Homeschool High School

Fun & Useful Elective: Combining Human Development and Early Childhood Education

Here are tips for a fun & useful elective: combining Human Development and Early Childhood Education for homeschool high schoolers.

Fun & Useful Elective: Combining Human Development and Early Childhood Education

One of the best things about homeschooling high school is that we can create tailor-made electives for our teens. They are not limited in their choices, but can have courses that truly:

Build a powerful transcript
Truly prepare them for life
Explore interests
Begin building a career

A number of homeschooling families that I’ve advised have enjoyed combining 7Sisters’ Human Development and Early Childhood Education courses for a powerful, fun and useful elective credit.

Why is this such a great elective? Here’s why:

Human Development from a Christian Worldview from 7 Sisters Homeschool

Click image for a complete product description: $29.99

Human Development is the study of the ways people grow and change from womb to old age: physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially. It is important for teens to get a grasp on these concepts because:

It helps them understand themselves
It helps them understand their family members (and extended family members)
It helps them understand people in the community that they need to interact with
It helps prepare them for parenthood
It helps prepare them for helping their parents as they eventually become senior citizens
7Sisters’ Human Development course is especially helpful because:
- It is presented (without preachiness) from a Christian worldview
- It is level-able to different abilities and interests
- It is a NO-busywork curriculum, so it does not waste teens’ precious time
- There are tests and a separate answer key for parents
- There is an inexpensive Lesson Plan Guide for enriching the material for meaningful individual or co-op activities

Human Development Lesson Plans 7SistersHomeschool.com

Click here for information on the Lesson Plans. $2.00

Early Childhood Education is a course that builds on the learning in Human Development. 7Sisters’ Early Childhood Education e-text:

Early Childhood Education- A Career Exploration Text from 7SistersHomeschool.com

Click here for more education. $29.99

Prepares teens for meaningful babysitting or nursery-volunteering experiences
Prepares teens to become intentional, interactive parents someday
Prepares teens who want to study Early Childhood Education in college for their future studies
Explores the ways that children learn from ages 2 years through 5 years
Explores various pre-school teaching philosophies in a fun, hands-on, project-based manner
7Sisters’ ECE curriculum is helpful because
- It is presented from a (non-preachy) Christian worldview
- It is a NO-busywork curriculum
- Includes an answer key
- It’s fun!

Here is one way to combine Human Development for a fun and useful credit.

You can create a 2-semester course:

Semester 1: Human Development
- Using 7Sisters’ Human Development from a Christian Worldview AND our affordable ($2.00) Human Development Lesson Plans, outline the first semester’s activities. The lesson plans are broken into 18 weeks based on each of the 9 chapters in the Human Development text. This is a long-ish semester, so feel free to omit any lessons that don’t fit the schedule.
  - This will include videos, hands-on activities and a project
  - There are additional activities in the text for students who wish to explore the topic in greater depth
Semester 2: Early Childhood Education
Using 7Sisters Early Childhood Education text, develop a schedule with one chapter per week based on the 15 chapters in the text.
- This will include fun hands-on activities and lesson-plan development and a final project

Recording combined Human Development and Early Childhood Education on the homeschool transcript:

Choose a name for your course. Here are some suggestions:

Human Development (leaving out the ECE title because the topic integrates nicely with Human Development)
Human Development and Early Childhood Education (a long title but good detail)
Explorations in Human Development
Human Development and Practical Life Skills

You may also record the LEVEL at which the curriculum was completed.

This is not necessary for electives, but for college-bound students it does add power to the credit
For college-bound students: the 2 courses combined are ONE Level 3 College-Prep credit
- This credit may be leveled-up to Advanced (Level 4) or Honors (Level 5) by including the additional activities in the Human Development text
For NON-college bound students: the 2 course combined are 1.5 credits at Level 2 (Average High School)

Assign a grade.

Base the grade on your goals for the course. Include:
- Tests
- Projects
- Homework
- Lesson Plans in ECE
You may also include:
- Class participation (attitude, if done in individual study)
- Timeliness of assignments (deductions for late work)
- Organization of materials (everything kept neatly and in order in a binder)

There’s not ONE right way to combine Human Development and ECE. Let us know how YOU develop your teens’ course.

Fun & Useful Elective: Combining Human Development and Early Childhood Education

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 106: Making the Most of Community College

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 106: Making the Most of Community College. This post is running concurrently on Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network.

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 106: Making the Most of Community College

These days many homeschool graduates (and traditionally-schooled high school graduates) choose to attend community colleges. Join us for an interview Seth Tillman, a community college graduate (and now attending University of Delaware as a Music Education major).

Choosing community college is a great idea! Why?

You can come ahead financially (community colleges are SO much cheaper than universities)
You have more time to clarify majors (many times teens need an extra year or two to clarify their majors)
You attend smaller classes (as opposed to 200-student classes at some universities)
You earn general education course credits that transfer to many universities
You can stay local (saving money and time)
You can take community college opportunities to build your resume
You can build excellent networking connections

Cautionary note: look at transfer college’s requirements, not all courses transfer. Each university or transfer college will accept different courses. Check that college’s *transfer matrix*. Sometimes community colleges will tell you lots of courses transfer, but they are not always accurate.

Note from Seth: Even if it is not quite on the transfer matrix, you might be able to appeal. (The advisor to the transfer college major department will handle this with you.) So, be sure to keep your course syllabi.

Make the most of those community college years. If you are at a local college, it might as well be awesome! Here are tips from Seth:

Get involved
Don’t just go to class, sit in the back and be silent.
Go to class every time
Arrive early
Sit near the front
Participate in class
Find activities in your department and campus

Study skills tips from Seth:

Do it
Readings
Homework
Follow the
- course syllabus (in many colleges: Academic Honesty Policies, grading policy of the course, texts, explanations of projects)
- course schedule (readings, homework, exams schedules)
Study for exams
Stay off the cell phone in class
Get enough sleep
Explore ways to study and land on one way to study that works for you
Read this post from VickiTillmanCoaching.com for more tips

TOP TIP from Seth:

Say “yes” to opportunities (especially from faculty)! The more *yeses* you say, the more opportunities will come.
Saying *yes* builds your resume and creates great networks (and referrals).
Get involved in work study.

Managing money is a big issue for college students. Seth was well-prepared in high school for handing his own finances.

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective from 7SistersHomeschool.com. Interactive, inspirational.

Click image for full product description.

Take Financial Literacy in high school. Seth took 7SistersHomeschool.com’s Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective.
Then work your financial plan and budget!
Seth uses the *Notes* app on his phone to keep his budget records and *funds* records.

Seth’s parting advice:

Don’t let anyone make fun of you going to college. Sometimes he gets a little razzing for his years at community college but he’s not phased. “They are just insecure and have their own problems.”

Here’s a clip of a performance from Seth’s time at Cecil College in Rising Sun, MD. (Seth on guitar.) Clip courtesy of Cecil College.

Join Vicki and Seth for a discussion of making the most of community college. In the meantime, enjoy these posts.

Interactive Financial Literacy Course: Why it is Awesome & How to Use it

Pros and Cons of Doing the First 2 Years at Community College

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 106: Making the Most of Community College

How to Earn Home Economics on Homeschool Transcripts

Here’s how to earn Home Economics on homeschool transcripts.

How to Earn Home Economics on Homeschool Transcripts

There are some hilarious videos on social media these days showing millennials who don’t know how to fry an egg or iron a shirt. We don’t want our homeschool high schoolers to fall into the trap of GREAT education and LOUSY life preparation.

Some of the most important life skills can be summed up in a good old-fashioned Home Economics course.

Here’s how to earn Home Economics on Homeschool Transcripts.

*Home Economics is an elective course. Record it on the transcript after the core courses (Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, World Languages).

*Use Carnegie unit hour-logging to show credit earned. This means that your teen will need to keep a log sheet and record the number of hours spent on learning new skills. Here is a post to help explain how to do this.

The number of hours needed to earn a credit varies from state to state. Some states require 120 hours per credit, many require 180. If you aim for 180 hours of learning, then you will be sure to be covered.

*Only record skills being learned and then practiced once. (In other words, don’t count cooking spaghetti if your high schooler has been making that for years.)

*Aim for a well-rounded, life-preparation experience.

*Create a syllabus to keep you and your teens on track.

*Farm out things you hate to do. Is there someone in co-op or at church who can teach skills (maybe barter some babysitting)?

*Here are areas to cover in Home Economics:

Food and Nutrition

Healthy meal planning
Cooking and baking skills
Sanitary cleanup

Entertaining guests

Planning for an event
- Food
- Utensils
Basic social skills for greeting and conversation
Setting tables
Arranging living areas/decorating for guests
Allowing guests to help cleanup, or not
RSVPs

Necessary house cleaning

Kitchen organization and chores
Bedroom organization and chores
Living area organization and chores
Bathroom organization and chores
- How to use a plunger
External organization and chores

Laundry and clothing maintenance

Basic laundry skills
Ironing skills
When to go to dry cleaners
Clothing repairs
Seasonal change-overs

Financial chores

Budgetting
Shopping skills
- Digital shopping smarts
- Brick-and-mortar shopping smarts
Financial literacy course

Click image for full product description.

Interior design and decorating

Working with a budget
Basics of aesthetics

How to be a good neighbor

Interacting with neighbors
Setting boundaries when necessary
Community involvement

How to be a good family member

Family rights and responsibilities
Basic communication skills

Car maintenance

What should you check and how
How often does your car need maintenance?
Where to go for maintenance
Checking tire pressure/adding air
Changing a tire

Communications

How to answer a phone
Business communications
- Complaint calls or emails
- Contacting your politicians

Basic home repair/maintenance and safety checks

How to check the fuse box/circuit breakers
checking batteries in smoke detectors
cleaning lint trap in dryer
how to find a chimney sweep if you have a fire place
replace air filter in furnace

Some people include childrearing in their Home Economics courses. It would be our suggestion that those courses need their own credits to do them justice. Here are our courses on childrearing.

Human Development

Early Childhood Education

Click here for more education

What else would you add to a good Home Economics credit?

How to Earn Home Economics on Homeschool Transcripts

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 105: Digital Learning Options for Homeschool Highschool

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 105: Digital Learning Options for Homeschool Highschool. This post is running concurrently on Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network.

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 105: Digital Learning Options for Homeschool Highschool

Why use digital learning with your homeschool highschoolers?

It’s cool!
It’s available!

We can use digital resources because these days, in homeschool high school, parents are not teachers as much as they are resource managers. We gather the best resources we can get and make them available to our teens, so that they can learn. We provide:

Safety net if they need help
Check ins
Accountability
Usually, grading and credit-assignment

Digital Textbooks (like 7SistersHomeschool.com’s curriculum)

7Sisters provides curriculum in:

All of 7Sisters’ curriculum:

Is editable (btw- if you have an old uneditable version of a 7Sisters textbook and would like to update to editable, contact us at info@7SistersHomeschool.com for a FREE update)
Is readable on tablets or laptops, desktops OR
Can be printed out
Can be saved on the various devices if you have several teens using it and mom can grade on her device

We also have our very popular, truly interactive courses like 7Sisters’ Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective, that includes google research and online simulations, creating their own budgets and financial planning,

Online classes (we are not affiliates for any of these, btw). Live or recorded. Here are a few:

Need help grading? There are resources like:

Grammarly.com
or hire tutors if you don’t feel competent

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). These are awesome courses from universities like MIT, UC Berkeley and more.

Teens don’t usually get course credit, so they should log hours. Some will grade and score if you pay a little. Here are a couple of them the providers:

EdX
Coursera

Through companies like Audible:

Great Courses (Teaching Company) (Be sure to log hours to earn the credit)

Dual Credit online from local college

Be sure your homeschool highschoolers are ready to do college-level work (at a college pace) because their grade stays with them through the rest of their college years.

Some courses transfer and some don’t. Ask the college that your teens will be transferring to. Remember: Ask questions!

Join Sabrina and Vicki for a fun chat about digital learning. In the meantime, check out these posts:

Interactive Financial Literacy Course: Why it is Awesome & How to Use it

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 80: Highschool Math for Math-Impaired Moms

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 105: Digital Learning Options for Homeschool Highschool

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 104: Shakespeare, Interview with Kat Patrick

This week on the Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 104: Shakespeare, Interview with Kat Patrick. This post is running concurrently on Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network.

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 104: Shakespeare, Interview with Kat Patrick

Many homeschooling highschool moms and teens feel intimidated (or even bored) when they think about studying Shakespeare. But take our word for it, Shakespeare can be meaningful, fun and even helpful for life preparation!

Here are some things you should know:

Shakespeare was writing for the masses. He wanted to entertain them so that he could sell tickets at his theater. Average Englishmen loved his plays and came back over and over to watch them. If we think Shakespeare in terms of the “common man”, it might feel less intimidating.
Shakespeare wrote about universal human experiences. His stories connected with his audience. If we look, we’ll still find connections.
Shakespeare’s characters and relationships were relatable to his audience. While the stories are not what we are used to, we can relate with some character or the other.
When the characters and relationships were placed in unfamiliar settings, the audiences were allowed to relate, connect and use their imaginations.

Shakespeare did not write his plays to be read. He wrote them to be performed. So try a double-pronged approach:

See a production
Read that play
Try watching an act, then reading that act together (try readers theater style for a fun approach, if you have a co-op or homeschool group class)

Our interview is with Kat Patrick. She is a homeschool mom who for many years lived and homeschooled England. She studied for her graduate degree there (and met her husband, thus raising their kids there). They lived near Oxford. Today Kat teaches English (and many subjects through her international online school Dreaming Spires Homeschool).

Kat reminds us of the benefits to studying Shakespeare:

It makes you a better reader: The better you get at Shakespeare, the better you are at reading textbooks, and real-life reading like contracts
It gives you context for other Literature studies. If you are going to read British Literature, you’ll never truly understand what you read without some knowledge of Shakespeare, because allusions to his work in embedded throughout any British writing.
Lots of our movie and books take ideas from Shakespeare:
- Comedic characters who scrozzle phrases
- Comic relief scenes in tragic drama

When you are ready to start studying Shakespeare in your homeschool highschool:

First read the play in story form to give them an idea. Leon Garfield’s Stories from Shakespeare is one of Kat’s favorite stories.
Have the teens retell the story (Charlotte Mason style), so that they truly get the gist of the story. Do some copywork to internalize favorite scenes (download Kat’s freebie to help with this).
Go see a play if you can. If you can’t watch a good film. Here are some that Vicki and Kat love:

For more resources, check out the following resources:

Follow Kat Patrick’s Dreaming Spires Facebook page.
You can order videos of Shakespeare’s plays. Kat’s favorite productions are from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Download Kat’s Copywork Guide Introduction to Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Copywork from Kat Patrick Freebie from 7SistersHomeschool.com

Click image for more information.

Listen in to teaching Shakespeare and loving it!

And also check out this episode with Kat about homeschooling in England:

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 65: Homeschooling in UK and US

7Sisters email subscribers receive periodic practical encouragement, special offers and NO SPAM EVER.

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Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 104: Shakespeare, Interview with Kat Patrick

3 Things You Must Know about GPA for the Homeschool Transcript

Here are 3 things you must know about GPA for the homeschool transcript.

3 Things You Must Know about GPA for the Homeschool Transcript

We get questions about the GPA from homeschooling parents. High school transcripts must include a GPA but there is not just ONE right way to handle it. Here are some tips we share with our 7th Sisters (you’re one of them!):

How to figure GPA?

First, you will need to decide if you will:

Wait until senior year to figure GPA (when colleges need transcripts)
Start at the end of freshman year and update it yearly (create a cumulative GPA)
Record a cumulative GPA AND that year’s GPA

There’s not one right choice. However, if a teen will need to show transcripts during high school for scholarships, apprenticeships or job applications, choose one of the last 2 options.

Second, read this detailed post on the mechanics of figuring the GPA.

2 Practical Ways to Figure GPA on the Homeschool Transcript 7SistersHomeschool.com

Click here for detailed info on the mechanics of figuring the GPA.

Whether or not to weight GPA?

Many traditional high schools weight their GPAs so that students taking higher-level course can earn more GPA points. (For instance, they might earn 4.5 instead of 4.0 for an A.) This is a kind of reward system for hard-working academians.

Many other traditional schools do not weight their students’ GPAs. Thus a 4.0 is an A on their transcripts. In order to reward hard-working students taking rigorous courses, they assign *Levels* (or *Phases*) to their courses (Language Arts, Mathematics, Sciences, Social Studies and occasionally World Languages or Electives).

Click here for a post on assigning Levels and a post on do’s and don’t’s about Leveling.

You may choose either option.

You don’t have to worry if you don’t weight the GPA that teens with weighted GPAs will get more attention from college admissions committees. That’s because when your teen fills out his college application (and/or when you as his *guidance counselor* fills out your school portion of the college application), your teen and/or you will be required to explain whether courses are weighted or not. The colleges have an algorithm so that students are compared GPA-wise with equity.

Great Christian Writers Literature Course 7SistersHomeschool.com

7Sisters’ texts include instructions for learning at various Levels. Click image for information on one of our most popular courses.

What is the lowest passing grade?

College applications will often require you, as guidance counselor, to explain what the lowest passing grade for your homeschool.

Many traditional schools allow D (1.0) as a passing grade. Competitive colleges rarely give admissions to students with Ds on their transcripts (there can be exceptions, but don’t count on being one).

Some traditional schools and many homeschools do not allow grades under 2.0 for credit on the transcript. This requires students to work for mastery if they want credit for their courses.

This choice is up to you.

GPAs are necessary for the homeschool transcript, but once you make up your mind how to handle them, life gets easier.

7Sisters email subscribers receive periodic practical encouragement, special offers and NO SPAM EVER.

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3 Things You Must Know about GPA for the Homeschool Transcript

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 103: Science Credits for Non-Science Majors

This week on the Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 103: Science Credits for Non-Science Majors! This post is running concurrently on the Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network.

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 103: Science Credits for Non-Science Majors

Note: We are not affiliates with any curriculum mentioned in this episode.

What if your homeschool highschooler is NOT going to be a science major in college, or might not even be going to college. Must they do a

Biology
Chemistry
2 Other Sciences:
- General Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Astronomy, Physics, Marine Science, Geology, etc.
- Health (Some states list Health as a Science, some create a special category for Health)

When creating a Science credit for your homeschool high schooler you will need:

Curriculum
30 hours lab for Biology, Chemistry and one other science (at least 3 courses should include lab)

If you have a homeschool highschoolers who are not headed for college OR will not be a Science major (and will start at a community college or less competitive college), Average-level Science courses are a great choice.

What are levels in homeschool highschool?

Level 1: Remedial

Level 1 is a remedial level. This level is for students who have learning disabilities that prevent them from doing higher-level work. They need curriculum with short lessons, short assignments, simple vocabulary in the text for easy reading, modified tests experiences.

One popular curriculum for Level 1 Science is Pearson Education Pacemaker Series.

Level 2: Average

Average-level courses are for non-college-bound highschoolers or teens who will not be Science majors in college and will be attending a community college or less-competitive college. (College-bound teens should restrict their Average-level courses to around 2 credits.)

Westfield Studios 101. Make sure you follow their syllabus in order to earn a full Average-level credit.
Some online courses may be Average-level. Check Currclick.com. Be sure to read course descriptions and/or talk to the teacher.
Many local homeschool hybrid schools or co-ops will give this option. Co-ops are awesome because the contagious enjoyment of a teacher who loves science can help teens get the most out of these core courses. (And someone else is teaching a subject you may not like!)
Try group labs.

BE sure to note on your transcript which level your student’s core courses are taught.

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for a discussion about their personal experiences with homeschool highschool science and some good resources. In the meantime, check out these posts.

Homeschool High School Transcripts: Recording Course Levels

HSHSP Ep 67: Science Labs for Non-STEM Teens

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 103: Science Credits for Non-Science Majors

5 Steps for Catching Up When Your Homeschool High School is Behind

Here are 5 steps for catching up when your homeschool high school is behind.

5 Steps for Catching Up When Your Homeschool High School is Behind

It happens to us all sometimes…we get behind.

It’s so easy to fall behind on our educational goals for our homeschool high schoolers! There is so much that must be covered and our teens tend to be so busy living life that it can make our schedules overly full.

So here are 5 steps for catching up when your homeschool high school is falling behind.

Step 1: What do you want the end of this school year to look like? What will your teens finish?

What will they have accomplished?
Don’t spend too much time on this, we’ll be adjusting in a minute but you need to brain dump onto a piece of paper so that you can realistically readjust.

Step 2: Pull out your original goals for the year.

Compare the 2 sets of goals. Keep breathing…keep breathing… As 7Sister Sabrina likes to say, “Is it UGLY?”
Now it is time to forgive yourself (and your teens…and everything else that has interrupted your goals).

Step 3: Now realistically evaluate. Ask yourself these questions:

What can actually happen?
What must happen?
- Core courses: Language Arts, Maths, History, Science must happen. Click here for post on credits needed for graduation.
What is definitely NOT going to happen?
- BTW- This is not failure, it is a sign that life happens.
What type of credit did you want the courses to be?
- Were there a bunch of honors credits and it turned out to be too much for the year?
- Did your teen really need all those honors credits? Pare down the unnecessary honors-levels.
  - If your homeschool high schoolers is going to be an English major, keep the honors levels for English and level-down to College Prep for Math and Science this year.

Step 4: Make practical adjustments, such as:

Adjust your booklists.
- If your teen has overshot on his goals because his booklist goals were too high. Reset the target number a little lower.
- Use some audiobooks.
- Classics need to be read in high school, however, they don’t need to read tons of classics each year. Burnout it bad! Adapt instead!
  - They need more time on classics, so choose a couple and do quality work on a classic.
  - Do a literature guide to make sure they are doing quality literature analysis on a few.
    - Aim for 10 Literature Guides per year, so if they do 3-5 classics, the other books can be easier.
- Read some shorter books. Not all reading needs to be 300-page books!
- Classic kids books that are adaptable to teen levels (for instance, Chronicles of Narnia with 7Sisters’ high school Literature Study Guides)
- Click image for a full product description.
  - Count some books of the Bible. Really read it. You can count a few. (Check your local supervising agency for details.)
Adjust some Math lessons.
- If your homeschool high schooler is mastering a chapter, DON’T do all the problems. Have them do every other problem.
- If your teen is struggling, move other subjects down the priority list and adjust your curriculum.
Science labs: You can count a few virtual labs and field trips.
- Try some awesome field trips that you can double log science and history.
- Sometimes even art and language arts will be part of a great science and history field trip.
- Click here for a post on combining credits.
Postpone Electives Until Summer.
- If you need to sideline elective work in order to finish the core subjects, because they are interested, homeschool high schoolers can sideline those studies and finish those in the summer.

Step 5: Get your homeschool high schooler’s buy in. Discuss it together.

Use 7Sisters FREEBIE Scheduling Backwards to plan out what needs to be done and when to finish by your target goals.

scheduling backwards by Sabrina Justison

Click here for more information on this freebie.

Maybe discuss it over a delicious snack (makes a friendly setting for discussion).
Model the good life skills of resilience, prioritizing and adapting.

7SistersHomeschool.com’s curriculum is adaptable to varying interesting levels and time frames. Visit our store and try some Literature, Writing, or Elective e-texts to help you finish your homeschool high school year strong!

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5 Steps for Catching Up When Your Homeschool High School is Behind

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 102: Preparing for Military Careers

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 102: Preparing for Military Careers, Interview with Gretchen Mahoney. This post is running concurrently on the Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network.

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 102: Preparing for Military Careers Interview with Gretchen Mahoney

Some homeschool highschoolers would like to join the military after graduation. What do teens need to accomplish if they want to serve our country in the Armed Forces?

Join Vicki and her homeschool mom-friend and colleague, Gretchen Mahoney. Gretchen’s 2 sons both joined the Air Force after graduation.

Photo courtesy of Pike Creek Psychological Center

Her son, Thomas, enlisted and served as a. Thomas’ goal was to fly as a career, although he wasn’t interesting in the military. However, when he discovered

Finish well in high school, with good academics and extracurriculars
Visit the recruiter
Take the ASVAB test to find your best fit career (although the military will choose a career from what they need)
Work out, get physically fit
Join Civil Air Patrol
The recruiter will work with you through graduation, checking on your fitness
Graduate
The recruiter will let you know when it is time to head to testing and other preparations
Then will be the swearing in!

Her son, Christopher, was accepted at the Air Force Academy and will graduate May, 2018.

Find leadership opportunities
Find service opportunities
Network, develop
Be up on current events
Show initiative, start things/events
Show a well-rounded involvement in extracurriculars
Take high-level courses and learn the skills for academic success
Create a clear, top-notch transcript
Join Civil Air Patrol
Seek a nomination from a US Representative and/or US Senator (meet with them)
Prepare to work hard through the Academy!

If you become a military mom, Gretchen shares some feelings you might experience:

The pit in your stomach every time they leave
The need to pray at lot
Christmas over Skype
The sense of pride when hearing the national anthem or the American flag
Keeping your phone handy all the time
Knowing their education was free
Joining the military moms Facebook groups

BTW- Gretchen is author of 7SistersHomeschool.com’s popular Introduction to Psychology Lesson Plans ($2.00 and well worth it)!

https://7sistershomeschool.com/products-page/high-school-electives/lesson-plans-introduction-psychology-christian-perspective/

Click here for more information.

Join Vicki and Gretchen for a discussion about becoming a military family! In the meantime enjoy these related posts!

Is Psychology Biblically Okay for a Homeschool High School Subject?

Homeschool Highschool Podcast Ep 102: Preparing for Military Careers, Interview with Gretchen Mahoney

Helping Teens Become Independent Learners: Using a Syllabus

Here’s information on helping teens become independent learners: using a syllabus.

Helping Teens Become Independent Learners: Using a Syllabus

I have several hats that I wear, one is a life coach to young college students who are learning how to be successful in an environment where no one is telling them what to do. They are often struggling with regulating their schedules and studies and have NO clue what to do with they syllabus that each professor provides.

This isn’t a surprise! In my years of coaching I’ve discovered that lots of young people graduate high school and do not have the skills to be independent learners. I’ve seen this in teens from traditional schools and homeschools.

Want to help your teens become independent learners? One important way is to teach them to use a syllabus.

Here is a popular course for trying out a syllabus:

Click image for a complete product description.

What is a syllabus?

A syllabus is a document that lists:

Name of text (often including author, publisher, edition and isbn if applicable)
Other materials that will be used
Brief summary of the purpose and goals of the course
Topics (or chapters) to be covered
Grading scale
Due dates of key projects
Test dates
Homework assignments
A schedule: week-by-week or day-by-day to show what topics will be covered and accompanying assignments

Note: Sometimes homeschool parents think they don’t need to bother creating a syllabus since they are homeschooling and not in a class setting. That is true: it is not a requirement. However, for core courses or important electives, it is a good idea for you to have a syllabus for your records (it is used as a course description for your records). AND what we are after here: A syllabus helps develop independent learning skills.

Here is how teens can use a syllabus:

Read over the syllabus at the beginning of the year (or semester, if it is a one-semester syllabus).
Take a look at the textbook quickly
Get a feel for the length of chapters, locations of questions, reviews, activities
Gather the other materials and look them over
Read the goals and purpose of the course, the topics to be covered, as well as the grading scale
Discuss these together- teens and parent
Get your calendar out (digital or paper)
Mark the due dates of projects, papers, and tests
Using 7Sisters’ Freebie: Scheduling Backwards, mark when to start and 1/2 way points of working on each project, paper and test (parents may need to help with the first few courses)
Mark on calendar when homework is due and daily assignments

Now your teens are empowered to:

Understand what the course is about
What is expected and when
When to study or work on each requirement

This is the foundation of independent learning. The more they use syllabi the better they get at the process.

It is a parent’s job to check in when homework and assignments are due and conduct any discussion of the material, of course.

Another fun course to introduce the concept of using a syllabus is Introduction to Psychology from a Christian Perspective. Download this popular etext for your teens.

Psychology from a Christian Perspective from 7SistersHomeschool.com

Click image for a full product description.

Learn how to write your syllabi in this post and begin helping your teens become independent learners!