Preparing to Homeschool Through High School

As every parent knows, time flies by – we blink and our toddler turns into a teenager.When I first started homeschooling over 8 years ago, the response from friends and family was mixed, which I expected.  I was definitely surprised by the number of people who asked me, “But what about high school?”

My running joke was, “Well, I think I’m going to teach my daughter to read and do basic math first!”

Now my oldest child is 14 and will be in 9th grade in the fall!  I have no witty comeback when people ask me what we are doing about high school.  In addition to dealing with the comments, criticisms, and concerns of others this year; I’ve had to deal with my own insecurities, questions, and generalized angst about entering the homeschool years with a high schooler...

To read the rest of the article, please join me today at The Homeschool Classroom.

Week in Review - We're On a Modified Summer Break!

We're on a modified Summer Break!!!  While that statement isn't nearly as dramatic as the central line in Alice Cooper's end-of-school song (School's out for summer), it does more realistically describe what our family will be doing over the months of June, July, and part of August.  I do enjoy the thought of a summer with nothing to do and I even changed my ring tone to the iconic Alice Cooper song to celebrate that thought!  Our summer will be filled with quite a bit of purposive activity - both school related and non-school related, though.

My wonderful husband, Kevin, and I pose for a picture outside our local science center.  We visited the science center as an end-of-the year field trip!

We finished our 2010-2011 school year on Friday.  What does that mean for us?  Well, it's complicated.  The first thing it means for me as the primary teacher and record-keeper, is that portfolio reviews with a certified teacher have been completed and all of our necessary paperwork has been turned into our local school district.

As homeschoolers, we're not bound by a specific time frame in which we can complete our studies for the school year so that gives us more flexibility.  To explain what summer break means for us in terms of school, it is easiest to look at each subject separately.

History
We're completely done with History for the summer!  We finished all 36 weeks of study in Winter Promise's Quest for the Ancient World.  While we enjoyed the year-long focus on ancient history, we are all ready to study a different aspect of history next school year!  We'll be studying Early American History for the 2011-2012 school year using Sonlight materials and lots of fun extras.

I am planning some field trips over the summer, though, that will be included as part of our history studies for the 2011-2012 school year.

Mathematics
We're completely done with Math for the summer!  Duncan finished Teaching Textbooks 5, Mason completed Teaching Textbooks 6, and Amber finished Teaching Textbooks Algebra I.  Of the three, Amber is definitely the most thrilled about finishing her course!

While Mason and Duncan will be taking a break from math this summer, Amber has decided (of her own accord) to continue on with Algebra II this summer.  By completing a few lessons each week, she hopes to keep the information fresh in her mind and be able to do Algebra II fewer times per week during the school year.

Science
We're completely done with Science for the summer!  Duncan completed Bob Jones level 3 science and Amber completed Apologia Biology!  Amber is THRILLED to be finished with Biology - the course was a TON of work.  She is really excited to work through Apologia Marine Biology next school year.  Mason completed the module he was working on in Apologia General Science and will finish the text during the next school year.

I have several field trips planned over the summer that definitely fall under our science studies.  Most notably, we are planning some enjoyable trips to our local zoo and some non-local zoos and aquariums.

My darling children are being rather difficult during my plea to take a good picture of the three of them at the science center.

Spelling
We're taking a break from Spelling this summer completely!  All three of my children will pick up where they left off with the Institute for Excellence in Writing's Spelling program.  Only Mason completed an entire level this year but they all made great progress and reinforced/increased their spelling skills.

Reading/Literature
Mason and Duncan will both be continuing with Bob Jones Reading the entire summer.  We didn't start Bob Jones Reading at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year so we are not finished with the courses.  We will continue with Bob Jones Reading next school year as well, moving to the next level.

Mason and Duncan will be taking a complete break from Megawords and FOCUS reading comprehension books for the summer.  They'll continue with both resources in August when we start our new school year.

Amber has finished her last assigned literature book of the school year, Pride and Prejudice.  Amber has become a huge Jane Austen fan!  Amber will be assigned books for her Literature and History courses to read over the summer.

Writing
We are taking a break from all writing assignments over the summer.  While Mason and Duncan didn't finish IEW's Ancient History Writing Lessons, I was very pleased with their progress.  Mason will continue with IEW's U.S. History Writing Lessons Volume 1 for next school year.  The IEW materials were a perfect fit for Mason.  Duncan, on the other hand, will be using Bob Jones English 5 next year which incorporates grammar and writing.

Amber has been writing literary analysis essays this year.  I am not requiring her to write an essay about Pride and Prejudice.  Writing assignments will be integrated into many of her courses next year but her primary writing instruction will come from Bob Jones Writing and Grammar 9.

My darling children are being very cooperative in this picture and I was so happy to get a good picture of them at the science center.

Grammar
Amber is almost done with Growing With Grammar 8 and Duncan is almost done with Growing With Grammar 4.  They will finish those over the next week or so and then be done with grammar for the summer.  Mason, though, is going to continue to work on grammar throughout the summer.  Grammar really clicked for him for the first time this year so we are working to strengthen his knowledge in that area.

Foreign Language
We are taking a complete break from foreign language study this summer.  Duncan will continue with La Clase Divertida next school year.  He will finish Level 1 and move on to Level 2.  Mason may not continue with the same course - I may move him to Rosetta Stone for seventh grade.  Amber will be taking high school Latin I with a tutor in the fall.

So, now you know what I mean by a modified summer break!  In addition to the school work I mentioned, there will be lots and lots and lots of swimming activities.  Swim team practice, swim meets, and fun pool-related activities will dominate most of the summer.      

Our last day of official school was a wonderful day as we spent the whole day at our local science center.  We started off with an amazing lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, the Hard Rock Cafe.  While we've been to Hard Rocks in other states, we had never visited our state's Hard Rock.  We had an absolutely delicious lunch, wonderful service, and a great time.  Amber, in particular loved her mashed potatoes and we both adored our decadent creme brulees.

Amber and I are both big fans of Elvis Presley so we were particularly excited to see a whole wall dedicated to Elvis.

Our day at the science center was both fun and educational.  We visited the traveling exhibit about Mars and all three of my children tried "walking on Mars."  On Mars, they would only weigh about 38% of their current weight.  This exhibit simulated the change in weight for one walking on Mars.  All three of them had a hard time walking, although Amber found her "Mar's legs" pretty quickly.

While Amber and I enjoyed the IMAX movie, Tornado Alley, Mason, Duncan and Kevin spent their time in another part of the science center.  Mason created this amazing structure out of building blocks.  He was very pleased by the reaction of the science center employees and other visitors as many took pictures and contacted other employees to come see his creation.

That was our Week in Review!  I'm glad to be back to blogging after a bit of a break!  To read about what other homeschoolers were doing this week, check out the Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Read For The Heart: Whole Books For Wholehearted Families by Sarah Clarkson Review

I absolutely love to read.  One of my reasons for homeschooling is to instill a love of reading in my children.  There are so many wonderful books to read but none of us have unlimited time.  How does a homeschooling mother choose the best books for her children?

If you sometimes struggle choosing the best books for your children, I highly recommend Sarah Clarkson's book, Read for the Heart Whole Books for Wholehearted Families.  Written from a strong Christian perspective, reading Sarah Clarkson's book is like getting wonderful advice from a trusted mentor at church.

Read for the Heart Whole Books for Wholehearted Families is a delightful book written by a lover of book for those who love books and want to choose the best books for their children.  But this book is much more than simply lists of recommended books.  Starting in Chapter 1 - Reading to Live, the author's vision for the life-altering power of reading is given.  Clarkson argues that reading good books leads to a wakened heart, a strong mind, and a steadfast soul.

• Wakened Heart - Reading good books leads to a greater awareness of the beauty and good in the world and a greater desire to resist evil.
• Strong Mind - Vocabulary and comprehension development is gained through reading good books.  Our thoughts are shaped by our vocabulary.
• Steadfast Soul - "Great literature has a unique power to reveal the epic spiritual nature of all human life."

If you're not completely motivated to do even MORE reading of great books after reading chapter one, chapter two will definitely have you looking for ways to fit more reading into your days with your children.  In "Reading Lost:  The State of Literacy in America," Clarkson argues that we live "in an age marked by distraction."  While reading engages the mind, electronic media encourages a passive acceptance of ideas.  

Chapter 3 is full of practical suggestions to incorporate more reading into the lives of our children.  Chapter 4 includes practical information about how to use the recommended book lists and how the books were chosen.

The rest of the book is devoted to annotated book lists organized by subject and type of book.  The annotated book lists are organized in the following manner:

• Picture Books 
• The Golden Age Classics
• Children's Fiction
• Fairy Tales and Fantasy
• History and Biography
• Spiritual Reading for Children
• Poetry
• Music, Art, and Nature.

Lastly, the book ends with a host of very helpful appendices.  Included are Caldecott Medalists, Newberry Medalists, G. A. Henty books, Landmark History books, The Trailblazer Series, and Sarah Clarkson's favorite books.

If you ever need a bit more guidance to pick the very best books for your children, I highly recommend purchasing Sarah Clarkson's wonderful book.  Read For The Heart is available for $17.00 from Apologia.  

I received a copy of Read for the Heart in exchange for my honest review of the book.  No other compensation, monetary or otherwise was given in exchange for my review.

Institute for Excellence in Writing - Student Writing Intensive Level B

Writing is a hard subject to teach.  What writing assignments should children complete at various ages?  How much help should children be given when working on writing assignments?  How should writing assignments be evaluated?  All of those questions and many more often plague home educators.  Home educators know that writing is a very important skill but are often unsure of the best way to teach the skill of writing.

In our homeschool, my oldest daughter has always been a natural writer.  She likes to write, writes well, and handles a wide variety of writing assignments with grace and ease.  My two younger boys, though, have not been eager or adept writers.  After trying multiple writing programs, I have been so very thrilled with the writing curriculum that I used with them for the 2010-2011 school year - Ancient History Writing Lessons from the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  I used this course in conjunction with the Teaching Writing Structure and Style DVD course which is a 10 hour DVD seminar designed to teach the home educator how to teach one's children to write.


Imagine my happy surprise when I received the Student Writing Intensive Level B from the Institute for Excellence in Writing as a review item early in the school year!  I was able to seamlessly integrate this wonderful resource into the writing resources from the Institute for Excellence in Writing that I was already using!  I have been incredibly impressed with the Student Writing Intensive Level B and plan to continue using the curriculum next year.  

Before I go any further describing the IEW Student Writing Intensive program, I want to share an example of a paragraph that my 9 year old son wrote using the IEW curriculum.  This paragraph was part of a three paragraph essay about the Epic of Gilgamesh.  Here is the first paragraph of my youngest son's essay:

• Gilgamesh, King of Urek, was forever remembered.  Gilgamesh walked up towering mountains and swam through salty seas.  Gilgamesh tied his ankles and pounced into the Euphrates River.  Gilgamesh had one chance to grab the spiky plant.  Gilgamesh came near the plant and snatched it out.  Gilgamesh loosened his ankles and pushed himself to the surface.  Anxiously, Gilgamesh carried the strange plant.  Gilgamesh happily jumped up and down.  He had succeeded.

Wow - I was impressed!  More than anything, though, I was so pleased with the pride that my boys have taken in their written work throughout the school year.  They have been so proud of the writing assignments they have been able to create using the IEW materials.


If you are new to the Institute for Excellence in Writing's many writing resources and varied writing programs, I admit that it can be a bit confusing.  Regardless of which of the specific writing materials are chosen, I recommend that the teaching parent watch the entire Teaching Writing Structure and Style DVD Seminar to understand the way in which writing is taught using the IEW method.  Personally, I found the entire seminar incredibly motivating, instructional, and interesting.  Andrew Pudewa is a delight to watch and the fast-paced seminar easily kept my interest.  I am well aware, though, that finances are rarely unlimited in a homeschooling family, therefore, the Student Writing Intensive can be used without purchasing the Teacher's seminar.  In the overview materials to the Student Writing Intensive that I reviewed, it is stated:

• Although you can successfully use the SWI without the teacher's course, watching the Teacher's program before watching the student lesson will provide you with many of the reasons behind the instruction given as well as other teaching tips to aid your student in writing.  If you do not have the teacher's course, you can still use the SWI successfully.  

Many home educators, after watching the Teaching Writing Structure and Style DVD Seminar, wished that Andrew Pudewa could just come to their house and teach their children writing!  The Student Writing Intensive DVDs were created to grant that wish.  The Student Writing Intensive DVDs  are designed to take off where the Teaching Writing Structure and Style DVD Seminar ends - by actually teaching children to write using the structure and style method!


Focusing specifically on the Student Writing Intensive Level B, this four DVD course includes 15 lessons which are 45-60 minutes in length each.  The course is designed so that one lesson is watched per week and the writing assignment is completed before the next lesson.  Each lesson could easily be stretched over a two week period by adding an additional, similar assignment or by simply giving a struggling writer more time.


Over the course of the 15 lessons, all of the following units are covered:

• Note-taking and Summarizing
• Story Sequence (Narrative)
• Reports from Multiple Sources
• Creative Writing.

In addition to the DVDs, the Student Writing Intensive B includes a binder with tabs and over 100 pages of teacher's notes, handouts, and checklists.  I found the teacher's notes to be incredibly helpful and the other materials to be a true asset as well.


If you would like to learn more about the Institute for Excellence in Writing and all of the wonderful materials they have available, I encourage you to visit their information-packed website.  
Every time I visit their website, I learn something new - it is SO packed with helpful information for the home educator.  The Student Writing Intensive in Levels A, B, or C is available for $99.00 at the IEW website.


I received the Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Writing Intensive Level B for my honest review of the product.  No other compensation, monetary or otherwise, was given for this review.