Create a Great Transcript Using Levels in 7Sisters Curriculum- Special Replay

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June 6, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Create a Great Transcript Using Levels in 7Sisters Curriculum- Special Replay.

Create a Great Transcript Using Levels in 7Sisters Curriculum

Create a Great Transcript Using Levels in 7Sisters Curriculum

We 7Sisters have twenty-two homeschool graduates between the group of us. Not only that, but Sisters Marilyn and Vicki have served as academic advisors to hundreds of homeschool high schoolers. So we have seen first hand that there are no two teens alike!

You, too, have probably noticed that there is a LOT of difference in homeschool high schoolers. God created each to have different:

  • Interests
  • Abilities
  • Goals
  • Needs

Teens have different goals:

  • There are teens who are headed to competitive colleges or state universities, need competitive transcripts.
  • Some college-bound teens are headed to community colleges or smaller, less competitive colleges that still need solid transcripts.
  • Other teens are headed into the workforce who need life and career preparation more than competitive core classes.
  • Some teens are aiming for the military and need to concentrate on that preparation during high school.
  • Other teens with special needs can concentrate on life skills and next steps. They only remedial work needed to concentrate on those goals.

We also know that our teens have different interests. We need to put emphasis on the areas they want to explore by increasing the “levels” of their interest courses. You cannot “Level 5- Honors” every interest area, but you can choose some. Talk to your teen!

You can tailor your planning and the homeschool transcript by teaching courses at the “credit level” of your teen’s needs. Some courses can be leveled up. Some need to stay at Average- Level 2 or College Prep Level 3.

This does not mean that you have not allowed them to face challenges. It simply means you are wise enough to find your teen’s sweet spot in education to have a well-rounded transcript with challenges in the appropriate areas for them. If you have not listened to What Are Levels on the Homeschool Transcript, be sure to catch up!

With all 7Sisters guide and textbooks, use:

  • Higher level activities in the literature and writing guides for college bound teens who are English, Communications, History, Humanities majors.
  • Also use higher level activities in the textbooks for teens going into Social or Health Sciences in college.
  • Use Level 2 for a workforce-bound teen, adapt by using questions as discussion rather than writing.
  • Level 1 (Remedial) is for teens with learning difficulties, so do the guides together choosing which questions and vocabulary are useful to them; also use adaptive technology for listening and writing.

How to create the right level for your teens using 7Sisters curriculum

Each 7Sisters guide or e-textbook comes with instructions on leveling for your specific teen’s needs, goals and interests.

7Sisters Literature Guides include instructions for enjoying their reading at the levels that are best for each student.

You and your teens can choose the best level for each guide. For instance:

  • Level 1 (Remedial): You will use audiobooks for reading and verbally discuss the literature guide together.
  • Level 2 (Average): You may use audiobooks and verbally discuss the literature guide if your teen gets stuck on concepts.
  • Level 3 (College Prep): Your teen will read (or even use the audiobook version), but will work through the guide individually. Of course, they will ask for help if they get stuck.
  • Level 4 (Advanced): Your teen will read (or even use the audiobook version), but will work through the guide individually. Of course, they will ask for help if they get stuck. Plus, they will do some extra writing suggested in the guide.
  • Level 5 (Honors): Your teen will read (or even use the audiobook version), but will work through the guide individually. Of course, they will ask for help if they get stuck. Plus, they will do more extra writing suggested in the guide.

BTW- Each 7Sisters literature guide covers only one or two literature themes so we do not kill the book.

  • There is also vocabulary, a little background information, comprehension and inferential questions.

Other 7Sisters Courses:

Financial Literacy from a Christian Perspective

This is an interactive text that gets the student involved. As always, the text includes a grid that tells you how to handle each level. The text is written at Level 3 so average or remedial-level teens may need to work with a parent or peer through the book. Each chapter includes extra activities and exercises that will enrich the course and help level-up the course (or come up with your own). The higher the Level the student desires, the more meaningful activities the student will complete.

High School Health for the Whole Person

Most teens need a health credit for their transcripts. This text was created to give teens a meaningful Health credit without the busywork and long chapters of many textbooks. Average or remedial teens can work through the text with a parent or peer. Higher-level teens will include some of the interesting activities at the end of each chapter to earn the level they prefer.

History and Philosophy of the Western World

If your homeschoolers covered World History in middle school, why use a typical textbook again? This text covers the World History credit from the view of the philosophers of the time period, so teens learn how thinkers influenced the world around them- and gain some thinking skills themselves. Average and remedial students will work through the text with a parent or peer. Higher level students will choose meaningful activities at the end of each chapter for leveling up.

Introduction to Psychology from a Christian Perspective

The text includes a grid that tells you how to handle each level. The text is written at Level 2, so it is fun and comfortable to read for most homeschool high schoolers. Each chapter includes extra activities and exercises that will enrich the course and help level-up the course (or come up with your own). The higher the Level the student desires, the more meaningful activities the student will complete.

Human Development from a Christian Worldview

The text includes a grid that tells you how to handle each level. The text is written at Level 2, so it is fun and comfortable to read for most homeschool high schoolers. Each chapter includes extra activities and exercises that will enrich the course and help level-up the course (or come up with your own). The higher the Level the student desires, the more meaningful activities the student will complete.

Check out Cathy Duffy’s Review of American Literature It is in-depth and helpful.

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for more details than you can capture in words here! Also, enjoy these posts:

An Authoritative Guide to Literature for Homeschool High School

Create a Great Career Pathways Credit for Teens Interested in Psychology

Fun & Useful Elective: Combining Human Development and Early Childhood Education

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Create a Great Transcript Using Levels in 7Sisters Curriculum

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How to Start a Homeschool Co-op Your Teens Will Enjoy- Special Replay

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May 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Start a Homeschool Co-op Your Teens Will Enjoy- Special Replay.

How to Start a Homeschool Co-op Your Teens Will Enjoy

How to Start a Homeschool Co-op Your Teens Will Enjoy

We 7Sisters have always loved co-op! Co-ops do have their ups and downs, but all of our homeschool graduates still have best friend and fond memories of their adventures and misadventures there.

The homeschooling community is famous for co-ops! What are homeschool co-ops?

They are simply families homeschooling together in some format (co-operating on education).

Homeschool co-ops take lots of formats, for instance:

  • Two families getting together to do fun learning activities
  • Huge co-ops that have fifty families with structured studies
  • One topic co-ops
    • (We had a chemistry lab co-op and a biology lab co-op at different times- where we moms set up lab stations and our teens cycled through them. It was SO much fun!)
  • As we always say: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool co-op

What are the benefits of co-ops?

  • Experiencing other teacher’s styles, grading
  • Responsibility of a group setting
  • Fun of some subjects that are delightful in a group
  • Downloading teaching of subjects mom doesn’t like to moms who do like them

Here’s how to start a homeschool co-op you and your teens will enjoy:

First thing you and your team of homeschooling parents will need is time to plan your co-op.

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for a helpful discussion about starting your co-op. Also, check out these episodes:

 

HSHSP Ep 93: How to Start a Homeschool Organization Interview with Carol Topp CPA

HSHSP Ep 85: Healthily Handling Homeschool Mean-Moms with Melanie Wilson

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Incorporating Adulting Skills into High School Planning- Special Replay

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May 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Incorporating Adulting Skills into High School Planning- Special Replay.

Incorporating Adulting Skills into High School Planning

When we are homeschooling our high schoolers, one of our most important tasks as parents is passing the baton of “who’s in charge of learning and living” to our teens. In other words, we hope that as our teens move through high school, they become more and more in charge of their education and of their life preparation.

Of course, all teens are different and there’s not ONE right way for teens to progress into their preparation for life. The cool thing is that we can appreciate and build on each of our teens’ unique personalities, gifts, interest and goals to help them be ready for what happens after graduation!

What we are saying is: homeschooling high school is time for preparation for life:

  • For many teens, high school is preparation for college
  • On the other hand, for many teens high school is preparation for career
  • For all teens, high school should include preparation for adulthood

In this special replay, Sabrina, Vicki and Kym talked about how they worked on increasing educational and adulting ownership by passing the baton of responsibility from parents to teens.

Laid back teens

Teens who are go-with-the-flow often simply needs to be part of the goal setting and planning process. If they are part of this process, they can simply schedule backwards to get things done. BTW- scheduling backwards is a useful adulting skill. It helps teens and adults get ALL sorts of big projects done!

Teens who have chronic illnesses or disabilities

One of Kym’s teens had a chronic illness. Teaching adulting skills and educational ownership skills had to be frequently adjusted due to her teen’s conditions. Sometimes her teen felt healthy and strong and could run with her skills. Other times, Kym pulled back expectations and simply worked on her daughter’s health.

Teens who “don’t give a flip”

Some teens are not interested in adulting or owning their own education. The things they care about are not in textbooks or chore lists. These teens need patience, love and boundaries with clear expectations. Make sure they are involved in planning.

Teens who think they “own the baton”

Some teens think they have already arrived at adulting; some of these are hyper-responsible teens. They need their parents’ love and encouragement to run with their ownership, while turning to their parents for love and support. (LOTS of love and support because these teens sometimes make mistakes.)

Teens who are head butters

Some teens are natural head-butters, especially if their personalities are similar to mom or dad. Here are some tips:

  • Watch your own triggers: calm down before blowing up
  • Make sure there are lots of adults in their lives
  • Keep communicating on the plans and goals you both have already agreed upon

More tips to help planning on adulting skills:

There is so much planning that goes into homeschooling high school! Especially when your goals include helping their teens own their education and adulting skills. Here’s some more advice.

Remember to let go and let God

As homeschooling moms, it can sometimes fall into the temptation to become heavy equipment moms– helicopter moms and steam shovel moms. So homeschool parents: watch yourself. Include teens on the planning for the homeschool high school years, listen to their goals. Work together to plan out the goals.

AND allow them to have their own struggles. As Vicki’s boss always says, “Let them make their own mistakes.”

Kym shared her favorite quote:

It’s not our job to be God to our children, rather we need to need God in front of our children. – Angie Smith

Remember to show and tell

Especially with practical life preparation skills such as home maintenance and home economics skills, teens need guidance. Also they need to hear your affirmations on their trial and error processes, which develops a growth mindset.

Don’t forget to check in regularly

While you want your teens to own their adulting and education, they need you to have regular one-on-ones with a parent in order to:

  • Record progress
  • Discuss the ups and downs of homeschooling high school or any other talks
  • Remind you both of the goals y’all set together

How do you help teens prepare for life and develop their adulting skills?

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for a tips and ideas.

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How to Create Honors Credits on Homeschool Transcript- Special Replay

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May 15, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Create Honors Credits on Homeschool Transcript- Special Replay.

How to Create Honors Credits on Homeschool Transcript- Special Replay

How to Create Honors Credits on Homeschool Transcript- Special Replay

Vicki shares how to create a powerful transcript by building Honors credits. She explains the method called “leveling up” that her family and the homeschool umbrella school that all the 7Sisters’ homeschoolers have graduated from. Check out this Homeschool Highschool Podcast episode that explains the concept of “Levels”.

If you have homeschool high schoolers who are headed for college, it is likely they will need to show rigor on the homeschool transcript. How do you handle creating courses with rigor and showing them on the transcript?

Well, it’s complicated! There are not any unified how-to’s. Our advice is:

  • Choose your method
  • Keep it consistent through all core courses (core courses are Language Arts, Maths, Sciences, Social Studies and World Languages)
  • Make sure you create a legend or key on transcript that explains a little about how the level of rigor was achieved
  • Be sure to record along with the title of the course, the level of rigor that your homeschool high schoolers achieved

This is how we do it. First decide on the level for each course:

Remedial Level: Level 1

  • This is not college level. It is for student who are severely behind or have learning disabilities.

Average High School Level: Level 2

  • These are courses with textbooks that have easier reading levels and shorter lessons. Some examples would include: Westfield Studios 101, Pacemaker series.
  • If your homeschool high schoolers complete a Level 2 course it will not prevent them from getting into college.
  • However, the colleges that accept Level 2 courses will most likely be community colleges or some private colleges.
  • Make sure that the Level 2 courses are not in the courses that will become your teens’ college majors.
  • Very few courses should be Level 2 for college-bound teens.

College Preparatory Level: Level 3

  • Most available textbooks are Level 3. Some examples of Level 3 publishers are,Apologia, BJU Press and Abeka.

Advanced Level: Level 4

  • This level is more powerful than college prep.
  • Leveling up the Level 3 to Level 4 in our homeschool umbrella school requires completing a Level 3 course plus one half of another Level 3 course of that same topic.
  • This will earn 1 credit of that course at Level 4.
  • It is an attractive credit to many colleges.

Honors Level: Level 5

  • An Honors level homeschool high school course is similar in rigor to an AP course. However, the title “AP” can only be used by courses specifically approved by  the College Board. They own that designation.
  • Honors level courses are highly rigorous; they require a lot of work. This is worth it for teens who are applying to competitive private or state colleges.
  • Concentrate on Honors level for courses in the general area of your homeschool high schoolers’ future major or interest area.
  • Some competitive colleges want to see ALL core courses at Honors level. Check with colleges of interest for their requirements.

Create a college-attractive transcript by building Honors-level credits. Develop powerful credits by adding extra rigor for Honors courses.

How do you develop Honors credit?

It is hard work. A teen working on a Level 5 Honors credit will be doing about double the Level 3 College Prep.

7Sisters textbooks and Literature Study Guides include instructions (with Literature Study Guides the instructions vary by age and grade). Listen to this HSHSP episode for tips on using the levels feature of 7Sisters curriculum.

Start with:

Textbook average or college prep.

Then add:

  • Add 16 extra real book in interest areas/subject area
  • For example, if Biology will be your teen’s major: choose books exploring an interest such as birds, including:
    Books on Famous Ornithologists, Bird behaviors
  • Write summary of each book

The textbook plus 16 books and summaries become ONE Honors credit.

Another way to earn an Honors credit could be adding a Carnegie credit.

For more information on Carnegie credits check out this post.

Start with:

Textbook average or college prep.

Then add:

  • Logged extra Carnegie Unit of credit (varies by state 120-180 hours of instruction). Make sure you document these hours.
  • Create the Carnegie credit by:
    • Developing an interest through field trips, writing research papers (keys with Language Arts), projects, related volunteer work, related apprenticeships
    • For instance, if your teen’s interest is Psychology, volunteer at rescue mission to see what other people’s lives are like
  • Make these hours useful to your teen.
  • Keep really good logs. Suggestion: have teens log hours themselves. This develops independent learners (or panicked learners if they put logging off too long.)

The textbook plus Carnegie credit becomes ONE Honors credit.

Or try a combination

  • College textbook plus 8 books and half-credit logged hours.

Remember, homeschool high schoolers are doing double credits BUT on transcript they only receive 1 credit. College admissions officers LOVE these Honors credits.

Search Honors credit at 7Sisters for more ideas.

When teens develop interest they feel engaged and proud of themselves. It gives them a nice expertise in an area and creates a powerful transcript. When the Honors credit is in an area of their choice, they can use this expertise in a college admissions interview.

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How to Create Honors Credits on Homeschool Transcript

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How to Enjoy Being a Mom of a Just-Average Homeschool Teen- Special Replay

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May 9, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on How to Enjoy Being Mom of a Just-Average Homeschool Teen- Special Replay

How to Enjoy Being Mom of a Just-Average Homeschool Teen

How to Enjoy Being Mom of a Just-Average Homeschool Teen

Your teens do not have to go to Harvard to be exactly who God created them to be. Most teens are “just-average” in the ways that get big attention like:

  • academics,
  • sports or
  • arts

However, God has given each teen gifts, so even “just-average” teens have areas where they shine. Join Sabrina and Vicki for celebration of average homeschool teens with their giftedness from God!

It is easy to fall into the trap that our homeschool high schoolers must perform extraordinarily in some area that gets big attention…or full-ride scholarships to college. Sometimes moms find themselves almost embarrassed if their teens do not go to college or do not do anything news-worthy. It is an unfortunate thing in “American mom-ness” that we moms feel that we are failures if our teens are not famous.

So really, do ALL teens need to be famous in the world’s eyes? How about our teens fulfilling the callings that God gave each of them individually- no matter how large or small?

SO let’s debunk this myth of the idea that only those teens who are gifted in academics, sports or arts are gifted. NO, all teens are gifted in God’s eyes! God gives each person a gift of something in order to bless His kingdom. Therefore, since God gave our teens gifts of some sort to bless his Kingdom, we can rejoice that:

Just average teens are not “just average” in God’s eyes!

ALSO, let’s debunk the myth that average is bad. If average is bad, then God goofed up because statistically MOST teens are average. That’s what “average” means, after all.

How can you enjoy being a mom of a just-average teen?

So, if you have a just-average teen in your house, enjoy them! Thank God and hold an attitude of gratitude in your heart for them. (Okay, realistically, no one feels grateful in tough moments. However, OVERALL, remember to be grateful for the teens God gave you.)

Now for some practical tips to help you enjoy being the mom of just-average teens.

Join Vicki and Sabrina for a passionate discussion about enjoying being the mom of an average homeschool teen! We love our average teens. God loves them, too.

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How to Enjoy Being Mom of a Just-Average Homeschool Teen

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Planning Homeschool Graduation Ceremony and Party- Special Replay

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May 2, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Planing Homeschool Graduation Ceremony and Party- Special Replay

Planning Homeschool Graduation Ceremony and Party

Planning Homeschool Graduation Ceremony and Party

Whether it is your first or your fifth homeschool graduation, planning homeschool graduations can be stressful.  You want it to be memorable AND something you can manage. We asked our 7th Sisters in our 7SistersHomeschool Facebook group about graduation events that have worked for their homeschool families.

Planning tips for homeschool graduations:

Start your planning process with this important fact: Just as there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, there’s also not ONE right way to hold a graduation event. For real. You and your teen should have a chat or two. Ask what they need and what do you need (you count, you did a lot to help this homeschool high schooler to get to the point of graduation)!

Decide if you want an event

Some graduates do not want a graduation ceremony. Rather, they only want a pat on the back and maybe their favorite meal.

On the other hand, some would like an event. Hey, some of us moms NEED that event for closure; it’s okay to have an opinion. (I know that for me, I needed that graduation ceremony to celebrate all we had done as a family. My teens were glad that they had that significant event, once it was done.) Come to a workable and respectful compromise.

Decide what kind of ceremony you will hold

There are lots of ways to hold a graduation ceremony:

  • Hold a get together in the backyard or at a local park (I’ve been to a number of these events)
  • Have a big event with your local homeschool umbrella school or co-op (this is what our family has always done)

Choose a date

To help you decide on a date, think about:

  • When can the family come?
  • What are facilities available (if you will go somewhere besides home)?

Do you want someone to film or live stream it?

This is very popular these days. Start looking early for a friend, family member or professional to handle this.

Will you send graduation announcements?

Will you want to send traditional announcements from a local printer? (Grandparents often like these because you can enclose a photo that they can put in their wallets and show their friends?

Will you create your own announcements or post cards?

  • You can create your own notes online with websites like Shutterfly or Canva  (We are not affiliates, btw.)
  • Handmade announcements are popular with many of our local homeschool graduates.

Remember to send the announcements early so that folks can make plans.

We highly suggest you create a diploma (and keep a copy of the official transcript with it)

You can make your own:

  • Buy parchment and an “official stamper” at the local office supply store and create your own. (Check Pinterest for samples.)

You can purchase one online from Homeschool Diploma (we are not affiliates)

  • We have found over the years that graduates occasionally need to show a diploma or send a copy of the diploma to prospective employers, military and even graduate schools.

For the transcript:

Will your teen wear a cap and gown?

There’s not one right way to handle this. I always like to have the visual of my graduate wearing the cap and gown AND the joy of moving the tassel on the cap from left to right (or right to left, there’s no real protocol for that)?

  • If you are ordering cap and gown do so EARLY. Shipping is slow sometimes, these days.
  • Some of our homeschool friends have ordered from Homeschool Diploma or Jostens (we are not affiliates)

Plan the ceremony and afterwards

Join Vicki for a you-CAN-do discussion on how to plan homeschool graduations!

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How to Plan Homeschool Graduations

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Movies for Educational Purposes in Homeschool High School- Special Replay

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April 24, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Movies for Educational Purposes in Homeschool High School- Special Replay.

Movies for Educational Purposes in Homeschool High School- Special Replay

Movies for Educational Purposes in Homeschool High School

Need some fun in your homeschool high school? Think: movies!

Movies and reading can both count for Language Arts assignments? Yes, they can! Reading is fundamental, of course. However, movies can be a wonderful way to teach literature themes (and make a wonderful change of pace from books, books, books…). Our 7Sisters’ teens have loved the years where we took an entire year to study movies through a literature lens. They have also enjoyed years when we added a movie or two to study with literature themes.

Cinema studies for learning literature

Movies cannot always count as books. However, when our teens completed a study guide to accompany a movie we DID count that movie as a book. That’s because they were learning about literature through a movie, while doing high-school level learning.

they can be used to learn themes, plots, characters and other tools of literary analysis. Studying a movie can add some sparkle to a year that is getting bogged down in heavy literature books. However, you want to have good tools (like 7Sisters Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Study Guides).

Join Sabrina and Vicki for an enlightening discussion of movies for educational process.

Let’s start with another of Sabrina’s famous quotes:

Stories are stories.

So, a story in a movie is still a story.

Stories are stories. Even movies can be literature study tools.

Learning story analysis skills by watching movies is good for all teens.

Studying movies can build literature analysis skills for a variety of teens:

  • Those who have special needs
  • Average teens who need to liven up their literature learning experiences
  • College-bound teens who want to learn literature analysis skills in a variety of ways

Homeschool high schoolers with learning difficulties

These teens will find analysis skills more accessible when they watch and discuss movies. It can be easy to get bogged down in a book while trying to learn literature themes at the same time. Movies are short compared to many books, so there is less likelihood of becoming overwhelmed.

BTW- For more out of the box credit ideas and support for teens with special needs check out these:

Average teens who need more variety in their literature

Average teens, especially those not planning on going to college, do not need excessive amounts of literature analysis for the English/Language Arts credits. While they do need to read some real books and study some literature analysis, they can also liven things up by learning in different ways. Cinema studies for literature learning is a perfect way to do this.

College-bound teens who want to learn literature analysis skills in a variety of ways

Teens who are headed for college need solid literature analysis skills. They can build these skills with books with literature study guides. At the same time, they can add more levels of learning by using literary analysis skills to study movies.

So where do you start?

Choose one or two aspects of the movie’s story to discuss and analyze. This is important. It is wise to limit the ideas being studied for each movie- even if the movie has lots of outstanding features that could be explored. When you don’t over-teach, you don’t kill the movie. Not only that but teens can actually learn and hold onto their learning. We suggest 7Sisters Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Study Guides for this.

Cinema Studies for Literature Learning: Great educational opportunity

When teens learn some concepts from a film story, they can then find those concepts when they read books.

When teens learn literary concepts from movies, they can make connections with those same concepts in real books. Making connections is a necessary facet of education (and an important life skill).

Watching movies as an educational tool, helps teens begin to think that any time they watch a movie, they can use their brains and think about what they are consuming. In other words, when given tools for analysis in a gentle way, most teens will have more critical thinking skills for watching movies any time.

All 7Sisters curriculum is level-able (adaptable for Average- through Honors-level studies.) Homeschool high schoolers who are college-bound Honors level cinema studies will find interesting and meaningful leveling-up activities in 7Sisters Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Study Guides.

The way the Cinema Studies guides work:

  • Students watch the movie.
  • They take notes as they watch the movie on anything that is interesting to them.
  • Then they watch the movie again several days later.
  • Lastly they complete the study guide (questions and a writing assignment).

As an aside, Vicki and Sabrina rabbit trailed onto the topic of audiobooks for books and poetry. They noted that Benedict Cumberbach is one of their favorite readers. Vicki has several pins on her Pinterest Poetry board with him reading a poem.

Join Sabrina and Vicki for a *moving* talk about movies!

For more creative Language Arts ideas, check out A Novel Approach to High School Literature!

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Movies for Educational Purposes in Homeschool High School

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Helping Non-College-Bound Teens Find Success- Special Replay

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April 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on  Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Helping Non-College-Bound Teens Find Success! Special replay of a favorite interview with Angela O’Shaughnessy.

Helping Non-College-Bound Teens Find Success- Special Replay

Helping Non-College-Bound Teens Find Success

There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school AND there’s not ONE right way to do life after high school.

Many teens are gifted by God to go into a career without going to college. That’s good. Why spend tens of thousands of dollars and four years of life on college, when a young person was created to do something else?

Huge numbers of teens have gifts and interests that they can develop without going to college. This is good. Career-bound teens can have a high school experience that is completely different than the academics for college-bound teens. With this in mind, Vicki asked her friend, Angela O’Shaughnessy, to talk about her two homeschool graduates who went right into careers that did not need college.

Today Angela and Vicki will discuss helping non-college-bound teens find success

Vicki and Angela are old friends who have worked together at Pike Creek Psychological Center. They have also had years of homeschooling together in their homeschool co-op (Angela always did the most fun history-related activities with the teens!)

Angela (who also joined us for more about homeschooling high school with career-bound teens) has two sons are loving successful lives that did not require college! How did Angela help guide them through high school to prepare them for life after graduation? Here are some tips from Angela.

Angela O'Shaughnessy used by permission

Top Tip: Notice interests as they grow

Angela is skilled in noticing. As her oldest son was growing, she saw that he loved:

  • History
  • Music
  • And especially figuring out things by working on them with his hands

She kept an eye on these interests as he progressed through high school. Angela and her husband concentrated on helping her sons:

  • Explore their interests
  • Develop their strengths

Therefore, she was not surprised when he told her that he did not want to go to college, but rather, to trade school and learn to be a machinist. This is what he did and is now a highly successful leader in that trade.

For more on helping teens discover and develop interests and strengths, check out our interview with Anita Gibson about helping teens discover their star.

Tip #2: Help teens develop strong life skills

Angela and her husband worked to model and teach the character, and life skills that her non-college-bound teens would need to have success in adulting. As adults, her sons have reported that they find these skills (that they developed during high school) highly valuable:

  • Enjoying hard work
  • Taking opportunities when they come
  • Getting technical training when they needed it
  • Learning job-hunt skills
  • Practicing interview skills

One of the most important skills her sons learned was networking. Networking has helped Angela’s son in:

Tip #3: Find mentors

Mentors can help teens make connections that will open doors for their future careers. However, even more important is the fact that mentors can be guides full of advice, encouragement and resources for teens. Angela and her sons looked for mentors at church, volunteer and small jobs. For instance, they looked for folks who had:

  • Skills that she wanted her sons to explore
  • Good character qualities

Mentoring situations can look different according to the family needs. For instance, you could invite the mentor to spend a little time over coffee or a family dinner. Even more valuable is the opportunity to have an apprenticeship or internship with that mentor.

For information on mentoring relationships and resources for teens with special needs, check out our interview with Dr. Rochelle Matthews-Somerville. BTW- Dr. Matthews-Somerville is one of our special 7Sisters’ Cousins, who shares tips and resources for homeschooling high school at EMF Consulting.

Tip #4: Do not rush

As moms, we tend to worry about our teens. It is easy to fall into the trap of becoming heavy equipment moms who micromanage our teens. When Angela worried about the future for her son who struggled with learning disabilities, her husband would remind her,

“Life is long, he has plenty of time to figure it out.”

Isn’t that great advice?!

Both of Angela’s sons are experiencing success in their different careers AND in their interests AND in church AND in other adulting areas. Your homeschool teens can, too!

Join Vicki and Angela for an inspiring chat. In the meantime, check out these posts.

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Helping Non-College-Bound Teens Find Success

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Inspiring Online History and Civics Courses, Interview with Nichelle Nelson

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April 3, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Inspiring Online History and Civics Courses, Interview with Nichelle Nelson.

Inspiring Online History and Civics Courses, Interview with Nichelle Nelson

Inspiring Online History and Civics Courses, Interview with Nichelle Nelson

The past can be an incredibly inspiring source of knowledge and learning. For many, history and civics classes in school were where we first learned about the world around us and our place in it. But what happens when you have the opportunity to learn more? 

Nichelle Nelson from Warp and Weft History is here to show us how online history and civics courses can bring greater depth and understanding of these topics. Get a unique look at Nichelle’s personal journey with online courses as she talks about her experience, tips for success, and more!

Enjoy this inspiring interview with Nichelle Nelson and we discuss ways of inspiring online history and civics courses in your homeschool!

About Nichelle Nelson

Nichelle started homeschooling back in 1993. Did she know she was always going to homeschool? No, she didn’t. In fact, it didn’t ever enter her mind the possibility of homeschooling until one day in prayer. 

After Nichelle and her husband got married, they immediately moved to the Azos, which is a small island off the coast of mainland Portugal. 

At the time, her and her husband had extensive conversations about family life for when they had kids.

They often discussed how they wanted to raise their family and how they wanted the culture of their family to be. By the time their firstborn daughter was born in 1989, they had established Nichelle to be a stay-at-home mom. 

This in itself was weird for Nichelle because her mother and her mother-in-law were both pretty much pioneers as far as women of color in their professional fields. They were always the first woman of color to do this, the first woman of color to do that. 

And so the idea of her being a stay-at-home mom was a bit out of her comfort zone. But because they are people of prayer, they felt strongly to pursue this direction in life. 

One day, Nichelle was praying for Adrian, their firstborn, and she remembers this really strong feeling that Adrian was to never enter the public school system. This caught Nichelle off guard, once again, because she knew that this meant at some point in time they were going to hit a big windfall and need to school her  and her future siblings.

When Adrian was about 8 months old, they moved from Azos to Germany. It was during their time in church one day when homeschooling came up again.

Her husband introduced her to a family in the church that taught their own children at home. But Nichelle wasn’t impressed at the time because she had absolutely no dream, no fantasy and no thought process in her mind to ever teach her own children.

For teens who want more than textbooks for history, try inspirational online courses.

Then later on, she met another family who homeschooled.

And the very first thing that impressed her about this family was how well the siblings got along together. For the older one to pick up the younger one to make sure she was eating and comfort her, she was awestruck.

That was the first draw to homeschooling for her, the idea of familial closeness. It really touched her heart. 

Then, on another day, she was standing in the same hallway in church, enjoying a deep intellectual conversation with someone as she was looking away at something. At one point, she turned around, and she saw the person she was talking to was a 12 year old young man. He happened to be a homeschooler of a Latino family.

And it was the mother of that Latino family who became her gateway to the homeschool community. She loaned her all of her teaching home magazines, and inspired Nichelle further about homeschooling her own children. This prompted Nichelle’s own homeschool research.

When they moved to Okinawa and Okinawa, the homeschool world completely opened up for them as there was a very large, very active homeschool support group called Christian Home Educators.

College Bound

Nichelle went back to college while she was still homeschooling her kids, and got a degree in counseling. But the journey there includes a saddened path. Along the way, she lost her firstborn daughter, Adrian, to a brain tumor that they were aware of for only 72 hours. They had no idea about it; it was extremely sudden.

Homeschooling was such a blessing to Nichelle because when she looks back, she is thankful for every single day of her life with her daughter. 

Once Nichelle and her family came back to the States, they had a lot of pushback from family about continuing to homeschool. Some of their objections were that Nichelle wasn’t educated and she didn’t have a college degree. And it even got pretty insulting at times, being told she was too stupid to homeschool and how her children would never be anything doing homeschool in a kitchen.

Nichelle proved the naysayers wrong, however, because when both daughters continued their education into college.

It was also right around the time she needed to reinvent herself. 

She looked back at her homeschool journey and to decide what aspect of that she would miss once it was over. The first thing that came to mind was keeping children to read. She didn’t pursue the traditional elementary school setting; instead, she became a history mom.

Both daughters had competed in the National History Day competitions, and one eventually became a museum curator while the other works on Capitol Hill.

Nichelle knew history was going to be something that she wanted to do. She decided to enroll in college classes to finish her degree, and so she enrolled both her youngest daughter and herself into college. They even had one or two classes together! They went to school together until, eventually,her daughter went off to Baylor.

Now she holds an associate’s degree in history from Austin Community College. She is also a top ranking graduate from Huston-Tillotson University and received her bachelor’s degree in History.

And because of the pandemic, she wasn’t able to get into the school she wanted to get her Master’s degree. Instead, she got a master’s degree in education in multicultural studies, which really fits with her entire life’s story.

Starting Warp and Weft History

Nichelle responded with incredible resilience to the pandemic. As the education sector was turned online practically overnight, she was able to take on challenges and develop innovative strategies for success. She has used her experience in teaching to create a learning environment online that is both creative and engaging for her students, with exciting activities that go beyond what traditional classrooms can offer. 

Through her quick action and enthusiasm, she has given students opportunities to learn even as the rest of the world struggles through these challenging times.

Nichelle and her daughters have done an amazing thing by creating Warp and Weft History, a comprehensive and interactive website that covers multiple aspects of history.

Their courses span from US history to African American history, world history and even National History Day coaching. 

The courses provided on the website can help students gain a deeper and more thorough understanding of historical events, conflicts, people and movements across all corners of the world. It is indeed an extremely useful resource for anyone interested in learning more about history or just brushing up on concepts they have already learned.

You can catch several courses live, such as US History, and expect to learn more about multicultural perspective. Nichelle teaches the stock stories, the broad popular stories we’ve all heard of.

And then she goes deeper into teaching the stories that aren’t popular, called the concealed stories. She looks at those stories to see whose voices are absent and where did the resistance fall in?

Nichelle will then take that information and put it in a digital format in order to share those things that they’ve learned online.

They do this with many of their courses. 

One particularly popular course is World history One. She’s using Susan Wise Bauer’s Story of the World’s Ancient World book, but bringing into it educational  and virtual field trips with focuses on archeology, linguistics and migration patterns. This always gets the kids excited about history. 

She also has an African American history course, where they discuss US history from the African American perspective and bringing in concealed stories that you might not hear about. These classes are usually about 90 minutes, one day a week. 

There’s also National History Day coaching for students who want to participate in the National History Day competition. This coaching course gives the opportunity to take history information and display it in five different categories as a(an):

  1. exhibit
  2. performance
  3. website
  4. documentary, or
  5. paper

 

Warp and Weft History offers a variety of courses that focus on different periods of history. These courses cover topics like the major events, turning points, and civilizations that have shaped our world today. 

Connect with Nichelle Nelson with Warp and Weft for Inspiring Online History and Civics Courses

You can learn more about the high school history courses offered by Nichelle at Warp and Weft History at www.warpandwefthistory.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.

For more on History for homeschool high schoolers, check out these episodes:

And these posts:

Thank you to Richie Soares with Homeschool & Humor for writing this blog post!

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How to Plan Language Arts for Homeschool High School: Special Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
March 27, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How to Plan Language Arts for Homeschool High School, a Special Replay.

How to Plan Language Arts for Homeschool High School

How to Plan Language Arts for Homeschool High School

English/Language Arts credits are a huge part of the high school process. It can be overwhelming trying to figure out what to cover and when. Join Sabrina and Kym for some helpful guidelines for covering ELA in homeschool high school!

First off: remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school! So remember, these are guidelines. You know what your unique teens need.

How can you know what to plan for when organizing your materials for your teens’ homeschool high school English/Language Arts credits.

  • Reading (Literature)
  • Writing
  • Grammar
  • Vocabulary
  • Public Speaking

Reading

There’s not one right way to choose books for homeschool high school. For students with learning disabilities or career-bound teens they may need more practical reading and/or audiobooks. Think at least one book per month with a literature study guide (follow guidelines for ability level usage in each 7SistersHomeschool.com’s Literature Study Guides). Then fill out the list with Bible reading, magazines, poetry, etc that interests them. Discuss this with you supervisory advisor for exactly what can be counted.

For students who are college bound, you will want to invest in more reading and probably more literature analysis (in the form of study guides). That’s the cool thing about homeschooling high school: you do what is best for your teens!

If you would like an in-depth look at how many books each teen should cover in each year of high school, here is a comprehensive look at how many books by level and by grade. (Remember, these are guidelines, not rules.)

Writing

Writing is as important as reading. Everyone needs to be able to write efficiently. Here are some very basic guidelines.

Of course, if your teen has special needs or other challenges because life happens, adjust this to make it work for your family.

And if your teen is college bound or wants rigorous writing, check out this post on how many papers teens should write (by level and year).

Grammar

Grammar is necessary for homeschool high school. However, teens who have a practical mastery of grammar rules may find that editing their papers is enough grammar (proof that they understand grammar usage). If your teen is good with simply editing, it might be helpful to have a simple checklist of grammar rules to refer to. We suggest Grammar Granules.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is part of being well prepared for life. All homeschool high schoolers need some vocabulary study each year. However, teens who are headed to college need to lean heavily into vocabulary. 7Sisters literature study guides include vocabulary and more can be added with specific courses or online games like FreeRice.com.

Public Speaking

Public Speaking needs to be part of your homeschool high schooler’s yearly experience. It can be as simply as prayer at a large family gathering. However, for teens who are willing to stretch, they can do a full-year course or a speech team or any variant of that. 7SistersHomeschool.com has a speech curriculum that is popular with speech teams, co-ops and group classes. (Also, free lesson plans for the teachers in co-ops or group classes.)

Join Sabrina and Kym for fun and encouragement about planning high school English/Language Arts!

For more on English/Language Arts for your high school planning:

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