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Review of Joyce Herzog’s Choosing and Using Curriculum

For any parent needing more information about how to choose appropriate materials for their child out all of the MANY curriculum choices now available to homeschoolers, the Choosing and Using Curriculum Set by Joyce Herzog is a solid resource.

From a general list of questions to ask about the curriculum you are considering, to specific recommendations for language arts, history, and math, this 108-page paperback provides some thoughtful considerations for both newbie and seasoned homeschoolers. Joyce Herzog has divided the learning and teaching process down into manageable pieces, and her dependable guidance is based on her own extensive education and 30 years of teaching and homeschooling experience.

The book contains 28 chapters covering such topics as:

Curriculum Types
Education Styles
Grade Levels
Independent Learning
Starting the school year ‘right’
Early Childhood Training
How to choose a math curriculum
Choosing a reading method
How to Interest a Child in Reading
Comparing handwriting styles
Adapting Materials for Special Situations

The resource ebook is a hyperlinked 39-page .pdf that contains:

General Resources
FREE Resources
Links to help with special needs such as Deaf, Blind, Autistic, Speech and Language Development, and Dyslexia

You will also find some links for legal advice, special needs support groups, and homeschool magazines.

choosing and using curriculum joyce herzog

What I find most helpful is the general recommendations that assist with choosing and customizing any education resource. Homeschoolers are now a significant consumer demographic, and it seems every day there are new websites, programs, and textbooks geared for home education. To have a list of questions and guidelines to apply to anything new and shiny that we see in those catalogs and magazines is a valuable tool.

For instance, Chapter Fifteen compares seven popular learn-to-read methods, and explains their strengths and weaknesses. Then Chapter Sixteen provides a comparison of several reading programs and which method they use. These are the kinds of examples that homeschoolers find helpful to make important, money-saving decisions about what to use in their homeschool.

Each chapter of Choosing and Using Curriculum is a snapshot- a few pages, easy to read in one sitting, outlined for easy reference. Specific curriculum recommendations are obviously limited to a few per subject, as an exhaustive resource would be hundreds of pages. My only concern about the physical book was the many spacing and typographical errors that undermine the professional appearance of the book.

Choosing and Using Curriculum Set is a one physical book and one ebook set for $15. Joyce Herzog offers many more resources on her site- the Scaredy Cat Reading System, Learning in Spite of Labels, and Timeless Teaching Tips are just a few.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew evaluated many of these products. To read these reviews, click on the banner below.

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Posted by Susan Raber on May 23, 2013 in Homeschool Elementary, Homeschool High School, Homeschool styles & methods, Organizing home & school, Scheduling home & school, Schoolhouse Crew Reviews

Tags: adapting homeschool resources, choosing homeschool curriculum, comparing curriculum, homeschool basics, learning styles

Homeschooling: much more than academics

21 May

In our efforts to make sure our kids are ready for college or a vocation, we can become focused on academics and forget the character traits and learning skills that will carry our young people through any decision, circumstance, or challenge. It is much more important that we give our children these tools than they become math geniuses or musical prodigies, or knit their own sweaters from llama wool.

One of the primary desires of Christian parents is that their child have repented and been converted to Jesus Christ, have developed solid habits of Bible reading and prayer, as well as a firm foundation of sound doctrine on which to base their faith and practice. We also have a responsibility to teach them to be moral, ethical, and responsible citizens.

Have they learned coping skills- dealing with stress, peer pressure, emergency situations?
Do they possess self-control in areas of temperament, health, finances, time management. . .?
Do they have a sense of empathy and compassion for others?
Are they self-motivated with a strong work ethic?
Do they know how to persevere through difficult situations?
Are they forgiving, generous, and merciful?
Do they know how to anticipate needs and problems and be proactive in avoiding trouble and finding solutions?
Can they work well with others to complete a project?
Do they understand that their true character will be revealed when they are on their own?

An exercise to help them think through the impact of the decisions they make now is to write an essay:

Where do you want to be in 5 years, then 10 years?
If you could talk to your 20-years-from-now-future-self about some of the paths you could take, what would you ask them?
Imagine that you are sitting in a room with your children and grandchildren- what would you like to be able to tell them about the life you lived when you were young?

There are also some basic skills our students need for college and vocation that are not purely academic:

Communicate clearly in both written and oral formats
Manners and behavior appropriate to a variety of situations
Prioritize, organize, and budget time, money, and possessions
Understand instructions both written and verbal
Research a topic with reliable sources
Use basic technology, such as email, online banking, and making secure purchases online
Clean a house, cook a meal, wash and care for their own clothes
Think deeply and critically about information and be able to follow an idea to its logical conclusion

As you think about these life skills, many more will probably come to mind. Some of them are likely to be Things You Wish You Had Known. We’ve learned from our many mistakes, and Lesson #1 is often the nature of regret.

But just as we made mistakes and learned from them, so will our children. Some of their most important lessons will be learned because they made a poor decision, acted on impulse, didn’t pursue all the facts before moving forward. Our heart may break for the pain they experience, the struggles that follow, and the opportunities lost, but if we have given them the tools they need to cope with life, they will most likely come out the other side stronger and wiser. This is the bittersweet truth of parenting.

So don’t get too caught up in Algebra 2, vocabulary lists, college applications, and SAT scores. Your children can always conquer those things later if the need arises. It’s these other less tangible and testable skills that will help them reach their dreams of an excellent life.

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Posted by Susan Raber on May 21, 2013 in Parenting & Family, Christian Life, College and Career

Tags: preparing for college, life skills, vocational skills, teaching good character

Review of High School Prep Genius from College Prep Genius

18 May

For parents and students who want information, explanations, and guidance about how to prepare for college, High School Prep Genius has packed that and more into a 440-page high quality glossy trade paperback published by College Prep Genius.

Beginning with a short section about how to use the book, High School Prep Genius continues with instructions for creating a college and career notebook, and how to plan and use month-by-month timelines from 9th to 12th grades. These are excellent tools for breaking the intimidating task of college planning into understandable and manageable chunks. What’s more, you don’t have to know your college and career track down to the last detail in order to use a book like this.

Noah and Emma have a variety of interests and skills that they are exploring and developing. It would be foolish to wait to begin the process of prepping for college until they had settled on a specific vocation, but High School Prep Genius contains charts, checklists, and forms as well as examples of how to use them so that students keep moving forward with their education as they begin to specialize and focus their efforts in a particular career direction.

Our college/career notebook is divided by year, month, and category so that all the information we need is readily available to us, and we can stay on top of any important tasks that need to be completed at specific points in their academic calendar.

Preparing for college is not just about academics. Foundations For Personal Success is a section dedicated to important considerations for personal development, such as what it means to become an adult and being responsible for one’s own decisions. Meaningful questions encourage students to think about who they are and who they want to become, and parents are given guidance with example questions to promote discussion of their children’s futures with them. Young people also need to understand the importance of being physically healthy, being financially independent, and building a support system of parents, teachers, and mentors, as well as making and maintaining healthy relationships.

The section titled Foundation For Academic Success gives a basic 10-step Reading to Learn outline and help for keeping notes, homework, and projects organized. There are examples of how to use day planners for time management in order to prioritize and balance obligations. Further strategies are given for taking tests, and ideas for going beyond the basics with community centers that offer workshops, dual credit classes at local colleges, private lessons, volunteering for charitable organizations, and apprenticeships with local businesses.

The primary motivation for taking advantage of all these opportunities is to develop a well-rounded and compassionate individual, but the fact that many of these activities are essential to qualify for scholarships should not be overlooked, and High School Prep Genius includes information about these as well.

Chapters under Foundation For Future Success cover future development on many fronts- goal setting, how to research in order to choose a school that offers the best career preparation, and even whether or not to delay college. Standardized tests such as the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, and ACT are often the boogeymen of the education process, but High School Prep Genius takes away some of the scary by explaining each test, its purpose, and how to prepare for them.

Completing college applications is much easier with detailed instructions and an application checklist. Parents can glean ideas and learn about options for paying for school, and how to encourage their child through the experience of moving toward independent living. This is followed by a chapter about college essentials, such as choosing classes and picking a major, leaving home and working through separation anxiety and homesickness, and living on campus with a roommate. There are many misconceptions about college, thanks to tv shows and movies that depict college life as unbridled freedom and partying. But college is just another part of life, where in order to be successful the student must be responsible, thoughtful, friendly, confident, and sensible.

Supplemental information includes building a homeschool transcript, and there are examples of transcript formats and course descriptions in the appendix. An option that I had never considered was to be involved in talent searches to open up more opportunities for interesting experiences and to qualify for scholarships. Appendix C is a well-rounded list of books for recommended high school reading. Suggestions for how to relax and reduce test anxiety, and then a glossary of common terms used in college admissions complete the picture of college readiness that High School Prep Genius draws for us.

For homeschoolers who want the inside scoop on how to navigate from high school to college and beyond, High School Prep Genius is a valuable resource, available for $29.95. Make sure to check out the other resources by College Prep Genius, and read more reviews by the Schoolhouse Review Crew by clicking the banner below.

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Posted by Susan Raber on May 18, 2013 in Homeschool College, Schoolhouse Crew Reviews

Tags: choosing a career, education, personal development, planning for college, scholarships, volunteer opportunities

Carnival of Homeschooling at the NerdFamily Blog

15 May

Pay a visit to a pro-nerd family of pro-family nerds at the NerdFamily Blog, and check out all the posts about homeschooling the news, as well as the nuts-and-bolts of home education.

If you are considering homeschooling, or getting ready to plan next year, a homeschool carnival is a great way to explore a wide variety of homeschool related subjects, as well as the tremendous diversity of homeschool families.

The Carnival of Homeschooling is a weekly homeschooling blog carnival, an opportunity to learn from and be encouraged by fellow homeschoolers. Would you like to participate in the Carnival? Check out the submission instruction page at Why Homeschool.

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Posted by Susan Raber on May 15, 2013 in Carnivals & Memes, Encouragement, Homeschool styles & methods, Issues in education (public & home), Parenting & Family

Tags: carnival of homeschooling, homeschool families, parenting

For some fresh air in your homeschool, open the windows

14 May

The role of teacher often seems to be distant, and even adversarial to the average student. The teacher makes the Top Secret Lesson Plans using the mysterious Teacher’s Editions which are always kept out of reach. Teachers exercise unquestioned authority over the student’s education – awarding grades with either an indelible red pen or the more merciful bell curve – but either way, the student’s fate is in their hands. Assignments are etched in stone, and deadlines carry with them all the dread the term implies.

A parent who spent 12 years in the traditional classroom may be conditioned to act in this way in their role as homeschool teacher. There are the same sort of clearly drawn lines between teacher/parent and student/child – the same authority and actions on the part of the parent, the same passive compliance in the student.

And then the parent gets frustrated because their child doesn’t seem to be motivated. Can I just say, “Duh?”

Breathe some fresh air into your homeschool by getting your kids involved in planning their own education. Open up those Teacher’s Editions and give them the lesson plan books. Ask them what they’d like to learn, and how they’d like to learn it. Let them set their own goals and stand back in a supportive role while they find the pace that is right for them. Give them the answer key and scoring rubrics, and have them grade their own papers and give reports of their progress.

And how about that classroom? Does your child spend most of their learning time inside? Is there a defined education space in your home where notebooks, school books, and supplies are kept in neatly labeled rows? Do the kids immediately put their books away when ‘school hours’ are over?

Nothing wrong with being organized, but have you looked out the window lately? Let the sunshine in to your homeschool by taking the books outside and enjoying the warmer weather. Sit in the swing or spread a blanket on the grass and read together, or just look at the clouds, trees, birds, and other assorted critters, and talk about whatever.

Instead of your home using you, why not use your home as an educational tool? The kitchen is a place where physics and chemistry come alive at every meal. The living room can become the family library, where kids and parents can curl up in comfy chairs to read and discuss literature and history. Why not use the walls for maps, timelines, and the children’s artwork? Who are we trying to impress anyway with our decorating skill? Let your kids know how important their education is to you by making their efforts and goals the centerpieces of your home.

Many of us have spent many years in the rigidity of the classroom, and it takes time to shake some of those ingrained habits off and learn to enjoy the education process. We’ve kept home and school separate for so long that we still tend to try to find ways to separate the messy learning stuff from the neat-as-a-pin homey stuff.

Any attempt to divide learning from the rest of life is an artificial one that causes frustration and confusion. Open the doors and windows and books, and reunite the elements of school and family in your homeschool.