January Author: Ezra Jack Keats

I have fond memories of reading Ezra Jack Keats books as a child.  I still remember seeing the short film for The Snowy Day.

Keat was a fascinating man.  The Ezra Jack Keats foundation is  set up to use the royalties from Keat's books to make the world a better place for children.
Keats has written many books.   There are several wonderful activities on Pinterest using his books.

Happy Reading!
~Becky

*** Next week watch for the annual Free Narrative Assessment Contest.  I will be giving away 2 free assessments again this year.

 

Why I love 4 PAWS FOR ABILITY !

 This is the dog that is changing my life.  This is my son's new autism service dog from 4 Paws for Ability.  We are very excited about how the dog will help him.  If you check out their page you can read about the many other kinds of service dogs that they train at 4 Paws. 

My family enjoys finding ways to help others around Christmas.  One way you can do that is by helping fund a child's dog.  If you click here you will find a list of children who are fundraising for a service dog.  Maybe you can make his/her Christmas this year. 

We are wrapping up 2013 around here.  I am saying things like "Where is that book?" What do you mean you have not done that cleaning job for 3 weeks?"  "We need to work on this more!"   So as we wrap up I am going to pause on blogging until January.  

Don't forget I will hold my annual Narrative Give-away contest at the beginning of January.  Sign up for emails so you will know the details.  I will also be updating my forms over my break for the 2013-2014 school year. 

Thanks for reading in 2013! 
Becky

Guest Post: Calvin Lyman from The Homeschool Grad

I am in the process of homeschooling three children through high school. Lately, I have been exploring different options for post-high school for my kids. I came across Calvin's book, and I was intrigued. He discusses what you can do during high school to earn a degree. I appreciated his perspective, and I thought some of you might enjoy his story. It is wonderful there are so many options for our home educated students.

Many homeschooling parents have concerns about paying for their student’s college education, or even being able to get their student into an excellent school to begin with. Many are unaware of the options available to their student for earning college credit in high school. This is no fault of the parents, but can be attributed to a lack of information available to help understand these methods.

My story began at 15 years old, when I began taking exams for college credit. I learned many study skills under the direction of my academic coaches at College-plus, a company that provides academic counsel for homeschooled students/graduates and other individuals who want to earn their bachelor’s degree with little to no debt and in a short time frame. I never entered a classroom, and most of my studying was done at home, my library, or a local coffee shop. 

Shortly after I began taking these exams, many of my friends and family expressed concern: Would I miss out on the normal high school experience if I spent so much time in my college studies? What about getting accepted into a college after graduating high school? Would my diploma (or the Bachelor’s degree that I was earning) be accepted at any decent learning institution after I graduated? At times, my parents and I would grow weary of answering these questions. This lasted for almost three years before I graduated in the Spring semester of last year.The fact is, the methods that I have used to earn my bachelor’s degree or SO unorthodox that many people have trouble accepting them as legitimate. However, I can assure you that I still have friends, my college diploma is real (It came from a regionally accredited college) and I had absolutely no issues getting into a Master’s program shortly after turning 18, where I am now studying towards my Master’s degree. I say none of this in order to lift myself up on a pedestal, because these achievements are largely due to those who have coached and encouraged me along this process. However, I think it’s important that homeschoolers are aware of the alternate, legitimate ways of earning college credit that they have available to them. As for my current college studies, I feel that my past education has prepared me for my current study, and I am enjoying campus life with my friends and professor’s in and outside of the classroom. The current experience is very different from my prior college experience, but I didn’t experience culture shock after moving away from home, even though many of my friends and some of my family probably expected me to because of my homeschooling background and distance learning choices.

Over a decade into the 21st Century, with increasingly fast-paced social environments and more competition than ever in our global workforce, it becomes important for a student to take as many educational and financial shortcuts as possible in order to get ahead professionally. The majority of Americans have massive amounts of credit card and student loan debt, and distance education makes it easier for a student to avoid these pitfalls before settling down and raising a family.

I have written an ebook, "How I Earned my Bachelor’s Degree by 18”, which explains how I used these methods to graduate with my bachelor’s degree shortly after coming of age, and and with absolutely no college debt! In the book, parents and students will learn about CLEP, DSST, and other credit-by-examination programs that lend themselves extremely useful to homeschooling students looking to earn college credit while in high school. I also walk students through some of the study skills to develop and tools to gather before setting out on this journey. 

My ebook, available on Amazon and in PDF format, is a valuable resource for any homeschooling student or parent who would like to avoid college debt and get ahead of the curve. 

~Calvin Lyman 
The Homeschool Grad 
http://ebook.thehomeschoolgrad.com

Calvin Lyman lives in Granbury, TX with his family. He is currently attending Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond, OK in pursuit of his M.A. in Ministry. Calvin has three younger siblings and enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also thinks that bow ties are cool.

 The opinions shared are entirely his own.