HSLDA

Dear Friends,

Our Homeschooling Thru High School newsletter subscribers are a varied lot! Some of you have been teaching high school for many years; and as a veteran homeschooler in your circle of friends, many people come to you with questions. Or, you may be in the midst of homeschooling your first high schooler. Still others of you have yet to begin the high school adventure or you may have recently pulled a teen out of public or private school.

Regardless of your level of experience, we believe there is value for all of us to be reminded of the basics.

Prepare for Teaching High School

You'll want to prepare for the task of teaching high school by picking up at least one of these great resource books that lay a good foundation and provide many practical tips:

• "The High School Handbook: Junior and Senior High School at Home" by Mary Schofield
• "...

Dear Friends,

Time governs our days. The harder we try to hang on to it, the faster it seems to go! But, with careful planning, it is possible to use your time wisely during the high school years.

We suggest that you lay out a time line of important to-dos and major deadlines. You'll see the big picture, while at the same time you will be able to prioritize individual items. Your confidence will grow, and you'll see progress as items are checked off your list.

To help you get started, we've outlined a possible time line below Jump in at any point, but be sure to make up for any lost time by doing a quick review of prior years to check if any items were missed. For a more detailed look at what to include in your time line for high school, you may wish to download the HSLDA brochure "Keeping on Track: A Time Line for High School" along with the...

Dear Friends,

We hope this edition of the Homeschooling Thru High School newsletter finds you gearing up for a November filled with thanksgiving and joy. In the midst of homeschooling your high schooler and the busyness of your days, we encourage you to do a little extra math: count your many blessings! Remember that blessings come in the form of both joys and trials, but all are sent to increase our faith, boost our perseverance, and mold our character.

As you seek to provide a quality education to your teens, we suggest you include time to improve your teen's study skills. Many times, parents think that good study skills are naturally acquired, but that's often not the case. Study skills such as note-taking, outlining, pacing your time, organizing study materials and schoolwork, increasing reading speed, and maintaining motivation for studying are, for the majority of teens, learned skills that must be taught. The high school years--or earlier--provide an opportune time to polish up these areas of competency.

...

Dear Friends,

We are rooting for spring to come soon! How about all of you? Spring always seems to ignite desires to try something new. If that is the case for you, how about seeking out an opportunity for your teen to try a career and see whether it's a good fit?

Internships and job shadowing are two ways to explore a teen's interest and passion. By way of definition, internships are "opportunities for students to gain experience in their field, determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, or gain school credit" (Wikipedia). These associations are temporary positions that may be structured to last approximately 6-12 weeks; however, the time period is often flexible. They can be paid or volunteer positions.

Job shadowing, on the other hand, is the term used when high school students observe the work that people in a career of choice perform. These opportunities are generally shorter in duration to internships--one day, a week, or so--and are unpaid.

Now...

Dear Friends,

Many of you are making plans to attend homeschool conferences and curriculum fairs (or already have) where you will be deciding on curricula for your next school year. If your plan includes signing up for courses taught by others, we want to give you some ideas to think about and tools to use.

At first glance, the high school years can appear scary because of all the courses you deem necessary to offer your teens. Looking at the whole mountain range of high school subjects is enough to make you feel weary - or worse yet, inept! If you need help in certain subject areas, courses taught by others may be a lifeline for you. However, we are not advocating that you outsource all of your teen's courses. Being "old school" homeschoolers, we taught the majority of the courses our own children completed during high school and enjoyed learning right along with them. With the abundance of homeschool high school curriculum, teacher's guides, answer keys, and lots of other helpful materials, we encourage you...

Dear Friends,

Fathers, we salute you and wish all of you an early Happy Father's Day! You have a unique calling to provide for your families spiritually, financially, emotionally, and physically. We thank you for the job you are doing!

To all you seniors graduating this year, congratulations! You are now ready to begin a new season of life and we look forward to hearing of your successes.

In this month's newsletter, as well as in May's, we are encouraging both moms and dads to think about and implement life-skills education for your children. Last month we talked about the skills of Managing the Home Front, Nutrition and Health, Financial Management, and Job Preparation. This month, we are adding four more skills for your consideration. Remember, exposure to these is beneficial while expertise in each one is not required. Your children have a lifetime to enjoy learning and practicing these skills.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING--Learning the Basics

Knowledge of computers has become...

Dear Friends,

Before we launch into our topic for the May high school newsletter, we want to extend our warmest wishes for a Happy Mother's Day to the moms in our email audience. All of you ladies have our deepest respect and
appreciation for the vital roles you play in your families. You are doing much more than just teaching your children academics--as one needlework quotation says, you are "tending souls and building minds." Be encouraged this month and rest in grace as you continue to serve
your families for the glory of the Lord.

As you think over the goals you have for your high-schoolers and the values you want to impart during these high school years, take time out from the math, science, English, history, and foreign language lessons to spend a little time thinking about and mapping out a plan to teach some valuable life skills to your teen. We've come up with eight different categories of "life lessons" for you to consider. Begin now to help him or her prepare for adulthood by...

Dear Friends,

Sorry for the title, but we wanted to be sure you would read the June newsletter. Did it work? Seriously, we don't have any miracle cures guaranteed to motivate your teens. If we did, we would both be sunbathing in the Caribbean living off of book royalties! Nonetheless, we hope to provide you with a number of new ideas and simple reminders for motivating your teen (and you).

What is motivation?

The Encarta Dictionary defines motivation as "a feeling of enthusiasm, interest, or commitment that makes somebody want to do something; the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something." As parents you can use creative ideas to provide your teens with enticement to be motivated students.

How do I motivate my teens?

One of the key words in the definition of motivation is incentive. We are much more enthused about doing something when we can see a reason for doing it. Likewise, your teens need to understand that there are reasons for them to...

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! We pray the Lord's blessings on your family as we head into 2010. Fresh beginnings always offer new inspiration and motivation. We hope you are in that frame of mind.

If we asked you to evaluate your relationship with your homeschooled teen, would you smile or frown? Regardless of your reaction to that question, the majority of parents are very interested in improving their relationships with their teens. Homeschool parents in particular know that the close encounters homeschooling provides on a daily basis can either be a source of encouragement or cause for prayers of supplication. If you would like to take some time at the beginning of this year to equip yourselves as parents to better train and interact with your teen, we'd like to offer some suggestions for parenting resources.

Please know that we do not intend to be a substitute for your individual pastor's oversight or instruction. The titles mentioned below are merely recommendations--your pastor will undoubtedly be able...

Dear Friends,

For many of you, the school year is winding down, and your teens are finishing those last few assignments. Do you think they know that you look forward to summer as much as they do? As you enjoy a brief break from your teaching routine, the summer months may be a good time to think about life skills to teach your teens in preparation for adulthood.

Although many of our newsletters focus on academic skills, we'd like to branch out and suggest areas that go beyond the schoolwork. No matter what avenue your teens plan to travel, teaching these skills during the high school years will be useful.

Home and Car Maintenance

Both young men and young ladies will benefit from learning the basics. Simple meal planning and cooking, grocery shopping, sorting laundry, ironing, sewing on a button, as well as lawn care and changing furnace filters are among the many skills that can be taught.

If your teen is headed off to college in the future and will live off campus, learning about renter...