Life Skills Your Kids Need Before They Launch | Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
August 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This show is called Life Skills, so let’s talk about 6 Life Skills Areas that will allow your kids to launch!Life Skills Your Kids Need before they Launch

This show is called Life Skills, so let’s talk about 6 Life Skills Areas that will allow your kids to launch!

  • Food – Plan, Prep, Budget, Shop, Cook, Clean, Use Left-overs
  • Shelter -Shop for, save for pay mortgage and insurance
  • Vocation/ Work -what areas make sense for your kids, preparing for the future economies, including Gig Economy
  • Money -how to earn, save, spend, give
  • Health -keeping it, re-building, mental, social, physical, spiritual
  • Transportation – how to buy a car, maintain it, clean it, repair it and insure it.

True North Homeschool Academy Classes that teach Life Skills:

Personal Finance

Life Skills `

Health

Career Exploration Full Year Class

Study Skills 6 Week Summer Class

Study Skills Full Year Class

Economics

Classes in Bible, Theology and Apologetics

Other Resources

Joy of Cooking

Usborne First Cookbook

 

FREEBIES from True North Homeschool Academy!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO Life Skills 101 VIA COMPUTER

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Scheduling Senior Year for Career-Bound Homeschoolers, Special Replay

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July 18, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Scheduling Senior Year for Career-Bound Homeschoolers, Special Replay.

Scheduling Senior Year for Career-Bound Homeschoolers, Special Replay

Scheduling Senior Year for Career-Bound Homeschoolers

There’s not one right way to homeschool high school and there’s not one right way to prepare for life after graduation. After all, some homeschool high schoolers graduate and go to college. Some teens need a gap year (or two) before they go to college. They want to work or serve for a time before heading to college. At the same time, MANY  homeschooling high schoolers graduate and go right into the workforce!

It is NOT WRONG to not go to college! Not all young people are called to go to college.

There are lots of options for homeschool graduates. But FIRST they need to finish senior year. Senior year is such a wonderful opportunity to truly prepare your non-college-bound teens for life after graduation. Let’s talk about it! Join Sabrina, Vicki and Kym for Scheduling Senior Year for Career-Bound Homeschoolers.

Scheduling senior year for non-college-bound teens

Help your teen be ready for adulting:

  • Preparations for career
  • Practical life skills that will prepare them for a responsible adulthood

Summer before senior year

July: Plan out the academic year.

What is left of the academic requirements for graduation in your state and/or supervising organization?

Think about practical courses. Has your career-bound teen had courses like:

BTW- Make sure you include your teen in the process. This is especially important as you prepare for senior year. Teens need to be empowered to think and give opinions about what needs

  • to happen after graduation
  • still must be covered in academics in order to graduate
  • how best to fulfill all these

Also, include your teens in choosing curriculum. Lastly order textbooks, supplies and whatever you need for the school year.

August: Work on career readiness skills

There are several ways to approach building career readiness skills. Here are a few:

Fall semester of senior year

September through December: Career preparation for life after graduation.

Of course, you must finish off the academics for graduation between now and June. Try not to overdo the academics (unless there are topics where your teen has definite interest- then, in that case, have at it!)

Instead of killer academics, concentrate on skills that will help them in the job hunt, career preparation and life in general. Here are a few our non-college-bound teens have learned and appreciated.

Winter semester of senior year

January through May

Work on graduation plans like senior pictures, graduation date and location, announcements while things are more quiet. Schedule backwards through the end of the school year. What academics need to be completed or caught up? Schedule backwards to the end of the year.

Also, throughout the year, you may need to wrestle with these questions:

Teens do not always have a clear understanding about what life will be like after graduation. They may experience anxiety (here’s a post to help). Or they might have some totally unrealistic dreams.

How do you deal with students who are struggling or have some unrealistic dreams?

  • Help them discover Plan B’s and let them know how long you will support them as they try for professional gaming, sports or some other “big dream” career.

Join us this week for encouragement for career-bound seniors and their moms. For more thoughts on senior year for non-college-bound teens check this post.

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Also, enjoy these posts:

What are “Values” and Why are Values Important in Career Exploration?

Homeschool Graduate and Entrepreneur Talks about Success and Financial Literacy

HSHSP Ep 82: Writing Happens, Make it Useful- Professional Writing Skills

Scheduling Senior Year for Career-Bound Homeschoolers

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Planning in Strange Times | Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
July 10, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Planning in Strange Times

This week on Life Skills 101 Podcast with Lisa Nehring – Let’s talk about Planning in Strange Times with Tamera Pool!  Listen in for some great tips.

(Favorite FREE RESOURCES found here.)

Here are some show notes for you:

  • Examine what your kids need, and help them plan how to address it
  • Don’t be afraid to ask God what you need
  • Pray for your kids
  • Remember; you don’t always need what everyone says you need
    • Borrow
    • Buy used
  • Know your goals
  • Be specific in your goals
  • Make back up plans in case your plan A isn’t viable
  • Be proactive
    • Don’t get things done at the last minute

Resources from TNHA to help with your planning in strange times!

Using Planners with your High School Students

 

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We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to offer encouragement and support! Let us know how we can support YOU!

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Why Teach Philosophy in Homeschool High School? Interview with Dr. Micah Tillman- Special Replay

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

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Why Teach Philosophy in Homeschool High School? Interview with Dr. Micah Tillman- Special Replay.

Why Teach Philosophy in Homeschool High School? Interview with Dr. Micah Tillman- Special Replay

Why Teach Philosophy in Homeschool High School? Interview with Dr. Micah Tillman

Homeschool graduate and philosopher, Dr. Micah Tillman joins his mom for a discussion on why and how teens should study Philosophy.

Micah’s story:

Micah homeschooled with his siblings from 3rd grade through graduation. He learned some important independent learning skills in homeschool high school as he grew academically beyond his mom’s skills. This helped him be successful in college while his peers struggled with the self-directed learning necessary there.

Micah also loved the co-ops, youth groups, band and sports that he was part of in his homeschool high school years.

Dr. Micah Tillman

One of the pivotal courses in his homeschool high school years was his World History and Philosophy course in our homeschool co-op.

This course was brought about by Micah and his peers asking deep “what’s-the-meaning-of-life” questions.

At college Micah majored in Computer Science at Messiah College because he wanted to develop video games but he loved Philosophy so much that he filled all his electives with Philosophy courses (especially loved the courses by Dr. Robin Collins). As he neared graduation, Micah realized the job market for Computer Science was not as interesting as he hoped (no video game design jobs available at that time). So, he decided to go to graduate school and study what he really loved (teaching- which he learned he loved as a student ambassador for Messiah College, Philosophy, and writing which he did for fun).

So Micah went to grad school at West Chester University and loved modern philosophy there, then on to Catholic University to study the traditional philosophers, world-wide philosophy and the history of Christian thought.

After graduation

Micah started a popular podcast, Top 40 Philosophy, has taught Philosophy at several colleges and is now a teacher at Stanford University’s prestigious Online High School.

Micah’s students are scattered around the world.  The core curriculum is 4 Philosophy classes (for instance, the science classes Micah teaches his 9th and 10th graders are Scientific Reasoning (Philosophy) and history of Science). The program takes students beyond STEM to becoming the thinkers who will someday drive the culture. The goal is to teach their students to teach students to think about their whole lives and living them well.

He also developed a video game for his students to teach classical logic. You can download this for free on his website.

 

Philosophy is about thinking clearly about life so that you can live well.

Micah’s goal as a teacher is not to develop professional philosopher, rather, he wants everyone to “love wisdom” (which is what Philosophy means).

Teaching his students to love wisdom, he helps them to become aware of themselves and how they interact well with others and the world around them. He teaches them that Philosophy is about:

Thinking clearly about life so that you can live well.

SO why teach Philosophy?

As teens learn to think philosophically, they will have the skills to live better. Teens tend to have “teenage angst” and ask tough questions. They wrestle with who they are, how to be friends, what they like, how they are alike and different than their parents, what to do with cliques, what kind of person they want to be, why things in the world are fair or not.

In other words, Philosophy gives teens adulting-preparation, love-of-wisdom skills!

For homeschool moms who have no background in Philosophy, but want their teens to have an experience with Philosophy so that they can think clearly about life so that they can live well, there’s hope! Micah has two Philosophy texts for teens that many teens have reported are their favorite courses in homeschool high school.

Philosophy in 4 Questions

Philosophy is the process of thinking clearly so that you can live well. One way philosophers think clearly is asking questions. The 4 basic questions that philosophers ask about everything are:

  • What exists?
  • How we know?
  • What should we do about it?
  • Why?

The text is written especially for homeschooling high schoolers. It is accessible and has a sense of fun.

Parents are sometimes uncomfortable with their students studying Philosophy. Teens ask hard questions. If they study Philosophy, will they ask even more (and harder) questions? Micah explains that God gave us minds, and that we need to care for them by using them well. We do that by training our minds to think well (mind-fitness, just like our bodies need physical fitness). This kind of fitness helps teens go into the adult world with the strength and tools to face the confusing mass of ideas in the world outside the home. Philosophy in 4 Questions helps teens take their angst and develop strength of mind to go from angst to wisdom. (Here’s a free syllabus for Philosophy in Four Questions.)

History and Philosophy of the Western World

This is a gentle introduction to the history of Philosophy (that Micah studied in high school) then added to while he was in college. History and Philosophy of the Western World is a World History credit for the transcript. In a light-hearted manner, homeschool high schoolers learn about history and the philosophers that influenced history. Average high schoolers can enjoy learning history and thinking skills, while honors-level teens have meaningful activities they can choose to level-up.

(Also, here’s a free syllabus for History and Philosophy of the Western World.)

Check out Micah’s website MicahTillman.com and check out his writing and educational video game projects, including Chambergon Logic (where teens can earn a Logic credit in a fun, free format.)

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER

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Why Teach Philosophy in Homeschool High School? Interview with Dr. Micah Tillman

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Helping Teens Write Myth Fantasy, Interview with Will Hahn- Special Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
June 20, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Helping Teens Write Myth Fantasy, Interview with Will Hahn- Special Replay.

Helping Teens Write Myth Fantasy, Interview with Will Hahn- Special Replay

Helping Teens Write Myth Fantasy, Interview with Will Hahn

At 7SistersHomeschool.com there are six of us: Sabrina, Vicki, Kym, Allison, Sara, Marilyn. So WHO’S the 7th Sister? YOU are!

But did you know we have “7th Brothers, too”? We do! In fact, any homeschool dad is a 7th brother when he reads, teaches or listens to 7Sisters podcasts, blogs or curriculum.

We are so excited to be joined by one of our 7th Brothers: Will Hahn. Will is a popular local homeschool dad and teacher, Will Hahn. Many of our local teens will tell you that his writing, literature and history courses are their favorites!

Will is an author also of popular several fantasy series, including The Lands of Hope (and narrator of audio versions of his books and the books of several other authors). The Lands of Hope are written in the legendary Tolkien-esque style.

One of the most popular courses that Will teaches to local homeschool high schoolers is Myth Fantasy Writing. He uses 7SistersHomeschool.com’s Myth-Fantasy Writing Guide which is based on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic myth-fantasy genres. This is a five-week short story writing guide which guides any teen (those who love writing and those who don’t) through a step-by-step process that produces a five-page myth-fantasy short story.

Lewis and Tolkien have a pattern of writing with the plot and specific types of characters:

  • Their stories include extensive backstory called the “subcreation”
  • Idyllic openings
  • Foreshadowing
  • Problems
  • Denouement
  • Other steps that teens will find in the 7Sisters Myth Fantasy Writing Guide
  • Specific characters such as the wise guide and friends from what should be incompatible people groups
  • And most important: the return to old truths. Myth Fantasy share a thought-provoking truth in some way.

Will writes a short story each year right along with his eager (or intimidated) students. (He highly recommends this “learning right alongside our students” style of teaching…very homeschool!) Most of what he did was to tell the class how well he was doing and that the “teacher was thinking it was fantastic”!

Will’s students have written fairy tales, allegory fantasy, Greek-myth style or classic myth fantasy using the steps in the 7Sisters Myth Fantasy Writing Guides. He encourages his students to inspire their stories by thinking about life, about things that concern them, things that they want to wrestle with.

Give your teens a fun writing project that will help them think about important truths: Myth Fantasy Short Story. It will build creativity and conscience.

Advice from Will Hahn about teaching 7Sisters Myth Fantasy Writing Guide:

  • Follow the weekly format and daily lessons in the guide. (This is a five-week curriculum that produces a five-page myth fantasy short story.)
  • Don’t overdo this first five-page story. You can add to it later…hey, turn it into a book.
  • The five-page format is SO achieveable to most homeschool high schoolers. Most kids are not going to be writers, but they will grow up with a story to tell: maybe they will carve wood or work in an office. Teens who have written a truth story, a myth-fantasy story gain some skills in telling the stories of life.
  • Don’t skip drawing the map.
    • One student who was very down to earth wanted a far-north story. She used Google Earth to find the most northern village in America. She used this for her map and the inspiration for her story.
  • If teaching in a class setting, have the students each week read an excerpt, for instance: the first sentence of the story. Then share the completed story at the end.

Like all 7Sisters curriculum, the Myth Fantasy Short Story Writing Guide is adaptable:

  • Honors-level credit by following instructions for a longer paper
  • Tips for adapting the assignments with “average” or more struggling learners
  • Help homeschool high schoolers find their own stories to tell. 7Sisters Guides are intentionally adaptable but remember, there’s not ONE right way to homeschool.

The writing guides also include a rubric for grading.

Did you know that 7Sisters offers other short story writing guides? While the guides can be completed in any order, here is the traditional order:

Author and Homeschool Dad, Will Hahn. Photo used by permission.

Author and Homeschool Dad, Will Hahn. Photo used by permission.

Join Sabrina, Vicki and Will Hahn for a delightful story of teaching Myth Fantasy writing to your homeschool high schoolers! Check out Will and his writings at:

And for MORE on homeschool high school short story writing, check out this episode of the Homeschool Highschool Podcast.

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Helping Teens Write Myth Fantasy, Interview with Will Hahn

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Navigating College Prep in the Digital Age

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
June 14, 2023 by Leave a Comment

Navigating College Prep in the Digital Era

234: Navigating College Prep in the Digital Age

This podcast discusses many different aspects to navigating college prep in the digital age.

Until June 30, 2023, the coupon POD5 will give you a $5 (20%) discount on the self-paced College Prep class / contest (High School Challenge) from show sponsor FundaFunda.

Previous podcast episodes mentioned in this podcast are:

Episode 117: Tips for Completing Online Scholarship Applications
Episode 179: Free Tools for Researching Colleges and Universities

College prep resources mentioned in this podcast are:

—————————————————————————————————————-
Take a look at show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy to see what they offer for online classes and web-based unit studies.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode

Navigating College Prep in the Digital Era

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Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School- Special Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
June 13, 2023 by Leave a Comment

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School- Special Replay

Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School- Special Replay.

Preparing Middle Schoolers for High School

Are you preparing middle schoolers for high school? Are they ready for the rigors of high-school level studies? Feeling stressed about it?

Never fear! Homeschool Highschool Podcast is here to help. With years of homeschooling middle school AND high school we have discovered a few REALLY helpful tips! In this special replay, 7SistersHomeschool’s Sabrina and Marilyn share some encouraging tips to help you love your middle school years.

Some parents get SO stressed out about the high school years.

They fearfully ask themselves:

  • Can our tween do high-school level academics?
  • Should we make our tween jump ahead to high-school level textbooks?

As you have noticed (and we always say): There’s not ONE kind of homeschooler so there’s not ONE right way to homeschool, especially middle school.

  • Some middle schoolers are academic wiz-kids.
    • They are ready to start earning high school credits in seventh and eighth grades. (Unfortunately, we have seen that sometimes these young folks burn themselves out by junior year- we will talk about that.)
  • Other middle schoolers do not care that high school is looming.
    • They are still enjoying their childhood and are definitely not matured enough (emotionally and/or academically) to face high school in a couple of years- we will talk about that, too.)
  • And on the other hand, some are a little ahead on some academics and grade-level on others.

You know what we tell those parents?

WHEN your tween is a teen and is IN high school, they will be developmentally ready for high school academics. While some middle schoolers are advanced academically, many are not. Why push an average-level tween to do super difficult academics? That’s a recipe for burnout!

Rather than push your middle schooler before they are ready for high-school academics, think about this:

Why not individualize some high-school preparation priorities for each of your middle schoolers?

Would one of these priorities or goals be good fits for your middle schoolers?

  • Work on starting to gradually pass the ownership of academic subjects over to your tween. For instance:

    • Depending on the curriculum you are doing, you can teach them to use a simple syllabus.
      • If your tween is just starting to learn about syllabi, you might need to make a simple bullet list of homework due dates and/or color code assignments and due dates.
      • Some tweens need for you to suggest the amount of time they might need in order to finish each assignment.
    • They can take a co-op or group class and learn to bring their homework to class (with their names on it).
      • Give them a backpack just for co-op and teach them to put their folders with homework assignments right in the backpack as soon as they finish it. Talk about paying attention in class so when the teacher calls for homework, they remember to actually hand it in.

  • Teach tweens how to triage their assignments.

      • If they have several assignments due at the same time, help them think about when and where each assignment should be done
        • Some courses need to be done early in the day when they feel energetic and what can they put off until the end of the day
        • Which assignment is the most important (as in: a bigger project is more pressing than a spelling assignment for many tweens)
        • Are there assignments they need help with (as in: trips to the library, extra time on the family computer, one-on-one time with mom)
          • Teach tweens how to ask parents for resource help:
            • Does your tween need a working printer (as in, it is not out of ink)?
            • Are there textbooks or other materials they need from their parents?
          • Along that line, teach tweens to politely advocate for themselves in co-op or live online classes.
    • Decide together where graded papers are kept (for portfolio reviews or for the rare class that has a cumulative final exam).
    • Do you have to occasionally allow a recalcitrant tween to fail (and then make sure there are enforced consequences)?

One of the surprising things we have learned is that high schoolers need life skills and study skills that are a bit more complex than they needed in middle school. If they begin working on those during middle school, they are less likely to need to play catch up while they are trying to keep up with their academics.

THAT’S important stuff middle schoolers can do to prepare for high school.

Join Sabrina and Marilyn for an important episode on life skills and study skills that middle schoolers need when preparing for high school!

You may also enjoy these posts:

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER

  1. Follow this link to our iTunes page.
  2. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes
  3. This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page.
  4. Click SUBSCRIBE.
  5. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!)
  6. Thanks!

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE

  1. Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone
  2. Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen
  3. In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast
  4. Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon
  5. Tap *Subscribe*
  6. Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily.
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How to Set Students up for Success in High School Science Classes

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
May 17, 2023 by Leave a Comment

How to set students up for success in high school science classes

230: How to set students up for success in high school science classes with Dr. Kristin Moon

Dr. Kristin Moon from Kristin Moon Science explains how to set students up for success in high school science classes.

Dr. Moon teaches Chemistry for show sponsor FundaFunda Academy and a number of science classes at True North Homeschool Academy.

These are the questions she answers:

1. What should middle school parents do to make sure their children are ready

2. a) What is the biggest problem you see in high school classes?
b) How to overcome this problem?

3. a) What other problems?
b) How to overcome them?

4. What non-science skills do students need to be successful?

You can find the summer class on Math Skills for Chemistry mentioned in this episode here

—————————————————————————————————————-
Take a look at show sponsor, FundaFunda Academy to see what they offer for online classes and web-based unit studies.

Join our Facebook Group especially for the listeners of this podcast! You can ask questions and get advice as you try integrating technology in your homeschool.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the show and give a rating and maybe even a review! Subscribing will help you make sure you never miss an episode

How to set students up for success in high school science classes

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How to Create Honors Credits on Homeschool Transcript- Special Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
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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Movies for Educational Purposes in Homeschool High School- Special Replay

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
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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