Success is Not a Test Score

Even though I have devoted many blog posts to scoring high on standardized college admission tests, I don't believe that the success of a student hinges on that score.

Obviously, you want your student to do their best on a test and that is why I have recommended test prep in the form of understanding the test and helping a student do their best.  

With that being said, I had a reader ask me what to do when sibling scores are very different.

Homeschooling: What Every Parent Should Know about the NEW SAT & ACT, Part 2

Today is part 2 of Lauren Gaggioli's post about the new SAT and ACT.  If you missed the first part, you can find it here.

The Three Elephants In The Room

Homeschooling: What Every Parent Should Know about the NEW SAT & ACT

 Today, Lauren Gaggioli of Higher Scores Test Prep is my guest writer.  Lauren addresses changes in the ACT and SAT and advises on what you should do about them and even how they relate to Common Core.  This is a 2 part series, so be sure to sign up to receive blog posts or bookmark this site.

HOMESCHOOLING: WHAT TO KEEP, WHAT TO TOSS

Recently, a friend whose first student left for college asked me:

I'm really struggling with throwing away workbooks/practice books that the kids have completed through the years. The ones I'm thinking of mainly right now are the Teaching Textbooks workbooks the boys have done for high school. Do I really just throw them away? I've recorded their grades for high school. They're on the computer disks anyway. I'm such a pack rat; I'm afraid I'm forgetting something I might need them for!

Homeschooling: The Last Year Is the Hardest

Homeschooling has its rewards, but it can be hard.

Some years are harder than others.

HOMESCHOOLING: The Final Year

After 24 years of homeschooling, it is hard to believe this year has finally arrived.

The final year.

When I started homeschooling, I took it one year at a time.

I didn’t look ahead

When (homeschooling/parenting) Doubts and Fears Assail

If you are honest with yourself, you have had moments (or longer) when doubts and fears have assailed you- either about homeschooling, parenting, or both.

Homeschool Curriculum Clearance Sale

I suppose this could be called my 'going out of business' sale.  After 20+ years of homeschooling, I am graduating my last student.
So, it is time to clear my shelves! (or at least some of them)

YOUTH THEATER CONFERENCE, grades 6-12

We are blessed with a phenomenal youth theater program in our community.  My three younger children have been active participants in it, and our family has enjoyed attending shows there for many, many years.

Heroes of Homeschooling

Congratulations, you have a homeschool graduate!

Not counting all the work you and your student put into that milestone, have you ever considered what makes that accomplishment possible? 

You are not the first home educator to graduate a student.  Not by a long shot.  Countless others have gone before you to pave the way.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of voices on the internet giving homeschooling advice, but the real heroes of homeschooling are

Landry Academy Review and a Giveaway

Chemistry is not my favorite subject.

I did not have a good introduction to it in high school and avoided it as much as possible in college.

How is it then, that I have gotten to my seventh (and final round) of high school Chemistry in my homeschool without actually teaching it?

The Best Homeschool Curriculum

Are you a new homeschooler looking for the 'best' curriculum?

Are you wondering if the curriculum you currently use is the 'best'?

I  hear new homeschool moms ask more seasoned homeschool moms what the 'best' curriculum is for a variety of subjects.

What is the best curriculum to teach my child to read?

What is the best curriculum to teach math?

What is the best science curriculum?

Drawing Lessons

Would you like to have a resource to teach your children to draw just about any animal they, or you, can imagine?

Would you like that resource to be free?

Help Your Child Become Successful at Life- an interview and giveaway

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats

Many of us (myself included) are often so focused on  filling the pail with "everything they need to know",  that we forget to light the fire of learning.

I recently found Jonathan Harris' website 10KToTalent. 

Essential Life Skills: Cooking

 

Don't raise an 'educated fool'.  Teach life skills, too.

Sooner or later, your child will grow up and move away from your home.

Are you teaching them what they need to know to survive on their own?

My own children have been a little surprised at how few students possess the skills needed to live on their own.

Over the next few weeks, I will have a series of posts on skills your student needs.  These are based on what I have observed lacking in college students, young adults, and even young mothers.

Since everybody must eat, let's start with cooking.

College Applications: The Personal Essay

Almost all, if not all, college applications require a personal essay.

Students: listen up!

This is your chance to let the admissions officers get to know you. Tell them something about yourself that they cannot glean from your application, transcript, or resume.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays. Please give them something interesting that most of the other applicants didn't already say.

Some comments made by admissions officers at our recent college visit:

Preparing for College: Be Smart, Not Scared

I stumbled across a 'college planning' website recently that is written by a mom who is scared.  A mom who started researching college scholarships when her daughter was just a few months old!.  Wondering how she is going to put her kids through college keeps her up at night.

To that mom, and any like her, I say, "Stop.  Stop being scared.  Stop wasting your time."

TIME FOR COLLEGE VISITS

For the sixth time in eleven years, I will be visiting potential colleges with my student. This should be old hat for me, and some of it is.

But, I realized last week while visiting a college campus with my son and daughter that not all campus visits are the same. Even a visit to a campus you have visited previously with another student can be different than before.

This post is the beginning of a series about visiting colleges with your student. I plan to have information for students and parents; newbies and seasoned. I will be adding these posts to the 'High School' section to make the information easy to find. Sign up to receive my blog via email so you don't miss a post.

Two Writers, Ten Years

In addition to being a homeschool blogger, I am a consultant with The Pampered Chef.  As a consultant, I do live cooking shows in a host's home.  Sometimes children attend the cooking demonstration with their mother.

Writing Enrichment: Make a Book

This post contains affiliate links.  If you choose to click on the Shutterfly link and purchase their great deals, I will receive a small percentage, at no cost to you.

A reader recently asked me if I have any suggestions for summer academic enrichment activities, specifically in the area of English, for her middle school age son. She doesn't want to send him away to a writing camp or spend money on an online writing course.

Coming up with a good writing enrichment activity is more challenging