stay-home Archives

Beating Boredom This Summer – MBFLP 249

Summertime is always a challenge – with the change of routine, it’s easy for our kids (or ourselves) to feel adrift. This year, with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, even our backup program may be on hold or cancelled. What can you do to make the most of summertime with your family, when vacation may be postponed, summer camp or youth sports shut down, and even the local pool or gym is off limits? This episode, we talk about things you might consider with your kids and mate, to make the most of the enforced time together this year!

Who knew, when the schools and universities closed in March, that we’d still be home in June and July, with summer vacation upended as well? Camps and programs for missions, music, sports, and more, have been closed by the virus. Travel is still restricted. Entertainment facilities, beaches, parks, and more are shut down or curtailed. Our own son had his honeymoon reservations canceled by the hotel the week of the wedding! (Thankfully, he was able to make other arrangements!)

So many of the things we take for granted and do every summer are in jeopardy – or already gone. Last week, we spoke with a radio host about ideas for “engaging our kids” during this time. There are ways to build memories and build skills – and there are also opportunities to build (or rebuild) relationships, if we’ll take the step.

A New Feature for the Program

Hal was inspired by World Radio’s program “The World and Everything In It” and their listener participation in the daily news podcast. This episode, we’re pleased to announce a new opportunity on our own program – our new “Listener Response Line” at (919) 295-0321. This is our voice mail where you can leave a comment, a question, or a suggestion. We’d love to hear from you!

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Planning for College Even During COVID-19 – MBFLP 246

How can you hunt for a college in the midst of a global pandemic? Colleges want students who demonstrate interest in their college. But how can you demonstrate interest in a college when you are sheltering in place under a “stay at home” order? Join us for this special conversation with Lee Binz, “The HomeScholar”!

With our older kids (all five of them so far!), we spent a lot of time visiting colleges, touring campuses, interviewing professors and campus ministers … but emphasize, on campus.

And now, there are very few people on campus to visit – if the campus is even open, still.

Needless to say, suddenly the rules have changed! But have they?

Colleges still want to meet you, get to know you, and make an estimate whether you’d accept an offer from their school. In normal times, you take the opportunity to meet the admissions staff, walk around campus, and if they invite, absolutely positively show up for scholarship or honors college events!

So during this time of quarantine, shelter-in-place, and stay-home orders, those in-person visits just aren’t going to happen.

Lee Binz has years of experience counseling and advising homeschooled high schoolers and their parents, on how to prepare for the college application process and how to maximize your chances of success. This episode, we talked with her about how the move to remote meetings and online gatherings has changed the traditional interview process. You’ll hear some surprising advice and some brilliant ideas how you can adapt to this strange, disrupted world, in some of the most traditional institutions.

About Our Guest

Lee Binz, The HomeScholar is a dynamic speaker and author of over 40 books on homeschooling high school, available on Amazon. She is an expert on homeschool transcripts and getting scholarships. Lee’s mission is to encourage and equip parents to homeschool through high school. Her free monthly homeschool e-newsletter is a great help, and she has marvelous homeschool freebies on her website HomeHighSchoolHelp.com. You can also find Lee on Facebook at Facebook.com/TheHomeScholar.

A Free Offer from Lee Binz!

Anxiety and feelings of insecurity can come and go. When you are faced with feelings of inadequacy, you may start wondering how to become a better homeschool parent. How do you become successful? Lee has a free ebook that she would like to share with you! Download How to Be a Better Home Educator and you can build a better homeschool with tools (and teens) you have around the house. Whether you are a newbie or veteran, this short ebook can help you become a better homeschool parent.