Educating teenagers at home comes with its own set of challenges. From test prep, to transcripts, to the college search process, we are here to support you as you launch your children into adulthood.
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Colleges: 3 Ways to Try Before You Buy
Higher education is big business, with college costs averaging $13,000 more per year now than they did in the 1970s. Given that most parents don’t want to see their children waste money on a bad fit, they may feel pressure to find out everything they can about a school before […]
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How to Argue: The Argumentative Essay
When I worked in public policy many years ago, one of my jobs was to take long policy papers from think tanks and reduce them down to one or two pages for state lawmakers. I also wrote the scripts for a popular radio show called “Point/Counterpoint” on a very large […]
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50+ Living Books for High School Students
Living books are just as important for teenagers as they are for younger students. Use this booklist as you create a reading list for your homeschool high schoolers, and you’ll help them cultivate a love of literature and prepare them for a lifetime of learning. Need even more ideas for […]
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10 Simple Steps to Plan a Homeschool Graduation Ceremony
There is nothing quite as moving as an intimate homeschool graduation ceremony. Hearing a parent address their graduate in front of peers is one of the most endearing parts of homeschooling through high school. But putting on a graduation can be daunting. The following ten simple steps have been used […]
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Finishing the Homeschool Race: Reflections on Life After Homeschooling
If you’re nursing a baby while watching a toddler while listening to an early reader, you have a ways to go. And if you have kids of multiple ages spread around the table or around the house completing the day’s assignments, this may not even be on your radar. But […]
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Our 19-Year Homeschool Story: Why We Did It, How We Did It, and What We Learned
We never intended to homeschool. In fact, I wasn’t even familiar with the idea of homeschooling, other than knowing some historical figures were taught at home. But a series of events led our family to explore different educational options and choose homeschooling for our family. It was a 19-year journey […]
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How to Create a High School Transcript for Your Homeschool
When my firstborn reached eighth grade, I began thinking about his high school transcript. I admit it: my initial emotion was dread. How could I accurately summarize four full years on one little page? And how complicated would it be to figure out a GPA? A homeschool friend with older […]
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10 Options for Homeschooling Through High School: The Many Looks of Homeschool High School
The days of sitting around the kitchen table all day to homeschool are long gone—at least for homeschooled high school students. Numerous options are now available to broaden their exposure to new subject matter, provide a group learning environment for specific subjects, or get a jump on their college education. […]
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Reading the Classics with High School Students
Click here to see our suggested list of classics to read with your high schoolers. Throughout history, education has been about the exploration of great ideas—the purpose of life; the living out of virtues—all part of the process of thoughtful maturing. High school is the perfect time for students to join this great conversation through encounters with classic literature. Not only are […]
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5 Ways Being Homeschooled Helped Me Excel in College
The summer of 2009 found my dad and me embarking on a 1,200-mile trip across prairies, through deserts, and into a suburb of Los Angeles, where I would be attending a private university. During the twenty-four-hour trek from Kansas to California, I had plenty of time to mull over the […]
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The Freedom of Home Education and How it Has Benefited My Life
I am blessed to have been born into a homeschool family and experienced firsthand the benefits of being a homeschooled student. As a homeschooler, I have received love and support from my family, time to pursue my own dreams and interests, the ability to learn subjects at a speed that […]
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6 Reasons Why Colleges Recruit Homeschool Graduates
One stereotype of homeschoolers is that they are nerdy geeks lacking social skills. Yet colleges vigorously recruit homeschoolers. What do the colleges see in homeschool graduates that the rest of society is missing? My own two homeschoolers were sweet, wonderful, nerdy kids. And they both earned full tuition scholarships to […]
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The Surprising Benefits When Teens Read Their Writing Aloud
Reading aloud has great value, as any teacher of young children will tell you. Socially, it encourages bonding and a sense of community—picture an adult and children snuggled together on the couch at home, or gathered around a book in a classroom. Academically, reading aloud builds vocabulary and comprehension, stretching […]
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Why I Don’t Regret Being Homeschooled
I’m an autistic 19-year-old junior in college named Rebecca Giles. I was homeschooled, and I feel that this allowed me to achieve far more than I could have in an institutional school environment, because homeschooling is more adaptable to each student’s individual needs, strengths, and interests. Homeschooling was uniquely right […]
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More Than Just a Paycheck: How Jobs Can Help Your High Schooler
The writer of Proverbs had much to say about the importance of work: “Those who work…will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (Proverbs 12:11). “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness […]
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A Graduation Speech
As I type this, I am preparing for our fifth high school graduation and looking forward to the celebration of this milestone in our son’s life. At the same time, I am having an emotional crisis. No matter how many times we go through this, it just seems surreal as […]
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Launch to Landing: One Homeschooler’s Path to a Career with NASA
“This will be a significant adjustment for you,” my English professor declared to his students on my first day of college classes. “You have gone from a high school system where you learn from teachers, to now being responsible to teach yourselves.” He was attempting to help his class grasp […]
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The College Search Process: One Family’s Experience
My story is not typical. Since my husband is a long-time employee of a Christian liberal arts college, also my alma mater, our older children simply attended that institution. It was close, familiar, and tuition was largely covered due to my husband’s tenure. But when our youngest daughter leaned toward […]
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Living as a Righteous Teen in an Unrighteous World
We have all had experiences with the wickedness of this fallen world—from a rude gesture to an unexpected (and inappropriate) website pop-up, to movies filled with murder. It can be difficult to live righteously for the Lord when there are so many opportunities to fit into the mold of the […]
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To Test or Not To Test?: Considering the SAT and ACT
Testing. The very word can strike fear into the hearts of both children and parents. On a daily basis, we homeschoolers enjoy the luxury of deciding how often we test our children. Once our children reach high school, though, a lot more is at stake—namely college admission and scholarship possibilities. […]
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My Life as a Homeschool Graduate
I grew up a homeschooled kid in the early 80s, when it was still pretty unusual – some people didn’t even know the term homeschooling back then! For those who want to know more about the nitty gritty of my daily life as a child, check out my mom Mary […]
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For the Mamas: When They Start to Leave the Nest
When my firstborn graduated high school, I could not believe we had survived and that she was a thriving adult on the cusp of college and a bright future. I watched with pride and tears as she left for her first day. The family nest was changing. I still had […]
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College Prep: Math!
Have you ever wished you could purchase a curriculum called “Work Ethic”? Are you looking for the perfect product to teach “Study Skills”? We all want our children to grow up to become hard working adults but it doesn’t happen by accident. A work ethic is taught through hard work. […]
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High School Recordkeeping: Finding the Right Balance
Even the most relaxed homeschoolers sometimes get a bit stressed and paranoid as high school rolls around. They wonder if there is any way they can maintain a family-like environment, while still coming up with a transcript that will help their students get into college. In addition, the question arises: […]
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