. Finally in November she started working on the dress. Once she got going she did a really good job. There were a few things she learned on this project that she had never done before, like sewing pleats and applying interfacing, that she can add to her list of sewing skills. She completed the project on time and it turned out really well. As you can see by the photos that Lily really likes it too!Thursday, June 24, 2010
HomeSchooling a High Schooler!
Yikes! I cannot believe that Chelsea is going into the 9th Grade already. Well, actually if she was in Public School she would be in the 8th grade, but since she completed 8th Grade equivalent work last year we are moving into the 9th grade this year. Besides teaching your child to read, High School seems to be the time that HomeSchoolers fear the most. I am not "worried" about the High School years. I know that whatever I have been called to do I will be equipped for. I do however want to give my children the best education possible and the proper records if they chooses to go to college. So, I am doing a few things a little differently for High School.
I started out making my plans by looking up the High School Diploma requirements for Public School in our State and finding out how many credits are required and in what areas. Next, I sat down with Chelsea to develop a 4 year "plan " writing out what she will be taking when (subject to change of course in some of the elective areas.) She will have a notebook to keep all of her completed work this year and we are also going to keep all of her writing (stories, poems, songs) and keep a log of books as she reads them (a bit of a challenge since she reads so much.) We will be keeping up with credits earned to make a High School Transcript. I have bought a HomeSchool Planner from http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/ to use for this year. I have also found a website that has a lot of forms and articles on HomeSchooling and HomeSchooling through High School. Check out http://www.donnayoung.org/.
Chelsea's 9th grade year looks like this:
Abeka Curriculum
Themes in Literature
World Geography
Algebra I
Science of the Physical Creation
Kings of Israel A and B
Spanish I
Home Economics 1 semester sewing 2nd semester cooking projects TBD
Music- guitar and singing (both self taught with help of computer, cd's and lesson books)
Since we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sonlight's Curriculum she is also reading through their History, Readers, and Literature Selections from their Core 100.
I started out making my plans by looking up the High School Diploma requirements for Public School in our State and finding out how many credits are required and in what areas. Next, I sat down with Chelsea to develop a 4 year "plan " writing out what she will be taking when (subject to change of course in some of the elective areas.) She will have a notebook to keep all of her completed work this year and we are also going to keep all of her writing (stories, poems, songs) and keep a log of books as she reads them (a bit of a challenge since she reads so much.) We will be keeping up with credits earned to make a High School Transcript. I have bought a HomeSchool Planner from http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/ to use for this year. I have also found a website that has a lot of forms and articles on HomeSchooling and HomeSchooling through High School. Check out http://www.donnayoung.org/.
Chelsea's 9th grade year looks like this:
Abeka Curriculum
Themes in Literature
World Geography
Algebra I
Science of the Physical Creation
Kings of Israel A and B
Spanish I
Home Economics 1 semester sewing 2nd semester cooking projects TBD
Music- guitar and singing (both self taught with help of computer, cd's and lesson books)
Since we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sonlight's Curriculum she is also reading through their History, Readers, and Literature Selections from their Core 100.
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