If you are a hope-to-be, newbie, or hitch-hiking homeschoolers that follows me or frequently asks questions that you have been waiting on answers and resources to FOREVER…………………………. GUESS WHAT?!
I just hosted a discussion on common questions and aspects of homeschooling high school…………………….JUST FOR YOU! Including YOUR questions and many others.
During the discussion in the video posted above, I moderated two homeschooling high school aficionado’s to lend their expertise as well: Jennifer Seuss, a homeschool mom of six, two of which are currently in college at Franciscan University, in addition to one Franciscan University graduate, while currently homeschooling her other three, she holds a background in IT and business start up, she focuses now on homeschooling and organizing private membership homeschool events; and John Coleman, a high school and college level tutor of the humanities, and Latin as a secobd language, he found Apocatastasis Institute for the Humanities, an alternative High School and College, and is our tutor of nine years. He also held our hand through obtaining scholarships, transcripts, college application and reference letters.
Additionally, I had such a dynamic group of friends attend this discussion: some friends of friends, potential new homeschoolers, newbie homeschoolers and even a few veteran homeschool moms I’ve known for years assisted with the after the discussion that’s NOT in the video so be sure to scroll down to those; I’ve put the questions in bold so you can easily reference the ones of interest. This wide group lent to how much info was poured into this discussion. These ladies asked some of the best questions, lent valuable insight and experience in addition to Jennifer & John’s direction.
I’m going to attempt to recap the discussion with a video recording and outline of the Q&A along with the many resources that came up for you to benefit from even though you couldn’t be with us, or maybe pass onto a friend.
Please feel free to share and also comment with any questions or additional info or resources. I will do my best to get your related questions answered and if you yourself are a veteran homeschool mom with valuable input please considering adding also.
http://apocatastasisinstitute.word press.com/ http://wholesomehealingnetwork.com/?fbclid=IwAR0NE8eIei4O-myriJzaC7Tahxg4Ed4Yy-KXLLJKeCIblFtQlRXnoaz531o https://www.fasttranscripts.com/ https://www.collegeboard.org/Home
Q&A
Marge C. of Watertown, CT holding a masters in history, feels its the least studied subject and contributes that to being why education is in the ness it is in currently. Marg has been homeschooling from the beginning, K-college, uses a classical curricula and more of an unschool approach. She said, ”Choose literature wisely, especially if your children are musical; they respond well to it.” Her children were what she called ”oral learners, never found to be taking notes” and whose eldest finished his masters in music after transferring from WCSU-NVCC. ”Don’t poo-poo community college,” she reminded. Marg also said, “Eliminate the garbage.” Her second child graded her own work and was doing calculus by age thirteen, but noted her third child who didn’t read until eight years was reading at a college level by eighth grade. Marg recommends Wholesome Healing Ministries, a 508 private member section learning center and more apprenticeships.
Matte Family of, CT now in their second year of homeschool asked, ”What is Terra Bona and how do pick grades for your kids?
Jennifer S. responded saying that she considers grading a ”nasty job” and that not providing test re-do’s is a disservice to the child. “The goal is to learn content not complete it and log a grade.” I agreed with her and reminded that Plutarch himself supported her statement, ”The goal is to master content not to complete it.”
“What is Terra Bona Family? Terra Bona is a list of people who are interested in attending events hosted by the Suess family for the Catholic homeschooling community.
Terra Bona Family is not an online discussion group for homeschooling families.
Terra Bona Family exists to facilitate events hosted by the Suess family. The name “Terra Bona Family” itself comes from the name of the Suess family homeschool.”
John C added, ”Grade if you must but keep the ’verbiage’ tight as there is a control system attempting to assert itself; whatever we are giving our kids, it has to match the professionalism of the meat of education.”
Karen S. of Newtown, CT a veteran homeschool mom having a special needs child and employs an unschool approach with him asked, ”How many hours equal a credit and what criteria does a credit require?”
Jennifer S said, “ while I haven’t looked that up in a while, there are guidelines, you will have to look them up. Also, distinguish what is extracurricular and what is not.”
John C ” 16 weeks in a college semester equals 2.5 hours two times a week making up a one semester credit.”
Matte Family questioned, ”Whose checking?”
Marg C recommended (NHELD) National Home Education Legal Defense lead by Deb Stevenson, a lawyer and homeschool mom, not just for legal defense and counsel but also for referencing your state laws and guidelines. Marg also reminded the use of accuplacer, placement tests, ACT and GED back-up.
Karolina, Greenwich, CT a new homeschool mom as of this year added how influential and supportive Deb Stevenson was in transferring her own children from public to homeschool.
I added (HSLDA) Home School Legal Defense Association as another common option for this and commented that 135 hours is considered 1 credit in the state of CT, however criterion for that credit depends on the course and the instructor/school. A great resource for more info on this and as well as how to create transcripts and all that can be included on them is Fearless Homeschooler.
https://hslda.org/ https://www.dgstevensonlaw.com/national-home-education-legal- defense-nheld/ https://fearlesshomeschoolers.com/blog/homeschool-credits-for-high-school https://www.accuplacer.org/Noreen G, Brookfield, CT another veteran homeschool mom and previous NASA engineer just wanted to add that while she always wanted to go into pre-med as teenager, her dad encouraged sci/engineering because it was a good preliminary. She encourages more engineering as a ”pre-degree” as it enables problem solving and provides a leg up in most fields.
Annetta G, Berlin, CT introduced herself as a mom whose kids are in currently in public school, hates the direction public education is moving and so considers homeschool but feels intimated by it mostly because English is her second language.
Jennifer S. said, ”Keep in mind your ’Why.’”
This pushes all through homeschooling endeavor and through all obstacles.
I couldnt have agreed with Jennifer more and added that when your reason ”Why” you homeschool becomes bigger than your fear of it, your ready and WILL succeed.
Ania, also of Berlin, CT added she also considers homeschooling to get out of what she associates to be “The Matrix” but in addition to the language barrier being a concern for her, she is a full time working mom.
Jennifer S responded, ”Balance your strengths and your weaknesses. You don’t have to be who you’re not. Your child just needs encouragement to be who THEY are, not who YOU are.”
To which I added, ”You’re their guide not their teacher. If you could become a parent without any prior experience and learn along the way, so too is homeschooling. Your child trains you as a homeschool mom as much as much as we train them as students. We have all been students before. We all already own that experience and can pass that on to our children.”
John C added, ”Just build an ‘intellectual life’ within your house above school.”
Agnez W. from Berlin, CT a new homeschool mom as of this year, homeschooling her fifteen year old asked, ”After course completion, is it accredited?
Jennifer S. ”Buy a curriculum. Any provider will lay that out. My kids use Seton/Kolbe, while we outsource History.”
I want to add that while many curriculums offer accreditation there are many different accreditations out there and there is no guarantee which one your choice college will accept. Same with CLEP. Curriculums help but if you know what college your teen pursues find out and choose curriculum appropriately. Either way placement tests supplement where accreditation isn’t acceptable so I say choose what works for you and tour child not the college or accreditation.
As far as choosing curriculum, I second Jennifers curriculum choices as some of the best options out there but I also want to include OLVS (Our Lady of Victory School) which we use for the Junior High/High Schoolers who like to work independently and need a plan to guide them, MODG (Mother of Divine Grace) is a close competitor to OLVS, CHC (Catholic Heritage Curricula) for younger grades, maybe up to 3rd or 4th, and RC History and Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer for best approach to combining multiple grade levels into one time period of study, incorporating History and Literature study into Grammar assignments. Condensing these subjects makes putting History on the back burner less likely and also lightens the load in teaching multiple children at different levels weighs on a parent. Doing this makes the process so much more enjoyable and yet somehow more rigorous at the same time. While I consider a curriculum necessary to start off so you understand the general structure and progression of an academic year, I find it impossible to select one curriculum that fits all of your child’s unique academic strengths/weaknesses and feel curriculums can be very limiting to the growth potential that homeschooling frees you up to achieve. Use while you have to and then discard it when your comfortable on your own. Please note that all of my recommendations for curriculum will be both classical in approach and catholic in content as that is where my almost nine year experience lies; however, Well-Trained Mind can be considered non-denominational allowing you the ability to elaborate with your personal beliefs while still stressing the need of religion in your curriculum. I also know Abeka Book is a highly recommended Christian curricula but otherwise I cannot speak outside that.
Catholic Homeschoolinghttps://www.kolbe.org// https://www.olvs.org/ https://modg.org/ https://www.chcweb.com/catalog/ https://www.rchistory.com/
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Some more common questions not brought up in the discussions Q&A:
What about High School Prom/Graduation?
Joining a homeschool group or cooperative in your area will help you benefit from these nostalgic milestones should you consider them a necessity and want your teen to share the moments with a group of same students. But many children are pushed to prom by the parents and don’t actually consider it a monumental life event. Some teens even consider prom to be traumatic between the pressure to bring a date and the stigma and pressure around finding the fanciest attire. Comparing themselves to the attention less modest dressers get if they a more modest individual and so many more complexes. Some even abhor dancing and so get stuck rejected on the side lines like an ”undesirable.” Consider your child individually before deciding to participate, thats all. If tour teen is a dancing queen and looks forward to prom, host one at your local lake club house or like venue and invite others from homeschool group; split costs between families. Compensate graduation with a trip to a desires location with a best friend instead after hosting a large family picinic or fancy dinner in their honor. Have them arrive in cap and gown and give a speech to guests. You will not believe how much more family and friends enjoy focusing on their loved one in lieu of sitting through hours of ceremony for people they don’t know. Your graduate may enjoy being the only spotlight.
Just options to consider. Remember; it is what you make it.
Can I switch to non-common core if my teen has learned common core already? If I choose non-common core aligned, will my high schooler still be able to compete on CCA tests like ACT/SAT?
Yes, however the transition could be painful.
Try using Schormann Math which uses Saxon Math with a different approach to help ease that transition. Likewise, use Schorman SAT prep if your student has been doing non-common core math to help them do better on a common Core aligned SAT. Schormann marries this transition the best in my opinion.
https://diveintomath.com/shormann/Holy cow! Thats it in a NOT so nutshell but clamshell. I’m sure there will be many more unique questions, so lets utilize the comments if you’re a homeschool mom that can help answer them, please do.
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