~ Gold Dust ~

I found a darling little hardback book that measures just 2.5 ” x 3.25 ” that once belonged to my grandmother. The tired little book is entitled Gold Dust, and the inscription on the inside cover reads:

To Mignon Ommert ~

With sincere good wishes for a very happy Christmas.

Your teacher,

Vesta Sheaffer   December 25, 1923

There is no copyright date on this little treasure, but the Preface is dated February 12, 1880.  Eighty-six years ago next Friday, my grandmother was given this tiny little book. Unfortunatly, my grandmother is no longer living. She has been gone for about 22 years, but when holding this little treasure that was given to her by her Sunday School teacher 86 years ago, I feel connected once again.

Here is a little snippet of beauty I caught from the pages this morning:

Few positions in life are so full of importunities as that of a mother of a family, or mistress of a house. She may have a dozen interruptions while writing one letter, or settling an account. What holiness, what self-control is needed to be always calm and unruffled amid these little vexations, and never to manifest the slightest impatience.

Leaving the work without apparent annoyance, replying with a smile upon the lips, awaiting patiently the end of a long conversation, and finally returning calmly to the yet unfinished work ~ all this is the sign of a recollected soul, and one that waits upon God.

Oh! What blessing s are shed around them by such patient souls…but alas! how rarely are they to be met with!

I love that.

I have been so inspired by many of the readings in this little book that I thought I would share some of the sharper insights that stood out to me as a mom. Perhaps they will inspire you as they do me.

When to start ACT/SAT testing?

Recently the topic of College Board testing came up on my Raising Self-learners 4 Life yahoo group. I was asked about a timetable for testing. When should students start taking the tests? How early is too early? Since I am asked these questions frequently at this time of year, I thought I would address the topic here as well.

SAT

Let’s start with the SAT timetable.  My general rule of thumb is to allow students to take their first SAT after they have completed Algebra 1. If the student has that much math under their proverbial belt AND he/she is a very good reader, they are cleared for takeoff. That means kids as young as 8th grade (or have just completed 8th grade) sometimes take the test. I have an 8th grader this year, and she is looking forward to matching wits with the SAT at the end of this year. I am comfortable with her readiness level, and I think she will do very well.

Keep in mind I am looking for just a baseline score. They are not trying to knock one out of the park. (Although that may happen…) I like my kids to take the SAT early, and then they have a whole lot of confidence from seeing how well they do at just an 8th grade level. Even if they bomb, which they most likely won’t, you can say, “Look, you are only in 8th grade! This is a great score for your age!” There simply is no pressure to perform.

(Note, do not have the score auto-sent to ANYBODY but you. Do not send the score to your umbrella school. This is just practice.)

If the student does not WANT to take the test yet, that is perfectly fine, but for the ones who do, I encourage it. There is absolutely NO PRESSURE to perform at this age. I mean, come on! They are only in 8th grade! The expectation to ace the test is just not there. The exercise in test-taking is extremely valuable, and the lack of pressure and element of fun makes it a great learning opportunity.

Taking the SAT early (8th, 9th grade) provides the student with their baseline score, and this is their score to beat. I remind my kids that they are only competing with themselves when they take the college boards. They are not competing against their siblings’ scores; they are aiming to better their *OWN* score. So by taking the test early, they have a great opportunity to increase their own score as they learn and grow each year of high school.

ACT

Now the ACT is another animal altogether. I do not encourage the ACT after 8th grade. Why? Because the ACT is a subject area test. The SAT tests *how* a student thinks, and the ACT tests *what* the student knows. It is difficult for an 8th grader who hasn’t had any high school science to do well on the ACT’s science section when they haven’t had biology of basic chemistry.

With that said, Nick took the ACT after 9th grade for fun, (and this was the first college board test he had ever taken), and he scored a 35/36. Highly strange considering he had only had physical science. I asked him how he could do so well when he didn’t have the actual experience with the subject matter he was tested on, and he gave me the most profound answer of all time:

“Mom, the answers were right there.”

Isn’t that true? Each question on a college board exam, be it SAT, ACT, PSAT or what have you, has the correct answer given right there below it. You just have to know how to use deductive reasoning to pick it out. Self-learners develop high-level ability in deductive reasoning because they are not spoon fed by teachers! They learn to think a problem through.

It helped that Nick was a fast reader though; otherwise he would not have had time to logically think out the answers to the questions he didn’t know right off.

If your student has strong logic skills, the ACT can be taken early in high school; otherwise, I recommend tenth grade as a starting point for taking the ACT.

PSAT

A note about the PSAT: this exam is meant for juniors to qualify them for the National Merit Scholarship competition, but it is also good practice for taking the other college boards. If you have a student needing to get his feet wet with exams, I recommend having him/her take the PSAT as a sophomore…for fun. There is no pressure at this point either, as only the scores of juniors “count.”

Ultimately, a parent should use his/her own judgment on the readiness of the child for the SAT or ACT, but the earlier the student takes it, the less pressure there is on the student. Research has shown that scores increase with practice, and my own experience has shown that to be the case as well.

The college boards are a necessary evil for college-bound students, but we can up our students’ chances for success on the tests by giving them plenty of opportunities to do well.

~ A thankful heart ~

First of all, I apologize for the big ol’ break I have taken from the Blog. Life has been interrupting. It has been a busy August and September, and who can believe that this week will be October? The college kids are way back in school, and we are on week number seven of our homeschooling year. Where does the time go?

This year my youngest, Lilie, is in second grade. She is seven, and this year something amazing has happened. All of a sudden, Lilie has decided that she can fill out her own planner, write out her work for the week, and do a lot of her work on her own. The seeds of self-learning have been sown not just by me, but also by her older siblings. She sees that not only is it possible to take responsibility for herself, but it is also preferable to always having to be told what to do. This natural transition is simply WONDERFUL to watch!!

What does she still need me to do? I am looking over her shoulder to ensure that we go over new concepts together. I am checking her work for her. I an praising her for excellent work. I listen to her read out loud. She does the rest…and cheerfully. Love this homeschool thing! Sad though that there are no more children to teach to read…

Yesterday we took a day off from the usual Monday school routine, and the kids and Dad went off to the library for a couple of hours. We visit a library that is about 45 minutes away, so it is a bit of a trip. I had a lot of loose ends to tie up with invoicing and shipping, so I stayed at home. It was a busy couple of hours, but I found that the quiet of the house was deafening. I missed everyone and didn’t very much enjoy being home alone. What is wrong with me?

Later on–about 4:00 in the afternoon, I was upstairs working in the packing area, and I realized just how cozy the house seemed with autumn scented candles burning, windows open wide to catch the chill in the air, and the smell of supper cooking on the stove. The kids were outside playing football or upstairs reading.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar yet obnoxious noise coming from outside. It was the roar of a very large school bus. Up it came to drop off the two teenage boys who live across the street. The very same bus had picked up these boys at 7:05 that same morning, meaning they spent eight of the best hours of the day away from their home and family. The weirdness of the System slapped me in the face like it hasn’t in a very long time.

Whatever would I do if all of my children were gone from seven in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon? Five out of seven days a week?

It was one of those a-ha! moments when I realized that I could be missing out on the treasure of knowing and truly enjoying my children day after day. And I was so incredibly thankful for the freedom to homeschool.

Right this moment I am sitting in the parking lot of Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville, Tenneessee. Franklin is here for a hockey session for a couple hours today. We have a 75 minute drive one way, but I appreciate the time spent together in the car. My husband is at work, and our other children are at home doing their school work. Later this afternoon we will all probably head over to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather.

We’ll be back home before that big, sad school bus comes back up the hill, bearing its precious cargo of somebody’s children.

As for me and my house, we will enjoy glorious days sharing life together.

~ Musings on the First Day of School ~

To those of us who homeschool, the first day of school is a little easier than it might be if we were outsourcing our children’s education. Yesterday we excitedly approached a new year, but I didn’t have to get everyone up at the first peek of the morning sun, hurry breakfast down their gullets, and then help everyone find matching shoes before the bus rolled up the hill. Thank you, Lord.

No, the first day of homeschool went something like this:

Breakfast was at 9 am, and afterwards, we sat around the table as a family, including dad, and we talked about our scripture verse for the year. (“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”) I had written a personal message for each student on a 3×5 card, and I passed those out along with new planners, notebooks, and pencils. We prayed over the upcoming year. Awesome beginning.

I had hoped to spend time with each individual student, beginning with the oldest and working down to the youngest, in order to gauge where we would be heading in the first quarter. I didn’t get through anyone past Taylor, LOL. But I have learned that one can plan everything out, but life will get in the way.

Taylor, the resident senior, and I looked over where he needed to be by the end of the year, and then we broke that down into quarters. We reviewed our plans for taking the SAT in early October, and we discussed what colleges he might want to visit/revisit before the end of September.  I left it to Taylor to work out how much work he needed to cover in the first quarter (9 weeks) of the year and get those written down in his planner. He is quite experienced in the realm of self-teaching, and I know he will set the bar high.

Lilie had worked ahead for the first day of school, which just made me smile. I checked her math, checked in with the other three girls on their math, and told Frank that I would catch up with him on Wednesday. (Tuesday, today, was a school holiday. Yeah, yeah, we had a holiday on the second day of school in honor of Frank’s birthday.)

I had only assigned math and one other subject of the student’s choosing for the first day of school. I like to ease into things, personally, and after six weeks off, easing in is the only way to go, IMHO.

I did not get to each child to set short-term goals along with them or to check the goals that the older three had set for themselves. This is our very, very busy season with my home business, so I knew I would not get to everyone, and that was okay. I will sit down on Wednesday and meet with the children I did not meet with.

I only have ten more first days of school. Ten years from now, Lilie will enjoy the first day of her senior year, and it will also be my last first day of homeschool. I will be old; 55 years old, to be exact, but I know it will be a tearful day for me. I get teary-eyed just writing about it, for heaven’s sake. How I will miss the sweet first days of school!

These days are precious. They are numbered. When I have “one of those days” this year, as I undoubtedly will, I shall pull up this post, re-read it, and hopefully catch the vision once again…the vision of the freshness of each day, and the wonderful opportunity that is mine as a homeschool mom.

The first day of school was just that — the first. I should be getting to bed so I can face the second day. 

~ The Three Magic Words ~

Yes, there are such things as magic words.

When it comes to anything repetitious, especially an activity, we tend to lose perspective, and our children are no less prone to sliding into the wrong mindset about schooling. For you as an adult, often the opportunity to go to work each day, to prepare a meal, to do laundry, or fill in the blank, is seen as an enormous chore and drain on our ever-dwindling energy supply. And our mindset.

Do your children resist school work? Chores? While my kids are not out and out vocally negative about doing their school work, they do tend to get a “just another day” mindset. I am sure I model that attitude to them on occasion as well because I don’t use my own magic words as often as I need to.  Today I am pulling them out and putting them to work!

I am about to share with you the three magic words that have the power to pull you out of your slump, to lighten your load, and to share with your children so that they can approach their day with vim and vigor, (whatever that is), too.

Next time you are asked, “Mom, do I *have* to?” The answer you want to give is “You don’t have to, you GET to.”

“Do I have to do math today?” you are asked.

“No, dear. You don’t have to; you get to.” You have the privilege to. You are blessed because you are able to. It is not a responsibility, it is an opportunity.

Catch the magic in those three words: you get to. They are a mindset-changer every time.

When I am facing a chore that I dislike doing, such as cleaning anything, but let’s use cleaning the kitchen as an example: I say to myself, “Joanne, you don’t have to clean the kitchen. You get to clean the kitchen. You are healthy and strong. There are those who would give anything to be mobile enough to do such a task. Thank you, Lord, that I am healthy and have the mobility to clean my kitchen this morning.”

And it works!

This morning I was up early, and I was thinking about having to go into the dentist at 10 a.m. to find out why I have a toothache in a tooth that had a root canal 90 days ago. If you are my friend on Facebook (and if you are not, it is not too late to friend me), then you unwillingly have been subjected to my love/hate relationship with dentistry.

In any case, I realized this morning that I don’t have to go to the dentist; I get to go to the dentist, and immediately my outlook changed like magic.

Sounds hokie until you try it.

Next time you are tempted to complain, or next time you hear a complaint from one of your dear offspring, share with them your magic words.  See if  “you get to” doesn’t help you/them get through that tough task.

Okay: I get to go to the dentist. I get to go to the dentist. I get to go to the dentist. I get to go to…

~ Underwhelmed vs Overwhelmed ~

From time to time I post portions of my own articles here that have been published in hard-copy magazines. This is the July-August article I wrote for Home School Enrichment magazine in my column entitled “The Underwhelmed Homeschooler.”  If you want to read the entire article, get you a copy of Home School Enrichment. The second part will be excerpted here once it prints in the Sept-Oct issue, or if you want to read it more quickly, you can subscribe to HSE for yourself. (www.Homeschoolenrichment.com)

Ah, summer! A time when many homeschool families kick back and enjoy some down time together. Whether your family takes an extended break, a short break, or continues schooling throughout the summer, we all have a time of year when we take stock of what educational materials we will be using for the upcoming new school year.

How does an underwhelmed homeschool mom avoid becoming overwhelmed when it comes to deciding what curriculum materials to use with her children? If you are new to the wonderful world of homeschooling, may I just offer a word of advice? Relax. I know, I know—there is a huge world of book publishers, and a plethora of methodologies from which to choose when considering homeschooling for the very first year! And I want you to relax?  Just how should you go about choosing anyway?

If you are a first-time homeschooler, I recommend asking for suggestions from friends who have children who are excelling in home education. Take a look at what your friends are using, and see if you like what you see. Recommendations are extremely valuable, but keep in mind that what works well may vary from family to family as we all have different likes and dislikes.

Visiting a curriculum fair may or may not be helpful as the curriculum choices out there are staggering, and at this point, you don’t need added terror, especially if this will be your first time at the helm. Curriculum simply needs to be user-friendly as well as present information in a logical and memorable fashion.

You definitely will meet a lot of curriculum at a fair, and seeing what is out there will be helpful, but be prepared to feel as though you are drowning. This is normal. I chose a lot of our curriculum sight unseen from a catalogue years and years ago thinking I could return it if I did not like it. I kept it.

Start somewhere without worrying about whether or not you have found the perfect thing for your children. The perfect curriculum does not exist on planet Earth. Every brand of math program or every brand of spelling or science or health or phonics has its limitations, and our children should learn to learn within those limitations. Choose a program that looks as though it will be interesting and will meet the needs of your students and run with it. You may need to make some small adjustments here and there, but make your choices and trust your instincts.

If you are a seasoned homeschooler, and you have found curriculum that is presenting well the information you would like your children to master, and you are very confident that you are using the “right” materials, congratulations. You are in the minority. Why is that? Why aren’t more parents confident in their curriculum choices? Why do many homeschooling parents do what I call curriculum-hopping, which is randomly changing curriculum because they feel there must be something better out there?

There seems to be a thirst for the latest and greatest spelling curriculum, or the latest edition math curriculum, or the latest—you name it. Curriculum-hopping can be extremely confusing for students who need to be confident that mom and dad have chosen what they think is best for them. If mom and dad aren’t sure and are constantly changing their minds, how are the children going to be sure? Children definitely pick up on our attitudes as parents. My advice to those who already have chosen curriculum and have been using it for a while: don’t set it aside merely for the sake of change. Have a very good reason for that change.

More than anything, parents need to understand that home education is not all about the curriculum. I love that with homeschooling we have the marvelous opportunity to choose what type of worldview we present to our children through the curriculum. There can be no downplaying of the validity of using high-quality materials which we hand-pick. But this wonderful curriculum will be useless unless we train our children how to use these tools. They need to have the want-to and the desire to learn.

As a former elementary school teacher in a classroom environment, I can tell you that curriculum alone does not an educated child make. I never had the opportunity to choose the curriculum for my students when I taught in a private Christian school; I used what was available to me to the best of my ability.  Some children did well with the material, and some children did not, despite my efforts. Any teacher will tell you that the students who excel are the ones with the want-to and the desire to succeed. The students who excel are the ones who possess the positive attitude and who care. If our children do not cheerfully work to master the materials that we give them, chances are it is not the fault of the curriculum.

The real heart of homeschooling is molding, shaping, and training our children in how to use the tools (curriculum) which are given them. Our expectations should not be of the curriculum but of our students’ attitudes surrounding the actual doing of their work.

Too many parents fuss and worry over whether or not their young child will “like” their spelling book or their handwriting book, and they will go off looking for a different program if little Susie states a dislike, or worse yet, will not do the work. There are innumerable programs and systems out there, and any one of them have validity.

If you have been homeschooling for a while,  one reason for changing curriculum may be because you have chosen a different methodology, a different type of approach. For example, there are some materials which are not suitable for a self-learning approach. If I had been doing unit studies, which is a very parent-intensive approach, and then I decided I wanted to train my children to become independent learners, I would need to change my curriculum. (Almost any curriculum can be adapted to self-learning with the exception of unit studies.)

If you change the method of instruction, you may need to change a brand of curriculum. What I refer to as curriculum-hopping is entirely unrelated to this type of change in approach. Changing my science curriculum because my son whines and complains about not liking the current one would be an example of nefarious curriculum-hopping. And the whining and complaining is indicative of a totally different problem that has nothing at all to do with the materials. We’ll get to that.

The underwhelmed mom finds what curriculum works for her children, and then she sticks with it, confident that her children can and will adapt themselves to it and work to the best of their ability. Notice I said that the children will adapt to the curriculum and not the other way around.

I firmly believe that the “learning styles” concept is overrated; I believe this with all my heart. I have eight children, and all eight of my children have for the most part used the exact same curriculum. Once our students reach college level, what kind of input do they have on the curriculum their professors choose? Exactly none. They may choose their classes, but the professors will not give a hoot about learning styles in the college classroom.

Why then do we spend so much time and energy trying to discern exactly how our students learn best? In the realm of adulthood, it is a moot point.

I look for my children’s ability to adapt and work through their weaker areas.

Is there more than one way to learn something? Absolutely!  Thankfully! Results speak more loudly than anything in my book, and we have had and continue to have excellent results by utilizing mastery learning, having great expectations for each child, and tailoring my time as a coach to help each child reach his or her potential.

When I examine our homeschool, I see that my husband and I have the same great expectations for all of our children. We expect all of our children to be kind and loving, to respect us and each other, to do what is asked of them cheerfully, and to work to the best of their ability. That is how we operate as a family. We expect each student to maintain and A average in every subject.

Now each child’s ability to do this is the same: they all possess the ability. Some are more motivated at earlier stages than others, but they are all capable of mastery learning.

This is how we operate as a home school. It is my job as the homeschool coach to help them set goals and work towards those goals each day, not by standing over them and cajoling and begging them to do their work, but by challenging and rewarding their efforts.

One of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein. “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Our parental responsibility is to provide the tools for learning as well as an environment conducive to learning. The attitude training is often the biggest challenge. Once your children are cheerfully doing what you would like them to do with the tools you have chosen, the actual learning part is easy!

An attitude that says, “I can do this, I will do this, and I will do it well,” is priceless, and a child who grows up with that kind of thinking will have an advantage that reaches into every facet of his life. Curriculum merely is the tool to education, but attitude is the heart of homeschooling.

Curriculum plays but a small role in the overall education of students. While curriculum-choosing is an essential step in the homeschooling process, it is not a do or die decision. Quality instructional materials are necessary, but often we waste so much time and effort worrying about and looking for the perfect thing in every subject which will thoroughly delight our student when delighting the student is not the point.

Take whatever curriculum you have that has been working well, and walk into the new school year, confident that you are working with the necessary tools for learning. Moreover, make sure you are teaching, enforcing, and modeling the attitudes necessary for your student to be a motivated learner. Have great expectations for your children while keeping in mind that no curriculum can accomplish true learning without the user bringing it to life through commitment and determination.

~ Quick Curriculum Tip ~

I have come to a single conclusion on curriculum that you can take to the bank.

When it comes to choosing curriculum for your student/child, the MOST IMPORTANT THING is that the material is challenging enough for him.

Yes, some brands of math are easier than others. Some brands of science will be more challenging than others. Some reading programs move more quickly than others. Choose the most challenging materials for your student that you can find and stick with them.

Keep in mind that some students will be challenged more easily than others.  There is a balance between easy, medium, and hard. Some subjects will be easy for your child, and those that come easily are the ones that need to be the biggest challenge, as that is where your child’s strengths lie. The subjects that your child sees as being more difficult for him are often not his strengths and already are challenging.

I am a huge proponent of challenging strengths in a student.

For example, if I have a student who is very good in math and science and is interested in a career in engineering, I am not going to be super concerned because learning a foreign language isn’t his favorite thing. I am not going to force that student to spend endless hours honing his foreign language skills. A simpler language curriculum most likely will be challenging enough for him. I will want this student to put a whole lot of time and energy into the more in-depth science and math courses using the most challenging materials I can find.

Perhaps my other son is interested in foreign missions and Chinese language study. I am not going to push or be as concerned with development of his science and math skills if that is not his strength. He will need to pour his energies into the realm of language, sociology, psychology, etcetera.

See what I am saying? We tend to think that our high school kids must excel at EVERYTHING when in reality they should master the material we give them in everything, for sure, but their areas of interest should be honed more sharply than those that do not interest them as much.

That’s really my final word on choosing curriculum.

For today.

~ Calm in the midst of the college-selection storm ~

If you have a high school student, it is never too early to start thinking about the college selection process. There is no need to feel pressured and anxious come September of your teen’s senior year if you take a few simple steps at key time periods along the way.

Here is my best advice on how to remain underwhelmed when planning out the steps that need to be taken for your student to be on track in the college selection game.

It really is easy! The hardest part is choosing the actual school from all the options, (and there really is no shortcut for making the final decision), but here are suggestions to help you plan out your timetable.

1. Take the SAT or ACT for the *first* time before the sophomore year is over. Also, have your sophomore take the PSAT for fun/practice. It “counts” in the junior year, and it is a great first exam to take for the 10th grader to take for practice. Get those baseline scores in!

I have had a couple of my kids take the SAT after 8th grade literally for fun just to see where they fit in. There is absolutely NO PRESSURE on an 8th grader, and if he/she has had Algebra 1, he or she should do just fine on the math section. If they are good readers and do a lot of independent reading, they should do surprisingly well on the reading section.

The point is to take the tests early in order to remove the fear factor and to give the student a good bit of confidence. Anything over 1000 after 8th grade is an excellent start! And if for some reason the student scores below a 1000, you always can say, “What do you expect? You are in 8th grade!!” That is why I say there is no pressure on an 8th grader when taking this test.

If your student really doesn’t *want* to take the test after describing the advantages of taking it early, then I wouldn’t push it. There will be time down the road, but I really, really like my students to take it if I feel they are ready to dip their toe into the pool to test the waters

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE SENIOR YEAR TO TEST

If you are coming up on your student’s senior year and the ACT or SAT has not yet been taken, schedule him/her for it early in the fall which will allow another try before the deadlines for scholarship applications roll around.

2. Have your students take the most difficult and challenging classes every year of high school. Actually, every year…period. I will qualify this statement by saying that studying a diversified list of subjects is not better than putting the spotlight on fewer subjects but with greater intensity. In other words, allow students to fully concentrate on the basic areas, and don’t throw a bunch of junk in there that will divert their attention.

3. Start making a list of potential colleges to visit. It is rare for a sophomore in high school to know exactly what he wants to study in college, but have him make a list of areas he *may* be interested in, and look for schools that have strong departments that correlate to the student’s best guesses.

Make the college visitation list by the beginning of the junior year, and start visiting those colleges in the junior year. In-state colleges and universities offer the best choice of aid packages, but many colleges out of state will match the funds that the student would get if he attended in-state in order to attend the out-of-state school. (Did that make sense?)

4. By the end of the junior year, the student should have a good idea of where he would like to attend. You should have a clear picture of the requirements each school has for acceptance by now.  You have physically visited several schools of interest, and I recommend having at least three schools on the short list if your student’s grades are definitely good enough to meet those three schools’ entry guidelines.

If your student does not have a GPA that reflects an overall A average, you should have a longer list of potential schools from which to choose in order to have two of three “fall back” schools on the list in the event that he is not accepted into any of his top three choices.

5. Know preferred colleges’ deadlines for scholarship applications/enrollment applications. Generally early December is the cut-off for scholarship apps, and you definitely don’t want to miss these deadlines! I highly recommend putting these dates on the calendar at the beginning of the student’s senior year. Submit apps as soon as possible!

What I do is block out the fall of a student’s senior year on my calendar, filling it with test dates, enrollment application deadlines, and scholarship application deadlines. I try to get the student to complete everything that is necessary for college decision-making by Christmas.

If kids have a short list of schools going into the student year, most of your work is done. No scrambling is necessary as you will be mapping out the important dates on the calendar, and making sure your student has them on his calendar as well. This is a rare case when I recommend looking over a high school student’s shoulder and making sure that these deadlines are met.

Hopefully the student will have a sense of responsibility and will be self-motivated to get everything in on time; however, a second set of eyes is always helpful when there is so much riding on the process, playing the game, so to speak.

Now if your student won’t be applying for merit scholarships, you have a bit more time to work with since there are not these particular deadlines to consider, but I highly recommend getting applications for admission in as early as you possibly can.

6. File the FAFSA as soon as possible in January/February of the senior year. College and Universities use this info for scholarship purposes and basic financial aid packages.

7. Once the FAFSA has been filed, look for what other scholarships are available through sources not related to the schools themselves.

Once the applications have been sent in and any scholarships have been applied for, you can relax and wait for notification that your student has been accepted! Wrap up as much as you can by December, and the spring is yours to enjoy without last-minute stress.

~ Homeschooling could save your child’s LIFE ~

This past week I did a transcription of an audio file that was a bit different than the files we usually transcribe for internet marketers and such. Norbert Georget (you can Google him) sent us an MP3 audio of a presentation he gives in high schools all across America and Canada. The topic of his assemblies: Drug and Alcohol Abuse among kids and teens.

WOW. It was extremely intense. At times I cried. At times I sobbed. You see, Mr. Georget is a paramedic who cleans up after folks who get killed in car crashes; he has been present at drug deals gone bad where his victim has been shot or has overdosed on meth or worse. He talks about finding young addicts lying in fetal positions on the streets of Saskatchewan. Prostitution. Suicide. He has seen it all. He doesn’t hold anything back with his listeners who are grade 7 through 12 students.

At the end of the presentation which consists of videos of  accident scenes, cops telling parents their teen is dead, horrifyingly honest testimonials from drug users, Norbert calls a student up on stage to assist him in pulling something out of a container. Turns out it is a *used* body bag. He actually had used this particular body bag to pick up what was left of one of his “students” (which is what he calls the kids he speaks to) when he was a first responder to an accident one night. His student had been drinking and doing drugs at a party, and the student then got in a car, flipped the car, and was thrown from the vehicle.

Why am I telling you this?

I was impacted by what I heard. I was impacted by this man’s work. I was pulled into this sad and destructive world for an hour and eighteen minutes, and I found myself wondering how kids ever get into this sort of destructive cycle of crystal meth, E, pot, alcohol, and a mixture of the above.

Where are the parents of these kids who have rotted-out teeth from doing crystal meth? Why do parents allow their kids to go to parties where there is likely this type of behavior? Why don’t they know who their kids’ friends are and what kind of friends they have?  Certainly there are warning signs, but why aren’t they heeded? I just do not understand.

Now I am not saying that homeschooled children are immune to this powerful blight on society today; however, by the very nature of schooling at home, parents can absolutely be aware of what is going on in their child’s life. Not only do I know where my children spend their free time, but  I know who they are with, I can control who they are with, and I know what they spend their money on.

In short, homeschool parents *CAN* know where their children are at all times. The children are not gone for 8 hours (or more) of the day doing who knows what while they are out of their parents’ sight.

Yes, kids grow up and go out into the world; however, homeschooling allows a close bond to grow between parents and their children. Parents have ample opportunity to mold and shape their children’s thoughts on such dangerous and destructive behavior as drugs and alcohol.  There is much more accountability on the homeschooled students’ part in general, and by the time they are old enough to be making their own decisions, a strong foundation has been laid.

And that could be enough to save my children’s lives.

Just another important benefit to home education that I had not been face to face with in a while.

~ Upping Scores ~

I’ve been doing some thinking, and that thinking was prompted by one of my sons not scoring as well as he would have liked to on the SAT this spring. He wants to up his score by about 100 points come September. How can I help him achieve that goal?

The answer to this question will be unique to each student and family, but there are some good across-the-board guidelines that we can follow to achieve more on the side of academics while boosting a sense of family.

The first change we will make for everyone in the house is to unplug the TV.  We’ll put away Game Cube. I forget just how much these often mindless activities steal our children’s attention AND desire to engage in creative and more worthy pursuits. For some reason, I seriously dislike Wii and Game Cube and the like although we do allow them from time to time. Until I get totally fed up with them.

So screen time is the first thing to go. That means no movie watching either, although I can not rule out trips to the drive-in or to the theater. These make movie-watching a treat or a family activity.

I know from experience that we will live in a much more harmonious environment, and the kids will be outside playing more, reading more, and they will get to bed earlier.  I will be outside playing more, reading more, and will get to bed earlier.

Factor in doing more things as a family, and it is a win-win situation.

I believe there is a season to everything which is why we allow the screen time in the first place. There is a season to put it away as well. I know from experience that removing distractions will be a blessing to us right now.

The next thing we are going to change is the library that we use. We live in a small town, and our library has very limited options. There is the whole “they’ve gotten rid of all the good books” argument, and that is pretty much true.

So we will travel to the big city and use their library this summer where the likelihood of finding good books will hopefully go up. The travel time and gas usage will be a sacrifice that pays dividends though. I look forward to some new books as well. If I had unlimited funds, I would have an excellent home library. But I don’t, so we outsource the library.

If we want to encourage our children to read, the best thing we can do is read to them and let them see us reading.

I think that the combination of putting away the idleness-inducing appliances and giving access to a whole new world of books will yield good fruit this summer and long after. We have already been without screens for two whole days, and we have had nice family times in the evenings. We usually do, but then we would put on a movie and everyone would be up too late watching it, which would be painful in the mornings.

One other thing I highly recommend with the SAT before I forget. I recommend that you order the complete test and answer packet for your student. (I forget what it is called ~ sorry!) I think the price is like $18 for this service, but it is well worth the funds spent.

Your student will receive the test, the answers, and the answers that he gave for each question so you can analyze what was missed and hopefully see a pattern. My son will study his materials when they arrive and knowing him, he will work up a strategy to fill in his weaker areas on his own. I will look over his materials as well just for my own information. Actually, he will give me a synopsis, but if your student does not do this on his own, be sure to take the time to analyze his results so that you can learn as much as possible from mistakes.

I will support my son by taking away the temptation to fritter away his time on pointless silly games and TV shows. Am I behind the times? I see this as a self-control issue for both me and my family. I am not secretly watching TV on the side while I expect them to do without. Rather, we are taking time that would evaporate otherwise and investing in activities of consequence.

If that is behind the times, so be it.

Good bye this.

Hello this.

I’ll let you know how effective these changes turn out to be after my son’s next SAT this fall.  I know that we have never regretted putting the screens away. I just wonder why we don’t do this more often if we know the benefits. Perhaps it has something to do with my own level of self-control? Sadly, I think that is most likely it.