Taking Control of Your Child's Education

This is my second year in teaching about the observations and keys I learned as I watched and participated with successful homeschool families.  To help those who attended my presentation at UHEA June 6-7th,  I have made my slides available.

Taking Control of your Child's Education: Keys to Effective Homeschooling June 6 2014

Teen: Path to Independence

My daughter McKenzie, tested out of her first high school diploma at 12 years of age.  She received the actual diploma at age 13.  With her motivation to learn, I knew I needed to know how I could best prepare her to survive as an independent adult earlier than I anticipated.  To do so, through various conversations, books and my experiences as President of Wasatch Home Educators Network,  I created a list of things that I felt were skills needed to be mastered to be a successful independent adult.  Here is the pdf notes from my UHEA class taught Friday June 6, 2014.


Teens: The Magic Number 


Here you will find:

Secrets often not shared with teenagers until it slaps them in the face.
A list of areas and skills that will help a adult survive independently.
And resources to help make decisions regarding the options and resources available to continue on that path.

Concurrent Enrollment (CE), Distance Learning and Live Interactive

Distance Learning (also called Live Interactive) is through the Distance Education department on UVU's campus. When the courses are offered in the high school during regular school hours, these courses can be taken by high school students for Concurrent Enrollment.  Concurrent Enrollment refers to classes that students can take for BOTH high school and college credit.

Distance learning courses are Live Interactive courses, where a UVU professor is being broadcast in real-time to high school classrooms. It is interactive where students can talk to the professor through a microphone. These courses are offered on the UVU schedule, however, so they are not on the regular high school A/B schedule, so times can vary. They are offered either MWF (Mon, Wed, Fri)  or TR (Tues/Thurs) and do not match up with most of the regular school bell schedule.

Concurrent Enrollment courses are taught by a UVU-approved high school instructor using the college curriculum and offered on the regular high school schedule. These are much easier for students to fit into their schedule, but these courses are limited at each high school, depending on what courses their teachers are approved to teach.  There are usually a lot Distance Learning courses to choose from.  Go to here:

Homeschooling: So What Are My Options?

Holy smoly!  This is a great time to homeschool and for a parent to take their child's education by the reins!  And there is no better place than Utah.  I have decided to put together a list of the options available that I am aware of to meet the needs of your student. Click on the links for more details.




Choice in Education provides a list of some of the possibilities.




HSLDA has a comprehensive list of curriculum. 

Beside the text book curriculum (reviews) available nationwide in Utah county you have:






• Cooperative groups, common wealth groups or various online groups

For example in Utah county:

WHEN

Homeschool Open Source

Homeschool ING  yahoo group- Provo

SUCH-Spanish Fork, Payson

UThsers- South Utah County

George Mueller facebook group


• Free curriculum and book lists

Easy Peasy

Ambleside

Homeschool Buyers Co op


• Options not aligned to common core




• Brick and mortar public schools

        Open enrollment -  "All public schools are open to any Utah student so long as they have capacity as defined by each school district’s average class size.  HB 348 also requires school districts to publish school capacity online and to grant requests without discrimination."

• Brick and mortar private schools




• Brick and mortar charter schools




• Dual enrollment

                  Section 53A-11-102.5 Allows for homeschooling child to enroll in a brick and mortar or online school while being homeschooled. This is called dual enrollment


• Online or Virtual options- 3 classes plus 1 credit seminary= 4 total credits

You can see a comparison here.

Elementary school

Utah Online (Washington Online)

Harmony

Utah Virtual Academy K12

Provo eschool

Alpine Online

Canyon Grove

Connections Academy

MyTechHigh

Middle School

Mountain Heights

MyTechHigh

Utah Online

Harmony

Utah Virtual Adademy

Provo eschool

Alpine Online

Canyon Grove Distance Learning

Electronic High School ( no Credit)

Liahona- Lds Based

Connections Academy

Williamsburg Intermediate

High School-(Most are familiar with the four year high school diploma, but since most Utah high schools are 10-12 grade thus three years, they are able to offer a three year diploma.  It is referred to as the "three year cohort rate" diploma. )

Mountain Heights

Harmony

Utah Virtual Academy

Provo eschool

Utah Online

StatewideOnline Education program

East Shore Online

Utah Students Connect

MyTechHigh

Liahona- (LDS based)

Connections Academy

Williamsburg Academy

Early College Online


Some of my favorites:
Variety of Online courses for 9-12th grade to mix with any school especially if you have a child pursuing both the Utah accredited diploma and his/her own interests:

Opportunities for those involved in the arts in Utah County: Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts 

Fantastic for blending both brick and mortar school, online and special individual interests in 9-12th grades: StatewideOnline Education program

Computer Programming/Premed training courses:
ALC- Springville

• Brigham Young University

                Independent Study

                Concurrent Enrollment

You can even go beyond high school.  How about an associates degree at the same time you get your high school diploma?  (New Century or Regents scholarship) This can be done through Concurrent Enrollment (CE) courses, Advance Placement exams, and online. To do this you can see my excel spread sheet.  To understand more about these options read through the slides Avoiding the Middle School Blues and Beyond.

To learn the difference between Distance Education, CE Live Interactive and Concurrent Enrollment go here.


• UVU Distance Education-  for a list classes that are taught online at the following locations:

Advanced Learning Center

American Fork High School

American Leadership Academy

Legacy Preparatory Academy

Lehi High School

Liberty Academy

Lonepeak High School

Merit Academy

Mountain View High School

North Summit

Orem High School

Pioneer High School for the Performing Arts

Pleasant Grove High School

Provo High School

Rockwell Charter High School

South Summit High School

Timpanogos High School

Timpview High School

Walden High School

Wasatch High School

West Lake High School


• Concurrent Enrollment/Distance Education locations besides your local high school

Mountain Heights (Open High School)

SLCC

Springville ALC

Canyons Technical Center

Jordan ATC

Cache Center

MATC locations

DATC- 

Early College Online

Charter schools offering full time enrollment for associates degree:

(You can enter in the below programs at age 16 usually. Also you can request the three year "cohort" diploma.) 

•  Academy for Math, Engineering and Science (AMES)

•  Intech Collegiate High School 

•  Itineris Early College High School

•  Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science (NUAMES) 

•  Success Academy

•  Utah County Academy of Sciences (UCAS)   

UVU Concurrent Enrollment requirements

PDF of UVU CE credit and HS credit

Course offerings throughout state

Class listings by high school

Contact information to participate in CE or Distance ED through your local school

Contact information through Weber

Associates Requirements through UVU

If taking AP courses, to apply towards your associates degree, you will need to verify with the college to course equivalency.  AP Equivalencies for UVU




To verify a professor is who you want to take a class from you can go to Rate My Professor




Transcripts:

There are two types of transcripts. Accredited and non accredited. Accredited you get through an accredited institution.  Your public high schools have to be accredited.  Not all elementary, middles schools, charter or private schools are accredited.  As a homeschooler you can make a non accredited transcript. All concurrent enrollment and distance ed classes are considered accredited. 

• Keep track of everything high school student does (Home school classes, clubs, volunteering, lessons, reading, interests, sports, music, church activities, personal progress, scouts, mock trial, commonwealth/mom’s school, entrepreneurial projects, travel, home economics: cooking, sewing, nutrition, farm/animal/garden chores)

• Organize required classes by grade level or subject- give it an official class name meeting graduation requirements, and dates completed.
  

If using a non accredited transcript you determine the graduation requirements. For an Accredited Utah Diploma the Graduation Requirements for High School are determined by the USOE.  

• Include all necessary personal information: Child’s name, birthdate, SSN, address, etc.
• Have a cumulative GPA calculated on a 4 point scale.
• Include the graduation date only AFTER the student has graduated. Prior to graduation, an “anticipated graduation date” can be listed.
• Keep in a copy in a safe place available for the life of the student.
• Sign and date the finished transcript as the “School Principal.”
• Mail the college the transcript in a sealed envelope with the principal’s (parent’s) signature over seal.
• Have the home school name and address on the outside of the envelope.

*If you do not choose to assign grades to your child’s home school transcript, some universities and colleges will give you a default GPA. For instance, Weber State University assigns home schoolers with a 3.5 GPA.
It would be good to know what that default GPA is.

View copies below to get formatting ideas: There are many homeschool transcript templates available on-line as well as some very good record-keeping options that prepare transcripts for you for a small fee.

SAMPLE HOME SCHOOL TRANSCRIPTS – FILLED OUT:

SAMPLE HOME SCHOOL TRANSCRIPTS – BLANK:



So with all these options it can seem paralyzing.  The questions to ask your student is: 
Do you want to graduate with a high school diploma? 
Do you want to graduate early?
Do you want to go to college? What type of college- closed enrollment, open enrollment or tech? (If you don't want to close any doors, you will aim for closed enrollment)
Do you want to an accredited or unaccredited transcript?
How do you plan on financing your education?  Would you like scholarships?
How do you want to learn?  Do you want to learn it through a brick and mortar school,  online with or without a mentor, or with a textbook on your own. 




Homeschool Environment

I would like to purpose a question.  With home schooling being a life style and not a matter of cutthroat school hours, what do you propose is the best homeschooling environment?

Any negative influence can affect a child’s ability to learn and love to learn.  As a family we have chosen to focus upon the positive, uplifting, educational and constructive verse anything negative or destructive.  The areas that greatly influenced our home are the following:

Media: TV, radio, movies, and Internet: Children are greatly influenced by what they see and hear. One of the greatest decisions we made was to turn the TV off.  The other was to turn the radio off.  Some of my fondest moments are when we are driving and discussing issues that are important to my child. Another great decision was to heavily monitor the Internet and set hours of use.  And lastly, we choose to not live by a double standard in our home.  We would watch only those movies we felt comfortable with our children watching.  The children's minds were free of emotional baggage that allowed them to learn. And WOW to the conversations! Something quite different from our own childhood.

Words: I recently saw a quote: "The words you say can be forgiven but they are never forgotten." These include the words we speak to others and the words we speak to our child.  The way we talk about our children to others helps our child to develop their self -identity.  What you say about them is what they perceive themselves to be.  So speak about them in a way you want them to perceive themselves.
The way we talk to our spouse affects how our children talk to each other.  If you are demeaning, unkind or ungrateful so your children can be. And if in a heated moment, we make the statement that one is “going to leave”, affects the child’s sense of security.
Also the words we use in speaking and encouraging them affects future results.  Using words that set up false or unrealistic expectations can be detrimental.  We need to be specific in our praise and we should be able to talk about the consequences good and bad of behaviors and actions.  It is kinder for us as a parent to explain to a child, than to have the world do the teaching for you.  They can be very mean about it. This is one of the reasons I like lists so much.  By having these lists, we not only see what we want to work on but what we have accomplished thus far.

Noise: Some people learn best with background noise and other don't.  With my eldest I could go about getting household things done.  She was very self focused and driven.  My second child, loved having me beside her and could not have any distractions before her.  My son on the other hand needed music or noise in the background to help him focus.  We found that Baroque music and earphone work wonders.

Location: For some children it is best to be on the floor in Pjs.  For others it is more productive to have them dressed and sitting at the table.  And for autistic children they have learned that they are focusing better sitting on a large bouncy ball.  In our house it all depended upon what was going on for the day and the distractions. What worked best for us, was a morning routine with getting dressed, breakfast, chores, family devotional and sitting at the table or by the fireplace. School at the skating rink did not work.

Stress: Our children not only need to see us productive, honest in our dealings and accomplishing what we said we do, but they also need to see us having fun, being grateful and enjoying life.  Some of my fondest memories are wrestling with my son, singing and dancing in the kitchen, taking walks in the rain, and building snowmen.  Homeschooling is a big task- Simplify.

Clutter:  By removing things that are not needed, it allowed me to simplify and not feel the constant self-inflicted guilt.  There are all kinds of ways to clutter up your life. I distinctly remember the first time I cleaned out all the stuff I placed under the stairs.  You know out of sight out of mind.  What an amazing sense of freedom to have that out of my life!  That was just the begining thanks to Flylady.com- There is definite difference between disorder and disgusting.

These are some of my random thoughts. What things have you provided or changed in your homeschooling lifestyle that has brought positive results?

Utah Competency Testing and possible State Scholarships

So I have been doing some research on competency testing.  With my son academically advanced in math and beyond the much of the common core stuff,  I needed to see what options were out there. Others have wondered if they can bypass certain subjects they already have done and have them account for the "Utah" awarded diploma.  Here is my understanding thus far:  You can!

Granite School District testing center provides the materials also do the correcting of papers there.  The new lady administering the tests is Marie Orton and her number is  385-646-6042.

Email: morton@graniteschools.org

The new location is the Granite Connection High School at  501 East 3900 South, Salt Lake City, 84107.  Room 136.

Hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 11:00am to 5:00pm.  They have just started giving the Secondary Math I, II, and III.  The other subjects they test in are as follows:

Geography for Life
U.S. Government & Citizenship
Earth Systems Science
Biology
Algebra I
Geometry I & II
General Financial Literacy
Fitness for Life
World Languages
(new) Secondary Math I, II, and III

What is not listed there is English 9, English 10, or English 11 required for the diploma but are forthcoming in the future.  Subjects that are coming soon will be Health and Language Arts grades 9, 10, and 11 will replace the English 9, English 10, and English 11.

The best news was that there is no longer a fee!  It used to cost $85 per test!  So that was a nice surprise.

Students may be from outside the Granite district, but must be registered in a school. (The only reason you would do any of this anyways would be because you plan on utilizing the school system to acquire a diploma.)

They must submit a written request, or Student Application for Demonstrated Competency Testing to their school counselor for signatures (school counselor, school administrator, and parent/guardian). This must either be called in to the Testing Center or emailed by the counselor 15 days prior to the time the test is taken.

Each assessment may be taken only once per school year. In order to have it count for that school year, tests must be taken by April.   Students will receive a "P" for demonstrated competency--no letter grades are awarded.  They do count toward the diploma but not in the GPA.  They are responsible for any knowledge they currently have as there are no study guides.  When there are two parts to a test, they must wait after the first part to see if they have passed; if they have not, then they cannot take the second part.  In addition to the application, a picture ID must be brought to the Testing Center 10 minutes prior to test time.  Figure on two hours to complete the test.  Test results are mailed to student and counselor.

For any other questions, please feel free to contact Marie at 385-646-6042.

Now with that finished, CURRENTLY at this time (Feb 4th 2014) any person who tests out of any subject is not eligible for the state scholarships. We are hoping to change this in this next legislative session.

There are three known state  awarded academic scholarships at this point:
1. Centennial (Early graduation)- $1000 one time
http://www.schools.utah.gov/CURR/earlycollege/Scholarships/Centennial.aspx

2. New Century scholarship (based upon associates degree) - $1100 per semester for the last two years of bachelor degree
http://higheredutah.org/newcenturyscholarship/

3. Regent Scholarship ( GPA based and with extra classes)- $1100 per semester for two years.
http://higheredutah.org/regentsscholarship.