Dear Friends,

"Christmas is coming; the goose is getting fat...." It's that season of the year again and we are delighted to extend our Christmas greetings to each family. In the hustle and bustle of your preparations, we encourage you to set aside time to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and receive refreshment from the newborn King.

As you remember, last month we began a two-part series on high school graduation requirements. We covered your state's graduation requirements for homeschoolers (if any), your child's post high school goals, and your child's personal interests. To review this information you can go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3533 . This month before you break for Christmas, we want to complete the series by discussing how to structure your child's high school program to include the five core academic subjects, electives, and extracurricular activities.

Dear HSLDA members:,

For the month of November, we are sending out our Homeschooling Thru Highschool email newsletter to all our members. Even if you do not have children in high school, we want you to know of the resources we have available for you at Home School Legal Defense Association.

The topic of this month's newsletter is graduation requirements. If your children are many years from graduating, you may be thinking about pushing that delete button about now, but I encourage you to read a little further before you do. Having a goal for the future is often one of the best ways to make sure that our steps now are headed in the right direction. After all, this type of "future" thinking is what God instructs us to do--to fix our eyes on heaven.

After you are done reading, should you decide that you would like to receive this email regularly, go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3459 to subscribe. Otherwise, this is the...

Dear Friends,

Summer is in full swing, and although we know that homeschool moms never really have a "down" time, we hope that you are enjoying the lazy, hazy days of the season. Your teaching time may decrease during the summer, but most moms we talk to use the summer to think about and plan for the next school year. So, while you are reflecting on the big picture of what your homeschool will look like in September, we thought you would benefit from considering perhaps a new approach to your schooling.

This month we asked Elizabeth Smith, wife of HSLDA President Michael Smith, to share with you ideas and information on alternatives to traditional styles of teaching in the homeschool setting. These are ideas and concepts she developed and tested with her own children. So, let's listen to what she has to offer:

"My assignment is to write about my 'unschooling' approach to the high school years. I prefer to call our method an alternative to traditional style teaching rather than...

Dear Moms and Dads,

This month marks the midpoint of summer--already! We hope you are using these summer months to plan your upcoming school year to include academics, extracurricular activities, volunteer opportunities, possible jobs for your teens, and...are you feeling overwhelmed? Well, please don't be. Let's look at ways to include these areas during your year in a manageable, non-stressful way.

Beginning in high school and then continuing throughout adulthood, your child will need to juggle many responsibilities. Time management will help him to be more effective in achieving his goals, to improve performance in academics and activities, and to move from the structured environment of home to one where she will have to manage a variety of schedules and commitments. Learning this skill will also reduce anxiety and build confidence to meet deadlines as your teen looks forward to graduation and beyond.

HELPFUL TIME MANAGEMENT TOOLS

You may agree that this is exactly what you need to do,...

Dear Friends,

In our part of the country, the leaves are turning brilliant colors, the air is crisp, and plans for Thanksgiving are being made. Likewise, your family may be busy transforming your home to celebrate the splendor of autumn. In the midst of these preparations, we want to turn your minds to the subject of grading (and we don't mean FDA approved turkeys :)!

During the elementary years, many families do not grade their children's work but use other means of assessing their progress. However, once children begin taking high school level courses, it is important to reevaluate the necessity of grades. Even though grading is subjective, the grades your children earn provide necessary feedback for post-secondary school officials and employers to evaluate mastery in particular disciplines. These grades will not only help your son or daughter to assess the progress being made in learning the material assigned, but will also prepare your child for this method of evaluation as he or she takes advantage of different...

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! And welcome back from what we hope was a joyous and memorable Christmas break. Can you relate when we confide that it's a bit difficult for us to get re-engaged into the real world of responsibilities after the holidays? Or, are we the only two sluggards we know?

A new year always brings fresh resolutions and goals, so we want to suggest that you consider reviewing and reevaluating your goals for the rest of the school year. The overarching question to ask is: "Am I homeschooling responsibly?" We'd like to help you honestly assess how well you are managing your high school homeschooling responsibilities.

The word "responsibility" rightly carries with it the idea of being accountable to somebody or for something. Often accountability is viewed in a negative or discouraging way. But as we look at homeschooling responsibly, we want to emphasize the positives. You may discover ways you need to change or to do things differently, but if the end result improves your...

Dear Friends,

It's August! Summers go by quickly, don't they? We hope your summer has been a pleasant and relaxing respite from the busyness of the school year. While you are wading in the ocean, hiking in the mountains, or swinging in the hammock on your back porch, we pray that the Lord is using this downtime to prepare you for another school year.

Although we hate to interrupt your summer with thoughts of school (!), we'd like to use this month's newsletter to provide you with helpful information, websites, and resources to teach your teens research skills.

THE NECESSITY OF RESEARCH SKILLS

Research is the ability to investigate, discover, and explore a topic. Knowing where to locate information is important when writing a research paper, searching out answers of personal interest, investigating training needed for a specific occupation, finding a recipe, fixing a washing machine, or identifying birds in the back yard.

Academic research skills are essential no...

Dear Friends,

Now that September is past and you have settled into your school
routine, we thought it would be a good time to discuss electives and extracurricular activities. What are the differences between them? How do they benefit your teen? And, how do you best document them? Let's start by discussing electives.

ELECTIVES

Electives are considered part of the academic course load that makes up your teen's high school program. They are evaluated and awarded credit and then included on a high school transcript. An elective is a course that is not required, but a course that your teen opts to take.

Even though your plate may be really full with trying to teach the core courses such as English, history, science, math and foreign language, keep in mind that elective courses are important to include in your high school program. Choosing some courses of interest to your teen will motivate him and provide the needed panacea to complete those less interesting, but "required"...

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2009! The dawn of a new year is a wonderful opportunity to start afresh with a blank slate. If 2008 ended on a high note for you and your teen, praise the Lord. On the other hand, if 2008 was a year you would like to forget, we pray that the Lord helped you to grow in endurance, faith and hope. In either case, let's all launch into 2009 with great anticipation of seeing the Lord's hand in all we do.

January may be a good month for you to evaluate your progress for this school year. Adjustments may need to be made to your yearly plan--a course may have already been completed or is not coming along as anticipated. One of the benefits of homeschooling your teen is the opportunity to alter or re-customize not only your high school plan, but also to adjust the rate of speed with which you cover individual course material. Deciding the course of action you should pursue will depend on your teen's abilities and maturity level. Here are some items to keep in mind.

 ...

Dear Friends,

Are your teens being asked, "What do you want to do after high school?" That question either evokes a feeling of uncertainty in your teen, or he or she is ready with the answer. In any case, you can give your children valuable information and direction by offering a career development elective course during the high school years. As you think about planning this course, we'd like to suggest possible components to include.

Recognize Your Child's Talents and Interests

By the high school years, many parents can identify their children's talents and interests. The next step is to provide opportunities for your teens to hone these abilities by choosing some elective courses of interest through which they can acquire skills in a particular area. Additionally, these courses may introduce them to possible careers such as archeology, computers, business, and journalism, just to name a few. On our high school website we list...