Staring At A New School Year-To Homeschool or Not?

Summer Is Coming To An End - DECIDING TO HOMESCHOOL or NOT

This is a big decision many people have at the end of the homeschooling whether they have been homeschooling their children or their kids have been in public, private or alternative schools. Up until recently, many people didn't even have Homeschooling or Working While Homeschooling on their radar as an option. Now, many know that they have more options in customizing education for their kids than ever before.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO HOMESCOOL

You can decide to homeschool your child at any time of the year. You have the option to 'try' on traditional education, and decide that it's not for you, then take your child out to homeschool them.

However, if you plan on homeschooling your child first, then putting them back in traditional school, you may consider some of the hurdles with this option.

-Elementary School: There is an easier transition to elementary school if the child homeschools. They may give the child a placement test, then enroll them in their grade based on their age.

-Middle School: This is the grade range where special programs for gifted students, and students with interest that can easily migrate into like high school programs happen. The risk is that your child may not be eligible for some of those programs if you enroll them after 7th grade. However, you can request that your child get tested for those programs.

-High School: No homeschool credit will be acceptable at the High School level. So homeschooling your child for several grades, they will still have to finish 4 years of English and 3 years of Math (4 in some states) which may require summer school or doubling up on classes.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO HOMESCOOL

When you decide to homeschool and it's a new idea, don't rush to buy curriculum, jump into school and plan long lessons, schedule and days. Take a step back and talk to your child, find out how they like to learn, what they want to accomplish this school year, and what is their most difficult and rewarding subjects. Then test their skill to see if they have educational gaps, have a love language that works well for positive reinforcements, and socialization preferences.

Unschool them, by doing nothing specific with school work, but get them to a point where you are interacting with them on a fun, loving and bonding manner.

Then start their schooling with focusing on the following in the order below:

1) First quarter of school, work on filling the educational gaps in Math, Reading, Writing.

2) Second quarter of school: start your curriculum for the school year with four subjects, adding the additional subjects after a week or two.

3) BE FLEXIBLE, realize kids like us need breaks, gets bored, don't want to show up to work and need vacations.

REDIRECTING YOUR HOMESCHOOLER WHEN NEEDED

THIS YEAR DIDN'T GO AS PLANNED

So we redirected the path

Freedom in homeschooling allowed us to be flexible during a time that we thought we had everything planned perfectly for our son.

This May he was supposed to walk across the stage of the online college he had been attending and get his BS in Information Systems Management. He'd already started taking classes to also start his two-year program in Airplane Mechanics. The summer IT internship he was supposed to start got cancelled. He broke his collarbone and had to be laid off from his part-time job that he enjoyed.

Then things drastically changed when his graduation got cancelled, the Aircraft Mechanics program put him back on the waiting list to accommodate students that were displaced with the circumstances of the pandemic and new laws about social distancing.

REDIRECTING AND FLEXIBILITY

Know that you have time and there is no rush when homeschooling. Since my son was only 16 years old, he voiced his desire to have an actual college graduation. He was willing to work on other interest for a year so he would have the chance to walk the stage next year.

He added a minor onto his degree in Marketing since he said he was interested in that subject. He was only required to take three more classes.

In order to redirect and allow our child to explore a new path we:

• Did a Mind Map and Brainstorm of other interest
• Pointed out what was important to him
• Identified areas he needed more help (like networking skills, desire to learn music, need to practice public speaking more)
• Pointed out experiences he wanted
• Gave himself permission to put a direction at rest (for now or maybe forever)
• Pointed out what was most important to him

Speed Racer wanted a graduation. He also decided to table the Aircraft Mechanic program since it was something he'd decided to pursue in support of his dream of becoming a pilot. He did waver on becoming a pilot since the travel industry took a big hit - but we encouraged him to see the benefits of gaining a private pilot license for no reason but for personal and life growth. He agreed he'd still like to pursue the private pilot license and see what happens. 

PLAN FOR THE EXTENDED HOMESCHOOLING COLLEGE YEAR

He has changed his plans to include learning music, improving his breakdancing (hoping to be able to pursue the next Olympics in Break dancing), do a year of canoe racing since he missed the opportunity. For school work, he is minoring in Marketing, graduating in May 2021 with his sister who is graduating with her MS (at age 20 years), taking more computer programming classes, some homeschool classes in speech and debate so he can be around other teens.

HELP THEM TO SEE LIFE AS A GREAT ADVENTURE

In all the redirection, help them to see life as the great path of possibilities. Change is normal and can be fun as well as exciting. Closed paths aren't about the closing but about the learning and growing as a person.

by LM Preston, Author of Homeschooling and Working While Raising Amazing Learners

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Owning Our Flexiblity

Skateboarding in New Zealand

This last month was extremely hectic for us. We traveled to Syndey, Australia and then New Zealand. Just four days after we returned, my friend visited us for two weeks. We had no downtime. School work suffered in small ways, our optional homeschool curriculum work didn't get done. Now I am too tired to restart it.

KIDS PROGRESS

SPEED RACER worked through challenges of traveling while doing school work
He only focused on his college classes, but with the weeks of travel, it was stressful getting the work done on time and with lacking internet speeds. It was stressful and challenging for him to have to contact his professors and ask them if he could turn in work early or late.

Also, this 8 week session I made the fatal mistake of scheduling 2 programming classes in one semester. He had a literal freak out moment. Then I talked him off the cliff and got him some tutoring help.

Homeschool Classes that were put on hold 
Bible Study (online) Just six videos to go and we have halted due to a crazy life schedule.

Pilot Training (online) He's been doing these on his own, but reduced to 3 a week.

Java Programming (online) this is with CompuScholar and he is taking a college Java course. He will resume this after the college course for more practice.


College Classes online - All Finished.

Java Programming
In week 8 of 8
-Final programming projects
-Weekly discussion post and replies
-A final paper and project

Software and Hardware Infrastructures
In week 8 of 8
-Final Project paper design
-Discussion post and reply

Javascript Programming
In week 8 of 8
-Weekly group post and discussion
-Final Project

This is the end of the school year for him. We will casually finish the homeschool classes.

WORK and HOME BALANCE Working and Homeschooling 

MEAL PREP: I am still recovering from our vacation and friend's visit. We've just thrown together frozen meals.

HOUSE CLEANING: We cleaned the house! Yay! It's starting to get messy again as we speak.

LESSON PLANNING: I am doing minimized planning and just created checklist of work I put on the dry erase board. 

MARRIAGE CHECKUP: Hubs and I had a spat where we were polite, but not really speaking. It lasted for just under a week when he and I finally got bored with not speaking and apologized.

SELF CARE: I pampered myself and made my husband join in the foot massage, facial, pedicure and back massage. I needed it.

Accountability For Kids In School

EVERYONE NEEDS ACCOUNTABILITY

For Something - Even Adults - So Why Wouldn't Kids?

There are times, many times, since homeschooling that my kids worked independently. However, the quality of their work while done independent is debatable.

WHY KIDS NEED ACCOUNTABILITY

• To show off their work
• To make sure they are on task and not confused
• To teach them to share their progress, understanding of a topic, or challenges
• To teach them that no matter what work you do, recalling it is necessary, fun and useful for deepening the learning

HAVE THEM TRY TO FIGURE THE PROBLEMS OUT BY EXPLAINING WHAT THEY UNDERSTAND

Accountability isn't always about having your kid show you what they've learned, or making sure they did the work that they were supposed to. It's about teaching them a method about discussing what they don't understand, don't like to do, or love to do and how to explain that to another person without it being stressful.

CLEARLY EXPLAIN YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Before they start a lesson or assignments, explain what they will be accountable for, what the time frame is, and the consequences of not finishing. This doesn't have to be about punishment but about choices.

For example, "If you don't finish your math this week, that work will go to the weekend and you won't be able to do any extra-curricular activities until it's done. I'm excited to know what you think about this topic."

MAKE IT ABOUT THEM TEACHING YOU

My kids loved giving a weekly presentation on what they learned that week. We'd select a different topic each week and they would summarize it, break down the lesson and teach us. 

ACCOUNTABILITY isn't JUST FOR THE KIDS, but FOR OURSELVES to KEEP THE COMMUNICATION OPEN and teach our kids that learning at home is a partnership.

Helping My Kids to Work Through A Gap

The Last Week Of Our Season But Work's Not Done

Tiger Lilly Working On a Chatbot 

Program for her Game Server and Friends

Speed Racer and Pops Paintballing

Preparing for the Holidays was harder this year.

We used to travel every holiday from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but now that we live here, traveling is very expensive and well, we love it here and aren't anxious to go. So we are struggling to redefine our traditions. We aren't big tree families, and so we are doing a Christmas Chair, and going to volunteer on Christmas day as we did on Thanksgiving day. Hopefully, this will spark a heart of giving in our kids. They have been less forthright in asking for presents and have instead told us to just pick another name off the angel tree at church.

Working Through Some Writing Gaps

Speed Racer can write well, however, he can't write fast. We discovered this during his pretty intense college Writing course this semester. Therefore, I had to actually work with him two nights a week to edit his work, give it back to him, and have him fix it to motivate him to write faster. The class is over and he passed with a good grade, however, this is something we need to triage. During the break, he will be doing some speed writing drills to prepare for the next class. He will also be finishing his homeschool Java class to prepare for his college Java class he is starting in March.

Working through learning or skill gaps is a good way to keep moving your child forward, despite their struggle.

KIDS PROGRESS

SPEED RACER's extra activities are slim this season. 
Since his classes were pretty challenging for him, we decided not to sign him up for any outside of his martial arts the last few months. He complained, but we all needed a break from ripping and running for sports. He now just has a Monday and Wednesday obligation until January when dance is thrown back in. April is when canoeing season starts and it's hectic again.

SPEED RACER desired more one on one time this semester.

This school year has been challenging for Speed Racer becuase his sister Tiger Lilly isn't home with him. He spends the day sleeping until noon, waits for me to get home at 2:30pm to actually start his work, and sometimes doesn't finish until 10:30pm since he is having to redo some work for improved quality.

College Online Courses:

Wrap up of Fall Semester Classes

Finished all with 'B' or better

8 week courses

UMUC.edu

Biol 101 and Biol 102 (lab) - 4 credits

Info Sys in Org - 3 credits

Research Writing - 3 credits

College Algebra -3 credits

Business Writing - 3 credits

Homeschool Classes:

Wrap up of Fall Semester Classes

Investing: The video course on Youtube was informative, we even purchased stock (that tanked) and played the investing game (which the kids hated by the way). The game was a bust, the kids found it frustrating and even I thought it was a bit depressing, so we shelved it.

Recreational Pilot License Training: Speed Racer is enjoying the self-directed, online course. He doesn't love it, says it has boring moments, but he desires to learn the information. He is about half done this course and will pick up on it in January.

Black History: We spent this semester watching movies, documentaries and having long discussions about them. We both learned from this class.

Astronomy: We failed to work this into the schedule this semester.

Bible Review: He is actually enjoying the TruthUnedited Bible videos, and we are almost finished them. We watch them together, and discuss the topics.

Cooking and Car Repair: He cooked dinner about two times a week and did great at it. The videos were a bust, because he said they were boring and he'd rather just fix a car. So he helped his dad change the oil and do some minor checks of our vehicles.

PE: Started with three sports and went down to one by October, we need to step back and focus, and mom needed to relax.

JavaScript and Unity 3D Programming: He finished the Saturday classes in November and started with CompuScholar (formerly Homeschool Java) in December and is getting through it pretty easily. This class is to prepare him for his college Java class starting in March. He's had to have some help from his sister in the Compuscholar course.

TIGER LILLY the Homeschool Graduate

BS Degree, now Working on MS Degree

17 years old

This is the last semester I'll be updating Tiger Lilly as she is officially working full time, found hobbies such as group meetups for Dungeons and Dragons, gym workouts 3 days a week, and completed two semesters of graduate school.

WORK and HOME BALANCE Working and Homeschooling 

MEAL PREP: These few weeks we've been just tossing something together. Eating out, and making sandwiches have been getting us by. 

HOUSE CLEANING: The chore chart only works when I go to it, point to it, and tell these older teens to do it or else.

LESSON PLANNING: I did more day to day lesson planning. I would send Speed Racer a 'what to do today' email, call and check on his progress from work, then call on my way home and tell him what better be done...or else, no video game or cellphone. That seemed to work since his sister is no longer home to make sure he stays on task.

MARRIAGE CHECKUP: Weekly date nights haven't happened in the last few weeks, but I purchased tickets to see Sheila E. and some comics my husband likes to get us back on track.

SELF CARE: I decided to take off several days from work to just relax, help my son catch up on his work and ...clean my house (but I didn't get around to doing that so...)

Knowing when to Chill Out

Something Accomplished, Just Not What We Planned

A hectic week of storm prep ~ and not storm

Where we live had a major storm and hurricane watch. Many of our activities were canceled, and hubs and I were home from work. We basically, decided to do the work that had to get done and play games and do family bonding activities.

I did a paint nite with my 17 yr old.

Storm prep, but the storm didn't come

KIDS PROGRESS

SPEED RACER's starts of in good shape.

We focused on finishing his college-related work first, then fit in the other things over the weekend.

Here's what we accomplished and plan for the weekend.

Homeschool Classes:
Investing: Curriculum is the Cashflow Game and Youtube Playlist Tutorial on Investing in the Stock Market.

-We've been watching and chatting about our stock moves through an app called Robinhood. And watched two videos in the tutorial playlist.

Recreational Pilot License Training: He wants to get this next summer so we are adding it into his curriculum.

-He finished the second 1/2 of the 1st video lesson.

Black History: We are deep diving into specific events like Black Wall Street and Pilots that have to do with our subjects.

- Went to movies to see BlackKKK about an African American police detective that infiltrated the KKK. We discussed what we liked about the movie and researched the original story.

Astronomy: Something he wants to explore.

- Didn't get to these.

Bible Review: We are doing this together with videos.

- Watched one video from the Bible video series we found on Youtube.

Cooking and Car Repair: The cooking I am letting him build his own recipes and prep dinner. Car Repair, he is helping his father and brother fix our cars. Oil Changes, Brake Pad changes, etc.

- Cooking was done two days this week. Steak (which he cooked too long) and did a good job on cleaning up after himself.
- Car Repair - nothing was done this week.

PE: Distance Canoe Team, Martial Arts and Breakdancing.

- Practiced with Distance Canoe Team - 1 time it was canceled due to weather
- Martial Arts - practiced once and it was canceled due to weather
- Breakdancing - canceled due to weather

JavaScript and Unity 3D Programming: A Saturday small class with a teacher that meets from 8am til 1:30pm. All other kids are public school kids.

College Classes
Started 1 class this week

Biology with Lab (Aug to Oct)
-Finished class discussions
-Finished Week 1 of 8 class Labs
-Finished Week 1 of 8 paper
-Finished Week 1 of 8 quiz

Introduction to In-depth Research (Sept to Oct)
Information Systems in Organizations (Sept to Nov)
Advanced Business Writing (Oct to Dec)
College Algebra (Oct to Dec)


TIGER LILLY the Homeschool Graduate with a BS Degree, now Working on MS Degree

We are homeschooling GRAD-SCHOOL 'sort of'. 

I reveiwed her final assignment of her current class. She starts the next class in 4 weeks. After she starts her new job, which allows her to get reimbursed for it. 

Tiger Lilly got a full-time job offer as a Software Developer. She starts in three weeks. She is happy that the company will be paying for her Master's Degree which she had planned on paying off herself.

WORK and HOME BALANCE Working and Homeschooling 

MEAL PREP: I cooked dinner two days this week, my 14 year old cooked 1 day and I am trying to get my 17 yr old to cook over the weekend. Delegation is the key.

HOUSE CLEANING: This week we were storm prepping, getting sand bags, taping windows, bringing stuff inside. The house is wrecked and I have tons of clothes to wash over the weekend. I may have to just go to the laundromat to get caught up. 

LESSON PLANNING: I finished the coming week's schedule and emailed it to my son, who asked me to take something off. Go figure, these kids are owning their own work and I feel like I am truly working for them. 

MARRIAGE CHECKUP: Well the forced days off from work, hubby and I have been relaxing, watching movies and playing card games with the kids.

SELF CARE: I got my first subscription box that I paid only $20 and I LOVE IT. I got perfume samples and jewelry.

Exposing Kids To New Things - Even When They Say No

FEAR of the UNKNOWN or INTIMIDATED or just UNMOVED

These are some of the reasons my kids refused to try new sports, adventures, foods, activities or anything.

This was a pitfall I refused to let them fall into. There was so many things that I never tried to do because of the above and they became missed opportunities.

DON'T LET THEM WALK AWAY without TRYING FIRST

So I made a deal with my kids. Try it for the season, and if you don't like it, we will conquer something else.

They had to make the commitment to at least try the activity, sport, or experience for the duration before moving on.

MOST TIMES THEY FIND ~ THEY ACTUALLY ENJOYED IT

In most all situations where I had them try something new, they enjoyed it much more than they anticipated. Some things, they've even stuck with for years more than the initial introduction.

EXPERIENCING SOMETHING NEW is a method of ENRICHMENT of the LIFE EXPERIENCE

This year my Speed Racer has tried Paddling (and he loves it) and my Tiger Lilly has tried working with a personal trainer and she likes it (some days).

Raising an Independent Learner ~ My Tips and Tricks

 MY TIPS AND TRIPS to RAISING AN INDEPENDENT LEARNER

MY METHODS

I believe in giving my children a challenge and watching, observing how they respond to it so I can figure out how they best are 'sparked' into the hunger for that topic.

Kids love playing games, challenges, and rewards. I created these scenarios with them at various times by giving them something to 'hunt' for within a chosen topic.

MOTIVATING LEARNING THROUGH ADVENTURES

We used the Sue Patrick Workbox Method to keep us organized. Also, to allow my child to go to one place for their assignments, turning in their work, and letting me know when they needed help. This was an invaluable training resource for their INDEPENDENCE at a young age.

SCAVENGER HUNTS

Creating learning and topical scavenger hunts for information is a really good way to stir up additional and directed learning curiosity. Allowing the child to use whatever source, method or type of research material to gather the pieces to the puzzle for their learning really solidifies the topic. My kids did this a lot with HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, SCIENCE and TOPICS OF THEIR CHOICE. This is a great way to add to a topic or completely teach a subject. You can get really creative with this and end in a DISCUSSION, PROJECT PRESENTATION, or a SHOW AND TELL of their findings.

RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS

This assignment should include all the makings of a scientific experiment and argument building exercise. With research methods including outward discovery and even finding or coming up with solutions that are not presented within their findings. It can include a paper, artwork, a collage, and a scientific demonstration of their newfound facts. ~Make it fun ~ and validate the child's responses and retention. Make the topic something that they are interested in. Give them methods for research, analysis. Consider the outcome being *creating a game to discover the findings, a video, acting out the finding ~ do whatever you can to make it fun.

DISCOVERY MISSIONS

Discovery missions is a way of opening up a learning opportunity by sharing one piece of the study at a time and in different ways. You could experience literature by reading a comic together, then going to see the play, then watching a movie, and going to the location, creating the food for that adventure, or artifacts, or creating a room that represents that adventure, or even have your child plan the adventure to show you the way to their discovery.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Part of making the experience fun, is to figure out how to ask the right questions to lead your child to share, desire discovery, and to interact through the learning experience. They should be fueled by questions, that 'spark' a desire to research to find out more about their topic.

GO ON THE ADVENTURE WITH THEM

The best part of the experience, is when they are finished their discoveries, they take you on the adventure with them. Let them do it alone first, to 'map the route', then have them take you on the journey to share their methods of discovery, learning, pitfalls, and wins.

VALIDATE THE EXPERIENCE by EVALUATING THE LEARNING

Lastly, you want your child to have ownership in validating the exercise. The topic areas, the ways you can improve the experience of their learning journey for them. What they learned from it? How they responded? Did it make them more independent?

HOW DID THIS WORK FOR MY HOMESCHOOL

My kids don't want me to help them initially. They seek to work through their assignments independently first. Then when I check and review their assignments, I ask them about their responses. Then I suggest a method to use to get or confirm their answers.

WHERE DOES INDEPENDENT LEARNING BENEFIT MY CHILD

All of my children have become confident in the discovery of information to support their interest. They do ask for my advice and guidance, but usually only after they have done extensive research themselves. Most times, they just want guidance, not the answers. The answers, they love to discover for themselves.

Working HomeSchooling Parent's Busy Day

The Weekly Wrap Up From Working Parent's Perspective

Inspired by Practical By Default Blog

After reading a blog post by Jen at Practical By Default, I was inspired to give a peek at a typical day from a Working and Homeschool parents point of view.

Usually, I give the viewpoint of Speed Racer (my 13 yr old) and Tiger Lilly (my 15 yr old) but today, I interviewed my husband who co-teaches with me and we both work outside the home.

WORK SCHEDULES VARY

My husband and I have varying work schedules. We both have pretty flexible schedules that allow us to overlap our coverage of childcare.

My husband is now working in the evenings since he started a new 'temporary' job. I tend to work early in the mornings and some evenings during the month.

CURRICULUM IS MOSTLY HANDS OFF

Our kids now have curriculum that doesn't require as much hands on interaction between my husband and I. They don't really want our help in most topics, and usually insist on trying it themselves first. It wasn't always this way. I'd say at around 12 yrs old Speed Racer became very independent and around 13 yrs old is when Tiger Lilly did so.

OUR DAY AS WORKING HOMESCHOOL PARENTS

4:45am > MOM wakes up to get ready for work
I shower, do make up, take my pre-prepped meal for the day and put it in my bag.

Meet my 19 yr old, Rose, in the kitchen for my morning water and while she is eating breakfast, I put on my shoes.

5:25am > Mom drops Rose off at the bus stop, then heads to work.

6:00am > Mom gets to work, logs into her various systems that she supports, check status of open issues, attend various meetings, fix system and application problems, create technical documents

08:30am > Dad gets up. Wakes up Speed Racer (who is always sleeping late) eats breakfast with Tiger Lilly (who wakes up at 9am).

09:00am > He gets Speed Racer to eat breakfast while setting up the computer for Speed Racer's lesson.

09:30am > He gets Speed Racer started on lessons and tells him what has to be done by the time MOM gets home.

10:00am > Sometimes DAD leaves for work at this time. If he is home, he pretty much works on the computer at the dining room table with the kids.

11:15am > Take a morning walk

11:30am > Return from morning walk, back to work.

12:00pm> MOM checks the kid's online work status on Acellus, CTCMath, Study.com, Membean, Udemy, YouthDigital, IXL, and UMUC.edu (Yep, I check all of them, it takes me about 10 min)

12:15pm> MOM calls the kids or DAD (if he is working nights instead of days) to check progress, answer any questions or redirect.

2:30pm >MOM leaves work and goes home

3:00pm > MOM sits at dining room table and reviews progress, answers questions or redirect.

3:30pm > MOM starts dinner, either meal prepped meal that goes on the oven or quick fix on the stove

4:00pm > MOM works with Speed Racer on SAXON MATH

5:00pm > MOM stops kids work and tell them to get ready to go

5:30pm > MOM gets kids in the car, take them to Martial Arts, Lacrosse OR Japanese (Mon-Fri)

6:00pm > If DAD pick up, then MOM goes home to do SIDE BUSINESS work. If MOM stays, usually I bring my laptop and work while they are at practice in my car.

7:30pm > Dinner

8:30pm > DAD (if he doesn't work nights) or 'Save til the weekend' Speed Racer on WRITING or CLEP PREP. MOM preps for the next day


9:30pm > Family prayer time

Our First 2016 Trial Week of School

This week is the second full week of our schedule. However, in between, we went camping over the weekend.

My two youngest kiddos, aka, students decided they would put up the tents and set up all the camping site.

 

They had a bit of fun with the set up.

OUR WEEK OF SCHOOL

Cha-Cha-Changes

Well, I had to change around Speed Racer's schedule. Realized (1) the Abeka Physics was WAY too intensive (2) that we only really had 3 to 4 evening hours of one on one time to get various subjects done, if he was going to do his PE classes like dance, soccer and martial arts.

For Tiger Lilly, she is reviewing and learning homeschool Calculus using both CTCMath and Saxon, but still says she wants some help. Therefore, I'm on the hunt for a tutor. She also wanted me to add back her ART curriculum since she didn't finish it. 

Positive Observations

My son has MATURED greatly and is a wonderful independent learner. Tiger Lilly loves teaching her brother and assisting him with his work.

I never would have thought my Speed Racer could calm down and be focused (even though he has to listen to music while he works or even stands up while typing). 

There are still some classes I have to be involved in (the Abeka classes for administering Quizzes or Test) and the follow up review of his Study.com, math drills and Vocabulary and Spelling I still check.

KEEPING THEM FOCUSED

Means I lock up the cellphones, the game controllers and tablets until their work is done, done, done. It's worked very well.

Timer - yes, I still use one. We set it 5 minutes before end of task time and it keeps everyone on focus.

If work isn't finished by the time the timer goes on, it becomes 'homework' for my child to do on Saturday.

Workboxes are helpful yet another year. They finish their work and when I am done doing whatever I need to do around the house, I go and check their progress. However, it's not as much needed for validation of the online work as that gets emailed to me.

Speed Racer's Week: 

Blended Middle School/High Schooler 12 yrs old

Mon - Friday
He does his Study.com classes on his own. On days he has a test (which is only 1 every week) he has a longer class.

(10 am-12pm) Daily Independent
Study.com
Psychology and Sociology are his favorites. He tends to actually watch the entire 5 to 7 min videos and wiz through the quizzes.

Macro Econ and Information Systems takes him longer to complete the quizzes and he prefers to read these lessons.

Physics was a course that he originally had in AbekaAcademy.com but he told me it was way too much math and work for him to be interested. He requested to move it to a Study.com class. Since then it's been working out great and he enjoys it.

(1pm-2pm) Daily Independent

Membean he does 20 mins of Vocabulary
Geometry (Teaching Textbooks) takes him about 30 minutes
Ace Reader is his speed reading and comprehension online class he finished in 10 min

(2-3pm) Mon and Wed with Tiger Lilly tutoring him

Java Homeschool Programming takes him 30 min to 60 min depending on task

(3pm-4:30pm) Daily

Then Mom or Dad are available to give him Quizzes and Test
Geometry AbekaAcademy takes him about 45 min to 60 min to watch video, take notes, do homework.

Copy work takes 10 minutes he's doing Great Quotes & Writing in Cursive

Sequential Spelling takes 20 minutes for him to do, he is at Level 5 and gets most all correct

(5pm) Martial Arts  or Soccer
He loves going to his sports since he gets to play with his friends. This year my husband isn't coaching but the team is pretty big for soccer. His Martial arts class has a few other homeschoolers there he plays with.

(6:15-6:30pm) 2 days a week
3-minute devotional for guys Bible Devotionals administered by Dad and Big Brother and he prefers his brother, but his brother is long winded with discussion times, lol!

(6:30-7:15pm) Dinner

(7:15pm-7:30pm) 2 days a week
Math Drill sheet are done and cover addition, subtraction, fractions, long division, exponents and are only supposed to take a few minutes but I give him 15 mins.

(7:30pm - 9:30pm) 5 days week
Chemistry he is taking with Abeka and so far likes it and is doing well at it.

(9:30pm-10:30pm) 3 or 2 days a week 
English Literature and American Literature he is taking with Abeka on alternating days.

Tiger Lilly's Week: High Schooler /Dual Enrolled 15 yrs old

She decided she didn't want to take the Digipen schedule after seeing how intensive the course was for homework.

Mon - Friday
Her schedule is still on the 'lighter' side since her college classes don't start until 8/22. However, here are her days.

11am-12pm - 3 days a week
Software Development class I had her do a Trade Analysis of Game design frameworks she can use in the development of her games. She enjoyed it and got the draft to me after two days of working on it.
12pm-1pm - 5 days a week
See the Light Art Class she gets to practice her drawing and it pushes her beyond her comfort zone. She is doing this instead of the Animation class.

1pm-2pm - 5 days a week
Homeschool Programming Android Programming takes her about 30 minutes to an hour

2pm-3pm - 3 days a week
Calculus with Saxon & Dive and CTCMath is a bit difficult for her. She is doing C work and requested a tutor.

6pm-7:30pm - 3 days a week
She goes to the gym with her dad and on Friday's she is 'trying' out martial arts at a new school.

7pm-8pm - 1 day a week
Japanese with 1.5 hr tutoring on Tuesdays. She spends the rest of the week practicing it on us.

8pm-9pm - 2 days a week
3-minute Devotional for Girls has been changed to just 2 days a week and she enjoyed the lesson, likes saying the prayers.

WORKING PARENT's LOG

Meals Love, love, love the Airfry. My daughter is able to make dinner before I get home. Also, the freezer meal prep worked well since my oldest son now helps prep. So basically, I only have to do dinner 3 days a week. Hubs doesn't do it at all.

Cleaning. Well we had more of a 'pass the buck' chore chart going on. It was requested I change the days of the week that the older kids do the kitchen. Hum.....

Work & Life Balance. I had to work late this week for 3 days. Ugh, I was so tired. However, my kids were very independent in doing their work.

Lesson Planning. It didn't get done until 11pm on Sunday night. Not my best, but we did go camping this weekend.

Rest. I am getting 5 to 6 hours on the days I had to work late. When we went camping, I got no darn sleep.

Marriage Check Up. We were supposed to go to the movies. Well, that fell through, but we promised to do it this weekend. The only problem is my hubs is a night owl who likes to go to the midnight movies when we have to wake up and go to work the next day. Needless to say, we argue about this and sometimes I give in, other times he does.

Helping your Student Find A JOB

LOOKING FOR A JOB - IS A FULL-TIME JOB

It truly is a skill. Many don't possess the ability to be tenacious about how to search for and find a new job.

We should put this in our HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM bag as a must do before our kids graduate.

Here are some steps in the process. We can use this as a learn as you go journey.

JOB SEARCH WEBSITES

This is the best place for many job seekers to start. My personal favorite is INDEED.COM and CAREERBUILDER.com

Have your student or new job seeker create the following:

(1) A resume that highlights EACH AREA of their specialty. For instance, if your student has background in baking and book-keeping. They should have TWO SEPARATE resumes that highlight each Career Area
(2) A form cover letter that highlights EACH area of their specialty.
(3) List of references with phone numbers, email address, physical address that can confirm past jobs, college experiences, projects, or volunteerism
(4) Create a professional named email account like Jane.Doe@gmail.com
(5) Create a 'Thank You' letter for use after the interview. Send about 4 to 7 days after the interview to use to 'jog' the employers memory about you and the interview.
(6) A profile on ALL job boards. And leave application opened so employers will find you.

*If the student is in College they can utilize their COLLEGE CAREER DEPARTMENT*
*Otherwise they can also contact the LOCAL UNEMPLOYMENT OFFICE for classes and mentorship as well as 'employment' programs*

INTERVIEW PRACTICE

Set up 'mock' interviews that replicate the
(1) Telephone Pre-Screen Interview and the
(2) In person Interview.

DRESS FOR SUCCESS INTERVIEW ATTIRE

Have your student put together various outfits they would wear to an interview
(1) Formal Interview
(2) Business Casual Interview

APPLYING FOR JOBS

Let the Job or Company decide if they want you before you talk yourself out of applying.

This is where I tell my kids to consider the following.

(1) APPLY FOR ANY JOB that you

(a) Are Qualified for
(b) Would like to do and think that you can learn to do fairly quickly
(c) You have AT LEAST 70% of the skills necessary

(2) Apply for at least 25 jobs a week, on separate job boards

(3) When you are applying through a company website, find ALL jobs you are interested in or capable of doing and apply for ALL OF THEM.

KNOW THAT IT IS A NUMBERS GAME

When you apply for 100 jobs, the likelyhood is that you will only be contacted for 20 of them, only make it to the Pre-Screen of 10 of them, and only make it to the actual interview of 5 of them.

That is likely to happen in a competitive job/career category.

CONSIDER GETTING HELP FINDING A JOB

TEMP Agencies will help you by
(1) Screening you for a company
(2) Assessing your skills
(3) Finding a 'Temp' job or 'try before you commit to permanent employment' job to help you gain work experience or entry into hard to get jobs.
 See List of some here.


EMPLOYMENT Agencies are a bit different as they offer CAREER specific opportunities

 (1) Contract to Permanent placement
 (2) Permanent Placement. They do the screening and skills assessment for employers.

FINDING A PART-TIME Job, OR non-professional OPPORTUNITY

When my kids were looking for jobs at local restaurants, childcare centers, retail stores the job search was different.

To inquire about those types of local jobs I had them
(1) Dress Business Casual
(2) Go to the prospective place of employment
(3) Ask for the manager
(3) Ask the manager if they had any job openings and
(4) Ask how to apply
(5) Get the manager's name and phone number
(6) After filling out the application, return it and
(7) Follow up by phone or in person with the manager you spoke to