Showing posts sorted by relevance for query economics. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query economics. Sort by date Show all posts

Economics Done! - a review

All that my child has to finish to be done with her homeschool academics forever is health.  She finished her economics course last night while I was doing her hair.  She used a basic text book via Glencoe  and online tests to learn the basics of Economics, then we finished up with "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy", a book that I recently came upon.  It is "an Uncle Eric Book", from a series that has a matter-of-fact way to describing political and financial subjects, and I seems like homeschoolers are taking to the book series.

Anyway, after she finished the basic curriculum, I had her read the book and requested a discussion of it... she chose verbal and I was fine with that as I am anxious to finish the year.  She described the book chapter by chapter, told my how it compared and contrasted with the textbook and what insight it gave her.

She basically feels that I should have had her do this Economics course before Personal Finance because she may have felt more inclined to embrace the work.  She is the type of person who has to understand WHY before she embraces any materials, and this book I added to her Economics course mad the WHY's very clear.

She plans to keep the book forever, and make sure that her future husband reads it too.  She feels it will help her avoid the pitfalls that people often fall for that keeps our economy if a constant cycle of boom and bust.



FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE ahermitt.com

What your college prep student needs to know.

Remember that whole speech I made yesterday about doing personal finance math instead of Calculus or the like?  Well, the Board of Regents of the University System of GA has released guidelines that must be made to be considered entry into a GA state college, so if that is your goal,  any Personal Finance Class will have to be an elective, or perhaps you can use Economics/Business classes to satisfy the social science requirement.

So, if a GA state college is your goal, (and this probably applies to many state colleges across the country, here is what your child will need to complete beginning the school year 2012-1013.  (As my kids are not applying to state colleges, this is not a problem for us.

College Prep English:  4 units
  • American Lit (integrated with grammar, usage and composition)
  • English Lit (integrated with grammar, usage and composition)

High School Homeschool Curriculum Recap- History

This is part 3 of my curriculum recap series.  Please scroll to the bottom for other subjects.  This installment specifically covers history in the high school years.  Before the high school years, I feel that history should be taught chronologically.  Personally, I prefer that it also be taught chronologically in the high school years as well, but for the college bound student, that is not always possible.

To keep things interesting, and for continuity's sake, I always pair my literature choices with the history/social studies unit.  You can find my k-12 language arts plan here.

American History:
Each of my kids actually did two year of American History.  There is just so much information to cover.  We used Hippocampus.org, and studied Discovery to Civil War the first year and

Teaching Homeschool Economics Skills

Most homeschoolers don't worry about home economics courses. After all, the children learn how to cook, and shop and take care of the home in the course of everyday living, especially when they are in the home more than public school kids. I even have an apron that says "home Ec classes in session".

My daughter however has wanted to learn how to knit and I have had trouble finding someone to teach her. A math, or science teacher is easy enough to find, but a knitting teacher... that can be difficult. Until now.



With American Knitter Learn to Knit DVD Lessons you can learn how to knit, and teach your homeschooled child how to knit too. How cool is that? Though this is not knitting in the traditional sense because it uses a loom and hook, it still meakes a mean hat and scarf set!

Ongoing Money Management Lessons for Children Help them Avoid Costly Mistakes

I am glad to offer you this guest post from another homeschool mom and freelance writer:

It doesn’t seem to matter whether your children go to public school, private school or are homeschooled – financial lessons and money management are lessons our children need to learn before they need to make financial decisions.  Money management strategies cannot be taught during a one time lesson; instead, children need age-appropriate information throughout their childhood so they have time to form sound financial habits that carry over into their adult years, and are armed and ready with the information they need to make good financial decisions.

Elementary Age Kids and Finances

My own children are ages 6 and 9.  My 6-year old seems to think if we need money for something, we need only visit the bank or ATM and ask for it; while my 9-year old understands you have to have the money in the bank to withdraw it, but doesn’t quite understand why we

A tailored Education

The Lost FilesPrologue
What a Difference A Year Makes Part 1
Chapter 1: What a Difference A Year Makes Part 2
Chapter 2: Background Influences
Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 1
Chapter 3: What Am I doing? Part 2
Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 1
Chapter 4: Best Laid Plans.... Part 2
Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 1
Chapter 5: Socialization? Part 2
Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 1
Chapter 6 : I thought I already knew my children! Part 2
Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 1
Chapter 7 : Leaving the School System Part 2
Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 1
Chapter 8: Choosing Curriculum Part 2
Chapter 9: A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 1
Chapter 9 : A Typical Homeschooling Day? Part 2
Chapter 10 : Homeschool Burn-out
Chapter 11 : At Their Own Pace
Chapter 12 : A tailored Education


In giving your child a customized, individualized education, one must realize that allowing the child to progress at his or her own pace is only half of the process. Equally important is allowing the child to focus on an area he or she is especially talented in, or in which they are extremely interested.

If you look at children involved in Hollywood, Broadway, Amateur Sports, or the music industry, you will find that most of these children have one thing in common. They are homeschooled. Many homeschool by necessity, however, homeschooling allows them to have a career while they are still children. I am by no means suggesting homeschoolers push their children into any of these areas prematurely. What I am suggesting, however, is homeschooling parents allow their children to focus in areas in which they are naturally inclined, or for which they have a great deal of passion. I like to call it majoring, to borrow the college term.

My own children for example, major in Piano. It was my son’s desire, two years ago, to play the piano. After school once a week, I would take him and his sister to piano lessons. I chose to take both children because I thought that every child should have some experience with the instrument, and I had heard that music helps to develop your brain mathematically. They both loved it and had no problem catching on. My son Jackson has added the flute as well, and Jordan has now has picked up the ability to play by ear.

At age 8, before he even started homeschooling Jackson had already declared that music would to be his major. As I was sitting outside of his piano lesson one day, I heard Jackson’s teacher tell him that his new books, which he had just received last week were suddenly too easy for him. He already needed a new set of books. Something had clicked, and he his playing had suddenly advanced in a short period. She will be bringing him classical books next week. After his lesson, and while his sister was playing, I questioned him about his feelings and his progress. He informed me that he likes playing instruments and learning to write music more than anything; even sports. He said, when he starts homeschooling, he wants to add flute lessons and to spend more time on music.

He continues to hold interest in these instruments and at this time is trying to decide what instrument to add to his portfolio next. His desire to major in music has heavily influenced my recent decision to enroll him and his sister Jordan in a school for the arts, which they will attend four or more hours a week. I am enrolling both children because Jordan has repeatedly expressed an interest in singing, dancing, and drama, and this school has all of these elements.


After spending an entire day at the local Masters Academy recently, I am confident that starting next August, I will be able to give my children the opportunity to focus more on what they love. The programs consist of Art, Music, and drama, all based on historical times. Therefore, they get the full picture of history instead of just facts. They can also choose elective classes that will allow them to focus on the instruments or discipline of their choice. The school teaches from a biblical perspective, which is also important to us. In addition, I do not have to drive all over town for different extracurricular lessons.

As a college student might switch majors from year to year, young children may very well switch majors from month to month. This does not mean they have wasted a moment’s time pursuing something they would eventually drop. Instead, it means they receive a crash course, and probably a deeper understanding in a subject than they would have received had they taken the course in a more traditional matter.

This is autodidactic learning. An autodidactic learner is self-educated. These self-
learners have an enthusiasm for knowledge, and instead of waiting for the right time to learn something, they dive right into it as soon as the interest arises, even before any so-called pre-requisites. Because the curiosity is there, the person learns enthusiastically. If they had waited until allowed, to they would have surely lost interest in the subject before they got to it. For example, about a month after I had began homeschooling our children, I went away for a few days and my husband stayed home from work to be with the children. When I returned, he and my daughter informed me that she had learned to multiply. .But" I protested, "She has not mastered subtraction yet"! .How does that stop her from learning to multiply?" my husband asked. .I have no idea", was my answer.

You cannot teach all subjects out of order, of course, but interest in a subject certainly makes it much easier to learn. Traditional schooling insists that we wait until we are old enough and have a wide enough range of knowledge before we can make decisions about our future careers. So often, by this point we have forgotten or have not had enough time to pursue subjects that once warmed out hearts. By the time we reach college, we have already learned to make life decisions based on the popular profession of the day or based on the amount of money we can make. An autodidactic learner, instead, studies the subject of their hearts desire, and then figures out how to make money doing it.

Another reason self motivated learning is an asset to homeschooling is that it helps to rule out fields that one might decide they dislike, before investing a lot of time and money. One can avoid this by participating in an internship at a young age. Many homeschooled teenagers, instead of learning from a book about a subject that might interest them, may work as an intern in the field, or even take a money-paying job. When you are working in your chosen field, you have a better chance of determining if this is something you want to do with your life. The job helps to confirm whether they want to pursue the career further. It also allows them to feel comfortable spending money on a degree. In addition, it can lead to an ongoing internship that will lead to a job in the end. For those who decide that the career is not for them, they have saved a great deal of money, and possibly even earned some money in the process, and can now explore other possibilities.


For those children who find their calling, or declare a major early in life and stick to it, you can end up with a child prodigy. Stories of child prodigies are much more common within the homeschooling community than in the traditional schooling community. This might be because homeschooling makes sense for a child that is an over achiever and is, in essence a by-product of such achievement. As homeschooling becomes more and more popular, however, these stories seem to become more and more frequent.

There is a true story about a young man who won the MacArthur Fellowship Award, in 2002. His name is Erik Demaine. His father Martin removed him from school at seven years of age. They traveled the country together on a very meager budget if $5000.00 per year while homeschooling. Martin taught his son from borrowed books, at bookstores and at libraries. His father worked from the theory that the child should spend 1 hour a day on his overall education with the rest of the day dedicated to his own interests.

At 12 years old, with no school records, he joined the computer science department of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as an associate professor. By age 22, the MIT professor whose work fuses art, science, work and play was the recipient of a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the "genius" grant. He was the youngest of the 24 recipients that year.

I am not expecting this kind of genius to be a by-product of homeschooling my children. Erik Demaine was obviously born with this potential already within him. What I am expecting however, it that my children will be able to focus on whatever it is that moves their hearts to the point that they will be able to excel in their chosen field.

As for receiving a well-rounded education, homeschoolers do not neglect all other subjects in lie of studying only the major. I assure you that though some people may not study chemistry, or geometry, or Latin, homeschoolers do receive well-rounded educations. Erik Demaine’s father for example, took one hour a day to make sure his son learned subjects outside of his immediate interests. In most cases, the parent uses their "school" time to focus on reading, and math, especially since these are the subjects on required standardized tests. You would be amazed how much reading and math can be learned in 1 hour when there in only one or two children. As for science, social studies, and other subjects, they are all around us. Trips to Zoos museums and even watching the television gives us more knowledge than we even realize.

In my case, we spend two hours a day learning "subjects". We do four or five days a week. We are not in school waiting for the class to quiet, waiting on lines, or dealing with other distractions. Therefore, every learning hour spent at home easily equals two hours spent in school. In addition, our "school" time does not include physical education (Tae Kwon Do), music lessons, Home economics, health, and a host of many other subjects that occur naturally as a part of daily living.

(reminder: this was written several years ago)

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If we would just let them learn

If we know that "knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave" (Frederick Douglas),then we understand why a little girl with a book is a threat to the Taliban.





The way I see it, those terrorists know that if girls became more educated that they could not control

From Homeschool to Online School to College (Guest Post)


I am off to a college visit with my daughter. Thought this was a good time to leave you with a pretty informative guest post I've been holding onto. Enjoy.


Notes From a Homeschooled Mom has before written about what it takes to prepare homeschooled students for college, and for getting the jobs they ultimately want. Estelle Shumann builds upon this conversation with the following blog post, which talks about how the technological advances in education (especially online education) help homeschooled students with college preparedness in a way never before thought possible. Estelle writes at http://www.onlineschools.org, a website dedicated to online education.


From Homeschool to Online School to College: Technological Advances Prepare Students for the University
As technology has encroached into seemingly every facet of modern life in recent years, the nature of homeschooling has changed as well. In the past five years, online education programs have gone from a strange niche to a mainstream multi-billion dollar industry. As the technology facilitating online

Carnival of Homeschooling: Thanks for the Inspiration



Welcome to the March 1, 2011 edition of carnival of homeschooling.


I am happy to be hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling once again.  As a homeschooler of 8+ years, I find the Carnival as my best source of inspiration and education when it comes to homeschooling.  From new Ideas to encouragement, you fellow homeschoolers truly inspire me.  I am entitling this Carnival, Thanks for the Inspiration for that reason.  I am truly appreciative.

Here is this week's Carnival: 


Teaching and Learning:

Katherine presents storytime hits posted at No Fighting, No Biting!, saying, "Big kids enjoy (and learn from) storytime as much as preschoolers."



Elena LaVictoire presents The necessities of kindergarten posted at My Domestic Church.

nak presents Economics for Nine-Year-Olds : The Mississipi Bubble posted at Sage Parnassus.


Carol J. Alexander presents Homesteading Homeschoolers--Meet the Beachy's posted at Everything Home...with Carol.

Projects:


History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 1-3Jennifer presents Completion posted at a glimpse of our life.


Miss Nirvana presents Watch Our Bean Plant Grow Up Close posted at Nirvana Homeschooling, saying, "Fun project to get us ready for Spring. Include microscope images."

Ina presents ROMAN MOSAICS AND OUR DAY at Ina's 5 & Our Native Homeschool blog, saying  "It was an intellectual day. From the discussion of poetry (pop music), to social issues to Roman mosaics"

Miss Nirvana presents Watch Our Bean Plant Grow Up Close posted at Nirvana Homeschooling.

Brandy Ferrell presents Studying South Korea posted at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood, saying, "Involving Daddy in homeschooling, even when he's across the world!"
Encouragement:

Dan presents Letter From a Concerned Mother posted at Opting Out.

Mrs. White presents The Legacy of Home: Going to Meeting posted at The Legacy of Home.

Encouragement Changes Everything: Bless and Be BlessedRenae presents Thankful Monday Morning posted at Life Nurturing Education.

Barbara Frank presents Self-Control Has Long-Lasting Benefits at Barbara Frank Online, saying Recent studies show more benefits of self-control...and the best place children can develop self-control is in the home.


Nadene presents Partnered Reading ~ moments I treasure « Practical Pages posted at PracticalPages, saying, "Partnered reading - special homeschooling moments I treasure!"

e-Mom presents Mary Mohler in the Spotlight posted at C h r y s a l i s ღ, saying, "Five Quotes from Mary Mohler's article "Motherhood Matters.""

Carletta  presents Mom's Dirty Little Secret 2 Bad Kids at Successful Homeschooling Blog


Homeschooling and Money:

Homeschooling on a Shoestring: A Jam-packed GuideMoney Crashers Blog presents 7 Costs of Homeschooling - Homeschool Curriculum, Programs & Books posted at Money Crashers, saying, "Here are 7 expenses you should keep in mind if you are considering homeschooling your child."

The blogger who wrote the last post is planning to homeschool in the future.  It is only fitting that that post is followed by a veteran homeschooler with a slightly different viewpoint.

Cristina Payne presents Home Spun comic strip #585 posted at Home Spun Juggling, saying, "Comic and article where I ponder, "Can we afford to homeschool?""

Personally, It is the post homeschool years that have me quaking in my boots:  Andrea Hermitt presents Changes to the HOPE Scholarship at Notes from a Homeschooling Mom, adding... here's more on this subject: HOPE Scholarhip, Budget Cuts, and Homeschoolers.


Resources:

Amber Morris presents Time Management posted at The Mommy Earth.

Robin Phillips presents Home School Astronomy and NASA: A Fresh Serving Every Day posted at Crack the Egg.

Henry Cate presents Do you live near Santa Ana, California?  At Why Homeschool



Things to Think About:


Arby presents Pinky, We're Going to Take Over the World! posted at The Homeschool Apologist.


ChristineMM presents To Ponder: Race to Nowhere Post Screening Discussion posted at The Thinking Mother, saying, "ChristineMM of The Thinking Mother shares videos of discussions after a screening of the documentary Race to Nowhere and shares her thoughts about education."


Jamie Gaddy presents TOP SECRET ISSUE...RE: Creative Writing - Blogs - Parent Community and Forum posted at Homeschool Online, saying, "Need an interesting way to get your children writing creatively? Take a peek to find my favorite idea!"

Thanks Again!

The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights--Enjoy this free Kindle Ebook on your Kindle, Iphone, or Laptop


That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homeschooling using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.



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One-half credit in Government

The plan was originally, to do a full unit in Government for my daughter's senior year.  When we found out that is was required for accreditation to do 1/2 unit plus 1/2 unit of economics, our plans were changed.  We went from using the textbook, Politics in America , and the Hippocampus Government program to just using Hippocampus and leaving out the written assignments.   That, I hoped would take a good 60-70 hours creating a half credit.
  

To my surprise, my daughter sped through the information, scoring in the 90th percentile on all tests, within maybe 30 hours tops.  I was concerned that her lack of interest in the subject had translated to

Sooooo close to finished.... yet so far.

It is so hard to focus on the final academics that need to be done before graduation.  There are almost 2 months before graduation, so there is plenty of time, but a lot of that time is accounted for with the SR. Project for her arts program.  She has had to write, design, and will need to rehearse and perform a show on graduation day.  So I want the academics done.

Left to do:

2 Lifepac paces for Physical science
1 term paper for economics.
1 full .5 credit study on health.

The college she is going to also wants her to take a math test, a writing test, and a spanish test online right away.

Meanwhile, I am having problems pulling her attention from her SR. Project, as that is most exciting.

Sigh.

I'm just glad to know that I won't have to micro-manage her work anymore.  She responds much better to teachers (like the one who is mentoring her Sr. Project).  I'm not worried about college... just anxious to get 12th grade finished.


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com



A new semester- the final semester

I am spending this morning getting my son's laundry done  so we can take him back to college. ( I know he should do it himself, but these kids will let a wet load sit in the machine for hours).  It has been an interesting break.  He is clearly more mature (and bossy) than he was when he left home.  His opinions are strong.  His patience is also short. ... and I can't tell when he's serious or joking anymore. I look back at the period of my life when I left home and remember how necessary the distance was.  I was getting to the point when I was becoming my mother, and I was still a teenager. Every glance, every opinion, every argument I had, and someone would comment how much like my mother I was.  Now, my mother was a perfectly lovely person and I wish I had half her sense of humor, but I was not her, and in order to become uniquely me, I needed time and space- off by myself to deal with the world.  This is my son's time.  I may not like or understand all the changes, but he is still the same at his core- uber moral, and deep thinking.  My work may indeed be done.

I am also trying to get my daughter to wash her hair so I can set it in some new-fangled rollers I

A new school year and a roving play


We just got home from this years "school" meeting. We went over rules, regulations, dress codes, cell phone rules during class, and all that good stuff. We found out about all the new things that the homeschool program is rolling out. (Don't you hate it how things always get cooler and better just as you are done?... It reminds me of how mad I still get when I see the super-cool strollers that weren't available when my kids were babies.)  But they all grow up and things change.

The most exciting news was Drama Club.. of course!  The fall play is undecided (almost decided) but it won't be held at our usual venue.  Instead, the kids will bring the play to the community.  They may do a nursing home, a school, a community theater, a major theater, or all of the above... who knows.  The second play will be a full school play... I won't say what it is just yet, but it will have kids of every age from

Accrediting daughter's portfolio

I am such a hypocrite.


As much as I complain against and say that accreditation is not necessary, I have decided to go ahead and accredit my daughters homeschool portfolio.

Sure, she could get into any private college with her portfolio as-is.  Her tests scores are good, especially, her verbal score. She is loaded down with theater and music extra-curriculars, demonstrating the depth of her talent.

So why have I decided to turn her homeschool portfolio into an accredited diploma?



Competitiveness.

One of the colleges she is applying to will take homeschool portfolios with tons of digging and probing, and may still require a GED.  We are not really worried about that, because it is clear she is well educated, but they won't take my word for her grades....and her GPA is vital to scholarship offers.

Sigh.  Yes, I did it for money.  In my defense, this is a tough economy and this will be my second child in college.  

So have I changed my mind?  Do I think homeschool accreditation is necessary.  NO, I don't. My (and many veteran homeschoolers' fear) is that if more and more homeschoolers cave to accreditation, that more and more colleges will feel justified in asking for it.  That is sad, because it takes away some of the freedoms of being able to teach to the child.  Even with my daughters length and breadth of educational experiences, we have to add another science class and a half credit of economics to meet state accreditation requirements, even though none of her colleges require that she study these subjects.  With accreditation, we as homeschoolers spend so much time and effort on studies that either don't fit the child's needs or that keep the child from doing what is more tailored to them. So you can see why so many of us resist accreditation requirements for homeschoolers. 


 However, I cannot negate the original reason that I chose to homeschool, which is to use the tools in my arsenal to do what is best for each child?  Hence, this child will be getting an accredited diploma. However, I might be annoyed if she ends up going to one of the other colleges on her list that do not require it.


FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
 ahermitt.com

Resting and figuring out the rest of the year

This has been a low-key week with me staying as close to my bed as possible.  Hence, the lack of blogging.



I was up to my eyeballs in work and business for the last 6 weeks with my daughters competitions, elections, and finally, the fall play, which I was costuming.  With the exception of the pile of dirty dress shirts in the trunk of my car, and answering surveys about my precinct managers, all of that work is behind me.  I am spending the week napping.

On the homeschool front, my daughter is currently finishing up her unit on Government, and then we will start her second trimester for the year.  As of Friday, she will have completed Spanish, Government, and Business & Personal Math, and part 1 of Physical Science.  This next Trimester will be the remainder of Physical Science, Economics, and Analyzing Literature (in the form of a CLEP exam).  After that, sometime in late winter, she will only have to do a health unit, and work on finishing her Senior project.  Another round of competitions and her final high school musical will also dominate her final trimester in the spring, which is why I have left only one little course to finish.

Nailed down this years curriculum... again

We really thought this year's curriculum plan for my SR. daughter was going to be easy peasy, then we decided to go for Accreditation. So, instead, we found ourselves adding classes in some areas which meant scaling back in others. 

Here is a brief accounting of our new and improved plans:

Math:  Business Math with Personal Finance:  ALEKS.COM
Language Arts: Analyzing and Interpreting Lit (study for CLEP exam)
History: Government 1/2 credit Hippocampus.org
Social Studies: Economics:  Uncle Erics Books

  • Whatever Happened to Penny Candy
  • Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security (An Uncle Eric Book) by Richard J. Maybury, Jane A. Williams and Kathryn Ann Daniels (Apr 1, 2004)
  • Whatever Happened to Justice? (An Uncle Eric Book)

Science: General Physical Science Hippocampus.org
Spanish: Mango Languages (library subscription)
HEALTH: Glencoe Online



The plan is to still try to be finished with the bulk of this by Christmas so she can focus on her Sr. project at her Arts program.

FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
ahermitt.com

12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong

We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript.    Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...