5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

[Pages:26]The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

by Lee Binz

The HomeScholar LLC

Copyright THE HOMESCHOLAR LLC. All rights reserved. This book may be copied or printed by the original purchaser for personal or family use only. Such reproductions should not be sold or distributed. Except for the above stated authorization to photocopy, no part of this book may be reproduced by any means without written permission of the author. This book contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, I may make a few pennies, but not enough for a latte. PSAT/NMSQT is a registered trademark of the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. SAT?, AP?, CLEP?, and SAT Subject TestsTM are trademarks owned by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this book or The HomeScholar, LLC.

Disclaimer: Parents assume full responsibility for the education of their children in accordance with state and local laws. In addition, parents assume full responsibility for the accuracy of all homeschool records

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Mistake 1: Not Preparing for College ........................................................................................................... 4 Mistake 2: Failing to Plan High School Courses ....................................................................................... 8 Mistake 3: Ignoring High School Tests...................................................................................................... 12 Mistake 4: Failing to Develop Your Student's Area of Passion ........................................................ 15 Mistake 5: Forgetting about High School Records ............................................................................... 19 Mistake 6 (Bonus Blunder!): Not Celebrating Success!...................................................................... 23 About the Author................................................................................................................................................ 25 Online Resources for Homeschool Solutions .......................................................................................... 26 Books Available in Paperback and Kindle ................................................................................................ 26

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

3

Introduction

Welcome to my resource guide and Ebook, "The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School!" Before we get started, let me introduce myself. My name is Lee Binz and I am The HomeScholar. I homeschooled my two children from 3rd grade through high school. When they graduated, I gave them a homeschool diploma and a handmade transcript with my own mommy-grades. Amazingly, my two homeschool graduates were both admitted and given great scholarships to every college to which they applied. Best of all, they were both given four year, fulltuition scholarships to their first choice university!

Through this process, I learned some amazing strategies for how to homeschool high school. With my kids successfully launched, my mission now is to help parents like you homeschool through high school.

I am very excited to share some of the most valuable lessons I've learned from homeschooling my own children and from helping other homeschool parents succeed through the high school years.

With each chapter, I've listed one or more featured resources that will provide you additional help along the way. Let's get going!

Blessings, Lee Binz

Copyright ? All Rights Reserved. The HomeScholar LLC,

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

4

Mistake 1: Not Preparing for College

We've been taught to assume that a college prep education is only for college-bound kids. But college preparation is GREAT life preparation. The first big mistake that parents make in their homeschool is failing to aim for college!

In this first chapter, you will learn what you can do to provide a college preparation for your own children and why a college prep education is important.

A homeschool high school college prep education covers reading, writing, and math - skills critical to any profession. It covers history, so that our society isn't doomed to repeat it! It covers sciences for critical thinking, and civics to that our students can vote effectively. It covers the foreign languages so that we better understand the world around us, and physical fitness for health.

A college prep education is important for all children. If a child is going on to college, then of course they need a college prep high school. But what if you think they may NOT go to college? What then? Then their homeschool experience may be their only formal education, and we have to make it good. If they aren't going on to college, then they are going directly into the workforce. They need to be prepared, so that they are good citizens, can function in their chosen career, and can vote knowledgably.

You can't always know what the future holds

Have you ever noticed that sometimes (often!) teens will change their minds? My good friend had a son that loved motors. He was always bringing home little stray engines the way other kids might bring home little stray puppies. She became convinced that her son would become a mechanic. Positive that her child wouldn't

Copyright ? All Rights Reserved. The HomeScholar LLC,

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

5

go to college, and therefore wouldn't need math, she was never concerned about pushing him along. He loved engines so much - it was an obvious fit, right?

Well, one day he announced that he wanted to be an engineer, and suddenly he needed calculus! Children change their minds, and sometimes even parents can't assume that things will end up a certain way.

Maximize flexibility

Planning a college prep high school will allow your children to change their minds. It will allow them to pursue ANY college they suddenly long for, and ANY profession they become enamored with! Planning for college will allow you maximum flexibility, and prevent any missteps or miscues along the way.

No matter what life brings, you'll be ready for it! Have you seen "The Incredibles" movie? You'll be like the super-hero mom, Elasti-girl. A super-hero homeschool parent ready for anything that comes your way!

Remediation is common

I read a statistic recently that 1/3 of high school graduates require remedial help in college. One third of them aren't really ready for college! You can do MUCH BETTER than public schools, just by making sure your kids are ready for college. Aiming for college early can improve their chances of getting into college AND their chances at significant financial aid.

If you fail to prepare them, college is still possible; it's just more painful - financially and academically. Even if you can't seem to get prepared in one area, keep working with the other areas. They can still receive remedial help in college, but you can provide them the best possible preparation in other areas.

Copyright ? All Rights Reserved. The HomeScholar LLC,

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

6

Always be prepared

My children were well prepared for college, and you can prepare you children for college as well! Parents can provide a college preparation during high school for every student, which can benefit every child. Even if they don't go to college, they'll be well prepared for life and their civic responsibilities. Plus, if they ever change their mind and decide to go to college, they will have a much easier time getting in.

On the other hand, some parents know early on that their children are college bound. For them, a college prep education can influence the quality of the colleges they get admitted to, and improve the quantity of financial aid they receive. College preparation can benefit everyone!

But HOW? How do you do it?

In the next chapter, we will go over exactly HOW to plan a rigorous curriculum. You'll learn what courses to teach, and how many of which kind! It will really go a LONG way in helping you plan for college admission, whether you think college is a slam-dunk sure choice, or even if this is just your don't-mess-up and be-prepared plan!

Copyright ? All Rights Reserved. The HomeScholar LLC,

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

7

FEATURED RESOURCE:

If you are loving this Ebook, you will want to visit my

Freebies

section

of

my

website:

freebies. There you will find

valuable training for creating transcripts and records,

and how to homeschool effectively and affordably. It is

a great place to get started on your homeschool high

school adventure.

"You have provided so much helpful information so many of my questions have been dissolved. I want to put into practice many of the things I have learned so far over the summer. I now am a more confident retired GM dad overseeing my two sons learning choices knowing that the HomeScholar is a mouse click away! Thank you again for the quantity and quality of information you are providing to homeschoolers." - Raymond in Michigan

Copyright ? All Rights Reserved. The HomeScholar LLC,

The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make Homeschooling High School

8

Mistake 2: Failing to Plan High School Courses

In the last chapter, you learned why aiming for college will provide the best education for your child. They will either go to college and need the college preparation, or they WON'T go to college, and their homeschool becomes perhaps the only formal education they receive. You learned that college preparation is LIFE preparation, especially since you don't know what the future holds. You want to homeschool like the Boy Scouts, and always "be prepared."

You're probably wondering, though, about the big HOW. How can you do it? How can a humble homeschool be like a high power "college prep" high school? That's the focus of this chapter! The second biggest mistake parents make in homeschool high school is not planning high school courses. I'm going to tell how to do that, so you can avoid this trap.

Check your state's requirements

First, during eighth and ninth grade, find out the homeschool requirements in your state. Requirements vary widely and can change yearly, so it's impossible to know without checking it out for yourself. Check with your state homeschool organizations to find out the requirements. A simple Google search for the name of your state plus "homeschool organization" is all you need to do. Find the requirements, then develop a plan to meet them. There are some states that don't require specific courses from homeschoolers. In that case, make sure you meet the legal requirements of your state law, but focus your course selection on college requirements - again, it allows for maximum flexibility in the future.

Meet college admission requirements

Copyright ? All Rights Reserved. The HomeScholar LLC,

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download