When Should I Start Planning for High School? by Becky Boerner, consultant.

 
Home educators often ask me, ‘When should I start planning for high school.” My answer is usually around 7th, or 8th grade. Honestly, the end of 6th grade is not too early.

Why do you ask so early? Because, it is great to start early and think through what you want your student to accomplish. It is nice to use 7th and 8th grade to earn high school credit for learning a language, PE, or explore a fine art.

But, no matter when you start here are a few tips for planning for high school.

 1. Try to make a multiyear plan that includes 7th and 8th grade. Look at what your co-op is offering or other online classes. Find out if certain classes are only offered certain years. Making a multi-year plan will benefit your student, and prevent future stress.

2. Start with the end in mind. If your dream is to attend a certain college find out what their requirements are to attend. What does your student need to accomplish before they get to their senior year?

3. Start researching curriculum. Check out high school curriculum at conventions, ask your home school friends what they like, and borrow curriculum from others to get a good look. It is nice if you have some time to process this.

4. Think about what activities your student would like to do in high school. Do they want to volunteer, get a paid job, and what would they like to explore? What do you need to add to their resume?

5. Do you feel your student would be a good candidate for dual enrollment with college credit? Start exploring the requirements now. Do they need a recommendation or a test score? Do you think they will they be able to direct their own learning and work with a college professor? Pre-planning goes a long way.

Having a high schooler is exciting. It is wonderful to watch your student become who they were created to be. 

Helping them plan, guiding, and mentoring them is a privledge. As home educators we want to be prepared to help them the best we are able.  These are just a few ideas to think through.

 I wish you well on your journey!

Becky

PS If you would like to discuss high school curriculum, high school planning, or anything to do with home education please click here to make an appointment. I would love to help you! I love problem solving.

~Homeschool Mom to 7
~Mom to high school graduates and college graduates
~Mom to employed homeschool graduates.
~Mom to a MIT graduate
~Mom to students who have won over $100,000 in scholarships
~Certified Teacher
~M.Ed. in Reading Education


and pretty fun to talk to!

Home is Right Where You Are :Inspired by Psalm 23 by Ruth Chou Simons

 Home is Right Where You Are: Inspired by Psalm 23 written and illustrated by Ruth Chou Simons is one of the most beautiful picture books I have seen and read in a very long time. In the book you follow a child as the parent presents the paraphrased words of Psalm 23 to encourage and uplift a child.  The text and words are stunning!

I have reread the story about five times in the last week.  The words are very comforting and speak deeply to the heart of children and adults.  The watercolor pictures are stunning, peaceful and enhance the wonderful text.  I made my 12 years sit through the book because I wanted him to know the words from the story. 

I would recommend this ideally for children ages 4-8 years old.  To me this a book you would buy for each of your children that they would take with them into adulthood.  My thought is that both the parent and child would treasure the memories of reading this together. 

It would be lovely gift for a child’s a birthday, new baby’s arrival, baby shower or Christmas.  I highly recommend Home is Right Where You Are written and illustrated by RuthChou Simons.  This will be a highlight for me for 2024. 

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review. 

Before I was a published author, I started a creative business called GraceLaced, and before it was a full-fledged company, it was a blog I spent 6 years writing on. In the years before the blog, I was just tinkering with creative projects after the kids went to bed. 

And before I was creating in the margins, I was an unlikely new boy mom learning how to balance public ministry with my pastor + headmaster husband Troy (still my man, but no longer in these roles).

Further back, before I was a newlywed, I was an art major with big and impossible dreams… and even before I became an art major, I was a biochemistry major, secretly delighting in writing and creating. 

God weaves every part of our wanted and unwanted seasons into the fabric of the Story he writes for us! So, here’s to not skippin a paragraph or jumping to the end. He’s the Author of full-circle and he completes every story he writes. 

Repost: Assisted Reading with Developing and Struggling Readers.

I always get questions about how to help students with reading.  This is one of my favorite's for helping with reading.  

I have been reading a very interesting book called The Fluent Reader by Timothy V. Rasinski.  He has an interesting chapter on how to help students learn to read who are developing readers or struggling readers.  I knew all of the methods that he mentioned, but he backed up his methods with research and more effective strategies then I have seen in the past.

He discusses Paired Reading.  Paired reading is essentially where a more proficient reader, either a parent/teacher and child, older student and child, or two children read together.  Paired reading should be about 10-20 minutes at a time at least five times a week. It is recommend that the less proficient  student should be able to read 90-95 percent of the material accurately for this instruction to be the most effective.  The student and teaching reader read to together side by side.  The student follows along with his/her finger.  It is recommended that if the text is harder the teacher should read a little louder and match your reading rate to push the student.  If the text is easier then the teacher should use a quieter voice and provide less support.  When the passage is finished the teacher and the student should chat about the reading. The student should be allowed to read independently if they would like during this process.  This is really nothing new to home educators.  But what excited me was where he talked about a research study where the majority of students who participated in paired reading at least five times a week made 6 months of reading progress in six to ten weeks. (Limbrick, McNaugthon, & Cameron, 1985).  I have a video below that demonstrates this.

   The other interesting study was that which revealed the positive gains that students made when listening to audio books while following along in the text.  Students who did not follow along in the text did not make the kind of gains as those who did.  Here is an article that discusses the gains students made and some resources for audio books.  Here is another article that discusses the benefits for all readers. With many kids at many different reading levels my students often listen to audio books.  We mostly use the public library for their audio books and downloadable digital books.  I renewed my commitment to having them follow along in the book after reading these articles.

The last intriguing idea was that students who watched closed captioned programming made gains in reading.  At my house we turn on the closed captioning because there are so many loud people in our house making it challenging to hear a movie or show.  My students were pretty excited about this!

I am hopeful this helps you with some specific ways to help your struggling or developing readers.

If you want to talk more about your student and reading please click here for more information, or to make an appointment.  

Evan Miller is Waking Down by Jerel Law Book Review

 Evan Miller is Waking Down by Jerel Law is a science fiction book for middle grade readers. Evan Miller discovers he is a dreambender and can go to real places in his dreams. The rulers of his home City 47 do not like this. He goes on an adventure to learn how to use his abilities.

My son was absolutely crazy about this book. He is not a big reader, but this story spoke to him. He said it is a great story! He told me he was very invested in the characters and cared what happened to them. The unique futuristic setting held his interest and he wanted to know more. It truly is a dreambending novel.

My son said he enjoyed the adventure, characters, and the unique setting of Evan Miller is Waking Down by Jerel Law. He recommends it to all middle schoolers.

We were given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.

Jerel is an author and a pastor, which means he is passionate about telling stories of redemption, hope, and purpose…especially stories about God working through really difficult things and through people who aren’t perfect.

In his words:
“Fiction, when written well, is a made-up story about things that are deeply true. My goal is to always write about things that are true and connect with the reader in a meaningful way. I hope they’ll start to see the world differently in some way through these stories.”

“Jerel Law transports readers to a place where supernatural forces of good and evil collide. Young readers will be entertained and inspired. I heartily recommend this series.”
— Author Robert Whitlow