Not Another Homeschool Blog

I'm really happy to have my college age kids home!  As much as I want them near me, I was dreading the tornado that was sure to accompany their return. But believe it or not, I came in this morning from the gym to find a clean kitchen.. and now they are organizing their college bins and belongings in the basement until August when they leave again...  #proud. I need to get my job done now and get them materials for the CLEP & DSST exams they plan to take this summer, so they can get to studying.   I wish they had taken more of them during their high school years, but they just weren't ready.   Well, they're ready now! After comparing learning from a professor vs learning on their own...  wherever possible, they would much rather learn on their own. Good for them... they're still homeschoolers at heart.

I just read an awesome homeschool blog where the mom was celebrating a CLEP pass .  It is very exciting. I touched on CLEP exams some time back as my hope was that my son would put a ton of college credits behind him before graduating.  But Alas, that did not happen.  He did get 6 English credits that the college he is going to will accept, and plans take one more in math before the end of this school year. Maybe he will even attempt one of the two tests he did not pass last time.    But in the end, he is the type that needs to actually sit through the class to pass it, so his CLEP success has been limited. Let's face it CLEP exams are HARD.  It is a college level test, so there is no shame in not passing it when you are only 15 or 16 years old. There may be shame in not trying though. For us, even when he did not pass,  it was a learning experience in figuring out his strengths and learning how to study.  Studying for the tests have also give...

You may remember that we are planning to take a CLEP approach to homeschool high school.   Originally, I started working with my 15 year old son, who passed the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Exam, and before long my 13 year old wanted in on the fun.  We are now getting ready to take the History 1 Exam because my kids have a great grasp on history thanks to their Fine Arts and History program at Artios Academies.  I had them use Hippocampus.com to watch the history videos and take the quizzes.  My daughter finished ahead of schedule so I had her take the short (65) question exam from the large blue College Board CLEP book.  She did exceedingly well, answering 2/3 of the questions right when you need to answer 50% right to pass the test. Her unofficial score was equivalent to a B in a college level class!  She hasn't even started using the recommended REA test prep book yet.  My kids will take the test in about 2 weeks, giving them time for ...

My son took the Analyzing and Interpreting Lit Clep this morning and scored a 52. You need 50 to pass. His score counts as a C (unofficially) for a college course, and since he is only 15 and in the 10th grade, I assigned him a B for his grade portfolio. He did do additional work for me while studying for the test... We will call it extra credit. This was supposed to be the easiest of all CLEPs, but I disagree. It is only easy if your child or student is an avid reader of literature. While my son IS an avid reader, he does not do poetry, or "literature". He mostly sticks to big, honkin' manuals. I think it might be easy for my daughter who does like novels with flowery language, so I will plan for her to take it in the spring. He is going to spend the next 6 weeks working towards the SAT with math review and working on his essay skills. After that we will tackle the History 1 CLEP. Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom Visit Me at the Families.com Homeschool B...

My son, and his friend took Spanish last year in a local classroom setting.  Not getting the results they hoped for we are going it on our own.   The action plan:  Review Spanish 1 and tackle Spanish 2 over the summer.  Then take the Clep Exam at the end of September. We are using: Learner.org free tutorial, Destinos (A telanovella that teaches spanish), plus the accompanying book that we ordered used from Amazon.com. Rosetta Stone to teach pronunciation. If they need more help, we will hire a Spanish tutor for the last month of study before taking the Spanish Clep Exam. My daughter who has not taken Spanish 1 will follow the same program, but at a slower pace, hopefully taking the test next summer.  Wish us luck, and if you have any experience preparing for the Spanish Clep exam, please leave a comment with tips and suggestions.

This site tells you which Anneberg media video courses to use when studying for CLEP exams http://www.freeuniv.com/outside/annenres.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom Visit Me at the Families.com Homeschool Blog Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com Great Deals on School & Homeschool Curriculum

I was curious so I googled. Someone on my CLEP email list mentioned that their sons took the CLEP today and one got an 80 a perfect score and the other got a 66. I wondered how that translated into letter grades, and here is was I found: **update: I just got an email that lists (unnoficial) A and B grades for all cleps Click Here! to increase your chances of passing. This is straight from the College Board Business Financial Accounting 65 50 Introductory Business Law 60 50 Information Systems and Computer Applications 59 50 Principles of Accounting 2 53 50 Principles of Marketing 65 50 Principles of Management 63 50 Composition and Literature Analyzing & Interpreting Literature 60 50 American Literature 58 50 English Composition with Essay 63 50 English Composition without Essay 59 50 English Literature 62 50 Freshman College Composition 59 50 Humanities 56 50 Foreign Languages French Language, Level 1 64 50 French Language, Level 2 69 59 German La...

Yesterday I wrote about preparing my kids to start taking CLEPs. For that reason, I will be compiling information that I may be able to use later... If you can use it too... then great! Anyway, here is a site you can use to take practice tests for CLEP and PETERSON exams http://tinyurl.com/94dgbb Read more Notes From a Homeschooling Mom Visit Me at the Families.com Homeschool Blog Visit My Education Column at Examiner.com

I have decided to get my kids started taking CLEP courses next year. In my own words, CLEP exams are tests used to allow students to test out of a College course. For homeschoolers, they are a great AP substitute because it allows a student to study college level coursework and take a test to prove they learned it. No one can argue that MOMMA assigned a grade with no real basis. While CLEP exams will allow students to fast forward through college, that is hardly my concern. My interest in CLEP exams is to show that my kids really know what they know and to make them more attractive to the best colleges (should they plan to go that route.) I will mostly be working with my 14 year old son and a 16 year old friend. My daughter will probably take some as well just to get a feel for it. The first test the boys are planning to take is supposed to be the easiest... Interpreting and analyzing Literature, but the test isn't exactly a no brainer for me. I am planning to have them rea...