High School

Homeschooling thru Highschool
The Homeschooling Thru Highschool site
The website includes seven major sections:

Advantages of Teaching High School Students at Home:

1) You can teach them now to enjoy learning and how to become life-long learners. Education does not end after 12 years of schooling. It is not possible to teach everything. Knowledge increases at such a rapid pace that our job is to teach and model how to gather information, and love doing it!

2) You can teach critical thinking skills, learning to distinguish between truth and lies. Makes it much easier to teach a Godly world-view.

3) You can expose your children to people of all ages, with various types of expertise, knowledge and wisdom. This allows them time to spend with mature adults, learning to become contributing members of society.

4) You can encourage God-given talents, allowing sufficient time and resources to become experts in their area of interest.

5) High school is a great time to explore apprenticeships, learning the vocabulary and work ethic of the work world. Suggestions: carpentry, businessman, rancher, salesman, etc. Begin the joy and habit of volunteering: Meals-on-Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Hospice, Park Development, Library, Police Department, church maintenance, etc. www.youcanvolunteer.com

SOME IDEAS:

1) What goal does your child have? (Hint: College is NOT a goal!)
Own a business
Learn a trade
Enter a profession
Go into missions
What does he need to attain that goal? He needs to own the goal and have the incentive to attain it.

2) How to teach the harder classes
Science – Apologia – talks to the student, has good support
Math – Dive CD, on-line tutors, co-op, Math-U-See, and many other excellent helps
For those who HATE math, try Key to: Percentages, Key to: Fractions, Key to: Decimals. These give a great foundation for algebra. Without a good foundation, your student will drown in upper math.

3) Economics – Bluestocking Guide by Jane A. Williams (based on “Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?”)
Financial Peace University

4) Foreign Language – Rosetta Stone, and others

5) English – Read, read, read excellent literature, out-loud as a family and individually. When reading out-loud, read slightly above the student’s level (example: “Last of the Mohicans”) Use a good bibliography to choose books such as “The Learning Tree” or “Who Should We Then Read?” by Jan Bloom. There is also an excellent bibliography in the back of “A Thomas Jefferson Education”.
Write, write, write – letters to the editor, letters to legislators, businesses,
write excellent passages from dictation, including from the Bible
must have Writer’s Inc. or similar reference
“On Writing Well” by Wm. Zinsser

6) Consider dual enrollment in community college, gaining high school credit and college credit at the same time. Many times parents may attend with the student.

7) Transcripts – either simple or detailed are acceptable. May be one page or multiple pages.
HSLDA has great free transcript help, and also free brochures. www.hslda.org Need not be a member to access most information
www.TheHomeScholar.com This business will help you develop a transcript and give other high school advice.

PSAT – Qualifies student for National Merit Scholarship. You receive valuable feedback
www.collegeboard.org
Given in October. Contact public school in early summer to register.
SAT – Register on-line at www.collegeboard.org. Download free practice SAT questions! www.satprephelp.com
Test after completing Algebra I and Geometry, usually Junior year. Test again to improve score. Homeschool code is 970000. Pay extra to get your answers back.
ACT – Register on-line at www.actstudent.org Homeschool code 969-999
Use prep books for study and use their suggested test-taking strategy
Take it whether you intend to go to college or not
AP – apexams@info.collegeboard.org Many colleges will grant credit for exams passed
Subject areas include: English Literature, Composition, French, German, Latin, Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, European History, Economics, Gov’t and Politics, Music Theory, History of Art, Computer Science, Psychology, etc.
Test prep books are available
CLEP (College Level Examination Program) – www.collegeboard.com/clep
Tests given at many colleges. You do not need to be a student at the college.
Subjects include: American Literature, composition, French, German, Spanish, American Government, US History, Human Growth and Development, Sociology, Biology, Calculus, Algebra, Trigonometry, Computer Applications, Accounting, Business Law, Marketing, Management, etc.

RECORD KEEPING

1) Maintain list of books read during high school years

2) Ask for and file Letters of Recommendation from pastor, employers, small jobs, volunteer activities, coaches, etc.

3) HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) has great record keeping ideas. www.hslda.org

COLLEGE ADMISSION

1) Apply early in Junior year to many colleges to find out real cost and requirements

2) Visit campus and talk with professors

3) CLEP/AP tests save time and money — be BOLD and take them

4) Fafsa – Free Application for Federal Student Aid www.fafsa.ed.gov Application is FREE

5) Scholarships – you will find out about school related scholarships after you apply to the school

6) SAT/ACT test scores are all important when applying for admission

7) HSLDA website is very helpful www.hslda.org

HELPFUL BOOKS and SITES

1) “The High School Handbook” by Mary Shofield. Contains list of suggested classes, credits, and other record-keeping essentials.

2) “Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La” by Barbara Shelton. Translating “real life”activities into courses with credit.

3) “Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling” by Mary Pride A 600 page, easy to use guide for homeschooling any age.

4) “The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook” by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore. A 280 page compilation of stories from 40 families showing the wide range of homeschool strategies and their positive outcomes.

5) “Homeschooling for Excellence” by David and Micki Colfax. A 100 page, easy to read, chronicle of one family’s homeschool adventure as they prepared their sons for Harvard while building a homestead from the foundation, up. Includes great ideas for using a basic curriculum and then expounding on the interests of the children. Contains college information.

Graduation

Here are answers to some common graduation questions.

1) The student may graduate when he has completed the criteria the parents have set. There are no state required standards for homeschool graduation. Gearing the criteria to the student’s life goals is imperative to a successful high school education.

2) Some students hustle and graduate when they are 16 years old, while others stretch it out and graduate when they are 20 years old. Both are acceptable.

3) On rare occasion, a higher learning institution requires a GED. Any student may take the GED, but there is no legal requirement to do so.

4) Some families say a child has graduated when they attain a certain score on the ACT. Other families require a set number of credit hours for graduation. Yet others kind of morph out of high school and into college when they take dual enrollment classes at the local college, taking one class when they are 16 years old, two classes when they are 17, and a full load when they are 18 years old. As you can see graduation ideas are limited only by your imagination.

5) Montana has two high school graduation ceremonies. Eastern Montana Graduation takes place in Billings the end of May. There is also a Western Montana Graduation ceremony. There is nothing magic about these ceremonies. It just provides a venue for a traditional graduation experience. For the ceremony, the graduation committee prepares the diploma. Please see the YCHE eloop for details regarding this year’s graduation ceremony. Many homeschool families decide to have their own ceremony in their own back yard. Choose your own speakers and your own music! Each family may choose whatever is more meaningful for them. For a family ceremony, the family designs the diploma to present to the graduate.

Lee Binz
The HomeScholar
www.TheHomeScholar.com
www.TheHomeScholar.com/blog
email: HomeScholar@gmail.com
Lee is a homeschooling mom who will develop a transcript for your student and answer record keeping questions. She started this business after realizing that parents struggle with this important document, and also realizing that she LOVES to build transcripts!