"" -- A Homeschooler's Notebook Subscriber.
An interactive, FREE, twice-monthly ezine packed with great reader tips, reviews, & practical encouragement for homeschool families.




[SEARCH]
[ARCHIVES]
[CONTACT]
[RSS/FEED]
[HOME]


Some of Our Sponsors

Time4Learning

Landry Academy

Math Mammoth

Great Homeschool Conventions

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine


Resource Links

All About Spelling
Homeschooling ABCs
Upper Level Homeschool
HomeschoolChat.us
HomeschoolingBOYS.com
HomeGrownHearts.com
FIRETIME Notebooking
FREE Funschool Units
EasyFunSchool.com
Homeschooling Help
More Homeschooling Help
HS Gifted and Talented
Homeschool Country Life
Beloved Books & Audio


 

 
[SEARCH] | [ARCHIVES] | [SUBSCRIBE] | [CONTACT] | [RSS/FEED] | [HOME]

High School Transcripts, Problems Bright Children Face

By Lynn Hogan

Added Friday, October 07, 2005


============================================================
The Homeschooler's Notebook
Encouragement and Advice for Homeschool Families
============================================================
Vol. 6 No 40 October 7, 2005
ISSN: 1536-2035
==========================================================
Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Lynn Hogan. All Rights Reserved.
============================================================

Welcome to the Homeschooler's Notebook!

If you like this newsletter, recommend it to a friend. We all
need to be helping each other with our schools!

Directions for subscribing and unsubscribing are below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

==============
IN THIS ISSUE:
==============
Notes from Lynn
-- High School Transcripts
Helpful Hints
-- Borders Educator's Savings Days
Question of the Week:
-- On-Line Chat for Teens?
Reader's Response
-- Help with Reactions to an Advanced Learner
Lynn's Picks
-- E-book on Running a Small Business while Homeschooling
Announcements
--Subscriber Information Including Archive Retrieval
--Sponsorship Information

=================
NOTES FROM LYNN
=================

Last week we began a series on preparing for the college search
process. We purposely started with transcripts, because that is
something that we are building throughout our child's entire
homeschooling career. What your student does in scouts, at
their job, in their community service and, of course, in their
academics should be on their transcript.

If your student is like mine, he probably has LOTS of wonderful
things he has done throughout his homeschooling journey. It is
up to YOU to determine how many credits he gets for a subject
and his grades. The battle of credits is an on-going decision!
When I was first approaching high school level for my students,
I was told in no uncertain terms that a credit was earned based
on hours worked. Originally I was told that most schools go on
a Carnegie credit hour which was figured by 50 minutes a day, 5
days a week, 180 days a year which came out to a total of 150
hours. That sounds terrific, IF you have a student that works
the same as the average student. If, however, you have a
brilliant student that finishes her work in 1/2 the time or a
challenged student that finishes the same project in twice the
time, the Carnegie credit system is not an effectual system for
determining credit. In our home, we were project oriented. If
my student finished the work I expected of her, she received
the appropriate credit. English was a 1 credit class, a lab
science was 1 1/2 credits, etc. Since my student attended a
community college for 3 or 4 classes during her high school
time, she got extra credits for that, just as if a student in a
traditional school were taking AP classes.

There are some that believe that you should include everything
in a transcript including your reading lists for all 4 high
school years, a description of each subject including
objectives and some samples of work accomplished. Personally, I
am not a big fan of these transcripts. I think there is a
wonderful opportunity for your student to be able to describe
in more detail that kind of information during the college
interview process. If you were applying for a job, no one
would need to know every single thing you have done for the
last 4 years in detail. They would want a brief overview and
then allow you to elaborate at the interview. You would want to
put just enough on your resume to make them want to interview
you, but not enough to bore them or make you appear like you
are bragging or making things up. The transcript, in my opinion, is a
similar tool. If my student's transcript is TOO long, some administrator
is likely to think I am "padding" her transcript. *Some*
administrators are going to be looking with suspicion at her
transcript anyway if they notice it is a homeschool transcript.
Less and less admissions people are negative about
homeschoolers, but I am a big believer is answering questions
when they are asked.

On the other hand, a transcript that ignores your students
community service, musical participation, leadership activities
or additional training, does your student a disservice and
cheats the admissions counselor out of knowing some important
things about your student. We certainly would not want to do
that either. In the least amount of space, you want to show the
greatest abilities of your student.

Transcripts are something to think about even before your
student is in 9th grade. Record keeping was never my gifting,
but when high school came around I had to learn. Since my
daughter was excited about going to college from the time she
was in 7th grade, we were making some decisions about what
course of study we would take long before 9th grade. We started
scoping out colleges that she might attend and what their entrance
requirements were as well as how we could meet them.

Helping your student choose the best college for them can be a
challenge, but if you relax and enter into the process, you may
find it less complicated than you think. Next week we will
explore more of the actual selection process. Hopefully we will
help you choose the criteria most important for your student to
make his college career at least as successful as his
homeschooling career.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

=======================
HELPFUL TIPS:
Here's Your Chance! Send YOUR Ideas Along to
Lynn@unitstudyhelps.com
=======================

Educator Savings - October 14th -18th
Current and Retired Educators SAVE 25%
On Almost Everything In the Store*
*Discount applies to the regular price. May not be combined with
coupons, Borders Rewards offers, and standard group discounts.
Treat Yourself or Stock Your Classroom Just bring your
educator's ID, pay stub, or other proof of educator status.
(http://www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=eaw)
Additional event information can be found at:
www.bordersstores.com/educator - Susan

========================
ASK YOUR QUESTION
========================

Have you a burning question that you can't ask just anyone? Send
it to question@unitstudyhelps.com and we'll see if a smart
subscriber can't help you out. (Editor's Note: You can also
post your QUESTIONS at the message board to see what others
might have to say. The address is: http://www.voy.com/89720/
SEND YOUR RESPONSE to response@unitstudyhelps.com
---

Editor's Note: This question can involve LONG answers, but space
is limited here. Please try and do what you can to make your
answers as concise as possible. If you want to respond with a
long answer, please go to the message board, where I have
suggested Rebecca post her question as well!.
The address is: http://www.voy.com/89720/

We are looking for a chat room for teenage homeschoolers. Is
there anyone out there that have teens that have used one and
would recommend it? Thanks. - Roberta

========================
YOUR RESPONSE
========================

NOTE: my publication of these responses does not necessarily
mean that I endorse a product or an activity. You make your own
decisions about how these responses might work in YOUR school!
---

My 5 year old is already half way done with 1st grade. She
absolutely loves learning! The problem begins however with
other moms and children, homeschooled and public schooled, that
look at my daughter with an ugly green eye. The parents accuse
me of pushing my daughter too hard when in reality my daughter
pushes herself. Now my daughter is embarrassed and pretends
not to know anything (in public) because she has seen how cruel
others will be to her if she shows her intelligence. How can I
handle this situation and what pep talk should I have with my
daughter? Even though she is book smart she is still at the
emotional level of a five year old. - Rebecca
---

I WAS THAT CHILD. I learned to read early, and pushed myself to
learn on my own. My parents never pushed me academically at
all. Now my oldest daughter is in the same situation. What
helped me the most was a very open dialogue with my parents. I
did tend to hide what I knew in public, but I was emotionally
okay with it because I was able to speak openly with my parents
who were very proud of me. They also encouraged me to be
myself as God created me, even when it was not well received by
my peers. Spending time with adults and people of varied ages
was also helpful. Very often other adults (who didn't have
children my age) were very supportive and encouraging. In
addition, they enlarged my world with meaningful discussions
children my age did not typically have. My parents encouraged
me with saying those acute challenges would last for only a
season. Things would even out in adulthood to a large degree,
and they were right. Meanwhile, my self-esteem was not
completely destroyed. Just keep an open, trusting, supportive
atmosphere at home, and that will go a long way in helping your
child to navigate this challenge successfully. Hope that helps!
- Sherri
--

This is one time (of many yet to come) that you can teach your
daughter that jealousy is an unfortunate fact of life. It
doesn't matter if she is smart, rich, or talented, there will
always be people who have a problem with their own feelings of
inadequacy. Based on experience, it is something you will need
to teach her to deal with and that can be done even at the
tender age of 5. If you have a faith in God, that is an
irreplaceable asset that she can always rely upon. If you do
not, somehow you need to teach her that all people are unique
and special and her special gift happens to include learning.
Always provide a complete loving and supporting environment at
home. My son has been through this and is now in high school -
now, he basically looks at kids strangely when they ask stupid
questions like "how many times have you read the dictionary"
and such, ignores them and goes about his business. We have
taught him that God gave him a gift for learning and he is
expected to utilize it to its fullest extent. We do not allow
him to waste his talents, and most parents (though it will
never be all), have given up on the jealousy bit. True friends
encourage use of talent, not discourage. He tried some hiding
of his talent in school when he was younger, but once we made
it clear to him that God gave him his gifts to use, not hide
and that it is a sin to waste them, he has been using them ever
since. Dealing with jealousy is never fun, but a fact of life
that all need to learn to deal with. - Lucinda
--

I was not homeschooled, but I was a lot like your daughter. I
wish my mom had pulled me out of public school because of the
teasing. You should definitely talk to her and explain how
proud you are of her. Continue to encourage her. I would also
talk with the parents and children who are teasing her. She is
young enough to still need your help with situations like this,
especially if the offenders are adults. If they do not treat
her more kindly after that, find a new group of homeschoolers
to join. It's important enough that you should not allow this
to continue. This can affect her interest in learning for the
rest of her life. It can also affect her self image in a very
negative way. This is one time I would intervene, rather than
letting the kids work it out themselves. There will be others
like her, and those kids need to learn to interact with
children like your daughter. On a more humorous note, my mom
used to tell me not to worry too much because one day I'd be
their boss! - Jennifer
--

I was an early reader, too. I began at age 2 and was reading
classic novels and poetry by 5 years old. I was often called
"weird" and similar things. But I did not try to do my reading
when it was time to do other things. I did most of my reading
at home and at the library. I did not take books to dance class
or playing in the neighborhood.

Perhaps you could explain to your little girl that other kids
haven't caught on as fast as she has, but they will, eventually.
She also needs to learn that there is a time and place to do
different things. In this case, reading around others makes the
other kids feel as though they are not as intelligent and that
hurts their feelings, so out of consideration for the feelings
of others, she could refrain from taking her books to group
events.

Also, a bright kid needs time to play and learn non-book skills;
obviously, you are meeting that need with her. But she needs to
have adult friends who recognize and reinforce her abilities in
book learning, acting as mentors. My son, the computer geek :) ,
found a couple of adult males with abilities in technological
fields who were open to friendship with him. These men were a
comfort to my nonsocial son while he was too immature to deal
with non-geeks (he's good enough at it now to work and share an
apartment with other geeks, but he may never interact well with
"ordinary" folks, as he has Aspergers Syndrome. Perhaps there is
an eccentric aunt or someone in your religious community who
could be trusted to befriend and converse with her. It's good
to explain to kids that they can have friends of many ages and
can find MORE friends if they reach out to other age groups.

She can also learn to handle verbal abuse by using humor. My son
often pointed out to the name-calling crowd that Bill Gates is
a nerd, too, and NOBODY would dare to pick on him now. He says
that it's never wise to tease a nerd because guess who will be
the employers of the future? Nerds. You and your girl might
come up with something mildly humorous but thoroughly true to
use as a comeback. B-) - LeeAnn

==============
LYNN'S PICKS
==============

Several of you wrote with interest about the small homeschooling
business that is becoming available. That process is still on-
going with those that have expressed a greater interest. For
many, it was a greater financial commitment than was expected.
This is because it is an existing company and not one that is
brand new. Since that time, someone introduced me to this e-
book that might be helpful for you to begin your own business.
It can help you avoid making some of the mistakes I made
when I went into business 12 years ago!
http://belovedbks.cpaine.hop.clickbank.net

===========================
SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION
===========================

There are opportunities for you to be a sponsor of this
newsletter. If you are interested, drop an e-mail to
marketing@stretcher.com with "Homeschoolers-Notebook" as the
subject. We'll send you some information on how to be a part of
this ministry!

EDITOR'S NOTES:

All contributed articles are printed with the author's prior
consent. It is assumed that any questions, tips or replies to
questions may be reprinted. All letters become the property of
the "Homeschooler's Notebook". (Occasionally your contribution
may have to be edited for space.)

Again, I welcome you to the group. Feel free to send any
newsletter contributions or get in touch with me at
Lynn@unitstudyhelps.com or catch me on ICQ(#6729825) or AOL
Instant Messenger at: LH for Jesus. You can also find helpful
links at my website: http://www.unitstudyhelps.com

This Ezine is listed in 'The Free Directory of Ezines:
http://www.freezineweb.com/ as well as this other directory:
http://www.ezinelisting.com/patrick/index.php?aff=Lynnusa2000

===========================
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
===========================

New subscribers may send any message to the following address:
<join-hs-notebook@hub.thedollarstretcher.com>

To unsubscribe send any message to the following address:

leave-hs-notebook@hub.thedollarstretcher.com>

 





Next - Choosing a College (Part 1), Special Needs Resource, Readers' Responses
Previous - Phys Ed - Our Readers Respond
Home




     Site content copyright individual contributors and FamilyClassroom.net 2001-2011 - Digital duplication expressly prohibited.
Privacy Policy | Advertise