You only have 4 years to get it done!

It's always nice to have the insight of another homeschooling mom who looks back and expresses what she would have done differently when she homeschooled a high school student.
It is impossible to dot every "i" and cross every "t" but I am realizing so much as I go along.

High school students have no time to waste. There is a lot to get done in little time - you only have 4 years to prepare for your future right? Well..sort of.

Here's how the conversation went with my high schooler:


"mom there really isn't a do-over for high school is there?"


"It depends."

I remember my college had a policy of repeat, forgive. You had 2 chances in your 4 year tenure to repeat a class you were failing, take it again and have the failing grade forgiven. It never even showed up on the transcript. Similarly, community college will allow you to withdraw from a class to avoid receiving an "F" if you withdraw by a certain date. What about high school? Are there any do-overs? If a graduating senior doesn't have the G.P.A that allows him entrance into college straight out of high school (assumming these are his goals), I suppose his do-over is to take remedial courses in community college then transfer to the 4 year school of his choice later.


What about a homeschooled high schooler? My solution would be to take longer to complete a course or take it again. Yes, there is time lost; but isn't the point of schooling, learning and mastery? Why do we have to get it all done in 4 years? There is always more than one way to skin a cat.


This discussion comes out of my daughter's frustration with the speed at which Algebra II is taught in the public school. I had to remind her we are not on their schedule. You will get it done even if that means taking a second Algebra II course to solidify concepts so that you are prepared. This course meets every day for 1.5 hours for one semester only. Surely there is time to take a second Algebra II course second semester. This way the material won't be new to her.


This brings me back to my original point. Belinda over at Live Life with Your Kids, blogged about time management. This is what we talk about with our high schoolers all the time. In one sense you have 4 years to get these subjects done so my student has to be very intentional on how she spends her time. Having the two public school courses and adding a community college class in January, has taught her this all important lesson. It doesn't get any easier after high school. These lessons have to be learned now. Slowly, I see how I might avoid some of these time management pitfalls with the younger two coming up on their older sister's shoes.

The stress of the season

The stress that I feel isn't because of the holidays which are literally around the corner. It is my new routine that has me feeling angst. The littles school day starts almost 45 minutes earlier than their old school. That means my day starts 45 minutes earlier. I used to have 8 full hours to devote to homeschooling, dinner preparation, errands and whatever else crept into my day. Now I have about 2 hours! This is mainly due to the fact that I must still run my oldest daughter to our old neighborhood to finish out two courses. Two hours drive round trip! It is temporary so perhaps my stress will be temporary as well. I decided to outsource high school Chemistry and high school Algebra II this year so save me the headache. I already know I can not teach math to Princess. Apparently, neither can her high school teacher. The kicker is Princess has one of the highest averages in her math class because everyone is having a tough time. Now I remember why it is a gamble not knowing from year to year if your kid will get a good teacher or a horrible teacher in public school - I guess any school for that matter. One thing I can say about this kid is she did go to office hours to get one on one tutoring which she said was helpful. Now that we are so far away it is a little difficult to go to office hours often. Did I mention that I was stressed? So once again this mom has to search for resources to help this kid master this math. So much for saving me a headache. We will get through Math! On another note, Princess applied to community college just yesterday. This will be yet another new experience for this high school junior. One more step to the academic independence that is right around the corner. It won't be an academic class to start out. She will tackle an Art Foundation course which has been a missing piece in her year. I know she misses her Art outlet. We just had no room in the schedule for it this semester. We will attend a homeschool open house at the college on next week so that is really exciting. I look forward to seeing what this new experience will bring.

It's all done!

So as of 12 noon November 1st we are all moved out of our house ready to move on to the next chapter in our lives. This is the same week I lost my grandma who was 96 years old. To say it's been a busy week is an understatement. A neighbor asked how I was doing and I paused. She replied in robot mode, huh? Yea..that's where I am. Robot mode. But one task is done, now moving on to the others - getting the new place set up so we can have some sense of organization, getting new library cards, finding a new piano teacher, finding the youngest kid a new preschool and registering his siblings for school. All in a day's work for this busy mom.

In all the rush of the week, up and down the road and packing the car 4 times here is what the best neighbor ever did. She brought us dinner - soup, pigs in a blanket, cupcakes, pumpkin roll and drinks.  It's the thoughtful things in life that can really make your day.

Before we moved to this neighborhood, I prayed for really great neighbors. I got just what I prayed for now we have to leave it all behind. I'm sure God has a fresh supply of good neighbors waiting for us wherever he shall lead us.

Advertising

I blogged about AdCamp this summer but I recently received an email with a video link to the new promo being used to advertise AdCamp 2014. My lovely daughter is featured at second 41-44. Woohoo...so proud of her.

Bridgeway Academy

My family received a wonderful opportunity to review Bridgeway Academy’s Learning Lab course.  The courses are a way for your student to participate in a live, online interactive learning environment devoted to one subject.  My student participated in the Marine Biology lab.  There are courses available for elementary, middle, and high school courses.  A sampling of what is available includes:

Magic Tree House Series:  The Arctic (elementary course)

Fun with Science:  The Rainforest (elementary/middle school course)

Fun with Science:  Marine Biology (elementary/middle school course)

Web Design (high school course)

 

Elementary and Middle school courses are $145

High school courses are $275

My student enjoyed this course.  The instructor was knowledgeable and upbeat.  She has extensive experience in her field and it showed throughout her lectures.  My student learned quite a bit in this course and was challenged by the homework assignments. My student showed up for class one day a week for 8 weeks.  Each class session lasts about an hour.  I didn’t have to remind her of her class time.  She was on time ready to work each week.  However, we did receive an invitation each week to attend the next class session which was nice.  I listened in the first couple of weeks but let her go on her own after that.  PowerPoint slides are available for review after attending class through the Moodle platform but my student took notes during class and used her notes to complete her homework assignments.

One thing this course challenged her to do was to meet deadlines each week.  The homework assignment was due each week by 9 am the day of the next class session.  My dear daughter missed the first week’s deadline and one other week’s deadline.  I have to remember she isn’t used to deadlines and perhaps I should have double checked her completion of assignments.   I did receive an email from the instructor when the very first assignment was not turned in.  That is helpful especially for the homeschooling parent who may be out of pocket on occasion. 

Bridgeway Academy has an exciting line of academic offerings.   A perusal of their website reveals a myriad of options for homeschooling parents.  Some of their homeschool options include Schoolyear in a Box; this option comes with a lot of other services including an individualized curriculum plan and placement tests; full year and half year packages are available; dual credit enrollment and so much more.  The only thing I was looking for that I didn’t find was the option to take individual courses online.  I am an eclectic homeschooler often pulling from many resources to meet my students’ needs.  Sometimes I just need an online or outside course for one or two subjects only.  I would like to see this option among their many other academic offerings available in the future.  One other suggestion I would make is to keep adding topics to the learning labs course offerings. 

When I asked my daughter what she liked and disliked about this program she said, “it was fun and interactive.  Talking with other students via chat was cool.”  She often told me what students were saying via the chat board even when the instructor told them to keep their chatter on topic.  I’m sure keeping class order in an online class is no different than it is in a brick and mortar classroom – a challenge for any teacher.  My daughter said she could think of no negatives about the learning lab experience.    My other daughter who didn’t take this class wanted me to add that the field trips to youtube were fun to look at.  She peeked at the computer now and again during class time when she heard “wow…that’s cool” coming from the actual student in class.

Check out all of their class offerings.  It's a great course for homeschooled students.  I noticed during the last class session many of the students commented that they were sad the course was over.  The interaction is really that great.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew

 

Family in Transition

Sometimes I think about the children of Israel living in the desert in tents.  They had to be ready to pack up at a moment’s notice when Moses said it was time to move.  Likewise, I think about how we live and if God was calling us to move how ready would

we be?  Perhaps that is why so many people are leaning toward living simpler lives.

For different reasons, we’ve moved 3 times in the last 5 years.  I knew the first two moves were temporary so I was very conscientious about not accumulating things.  I thought we were settling in for a long while when we moved last but circumstances have changed which means we are moving again.  Now I know how military families feel.

There is some excitement and anticipation for experiencing new places and meeting new friends but the transition is never easy.  Packing is no fun but purging is liberating.    Homeschooling during a transition isn’t easy either.  In our last move I remember we didn’t do school for an entire week.  We needed that week to set up our new home.  This go around I have 3 extra kids who will transition with us and that just adds a different dimension to the whole move.

The next time I get settled perhaps I will remember how I feel right now.  Determine to live simply so it isn’t such a challenge to just pick up and go wherever God may lead.

God's World News

Using the resources produced by God’s World News is a great way to make sure your student of any age is aware of what’s going on in the World from a Christian worldview.  I received a full year subscription to the high school print publication entitled Trak to review for the OldSchoolhouse magazine review crew.

Through their many publications, God’s World News provides news and interesting information for children so they will know God has the whole world in his hands.  The following publications are available:

God’s Big World (Grades PreK-K)
Early Edition (Grades 1 & 2)

News Flash! (Grades 3 & 4)

News Current (Grades 5 & 6)

Top Story (Middle School)

Trak (High School)

A home edition of the Trak publication includes 10 monthly issues (doesn't include December and May) for $28 and includes student website access at teen.wng.org.  The first publication I received contained one national news story about the bankruptcy of Detroit, Michigan.  Other news stories were interesting but I wouldn’t consider them “news.”  The cover story for one magazine discussed the limits and lessons of artificial intelligence.  The cover story for another issue explored the methods border control agents use to track immigrants trying to enter the US at its borders.  All of the monthly issues cover a topic in technology, a sports topic, a business topic, and some sort of social issue.  Other tidbits sprinkled throughout the magazine include “Last Words,” including quotes from notable people and political cartoons. 

In my opinion the magazine is too light for high school.  There isn’t enough depth for real discussion and critical thinking.  Frankly, I would let an elementary aged student read the Trak magazine intended for a high school student.  There isn’t enough “real” news for my liking.  That isn’t to say it wouldn’t be a good fit for another family with a high school student but for us it’s just not enough.  My 9^th grader agreed.  She said she liked the magazine there were a lot of interesting stories but not any “real” news.  The editors of God's World News encourages its readers to write the editors giving students experience in writing editorials and responding to the information they read.

(update) - I received my most recent magazine and it was like a different magazine!  Lots of what I consider current events.  There was the fairly recent shooting at the Navy Yard, Jerry Sandusky's recent appeals court appearance, Detroit mayor sentenced, the food stamp debacle, etc. 
Then there were social news stories that captivated my attention. The story of Jennifer Bicha, sexual abuse victim; and the story about Pastor E.W. Jackson who I'd never heard of.  The movie reviews were very informative and the notable books about American culture interested me.  I immediately felt the need to update my review.  I am really baffled by why this issue seemed so different from the other issues I'd already received up to now. 

My current events curriculum includes watching the local and world news with the kids at night.  I don’t think you can get any more current than that.  It gives me and my husband a chance to help them interpret what is going on as they watch.  While the local news is definitely not from a Christian worldview, the discussions we have help my kids understand the news from our biblical worldview.  I get more detail from the television news which I believe is important to get a better understanding of what's going on in the world. 

Now here is where God’s World News really wins me over – online!  

www.gwnews.com, www.kids.wng.org, and www.teen.wng.org have lots of web content that isn’t included in the print magazines.  However, you can still find a full digital copy of the print magazine.  I love that you can visit any one of these sites and tab over to the others.  You can literally jump from one article to the next on these sites.  

The teen website carries a lot of the stories I was more or less looking for in the print version like information on the recent federal government shut down.  All the articles on this site are under headings entitled SciTech, Must Know, Beliefs, Fun Stuff, Live Culture, and Arts.  Each section has various articles with biography information on notable people from the past and present.  There is an abundance of political satire as well.  I only wish it was balanced humor with many political leaders getting a fair share of attention.  It seems to be all about our President.  

The kids website is organized around the following headings:  MySci, Creation, Time Machine, People/Places, Know Me?, and Fun Stuff.  The Time Machine has many articles on information that is historical in nature. MySci contains articles related to science topics.  The Know Me? Section contains the biographies I mentioned previously from the teen section.  There is overlap between the three sites where appropriate.

Other resources online include tons of pdf files that can be used on various topics in Bible, Biology, Astronomy, Geography, and History just to name a few.  A teacher could really get creative in using these resources.  Immediately I thought the files would be great source material for outlining or teaching younger children how to summarize information.  

Many more resources from God's World News includes:
Write with WORLD writing curriculum
WORLD Magazine Today's News | Christian Views 
WORLDmag.com Online news site
The World and Everything in It news radio/podcasts
WORLD on Campus Online news site for college students

Overall the magazines are great reading material for students working alongside their main curriculum.  The online resources carry an abundance of resources and information to be used in creative ways.  Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.