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Colleges want to see three sciences and at least one science lab, but you still have a lot of freedom within those requirements.My daughter has expressed interest in studying Botany for this year (she's a freshman) instead of studying a traditional Biology course.  I have found a great course for her as well as additional supplemental materials.  I want to make sure before I purchase the materials that our course will be accepted by colleges/universities as...

  What do you think are the greatest advantages of homeschooling?Several summers ago my two sons were invited to compete in a full-tuition scholarship competition. There were ten winners out of 108 students. Two of the winners were homeschoolers.  Both were mine.  I wondered later, “How did that happen!?” I believe it happened because of four great advantages of homeschooling through high school. The Curriculum AdvantageMany homeschoolers have a very rigorous academic plan. Whether they choose to...

What's one homeschooling challenge you've faced, and what solutions did you find? Fear of failure is one challenge I think all homeschool parents experience.  During the early days of our homeschooling, it seemed relatively easy.  In high school, though, parents are faced with subjects they don’t understand.  My biggest challenges involved calculus, physics, and foreign language. I researched the problem, and found a surprising solution.  I did not have to learn the subjects myself, and I didn’t have...

Sometimes people ask for specific recommendations when parents and students start thinking about homeschooling high school.  It's hard to give specific recommendations to a general question, but here are some places to start looking.I have several resources on my website that you might want to check out.  First is my HomeScholar Recommends homeschool curriculum page that has a lot of information on what we used and what worked for us.  It covers gifts, books, resources and...

I try to be very careful about what curriculum I recommend, because different approaches will work for different families, but Sonlight is one of the curriculums I have made a point of praising, because we used it in our homeschool for about five years, and really enjoyed it.  The only reason I stopped using it was because I had prolific readers and they read all the books!  I especially recommend Sonlight to people that are new...

  My Gold Care Club members love having their biggest questions answered promptly - and they love having a monthly webinar too!  Recently Anne shared her burning question for the week, and I thought it would be helpful information for others as well.My burning question for this week is:  What about The Great Courses company?  Are their DVDs enough to “count?  I know you said that just reading Susan Wise Bauer’s History of the Ancient World...

Are you the parent scrambling frantically to finish every problem in every book before you can relax for the summer?  I encourage you to focus on "choosing peace."  Look at each thing you are trying to finish. Does it need to be done?  If you are 80% done with the book, that should be enough.  Public schools finish 80% to finish the subject, and so can you.Does it impact your mental health?  Weigh the pros and...

Invest in Your Weaknesses One key to high school curriculum is to invest in your weaknesses. This means that you put your curriculum budget money towards your area of weakness. Identify your weaknesses, perhaps math, foreign language, or art, for example, and spend your money on strong curriculum in that area.  Your weakness should also be the area where you’re most willing to make mistakes in curriculum. If you make a poor choice in math curriculum...

Recently I wrote a little tip about studying American Government this coming year, during a Presidential election year.  As homeschoolers, we get to teach subjects when they make sense for the student, not just because of their age or grade.  But why do schools insist on teaching it later in high school?  That's what Donna wanted to know!Lee, I have often wondered why I usually see government class listed in the senior year.  I know as...

 When thinking about curriculum for your high school student, you want to do what works--whatever you have been doing through elementary and junior high-- if it’s working, keep doing it. If the curriculum is working, keep using those curriculum choices.At high school level, it helps to make sure you’re using a curriculum that is made for homeschoolers. If you have to teach a subject you’re not familiar with, buy a curriculum that is meant for homeschoolers. ...

 Always at Their LevelAs you choose curriculum for your high school student, it’s important to always teach them at their level, for every subject, all the time. One of the reasons why public schools and classroom settings have such a hard time educating kids is that they look at a student’s age and then put them in an age-based course with no regard to ability. Just because your child is 14 or 15 does not mean...

 Hi Lee,One of the times I heard you speak, you mentioned a certain publisher of literature books (classics) by a particular author that you had your boys read to prepare for the SAT. They were unique in the fact that on the back of each page words were defined.I cannot find that information in my file of notes from you. Do you recall those books, and would you mind sending me the name? Thank you for...

I used Latin Road for 3 years. My boys were RATHER successful with it, not to mention my son still remembers all of his Latin even after three years without cracking a book! He was required to take a college placement test at the college he’s attending, so they could find out which course would be applicable for him. He passed all 3 levels of Latin, and began the university in Junior level! Yippee! He liked...

Dear Lee,"Did you schedule the art studies or simply allow them do it as they wanted? I debate a lot about whether its worth setting aside the time for art study." Art is really, TRULY my weak area, for that reason I basically reserved time for art study, or else we would most likely never do it! We never had a challenge getting math or science finished, only art, LOL! I planned it for 2-3 times...

Hi Lee,Thanks for the e-mail. Even though I’m a few years away from high school yet I know it will come before I know it. I don’t know if you can offer any help but I thought I’d ask any way. My oldest is 11 and technically will be entering 6th grade next year which is middle school as you know, my concern is that I’m at a point where I no longer am comfortable or...