In the previous post I talked, perhaps more accurately, got on my soapbox about how crucial it is to teach our kids to handle money. Learning real life money skills can and ideally should start at an early age, but if it hasn’t, it’s never too late to start, even at the high school (or adult) level.

Let me share with you some practical things we have been doing to learn about and improve our real life money skills that might give you some ideas for your family. (As a side note, this has become a learning process for our entire family )

Responsibility for purchases

The first thing we did was give each of our teens their clothing budget money – the amount we would have spent on them – and let them manage it.

Lessons learned:

• How fast it could go – looked like a lot of bucks at first, but went very quickly
• How to shop smarter and stretch the money
  • Now they check out sale racks first
  • Don’t buy anything if it’s not on sale
  • When they have time, they shop at thrift stores.
• Brand names aren’t worth the price tag
• Shock at the amount of money some of their friends spend on clothes & how important brand names are to them

Checking Account

One of the next things we did was open up a checking account.

Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to all homeschooled graduating highschoolers!!! And, to the parents who stayed the course, hats off to you!!! I have not yet had the privilege of graduating one from high school – that will come next year, but I have already been giving thought as to how to make this milestone in their lives special.

Homeschooled highschoolers don’t typically have the “gala events” that their public schooled counter parts do (not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion) but recognizing their accomplishment and ushering them into this new chapter of life can and should be a special time and memory in their life. Here are a few of my thoughts…. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever wished you could find some reviews about a particular homeschool curriculum before you spend the cash? I know I have. In this post, I will share some of the curriculum review sites I’ve found and used. I’ll start with one of my favorites…

HomeSchool Reviews – The reason Homeschool Reviews is one of my favorite curriculum review sites is because the reviews are written by parents who have used the curriculum. Each curriculum may have several differing views that have been helpful to me in my decision making. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a fresh new way to approach highschool history? Here’s an idea – family genealogy! Have your kids trace your family back as far as you want to go in history. Not only will you cover history, you’ll learn some fascinating information about your family that can be passed on to future generations! Who knows, you may even discover a few “black sheep”

As you begin to put your family tree together, use it as the springboard for history. For each member or family group make pages on your computer to document such things as: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not always easy to find a place online where you can actually encourage your highschool or middle school aged children to visit, but The Rebelution is a such a place!

The Rebelution won the “Best Teen Blog” two years in a row and well they should have. Their content is worthy and well-written.

On their “About Us” page they state:

The official definition of the ‘rebelution’ is “a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture.”

And Read the rest of this entry »

I hope you have found this series on “What About Driver’s Ed?” helpful, especially for those of you who homeschool.
Here’s the recap…

Laying the Ground Rules highlights the importance of giving thoughtful consideration to the expectations, restrictions and consequences for your new driver before he or she ever gets behind the wheel. Putting them in writing in the form of a “Parent/Teen Agreement” can save a lot of headaches and potential heartaches later.

Mechanics of Safe Driving underlines the need to include the more practical side of Driver’s Ed. Teaching your child preventative measures Read the rest of this entry »

There are a number of Driver’s Ed courses listed online. I have done significant searching to find the courses that can be done from home, making them ideal for your homeschool setting.

With the exception of one, I don’t have personal experience with any of these. I looked at pricing, state info availability, awards, testimonials, etc. I have listed them in no particular order. So without further ado, here they are!

Rules of the Road: A Complete Driver’s Ed Course on DVD (not CD ROM)
Price: 34.95
Money-back Guarantee: 15 day money-back guarantee
State Requirements: Yes
State Approval Information: Yes, comes on the DVD
Certification of Completion: Unable to locate this information

Seven Interactive Lessons

1. Driving Basics
2. City and Residential Driving
3. The Driver’s Exam
4. Highway Driving
5. Safety Tips for Normal Conditions
6. Hazardous Conditions
7. Drug and Alcohol Awareness

Special Features include:

• 3D Illustrations
• Basic Maintenance
• In Case of Emergency
• Printable Learning Guide
• Spanish & English Subtitles
• Practice Tests
• Multiple Choice questions
• Road Sign Test
• Virtual Driver

Comments: Has received many rewards and recognition Read the rest of this entry »