homeschoolhighschool Archives - Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Homeschooling High School: Curriculum, Credits, and Courses

November 12, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

By the time you reach the high school years, you have some general ideas of how to plan them. Today, in sharing homeschooling high school, I’m giving you a few detailed pointers for curriculum, credits, and courses to steer you in the right direction.

3 POINTERS: HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND COURSES

First, look at 3 things I wished I would’ve known before I started.

One/ In the beginning, it’s not necessary to plan all four years.

It’s just not necessary because a lot will change. Your teen will mature and may change the direction of his education or career as he approaches adulthood. Give him some wiggle room.

Have a plan so you can give your teen goals, but analyze each year. Having a framework of courses is much better.

I appreciated reading How to Homeschool 9th and 10th Grades: Simple Steps for Starting Strong to help me stay focused on the start of high school.

Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School was a book I read early on.

After reading it, I designed a framework and understood that the three Rs are the foundation of any well-laid out high school course.

Look where I share the nitty gritty of that here in my post Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1 and Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2.

Two/ Also, I wished I would have used middle school to help my first high school teen explore more subjects he wanted to.

With my second high school son, I was prepared to let him explore more elective type courses in middle school and getting some of the basic math out of the way.

Middle school gives a budding teen time to explore subjects he is interested in. Take advantage of this time to have some fun.

Three/ Something else I didn’t learn until later was to explore more career options and not just focus on academics. After all, your kid is not attending college for life. It’s preparation for life and a career. (well hopefully).

Careers matter and high school is the time to explore careers.

Reading Career Exploration: for homeschool high school students and What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens, Third Edition: Discover Yourself, Design Your Future, and Plan for Your Dream Job are two books that are real helpful for your teen to go through.

EXPLORING HIGH SCHOOL COURSES

Something else I didn’t appreciate with my first high school teen is the power to be flexible with courses and course descriptions.

I couldn’t think past simply putting English, Math or Science on my first transcript.

Looking back, I know when preparing transcripts that you want to follow some traditional guidelines and keep general course names on the transcript. So those general descriptions were correct.

However, I need to describe the courses specifically.

Just to illustrate, I put Performing Arts on my first two boys’ transcript.

My older two boys took ballroom dancing, but Performing Arts is the general description to put on the transcript.

I had to come up with a description of ballroom dancing.

I started by looking first at the website where my boys took lessons to give me an idea of how to word what they learned.

I put this:

This beginner course is an introduction to the fundamentals of basic dance. In each dance class, students will be expected to participate in warm-ups and learn the techniques of the Waltz and other traditional dances like the Mambo, Salsa and Swing. Along with learning choreography and dance history, this course culminates in a Spring concert performance.

It wasn’t bad for my first description, but like anything that is a first, it wasn’t exactly comprehensive or correct in a sense.

Since then, I learned that I needed to add my grading scale, what books we used, and how I was going to assign credit.

It’s harder to go back and add these things later, but not impossible.

The bottom line is to keep the course name on the transcript general and make your course descriptive detailed on a separate page to produce it if needed.

EASILY WRITING COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Arranging wording to describe your teen course takes practice, but look at these places to help you.

An obvious place to is the website where you purchased the curriculum. I find the descriptions super helpful in my course descriptions.
I also look at high school course names and descriptions on public school websites. I look for course descriptions similar to the courses that my sons will be doing. This usually gives me some wording
Another place I’ve found descriptions in a nutshell is on Amazon. Amazon is great for giving book descriptions and with a few tweaks of adding how I assign credits and grades, a book description can easily turn course description.
Too, when I didn’t feel like I got a good overview of a course because some descriptions lacked, I would glance at the table of contents to help me word the description of the course.

HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT CONUNDRUM

It can be overwhelming for even the most organized teen and parent when understanding credits, but I like to keep things simple.

It’s been my experience that some families assign a 30 minute class the equal of a 45 minute class because of the intensity of homeschooling and give the student one credit for a rigorous course like literature or math.

You decide how to gauge your credits and the work ethic of your student.

In addition, you decide to give credit if a curriculum is 70% or 80% complete. Some homeschoolers give credit if it’s 80% complete, others less.

Look at my detailed post here for Homeschool High School–How to Log Hours for High School. It gives a detailed explanation for credits.

Also, I have free forms and show you how to expand the use of a transcript here at my detailed post Homeschool High School Transcripts – Anything But Typical.

You and I know that there is no one right to plan high school. But breaking high school down into manageable chunks keeps the process from being overwhelming.

Begin with a framework of the three Rs in high school, fold in accurate course descriptions as you can, be flexible, keep reading about how to grade and assign credit.

Before you know it, you’ll be a pro for your child – which is what really matters.

You will also love my other tips I have for homeschooling high school below:

Hugs and love ya. You got this!

What You Must Know to Teach High School Unit Studies

August 22, 2017 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Until my sons reached high school, I didn’t know if my unit study approach would meld with tracking credits and courses. Also, there didn’t really seem an abundance of prepared high school unit studies. Between determining if unit studies were a good fit for high school and understanding record keeping, it was a lot to wrap my mind around.

Sorting out myths from truth, I hope these 3 tips will help you to easily homeschool high school with unit studies. Or at least give you a beginning place.

ONE/ Understand first that high school is just a continuation of the lowers grades – really!

Yes, it’s true that you’ll need to track credits and courses, but before stressing out about them, plan high school subjects like you’ve done in the lower grades.

That’s right. Begin with what you know.

In my article How to Choose the BEST Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages for THIS Year, I not only give you tips on how to do that, but each lesson plan form lists subjects by general categories; math, language arts, science, history and electives are the framework of well-rounded out high school courses.

It’s not hard to plan when you understand that you’re covering the same basic subjects albeit in more depth analyzing views instead of just a question answer format like your child did in younger grades.

TWO/ Next, I learned to look for two-fer resources.

A two-fer resource is another secret tip to homeschooling teens. Using a resource which teaches two subjects is vital when your child enters high school.

You don’t want your time wasted and neither do teens. More important though is the reason that unit studies rocked in the younger grades is the same reason which holds true for high school. Learning makes more sense when subjects are tied together instead of studied as separate subjects. Additionally, unit studies have always been a research-based approach. This is a skill which is needed on into adulthood.

Resist giving up your unit study approach because it may require a bit more time to put together. Sure, it’s easy to assign a text book and move on, but you and I know that high school is just hard sometimes. It’s a challenge to plan but still doable.

Begin again with something you know. Look at these things you may already know how and are doing with your kids in the younger grades.

Reading history living books and having your child choose writing topics based on history.
Reading science living books and choosing writing topics based on science.
Reading math living books and having your child choose writing topics based on math.

How to Put Together High School Unit Studies

Now that you understand that high school courses fall into general categories and understand to look for two-fer resources, here are some examples of how to put it together.

We love the book Undaunted Courage.

Just a side note here. When I look at a book which can serve as a springboard for high school unit studies, I note 3 things:

that it’s a living book,
that it’s high school level so that I can legally note on my high school transcript that it’s a high school level resource,
and I mull over how hard it will be to add external resources to enrich the study.

Not only is your teen covering part of his credit toward history when reading Undaunted Courage , but he is covering credits for literature too. Writing is part of a literature credit. So your teen is covering 2–3 subjects at once depending on what credits you’ve lined out for the year.

Because covering literature in high school means more than just reading, you’ll want to have a variety of resources for analyzing literature and for guiding your teen how to write well.

A literature-based unit study which has a history setting has been the easiest to start off with at the high school level. For example, I find it a challenge to round out a history book with literature analysis than a great book suited for literature analysis. It’s been easier to add history and science of a time period to a great read.

One super helpful resource we only discovered this year and that is the Thrift Study Editions by Dover. Not only are the books for high school level, but each one comes with a study guide in the back. For example, while reading A Tale of Two Cities, we studied about the culture of France and England and learned about the issues of the French Revolution.

With a resource like that, doing unit studies are a cinch at the high school level. This brings me to the third point you want to know.

THREE/ Fill your teacher nook with specialized how-two books for you and your teen.

Tackling how to teach a subject with out a curriculum can be daunting, but you can go from research to reward if you choose specialized teaching books.

Here are a few of my favorite resources. You don’t need all of them, but I’ve used them at one time or another to round out our unit studies.

The Design-A-Study series are timeless. This series of books about science, history, and composition gives an overview of what to cover in each grade. Instead of giving you subjects, it’s helpful because it gives you the big picture of what your child needs to know from K-12. A resource like this is especially helpful if you want to cover a skill or topic that your highschooler may have struggled with in the earlier grades.
Warriner’s English Complete Course. This set of books have been around for years and helps to hone writing. Christine Miller of Classical Christian said, “This excellent reference can be used throughout all three years of the dialectic to teach writing. It thoroughly covers grammar in detail, which provides a nice review for those children that need it, or for those children that missed some grammar instruction in the grammar stage. It also covers writing in detail, with a complete section on writing mechanics, usage, writing correct and clear sentences, paragraphs, and papers, the research paper, using references, and even public speaking.” Read the rest of her review here. Before we started using Rod and Staff high school levels, we used Warriner’s. Rod and Staff’s Communicating Effectively I liked one year because I felt like it was more streamlined. It helps to.understand that I used Rod and Staff in the younger grades and their grammar is very rigorous and by 8th grade formal grammar is completed. When you click the link above you can see the sample of their English and what is covered in the high school years.
Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School. Don’t get overwhelmed by this book. There is no need to have to read all of it. Focus only on the grade level for this year. Having a handy reference like this will guide you to subjects for each grade.

In an upcoming post, I’ll show you how I plan credits now that you can see how easy it is to satisfy two to three subjects using carefully selected resources.

Also, check out Diving into Homeschool Unit Studies: The Dos and Don’ts and 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together and Homeschool High School–How to Log Hours for High School.

Hugs and love ya,

Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Invitations–Which Words Matter (Day 3)

April 6, 2017 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You would think it would be easy. Pick out some graduation invitations and have them printed or ordered online. What could possibly be hard about that?

When it got close to the time of having to pick them out, the do it yourself homeschooler in me kicked in. Okay, I am not completely honest. The words mattered to me because we have traveled a different road for almost our whole journey. Why should I end up with something normal when it matters the most now?

I admit it, tears came with mulling over and searching to find the right words of how I felt deep down. You know not the surface wording we are suppose to say on an invitation. But words you keep tucked away low down, because if they surface people may think you have lost it.

I wanted to express how grateful his father and I were that we had the privilege to homeschool Mr. Senior 2013. I wanted to thank the Creator for the blessing of having him in our life.

Tears streamed as my hands typed. Knowing the quiet, dignified demeanor of my son (he doesn’t take after me, must be his father) I knew right away he would be, to say the least uncomfortable by what I had already drafted.

Remember, what I said earlier about this not being just your party? It’s true. Mr. Senior 2013 cared about the details of the party including the invitation wording. I had always thought because he was a boy he might leave some of that up to me, but he didn’t. I think that it is one of the privileges of homeschooling, which is teaching kids to care and being responsible even about little things.

So after realizing that much of my wording was way too sentimental for an invitation and that it wasn’t a Thank the Lord invitation for his life, I was able to pick out words that expressed how we felt without scaring away my guests.

Too, by this point you will have decided if you will do a group graduation, which we decided not to. We really wanted something private where we dictated the events for the evening.

When Words Matter the Most

Look at some of these ideas for wording for both individual and group graduations

“Join us as we celebrate the homeschool graduation…..”

“The Class of 2013 proudly announces the homeschool graduation from (use the name of your school).”

“We have accomplished our God-given assignment and proudly announce the homeschool graduation of…”

“Mr. & Mrs. You are proud to announce the graduation of …….from their homeschool education.”

“With thanks to God for his guidance, the parents of ….. announce the homeschool high school graduation of……”

“…….will be receiving his high school diploma from (name your school) Homeschool Program.”

“As our final years come to an end, we pause to reflect on the joy and memories. Please join us as _____ celebrates his homeschool high school graduation.”

‘We celebrate the blessing of our homeschool journey by announcing the high school graduation of……”

“Please join us in honor of ____’s graduation from (your school name)”

“It is with great pride that we announce the graduation of our son………..from ………”

Deciding to do a double sided card also allowed room for more wording on the back which was important to us.

We were able to express our thankfulness for Mr. Senior 2013 and still keep his dignity. Looking above I was able to get in all the details on the card.

Just as a side point to remember, I did send out a save the date email way early to my guests. Especially if you plan a graduation in the summer, you will want to do this way ahead of time even if you don’t have all the details worked out. I know our friends appreciated the save the date email so they could make vacation plans.

Homeschool High School Graduation Invitation

Though saving money was not the main driving point for me preparing his invitation, it was a nice side advantage.

Two ways I have saved money so far, but felt like we were still having a unique experience are:

I had 2 photographers. One was not quite so professional where I had more time to devote to the photo shoot. The second one I knew exactly how long I would have him and had a list of photos for him too which I will tell you about in an upcoming post.

I designed my own invitations and only paid for printing/envelopes. Even if you don’t have the skill set for creating graphics, a lot of homeschoolers do. It is possible among your local group that you may find a homeschool teen or parent that can do this.

In the end, choosing invitations mattered more than I realized and I didn’t want to leave the words that mattered most up to a stranger. Whether you homeschool the whole time or a few short years, it is is a treasured time and there is no substitute for expressing your heart.

The other words that I have for my son as his mom stayed where they should be and that is with him.

But those are not the only ways I unexpectedly saved money. The venue or location to have our graduation was equally important and by accident I stumbled across another way to save money on this part of the planning too.

In my next post on this series, I will give you some tips on how we chose a venue.

Here are the other posts in this series:
10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Start the Planning (Day 1).
10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Senior Portraits (Day 2).

Hugs and you know I love ya,

10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Senior Portraits (Day 2)

April 4, 2017 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

updated

Homeschool Senior Portraits Matter Most!

Though many details were floating around in my mind, one thing I figured out quite early was that I could go ahead and get Mr. Senior 2013’s official portraits done and purchase his cap and gown as we hashed out the other details on venue and menu. Homeschool senior portraits were important.

Too right away, we had to determine if he wanted a senior ring or not. Breaking with tradition and because he didn’t really want one, I knew a regular, but no ordinary ring would be worn by him longer. Grandma and grandpa wanted to make that purchase for their gift to him. So that was one long term project done.

Overflowing Inspiration

Loving the details about planning, earlier in the year I had put together some color boards so we could decide what colors he best liked. In my mind, we could then go from there to choosing a cap and gown. That approach made sense to me or so I thought at the time.

{Picture Source: The Craft Begins)

We spent wasted hours poring over color schemes. Being the boy that he is the color scheme above is close to what he ended up liking best, or he thought so too at the moment. Of course with less peach and more terra cotta color at the party is what he thought he wanted.

All I could think of was a green cake when I saw that color scheme. All Mr. Senior 2013 could think of was an ivory wedding cake and a wedding theme which he wanted to be sure to steer clear of.

We both approached this planning the wrong way. We backed up and started with what was easiest to pick out first and that was his favorite color for his cap and gown. He knew right away he wanted royal blue.

(Picture: Graduation Source)

There it was. Our inspiration for our color scheme and party just got easier.

We ended up going with Graduation Source because it was a big company, had some great reviews and it was fast and pretty painless to deal with. Also, I went ahead and ordered only the diploma cover because guess who was going to make his diploma too?

All of it was at our home fairly quickly and all I had to decide now on was how to get official senior portraits. As I figured out, the color scheme could wait a bit longer because I needed to focus on senior portraits. I knew I wanted other pictures too of him showing things he loved.

After looking at a lot of senior packages from photographers, I knew I wanted more control input into the pictures and how many we got.

So I ended up getting my girlfriend who has a DSLR camera and is not an expert and knows less about her new camera than I do about photography. I coordinated the photo shoot because I knew what type of settings and expressions on my son’s face that I wanted to be sure to capture.

Let me tell you the extent of my knowledge of photography. I know one very important thing and that is that light is everything. I know the prime time to take pictures is either close to sundown like between 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. or shortly after sunrise. That’s it! That is the extent of what I know to make pictures beautiful.

On the evening of the photo shoot, my girlfriend came to my house first because working with that amount of time, you need to work fast. I wanted some inside pictures too.

Creating Events To Remember

I picked out 3 outfits ahead of time for my son to change into as we went along so I was sure to have a variety to select from.

I wanted to capture moments that he was proud of like his music or piano at our house and his car.

So we were able to snap several pictures and ended up with these that we liked the most.

Unforgettable Outdoor Photos

After that, I grabbed his change of outfits, his cap and gown and we headed to a local historical park.

Another important thing to me was getting some pictures outside in a natural setting that would have a background that inspired our Texas heritage. When it comes down to it, I am a simple girl and like simple country charm with a hint of formal. This park is close to our home and the perfect setting for our outdoor pictures.

If all possible, I encourage you to have one photography setting outside. You would be surprised at the places that make great photo shoots and I will list some for you in a minute.

Look at my list though of what I brought for our outside pictures after choosing a location.

I brought three different outfits for my son to change into.
I brought a step ladder because I wanted some pictures of the photographer looking down at him.
I brought my point and shoot camera too.
I brought a chair so we had a place to lay some of the clothes on.
If you have a girl think about bringing makeup to touch up her face or to wipe any sweet, but shiny oily faces.
I brought some cotton pads for my son’s face to wipe away shiny spots too and of course hairspray and hair brush.
I also brought some flip flops or sandals because we took some photos of him barefooted and so he could put those on his feet as we walked to another part of the park.

As you can tell we got a variety of poses and pictures to choose from.

Do not leave the decisions for the poses and positions you want to see your child in up to a photographer, even a good one. Though most professional ones will consult with you prior to the shoot so that they can understand your child’s personality, you are the only one who knows them the best. A photographer will love you for having a list or better yet pictures from the internet if you found some.

I came up with all the poses either by finding poses online close to what I liked or understanding what my son liked best. He is not an over the top person when it comes to taking pictures either so we knew we didn’t want glamorous. Girls like that kind of stuff better.

When thinking of an outside place for a portrait think outside the box.

Like I mentioned an old historic building makes wonderful outdoor pictures. When we there taking our pictures a girl that was graduating too came in a beautiful formal dress. I can just imagine what her pictures looked like with a touch of class and a touch of simple.
Think of old downtown
Think of an arboretum
Think of a park or place along a river or pond
Think of the beach
Think of the area around a museum
Think of a state park
Think of all the cool, out of the ordinary places you have been on a field trip to because they make great photo shoot locations
Here in Texas, we have the river walk in San Antonio if you wanted to take them at several different venues and start early by visiting other cities.

By using one photographer, my girlfriend, for these pictures and a professional photographer at the party, we saved a bundle already. I knew at the party I would be tied up with details for our guests, but my mind could be less stressed because I knew I had pictures already that were important to me.

Take inspiration from something simple and capture pictures way ahead of time because without one, it is hard to determine the color scheme for the party or for invitations.

No rest for the excited, because right after that, I had to determine details for the invitation. Next post I will share the details on invitation and venue.

Read 10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Start the Planning (Day 1), Ten Best Tech Gifts for Teen Boys, Fun and (maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives and How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment).

Hugs and love ya,

Successful Entrepreneur-3 Best Homeschooled Teen Resources

February 7, 2017 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

No form of schooling, whether it’s self-education, college or supplementary guarantees that your homeschooled teen will be successful in professional life. And a high score in college doesn’t necessarily equate with a high-paying job.

Maybe that is what entrepreneurs figure out while they are in high school; college should be a training for real life and not about earning the highest grade point average. But this isn’t a post about the pros and cons of college, but it is about preparing your teens to be successful entrepreneurs.

While teaching my sons the skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, I cheated. I had help.

Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

You know I told you that my husband is a true entrepreneur.

What do I mean by true entrepreneur? True and wannabe entrepreneurs were applying for one of five positions within a large company who specifically listed true entrepreneurs as a qualification.

My husband, along with hundreds of applicants went through a series of tests, which had multiple steps.

In other words, they didn’t want to hear that you called yourself an entrepreneur because you had a start up business or that you are an out of the box thinker. They wanted proof of your mindset.

And yes, my husband was one of the 5 called for the position after a few weeks of testing. At first, I chuckled silently because I thought there is no way you can test those type of personality traits let alone prepare for a test like that.

Then I realized that the many years of running our successful business prepared my husband for the tests.

Before I continue, I need to share a shameless plug. I’m so proud of my husband because he wrote a book.

Entrepreneur: Born or Made by Fire is his life story of how a boy felt unfit for public school and felt like he was in prison built a successful million dollar company through his creative thinking and hard work.

Being molded by my husband’s thinking, I want to share three homeschool resources in subjects my husband wished he would have taken more seriously.

And no, they are not dazzling business courses or secret marketing or money making strategies though it certainly won’t hurt your teen to learn those business tips.

They are basic subjects that help a teen to build a way of problem solving and help him to connect with the real world.

Look at these 3 best homeschool resources to prepare a teen to be a successful entrepreneur and how they help your teen.

ONE/Key to Series.

This supplementary math series is solid and time tested. At the time of using it with my sons, I had no idea how this seemingly basic and not so fancy looking math series helps build solid math skills.
Through the years, I used these series of books to shore up math weaknesses.

If a budding entrepreneur doesn’t like math, is struggling with one or two concepts or is rebelling at the thought of a math course where he feels his time is wasted, this straight to the point series helps him move quickly through concepts he doesn’t understand.

The workbook series goes from about a fourth grade to high school level and covers individual areas of math like key to decimals, key to percents and key to measurements to name a few.

Solid math is the backbone of any successful business. And being able to quickly work out a math picture in his mind of a profit margin, percentages or commissions are necessary. Start off at the basic level within the pack and then work up until mastery and mental recall are immediate.

A money making entrepreneur has to be quick on feet when it comes to mentally deciphering numbers because math means money. And if you can’t figure money correctly and quickly, it could mean less of it.

That is a big deal to an entrepreneur. Make math count by shoring up his weaknesses with the Key to Series.

Every Day Entrepreneurs Make Mundane to Monumental Decisions

TWO/James Madison Critical Thinking Course.

Nourishing a entrepreneur’s skill set means teaching him how to make meaningful decisions. The business world is full of gray and not so gray areas.

Teaching him to identify correct information and more important making a decision in keeping with his values is vital.

Besides making a novice feel like he has to make a choice between morals or money (he does not), the business world is full of shortcuts and ways for a new entrepreneur to utilize his curiosity.

The way for him to do this is to learn to effectively and critically manage the huge amount of information that can be amassed in an industry.

I was delighted when Mr. Awesome 2015 used James Madison Critical Thinking Course.

Written in a fun form, each scenario in this thinking course is about solving crimes.

Your teen takes an investigative hat. This appeals to an entrepreneur’s problem solving skill set.

The book is 534 pages but more importantly through a fun and not babyish or cartoon way it goes teaches critical thinking – a vital skill set in the business world.

Did you know that it’s used by adults to prepare for tests? Like real life business where you sometimes are not sure if you made the right decision, the problems are not about getting a correct answer.

It’s about teaching your teen an approach to problem solving.

Three/Building Historical Literacy While Engaging the Whole Child (Just 14 Lesson for Broad Strokes of History)

Then next, I never dreamed my husband would be endorsing a history curriculum, but I understand why now.

First, I need to explain what happened to us one year in business.

We had business acquaintances coming from Asian countries that were coming to meet us after we had partnered up the year before.

My husband kept quizzing me about Asian culture and what to expect as far as how to entertain them respectfully and interact with them they arrived.

The visitors we learned would be traveling with an interpreter. My husband took the liberty, though he felt uncomfortable about reaching out to the interpreter to ask about certain business traditions and culture in their home country.

In the end, we were prepared when we met our business acquaintances in person and exchanged gifts.

Why does this matter? My husband felt like if he had a better grip on understanding some of the basic history and values of other countries, he would’ve felt more prepared for that encounter and future ones too.

The impatient entrepreneur can benefit from going through a history program that covers the broad strokes of history.

In 14 lessons, he can have a framework on which to build his understanding of other countries and their values. We can respect and honor accomplishments and achievements of other countries.

Relationships in business are everything and nothing promotes relationships more than being able to talk meaningfully about the achievements of another culture. It enriches business relationships.

Also, look here at my post How to Teach History in 14 Lessons (From Daunting to Doable) where I give you more details about it.

Raising successful homeschooled teens is a challenge worth pursuing.

As part of my high school course for my sons they also read my husband’s book, Entrepreneur: Born or Made by Fire because we wanted them to understand the value of hard work.

There are no easy ways to prepare business-minded teens to learn how to take charge, make decisions in the face of obscure answers or how to interact with a world that is more global then ever before, but self-education is a passion worth pursuing.

Also, look at my post Digital Homeschool Curriculum – Big Ol’ List and Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging).

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging)

December 24, 2016 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Teaching your homeschooled teen the art of studying is a bit like not having a parent’s manual that comes with your kids when they enter the world. Well – almost.

Resources exist overwhelmingly for teaching teens study skills in public schools, but teaching our kids at home can give us a slight edge.

However, it only becomes an advantage if we tap into teaching them how to study along the way. Teaching a teen study skills can be frustrating if you don’t begin when they are young.

How to Spoon-Feed a Homeschooled Teen

Learning should be active and not passive. Spoon-feeding and hovering over our teens won’t propel them to learn the art of studying.

Look at 3 things I learned when teaching a teen to study.

One/ Self-instruction is a must.

Many kids do not do well in public school because they feel trapped with confinements on what they should learn. Avoiding the popular notion that teens need a lot of supervision gives teens a chance to experience independence.

Raising independent and self-taught learners means bucking the current system period.

I learned as I have homeschooled longer to give up the control while supervising them. It begins with self-instruction in what your child is interested in.

Starting out, this doesn’t mean a child guides himself completely because not all children are inclined to even attempt learning the boring things.

Many days teaching my three teens has been more difficult and mentally taxing then when they were toddlers because you have to talk with them not at them as they learn self-governing independence.

And yes there should be sanctions when a teen is not self-studying and is wasting time. But there is a reason a teen is wasting time and it’s called unmotivated.

Two/ Motivation is a GREAT incentive.

Motivation for studying what interests a teen comes first, then self-instruction, not the other way around.

In other words, you can’t expect a teen to be self-taught and independent without him having a compelling reason to be. You can’t just heap subjects onto him, like when he was in elementary grades and then expect him to do them. That was your job then, but it’s not when he is a teen.

Micromanaging in the teen years breeds rebellion and you may end up having an adult child that won’t speak to you. Don’t let that happen.

And don’t make the mistake of swinging to the other end of the pendulum and give him total self-governing.

Teen Study Skills

Don’t stress over it, but look at these sanity-saving tips to gradually dole out independence, which then teaches your teen the art of studying.

Choose a topic in a subject. As soon as your child demonstrates a bit of independence, recognize it by allowing him to choose a topic in a subject that you require. Don’t ask him to cover science, but require it. But give him the choice, for example, of studying about rocks, magnets or a bird. For us this happened close to second grade for one child, close to sixth grade for another and closer to middle school for another son.
Then, choose subjects. After you have exposed your child to well-rounded out subjects, then give him the choices of which subjects to cover. This normally happens around middle and high school.
Give him checklists, organize drawers and student planners to gauge progress. Give him a checklist or some way of knowing what he is doing for the day and when he is finished. The art of how to study can be diminished when your expectations are not clear. Not only are you giving your child clear expectations, but you are doing something VERY important lasting him on into adulthood, which is teaching him how to create expectations, goals and standards for himself. How to study includes setting incremental goals and meeting them. He needs accountability to you first, then next to himself. Early on I set up drawers for each child and in the order I chose for him to cover the subject. That model morphed into choices they made later on as to which subjects they wanted to cover first. I also created student planners and my oldest son enjoyed that the most. My youngest son enjoys taking notes on his iPad. And another son likes picture doodling and part words as he note takes. Each child is different.

Listen. More importantly, teens want to be heard. Listen and back him up by letting him try his idea. The best place and time to fail from an idea he had is while he is living with you so he can learn.
Take him with you to choose curriculum. My boys made a trip with me to the convention fair each year. If they didn’t have a preference in curriculum, they got a chance to look it over anyway.
Teach him his learning style and then help him learn that way. Don’t push your way of learning. I know, I’m probably one of the ~~caring~~ pushiest moms ever, but not all of my boys learn the way I do. Use color coding markers, use a written planner, use an online planner, use an iPad, music in the background works for one son (not me), quiet space for another son, flashcards, index cards and writing in a book (yes allowed). Be willing to move from your comfort zone to the learning zone your child works best in.

Teach Consequences But Evaluate Consequence Too

Three/ Consequences is a must.

Learning how to learn means that your child needs consequences, both bad and good for his habits. Shielding our child or always telling them everything not matter how well-intended can turn to nagging.

When I was a teen, I did learn by example. Not all teens learn that way and some have to experience pain.

Teaching my boys that learning by example is more preferable than learning always by experience was important to me, but my boys have to be willing to accept that mindset.

Teaching teens is not always a two-way street, so be prepared for times when they have to suffer bad consequences.

A bad grade worked for one son, but it didn’t for another one.

Telling my son to think about what others will think about him and the example he set worked for another son. He didn’t want to hear my opinion, but teaching him to evaluate what he was going to do or not do when applying himself to how he studied made him think how he would appear to others.

I’ve found that clear consequences, even writing them down has been a useful guide in prodding my teens in the right direction.

After all, college, life and career are full of on the job rules, regulations and earning respect. Don’t forget to teach them at home.

This is the tip of the iceberg of things I’ve learned as two of my sons have now entered the adulthood.

And when your adult sons tell you often how much they deeply value what you taught them about how to study, you won’t be able to hold back tears.

When you take time to teach your teens how to study, you teach them for a lifetime.

Grab my Free Student Planner, 3 Unique Things a Homeschooled Teen Learns From a Teacher’s Manual and I found this book, The Art of Self-Directed Learning: 23 Tips For Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education very inspirational.

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

7 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips that May Change Your Perspective

November 20, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I was given FieldTripZoom free and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Not every product will get a positive review. Too, because I carefully sort through numerous offers for reviews, it means I’m giddy about the product when I do accept it. Read my full disclosure here.

Virtual homeschool field trips were almost unheard of when I started planning field trips for our group of over 100 homeschool families. And I don’t think virtual field trips will ever replace the homeschool spirit and camaraderie we experience when we’re together. However, having experienced many unique circumstances and problems with field trips through my 19 years of homeschooling, I couldn’t wait to try FieldTripZoom for virtual field trips.

Using FieldTripZoom for many weeks I am tickled to share with you seven benefits of virtual field trips that may change your perspective.

1. When you homeschool an only.

Beginning to homeschool my first son, then homeschooling all of my kids and now back to homeschooling one child has been a huge adjustment for us. Experiencing a virtual field trip has allowed my only child to participate in activities without having to join another homeschool group.

I don’t feel like he is missing out on enriching field trips that his older brothers participated in.

2. When you have many young children.

A common problem when I planned was to be sure the local field trip location had a place to push a stroller. Sometimes that would eliminate places we could go to because they were not stroller friendly.

A mom, which has several young children couldn’t go unless she brought help. FieldTripZoom has virtual field trips for all ages. No need to pack those huge double strollers.

Gathering the kids around your laptop or desktop, which I recommend because the screen is normally bigger is not only a great break for mom, but it spares your sanity.

Virtual Field Trips – Mediocre to Memorable

3. When you have to be budget conscious. Who doesn’t have to be nowadays?

The next problem I experienced with our monthly field trips was the different budgets among the families.

A mom of an only child versus a mom that had multiple children obviously were looking at different dollar totals by the time they paid admission fee, gas and maybe lunch.

Paying a yearly fee of $49.95 per household as an “all inclusive” and without any limits on how many interactive programs you can watch is a huge advantage.

4. When you have middle and high school teens. The fun shouldn’t stop.

After our kids got older, they wanted field trips that were not babyish and rightly so. I love the fact that with 100s of live streaming events, it is up to my son to decide which level he is interested in viewing.

Some science topics he wanted to view the lower level because there were more hands-on things to view.

With other subjects like the American Civil War, he viewed the high school level because he was more interested in higher level topics.

Without any restrictions, he could have even choose to watch more than one level on one topic on the same day because they are at different times.

5. When you can see artifacts and talk to a specialist in person.

Oh sure they are lots of free virtual field trips, but there is a reason they are free.

However, if you want a guided tour, view artifacts like you would when you pay for a guided tour at a museum, be able to ask questions to the presenter or make comments like my son did, you’ll be delighted with FieldTripZoom.

FieldTripZoom has a huge edge because they are live. No, not prerecorded. There is a chat box to chat or to ask a question to the presenter. All of this made it more like an interactive classroom instead of just watching a free video.

Worthy of mention too is that your children can see an animal or artifacts up close without a lot of other kids crowding yours out of the way.

6. When you go to places from your home that you may not otherwise ever go to.

When I was in school, I could only read about places in other states. It’s the same problem when planning local field trips. You’re limited to local places or distances that families in your group are willing to drive to.

The Best Kind of Field Trips – No Planning!

On our virtual field trips we have learned about the giant Pacific octopus of Alaska, visited Virginia for Native American month and then on to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum to name just a few of the places. At the bottom, I will list more places we plan on going this year.

7. Weak subjects can be reinforced or delved into deeper.

We are especially finding FieldTripZoom helpful to cover some topics Tiny struggles with and with some he wants to delve into deeper. With content partners from museums, science centers, historical sites, zoos, a literary group and performing arts to name a few, we are stoked about setting our schedule for the rest of the year,

I didn’t forget to list a few of the upcoming programs we are eye balling and there are a lot of other programs in between these dates like wildlife week, astronomy week, DNA week and Holocaust week.

Nov 21 & 22, 2016 – The Comanche Code Talkers and D-Day
Dec 14, 2016 -Exploring the Scientific Method and the Wright Brothers First Flight
Jan 9, 2017 – Journey to the Center of the Earth

Virtual field trips are a way to bring the world up close for your children all from the comfort of your living room or dining room table.

I don’t have to choose either a field trip to a local location or a virtual field trip, we can have both.

Oh the Places You’ll Go! (okay, okay couldn’t resist that by Dr. Seuss).

You can try FieldTripZoom Zone Homeschool using the discount coupon below.

Look at this sweet savings discount and PASS it on to your friends.
Use Coupon Code 01338. Ends 12/31/2016.Hurry!

Also, grab my free homeschool journal pages to use as you explore new places with FieldTripZoom!

Product Name: FieldTripZoom
Website: FieldTripZoom Zone Homeschool
About the product: We provide our Homeschool customers access to unique, live educational content created and delivered by a rapidly expanding community of leading museums, science centers, historical sites, zoos, aquariums, literary groups, wellness centers, arts and performing arts organizations
Grades: K-2nd 3rd-5th 6th-9th HighSchool
Formats: All you need is internet access and a device. Gather the kids around because no fancy equipment is needed.
Price: $49.95 per household as an all inclusive.
Follow them here: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

14 Fun and (maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives

October 25, 2016 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

,
Choosing homeschool high school electives are a fun part of your teen’s journey or at least it should be. Beyond the core homeschool subjects, electives allow a teen to pursue his passion.

When this time came for my oldest two, I tried to stay out of the process, but I didn’t realize that my boys actually welcomed my input. Maybe some of this comes from my homeschooling them from the beginning. They don’t really mind discussing things with me, but I want them to have the final say in what they chose to study.

Keep in mind this part of high school is about discovery, exploring and maybe creating. Each teen will view this time in high school differently depending on their goals. Some teens are more sports-minded, some academic-minded and yet others may be music and art-minded.

I’ve learned a lot about what I consider to be an elective and I’ve learned that you don’t have to spend a whole lot if you don’t want to. Keep in mind though, this is high school and that means books do cost more.

Build Your Own Unique Homeschool High School Electives

So when I think about the cost of something, I think in terms of what value we get in return. For example, if we pay and only get high school credit that is not necessarily a good deal to me. However, if we pay for something and get some sort of certificate in addition to high school credit, then I’m all in.

The whole realm of what could be studied and discovered can be anything from art and automobile repair to woodworking and pre-med study.

Look at some of these options.

1,2. Home Repair and Maintenance & Woodworking. My first son started off with Home Repair and Maintenance but switched to Beginning Woodworking. Though I felt Home Repair and Maintenance was of much more value, this is again about my son choosing things that he thought interested him at the time.

3. Fine arts includes Ballroom Dancing. At the time it came to choose, my older two sons wanted to do some kind of sports, but we didn’t really have any homeschool sports group that were close. I couldn’t do another hour of driving at the time. What we did have close was an Arthur Murray studios for ballroom dancing. This is one of those things that I viewed as a two-pher. The boys wanted to be with other teens and I wanted them to explore more fine arts. At first, my boys said absolutely NO to ballroom dancing, but the Mr. got involved and told them to try it out. After two lessons with hip young instructors and with other cool homeschool teens their ages, all of my boys took ballroom dancing for a few years. I think they toned their bodies and learned a beautiful art more than they would have if they played sports and they also now agree.

4. Local programs assigning a certificate. When my niece lived with us and was thinking about going into the medical field, I learned a lot about certificate programs. For example, there are different levels of CPR training and it normally is offered to anybody as long as they can perform the duties. This is one of those things I feel is not only practical to learn, but it gave her a glimpse of what it’s like if she decided to pursue something in the medical field. Do you know how many certificate programs there are in every field? Dozens as I began my search. It just takes some digging because it may or may not have a minimum age requirement. Also, it gives a teen has a completed certificate of completion in maybe a vocational field and a teen gets a taste of what a particular field is like. At this age, it is about exploring career options too.

5. Apprenticeship for photography. My other niece was interested in photography and was offered to work with a local professional while learning photography. Again, because she was going to get paid while learning a craft, this is an excellent choice for a teen. They are always looking for ways to make put some money in their pocket. This is a super two-fer and frugal.

6. Check out the local pool. Though I wasn’t interested in my boys working at the local city pool, they are good swimmers and love the water. Today some schools gives PE credit for working as a lifeguard, but this is certainly a doable option for a teen if he or she loved the water.

7. Weightlifting. Yes, I know, but I have all boys and I really do love the fact that studying health, about the muscles and the body can be included in this and I did. I didn’t really follow a course for my first son, but we did convert the garage to a weight room.

8. Create and collaborate with others for a group yearbook. When I was with one group, they determined to do a yearbook to showcase our group’s activities for the year. The high school teens would be the ones heading it up. If a student was interested in journalism, creative writing or art it gave them a way to use their talents. Not only did the teens get credit for the year, but we got a unique yearbook. I liked the fact that the teens had to follow up with homeschool moms to get information and work together to incorporate their ideas.

9. Choir. One group that lived near us had a homeschool choir group. I had one son interested in taking choir, but it had a few too many girls for his taste. I wished it had a few other boys his age, but it was a great option.

10, 11. Foreign Language & Sign Language too. Though foreign language courses can be costly, my boys got to use some of their Spanish when we went South America. This is another example of how I don’t mind paying a bit more for this elective because it’s a great return in not only learning the syntax of a language, but it’s so practical as they travel.

12. Geography and history Unit study. One of my sons also did a half of a semester learning about the country of Turkey. Like his mom, he loves history and geography and not only did he read about it, but he learned about the culture, background, people, art and food. It was fun for him to share with our homeschool group what he learned.

13. Travel. Yes, we intentionally moved to South America for a year and half so that my second son could receive credit for traveling and exploring other cultures. Exploring the Amazon and trekking through mountains is the way my second son rolls. So maybe this idea isn’t so frugal, but it sure was fantastic and he won’t easily forget what he and his brothers learned through their guided science tours in the Amazon.

Don’t forget that (14.) Driver’s Education can be counted as an elective and it’s another two-pher when your kid takes this. Most teens are ready to drive and I am here to testify that having a couple of chauffeurs in the family rocks. My grocery shopping time has never been the same because I rarely have to do it.

These are a few of the homeschool high school electives we have chosen so far. There really is no limit on the topics that your teen can choose.

Instead of focusing on the fear of how to count the hours and credit, focus on what your teen wants to learn because any topic or theme is readily available for your teen to explore.

Grab some other tips here: Free Homeschool High School Planning Sheet (and pssst help for high school too), Accreditation Removing the Shroud of Mystery and Homeschool High School–How to Log Hours for High School?

Hugs and love ya,

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

Homeschooling High School: Curriculum, Credits, and Courses

3 POINTERS: HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND COURSES

EXPLORING HIGH SCHOOL COURSES

EASILY WRITING COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT CONUNDRUM

What You Must Know to Teach High School Unit Studies

How to Put Together High School Unit Studies

Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Invitations–Which Words Matter (Day 3)

When Words Matter the Most

Homeschool High School Graduation Invitation

10 days-Planning Homeschool High School Graduation: Senior Portraits (Day 2)

Homeschool Senior Portraits Matter Most!

Overflowing Inspiration

Creating Events To Remember

Unforgettable Outdoor Photos

Successful Entrepreneur-3 Best Homeschooled Teen Resources

Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Every Day Entrepreneurs Make Mundane to Monumental Decisions

Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging)

How to Spoon-Feed a Homeschooled Teen

Teen Study Skills

Teach Consequences But Evaluate Consequence Too

7 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips that May Change Your Perspective

Virtual Field Trips – Mediocre to Memorable

The Best Kind of Field Trips – No Planning!

Look at this sweet savings discount and PASS it on to your friends.
Use Coupon Code 01338. Ends 12/31/2016.Hurry!

14 Fun and (maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives

Build Your Own Unique Homeschool High School Electives

My Middle & High School Geography Curriculum Luv & Career or College Help! (Oh Yes)

My Middle & High School Language Arts Luv (Because it works!)

Archives

3 POINTERS: HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM AND COURSES

EXPLORING HIGH SCHOOL COURSES

EASILY WRITING COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT CONUNDRUM

How to Put Together High School Unit Studies

When Words Matter the Most

Homeschool High School Graduation Invitation

Homeschool Senior Portraits Matter Most!

Overflowing Inspiration

Creating Events To Remember

Unforgettable Outdoor Photos

Habits of Successful Entrepreneurs

Every Day Entrepreneurs Make Mundane to Monumental Decisions

How to Spoon-Feed a Homeschooled Teen

Teen Study Skills

Teach Consequences But Evaluate Consequence Too

Virtual Field Trips – Mediocre to Memorable

The Best Kind of Field Trips – No Planning!

Look at this sweet savings discount and PASS it on to your friends. Use Coupon Code 01338. Ends 12/31/2016.Hurry!

Build Your Own Unique Homeschool High School Electives

My Middle & High School Geography Curriculum Luv & Career or College Help! (Oh Yes)

My Middle & High School Language Arts Luv (Because it works!)

Archives

Look at this sweet savings discount and PASS it on to your friends.
Use Coupon Code 01338. Ends 12/31/2016.Hurry!