BJ's Homeschool - Through My Teen's Eyes

Homeschooling through my teen's eyes...well that is easy to do, as my daughter loved taking pictures, and sharing about her homeschool, especially during high school.

When my daughter was a senior in our homeschool, she decided to make a video about her homeschool.  She had been studying video making as an elective, and wanted to put together something that would tell her friends and family about her high school years.

I just provided the video camera, and she did all the rest.  Well, I got to help with some of the filming, too.

So today, I am sharing her video....then some of the highlights of her high school years and graduation.  Those I took, but they were some of her special memories of high school at home.

LINK - My Homeschool Adventure Video - We are a small family, with an only, so we did a lot of extra-curricular activities. I hope it gives you encouragement and ideas for your homeschooling journey through high school.

Now for some high school highlights, here's one of the best parts for my teen - her homeschool prom.  Here' s the story of that....She found this dress at a thrift shop.

A Rooster and A Prom Dress

She also loved participating in a speech and debate program called Youth and Government.  Here's a selfie with some of her Youth and Government friends....

Here's one of her field trips with her co-op friends...

She loved reading on our deck....

and doing science experiments at our local river, related to salmon and spawning....

and entering contests at our state fair.

This gave her outside feedback on her work.  But best of all were 
our study breaks at the beach, and it didn't have to be a sunny day to be fun...

Finally, here are the photos of her homeschool graduation picnic... 

Celebrate Your Graduate Your Way has photos from the ceremony and a link to graduation ceremonies around the US, hoping they will be held again this spring.

So that gives you a peek into our high school years at home, from my daughter's eyes. 

Every homeschool is different.  That's the beauty of homeschooling.

Does your teen like to do photography too?  

What do you like best about homeschooling teens?  What is your biggest challenge?  

This post is a part of the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.  Check out all the other great posts from iHN homeschoolers and more.

If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, I have many high school and college posts there: 

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 Homeschooling High School Pinterest Board

Homeschooling high school yielded us so many gifts, for my daughter, for our family, and for her high school education.

Thanks for stopping by,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her 20 year old daughter whom she homeschooled from day one.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers homeschool help and messages at BJ's Consulting.

 

Want to stay in touch?  

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Copyright, 2016, All Rights Reserved

BJ's High School - A Week in the Life -

Do you wonder what homeschooling your teen might look like?

Today, I'd like to share how we did our days during my daughter's senior year...fitting in core studies, but also making time for other important things like..cookie making, homemade electives and not to forget, nature study to refresh and renew us.

Usually, my teen and I would meet on Sunday nights, and make a schedule for the following week, based on what was needed to be accomplished for each core subject.  Then my daughter would write out a rough schedule for her week. 

We always met in the mornings to go over the studies for the day. My teen would decide, then, what she wanted to do when.  Once she was a senior, she scheduled her week herself, based on a list of assignments that I gave her each Sunday. 

Core studies were usually done in the mornings through the early afternoons.  After a break, we often took time for science experiments, writing projects, or electives.  Homeschooling high school took us a lot more time than middle school.  But we still had time for teen-led electives, and we built in the fun, too.

Then evenings were for outside activities a couple of days per week.  Sometimes evenings were used to finish up work, as needed.  
Yes, that's a lot of study time.... 

However, when we got behind we would do a catch up week, and take a whole day to do each core subject, like English on Monday, math on Tuesday, etc. 

For catch-up weeks, my teen got up early, and did a whole block of one subject each day, allowing for solid studying through the late afternoon.  Then we looked for something fun to do afterwards, to de-stress. 

So, here's how one of our catch-up weeks went, from my teen's senior year...... 

It was in the spring, a few weeks before her homeschool prom. We had just bought this dress....

We got this at a thrift shop.

After all the excitement of the prom dress...we did some catch up work, but also a lot of goofing off, too.

Monday, my teen focused on her chemistry course, at the coffeeshop. We are using Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS).  I love how it is self graded!  

If there is a question that I can't answer (btw, I am not a science person!), my teen could have tutoring from SOS, by the half hour, which was easily arranged, and has been a great help to us.  There are also a number of online tutoring options available, for help, as you know.


Tuesday, it was warm enough to study outside....so nice!! So my teen studied outside and made it an English day, using our Oak Meadow Literature and Composition course.  Afterwards, we drove together just for fun and for her driving practice.

Studying outside makes it so much better!

Wednesday, she worked on her online Government course.  Taking a lot of time at once, really helped her to catch up on this course.  Then she had an irish dance practice, getting ready for this recital...

A chance to hang out with her teen friends.

Thursday was math day. We went to the library, where I worked on some computer projects, while my teen did her online math course, also from SOS.

Later we stopped by our local farmer's market and picked up some favorite veggies, for a easy to prepare dinner for that night...

I love the farmer's market.

We also picked up some veggies starts at this market, can't wait until I can plant them!

Friday morning, a friend came over to study. They worked together on one of my daughter's electives, video-making.  I think making cookies and was just as interesting, though...

After she left, there was one assignment and an essay to finish for the weekend.  

But we both needed a break, so we decided to head out... into a beautiful, sunny day!  We drove to our most favorite beach... and were treated to this gorgeous blue sky!  Yes, I am a photography mom.

I think that 1-on-1 time is so important to our children as teens, especially as they begin to widen their horizons.

Enjoying nature means a lot to me and I am so glad to be passing that onto my daughter.  She has become quite a photographer, too.  What hobbies do you like to do with your teens?  They can be made into a homemade course!

My daughter had a busy senior year to finish her college entrance requirements in English, science, social studies, and also her elective.  There was a lot of concentrated work to be done, so we also built in concentrated FUN, too.  You gotta play!

Especially when there is such a nice sunset.....

My daughter has developed a true appreciation of nature.

We made sure that we not only worked hard, we played hard. too.  And all of our electives were teen-led.  Plus my daughter got to choose her curriculum for each of her high school courses. 

Are you curious how our days looked when my daughter was younger?  We homeschooled all the way, and here's how we did it in the elementary years.

My daughter is in college now.  She received acceptance letters from all of colleges that she applied to, with scholarship offers,...... and that could be your teen!  It really is not that hard!   I put all my best tips for high school and college into a book.  Have you seen it around yet?

Kindle or in print on Amazon 

What does your high schooler's day look like?  I really do love reading your comments.

If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, I have many high school and college posts there: 

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 Homeschooling High School Pinterest Board

Homeschooling high school yielded us so many gifts, for my daughter, for our family, and for her high school education.

This post is a part of the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.  Check out all the other great posts from iHN homeschoolers and more.

Thanks for stopping by,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college junior, whom she homeschooled from day one.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote the book - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

Want to stay in touch?  

Subscribe, Pinterest,Twitter, Facebook 

This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.

Copyright, 2017, All Rights Reserved

Note - This post may included affiliate links to products that we love and have used or would use in our  own homeschool. Please see my disclosure policy.


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BJ's Homeschool - Through my Kiddo's Eyes

Welcome! I am glad that you are here.  I invite you to  
subscribe & follow me on Pinterest, G+, Twitter, Facebook. 

We started homeschooling when my daughter was 4.  We did not have a chance for her to take pictures when she was so young, but I did, as she was doing things during her homeschooling day. 

So today, I'd like to share some of the great memories that I have of my daughter's early homeschooling through the elementary years.

Early on, my daughter loved to dance, or jump on and off the couch, after doing a very short lesson......

Here's one of the very short lessons....

She always loved penguins and we went to the zoo all the time....

We used lots of manipulatives, ie small toys, like this activity...She had an illustration from a book that she wanted to create with things that she found around the house....

We loved going to the park, to watch the stream, and we saw that year after year, the salmon began to come back and spawn...

During the elementary years, we did a lot of hands art, like hand sewing, weaving on a small loom, knitting, and the like...

These activities helped with building attention span, concentration, and fine motor skills, and creativity, too....

We did our lessons each day, but then there was time for other things, like cooking together, or making cookies...

Learning at home worked well for us, as it allowed me to meet her sensory needs.  We had a large exercise ball for bouncing across the room, and a small trampoline, too.  

I could also tweet her curriculum to best fit her needs.  One year I asked her to do a big project and she chose a puppet show.  She made the puppet stage, all the characters, and she wrote the script as well.  Doing the puppet show was really kind of an initial lesson in public speaking...

One summer, my daughter did a lemonade stand, which involved math, art, and organizational skills....

We did some parks department classes, a homeschool day (like a co-op) and pre-ballet and tap.  Then in 3rd grade, we started an irish stepdancing class, and the next year, the group started doing performances at local retirement homes....

She made a lot of friends in irish....Then, there was always time to spend in the garden...

And early on, she tried a gynmastics class, and that stuck.  It became her favorite extra-curricular activity to do.

 

These are just a few of her homeschool memories, from the early years, preschool through elementary.  

What does your  young learner see through their eyes, at your homeschool?   What do you want to include to build in good memories?  I love reading your comments.  

This post is a part of the 8th Annual Back to Homeschool Blog Hop.  Check out all the other great posts from iHN homeschoolers and more.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy blogs at BJ's Homeschool, where she writes about high school,  college, and all the fun of homeschooling the early yearss, too.  As a veteran homeschooler, Betsy also offers homeschool help to families.   


This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.

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Copyright, 2016, All Rights Reserved

Encouraging your Littlest Writer

Are you looking for ways to encourage your young child's writing skills? 

Today, I am not talking about handwriting, per se, and learning how to form the letters.  Instead, I am looking at helping your kids to express themselves with the written word.  

By that I mean choosing words to write down, or dictate to you, about something that they are interested in.  And to see their words put into writing...

Kids can start doing this before they even know how to write their letters! 

When my daughter was young, we tried a variety of ways, to help her put words on the page.  We found the best ways to inspire my little writer, were the simple ones.  The simplier the better.  

My daughter is in college now, as a newbie freshman, and she loves to write!  This comes in handy with all the essays, research reports, and so forth that they ask of college students these days.

But she learned to love writing, starting when she began to color and paint, before she knew her ABC's.  

How could that be?  It all started with her art, when she was a preschooler.

Putting Words on Artwork

That's because we always wrote a sentence or two on her art creations.  I would ask her to tell me about the picture.  Then I would write her words on the edge of her paper for her.  She loved that!  Seeing her sentence there, as I read it back to her.  She felt proud.  And she was learning the meaning of the written word....with her words, that she dictated to me.

The News of the Day

Then, in K or 1st, or so, we began using wide lined paper, with a space for coloring. We called it "the news of the day.  I would ask my daughter to draw something about her day, or a favorite thing that she had seen recently. 

Then she would tell me about her picture.  At first, I would write the words that she dictated to me for her.  Then I wrote them down on another piece of paper for her to copy, as she learned her letters  But she always chose the words herself. 

These simple approaches were important first steps in developing early writing skills.Choosing her own words showed that she was using the written word to express herself, an important part of early literacy.  

As she learned how to form her letters, she began to write them directly on the page. 

We wrote everyday, usually... but sometimes there was just no news to write about.  Sometimes we really ran out of ideas.  We hit, what adults would call a writer's block.  That's when I found this helpful resource.

Collaborative Books for Young Writers by Scholastic.

It included 25 printables, with a topic, illustration, and a place for little ones to write their words.  Each one has a different theme. And all of them were designed for early learners.....

Topics include Tooth Tales, The Pet Journal, The Suitcase Book, Magical Mail, and 21 more.  

How we used this book - We selected a printable, and gave the pages to my daughter to color, cut, and enjoy.  Then she dictated her words to me, or later,  wrote her own words to go with the chosen printable.  

I helped my daughter when she asked me questions, but did not correct the grammar, or look for neat handwriting, as this activity was all about expressing herself, and feeling proud of her words.  Refining things with spelling, grammar, and legible handwriting would come....much later.

My daughter loved dictating her words to me!  Each printable was designed to be made into a two page book, with a simple title page, where your child can write his own name as the author.  

And he or she is an author!  They are authors of their little books!  Making these little books not only inspires young writers, they also teach your little ones the parts of a book, which is key to early literacy.

Click here to read more.....

Where do you turn when you are looking for writing ideas for your young learners?  I love reading your comments.  What do your little ones like to write about?

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college senior, whom she homeschooled from preK through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, high school & college and wrote - Homeschooling High School with College in Mind.   She offers free homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting. 

Want to stay in touch?

Subscribe, Pinterest, G+, Facebook 



Just click here.

This post was shared on my favorite linkups here.

Copyright, 2017, All Rights Reserved