middleschool

Online Homeschool High School Poetry (No Teaching Involved)

November 19, 2018 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I was given this product for free. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun!

When my boys entered the high school years I admit feeling intimidated to teach poetry. Besides fighting my sons’ perception that poetry is too emotional and for girls only, I struggled with the humdrum way I was taught poetry in high school. When I saw that Literary Adventures for Kids had an online homeschool high school Poetry & a Movie literature course, I couldn’t wait to get started on it with my third teen.

Poetry Study for Homeschool High School

Movies, an online self-paced course, and a hands-off approach to teaching the Poetry & a Movie literature course piqued my interest. My son not so much. However, by using this course I’m so tickled that I’ve been able to ignite my son’s interest in poetry. This course has easily become one of my favorites and must-haves for teaching high school teens poetry.

Overview of Poetry & a Movie

Let me back up first and give you a bird’s-eye view of this super course:

it’s self-paced and online
there is no physical product and my high school teen loved to pick up and go at his leisure
the literature course has 10 units
it is a study of the master poets and their poetry
it is a study of the poetic devices or literary elements
videos are scattered throughout
it has a grammar component
it’s designed to give your teen the broad strokes of literary elements so there is no overwhelm
you can purchase the books used in the course or borrow them from your local library
a movie suggestion is included for a unit end celebration
there is flexibility to use this course as a full high school credit, one-half of a language arts course, or enrichment

One more thing I want you to know before I move on is that this super course is hugely discounted from Nov. 23 to December 2. Hurry!!
Be sure to NOT miss this!

Although studying literary elements is the foundation of poetry over prose, I couldn’t take that usual approach with my son. Another roadblock of high school programs is that most use a textbook method. My son is an auditory learner.

You know my struggle through the years with him because taking notes doesn’t work well with him. I need to blend different styles of teaching to fit his need to learn in a way that appeals to him and make this course a challenge. Taking information in through audio works extremely well. The Poetry and a Movie course uses an eclectic method of teaching by combining video, text, and real books. Win!

Besides searching for courses that match his learning style, I had to overcome his perception that poetry is not manly. If you have boys you know what I mean. Challenge on.

Instead of picking up another boring textbook about literary devices and beginning there, the course begins with a series of videos about what is poetry. I won’t ruin the videos for your kids, but I heard a chuckle or two from my son.

Using the living book in the course that is suggested as a spine or frame for this course is what my son loved. Remember, a spine is normally a living book that is the foundation on which a course is built. That is another win for the course because real books should still be used in high school.

Now that I had my son hooked on the course, the next step was to choose a master poet that would help my son let go of his negative perception of poetry. Before I tell you what I did, it’s important for your teen to cover the master poets in order. If this is your middle or high school teen’s first introduction to the beauty of poetry, don’t skip ahead like I had to do.

I was tickled to see Edgar Allan Poe listed as one of the master poets. We moved right to his poems first because my son needed to understand that poetry is not just about love; poetry is about real things in the world like cruelty, war, nature, despair, and friendship. Because the powerful words of Poe were the first ones that inspired me, I was almost sure his words would not make my teen yawn. It worked.

Next the unit moves on to helping your teen define literary devices by using video to teach them and giving examples. At this point, your teen will set up his poetry notebook. Poetry, Literary Elements, and Trivia are the tabbed sections in the notebook.
Guide your teen to help him set up the tabbed sections because they give your learner a way to break down learning into meaningful and fun parts. After all, learning poetry should have an organized approach so as to not miss one tiny detail. The teacher in me needs to be sure my son comes away from high school with a foundation in literature and appreciation for figurative language and not just analytical writing. The trivia section in the notebook helped my teen to see that poetry is lively, upbeat, and challenging.I mentioned before that this course uses many different teaching styles, but it equally incorporates different homeschool approaches. The study of poetry is both a classical and Charlotte Mason feature. Charlotte Mason touts studying one artist or composer for a while. Studying one master poet thoroughly is the same approach in this course. Instead of quickly shifting focus, poetry requires lingering on words and digging deep for the intentions of wordplay by master poets. After my initial fast forwarding to a point in the course to hook my kid on poetry, we benefited from staying focused on one poet for a considerable length of time. Mastery is also a unit study feature and that was one huge benefit for us in this course.

Having a culminating activity like watching a movie together or having teatime with your teen keeps it fun. Of course I didn’t dare mention teatime to my boy, but popping some popcorn and lighting the fireplace before a movie made it memorable. Although the course is designed so that your teen can learn independently, don’t miss out by not reading the poems together.Poetry is supposed to be read out loud. Mentoring your teen doesn’t stop in high school. If you want him to appreciate figurative language and rhyme, then he needs to hear your voice. I enjoyed reading the poems out loud with my teen, but you don’t have to. Another benefit of the program is that he can read it along side the narrator on each video. I have to admit, my voice was no substitute for the narrator reading “The Tyger” by William Blake. Your teen will love listening closely as the poem is read to him.

Although you can use the course for writing lessons, my goal was to use the time to kindle my son’s appreciation for poetry.

5 More Things You Should Know About Poetry & a Movie

One/ The specifics of the course are the introduction, the master poets which are Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Langston Hughes, William Wordsworth, William Butler Yeats, Dylan Thomas, and Robert Frost. The last section is a Final Project writing essays.

Two/ You will need to determine beforehand how much credit you will assign to your teen. Of course this depends on how extensive you want to use this online language arts course.

Third/ Each poet has been planned for a month-long study. Because I wanted to get the flavor of the course, we initially skipped around as I explained earlier. Now, my son prefers to cover one master poet in-depth.

Four/ There is unlimited access to the course and I see this as a huge savings.

If you don’t know by now, curriculum for older kids is more expensive. We’re preparing teens for adulthood and curriculum shouldn’t just impart knowledge or rote facts; it should stir a teen’s mind to be included in the bigger picture of life after high school. Teaching a teen how to think using poetry as an analysis cements beautiful thoughts in our kid’s mind and reciting poetry is a memory aid to use into adulthood. You don’t want to miss covering poetry and it’s especially fun when there is no stress planning.

In addition, this course can be used in a few different ways to get your money’s worth. The master poets and literary elements can be introduced in middle school. In high school, use the course again, but fold in the grammar and essay components for high school credit. It’s a two-fer.

The best part is that you can use this with all of your younger kids. What a deal for a course that is prepped and ready to go.

Five/ Literary Adventures for Kids is owned by a homeschooling family. You know how much I prefer curriculum prepared by a homeschooling family because they get it when we need curriculum easy to teach and that appeals to a variety of learners. Another win for me.

Poetry & a Movie may be a good fit for your family:

if your child needs multiple approaches to learning
if your child prefers using real books instead of a textbook
if you want to foster independence with your middle or high school teen, but want your child to have a framework to follow
if you fear teaching poetry and want to learn alongside your teen
if you prefer an online self-paced course over a physical product
if you need a course prepped and ready to go with minimal teacher planning

Bottom Line: I’m extremely delighted with Poetry & a Movie and any apprehensions I had that my teen son may find poetry only a girl’s subjects has been put to rest. Hearing him repeat part of the poems he learned as he goes through his day is a proud mama moment.

I am so pleased with this course and I just can’t think of anything that needs to be changed. I would highly recommend it if you have a teen that needs to learn outside the box, but don’t have time to prepare a unit study. Poetry & a Movie is a keeper in my home and I plan on going over it again both as a standalone course and to use as a review tool. I look forward to seeing my son build on the foundational skills he learned in this poetry course. This has been a rewarding experience and has helped my son enjoy learning to write and read poetry!

Thanks to Literary Adventures for Kids for this excellent product to serve the homeschool community!

Don’t forget to purchase this at this huge discount from Nov. 23 to December 2.

Go on over and give it a look see. I’ll know you love it as much as I do!

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: Literary Adventures for Kids – Poetry and a Movie
►Website: Literary Adventure for Kids/Hide the Chocolate
►Grade Level: 7th grade and up
►Type of product: These is an online course. No physical product will be shipped to you.
►Price: 124.99, but there is a significant savings right now from Nov. 23 to December 2. Hurry!!

Also, you’ll love these other helps for high school:

Hugs and love ya,

How to Grade Hands-on Homeschool Activities and Projects (Free Rubric for Grading)

August 23, 2018 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Whether to grade papers or not for your kids can be quite easy to decide. If it causes unnecessary stress or increased motivation for your kids, you know. However, how to grade hands-on homeschool activities and projects fits into another category.

If you use unit studies which is mastery-based learning, do unschooling, or relaxed learning which all fit this same slant of mastery-based learning, you know it can be a conundrum on how to grade projects.

Looking back and analyzing what I did for each of my kids, I was able to come up with some guidelines I’ve used.

Hands-on Activities: Mundane or Monumental

Before I share these guidelines which will be of great help to you, let me remind you of two significant things of the superiority of hands-on projects over paperwork.

Don’t pass up valuable hands-on activities because you may not have a starting point for grades.

Grades really do matter when you live in a state that requires them or when you need to put something on a high school transcript like I’ve had to do three times.

It’s not as important to grade projects when kids are younger unless they need the motivation. However, to add them to a high school transcript becomes important so that you’re highlighting your child’s strengths and uniqueness.

Hands-on ideas and projects can be a superior way to grading because standards are self-imposed. This is opposite of how paperwork is graded.

Projects are not based on comparison to others like the present paperwork grading system. When a grade is given on paperwork it is in comparison to others the same age or the same grade.

We fight our whole homeschool journey avoiding comparison traps; implementing projects is an excellent way to challenge your kids and make them self-aware.

Basing grading on self-imposed standards creates critical thinkers who are testing and improving self and not in comparison to others.

Grading Hands-on Activities or Projects: The 6 Cs

I remind myself that with hands-on projects kids can progress at their own pace meaning they are more engaged and challenged or they can slow down and relax when a subject is tough.

Next, I set up standards for grading because we did not give up hands-on projects in the middle or high school years. A grade is needed for a transcript.

When I grade hands-on activities for my older kids, they all seem to fall under these six concepts which I use as standards.

1. Content

Content is probably one of the areas I spend the longest time grading. I look specifically for topics that I laid out for my sons to cover.

Although hands-on projects are about free exploration, it’s not always if you have specific objectives that need to be met.

For example, when we did our Amazon Rain Forest unit study, my then high school teen had to focus on not only the science of the rain forest, but the devastating effects of stripping the earth of the trees. Deforestation and the rippling effects globally was something I wanted highlighted.

Looking over his completed project of lapbook, writing assignment, and hands-on activities I checked for my objectives too.From there, I moved to what other concepts he included in his content. How unique was it? How detailed did he get? Did he look at the global picture? Are his thoughts illustrated or written in a way that is appropriate for his level?

Again, I’m looking at ways he challenged himself. Not ways to compare him to others his age.

2. Creativity

I use to shriek at the word creativity because I thought it was kin to craft activities. My boys are not the crafty loving kind of kids. Hands-on yes, but coloring and glitter no.

However, like you and I know creativity goes far beyond artistry or crafts.

Creativity is being able to use the imagination to be original. Hey, that is why I’m homeschooling. I’m original, my kids are original although they may not feel like it.

So I look for ways my kids were original in their projects. Did they come up with their ideas and rabbit trails or did they just follow what I asked them to do? When kids are little, this is okay. You’re teaching them to stretch outside of their comfort zone.

However, as kids get older, they need to prove that they are being self-taught, not just taking the guided tour from you. Creativity and initiative go hand and hand for hands-on projects.

3. Completeness

Completeness is another area I grade.

This may seem subjective, but again each mastery-based assignment has a purpose for that student. By not comparing him to others I look for ways he put forth effort to make the project a whole learning experience and yet individualistic.

How vast is his knowledge of it depends on how deep or complete he decided to explore.

For example, we did a FBI unit study for my teens. Using a large oatmeal box, my sons under the direction of the Mr. made crystal radios which is a homemade radio for picking up am stations.I thought that was it for the depth of understanding it. However, one of my teens pursued the subject of how sound is made without power and understanding the basics of reading a schematic.

In addition, the use of the radio and other ways of espionage led to an investigation of communism and Russia.

My objective or standard for this unit study was to focus on how the government interacts with other investigative branches. Clearly, my high school teen went beyond the objectives to get a more complete view of how the American government interacts with other agencies.

He was given a grade for his level of completeness based on his abilities.

4. Collaboration

Collaboration is an essential skill in both a career or college track. Real world learning is at its best with hands-on activities in a group setting.

How best to teach it? At home with siblings of different ages or at a co-op with others who have different abilities.

For example, I graded my teen on collaboration when he did a unit study on the country of Turkey. He chose the topic for our geography co-op class where a presentation was required by our kids.

My then high school teen was the one in charge of the project, assigning the parts of the unit study to investigate, presentation of the visual poster board, completing it, and guiding his siblings to finishing their parts.

It’s one thing to have an idea and quite another to get a group who do not share your same experience to work together for a harmonious theme.

It was challenging to say the least as he had to answer his siblings’ questions, entertain their different ideas, and agree on another way to work out the assignment.

There is no way such a vital skill can be show on a paper. It has to be experienced. Then, there has to be a way to give that skill a grade.

5. Challenging

Another facet I look at when looking over a project or hands-on activity is to see if my kids challenged themselves. You and I know that nobody else knows our kids as well as we do. You know when they’re motivated and when they’re not.

I can use art as an example. How can a student challenge himself?

Depending on his skill level, just deciding that he would take on the project can be challenging for an art phobic student. I have a couple of kids that don’t feel they’re good artists. On the other hand for my son who has more natural ability I would expect him to go above it to challenge himself for a higher grade.

Did either student challenge himself with his presentation or did he stay at a comfortable zone with his skill level? Again, not in comparison to others his age or grade.Is the process sophisticated or complex as a whole? How much time my kids spend on a project can be a good gauge. Was the project a one day project or did it take weeks to complete?

If it took weeks, did he dawdle or was he engrossed in a way to figure out a different way to approach the task? Those are questions I ask myself when I look over their projects.

6. Critical Thinking Skills

Depending on the project, another area I look at is the level of critical thinking skills. Choosing unit studies as our preferred way of teaching was my choice because of how my children learned. They’re ready to pursue each topic in-depth instead of piece meal.

They want unbridled learning and I have fed that through the years. However, a higher level of learning requires that my kids know how to process and sort through information. Otherwise all of that information can be a runny mess.

Things just as poor reasoning, logic, quantified statements, brainstorming, analyzing sources are all part of critical thinking skills.

Depending on your child’s age, you can target the skills your child displays in his hands-on activity.

Hands-on Activity Rubric

Grading hands-on projects doesn’t have to be stressful. Don’t give up hands-on activity because you think they’re too hard to grade.

I’m so excited because today I’ve created a new form which will help you to grade hands-on projects.

As I explained above, I analyzed how I’ve created our numerous hands-on projects we’ve done through the years and I’ve reduced the standards to a printable form.

Not only did I create this newest form, but here I explain how to use it.

The top part of the form gives you place to jot down the activity, date you planned it for, and a box I like to use to match it to a unit study theme.

If you don’t do unit studies, then use the box to jot down your lesson plan number to pair it with the hands-on activity idea.

The bottom part of the form you’ll love because it gives you a place to check subjects which the hands-on project meets.

Yes, hands-on crafts may take more time to do, but you’ll notice how they also span way more subjects.

Then of course, there is a place to mark for the grade. I don’t believe in Fs.

If your child refused to do it, you know that before you start. This form is to help you and your kids both to make hands-on activities more engaging.

I know you’ll love this newest form to add to the growing list of forms for my 7 Step Homeschool Planner.

Exclusive Dynamic Subscriber Freebie!

Download this free printable by following my blog and being a loyal reader. Click here to join. Follow the prompt to CONFIRM your email in your inbox. Then, you’ll receive a link to my dynamic readers subscriber library.

I hold back printables just for my email readers. I would luv for you to follow my blog and get updates by email. Besides receiving seasoned veteran how-tos, unit studies and unit study tips, tips for teaching multiple ages of children. homeschooling your kids from Prek to High School, you’ll also have access to my Dynamic Subscriber Freebies.

Again, wait for the link in your inbox to my private area for subscribers AND then download the form there.

What do you think? Will this make it easier for you to grade hands-on activities or better yet include more of them in your homeschool?

You’ll love these other tips:

Hugs and love ya,

A to Z List: Middle and High School Homeschool Electives

July 27, 2018 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

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A to Z List: Middle and High School Homeschool Electives

There are so many great options for middle and high school homeschool electives for teens that it can be hard to narrow down the choices. Sometimes we need a little nudge to remember that the freedom of homeschooling opens doors for opportunities for our kids beyond the traditional elective options.

This A to Z list of middle and high school best homeschool electives should give you a headstart in helping your teen decide what he would like to pursue.

I try to think out of the box when choosing electives. Too, remember each teen has a very different personality. You know that so don’t homeschool middle and high school in fear meaning take a boring and predictable path for electives.

Although they can be, these are not the core subjects. This is the time to explore a teen’s passion no matter how odd it may seem.

There is no other time in a teen’s life that he will have freedom to explore even the mundane. I know your anxious about your teen’s next journey as he enters adulthood, but let him delve into his passions and likes here. Just like you didn’t push when they were younger, don’t do it it here either.

Also, something else I learned after my first high school teen is to start earlier. For example, by feeding one of my son’s passion for writing in the middle and high school years he has continued on with his love of writing past graduation.

High school electives can begin in middle school; it gives your child a head start in time to pursue his strengths.

Look at some of these out of the box ideas.

A

Acting
Animation
App creation/coding
Archaeology
Archery
Architecture
Aromatherapy
Art and design
Astronomy
Auto maintenance/mechanics

B

Baking
Ballet
Birding
Blogging
Book club
Budgeting
Business management

Also, don’t think you have to learn all these things on your own. Look at some these fantastic middle and high school courses to explore which are already laid out.

Look at some of these courses from learn music in our homeschool.

C

CPR
Cake decorating
Car care
Career exploration
Carpentry
Choir
Classical music
Coding
Computer building, programming
Cooking skills
Crew
Crochet
Crossfit

Also, don’t think you have to learn all these things on your own.

There are may self-paced courses that I like which can ease the stress of teaching during the teens years and make them awesome. We loved our self-pace courses for art with Atelier Art.

D

Dance
Debate
Dog training
Drama

E

Early childhood development
Electric dance music/digital music
Engineering
Entomology
Ethnic culture
Ethnobotany
Etiquette
Exploring different careers

F

Fashion design
Fencing
Fishing
Floral design
Foreign languages
Forensic science
Furniture stripping, repairing, etc.

G

Gaming development
Gardening
Geocaching
Geology
Golf
Guitar
Gymnastics

H

Herbology
Hiking
Home design/interior design
Homemaking
Homeopathic medicine
Horticulture
Human development
Hydroponics

Studying my boys love of history, I was able to sneak in literature and history while delving into the medieval time period with Beautiful Feet Books.

I

Information technology

J

Java script
Jewelry making
Journalism

K

Knitting

L

Logic

High School Elective Ideas

M

Marine biology
Mechanics
Meterology
Midwifery
Mineralogy
Music

One more place to check for free courses for a limited time especially during the summer is the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. And if you don’t see anything free, at least you’ll love the discount on the curriculum.

N

Nature studies
Naturopathy

O

Oceanography
Ornithology

P

Painting
Parkour
Philosophy
Photography
Physical education
Physical fitness
Piano
Plumbing
Psychology
Public speaking

Q

Quilting

R

Robotics

S

Sailing
Scrapbooking
Sewing
Social media influence
Survival skills
Swim team

For a love of geography, my boys loved the audio or download version of Bright Ideas Press Geography.

T

Technology
Theater
Trail and woodland management or design

U

US Politics

V

Venturing (scouts)
Video production
Videography
Violin

W

Weaving
Web design
Welding
Wildlife management
Wood burning
Wood working
Writing

For writing, your kids will love this self paced help they get at Fortuigence.

X

Xenology

Y

Yearbook
Yoga
Youth leadership

Z

Zoology

I hope this A to Z list of high school electives helps you brainstorm some options for your teen. Has your teen tried any of these high school electives yet? Are there any others you’d add to the list?

I think you’ll love these other tips for when planning middle and high school:

Hugs and love ya,

Get It Over and Done: How Do Homeschoolers Graduate Early

July 22, 2018 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When one of my sons told me he wanted to be over and done with high school, I was setback. I felt like a failure especially because we’ve homeschooled from the beginning. I wanted him to love the academic part of high school as much as my other graduate, but he had a different mindset. I know homeschoolers graduate early all the time and it’s not a surprising fact, but my kid was not having any part of accelerated academics or it seemed like it at the moment. To me, he had the get it over and done with attitude.

Looking back now after my older sons have been graduated for a few years, I have a different view of the get it over and done with mindset.

At the time a kid cops this attitude, it seems like his whole future will be ruined. I’m here to tell you that is not always so. You need to look past your initial gut reaction if it’s negative; try to remember years later when you are having coffee together as besties this will be a memory for the right reason.

Your kid’s journey can still go from mediocre to memorable, but only if you handle this stage reasonably.

Moving Past the Four-Year Homeschool High School Plan

Look at these 3 points you need to think about. Then, I have a few tips and tricks.

One/ Try to understand what your teen is thinking about regarding his future.

Don’t jump to the conclusion that get it over and done means laziness or lack of motivation. It may be right now, but your teen’s maturity level is still changing.

Too, after I had an in-depth talk with my son, I understood his reasons for wanting a simple framework so he could graduate early.

At the time, my husband had just suffered a terrible health set back and all of my kids matured significantly that year. I have mixed feelings on my kids giving up some of their carefree childhood years, but that is another thread.

All of my kids understood the fragility of life and my son was ready to navigate his future. He wasn’t content for choosing subjects each year for a four-year high school program. He wanted to plot what was absolutely essential so that he could graduate.

I needed to focus more time on letting him explore what he wanted to do for the future. Doing that partially satisfied his feeling of uneasiness.

Have you seen these two great resources, Career Exploration for Homeschool High School Students and What Color is Your Parachute for Teens?

That brings me to my next point which is you have to be ready when homeschooling high school to decide what is your bottom line.

Two/ Rise to the occasion and decide what is your bottom line for graduation requirements.

I’ll admit it. I was unprepared for my minimum requirements because for so long my son was filling all of my requirements. I want you prepared.

Here is a general rule of thumb;

A graduation certificate is generally awarded when a teen has between 18-19 credits at the minimum. I’ve also seen 16 credits as the minimum. Look here at Homeschool High School–How to Log Hours for High School.
Then up to to 22-24 credits and higher for college readiness.

So choose a number of credits, but base it on subjects that will benefit your teen the most.

Three/ Be creative and think outside of the 4-year plan. Mix and match community college with online courses and self-guided learning.

Although I’m on board with any of my kids wanting to get a start on their career or college path, I wasn’t prepared for an alternative route other than the CLEP route I had prepared for him.

The point I’m making is to understand clearly what your teen is wanting to do. More listening than talking was hard for me. Not easy, but I did it.

My son knew the value of preparing for a career; he was just ready to get on with it now, not later.

There are many ways to fill high school graduation requirements besides the four-year plan.

Decide what courses your teen will take and remember that community college can be a great advantage for teens who want to progress. For example, your teen can take two years of basic math and take two years of math at the community college. It’s called dual enrollment. Ages vary by college. He’ll receive college credit at the same time. This option made both of my older sons feel that they had choices. Your goal of high standards and your teen’s goal of moving on can be met. You just need to be sure you and your teen understand all the options.
Although this is the son that normally prefers hands-on and interactive learning, he enjoyed using PAC (Paradigm Accelerate Curriculum) because they are a set number of booklets or worktext to complete. Instead of unrestrained exploring, my teen had a definite finish to the course. No extra books were required for reading. Do the worktext and be finished. This went a long way to making him feel that he could see a definite finish.
Also, I had to determine my goals for language arts. Reminding myself that we had spent many years with quality literature, I was happy to find the Dover Literature Guides a great fit. They promoted self-learning and independence. Questions are right there in the book for literary analysis. It was up to my teen and me to decide how many to read for literature purposes. What is a good rule of thumb for how many books a teen needs to read in each grade? Some providers choose anywhere from 15 to 20 books for the year with about 6 being used for analysis. Again, you determine based on your child’s interest how many he should read and how many should be for analysis.
Lastly, don’t forget dvd based learning and easy online courses like HippoCampus and Khan Academy to fill whatever else you may think your teen needs in order to complete his high school.

Can Homeschoolers Graduate Early?

Look at some of these insider’s tips, tricks, and things to know if your homeschooler graduates early:

Your teen may be ready to move on with his career choice, life choice, or college choice. If so, balance his high school subjects as much as possible so that you don’t close the door to any future opportunities. This means decide your bare essentials for graduating. Two years is a good start — two years of language arts, two years of science, two years of math, and etc. Most states have relaxed homeschool laws which means you determine the number of credits and prepare the transcript. If your state does not require a certain number of years or credits, then design your transcript.
There is nothing wrong with taking a gap year. Let your teen take off a year. Although gap years normally happen at the end of a senior year, your teen may be ready now to explore his future choices. When we moved to South America, unintentionally, it turned out to be a better thing for my discontented teen than I realized at the time. I knew the whole family would benefit, but I had no idea. The shift in focus allowed him a break, it put emphasis on the family, and it gave him a shift in focus he needed at the time.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think any parent is prepared for having a teen hanging around the house with no direction and too much time on his hands. Discussion needs to be had about why you’re agreeing to shorten the time. Whether it means your teen is wanting to move ahead with his career choice or college track, there needs to be a plan. If you and your husband decide to switch gears and try the direction your child is wanting to go, you need clear expectations and consequences. I knew my son was wanting to go ahead and start taking his college courses on line. With that choice he made, my son felt like he was moving faster toward his goals, but he also understood that he wasn’t graduating early to hang around the house with idle hands.
If your child wants to graduate early to be done with school because of his attitude, it’s an uphill battle, but winnable. If that is the case, I recommend that you cut back his academic load, allow him some time to pursue work. Mix in some community college classes so he is with adults and gets a taste of the real world. Try to not shut down communication, but don’t make any promises you’re not willing to keep. For example, if he doesn’t learn now that he has to finish what he started, he will take the easy way out in a lot of decisions as an adult. By easing up on his academic load, you’re giving him time to mature too. He may need time to decide the direction he wants to go and hopefully you’re guiding him to what you want for him too.

Don’t let something that could potentially break the peace you have with your teen wreck your household.

Teens still very much still try to push the bounds or limits.

If you’re firm on what your absolute minimum is most teens given some time will come around to seeing things from a reasonable standpoint.

If your teen sees that you’re trying and you’ve said you want the best for him, you need to be willing to let him start making decisions for what is best for him.

And remember this, which was the hardest thing for me at the time — as long as you maintain a close relationship with your teen and show him your positive attitude toward learning, he can return to whatever path you’ve laid out for him.

Now that my son is close to finishing college at his pace, on his own terms, and I add giving a hundred percent and advancing with excellent grades, anything he told me in his teen years pales into comparison.

It wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning of him taking control.

Also, I have many other tips to share with you. Don’t get overwhelmed, you’ve got this:

Hugs and love ya,

How to Build Middle School Curriculum Directly From Amazon

July 5, 2018 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Let’s just face it. We have homeschooled kids with unique needs and being able to to build creative homeschool curriculum directly from Amazon is a huge benefit. Not only do we get it quickly, but we love the savings.

Too, I love being able to return any supplies or curriculum that don’t work for us. Although, I love homeschool conventions, there have been some years that I just couldn’t go.

It takes time to build curriculum for older learners and I love the flexibility of being able to choose curriculum specifically for my kids. Many times through the years, my selections for middle school curriculum have been from different companies.

At this age and grade most kids have strengths that have emerged and weaknesses too.

I know it can be challenging and overwhelming to make choices and also to be sure you cover everything. So I’ve taken time to create different lists or boards in my Amazon store and have selected items which I have either used personally or have some experience with.

Organizing them by boards or lists (you know my fixation with lists) will help you to quickly see flexible choices.

I have created the following lists and will continue to add to them as I come across things that have worked for me:

To be sure you’ve covered the bases for subjects, use my checklist for curriculum resources. You can download an editable copy over at STEP 5A of my free 7 Step Homeschool Planner.

Unique Homeschool Middle School Curriculum

Also, in summer time don’t forget to check Homeschool Buyers Co-op for free summer homeschool curriculum and programs because it’s a good way of giving some of your favorites a trial run.

I think you’ll love my Amazon storefront as I will be updating my likes and finds that have worked well for me through the years.

For more help check out my Homeschool Helps page where I’ve listed resources for K to 12. I’ve homeschooled a long time and have used lots of great resources.

You’ll also want to look at these tips:

Hugs and love ya,

middleschool

Poetry Study for Homeschool High School

Overview of Poetry & a Movie

One more thing I want you to know before I move on is that this super course is hugely discounted from Nov. 23 to December 2. Hurry!! Be sure to NOT miss this!

5 More Things You Should Know About Poetry & a Movie

How to Purchase It.

Hands-on Activities: Mundane or Monumental

Grading Hands-on Activities or Projects: The 6 Cs

1. Content

2. Creativity

3. Completeness

4. Collaboration

5. Challenging

6. Critical Thinking Skills

Hands-on Activity Rubric

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A to Z List: Middle and High School Homeschool Electives

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J

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High School Elective Ideas

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N

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P

Q

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Moving Past the Four-Year Homeschool High School Plan

Can Homeschoolers Graduate Early?

Unique Homeschool Middle School Curriculum

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Language Arts Luv (Because it works!)

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One more thing I want you to know before I move on is that this super course is hugely discounted from Nov. 23 to December 2. Hurry!!
Be sure to NOT miss this!