What Are Your Favorite Homeschool Tools and Resources? (with some Homeschool Highlights)

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!

Welcome to the Friday Favorites edition of Homeschool Highlights, part of the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop! If you're new to my blog, I usually host a weekly wrap-up link-up called Homeschool Highlights on Friday. Since it's also Blog Hop week, I'm doing a mash-up of my Friday Favorites for the hop and Homeschool Highlights. The question I'll answer a little further down in this post is:

What Are Your Favorite Homeschool Tools and Resources?

Welcome to Homeschool Highlights! 

This weekly link-up is your opportunity to share some highlights of what is happening in your homeschool and in your world each week. If you write a wrap-up post at the end of each week, like I've been doing, we'd love to see what you're busy with from week to week. If you'd like to pick a favorite post from your week that spotlights a resource or activity in your homeschool that you'd like to tell others about, we're interested in those too. I'm keeping the guidelines as simple as I can, and they will appear at the bottom of each post, along with the link tool. I look forward to getting to know you, and I hope this will be a source of encouragement and good ideas for all of us.

Grab a cup of coffee and let's get started!

Homeschool news  . . . We're trying - a little half-heartedly, I admit - to adjust to a school schedule so we'll be ready come September. It's a bit difficult, since we're not entirely sure what Kennady's work schedule will be. What I do know is that we'll need to be out of the house way too early on co-op days. Algebra and French are coming along and I have high hopes that we'll be ready to dive into school in just over a week!

The homeschool oversight group's meeting is this evening, and sadly, I'm missing my son's company picnic to attend!

Other news . . . There isn't much else to tell this week. We are busy working and trying to get caught up with housework and yardwork. We're making some vacation plans, and attempting to have everyone in the family help out a bit more with meal prep and planning. So far, it's working out okay, but stay tuned!

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Homeschool Favorites . . . okay, the must-haves and all-time favorite homeschool things for this year:

I don't know where I'd be without Homeschool Tracker Online! It's one of the most valuable tools in my homeschool and I've relied on it for years! I do use pen and paper for lesson planning, but the Tracker is where I keep track of everything else once I've mapped out the initial plan. The lesson plans go into the Tracker and are scheduled into the assignment calendar. I print out the assignment lists as needed throughout the year, and adjust due dates as needed too. All the grades and hours spent are recorded, as well as a detailed list of resources. I produce report cards using the Tracker, and if my homeschool oversight group wasn't providing our transcripts, I could do a professional transcript using Homeschool Tracker Online. (Read my full review of Homeschool Tracker Online here: Homeschool Tracker Online: A Homeschool Coffee Break Review.)



Exploring World History and Exploring America (both from Notgrass) have been long-time favorites of ours, with all three of my boys using both of them during their high school years. Kennady also studied Exploring World History, and in this school year, she'll be doing Exploring America in our co-op. We love that these courses combine History, Bible, and Literature, and can be worth three full credits; although we have always pared down the Lit requirements and awarded a half credit.

   

 We also love Writing with Sharon Watson! Last year we did The Power in Your Hands in the co-op, and I was the instructor. That class was a lot of fun to teach, and not difficult, because the textbook lent itself to a small class setting very well. So well that it was a natural choice to do Writing Fiction [in High School] at co-op this year! Kennady is excited about doing a credit class on fiction writing, and I get to be stretched a little in teaching it!

A couple things from previous years that I want to highlight:

We have loved everything we've tried from Institute for Excellence in Writing! Most recently, we explored the  the updated High School Essay Intensive. In this essay writing workshop, students focus on developing skills they'll need for college. Not just for college level writing, but also for writing the essay portions of the SAT and ACT, and even for writing the kinds of biographical essays that accompany college applications. I'm pretty sure we'll revisit that this year as we consider Kennady's college options. A few years ago we reviewed and used Student Writing Intensive Level C, along with Fix-It! Grammar. At that time, Landon was finishing up Grade 10 and Kennady was finishing Grade 8. They both used the Writing Intensive course, and Kennady used Fix-It! Grammar. Kennady and I also reviewed Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization. This is an easy-to-use system of memorizing poetry, along with some excellent information about how and why to do so. We set it aside, but it's the kind of course that can be a fun add-on, and I can see us playing with it again during this year.

No-Nonsense Algebra from Math Essentials saved our bacon when it came to Algebra. This course was straight-forward, and truly no-nonsense, presenting the needed lessons in a clear and concise way that Landon could move through quickly when he did the course a number of years ago, and that Kennady (who doesn't intuitively understand math and algebra the way Landon did) could handle without being overwhelmed.



Co-op classes have turned out to be a favorite thing! Last year I was able to hand off French to an experienced tutor so she could learn a second language together with other students. She was also able to take a class in Public Speaking and Presentation that turned out to be her favorite, even though she was reluctant at the beginning. I taught the Non-fiction Writing class, and it was so helpful to have firm deadlines for every writing assignment that I had to enforce. That's one of the great benefits (for us anyway) of co-op - a schedule that we have to stick to. So this year we're back at the co-op, with Kennady taking second year French and second year Speech and Presentation. She'll also be doing Fiction Writing and American History at the co-op, and I will be teaching those classes. Again, the firm deadlines and positive peer pressure will be a benefit!

I seriously could not homeschool without the internet and the many online resources available today! One bears special mention because of how much it offers  - SchoolhouseTeachers.com. We plan on using the course Money 101: Seminars in Personal Finances this year, and maybe will find time to putter about in some of the other 400 or so courses, even though we can't take the time to do any other course in its entirety. If this one interests you, do check this out before the end of August, because there's a BOGO special with lots of extra goodies thrown in.

Post-It Notes - I absolutely love post-it notes of all shapes and sizes. Also colored paper clips. I know, it's weird, but those are my favorite school supplies!

And a new favorite school supply that I love  - Colored Lead Mechanical Pencils! I'm so happy these are a thing!! I found a set last year and thought they'd be perfect for doing editing and proof reading marks on the papers I was grading for the writing class. They were. And I felt like I needed more of them. I stocked up a couple weeks ago and can hardly wait to write little notes to my students in bright colors. Wow, I need help.

What are some of your favorite homeschool things? Leave a comment and let me know! Make sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew Blog to find more Friday Favorites from other homeschool moms in the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop!

Use the linky tools to visit the other participating bloggers, or start with these:

Christine @ Christine Howard
Christy @ The Simple Homemaker
Dawn @ Schoolin' Swag
Debra @ Footprints in the Butter
Diana @ Homeschool Review
Felicia @ Homeschool 4 Life
Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning
Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
Jennifer @ A Glimpse of Our Life

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On my blogs last week . . .

Here on Homeschool Coffee Break:

What Are You Thankful For this Homeschool Year?
Virtual Refrigerator - Never Grow Up
How Do You Fit Electives Into Your Homeschool Schedule?
What Curriculum Are You Using in Your Homeschool?
How Do You Stay Motivated When Homeschooling is Hard?

And on my book blog, Just A Second:

Wordless Wednesday - Back to School
Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Fawkes
What I'm Reading - August 20, 2018
Scripture and a Snapshot - A Hope and a Future

Just A Second is where I share book reviews and other book-related things, and update on what's on my bookshelf. This week I've been reading:

Fawkes: A Novel by Nadine Brandes
Treacherous Is the Night (A Verity Kent Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber

A parting shot . . . a bit of back to school shopping!

Grab the button and link up with Homeschool Highlights!

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Homeschool Highlights guidelines:

• Your blog should be family-friendly content, and your post should include something about homeschooling.
• Please link directly to your post, not your blog's homepage.
• Please include a link in your post to Homeschool Coffee Break - you may use the graphic above if you wish. 
• Visit a couple of the other bloggers and comment or share.

An InLinkz Link-up

I will be linking up my own posts at the following weekly link parties that you may also be interested in: Weekly Wrap-Up hosted by Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

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 ©2006-2018 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/

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What Are You Thankful For this Homeschool Year?

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!

There is a general excitement about the back to school season, whether it's starting a new homeschool year or heading back to a brick and mortar school. I do think that in either case it's the moms that are most excited. It makes me sad to see so many expressions of relief that it's time to put the kids on the yellow bus, because I hope that parents are really that glad to be rid of their children for the day. Moms are excited to see what their kids will accomplish and learn in the coming year, and there's often a bit of anxiety there too, especially with younger kids - will they be okay? Homeschool moms tend to have the same mixed feelings - anticipating the good things that the year will bring, but often a little nervous about whether we've made the right curriculum choices or how we'll manage the time.

Today is Thankful Thursday, so let's focus on the positives!

What Are You Thankful For this Homeschool Year?

I'm so thankful for the time spent with family. I think that in my family, and in many other homeschool families I know, there are genuine friendships that are developed within the family because of the time spent together. Teens gradually transition into a friendship with their parents with less rebellion and hostility. It's a generalization, of course, but still a fair observation. And the bottom line is that I genuinely enjoy my kids' company. As we head into our last year of homeschooling, I'm reminding myself to treasure the time I have with my daughter, even as some of her friends that are a year older are headed away to college.

I'm incredibly thankful for all the good friends - extended family, really! - that we've made through homeschooling. My kids have very close friends that they have practically grown up with, and the moms of those friends are my close friends. I think of some of those teens and young adults as my Auxiliary Kids, and love that they make themselves at home in my house, and that they're comfortable (as far as I can tell anyway!) having conversations with me. I'm grateful that my kids feel the same ease at their friends' homes and with their friends' moms. In this final year of homeschooling, I'm so glad to have friends that are near the same stage of their homeschool journey. Some of my homeschool mom friends have recently graduated their youngest, and some have another year or more after this one. Some are glad to be finished homeschooling and are more than ready for the next phase of their lives, and some feel a sense of loss at the close of the homeschooling journey. Thankfully, we're in it together and can support and pray for each other through the adjustments ahead!

I'm very thankful for how we've been able to customize our kids' education, and for the unique opportunities that they've been able to pursue that might not have been possible except that we homeschool. My oldest son was able to prepare for a career in broadcasting, starting in high school. My third son was able to graduate early thanks to the credits he earned as a member of Civil Air Patrol, and had the time to spend on some of those CAP interests while still in high school. My daughter is able to focus on music and the arts and tailor even her technology credit to that area of interest. I'm especially thankful this year because Kennady is going to be able to start training as a piano technician while still in high school. This opportunity came her way because she was available to do a little part time work at the piano shop starting last school year, and will be available during the daytime for the training and work this coming year.

There are probably hundreds of other things I'm thankful for as we go back to homeschool this year, but those are the three big ones, and I do want to share this before the day gets away from me!

What are you thankful for as we go back to homeschool? Leave a comment and let me know! Make sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew Blog to find more gratitude lists from other homeschool moms in the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop!

Use the linky tools to visit the other participating bloggers, or start with these:

Nicole @ Bless Their Hearts Mom

Patti @ Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy

Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining

Rodna @ Training Children up for Christ

Stacy @ A Homemakers Heart

Tess @ Circling Through This Life

Wendy @ Life at Rossmont

Yvie @ Gypsy Road

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email!

 ©2006-2018 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

How Do You Fit Electives Into Your Homeschool Schedule?

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!

As homeschoolers, we are often curious about the schedules of others. Do we do school every day? Stick to a strict time block schedule? What time do we start in the morning? I'm definitely going to get to questions like those in this series! But today, for the blog hop's Work It In Wednesday theme, I'm going to focus on this schedule-related question:

How Do You Fit Electives Into Your Homeschool Schedule?

It's quite a timely question too, because it's something we're starting to wrestle with for this school year. If you looked at our curriculum line-up yesterday (What Curriculum Are You Using in Your Homeschool?), you might have noticed that it was a pretty full list. Yeah, I've seen homeschool schedules that pack a lot in and make us look like slackers, but honestly that's nine credits worth of work right there. So where do we find room?

Thankfully, that line-up does include the electives for which she is earning high school credit. In addition to the core academics, our high school graduation requirements include:

Bible - 2 credits

Phys.Ed. - 1 credit

Technology - 1 credit

Fine Arts - 1 credit

Health - 1/2 credit

Electives - 5-1/2 credits

Phys.Ed. and Health are already looked after, as is one of the two Bible credits. And I don't even know how many Fine Arts credits she already has. A lot. She has enough credits, but she still needs one more Bible credit and the Technology credit. 

Because we use Notgrass courses for high school history, those Bible credits are easy to fit in! She earned one for Exploring World History, and will get the second one this coming year with Exploring America. That's one easy way to fit full electives into the schedule - with a course that combines credits!

For the Technology credit, we have been a little stumped, but it did occur to us that working in the piano shop might give her a chance to learn about tuning and repairing pianos. While we were still in the thinking stage, the shop beat us to the punch and offered the training to her in order to prepare her for a Piano Technician job! So that just became her credit course. In order to do that, she'll be keeping track of her hours and what she is doing and learning, and she will earn what is basically an apprenticeship credit. 

Helpful Tip: For an unusual high school credit that doesn't come out of a textbook, write a course description that states what the objectives are and what the student will be doing to learn those skills and acquire that knowledge. Log the hours spent on the training or study. If they are doing something like this - apprenticing or interning - some documentation from the employer or expert that is guiding them is best. We'll be using (and we highly recommend!) the resource Internship for High School Credit  from Apologia Educational Ministries to help us document this particular credit.

(Read our full review here: Internship for High School Credit - from Apologia (A Homeschool Coffee Break Review) or the follow-up about how we used it last year when Kennady interned as a Director's Assistant with the Children's Chorus: Internships in High School (Blogging Through the Alphabet)

Fine Arts has been very easy for Kennady to fit in, because it's what she gravitates towards anyway. It's more a matter of fitting in the academics around the music and art, as far as she's concerned! She takes guitar lessons, plays and sings with a couple of our church worship bands, and sings in a children's chorus program. We count hours for lessons, chorus rehearsals and performances, and band rehearsals and performances, but I saw no reason to even attempt to record hours for all the hours spent practicing on her own. 

Helpful Tip: If you're giving high school credit for music lessons, have your student keep a simple log of their lesson and practice times, and award the credit based on hours. You may find that the lesson times alone make up enough hours, but practice time can certainly be counted if needed. If your student is hit and miss with practicing, having to keep a log may help them be more consistent.

She enjoys drawing and painting, so even though she hasn't done an art course as such during high school, she has still earned some credit. How did we "fit that in"? I totaled the hours she spent on a couple of big projects, even though the majority of the work was done "outside" of school. (When you homeschool, are there really school hours and non-school hours?) Twice she designed and painted full size backdrops for the kids Christmas plays at church. This involved coming up with a design idea and sketching it for approval, preparing the canvas, blocking the design, and painting it. For both of the backdrops, she got some help from friends, but she was in charge of the project, so she had to manage and direct her assistants. Worth some credit? It sure was! She's also done live art during Easter and Christmas Eve services, which also involved design and planning to pull off.

Helpful Tip: This is a great example of an elective credit earned without a formal curriculum. If your student is involved in any kind of ongoing project or service (e.g. - learning the details of the sound system and how to mix the sound board, and running the sound every Sunday morning for your church service), it may be worth an elective credit. Log the hours and write a description of the skills developed if you choose to include it on the transcript.

Christmas in Kid City Skyline, KAT - December 2015

What about field trips and other fun add-ons? To be honest, it was a lot easier to find time for all kinds of field trips and outings and legitimately include them as part of our schooling when the kids were young. The schedules and their studies were more flexible, even if herding everyone into a vehicle and getting them to and from was a bit more challenging. As my students got older, and their studies were more focused, we became just a bit pickier when it came to field trips, and we stopped going on every outing our homeschool groups offered. Our schedule was a bit more complicated because we had part time jobs and music lessons and other time commitments that we planned around. And we found that we evaluated possible field trips with a more critical eye. Sure, the visit to the one-room schoolhouse historical day would be fun and educational, but it's an entire day out of our schedule and we're studying ancient world history rather than American history, so is it worth it? Sometimes we decided it was, but often we decided to take a pass. It depended on the timing and the appeal and relevance of the trip.

How do you find time and space to Work It In? Leave a comment and let me know! Make sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew Blog to find out how other homeschool moms are doing it on Work It In Wednesday in the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop!

Use the linky tools to visit the other participating bloggers, or start with these:

Lisa @ Farm Fresh Adventures

Lori @ At Home: where life happens

Margaret @ Creative Madness Mama

Marla @ Jump Into Genius

Meredith @ Powerline Productions: Being World Changers/Raising World Changers

Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays

Missica @ Through The Open Window

Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email!

 ©2006-2018 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What Curriculum Are You Using in Your Homeschool?

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!

Pretty sure the number one question homeschoolers ask each other is this one:

What Curriculum Are You Using in Your Homeschool?

We all want to know what everyone else is using! Sometimes because we're looking to make a change, or planning ahead. Sometimes to make a connection with another homeschool family using the same books. But a lot of times, it's purely out of curiosity! Well, today is Take a Look Tuesday - the perfect opportunity to take a look at what we've chosen for the upcoming school year!

Grammar and Composition

We really liked the non-fiction writing course from Writing with Sharon Watson that we did in co-op last year, and although a couple of mom asked me about teaching it again, I knew Kennady wanted something different. She really wanted to do something with creative writing. So we decided to do Writing Fiction [in High School]: Bringing Your Stories to Life! which is also by Sharon Watson. I'll be teaching this course at the co-op, which will be another stretch for me. Not just teaching, but teaching fiction writing. But I'm looking forward to it - it looks like a very entertaining course!

      

(Find out more in my preview post in the Blogging Through the Alphabet series: Writing Fiction in High School)

Math

Ah yes, the favorite subject of exactly none of my kids! Never fear, this should be a fairly easy course, after Kennady worked so long to get through Algebra! She does need one more math credit, and needless to say, she has not requested Trig or Pre-Calculus.  But seriously, I do require my kids to do a Consumer Math course during high school, so she'll be doing a combination of Money 101: Seminars in Personal Finances from SchoolhouseTeachers.com and Consumer Math for Christian Schools from BJU Press. I picked up the BJU Press book second-hand and it's a full credit, but it's a few years old and it's a textbook. Textbook means reading, and heaven knows she's got enough on her plate this year. Money 101 is only a half credit, but it's media based and more up to date. So I'm working on picking from both resources to come up with a practical course that will satisfy the credit requirement without weighing her down with too much busywork in an already very full year.

(And by the way, there are something like 400 other courses available on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, and they have a BOGO offer right now. Start an Ultimate Membership by August 31, 2018, for only $139/year and receive a second year FREE! Plus other goodies too. So now is a good time to check that out!)

History, Bible, and Literature

History courses from Notgrass have been a staple in our homeschool for many years, so I was planning for Kennady to complete her required American History credit this year by studying Exploring America. Then the lady that was going to teach this at co-op had to withdraw, and we were looking for another instructor. I figured since Kennady was doing this anyway, I might as well teach it and she could do it through the co-op. And if a couple other students were taking it too, it might be more enjoyable for her, and we'd have a bit more motivation to stick to the deadlines and get done. Plus I'd earn a few dollars in tuition. So that's what we're doing. It will be a full History and full Bible credit, but we'll wait until classes start before making final decisions on how much of the Lit part of the course we'll do.




Electives - Co-ops and Classes

French II - Kennady will continue with the French instructor from last year at the co-op, as will two of her classmates. They are carrying on with the rest of the textbook French I for Christian Schools from BJU Press, and the instructor adds in other reading and activities. This will be another full credit.



Speech and Presentation II - This class is also a continuation of the course she did last year at co-op, and is worth a half credit. This may have been her favorite class from last year, and she was really looking forward to another round!



Children's Chorus -  This is Kennady's final year in this upper level chorus. It's an excellent program that provides outstanding music education in choral singing, and she really enjoys it. It's a full Fine Arts credit. Like she needs more of those! But music is her passion, and the direction for her future career, so it's all good!

Guitar Lessons - I'm kind of assuming that Kennady will want to take guitar lessons again this coming year, although it will be a challenge to make time. But as I said, this is her passion and her career choice. Regardless of whether she takes lessons, she will continue playing on worship teams and she is also likely to start taking her own students in ukulele and guitar.

Piano Tuning and Technology - This will be the required technology credit that we have been trying to figure out. Kennady has been working part time at the music shop where her guitar teacher is a piano technician, and they've had her start working on pianos occasionally. Just a couple weeks ago, they asked her to consider allowing them to train her in piano repair and technology work, as long as she could commit to staying on and working for them for at least a certain time once she was trained. In a way it was a surprise how excited she was about the opportunity, but she really does like working on the pianos. Since they are also willing to help her get started teaching guitar and ukulele, it seems like a great fit for her! We're still working out details but I think it's safe to say this is a go! (And this is something she can do because she's homeschooled, and has the opportunity and flexibility to make it happen!)

What do you think of our curriculum line-up? Leave a comment and let me know! Make sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew Blog to take a look at more curriculum and resources highlighted by other bloggers in the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop!

Use the linky tools to visit the other participating bloggers, or start with these:

Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool

Angie @ Run Ran Family Adventures & Learning

Annette @ A Net in Time

Ashley @ Gift of Chaos

Betty @ Let’s Get Real

Brenda @ Counting Pinecones

Carol @ Home Sweet Life

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email!

 ©2006-2018 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.