A Few Updates

I'm finding it really difficult to keep posting at a regular pace. Sorry about that! Life is changing around here. Meg is my only homeschooler, and very independent, so there's not a lot to say there! She has worked through three Teaching Company lecture series and done a lot of reading, plus all her singing activities. Just this weekend she starts rehearsals for a Christmas musical.

Melissa is my public schooler. She's always busy with sports and school, and doing well in both. I was glad to hear that she continues to be independent-minded. In one class they were discussing a popular movie, and everyone thought it was "beautiful." She, on the other hand, said it was "demeaning to women." But, but, it's "beautiful!"

Peter loves college. He is in his second year and still a straight A student. He's actually excited to get writing assignments. :) Now if he'd just remember to ask about an internship next summer...

My blogging has helped me deal with the transition that occurred when Peter moved out last year. I'm better now, thanks to all of you who have listened to me expound on my love of homeschooling and parenting. I probably won't post much or very regularly, it seems, but I'm still here, so write with questions or comments anytime.

Happy Holidays to all of you. :)

Homeschooling Meets Miss Frizzle in the Ultimate Field Trip Series

Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley contacted me about reviewing a new book series called Wright on Time, about the RV-traveling, homeschooling Wright family of four. She said she'd send me a free book (the first one about Arizona) if I'd review it for her. I liked the concept, so I said yes, and I must say, I love her book!

First impressions are everything when it comes to kids and getting them interested in something, so the way a book LOOKS is very important. Lisa found a great illustrator in Tanja Bauerle. The cover is colorful and fun. But as a mom and a teacher, the two pages that precede the text are awesome! Tanya has pencil drawings of Arizona's state bird, flower, mammal, fossil, insect, and gemstone, plus a topographical drawing of the state. I'd like to see that in a coloring page!

Then we begin the chapter book. The 76 pages are easy enough for a young reader, and mature enough for mom or dad to read aloud. I really like the "teaching" that goes on incognito. The kids learn all about caves and their inhabitants (animal and mineral) as they explore, and I like the more difficult vocabulary words sprinkled in and the glossary in back. The mom and dad are active partners in learning and do a great job modeling homeschooling in an unschooling sort of way. Anything in this book would be a good jumping-off point for more study.

Plus there's a mysterious object they find buried in the cave wall and mention of their next adventure in Utah at a dinosaur dig. My kids loved books in series, and I know they would have really been into this one. I'd say the best ages for these books are 6-12. Book 2 about exploring Utah is coming out soon.

One thing you left out Lisa. How does the Wright family support themselves as they explore the US in an RV? I know there are plenty of us out there who'd love to try it. :)

How to Prepare a High School Transcript for Homeschoolers

Here is an excellent resource that will answer most of your questions. In my boiled down style, here you go:

1. Assume your child will go to college.

2. Find out what high school courses colleges in your state require for admission. Just do an internet search for a nearby college and check their admissions pages.

3. On a practice transcript copy, write out those courses over the four years. If a college says they want four years of English, call your high school courses English I, English II, English III and English IV.

4. Every year, make sure your student is doing things and reading material that correspond to those required courses. Keep notes and a file folder full of proof.

5. Your child will be doing much more than the required courses, and those will be "electives" or extra courses that every high school offers. To get ideas for what to call those courses, check out public high school websites. They often have a course catalog online. Here's an example from a small town near us. Giving public school names to your homeschooling classes makes things easier on your admissions officer.

6. Give normal A, B, C grades. See the resource I linked to at the beginning for a very helpful explanation of grading and assigning credit.

7. Keep each semester to six or seven classes. That's the normal load. Our local public school has seven class periods, and a student can take study hall, so that's really six classes.

8. Any learning or time spent on useful things that goes beyond the six or seven transcript-able classes should be listed as extra curricular activities. It's amazing how long this can be. Think through any volunteer work, pay job, music classes, sports, clubs, obsessions...

9. And don't forget to take the ACT and/or the SAT. You can take them as many times as you want, beginning at any age. Every SAT score will be sent to colleges, but you get to pick which ACT score to send, so keep that in mind. Also, some schools will limit how long a score is valid. In other words, they probably won't accept a score your child got five years ago. Here's the ACT site, and here's the SAT site. You can pick your testing location, sign up, and pay online.

That's all I can think of right now! Homeschooling high school can be a lot of fun, giving your child a chance to explore and mature without all the high school drama. :)

My transcript blank is here.

Applying for College

Meg is a senior in high school and has been homeschooled since kindergarten. This picture is an example of her work in Culinary Arts class. She loves to cook, and our local high school has a class with that name, so that's what we call it. :) I've written a lot about her, so check the sidebar to get more articles about Meg. She's our second child and very artsy. She learned to read later than most kids and is drawn to theater, singing, dancing, and art of any kind. We all assumed she'd get into college with her musical theatre resume (which is quite impressive), but she's decided to go another route.

Last year she audited a college course called Lifespan Human Development and just loved it. It made her see that helping people is what she really wants to do with her life, maybe even becoming a counselor. She's had enough theatre experience her four years of high school to realize it's not the world she wants to live in. That's one good thing about unschooling--you can let your child dive into her interests until she's sick of it or at least has a realistic view to make informed choices for her future.

I did some research into possible college options. My husband is employed by a state university, so we get tuition breaks at a handful of colleges if he gets rehired each year. Among those colleges, one of them had a minimum ACT score for homeschoolers (Northern Illinois University), so that one was out. But the other three were still possibilities. The one here in our hometown had the best major, perfectly suited to her interests, so even though she would LOVE to move to another city, she agreed to apply. I got online and saw that they were encourging kids to apply by mid October. Yikes! I looked at her transcript, updated everything, had her fill out their two page online application, and within just a few days, we had all the paper work in.

I was amazed at how little they required: a transcript with GPA and ACT score, a list of extra curricular activities, plus the online application. That was it! I was prepared to show them samples of her work through the years, along with book lists, etc, but was hoping I wouldn't have to get it all out. :)

We also included a letter of recommendation that was not required, but since she is homeschooled, I thought it might be a good idea. Meg approached the teacher of that college course she took last year and received a wonderful recommendation. Because Meg had written a small paper, taken a test, and participated in class, the teacher had a sense of Meg's ability to handle a college class.

After just a couple weeks, she received an acceptance letter! We are thrilled.

This has all worked out well for us because it means Meg can live at home and save some money. But since she also wants more independence, we're going to create an apartment in the basement of our church/house. You know we live in a 100 year old church, right?

Here's the transcript form we used. For her extracurricular activities, I organized them by year and typed it on a Word document. Just start making lists every month or two, and keep reminders of their activities (certificates, newpaper clippings, photos) in a file folder for each high school year. That will make the job easier in the end.

Home School High School Transcript

Publish at Scribd

Have you taken the survey?

My friend over at The Stone Age Techie has been conducting a survey of homeschoolers. Over the past six months she's gotten great responses from all over the world, but she's wrapping it up at the end of October, hoping to top the 100-respondents mark. She'll compile the info and write a paper about why families homeschool. Read more about it here in her post.

I'm looking forward to seeing how trends are changing and what people are thinking these days. Thanks for doing this, Karen!

Foreign Language Requirements for College

We are still waiting for certain soap supplies to arrive, so our adventures in soap making are on hold at the moment. Today I'm thinking through what college Meg is interested in and what major she is considering. Even though she has been pursuing a pretty arts-heavy curriculum, she is seriously considering Consumer and Family Science. That's a major at our local college that prepares kids for careers in social work, counseling, etc. It sounds like a very good fit for her, and she can still try out for musicals and take theatre as an elective.

Anyway, looking at the admissions requirements, I think she has a pretty good chance at being accepted. Looking at the courses required for graduation, I think she will love it. But they have a foreign language requirement, and I wonder what is going to happen there. She has studied American Sign Language pretty intensively, and I wonder if they will accept that or make her take Spanish or something before she graduates. I know she won't be too thrilled about that.

I did a little online research and found this list of US colleges that accept ASL to fulfill their foreign language requirement. It might be a good idea to include the list with her transcript.

For those of you still early in your homeschooling, keep this in mind. It would be good to have your kids study a foreign language during their high school years so you can put it on their transcripts. You can always hire a tutor or buy a curriculum or let them take it at the public high school. Any recommendations out there? The earlier you start the better because, as we all know, young kids are expert language learners. Do as much as you can before they hit puberty and their high school studying will be so much easier.

Peter has had to take a foreign language in college, but he likes that sort of stuff. He's taking German. So that's the conclusion: if your child does not have at least two years of foreign language study before he gets to college, he'll just have to take it when he gets there. And I hear rumblings of requiring four years of high school foreign language, so who knows what the requirements will be when your kids are ready.

There. My thoughts for today.

Making Soap is Chemistry Class

What have we been up to? Well, Melissa is busy in public high school, getting a touch of girl clique backlash this week. Some girls were mad because she was spending too much time with someone out of the group. She was very surprised at how immature they all were. And they, in return, were surprise at how she didn't cave to their intimidation. Go Missa!

Peter is still enjoying his summer break in Chicago. Classes resume in a couple weeks.

Now onto Meg. We ordered some wonderful soap from a friend on etsy named autumnoak. Meg smelled this heavenly stuff and said, "I want to learn how to make soap!" That has always been in the back of my mind as a perfect chemistry class for her, so I jumped at the idea and started searching the internet for info. I found these great videos on youtube:

basic ingredients for making lye soap

basic equipment needed

the soap making process

chemistry of soap, not too techincal

dangers of lye

troubleshooting--very good

using soapcalc.com to make your own recipes

how to line the mold with freezer paper

another soap maker's slide show, uses a downspout for a mold

handling lye safely

commercial soap making

So now we are in the research-and-gather-materials stage. Any soap makers out there with advice?