Not Another Homeschool Blog

Things got Weird in 2020

Unenroll?  Fill out paperwork? Choose curriculum? Create a schedule? All of these things are important but if you are a homeschooler (the type that teaches children themselves without the help of a teacher).... An OG homeshchooler, then you need to know this one important thing.  YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.  Confused?  Watch the video. 

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT AND THEN SOME... After not making a blog post for over a year, I am back with my second post in a week, but strange times calls for strange behavior, right?  Anyway, due to murmurings I am hearing on the homeschool boards I thought this was in order.  Many people need to know what to expect when they decide to homeschool. They need to know what the first step is and they are getting tons of misinformation when they call the school.   I have done the research, and you can find specific state information on several homeschool legal websites, but I found some inconsistencies, and dug further.  The rules are as follows:  There is no real notification required, as in you can just decide to homeschool and start homeschooling in Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, New Jersey, Alaska, Iowa, and Michigan.  In some of these states, you can opt to work more closely with the schools, or enroll under private schools, but it is no...

This video walks you through keeping track of and giving your child credit for homeschool, high school electives. This ranges from taking care of the home, cooking, sports teams, clubs, hobbies, music instruction, and just about any other recreational activity your child might do... including scouts.  You can give your child a great deal of homeschool elective (and even subject matter) credit for scouts

notes: Most colleges require a student to have studied at least biology and chemistry and two other lab-based sciences. I also like to get a jump on these requirements in 8th grade. This is also a chance to get your child more interested in science and to build a positive attitude around it. Note: don’t jump into chemistry until you have done the math to support it, preferably Algebra 2. Likewise, I prefer calculus happen before physics. For 8th grade, you don’t NEED a lab science, but you can use this opportunity to introduce your student to lab work. Still, your options for high school science are numerous. I like this college course from MIT called Kitchen Chemistry. It allows chemistry to happen at home with a manageable mess and no danger of explosions. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/experimen... My child followed this curriculum. It was not too difficult for her at 14, and we did her lab work on Wednesday, just in time for dinner. Yum. If you are not too kee...

The series continues- College Prep Homeschooling: 8th-grade history and language arts. I teach these two subjects as one cohesive unit.  Find out how. Find out why.  Here are the notes from the video White paper on weaving literature into social studies; https://britannicalearn.com/wp-conten... Book lists for novels set in other countries for children and teens. https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books... In addition to reading for Language Arts, students should be using a grammar/writing workbook. Here are some good options. Editor in Chief, Critical Thinking Company https://amzn.to/2y1AeFT SAT Reading and Writing Prep https://amzn.to/2Mgtlnc Holt McDougal World Geography https://amzn.to/2JEpHBM (Teachers version) Holt McDougal World History https://amzn.to/2Mgr3EC The Critical Thinking Company, World History Detective https://amzn.to/2y1AeFT Sparknotes.com has online questions that your student can answer for many of the novels you can choose...

The first question asked on my youtube videos was: How do you transition from homeschool to college. Here are the highlights Step 1. Set their habits. Get them used to the amount of work required in college by demanding that from them early. Step 2. Prepare for standardized tests. Step 3. Take the standardized tests... a lot. Step 4. Figure out what the best colleges for your children are (that will scholarship them) based on their test scores. Step 5. Let them go happily with joy and celebration... save the crying for later! Here is the video