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!

Future of Ohio Homeschool Assessments PLUS Added Services!

 

Hello friends,

I am writing you to tell you about the future of Ohio Homeschool Assessments.  As many of you know the Ohio Homeschool Laws have changed and you are no longer required to send an assessment to your school district.  

I have been thinking through what comes next.  Many of you have written to ask me if I would continue with portfolio reviews.  I have assembled some thoughts below.  

1.  Will you continue to provide homeschool portfolio reviews for families. 

  YES, I will!  

I am now open to now completing portfolio review/assessments  for any family in any state.

2.  Do you think I still need to complete an assessment? 

Yes! I believe it would be beneficial for your  to complete some type of assessment that demonstrates your student has made progress.  As good home educators of our students we need to keep good records and show progress.  

3. Is it really necessary?  I only worried about my district in the past.  

YES! I am seeing the new law as a transfer of responsibility.  Your district kept your homeschool records in the past. They could confidently share that a family was pursuing home education from a notification of intent and that a student made progress from an assessment.  I believe the responsibility is NOW on home school parents to keep records of their students that demonstrate they made progress. 

Children Protective Services(CPS) contacts me about a family several times every year.  (I never speak to them without permission from the family) They ask me if a family has shared work with me and made progress. I have always sent CPS back to the family's school district, because the school district held the student's records. CPS would  then check in with the district. 

As a family you will be responsible to demonstrate that you are home educating and your student is making progress.   I believe now it is  even more important to keep good records and demonstrate your student has made progress.  Please understand this is my opinion.  

I realize there is a low chance that CPS or someone will contact you.  But, I believe as good home educators of our students we want to have record keeping  that demonstrate our students' educational progress. We all care about our students and want the best for them.  

4.  Are you going to continue with assessments for your students?  

 YES!  I believe in good record keeping, and want to demonstrate my students made progress.  (I also have talked to CPS one too many times) 

5.  When and how often should I complete an assessment?

I would complete one yearly.  The advantage in 2023 and beyond is that there is no particular time of year for a deadline.  I will be working year round and now have more of a limited schedule in the summer.  You are able to complete something mid year, at the end of summer, or in the fall.  You control the schedule now!  Do what works best for your family.  

6.  What should I do with my portfolio assessment paperwork after your review?

If you keep physical paperwork, I would keep the assessment with the work samples in a file folder preferably in a fire proof box.  If you are a digital person  I would use Google Drive or OneNote to store the paperwork.  

7. Will you be offering other services? 

YES!  So glad you asked! I am venturing into consulting!  I will be working with families on planning for high school, creating a high school transcript, writing a counselor letter, helping plan your day, planning for the school year, chatting through issues, listening and working through scheduling, academic & learning issues, reading challenges, and homeschool coaching. I am available through email or zoom for coaching.  Click HERE for more information. I will also continue with portfolio reviews.  

8. So if I need more targeted help with home education you can help me?   

Yes!  I am providing email consulting for a fee. Please click HERE.  OR I am also offering Zoom consulting and coaching. Please email me for more information.  

Further Information:  My calendar will be open 2-3 months in advance for appointments.  Please Click here for a portfolio review( assessment)  or email consulting.  Please email for more information on Zoom consulting.  

Thank you for your business the last 14 years.  I look forward to many more years of working with homeschool families.  

Thank you! 

Becky Boerner

Mom to SEVEN  Home Educated Children since 2005

 Including  those who have graduated from College including MIT

Who have jobs. 

Two  still Middle through- High School

Certified Teacher

M Ed. in Reading Education

Homeschool Portfolio Reviewer Since 2010.  

Homeschooling High School.

This is one of my most popular posts of all time.  I am reposting with updated links, and a little about my current story. I wrote this post four years ago.  The 3 students I mention have graduated.  One just finished a special needs work program and just got a job at Cincinnati Children's Hospital; one is attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)  and is a US Presidential Scholar, and my new graduate has a full honors scholarship to Cincinnati State. So everything honestly turned out way better than I had anticipated.  I honestly can not believe it some days.  So I am re-posting with a current 10th, 8th, 5th and 2nd grader.  I wish you the best as you homeschool high school.  It is a grand adventure you do not want to miss!    

I currently have three kids in 7th and 8th grade.  You could say that home educating for high school is on my mind.  I am just beginning the journey, and looking into resources.  I thought I would begin posting once in awhile on what I am learning.  My goal is to make a good plan for them, help them make plans to attend college or begin working, and not stress all of us out.  I am the guidance counselor and I plan to do a great job.  

 I am trying to make a 4 year plan with high school.  The plan is not in stone, but I think it is important to plan in a four year block.  The state of Ohio tells about credits for graduating in Ohio.  Remember you can always choose a different path, but I think it is good to see what others are doing. Here is a nice chart for what classes to look at if you are going to college.  Here is a nice article on 9th grade Homeschooling. 

If your child is pursuing college, I would find a college you are interested in and look at their requirements for home educators and others to enter that college.  Here are some for Ohio colleges.

Miami University.
Specifically for home educated students.

Ohio State University
This is general for Ohio State not specifically for home educated students.

University of Cincinnati
Specific for Homeschooled Students.

Bowling Green State University
General

Ohio University
Policy for Home Educators

Cincinnati State Technical College  
They LOVE homeschoolers.  They require a transcript and a notarized letter stating you followed Ohio Homeschool Laws.

You want to make a transcript as you go.   You will want to save the names of books you used, resources, and what your child learned.  Oklahoma Homeschoolers has some sample transcripts and downloads, and so does Donna Young. 

Lee Binz has a web site about home school high school called HomeScholar.  

 I hope that gets you started.
~Becky

Reflecting on Home Educating Special Needs Students. .. The Road Less Traveled.

Some of you know I had two students graduate last year. One is Autistic and currently in a work program and the other is gifted and is going to MIT. Two very different wonderful experiences in parenting and home education. I wanted to share my biggest take-aways from home educating each. Hopefully they are helpful to you and all who take the road less traveled.

What I have learned home educating a student with special needs. 

I still remember the day. I was wondering what I was going to do with our oldest son and schooling. He had been diagnosed with autism and multiple other issues. I knew he would not make it in kindergarten and the special needs preschool was not going particularly well. I remember trying to get him on the bus for preschool and he would lock himself in the bathroom. He would lock the door as I would unlock it. I knew elementary school would not work for him. I was praying and the thought hit me. . . I could home educate him. So I began the path of learning about home education and how to make that happen at my house.

Currently my son is in a work program called Project Search that meets at Children’s Hospital. He enjoys it greatly, and loves being there. I feel our home education help prepared him for this. Here are a few things I have gleaned along the way.

1. Time spent on Life Skills is time well spent!

I am so glad I took the time to teach life skills! Emptying the dishwasher, laundry, cooking, greeting people, pleasantness etc. It is easy to get wrapped up in the skills of school which are important, but at the expense of life skills. Those are the skills his job program appreciates. Those are the skills that help him now.

2. Sometimes it is easier to do it yourself than to depend on others.

I am glad I put my time and energy in my child rather than trying to get others to do their job. For me this was very freeing! Home educating was a good fit.  

3. On the flip side. . . I was able to use the autism scholarship to get help.

I was able to use the autism scholarship in Ohio to get  help  for my son. An OT, tutor and special education coordinator who shared my philosophy of education worked with my son. They listened to me and were on my team. He was able to be at home in a less stressful environment. It gave me a time to be with my other six kids. I am glad I reached out for help and did the necessary paperwork.

4. You get more done at home than they do at school even if it does not feel that way.

When my son went back to school his last 2 years of high school, I was surprised how well he was doing. He was doing well and could keep up. At one point they told me he was ahead. The principal nicely told me that the standards were not as high as they used to be.

5. I am so glad we went at our own pace and learned for mastery.

I would sometimes worry we were behind. Were we doing as much as they were doing at school? Would he be able to get back in school if needed? At some point I gave that up, and I am so glad I did. Right now I am glad for the mastery of skills he has, glad we did our own thing.

6. I wish I had worried less. Really.

Looking back, I am thankful for the moments I enjoyed my time with my student. I also probably worried too much about what they were doing at "school". He did not need more school, he needed more life. I was not school and could do amazing things the school could not do. I had chosen a different path. I was glad I did. 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost 

Next:  Reflections on Home Educating a Gifted Student

US Presidential Scholar

Our son was a United States Presidential Scholar for 2018.  He was one of 161 high school students from across the United States.  We attended the ceremony in Washington DC.  It was an incredible experience.   

Nathan nominated me as his favorite teacher.  So I am now a US Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher.    Though I am not sure if my other children are that impressed.  I am adding it to my credentials.  

There was an article about us in a Chinese newspaper.    I do not speak Chinese, but my sister in-law who is Chinese said it was a very nice article.  

Here is Nathan with Mick Zais from the department of education receiving his medal.   

The certificate we received from the Ohio Board of Education. 

It said . . . Nathan's achievement exemplifies the best aspects of  Ohio's Education system and made our state proud.   For some reason that made me smile.

Happy Friday!  You never know where homeschooling will take you! 

Psychology Nerd Guest Post by Dr. Tim Rice

I found Tim Rice's  site one day and was intrigued with his perspective and his textbook. I asked Dr. Rice if  he would  write a guest post for Ohio Homeschool Assessments, and he graciously agreed to.  Please welcome him!  PS At the end of the post there is a special discount code for his text.  

Psychology Nerd Guest Post 

I’m biased. I admit it. I have a strong favorable bias toward psychology. You might call me a psychology nerd. I love psychology and I think every Christian high school student should study it. I’ve made a career of teaching psychology from a Christian worldview perspective.

You may be biased, too. You may have taken psychology in college and encountered professors who believed that the Christian worldview had no place – who ridiculed Christianity as unscientific, irrational, or silly. You may think teaching psychology, and doing it from a Christian perspective, is difficult or not important.

Teaching psychology’s subject matter is not difficult. There are many inexpensive (or free) resources to help students learn the content.  Bringing your Christian worldview to class is easy too. You can do it. It means simply to help students understand and interpret psychology’s subject matter via a vis what the Bible says.

Psychology is often defined narrowly – the study of the brain and behavior. Some people think psychology is all about mental illness, counseling, and psychiatric medications, but psychology is much more. A Christian approach to psychology begins with the belief that we are created in God’s image and likeness. Psychology is the study of God’s grandest creation – you – your joys, sorrows, memories, ambitions, identity, personality, will, morality, development, and more. It’s the study of your heart, soul, and mind. As such, the Bible has lots to say about psychology.

In every psychology class students learn about psychology’s major schools-of-thought – behaviorism, Freudian psychodynamic psychology, humanistic psychology, and evolutionary psychology. Each is a type of worldview that makes specific claims about human nature – what it means to be human. When we compare psychology’s worldviews to the Bible, we see that the Christian worldview is not silly. It is the most logical, internally consistent, and meaningful framework for understanding everything, including psychology.

I’m biased. I love psychology. I believe that every topic points toward God. We need not be intimidated by psychology. We should prepare our students to boldly bring their Christian worldview to psychology college.

Besides, psychology is an easy A.

If you use the code "Becky" at Dr. Rice's Store you can receive 10% off your purchase!  There is an especially good deal on the book and workbook currently!   I own them both.  :-)  

Dr. Rice is the author of Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition and Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students of Psych 101 and other works. He has introduced thousands of students to psychology from a Christian perspective through his textbooks and in his live online classes. Tim and his wife Tina are 26 year veterans of homeschooling. You can reach Dr. Rice at www.homeschoolpsychology.com

Guest Post: The Beauty of Units by Michelle Sager

I worked with Michelle's family for many years and always loved seeing her unit studies. When she told me about her current project, I asked her to share about it on Ohio Homeschool Assessments.  Please Welcome Michelle! 

The Beauty of Units

Schools sometimes call them “thematic units”.  Basically, a Unit Study is a flexible study of one topic that encompasses some, most, or all of the scholastic subjects (language arts, math, science, social studies, art, physical education).  Some Units are hands-on while some are strictly virtual; some are literature based while some are based in math, science or history.

We were lucky enough to discover Unit Studies fairly early in the research phase of our journey to homeschooling.  We didn’t understand their importance right away (another story for another time), but our children enjoyed learning with them so much, that we quickly grew to love them!  So much so, in fact, that we began turning everything into a Unit Study – chemistry, biology, anatomy, fiction and non-fiction books, the Olympics, movies, Girl Scouts, and family trips (even a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada!).  We became an eclectic homeschooling family. I think the term eclectic fits our family better than relaxed, since every day is different, and there are many days where the learning is quite intense and doesn’t seem relaxed at all.

Why We Love Unit Studies

My family’s love-affair with Unit Studies began in October of 2008 with a free sample from http://www.everythinghomeschooling.com/.  We wanted to inject a little bit of fun into our routine and found a Unit on Autumn and fall leaves that included literature, writing, math, earth science, chemistry, spelling, geography, vocabulary, art, hiking, computer knowledge, and probably a million other things I can’t remember!

• We went to our local park to collect different leaves, then my children used the computer and some library books to identify the trees by the leaf shape and created a scrapbook of the identified leaves.
• We used a map to find the peak color-change times in our country and in the process learned the location of all 50 states.
• We went back to the same park to estimate and count the number of leaves per branch. That information was then used to guess which types of trees carried the most leaves, and which environment was more leaf-producing; a closely packed woods or a carefully landscaped park. 
• There was an entire day spent studying photosynthesis, leaching the color out of the leaves with rubbing alcohol and coffee filters, learning which leaves contained which chemicals.
• We looked at tree rings, seeds, bark, animals that rely on trees for food and shelter, and anything else they wanted to study.
• We made some stained-glass leaves with wax paper, crayon shavings and an iron, read and wrote poetry about autumn, and had a lot of fun!
• The children found a locally produced video at the library about autumn in the Smoky Mountains.  At the time, the Smoky Mountains were in our backyard, so we took multiple hiking trips into the park, and identified trees while we hiked.
• We even took pictures of it all and created a family website to share our “schoolwork” with out-of-town family. It was a fantastic week!

We love how adaptable Unit Studies are; how creative our children could be; and most importantly, how much they enjoy learning when we used them!

Add and Subtract

There were some parts of the Unit that our children would find boring – so we skipped those.  There were some additional things we could do – so we added those. Unit Studies can be as simple or as complex as you want or need.  (As simple or as complex as your children want or need.)

Multi-level Unit Studies allow children of different ages to learn the same topics at the same time. They are adaptable to your children and your location.  We were blessed to live in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains during peak color-change time and took full advantage of it. We even managed to “sneak in” some Tennessee state history during one of our trips to the woods.

Where Are the Units?

There are many quality Unit Studies out there for a nominal fee or even free.  We found many Units that we changed rewrote, added to, subtracted from; made into whatever our children needed.  We also used some Units ‘as-is’. There are a LOT of resources out there.

Publishers’ websites usually have Teacher Guides available as a free download and can help you turn a novel into a Unit Study.  Lapbook templates and notebook pages can help you create a Unit Study on just about any topic.

What Makes a Good Unit?

A good Unit is engaging and helps your children want to learn.  The topic is not the most important part – if your children are learning and they want to do more learning, then it was a success!

This is far from a complete list, but we have used, adapted or created Unit Studies based on:

• Literature -  The Long Winter, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, The Hobbit, Romeo & Juliet, The Indian in the Cupboard, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, The Hunger Games Trilogy, 1984, Fahrenheit 451…
• Seasons -  Autumn, Winter
• The Winter Olympics 
• Animals
• Government & Elections
• 50 States
• Girl Scout Badges
• Our own community when the Grandparents came to visit
• Science -  Anatomy, Chemistry
• Holidays -  Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving
• National Whatever Day -  The National Holiday-of-the-Day or Person-of-the-Day
• Trips -  Indianapolis & St. Louis, Colonial Williamsburg (w/ Jamestown & Yorktown), Hilton Head Island (w/ Savannah), Las Vegas
• Join our Eclectic Family

Now that we have almost completed our homeschooling journey, I am working to make our original Unit Studies available to others, complete with ideas for adapting the Units.

Begin with a free course in How to Create a Unit Study (with a Sample) – the sample is a study on Bats.  This course shows you how to create a Unit Study with any topic:

https://coursecraft.net/courses/z9Vpd

The first Unit I have completed is a trip to Hilton Head Island and Savannah.  This one is perfect for turning a family vacation into a learning experience:

https://coursecraft.net/courses/z9Vt2

I am working on the rest of the Units and other courses as fast as I can!  

Full Disclosure

Becky’s freestyle assessments are PERFECT for eclectic homeschoolers like us!  My family has used her services since the 2010-11 school year when we moved back to Ohio.  It was a question she asked me a few years ago that prompted me to offer our original curriculum and Unit Studies to others.  So, I must say THANK YOU Becky for encouraging me over the years!

An eclectic home educator for 10 years, Michelle believes engaging your children in the process of planning, developing, and evaluating their own experiences will cultivate a lifelong love of learning. 

Eclectic learning lets you incorporate life into learning instead of dividing life from “school”.  This means all learning, such as family trips, chores, videos, music lessons, family game night, and the dinnertime discussion about the museum you visited last year all count as “school”.  You can help your children see how things fit together.  Since life doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it isn’t divided into subjects and it only makes sense to learn-as-a-whole.

Operations Manager and Editor for SpearPoint Solutions, Michelle is also a contributing author to the book, Living a Wealthy Life: Stories of Gaining an Abundance in All Five Forms of Wealth.

Repost: The Joy of Journaling

  A question I get so often is how do I get my student to write?  Here is one idea.  It was posted last year at Ohio Homeschool Assessments.  

Writing. . . it can be almost be a bad word among home educators.  It is easy to feel you are not doing enough, and it can be a struggle with our students.   I want to share about the benefits of your student keeping a journal.  It is an old idea that might be a great fit for your student. 

First, there are some universal truths about writing and writers. 

1.  Few people are born great writers.  Really.  Most writers work very hard to develop their craft over time.  It is a tedious process.  To do this. . .

2.  Writers must write.  You can not become a writer by thinking about writing, dreaming about writing, or even reading others writing.  Though any of those things may help, you must write to become a writer. 

3.  Many famous writers have kept a journal or diary.  For instance, Franz Kafka, C.S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Mark Twain, Virginia Wolf, George Lucas, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Isaac Newton, Anne Frank, Madeleine L'Engle. . . 

“You want to write, you need to keep an honest, unpublishable journal that nobody reads, nobody but you,” 

~Madeleine L'Engle

Having your student keep a journal is an excellent strategy to improve their writing.  A simple notebook or word processor is all you need to get started.  For most students I would simply set a timer for 15 minutes and tell them to write until it buzzed. 

Decide ahead of time whether this will be a journal that is only for the student, if it is one they plan to share with others, and if they want you to give feedback.  My daughter and I wrote back and forth in a journal to each other for many years.  My feedback kept her writing.  It also deepened our friendship. 

So whether you grab a loose-leaf notebook and fill it with paper, a composition book or a fancy journal, having your student keep a journal is a valuable way to encourage them to write.  

P.S.  Below I have included some fun ones I found on Amazon.  Just for fun.  
  

Guest Post: The Sound of Emeralds Birthday Blog Tour by Rachelle Rea Cobb

Hello and welcome to The Sound of Emeralds birthday blog tour! I’m posting today about Rachelle Rea Cobb’s third installment in the Steadfast Love series, an inspirational historical romance set during the 16th century! Some of you remember Rachelle is a homeschool graduate. Scroll down to enter the contest.

ABOUT The Steadfast Love SERIES

In 16th-century Europe, the Reformation rages between Protestants and Catholics. Gwyneth, half-Dutch, flees from England to Holland to escape the man who murdered her parents. When he follows her there and insists he came to rescue her, will she trust this man called Dirk? When tragedy strikes, will their steadfast love erode?

ABOUT The Sound of Emeralds

What once was blazing hatred has turned to lasting love, but could the union of a wild heart with that of a lady ever result in more than heartache?

With the help of an old friend with uncertain loyalties, Dirk inches ever closer to clearing his name. Gwyneth throws her faith into good tidings and the promise of a future as a family. But an old evil comes to call, just as tragedy rips apart a fledgling truce. Enemies from the past and grief for the future threaten to tear asunder what God had brought together…

As the date of Dirk’s trial approaches, his fate and his family hang in the balance. Will he be proven innocent of Gwyneth’s parents’ murders—or separated from her forever? How much pain does it take to erode a love steadfast?

Find The Sound of Emeralds on…

Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2ooTaWJ

Kindle: http://amzn.to/2p87pz3

Barnes & Noble: http://is.gd/RguS9l

Books a Million: http://is.gd/NdMWGr

Goodreads: http://is.gd/zRI9dg

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Times gone by snatch Rachelle Rea Cobb close, so she reads and writes about years long ago--her passions include the Reformation, Revolutions, and romance. Rachelle wrote the Steadfast Love series during college. Five months after she graduated, she signed a three-book deal with her dream publisher, WhiteFire. She's a homeschool grad, Oreo addict, and plots her novels while driving around her dream car, a pick-up truck. In June 2016, she married a man with the same name as her fictional hero, and they live happily ever after in Small Town, South. She is also the author of Write Well, a guide for writers, which released on March 4th!

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://RachelleReaCobb.com/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/RachelleReaCobb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelleReaCobb

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/RachelleReaCobb/

Instagram: @RachelleReaCobb

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Rachelle-Rea/e/B00RZHIL1Q

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8144149.Rachelle_Rea_Cobb

Homeschooling Students in Multiple Grades

One question I hear from families often is "How do you home educate students in multiple ages/grades?"  Currently I am home educating students in grades 11, 10, 7, 5, 2, and preschool.  I am going to be honest, it is not something I always feel I do well, but I have been at it for 11 years and am improving.  In this post I am going to share a few ideas that have been helpful for me.

1.  I work to make my students as independent as possible at their level.  I am always trying to move forward in this area.  With little ones it is stepping away for a second to put things away while they continue working, with older ones it is checking work after they have completed it so I am no longer sitting next to them.  Taking steps each day to foster independence is my goal.

2.  I try to schedule our days and think in terms of blocks of time.  For instance, if one student is on the computer and and another one is working independently then I can work directly with a third.  Sometimes I will say we have 20 minutes we need to make it count.  Here is a post where I talk about homeschooling with preschoolers and here I share scheduling with high schoolers.  Both posts share more of my schedule.

3.  I have found having a system for older kids to check in with you on what they have completed is key.  It is easy to miss something with your student.  In this post I talk about my notebook.  It continues to work well with my high school and junior high students.  I feel I have a better grasp of where each student is in their work.

4.  I look for computer programs or online classes that allow a student to learn successfully.  We have had good luck using the Homeschool Buyers Co-op for products.  SHOP AT THE CO-OP on award-winning Curriculum and Supplements & Save up to 93%.  Thinkwell has been helpful, as well as Veritas Press Self-Paced Courses, and Quarter Mile Math.

5.  Lastly, I also try to remember that one of my goals in home education is to help my kids become independent adults who love learning.  Having to share mom and try to figure things out on their own helps to achieve that goal.

I would love to hear any ideas you have.  I also found this post by Renee at Great Peace Academy.  She has compiled many helpful ideas and blog posts on how to home educate multiple students.   The post has excellent resources.

Thanks,

Math Competitions

'Tis the season to think about math competitions!  I have a student who really enjoys math and solving challenging problems.  (I also have students who are surviving math, and not so into it.)  Over that last few years I have attended several math competitions, and the following are two that I recommend for high school students.

OCTM (Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics) has a state-wide competition.  Here is place to find more information.  

The American Mathematics Association offers the AMC 10/12.  This is a 25 question 75 minute exam.    The AMC 10 and AMC 12 are the gateways to bigger AMA competitions including the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics  Exams), USAMO or USAJMO (USA Mathematical Olympiad or USA Junior Mathematical Olympiad). 

A great way to prepare for the AMC 8, 10 or 12 is by using  a program called Achievable. This link takes you to their program.  This program also does a great job explaining how the AMC tests work. AMC scores are asked for by many top colleges.  This program will help you achieve a better score.   

These tests are not as easy to get into as home educators, but it is possible.  The easiest thing to do in the state of Ohio is to try to take it at a college.  Below are places that gave the test last year.  It might be worth it to write them if you are interested.  You can request to take it at a location of your choice but you must have a proctor not related to any student, have the test in a public location, and be approved by the American Mathematics Association. 

	Clark State Community College 570 East Leffel Lane Springfield, OH 45505 United States	Kanesha Hall hallk@clarkstate.edu (937)215-2926
	ST IGNATIUS HIGH SCHOOL 1911 W 30TH ST CLEVELAND, OH 44113-3401 United States	Jon Barker jbarker@ignatius.edu 216-651-0222
	The Ohio State University, Department of Mathematics 100 Math Tower 231 West 18th Avenue Columbus, OH 43210 United States	Aurel Stan stan.7@osu.edu 419-961-6088
	University of Findlay 1000 N Main St Findlay, OH 45840 United States	Aaron blodgett@findlay.edu 419-422-8313