photo credit: Cornell University Library

An article entitled “Home Education, College Admission and Financial Aid” in the Journal of College Admissions is valuable in helping us understand what colleges consider in admitting homeschooled students. “Since there is no monolithic model of home education, there is no simple formula for assessment.” Admissions officers consider factors like course descriptions, lists of projects, books, curricula, outside evaluations of the student’s work, courses taken in junior college (if applicable), community-based projects, application essay, and an interview with the student.

Widely Used Exams for College Admission and/or Credit

Send for information, then read and follow the directions carefully. Books and computer software are available to help prepare for each examination. The mega-site for college planning and test registration (except for the ACT) is College Board. Don’t miss this site!

PSAT/NMSQT– Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test

This test measures verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities. It’s considered the practice test for the SAT. Eligible juniors who take the PSAT/NMSQT in October are automatically entered into the National Merit Program. Merit Scholarship awards are given to approximately 7,000-8,000 students based on their scores. A number of homeschoolers over the last few years have been granted full or partial college scholarships because of the National Merit Program. Preregistration and a small fee are required.

It is traditional to take this test in the junior year (when it counts for National Merit), consider also taking it in the sophomore year for additional practice. Register with your local high school. You can find your state’s homeschool code.

For more information:

PSAT/NMSQT
P.O. Box 6720
Princeton, NJ 08541-6720
(866) 433-7728
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/about.html

SAT – Scholastic Aptitude Test

The SAT is a three-hour test primarily consisting of multiple-choice questions that measures verbal and mathematical abilities. It’s administered six times per year; pre-registration and a fee are required. Register directly with the College Board. The homeschool code is 970000. Some colleges also require the SAT Subject Tests for admission and course placement.

Register online, or to obtain a registration booklet and register by mail, call 1-866-756-7346, e-mail SAT@info.collegeboard.org, or check with your local high school. More information is available at http://sat.collegeboard.org/home.

ACT

The ACT is designed to assess high school students’ general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The tests cover four skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. An optional 30-minute writing test is also available.

ACT Registration
301 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 414
Iowa City, IA 52243-0414
319-337-1270
www.ACTstudent.org

AP – Advanced Placement Exam

The AP program offered by the College Board gives high school students the opportunity to receive college credit for what they’ve learned in high school or on their own. Tests are given only in May by participating high schools. (Although College Board welcomes homeschoolers, you might have to be persistent with the local high school.) Contact AP Services no later than March 1 to get the names and telephone numbers of local AP coordinators, and contact the AP coordinators identified no later than March 15. The state homeschool code will be provided by the coordinator on the day of the exam.

AP Services
P.O. Box 6671
Princeton, NJ 08541-6671
888-225-5427
apexams@info.collegeboard.org
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html

CLEP – College Level Examination Program

CLEP offers credit-by-examination in a wide range of subjects commonly required for college undergraduates. CLEP tests may be taken by students of any age. Taking and passing even a few of these tests can save time and money and allow capable students to get into meatier, upper-level college courses sooner. Write for the free CLEP Colleges booklet. Although most colleges accept CLEP credits, not all do. Ask colleges you may be interested in for their CLEP policy. Our oldest son received credit for all the CLEP tests he took.

CLEP
P.O. Box 6600
Princeton, NJ 08541-6600
800-257-9558
clep@info.collegeboard.org
http://clep.collegeboard.org/

Of course, there is another option entirely: college at home is becoming more and more popular with homeschoolers, but it is an article in and of itself.

Finally, think of college preparation as just another extension of your homeschooling. Continue to pray, plan, and prepare as you go down the college path.

Happy Trails!

In my last post, we saw that many colleges welcome homeschoolers, and we talked about the importance of getting organized for your college search. Today we’ll consider how to choose the college that will be the best fit for your child.

Begin Early

Here are four excellent reasons for researching colleges early, at least by 11th grade, if not 10th:

1. Having some idea of which colleges your student might attend helps you choose appropriate high school courses.
2. The extra time will allow you to research scholarship and financial aid options more thoroughly.
3. The extra time will allow your student to visit or correspond with schools, ask more questions, and then do a great job filling out those long applications and write the required essays.
4. Your student will have more time to prepare for and more opportunities to take the SAT or ACT for admission and for scholarship consideration.

A Big Decision!

Parents and students should work together to choose a college. Remember, you are turning them over to this institution for the next four years, so make this a matter of high-priority prayer and research. “Visit” campuses by checking out their homepages on the Internet. Call or write for schools’ view books or download them from their websites. For more detailed information, ask for a catalog. Ask people you respect what college(s) they recommend. (Bear in mind, though, that many colleges have changed drastically from even ten years ago.) With your student, make a list of potentially acceptable schools.

Looking for a Christian college? Many are Christian in name or tradition only. Where do you stand in your beliefs, and how closely do you require the school to match them? Where do they stand on Creationism? What are their rules and regulations? Are they too strict? Too lenient? Ask tough questions. Get the student handbook and find their policies on co-ed dorms, curfews, etc. Talk to students at the school. Get beyond glossy brochures and sales pitches. Much more than academics is at stake. Choose wisely. Political correctness has crept into Christian colleges and of course is rampant in secular schools.

Next, narrow down the list. It isn’t practical to do an in-depth study of more than six or so schools. Find out their specific prerequisites: course work, test scores, and application deadlines. Ask trusted friends to write a letter of recommendation that you can use for all applications. If possible, arrange a visit to the two or three schools you’re most interested in. Visits can mean a big difference in the final choice (and shows competitive schools your interest). There’s nothing like talking to students, eating in the cafeteria, sitting in on classes, and even spending the night to help decide if it’s the right school or not.

In my next post, we’ll learn how colleges assess homeschoolers and what standardized tests your student may need to take.

Have you heard that your homeschooled high school student will never get into a good college? Listen carefully: this is simply not true! Homeschoolers have been accepted to and have excelled in colleges across the nation, including prestigious and Ivy League schools. Many colleges eagerly recruit homeschoolers because they have seen how well these independent, well-educated young people do on college campuses.

Good News from College

At the 1995 Clonlara Home School Conference, Robert Blackstock, representing Hillsdale College (MI), commented on Hillsdale’s encounter with home-educated students: “We have had a tremendous experience with homeschoolers. You’ve heard all the cautions: that they won’t be socially adjusted and they won’t be academically prepared, and I just have to wonder what is it they’re not socially adjusted to because they walk onto our campus and they are just fine. They seem to stand back…and take stock for a couple of weeks and then they become the editor of our paper, they take lead roles in plays, they go into student government…Our experience has been that their attitude toward learning is better, they’re more fully and more actively engaged in the learning process…they take the tone of the campus easily in stride. So one of the things we look favorably [on] in admissions decisions is the fact that they’re homeschoolers .”

The Great College Search does not have to be the high-stress process of which we often hear. Like thousands of homeschooling families across the country, we survived this rite of passage, and you can too. Although we made mistakes along the way, our oldest son Tyler was accepted into his first choice: a highly competitive Christian college. Our other son JB was also accepted into his first choice and was awarded a wonderful scholarship as well. We used no outside sources for transcripts or scholarships. Everything we did, you can do also.

 photo credit: Cornell University Library

Number One Tip

Here is the most important tip: Get Organized! Disorganization was my downfall and explains why we missed an important scholarship deadline to JB’s second choice school! My dear friend Celeste, the Queen Bee of Organization, made a wise decision while navigating the college search with her oldest child, Rebekah. Celeste kept a Master College Notebook from the very earliest days of their searching. Knowing that she had to be Rebekah’s guidance counselor, Celeste made smart decisions:

1. She kept a calendar in her notebook and noted every single deadline as she learned about them.
2. She searched locally, as well as far and wide on the Internet, for possible college scholarship opportunities. When she found one that Rebekah would be eligible to apply for, she filed it in her notebook and marked the pertinent dates on her calendar.
3. Most of the scholarships and all of the colleges required essays, so Celeste assigned them as part of Rebekah’s senior English course.
4. Celeste kept track of important correspondence from each college and kept good notes of all phone conversations and even personal visits. She then put reminders on her calendar of any follow-ups needed.

All of their hard work paid off: Rebekah won enough small and medium-sized scholarships to fully her fund her four years at an in-state university. It took much time on both of their parts to do this, but Rebekah graduated debt-free.

In my next post, we’ll look at some strategies for choosing the right college for your child.

In my last post I shared 5 tips to help organizationally challenged moms homeschool successfully.

Here are 5 more. Remember, these are suggestions, not commandments!

6. Keep school fresh

Occasionally surprise your kids by mixing things up. Would they get a kick out of a accomplishing schoolwork in an odd place for a day? Pile pillows in the bathtub (empty, of course) and they can work in the tub. Go undercover by draping a blanket over a table and doing school underneath with pillows, blankets, and flashlights. My favorite: turn the master bedroom into the classroom. Take everything you might need (including the popcorn!) onto the bed and pretend to be on a boat surrounded by sharks. A pathway of socks can become tiny islands to step on for getting to the bathroom.

7. Try my mini version of mega-cooking

The days when I cook a few extra meals to put in the freezer are a blessing. I often double up on any given meal so that I can have one for a busy day or a sick friend. I almost never cook a single chicken! I prefer to brown 5 or 10 pounds of ground beef at a time (perhaps with onions) and freeze what I don’t immediately need. The extra can be pulled out for a head start on chili, tacos, spaghetti, etc. Crock-Pots are a mom’s best friend. Good pizza coupons are treasured. And the husband who offers to bring home the occasional Chinese or deli meal is worth his weight in gold!

8. Share teaching plans and resources with a friend

Although I love co-ops and was involved in them from my first year of homeschooling until my last, they aren’t feasible for everyone. But if you have a friend who is teaching the same course as you and would be willing to share the work load in planning lessons or gathering resources, what a blessing! Bonus–checking in with each other to see how it’s going adds accountability.

9. Plan around babies & toddlers

Learn when to include them, when to work around them, and when to wait till they are asleep. Some moms have a high tolerance, and some babies are low maintenance. As a low-tolerance mom with high-maintenance little ones, I had to learn flexibility. Special toys brought out only during teaching time helped. They enjoyed the read-alouds even though the material was over their heads. History costumes, building forts, and other hands-on projects can often be completed with little ones in tow. For work best done uninterrupted, use naptime or videos. (Yes, I happily used quality videos as babysitters!)

10. Make the most of summer

History/science projects and field trips are great ways to keep learning in the summer. We even had a couple of short summer school sessions with appealing material that the kids were eager to dive into. Count the hours toward the following year’s (not previous year’s) school. This provides less pressure during your more formal school time and you “start” the new school year with something already accomplished!

Remember–every homeschool family will have its own approach to learning and scheduling.

Experiment with these tips to find what works best for you.

Homeschooling is not a race, it’s a journey.

There isn’t an award for doing the most, the fastest, or having the prettiest portfolio.

There IS an award for training your children with a mind to God, their future, and their personalities and abilities.

Breathe deeply. Pray. Enjoy the journey!

photo credit: jimmiehomeschoolmom

And not always the most organized one.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned the hard way.

1. Plan

Okay, you’re laughing at me. But at some point I realized that if my kids’ education was really important to me, I’d have to put some time into planning. Realistically, I knew I wouldn’t  keep up with daily lesson plans. But I discovered that I could sit down once a month and write monthly objectives.

What works best for you?

• A summer planning marathon?
• Monthly?
• Weekly updates?
• Or nightly reviews of what you got done that day and hope to accomplish the next?

2. Consolidate teaching time

How many times a week do you teach history or science?

Do you and your children function best with a little every day?

A medium amount 2 or 3 times per week?

Or a big chunk once a week?

For us it worked best to teach these two courses twice a week through about 5th grade, then once a week in the upper grades. On the days when I wasn’t specifically teaching, my boys had reading and other assignments to work on. I found that doing history or science in one or two big chunks was more interesting because we were able to dig deeper into the subject before running out of time.

Bonus: Combine courses. Study literature with history, history with geography, or geography with science.

3. Think outside the box

Creative map and timeline work can count for history, geography, and art. Pay attention to community service hours, Scout projects, sports, church events, family trips, and other “non-school” endeavors that are actually educational.

4. Choose your time wisely

Know your students, yourself, and your household. What is the most productive time for each lesson or task? Personally, I couldn’t care less about Alexander the Great at 8:00 a.m., but I find him truly fascinating later in the day!

5. Bedtime bonus

One ritual that was consistent in our home when the boys were younger was a story at bedtime. We often used compelling history books or books with science topics during this special time.

In my next (and last) post on this topic, I’ll share 5 more tips I’ve learned the hard way that will make your homeschooling easier!

Are you the type to plan ahead?

Do you have lists for:

• daily activities
• weekly menus
• grocery shopping
• coupons & sales
• even a list of things for which you need to make a list?

Or instead, do you find yourself disorganized and short on teaching time?

I am a Real Mom, not the Martha Stewart of Homeschooling.

Planning ahead and staying organized are not my strong suits. I will admit there have been times when I’ve had to run to Wal-Mart for underwear when I got too far behind with laundry. <insert sheepish grin>  And even though I’ve been married to the same wonderful, forbearing man (with a healthy appetite!) for 31+ years, there are still days when I’ve simply forgotten to cook dinner.

How can organizationally challenged homeschooling moms
stay on track with teaching?

I could attempt to inspire you with biblical principles, great quotes, and examples of planning ahead. I could set lofty goals before you. I could even try to make you feel guilty for not being better organized. (Although with my own reputation for using a shovel to clear off my desk, who would take me seriously?) But that is not my purpose.

Doing my best in homeschooling was important to me, so I had to develop strategies for successfully completing each year. I hope these ideas will encourage you as well.

One caveat: You have to find your own style.
You don’t have to do things a certain way just because I did.

In the next 2 posts I’ll share some tips I’ve learned the hard way. 
Suggestions–not the 10 commandments of homeschooling!!

What about you? What helps you stay organized?
What do you most need help with?

I was counseled to rip it out of the ground when my precious planted-by-the-wind sapling reached the two foot mark.

“That’s a weed.” Labeled, at such a young age.

“It’s not a weed,” I insisted. (Some would say, pouted.)

I didn’t see it as a weed. I saw it as a gift from God. And somehow I saw it grow [in my imagination] into a big beautiful tree, albeit of unknown scientific nomenclature.

The talk of it being a weed continued, but my persistence in letting it grow did also.

I remember hearing such talk about my children when they were about two feet high, too:  “They are growing like weeds. Pull ‘em out of your house and put ‘em in school.”

Nope not me, I resolved. They may be growing like weeds, but they aren’t weeds. They are my children and I’m going to care for them myself. With God’s help. Right where they were planted by Him. In my home. In my heart. So there, Hurrah. And Hallelujah.

And so it was with my Weed Tree. I didn’t pull it. I let it grow. And it did.

And they did.

And now they are all three of them, two children and a nearly 30-foot tree, gifts from God, abounding, colorful, and bright spots in my life.

[insert a Jane Austen creation's snooty voice]
“Weeds?! I should say not.”

(Just don’t look at the rest of my backyard!)

Fluttering by for now,

A – Approach God’s throne.

Without prayer and wisdom from God, no homeschool can truly succeed. Look to Him who loves your children best for direction; yearly, monthly, daily, hourly.

B – Be realistic. You can’t do it ALL.

Do you try to teach everything? Do you worry that your child isn’t studying the exact right material for their grade? In our zeal to be the best teachers we can be, we often put unnecessary burdens upon ourselves.

For example, let’s say you have picked a particular publisher and are following their history scope & sequence. They have decided that 5th grade should be American history and 6th grade should be world history. You have both a 5th grader and a 6th grader. Would you thus attempt to teach two completely different history courses the same year? Ack! Don’t do that to yourself or your kids.

History is the ideal subject for families to study together. Publishers scope & sequences may provide you with some ideas, but they aren’t the law. So…please, cut yourself some slack! Teach the same time period to all your students together.

C – Coach your children to become independent learners.

This is vital: Realize that you CAN’T cover everything, no matter how hard you try. NOBODY can! If your children are still in the elementary grades, they will be hearing this stuff again and in greater detail. If your kids are college bound, ditto.

Focus on teaching them how to learn, how to research, how to dig. You can’t supply them with all the facts, but you CAN supply them with the necessary tools for discovering facts.

D – Do what you can, then let it go.

You have to stop somewhere! No matter how great we’re doing, most of us think we should do more. Let it go. Lay the foundation; don’t try to erect the entire skyscraper in one year.

E – Evaluate your year.

Now, with all that said, how do I know if our homeschool succeeded this year?
Did my children learn? Do they want to learn more? Was God honored in our home?
Yes? Then we had a successful year!

I think it’s the expectations.  We have such high hopes – or our parents do when it comes to that first step.  We want it to be a momentous occasion, we want it to be picture-perfect and website-worthy !

And then we take that first.  Everyone cheers!  Then we step again:  applause!  Then we run around the house and the adults give a new directive:  Will you please sit still!

Expectations are like that.  We get our hopes so high that when the firsts become thirty-firsts, it gets a bit old, so we need a little motivation to keep going, or to help us up off the carpet when the first step didn’t go as smoothly as we’d so very much hoped.  I can’t count how many times I’ve needed some encouragement to keep homeschool stepping.

Having experienced the birth of one child, I wanted another one right away.  It was a very good first step.  God blessed with a second, nineteen months after the first.  I wanted another 19 months after that, and another, and another.  But we don’t always get what we want.

Just look at my homeschool curriculum wish list.  It continues to grow, but so do my children.  I have less than two years left in the adventure of home education, but twenty years of curriculum on my wanna-use list.  I’m gonna have to find some other kiddos to edu-guide, since my children are not interested in relearning grammar just because mama found a new curriculum.

For now, I’m enjoying this second approach to homeschool graduation.  The first graduated well in 2011 and is enjoying his first round of college education, thankfully just ’round the corner from home.  My second, still in the homeschool oven, is browning nicely as her third year of high school heat gets turned up

If this is your first time to this blog, I hope that it is like the first day of a new year:  It’s a good start, but there are many more days to come!

As for my sign off, I feel compelled to add a note of family history to this very first entry:  My big brother, 13 years my senior, taught me many of the words I use today.  Hecalopter (an aircraft with twirly blades on top) and flutterby (a delicate-winged insect) being two of his, and hence my, favorites.

So, it is in his memory that I will be (most of the time)  …

Fluttering by for now,*

* That just sounds better than “Hecalopting for now …”

My 13-year-old daughter has developed a real love for baking, so it was a perfect opportunity to do a history lesson around cooking. We choose to make Laura’s wedding cake.  Wow, what an eye opener it was to the past bakers in history!

Our first task was to cream butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon!

A few minutes of stirring left us longing for our kitchen mixer.  While we were working the butter and sugar together we were able to talk about what kinds of sweeteners were available to Ma and Laura, my daughter then wanted to look up when powdered sugar was created.

The next undertaking was separating 10 egg whites and whipping them with a fork until they were stiff.

The cookbook said this would take 10 minutes, it took us 20! We decided to take turns beating and wondered if Ma and Laura took turns too. Then there was sifting of flour and then the slow folding of all the ingredients.

I should note that for health concerns we didn’t make the icing recipe with egg whites, instead we made a traditional butter cream icing. We also knew that we could only decorate the cake with things found in nature. We chose mint leaves and raspberries.

We spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen making this cake. Not only were there history lessons to learn but also there was fun time spent together.

Later in the evening our whole family had fun eating the wedding cake, and let’s just say the boys are happy when they hear the oven timer go off.

The Family Study Guide for the Little House CookBook will be available in Illuminations Year 5 due out in early summer.