This is too cool! A home school carnival – what fun! A carnival & you don’t even have to go on any dizzying rides. (In my younger years, I loved ‘em, but now just the thought of them & I need to grab hold of something!)

Back to the homeschool carnival…. Featured at the carnival are a huge variety of different homeschool blogs of all shapes & sizes, including Homeschool Through Highschool! ;D, each one coming from a different perspective. It’s a terrific opportunity and such an easy way to see for what’s out there in home education cyberspace. There’s a lot of good stuff!!!!

So, head on over and check out the 97th Homeschool Carnival. Who knows, maybe you can buy some cyber cotton candy.

Sue

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As a kid I loved Christmas, but if I’m to be totally transparent, it was the gifts I loved. Yep, the more the merrier!

Sad, huh?

After marriage, I began to see things differently. The fact that we had no money to buy gifts helped change my perspective. I was now forced to come up with creative, very creative hand made gifts. But, to my surprise, I enjoyed it! I enjoyed it because as I made them, I was thinking about the people I was making them for. We laugh now about some of the very creative gifts I made & I cherish knowing the grace with which they were received & often displayed for years. (Bless their hearts!)

Years passed and another gift giving shift took place in our lives. Now, we had enough money to buy gifts. Not gobs of money, but enough to buy one gift per person. It was still fun to think about the person and try to find that perfect gift just for them. Not quite as much fun as making it, but still very personal.

Then, as so often happens in the hectic pace of today’s world, the personal element left the process, and that’s what it became, a process. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it’s that time again, time for the 2007 Homeschool Blog Awards. Since I am new to blogging, the Homeschool Blog Awards are also new to me. I think the idea is great!

How does it work? There are 23 different categories to choose from and people, like you and me, can nominate one favorite blog per category. Now mind you, one of the categories is “Best New Homeschool Blog”. If you feel Homeschool Through Highschool is worthy of your nomination for this category, or any other category, please head on over and make your opinion known!

However, even if your choice isn’t Homeschool Through Highschool, please head over and nominate your favorite blogs. Encourage those who devote so much time to support and help you in your home education journey. It will mean a lot to them – guaranteed!

Nominations for the 2007 Homeschool Blog Awards are being accepted through Saturday, November 17th.

Please know, whether or not you nominate HTH, I appreciate you and the support & encouragement you’ve been to me! Thank you!

Sue

In my last post I mentioned a few sobering statistics re: new teen drivers, states GDL’s and some insurance questions to ask about before your teen gets their learner’s permit.

It doesn’t matter if you teen is homeschooled or in a traditional school setting, determining your ground rules ahead of time will ease much of the tension that is inherent when your child becomes a new driver. The old adage, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, applies.

Here are some ideas & questions to get the discussion ball rolling: Read the rest of this entry »

Sooner or later every home educating parent is going to have to deal with the subject of Driver’s Ed. Like it or not, it’s part of life in our culture. When we found ourselves on the threshold of this milestone, I was scared and clueless with a capital “C”!

I came up with a simple solution… Get a horse. Yes, we’d have to pay for feed, but compared to the price of gas, why it could be a real savings Just think of all the responsibility she’d learn! And we won’t have to worry about a horseload of passengers or speeding tickets. But.. there is the clean up….never mind

OK, obviously, I’m kidding, but there are times when the horse sounds like a good solution- not nearly so scary as putting your precious child behind the wheel of a car. Read the rest of this entry »

Drumroll please….. time for the final tip in the 7 Tips for Educating at Home series, Homeschool Support. Simply put, find support! You will need it from time to time and as you go & grow, you will be able to provide it to others in their time of need.

Basically, there are two general avenues for finding support in your home education journey. You can find it in your local community and/or online. As with all things, each has its advantages and disadvantages. If possible, I would encourage you to find support in both places.

Let’s take a look. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently someone whose opinion I value & respect, commented on the phrase “education for life” saying that it sounded more like “life coaching” than “homeschooling”. Hmmm, food for thought, said I.

After chewing on it, I replied:

“Actually, in my mind, homeschooling is life coaching - preparing & equipping our kids for life, which in my mind is waaay more than academics. Teach them how to learn & when life hits them in the face, they’ll know how to find the information they need. Also, teaching them about character, integrity, good work ethics, spending & saving etc…In my opinion, not every kid needs Algebra, Chemistry, Calculus, etc. Some do, depending on their individual “bent”, some don’t. But all of them need to know how to be productive citizens, parents, individuals.”

I realized that, that has become my homeschool philosophy and each year into it, I believe it more strongly.

Question: What did you learn in highschool that stayed with you, that has proven to be of practical value in your adult life?

Read the rest of this entry »