Help How Do I Teach High School at Home?

 One of the most frequent questions I used to be asked as my children got older was:  "Are you going to homeschool through high school?"  Yes, definately.  Followed with "How are you going to teach...?" 

Homeschooling through the highschool years is often seen as something to dread or fear.  Today I would like to encourage you to overcome the fear of homeschooling in the Highschool Years and know that you can teach anything. The most important thing as your child's tutor to remember is that you can learn a new subject or skill alongside your student.

 Looking Back is there anything I would do differently ?

DON'T CHANGE A THING - if it is not broken don't try fix it! Learning does not change, once our children know how to learn it does not change.  However IF they are not ready for independence and we push them into it then it derails their journey.

What I now realise is that the high school years are no different to the primary years.  Take a deep breath and just keep doing what's working.  You know and they know what is working.  The method needs to remain the same but the content changes and becomes deeper.  Your student will discover in themselves the best environment for them to learn in and as home educators we can cater to their growing need.  Independent learning is not isolation.  Sending them to their rooms to learn is isolation and does not foster independence. For more thoughts on this read: Nurturing Independence in High School  

 

Resources to help you teach

• Join your local Homeschool Co-op.  Remember Together Everyone Achieves More.  Some co-ops are formed specifically to teach things that can not be learned on your own and others are more informal to provide a platform of support.
  
• Build a network of homeschool mom's from all walks of life.  Ask them for advice on how they teach a certain subject.  You will be surprised with the wealth of information available to you in these circles.
• Find magazine articals written by veteran homeschoolers.  Three that I have often read are: Otherways is produced by the Home Education Network,  The Old Schoolhouse Magazine the trade magazine for homeschooling families and Keystone Magazine from the Home Education Foundation.
• Invest in good video courses.  One of our favourite companies is The 101 Series.  So far we have enjoyed their Physics 101, Biology 101 and Chemistry 101. 
• Look at investing in online teaching for the particular subject your student wants to take but you don't know how to teach.  For example: Visual Latin and Veritas Press.
• Join some homeschooling forums or Facebook groups and ask questions there.  Remember though to take any advice as ideas. Pick and choose wisely what you take on board for your family.
  

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. … Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12

 

"Can I teach high school science?

 NO

As your student gets older, 

your role changes from 

teacher to fellow learner."

Dr. Jay L. Wile

  Some posts to encourage you on teaching in high school

• Language Arts in High School
• Homeschool Record Keeping
• Science in High School
• Nurturing Independence in High School
• Writing and Composition in High School
• Help! Math is a problem. Now What? 
• How do you teach poetry?  
• Electives in the High School Years {Homeschool High School} 
  

---oOo---

 Don't forget to read some of these great posts from Day three of the blog hop where our team talked about Curriculum ...

Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach shares Top Five Homeschooling Curriculum Choices.

Annette @ A Net in Time shares Grade 10 Curriculum Choices.

Yvie @ Homeschool on the Range shares Curriculum Reveal.

Vickie B @ Tumbleweed News shares Our Favorite Curriculum {Blog Hop}.

Jessica H @ My Homeschool with a View shares Tips for Curriculum Shopping.

Yvonne @ The Life We Build shares Our Kindergarten and 4th Grade Curriculum Choices.

Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag shares Morning Time.

Teresa B @ Teresa Brouillette shares Homeschool Curriculum .

Lori @ At Home: where life happens shares 5 Tips on How To Pick a Curriculum.

Find some more inspiration on How to Teach today with the Crew below. 

The Art of Language in High School

The idea of teaching Language Arts at high school level can evoke many emotions in home school circles.  I think that too often as home school mom's we rely on our understanding of language arts through the memory of what we did at school and we waste many tedious hours comparing what we are doing or think we ought to be doing in comparison with what students are 'covering' at school. Two of the main factors that will influence your journey are: Your strengths and the strengths of your child/ren in the language arena.

Language Arts generally covers three main areas of study: Composition, Literature/Comprehension (to be covered in October 2013),  Vocabulary/Spelling/Grammar and Public speaking.


Over the years I have come to realize that Language Arts in high school starts with the art of Narration and an excellent foundation in spelling and twaddle free literature.
 
What does your language arts program look like?
When Mr T and Miss J were in high school we used the high school core's from Sonlight and worked through their language arts program's. Sonlight have aligned their approach with Ruth Beechick and Charlotte Mason. We read excellent twaddle free literature, did composition, worked our way through the entire set of Spelling Workout books and did copy work.

What influences your choices/selection?
At the time that T & J were in high school choice was limited in the home school environment. I trusted Sonlight implicitly that they were have it covered. I felt that with out a good grounding in spelling anything else was a waste of time and energy. An excellent grasp of self expression was important too because if your student can't speak it they can't write it either.  I armed myself by reading The 3 R's by Ruth Beechick and the The Art of Narration chapters in A Charlotte Mason Companion (CMC)

In the Future
Looking back I now realize that I need to start as I intend to finish it's too hard to change mid stroke and in the high school years depending on the students personality it can really become their undoing.

Mature self expression begins with the art of narration which in itself is the cornerstone of public self expression. Public expression does not only mean standing on a stage but encompasses speaking to any one any where. With this in mind we will be working on improving narration for the next few years. Narration Adheres Vocabulary to the Mind - CMC Page 167. There are many benefits to narration one being that narration strengthens and challenges all the powers of mind. Attending, remembering, visualizing, comprehending, synthesizing (seeing the whole from the parts), and articulating. - CMC Page 115

Spelling is the servant necessary to be successful in all the areas of written language arts. We will be using copy work and once we have completed Explode the Code book 3 we will be working our way through Spelling Workout. It is important to complete all the levels of which ever spelling curriculum you choose in order that your student is well equipped to express themselves with the pen.

Never underestimate the power of Copy Work.  I remember when one of my children was six years old and doing copy work they proudly came to me one day and exclaimed: "Mom I can spell circumcision now!" We have started copy work this year and will be building on this. Copying excellent literature helps a student to recognize and incorporate punctuation, reinforces correct spelling and enlarges vocabulary.

Some time later this year I am looking at joining up with some home school families once a fortnight to practice public speaking. We will be learning poems or something of interest and build from there.When we reach the beginning of the teen years we will be looking for a public speaking group and attending regularly.

Vocabulary is not synonymous with spelling and is often times missed in language arts programs and deserves equal mention and attention. Twaddle free literature introduces new words in context to the student. Do not make the mistake of only choosing literature that your child can read to themselves. This is where read alouds serve you well. In a read aloud your student figures out meaning via context. Actively choose words to enlarge their vocabulary. As a student gains ability create lists of words not to be used in written communication or composition (eg said, walk, talk,). Classical literature is a good friend to any home educating family, because the words used in them are not in use in today's society. Often times we have had to have a dictionary on hand to look up a word.  I remember when we read The Little Britches Series and had to look up the word victuals and from that day it became a family favorite.

Poetry enlarges a students language ability and teaches the clever use of words in self expression.  With this in mind we will be enjoying poetry together.  As Sir N gains confidence in public speaking we will add in poems to learn and present with expression. We will try different types of poetry until we find some that we like and then explore it further.  Poetry comments on all human experiences, it is comprised of everything  from war poems and epics, to psalms of worship, to love sonnets, to delightful nonsense verse that trips off the tongue, to nursery rhymes - CMC Page 220

Grammar Programs

• Sonlight
• Grammar books from Institute for Excellence in Writing.
• The Grammar Ace
• Growing with Grammar
• Keys to Good Language
• School House Rock
• Winston Grammar
• Learning Language Arts Through Literature
• Simply Grammar

Spelling Programs

• All About Spelling
• Spelling City
• Word Smith
• Spelling Workout
• Explode the Code
• Spelling Power

Narration & Copy Work

• Mom- The Narration Scribe over at Practical Pages
• Narration over at Jimmie's Collage
• Copy Work
• Pixar's 22 Rules of Story Telling

On the www

• Designing your Language Arts Curriculum over at Jimmie's Collage. 
• Teaching English Language Arts Blog
• Pinterest: Language Arts
  Shakespeare
  Charles Dickens
  Composition
  Composition writing prompts
  Grammar
  Poetry
  
• What Exactly is Language Arts (8 part series) over at Simply Charlotte Mason
• The Language Arts at Education.com
• Fun Language Arts Games over at Your Dictionary Grammar
• Choosing a Homeschool Language Arts Curriculum over at Squidoo
• Homeschool Spelling on Squidoo
• Narration and the Single Reading over at After Thougths
• Poetry in Progress over at Silvia Cachia
• Poetic Devices Reference Minibook over at Jimmie's Collage

Blessings
Chareen

This post is part of the Home school High School Carnival.  Don't forget to pop on over to Jimmie's Collage to read what others are saying about this topic. (Carnival will be live in April).




Disclaimer & Disclosure: Opinions expressed by contributing authors, comment's and reviewers are solely the responsibility of the author of each blog/website. Every Bed of Roses assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the contributions, comments, and reviews. There are no affiliate links in this post. Links to external, or third party Web sites, are provided solely for visitors' convenience. Links taken to other sites are done so at your own risk and Every Bed of Roses accepts no liability for any linked sites or their content. When you access an external Web site, keep in mind that Every Bed of Roses has no control over its content.

A little Word on Homeschool Record Keeping

Some home schooler's wonder whether record keeping is worth while and others are plagued by a deep fear of being checked up on which drives them to keep reams and reams of records. Record keeping during homeschooling does not need to be fear driven or brushed aside I think a healthy balance somewhere in between is a good place to be.

Record keeping is different in every country / state in the world so it's important that you check to see what the legal requirements are.

Planning your homeschool year is a great place to start with your record keeping. You can use this as a check list at the end of each day and by the end of the year you will have gathered a substantial list of what has been completed.

A word of caution, when we purchase a curriculum we somehow feel compelled to check every box and do e-v-e-r-y assignment and at times this can be to the detriment of our learning experience. Remember that you are the master and that purchased curriculum is your servant.  Use it as such.  For some reason when we pay money for something we feel compelled to use it from A to Z. Remember that not checking all the boxes is not an indication of failure but rather indicates an attitude that you have evaluated whether or not you need to complete the said assignment to accomplish your goal. Setting up goals and planning go hand in hand with good record keeping.

Consistent record keeping is especially important in the High School years. You will need these records to provide accurate details to future employers and tertiary institutions.

The first key to keeping excellent records is being consistent. The second key to unlocking record keeping is to find what works for you and stick to that method. As homeschool parents we live in a costant state of doubt and the result of this is looking at what others are doing and feeling that you need to change and be like them. Rule number one is: "Do not compare your system to someone else unless you are looking for a method to improve yours or your system is not working."

What should you keep records of ?
Generally records fall into one of three main categories.

1. Academic
2. Additional information.
3. Transcripts

The HSLDA has an excellent pdf document you can down load titled HSLDA Guide for Homeschooling through High School. This document has a comprehensive summary of what to include in each of these categories.

It is exceptionally important to be familiar with the local laws governing homeschooling where you are so that you know what sorts of records are important for you to keep.

Lee Binz from The Home Scholar has some excellent YouTube video's on Transcripts and how to.

Legal Requirements {Australia}

1. Queensland
2. Northern Territories
3. Western Australia
4. South Australia
5. Victoria
6. Australian Capital Territory
7. New South Wales
8. Tasmania

In the USA a good place to start is HSLDA and for the rest of the world they have a comprehensive International Homeschooling contact list.

A word about technical terms (jargon)
There is nothing like sitting in a room full of people who use big words and you have no idea what on earth they are talking about.  Over at Time 4 Learning they have an amazing Homeschool Glossary for you.

• Homeschool Terms and Definitions (A-C)
• Homeschool Terms and Definitions (D-N)
• Homeschool Terms and Definitions (P-U)

Thankfully I read some books by Ruth Beechick who is an excellent encourager. She helps you to understand the daily tasks you do with your children can be categorized into the fancy school terminology (technical jargon of schools). All you need is a little understanding and a little bit of vocabulary building on your part as well as taking some time to evaluate each activity and reclassify it. This in turn will make your homeschool records take on a more professional feel. I highly recommend Ruth Beechick's book: You Can Teach Your Child Successfully.

How to keep records 

When I first started homeschooling I used my Sonlight Instructors Guide and checked off each task as we completed it. This guide is an excellent resource for record keeping and planning ahead.  I am currently using The Well-Planned Day Homeschool Planner and another one that looks great is The Ultimate Homeschool Planner published by Apologia Ministries.

• Easy Fuss Free Record Keeping over at Homeschooling Downunder Blog
• Homeschool Record Keeping and Evaluation over at About.com
• How to Keep Accurate Homeschooling Records over at wikiHow
• Homeschool Record Keeping in High School on Squidoo
• Homeschool Portfolio Evaluations Shouldn't be Scary! over at Time 4 Learning.
• Creating Homeschool Transcripts over at Pros and Cons of Homeschooling.

Record Keeping on the Net

• Homeschool Planners and Organizers over at The Home School Mom
• Recordkeeping: Is it Worth the Trouble? over at HSLDA
• Record keeping for High School over at HSLDA
• Record Keeping for Special Needs children over at HSLDA
• Homeschool Record Keeping on Pinterest
• Nadene over at Practical Pages shares some tips on using Google Calendar for planning/record keeping. This post is a step by step tutorial
• Theme for the Day over at Practical Pages.
• Homeschooling with Excellence No.3 {Better Ways to Use Your Instructor's Guide} over at Sonlight.
• Useful iPad Apps for Record-Keeping over at Creating with Wisdom
• Unschooling Record-keeping and Planning over at Creating with Wisdom
• Homeschool Planning Know How on Pinterest
• Homeschool Planners and Record Keeping on Pinterest. 
• Free Weekly Planning Pages from Homeschooling Hearts and Minds.
• Free Gradebook+ over at  Fivejs
• Some Helpful Tools and Resources over at Time 4 Learning

What are some of your favourite resources to keep records of your homeschool journey ?  Please share the link in the comments so that I can add to the above list.

Blessings
Chareen 

This post is part of the Home school High School Carnival.  Don't forget to pop on over to Creating with Wisdom to read what others are saying about this topic.




Disclaimer & Disclosure: Opinions expressed by contributing authors, comment's and reviewers are solely the responsibility of the author of each blog/website. Every Bed of Roses assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the contributions, comments, and reviews. There are no affiliate links in this post. Links to external, or third party Web sites, are provided solely for visitors' convenience. Links taken to other sites are done so at your own risk and Every Bed of Roses accepts no liability for any linked sites or their content. When you access an external Web site, keep in mind that Every Bed of Roses has no control over its content.

HHSC - Science in High School

"Can I teach 

high school science?

 NO

As your student gets older, 

your role changes from 

teacher to fellow learner."

Dr. Jay L. Wile 

I find that science is one of those subjects that people fear in the High School years and in some ways this has a valid cause but in others it need not be something to fear.

When I first started homeschooling over 15 years ago there were very few curriculum's for the high school years and the Internet was something only geeks accessed and never mind owning a computer that was unheard of. The fear of what are we going to use was huge and made science a daunting thing to think about.

We had no means of researching topics, curriculum or how do I ? We had to rely on what others were doing or what ever was recommended by the latest home school catalog or home school support group.

Today we have a multitude of platforms at our disposal from satellite classrooms to university laboratories and somewhere in between all that we have Google (a quick search on Home school High School science revealed +/- 10,600,000 hits!) . In some ways we have far to much choice and that can be a paralyzing factor in itself.

I would like to encourage you that it is not as huge a task as you envision.  There is plenty available to support you on your journey whether you choose to learn alongside your student or encourage their independent study.

Things to consider

• Research your options while they are in the primary school years so that you have a clear pathway before you.  
• Be clear on your expectations.
• Have an understanding of the level of maths required to tackle different areas in the high school sciences.
• Research and save for more expensive items such as a microscope.  Do you have to have a microscope ?  No but it is a great hands on learning tool that makes the sciences come alive in your home.
• Find out where to purchase the items you need to do the practical labs.
• Consider the scope and sequence before changing curriculum or you might end up repeating what you have already done.
• Get to know your student and what their long term study goals are and work towards those. Make it a priority to achieve what they need to accomplish their tertiary goals in the science arena.  

What did my science program look like?

• Sonlight
  Science F {Health, Medicine and Human Anatomy}
  Science G {Geology, Physics, and Origins}
  Science 250 {High School Biology}
• Apologia High Science materials.

What influenced my choices/selection?

• I really like a Charlotte Mason approach of twaddle free literature and Sonlight has always ticked the boxes on this front.  
• The subject matter was interesting and there were no textbooks until Science 250.  
• The Sonlight® Ultra Microscope was value for money that I could not pass by. I have never been disappointed with their quality and in fact this microscope has surpassed my every expectation.

What others are saying on the www

•  Kris over at Weird Unscocialized Homeschoolers has an post on Homeschooling High School Science. **** This is a very comprehensive article on the topic.
•  Harmony Art mom has put together an excellent post over at Squidoo called: High School Level Biology - Personalized for the Naturalist at Heart.
• Home Science Tools has a post on Choosing a Homeschool Science Curriculum.
• Vicki has a post called How to Homeschool High School Science where she shares on school credits.

Some Curriculum out there today

• Science over at Sonlight. This is my favorite resource for living book curriculum.
• Bridget Ardoin's Science for High School.
• Apologia High Science materials.
• Alpha Omega Lifepac Science.
• Bob Jones University
• A Beka
• Classical Conversations
• Ambleside Online
• Simply Charlotte Mason.com

I would like to encourage you not to fear but embrace the high school science years.  See it as an opportunity to learn and discover more thoroughly what you have always wanted to know.  Secondly remember you can not teach it all.  There is no A-Z list for you to tick off and say right now I have taught science and we are finished.  This is a subject that is exploding with information at an exponential rate and would be physically impossible for you to teach all there is to know.

I would love to read your thoughts on Science in high school please leave a link to your post in the comments.
Blessings
Chareen

This post is part of the Home school High School Carnival.  Don't forget to pop on over to LaPaz Home Learning (post to go up in the first week of February) to read what others are saying about this topic.



This post is linked to Ultimate Homeschool Link-up #5 over at The Homeschool Village and Featured at  Ultimate Homeschool Link-up #6

HHSC - Nurturing Independence in High School

Now that I have two who have completed High School, I have conflicting thoughts on this topic. These thoughts have been running around in my head for a while now and I was not sure how to start this conversation with myself or whether to let you all into my not so perfect homeschool world, my fears and my struggles.

I confess that my expectation and reality were two very different things.  When we started homeschooling I had this romantic notion of surviving getting through the primary school years (now I am savouring every day of them with Sir N). I envisioned that when we reached the high school years life would be grand. Yes we would have these wonderful discussions and explorations of the wide world around us. The reality I discovered was one filled with a far different outcome. High school did not bear the fruit I had imagined it would and as a result I lived with a sense of failure and dissappointment. 

High school is an exciting time for students to discover themselves and branch out, it's also a frightening time for parents to let go and allow their students to discover who they are apart from the family while still being an active part of that family unit.

It's a delicate balancing act of letting go and holding on.  I remember well when my two each at the age of 16 approached Paul and I. One wanted to go flatting with friends and the other wanted to go to a different state in Australia and work.  It was a heart stopping moment and an exciting moment to look at my teens and know they were trying out their wings for the first time.  One came home pretty soon after moving out and another has embraced their independence wholeheartedly.  

1. To what extent do your high schoolers collaborate in planning their studies?
   
   • There is great value in including high school students in deciding which subjects they want to pursue in the line of study. My only caution is at what age you choose to start this process.  Some students handle this choice well early on and for others it can cause hickups as you progress through the high school years. Remember that the earlier you grant this freedom the more potential you have for things going awry later on. Personally I now feel that the 16th year is a good age to start speaking about electives.
   • I had certain subjects that were not negotiable and I had reasons why. I think this is the most important thing. You need to know why you want your student to do a subject. Teenagers are excellent verbal manipulators lawyers. They have spent their whole lives at home with you they know exactly how to make you doubt your decisions and choices for them.
   • For example Maths (Algebra1, Algebra 2 & Geometry) was not negotiable.  I feel that this discipline is an excellent tool to develop the brains ability to reason and understand.
   • Once they were a little older 14 + we started discussing their passions and I gave them options for extra subjects to independently study. (example: Economics). A few years ago when Mr T was in the high school years there was not a lot available for home schoolers in the area of electives.
   • I have noticed that homeschoolers who volunteer for community service to learn new skills (Example: St Johns Ambulance) tend to find their feet a lot easier than those who stay home and do nothing.
   •  Now days there are a few options for electives coming onto the market as homeschool companies are starting to meet this need.
2. How do you encourage your highschoolers to take the reins of their education?
   
   
   • This is a touchy subject for me because looking back I realise that my blanket approach was not the best approach for my children who were very different in their learning needs. 
   • Be aware that opportunities can put a spanner in the works of any well planned road to learning. For example while in the middle of Core 300 I was walking through our local mall I stumbled on an opportunity for Miss J to attend University to complete a Cert III in Children's Services. She was 15 at the time and we discussed the possibility of her enrolling and doing it part time. We both felt this would be a fantastic opportunity as this was one of her passions and something she had been talking about doing for over a year. However although this course was "part time" we soon discovered that yes attending the actual classes was one day a week the homework load plus the practical class load soon added up to a full time course of study. At this point Miss J was trying to do this,  continue with her Core 300 studies, and work around ten hours part time.  I looked at this situation and decided stop home school and focus on completing this course of study. A year later Miss J graduated and decided to work full time and find out for herself what she really wants to do with her life.  The experience of studying and doing the practical side of this course helped her realise that this was not an area she really wanted to pursue as what she envisioned child care to be and what the reality was were two very different things.
   • Thinking back over this journey with Miss J in the high school years I now feel I should have thought through the options a lot earlier and been a little more settled on what our expectations were for our children to 'complete' high school.  I was caught a little off guard that all of a sudden we were there and went with the flow. In hind sight I think we should have decided to take the year to complete the Cert III (or waited a couple more years), followed the next year by completing our Core 300 studies and the used the following year focus on three electives to complete. The moral of this story has taught me to be very definite on what you expect your teen to complete in order to graduate.
   • My son on the other hand has started one course changed his focus and after that found that it was not his calling and decided to stop.  He has in the middle of all this had to deal with some health issues and a back injury requiring surgery.  In hind sight the two of us have realised that changing curriculum for him was not the wisest choice and starting independent study happened too early, which in turn derailed some of his learning. I have learned from our journey together that home school is family school regardless of your students age.
   • Do not let what other people are doing set the standards for what you are doing in your home.  What works for them may not work for your children.
   • Moving your children to independent learning in a room on their own too soon is not the wisest option.  Your children have an entire life time of being adults and being independent they do not need to be totally independent at 14 or 16!
   • Know what your countries law / states individual requirements are in connection with completing school and use these guide lines to help you determine what your student needs to have completed in order to graduate. For example in Victoria Australia a Cert II is equivalent to completing year 12 in high school and a Cert III is considered your first year in tertiary education. 
   • My approach with Sir N will be to evaluate what I would like him to complete in order for him to graduate. For example (God willing) I would like to begin Mystery of History in the year he turns 13 and work through all four books.  In theory this should take until he is 17 at which time we will seek a course for him to complete either on line or at a tertiary institution. Once he has a Cert III he will graduate.  
3. What tools do you use and how is this input communicated?
   
   
   • In one word: lists.  For example when I shifted my children onto independently working through their Teaching Textbooks maths work I made a list of the weeks of school with the lesson I expected to be completed each day. I then no longer daily checked their work but rather once a week monitored where they were at.
   • Now I would definitely use Pinterest to gather tools to use in future with Sir N.
   • I am planing on working through a very definite list of life skills for him to master before graduation. 
   • I would also do it in a very slow and controlled manner rather than handing over the reigns too soon. I now realise that the high school years come upon you a lot faster than you expect and this time I plan on being a little more prepared.
   • Plan Plan Plan and Plan some more.Start early - yes I mean while your children are in the primary school years. Know really well what you want your student to accomplish in order to graduate.  I was taken by surprise as all of a sudden we were there and I still thought we had years ahead of us to work it out and I didn't.  I recommend you take a look over at the first post on this carnival:  The Wide View where a few home school moms share their long term view of homeschooling high school.  

Some scriptures to consider:

• Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18 KJV. If you have no vision for the high school years your children will end up going astray and the process will be de-railed.
• For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Luke 14:28 KJV If you don't plan, how will you know what you need or how much time you need in order to accomplish your goals ?  Planning involves sourcing information, sourcing curriculum and support.
• [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides]. James 1:8 AMP If you don't plan you will hear all sorts of conflicting information that will have you chopping and changing your path making for an unhappy mommy and an unhappy high schooler.

Homeschooling High School on www

• Sonlight has some great posts on Homeschool in the High School years have a read of these: High School - the process, independence and Electives (this one covers the whys and hows of the high school years) and by Sarita Why in the world would you homeschool high schoolers? 
• The Wide View over at The Home school High School Carnival.
• What life skills are important for homeschoolers
• Why It’s a Good Idea to Let High Schoolers Be Somewhat Independent
• Planning High School Courses
• Should you home school High School ?

Final Thoughts
I have found this post to be confronting and enjoyable to write. I am greatful to Nadene (Practical Pages) and Jimmie (Jimmies Collage) who have shared a little of their struggles in the transition to high school, which in turn helped me to finally face this topic and put my thoughts on virtual paper.

I pray that your home school journey through the high school years will be one of many delightful discoveries and challenging but enjoyable moments.

This post is part of the Home school High School Carnival.  Don't forget to pop on over to Living Without School  to read what others are saying about this topic.

I would love to read your thoughts on Nurturing Independence in high school student please leave a link to your post below?

Blessings
Chareen

This post is featured at Carnival of Homeschooling hosted at Sprittibee.

Updated 8 November 2012

More on the WWW

• Teens: Nuturing Independence over at Serenades and Solace
• Successful Teen Homeschooling: Two Vital Factors over at Laura Grace Weldon

HHSC - Writing and Composition in High School

1. What place do you see writing have in your high schoolers education?
   
   • Personally I think that as home educators we underestimate the importance of this vital means of communication.  I believe that being able to communicate well via written communication is as important a skill as that of learning to swim.
   • Looking back I have come to realise that as home schoolers we seem to have a culture of not pushing our children to write as much as they are expected to in school. This in turn breeds an attitude in our children of I don't need to do that because I am not in school.  
   • I have learned that you need to start as you intend to finish.  If you want your high schooler to be a writer then you need your Junior school student to write without complaint and to do this you need to equip yourself with a plan of action.
2. Do you use a writing program?
   
   
   • Yes I do.  My passion for writing programs and one that I recommend to every new homeschooler I meet is from Institute for Excellence in Writing.  I love this program for it's ease to use, the fact that all the teaching and preparation work is already done and all I need to do is pop the DVD into the player and watch Andrew teach my students.  It is progressive and each lesson builds on the lesson from before.
3. What approach do you use?
   
   • In this area I agree with Charlotte Mason and Karen Andreola's approach. If a student can not express themselves verbally through narration then they will not be able to express themselves with ease on paper. 
   • Working on narration skills in the early grades certainly pays high dividends in the high school years with the fruit of a student who is able to "Attend, remember, visualize, comprehend, synthesize (see the whole from the parts), and articulate as the result." A Charlotte Mason Companion page 115.
   • Narration helps a child to train his/her mind to "sort, arrange, correlate, select, reject and classify" information. A Charlotte Mason Companion page 115.
   • "Narration develops the power of self expression and forces the child to use his own mind and form his own judgement." - Karen Andreola A Charlotte Mason Companion page 114
   • I adopted Andrew Pudawa's advice to be my children's dictionary in the younger years. This meant that when they asked how to spell a word I told them. In this way my student practiced the correct way of spelling a word rather than the wrong way. I found when they guessed the spelling (which invariably meant incorrect spelling it resulted in months of practice to undo the incorrect spelling.
   
   • Once my children could physically write and had a basic level of reading I added in copy work.  This served two purposes one they learned to spell new words and two they practiced excellent sentence style and structure along with the benefit of correct grammar.
   • In the younger years my approach is daily copy work of excellent writing.  
   • As the student matures and is able to handle more work I added in weekly work from the IEW Student Writing Intensive programme.  
   • I have used both the introductory and continuation courses.  I have found that the introductory more than equipped my students with the tools they needed to complete many different assignments.
4. Which ‘tools’ did you use in the younger years that helped prepare your high schooler to write and prepare them to join "the Great Conversation"?
   
   
   • I started off with equipping myself with a deeper understanding of writing and style by attending the Teaching Writing: Structure & Style. I found that by having an understanding of how to compose a story / research paper equipped me to plan how to teach my students as well as assist them in accomplishing this task at hand.
   • Second on my list was reading great literature so that my students became familiar with an excellent range of vocabulary.
   • The third thing was make sure that they could spell and spell well. I started my students on the Explode the Code books (we did the first six books) and from here progressed to Spelling Workout books A - H (The Curriculum Choice has a great review of this product)
   • We did not do any specific grammar courses other than read and copy excellent literature.

This post is part of the Homeschool High School Carnival.  Don't forget to pop on over to Take Up and Read next week to read what others are saying about this topic.

What are your thoughts on composition and your high school student ?

Blessings
Chareen