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What WILL Make You a Better Home Educator?

As a homeschool family, you have the freedom to use the fall months for special activities related to the season!  I have put together a list of some of my favorite fun fall ideas for kids and their entire families!  I hope you enjoy them!

Fun Fall Ideas for Kids and Families

1. Thankfulness Jar - Start a new tradition with your family this year, or carry on an old tradition in a new way!
2.  Glitter Acorns - Apply glitter to acorns then display them in a jar.  Cute and fun!
3.  Candle Apple Holders - Need a Thanksgiving centerpiece?  Make these as a family!
4.  Scavenger Hunt - Go on a fall scavenger hunt together and enjoy the beauty.  Use this one or make your own.
5.  Caramel Apples - Love caramel apples but think they're messy to eat?  Make these together!
6.  Leaf Art - Do a fall craft together and count art hours for school!
7.  Apple Picking - Go apple picking together as a family.  A great school outing and you get to eat the results!
8.  Make a fun Pumpkin Snack - Whether it tastes like pumpkin or looks like a pumpkin, a pumpkin snack can't be beat!
9.  Rake Leaves - Make a game out of a task that needs to get done.  Rake up the leaves and jump in them or rake them up and make a walking maze out of them.
10.  Grateful Dinner Rolls - Type up a thing that each person is thankful for and bake them into the dinner rolls.  Make a game of reading them and guessing who wrote each one.
11.  Go on a Fall Picnic - Pack a picnic and get out and enjoy a trail or a beautiful fall setting.
12.  Make Applesauce - Enjoy those fresh apples you picked by making applesauce.
13.  Pumpkin Seed Art - Carve a pumpkin and use the seeds to make an art project!
14.  Candy Pumpkin Science - Need a science activity?  Candy pumpkins and toothpicks are all you need!
15.  Go to a Corn Maze - Corn mazes are fun to do together, and if you have older kids, go at night with a flashlight!

I hope you take the time to get out and enjoy the season together as a family.  These activities can be a springboard for all kinds of fun to be had as the leaves change color and the temperatures get cooler!  Enjoy!



 

 

Leap of Faith: From Behind and Overwhelmed to College Scholarships

    Thank you for all your help this year.  My oldest child is a senior this year, about to graduate.  We have always homeschooled him, along with our other children, but when he got ready to enter high school, it was a leap of faith whether to do it or not.  I wasn't sure I could do it, and I was terrified he would never get into college.  Although there are many homeschoolers in my area, most of the homeschoolers that I know either have kids that are younger than mine, or have decided against sending their children to college in the traditional way.  Although we knew that our son was thinking about college, he was unsure of what he wanted to do.  Finally this past summer, the Lord spoke to his heart and my son started to make plans for attending college, except that we had no idea where to even start.  We hadn't visited schools or really even looked at them, we didn't have transcripts or course descriptions and no knowledge of how to apply for colleges, write college essays or apply for scholarships. In fact, I was even behind on some of my grading because I had had a baby and had a toddler at home.  All his high school papers were in piles in several different boxes with grades here and there.  I felt completely overwhelmed and had no one to even ask for help.  I had a couple of books that helped a little but I still had so many questions.  I had received your e-mails, and following you on Facebook but last fall I was finally able to attend one of your webinars.  After the webinar I purchased the Comprehensive Record Solution and became a Gold Care Club member.  Although I never sought out your service on the phone (my kids have co-op on Wednesdays) or through e-mails, I did go through many of your materials.  Although it took me months to get it all done, I did finally complete all of his transcripts, course descriptions, reading lists, activities, cover letters, etc. My son applied to four colleges, and was accepted to all and offered academic scholarships (not total scholarships, but every little bit helps!)  While none of them were Harvard or Yale, he wanted a private 4 year Christian college, some of which were not all that easy to get into.  While he hasn't made a final decision, he has options, and that is in part because of your help.  I was able to show in great detail all he had accomplished in an organized, easy to read and understand way.  Thank you for all that you offer to homeschoolers, but especially to parents like me, that had no clue where to even begin.  Although it was a tremendous amount of work, having all your wonderful help made it so much easier and less stressful.  I thank the Lord that He led me to your site and all your outstanding knowledge.  I recommend you to everyone that I speak to about this whole process and even listed your site as one of my favorite homeschooling helps at a recent support group meeting. Thank you for all that you have done
~ Ms. Tiena

How to Write Course Descriptions - How do you learn best?

Course Description
Subject Area (Math): Class Title (Algebra)

(Descriptive paragraph)
In this class the student will....

This post will tell you how to put dual enrollment on a transcript. Want to see what a scholarship-winning transcript actually looks like? Click to download The HomeScholar Record Keeping Samples

1. Choose an acronym
   Create an acronym for each college or high school location where your child took classes. Like this:
   HCC = Highline Community College
   I like using the CC part of the acronym for community college, it makes it look so obvious that you are dual enrolled.


2. Place the acronym before the class title on the transcript
   Where you normally put the class title, put in the acronym first, and then use the exact class title that is provided by the community college. Like this:
   HCC SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
   HCC MAT 101: College Calculus
   HCC ART 100: Survey of Fine Art


3. Define the acronym in key or legend
   At the bottom of your transcript, explain what the acronym means. Like these options:
   HCC: Dual enrollment classes at Highline Community College
   HCC indicates classes taken at Highline Community College


4. Translate college credits to high school credits
   One whole college class is equivalent to one high school credit. If your child is taking one whole college class, worth 4, 5, or 6 credits, then it is one whole high school credit. If the college class is 1, 2, or 3 credits, I suggest calling it a half credit class.


5. Insert the exact grade from the college
   No matter what the grade is, put the grade on the transcript. You can change it from the number grade to a letter grade, or translate it from a letter grade to a number grade, but you can't actually change the grade. College classes are just plain harder than high school classes, and it's very difficult to get A's in college, even when a child is used to getting A's in high school. (Read more: Community College Success)


6. I don't recommend weighting grades
   If you do decide to weight grades, then it would be easiest to weight it the same as an AP class. However, every high school in the country seems to have their own unique way of weighting grades, which is why I don’t recommend weighting them. It makes it harder for colleges, and colleges will like you more if you make their job easier.  Here is the problem, every high school has a different policy on weighting grades. There are so many variation possibilities, and colleges need to compare students from different schools and school districts. For that reason, the first thing they do is to un-weight any weighted grades. Colleges have asked me to tell parents not to weight grades, and so I don’t recommend weighting grades unless your first choice college prefers grades that way. (Read more: Why I Do Not Recommend Weighting Grades)

Andrew Pudewa Recommends The HomeScholar

“If I could go back to the very, very beginning, and say to my wife, ‘Sweetheart, I know this woman who will help you – let’s just get her services and do this the easy way,’ it would have saved a few hours ... Lee is just one of the most encouraging and common sense, down to earth, but careful people in this whole business. I recommend her highly.”

~ Andrew Pudewa,  Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW).

Awesome College Costing Only $400 Year

    Dear Lee,
I wanted to thank you, SO MUCH, for your guidance and expertise! In the past two years, I've read your emails and many of your coffee break books, and I've read your transcript book multiple times. I don't know how I would have been able to prepare my daughter's transcripts without your help.

And I'm pleased to report that after a great high school, home school experience, my daughter was admitted to a highly selective liberal arts college with a $16,000 per year (for 4 years!) merit scholarship! That leaves a balance of about $400 per year to pay on tuition . . . I think we can scrape that up. ;-)

Thanks again, and many blessings to you and your family!
With warm regards,
Tawni in Utah

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College Scholarships for High School Credit: Learn and Earn With This Two-for-One Strategy!

Guiding Your Child Through College Application

Application
Application Fee
Essay
School Specific Supplement
Official Homeschool Transcript
Athletic or Art Supplement or Requirements
Course Descriptions
Activity and Award List
SAT scores
ACT scores
AP scores
SAT Subject Test Scores
CLEP Scores
Other Transcript 1
Other Transcript 2
Community College Transcript
Course Descriptions
Letter of Recommendation 1
Letter of Recommendation 2
Letter of Recommendation 3
Mid-year Grades
FAFSA - January
CSS/Profile
Reply to College
Deposit to the college you choose
Thank you note to interviewer
Final Transcript - June after school is complete

Cost of Attendance
A. Tuition
B. Fees
C. Books
D. Extra Course Fees
E. Other fees (parking, etc)
TOTAL Cost of Attendance

Declare your Homeschool Independence!

Purchase How to Homeschool Independently: Do-it-Yourself Secrets to Rekindle the Love of Learning from Amazon HERE

Missionary in the Philippines to College Admission and Scholarships

Dear Lee and Team,

Good news from this home school missionary family in the Philippines! Our son, Benjamin, was recently accepted at his first-choice school: Cedarville University in Ohio. This is not only a great Christian college, but is the only Christian college with an accredited degree in Industrial Design -- the area he would love to study. In addition, he received several scholarships, which have not paid all, but at least half of the tuition. We are still searching for more help because of our missionary income... but we trust things will work out!

We are so very grateful for all of the material you made available to us, Lee. I cannot tell you how helpful the videos were. I listened to them over and over. Because of your help and advice, I was able to put together a wonderful transcript, a beautiful additional extra-curricular activity sheet, along with stunning recommendations from former teachers and pastors. Also, we prepped for the college exams with your help! It was no small feat, because Ben was raised in Germany (K-9th grade) and he had to switch to all-English, Bible based home school that mom put together herself... and then take a timed, all-English, intensive SAT and ACT test! Wow. But he did it.

So off we go, from Asia to the Midwest. Cedarville has a special MK and TCK department to help students like Benjamin adjust to a Western culture. Yet another reason why we parents are so happy to have found this particular school. We are travelling cross-country on our way to Cedarville in Ohio and could not be more excited for this adventure to begin. MATS, an organization that provides lease vehicles for visiting/furlough-ing missionaries provided us our van.  They are also a great company that you could highlight for missionaries coming home to bring their kids to school.  They’ve helped us so much with our one-way drop off situation.

Lee, we could NOT have done this without your help. You calmed my fears that kept me awake at night. I was able to give appropriate grades, put down as class subjects those areas of learning that Ben had "studied" on his own over the years, and so much more. His participation in the church band for three years became his guitar performance class, for example! You were a true godsend to our lives.

Thank you, and may your sphere of influence increase all the more! May you always hear of the good fruit that you are bearing all over the world because of your down-to-earth, effective, clear, practical, and most useful information.  Cheers to your entire staff!

We will do a home-style graduation and good-bye party all rolled into one next Friday. We will have friends speak, and we will ask Ben to share about his journey and about Cedarville, so that all of the Filipinos in attendance can picture where the Lord is bringing him. In that we work with 450 children from the slums of Cebu City (especially those living on and around the dumpsites), and we try to help them in school, giving them tutorials and motivational classes, AND try to find scholarships for the college-bound ones who show promise......... it has been a very special gift to our family that God sent YOU to help us with our own son!  He certainly provides. We take care of His concerns, and He takes care of ours!!

Many blessings to you and a huge hug,
~ Nancy and Family, missionaries with Christian Frontier Ministries
Field Directors for IGC Foundation SE Asia
Facebook, Christian Frontier Ministries and Pro.Vision Kids
Read Nancy's Novel: Suluan - A Novel by Nancy Lueckhof

 

High School Centered Around Interests

 

I would love to share the story of my recent graduate from Homeschool because ours is such a testimony of what God can do when we don't see how it will ever work out!

We recently graduated our second daughter from our homeschool.  We definitely benefited from your resources and easy ideas for homeschooling High School.

 You took the fear out of homeschool High School!

Our daughter was really very sick with chronic Lyme Disease since the age of 12.  Many times she was bedridden for weeks or months at a time.  This made learning hard and we had to school year round.

At first I was pretty stressed out wondering how in the world we were going to get her through High School.  Then I found you!  Because of your e-books, emails and blog I was able to create a High School career centered around her interests and be creative with how she learned each subject.  Your clear method for keeping track of course work and putting together transcripts was so easy that I was even able to help friends when they were struggling.

I couldn't have done it without you Lee! 

I feel like I know you and if I ever see you I will definitely give you a hug because you helped me to see that homeschooling High School doesn't have to be hard, overwhelming, or impossible.

I recently wrote about making it to graduation on my blog, Abounding in Hope With Lyme

~ Tricia

How Do You Say Curriculum? Curricula or Curriculum