So our co-op, Williamsburg Classical Academy, held a Homeschooling towards college seminar this month. We were lucky enough to have a speaker, Mrs. Dori Staehle, educational consultant and former homeschooler , come and enlighten us all the way from her home in North Carolina. Mrs. Dori is not only a former educator who has the experience of getting all her children into their top choice colleges, but she was also a former admissions officer and homeschool liaison for a NC university, which puts her in an amazing position to tutor the rest of us! She spoke for the two morning sessions-
For all those who don't know, competitive sports is an Honors class. Cool!
In science, a lab is worth a half credit, which shows you completed a lab for that science- even though public schools rarely break this apart, it's important for homeschoolers to show the lab in their work- and the text portion is a worth a full credit. Mrs. Dori said Apologia Biology was worth Honors credit. As a Master in educational tutoring, she had seen enough texts, and done enough tutoring in all subjects, to understand that their text covers exactly what the what the public schools' honors biology covers.
On the math portion of your child's transcript, start with Algebra I. It makes sure that the college admission's officer understands you've taken the entire gambit of math courses. I was only going to give my child her 4 math credits and just take the top four classes for her math, which should be Calculus by the time my daughter graduates in two years, but Mrs. Dori said other admissions officers were sometimes confused by that and asked if they had ever had Algebra 1. Mrs. Dori told an anecdote about one occurrence. (I'm paraphrasing) "You think these very bright admissions officers would realize a student getting dual enrollment from a community college for pre-calculus would have taken Algebra 1 somewhere, but they questioned it. So always start there."
Classes taken for dual enrollment can be written off your taxes:) Yeah. That will be my first ever educational discount. (So wish homeschoolers could get some of that $250 a dollar write off public school teacher do.)
10:55-12:00- Navigating the College Maze: A former Admissions Counselor and homeschooling parent will explain the college process, what courses your student should take when, SAT vs. ACT, how to score more scholarship money, what should (and shouldn't) be on your teen's high school transcript, and what's the real scoop on financial aid.
The next hour was just as enlightening for me. In "Navigating the college waters", Mrs. Dori spoke about the terminology used in the financial office. A "grant" or "scholarship" is free money (that you never pay back), and an "Award" is a fancy word for a LOAN. Do not be fooled. I honestly had forgotten all about that since I left college. (Financial) "Aid" is need based, while "Scholarships" are academically based. Contrary to what others have told me, Mrs Dori said don't include your child's Iowa or CAT scores anywhere. Colleges don't ever look at them- even for additional consideration to decide a final weight if one is needed, they will not be used a factor for or against you.
You can include as many classes and courses as your child took. Do not be afraid that they have too many credits, which is good for us because my daughter, whose only taking 4 classes this year to try to slow her down a bit, already has 29.5 credits- making 33,.5 at the end of this year. Since most highschoolers graduate with 29 credits with an advanced degree, I was starting to worry if that would be look "weird". Nope. Mrs. Dori told us. It's fine to highlight how great your student is & how much they can accomplish. Many homeschoolers "are like diamonds in the rough. Hiding how great they are." This is not the time to be shy about how awesome your student is!
I knew this from my many other transcripts talk from Mrs. Ingrid Cannon, creator of "Transcript Boot camp" (which was very empowering to me to watch and learn from), but create your child's transcript by the subject, not by the grade. This gives you far more flexibility. Because of this concept, my daughter can take a light year, and it won't read as "slacking" or bring up any questions of why this year was lower for her than previous or future years. It just is, and there are no negative repercussions for letting her take a year to explore her passion of reading more fully. (which is being transcribed as "Contemporary English", btw.)
The big thing to know is start early. Look at the goal and figure out the plan to get to point B- early, like in middle school. I personally started learning more about this process at the end of my oldest child's 5th grade year. There is nothing worse than seeing that look on a parent's face when they realize/think they've really missed something in planning or executing their child's highschool years.
By planning early, Mayah has had this year to take it a bit slower. My rational is actually something purely pragmatic- hormones. When looking at students , the lowest grade point averages can be found between 12-14. They almost always raise after 14. To traditional educators I'm sure this appears to be the students "learning their lesson", "buckling down", "getting serious about their future" or whatever other expression they wish to use. To me, I see hormones, which are not a friend of memory retrieval. Hey, that's puberty for you! Plan early so you can plan around it for a year :)
Mrs. Dori left before lunch, and the floor opened up to two other great speakers:
Afternoon session-
"What does ready look like? Explaining The college common AP" - Catryna Jackson
I can only comment on the two sessions I attended- Mrs. Catryna's common college application lecture and Mrs. Gwen's extra curricular talk. Mrs. Catryna got right down to business- log-in on August 1st. The essays, which your child will have to produce for the common college application, get released that day. Better to have all summer, than 1 month, to get them done. Mrs. Catryna's 2nd tip was- read them over. Proof read them. You don't want to change them, or rewrite them for the student, but you will want to make sure that nothing is amiss. They do not understand how some things will read to other adults, and since this is the only chance many colleges will get to see your student, it must be the best vision of them. The other reason for logging-in right away is so YOU have time to write all YOUR essays. You will need a homeschool philosophy and a guidance counselor letter. You need to make yourself your child's guidance counselor. Do not think it will look somehow better to place a friend or church youth leader there. The common college ap tells them you are homeschool right upfront- no getting around that. So make your life easy and place yourself as the guidance counselor of your homeschool. Also, it's good to know now, that you will need the text book name for each class your child took. Mrs. Catryna's tip was do not think you will be able to easily remember what English your child took 3 years later. Just write it all down now! Since I learned this last year, I went back to create my list , and she's right, it's hard to remember every single text book they took for each class. I remembered most, but I had to really think and look through emails for the name of one book that we no longer owned. If you did not use one text book, ie. This year's my daughter will have Contemporary English, "various" will be the word in the "textbook" tab. While doing that for some, or even most is ok, Some subjects NEED a text. Putting "various" down for Algebra 2, will look very unusual to say the least. You can also list the primary texts. Mrs. Catryna's bonus tip, other than giving us an intervention of reality into the college common application, was that she attached recommendation letters from her daughter's professors and tutors to various places; At the end of the guidance counselor's letter. As the side bar to her daughter's resume which she created and added the optional section of documents. When ever she updated her daughter's information, she added letters of recommendation to them. Since her daughter received a full scholarship to her top college choice in Boston, and numerous scholarships and merit aid from other universities she will not be attending, I take her advice like a new gold miner's advice from wealthy, retired prospector next to my claim. I can only reap the benefits from what she has to tell me. Thank-you Catryna for this bits of gold advice and treasures of information.
1.Creating extracurricular activities is about building a whole person who is passionate about life and the community they in; It's not about checking off a box on a college application. If you do it right, it will be valuable in that well as well, but more importantly, you have helped your child blossom.
2. Knowing which E.C. activities to purse can be tricky. Gwen gave us a short, helpful check list-
-Does it support the student's interests?
-Be willing to support your child's EC's with both time and money if they fulfill a real need and interest for your child. Obviously, the sky is not the limit, but be willing to try to work with your child to meet their needs and the family's.
-Know that NOTHING is too crazy to be an extracurricular. Gwen's son was the top Kite flying young adult in the country at one time and went to India to represent the United States that year's International Kite flying tournament. He now has a small business making and selling his invented kites in 6 countries across the world. All, she said, from his first bamboo and cellophane kite put together with tape in 5th grade. Um, wow!
3. Be willing to adjust the academic schedule to make room for extracurricular activities. This is one of interest to me because while I don't do "school at home", I do not by any means unschool so it is a good reminder to me to keep that balance going and remember that some opportunities have windows that smaller than when their next math assignment is due.
2:30-3:30 - "Had I known then what I know now... " Multiple parent panel; open for discussion and questions.- Gwen Sturdy, Catryna Jackson, and Mary Blunt
We ended the afternoon with a little Q&A session. The presenters all had a tid bit for us to start the talk off. Catryna said, "Start early". Gwen remarked that it's important to look at the whole person when homeschooling, and that it's possible to reach for great Ivy league schools. Mary spoke about her kids' paths. She said, "Listen to your kids!" While she prepared each of her children with an preparatory college education, neither one seems headed there. Her daughter is a dancer with the Sesame Street traveling theater and her son is now talking about being a chef- and those are great choices as well!
Knowledge is power, and what these presenters gave was powerful stuff! Things that can make or break your child's chance to pursue a dream, a reminder that we're not in the "business of raising students. We're in the business of raising people. There is much more to life a than academics and ECs are the door into a non-academic side life" (How to be a High School Super \Star- by Cal Newport) and that has real-life applications.
9:45- 10:45 RU Ready 4 College? Teens, do you know what's needed for college admission, how to choose a college and a major, application tips, and do's and don'ts for the college visit, and how to stay grounded once you go away to school? Come hear some tips from an "Admissions Insider" and former homeschooling parent of 2 recent college grads.
In "Are you Ready?" talk, which was mostly about transcripts, I learned that there are no plus or minus in grades for your child's transcript. Interesting! Another fascinating tidbit is that an AP class, when no test is taken, should be labeled as Honors, not AP. Yes, our public school counter parts get away with this all the time, but it calls into question whether the material was truly AP quality. BUT oddly, enough, if you take the test and get even a "2", you can still carry the designation of AP. My concern, & I kept her trapped in a series of questions about this topic, was "What if they get an "A" for the AP class, but only a "2" or "3" on the exam? Wouldn't that be a credibility issue?" She said it didn't matter. LOTS of p.s-ers carry that same story with them. It's a one day test, Mrs. Dori explained, & anything can happen, but taking that test, even if you don't do great on it, which should always be the aim, is ok.For all those who don't know, competitive sports is an Honors class. Cool!
In science, a lab is worth a half credit, which shows you completed a lab for that science- even though public schools rarely break this apart, it's important for homeschoolers to show the lab in their work- and the text portion is a worth a full credit. Mrs. Dori said Apologia Biology was worth Honors credit. As a Master in educational tutoring, she had seen enough texts, and done enough tutoring in all subjects, to understand that their text covers exactly what the what the public schools' honors biology covers.
On the math portion of your child's transcript, start with Algebra I. It makes sure that the college admission's officer understands you've taken the entire gambit of math courses. I was only going to give my child her 4 math credits and just take the top four classes for her math, which should be Calculus by the time my daughter graduates in two years, but Mrs. Dori said other admissions officers were sometimes confused by that and asked if they had ever had Algebra 1. Mrs. Dori told an anecdote about one occurrence. (I'm paraphrasing) "You think these very bright admissions officers would realize a student getting dual enrollment from a community college for pre-calculus would have taken Algebra 1 somewhere, but they questioned it. So always start there."
Classes taken for dual enrollment can be written off your taxes:) Yeah. That will be my first ever educational discount. (So wish homeschoolers could get some of that $250 a dollar write off public school teacher do.)
10:55-12:00- Navigating the College Maze: A former Admissions Counselor and homeschooling parent will explain the college process, what courses your student should take when, SAT vs. ACT, how to score more scholarship money, what should (and shouldn't) be on your teen's high school transcript, and what's the real scoop on financial aid.
The next hour was just as enlightening for me. In "Navigating the college waters", Mrs. Dori spoke about the terminology used in the financial office. A "grant" or "scholarship" is free money (that you never pay back), and an "Award" is a fancy word for a LOAN. Do not be fooled. I honestly had forgotten all about that since I left college. (Financial) "Aid" is need based, while "Scholarships" are academically based. Contrary to what others have told me, Mrs Dori said don't include your child's Iowa or CAT scores anywhere. Colleges don't ever look at them- even for additional consideration to decide a final weight if one is needed, they will not be used a factor for or against you.
You can include as many classes and courses as your child took. Do not be afraid that they have too many credits, which is good for us because my daughter, whose only taking 4 classes this year to try to slow her down a bit, already has 29.5 credits- making 33,.5 at the end of this year. Since most highschoolers graduate with 29 credits with an advanced degree, I was starting to worry if that would be look "weird". Nope. Mrs. Dori told us. It's fine to highlight how great your student is & how much they can accomplish. Many homeschoolers "are like diamonds in the rough. Hiding how great they are." This is not the time to be shy about how awesome your student is!
I knew this from my many other transcripts talk from Mrs. Ingrid Cannon, creator of "Transcript Boot camp" (which was very empowering to me to watch and learn from), but create your child's transcript by the subject, not by the grade. This gives you far more flexibility. Because of this concept, my daughter can take a light year, and it won't read as "slacking" or bring up any questions of why this year was lower for her than previous or future years. It just is, and there are no negative repercussions for letting her take a year to explore her passion of reading more fully. (which is being transcribed as "Contemporary English", btw.)
The big thing to know is start early. Look at the goal and figure out the plan to get to point B- early, like in middle school. I personally started learning more about this process at the end of my oldest child's 5th grade year. There is nothing worse than seeing that look on a parent's face when they realize/think they've really missed something in planning or executing their child's highschool years.
By planning early, Mayah has had this year to take it a bit slower. My rational is actually something purely pragmatic- hormones. When looking at students , the lowest grade point averages can be found between 12-14. They almost always raise after 14. To traditional educators I'm sure this appears to be the students "learning their lesson", "buckling down", "getting serious about their future" or whatever other expression they wish to use. To me, I see hormones, which are not a friend of memory retrieval. Hey, that's puberty for you! Plan early so you can plan around it for a year :)
Mrs. Dori left before lunch, and the floor opened up to two other great speakers:
Afternoon session-
| Room 1- | Room 2- |
12:15 - 1:15 "Designing a college program for middle and high school"- Gwen Sturdy | 12:15 -1:15 "What does ready look like? Explaining The college common AP" - Catryna Jackson |
| 1:25 - 2:25 "Extra curricular: honing skills and pursuing passions"- Gwen Sturdy | 1:25 - 2:25 "Tests that matter- CLEP, AP, SAT 2 subject tests" Catryna Jackson |
"What does ready look like? Explaining The college common AP" - Catryna Jackson
I can only comment on the two sessions I attended- Mrs. Catryna's common college application lecture and Mrs. Gwen's extra curricular talk. Mrs. Catryna got right down to business- log-in on August 1st. The essays, which your child will have to produce for the common college application, get released that day. Better to have all summer, than 1 month, to get them done. Mrs. Catryna's 2nd tip was- read them over. Proof read them. You don't want to change them, or rewrite them for the student, but you will want to make sure that nothing is amiss. They do not understand how some things will read to other adults, and since this is the only chance many colleges will get to see your student, it must be the best vision of them. The other reason for logging-in right away is so YOU have time to write all YOUR essays. You will need a homeschool philosophy and a guidance counselor letter. You need to make yourself your child's guidance counselor. Do not think it will look somehow better to place a friend or church youth leader there. The common college ap tells them you are homeschool right upfront- no getting around that. So make your life easy and place yourself as the guidance counselor of your homeschool. Also, it's good to know now, that you will need the text book name for each class your child took. Mrs. Catryna's tip was do not think you will be able to easily remember what English your child took 3 years later. Just write it all down now! Since I learned this last year, I went back to create my list , and she's right, it's hard to remember every single text book they took for each class. I remembered most, but I had to really think and look through emails for the name of one book that we no longer owned. If you did not use one text book, ie. This year's my daughter will have Contemporary English, "various" will be the word in the "textbook" tab. While doing that for some, or even most is ok, Some subjects NEED a text. Putting "various" down for Algebra 2, will look very unusual to say the least. You can also list the primary texts. Mrs. Catryna's bonus tip, other than giving us an intervention of reality into the college common application, was that she attached recommendation letters from her daughter's professors and tutors to various places; At the end of the guidance counselor's letter. As the side bar to her daughter's resume which she created and added the optional section of documents. When ever she updated her daughter's information, she added letters of recommendation to them. Since her daughter received a full scholarship to her top college choice in Boston, and numerous scholarships and merit aid from other universities she will not be attending, I take her advice like a new gold miner's advice from wealthy, retired prospector next to my claim. I can only reap the benefits from what she has to tell me. Thank-you Catryna for this bits of gold advice and treasures of information.
"Extra curricular: honing skills and pursuing passions"- Gwen Sturdy
I gained a new perspective of Mrs. Gwen Sturdy as she talked about letting her kids follow their passions and seeing clearly as how she grasps the idea of homeschooling as educational journey and not as a commodity, like so many box schools or "school at home" educations. (As a side note, I love how Gwen is able to create charts, power points and handouts for all events. This one on the topic of Extra Curriculars was no exception to her paper printing, corner stapled organization. I envy her ability to make everything seem doable in the outlined, 3 tiered margined columns of her handouts :) I am having trouble trying to pick out particular points to relate, since everything was really a bullet point of interest to know in Gwen's hour long presentation. I'll go with my top three favorite points in no particular order-1.Creating extracurricular activities is about building a whole person who is passionate about life and the community they in; It's not about checking off a box on a college application. If you do it right, it will be valuable in that well as well, but more importantly, you have helped your child blossom.
2. Knowing which E.C. activities to purse can be tricky. Gwen gave us a short, helpful check list-
-Does it support the student's interests?
-Be willing to support your child's EC's with both time and money if they fulfill a real need and interest for your child. Obviously, the sky is not the limit, but be willing to try to work with your child to meet their needs and the family's.
-Know that NOTHING is too crazy to be an extracurricular. Gwen's son was the top Kite flying young adult in the country at one time and went to India to represent the United States that year's International Kite flying tournament. He now has a small business making and selling his invented kites in 6 countries across the world. All, she said, from his first bamboo and cellophane kite put together with tape in 5th grade. Um, wow!
3. Be willing to adjust the academic schedule to make room for extracurricular activities. This is one of interest to me because while I don't do "school at home", I do not by any means unschool so it is a good reminder to me to keep that balance going and remember that some opportunities have windows that smaller than when their next math assignment is due.
2:30-3:30 - "Had I known then what I know now... " Multiple parent panel; open for discussion and questions.- Gwen Sturdy, Catryna Jackson, and Mary Blunt
We ended the afternoon with a little Q&A session. The presenters all had a tid bit for us to start the talk off. Catryna said, "Start early". Gwen remarked that it's important to look at the whole person when homeschooling, and that it's possible to reach for great Ivy league schools. Mary spoke about her kids' paths. She said, "Listen to your kids!" While she prepared each of her children with an preparatory college education, neither one seems headed there. Her daughter is a dancer with the Sesame Street traveling theater and her son is now talking about being a chef- and those are great choices as well!
Knowledge is power, and what these presenters gave was powerful stuff! Things that can make or break your child's chance to pursue a dream, a reminder that we're not in the "business of raising students. We're in the business of raising people. There is much more to life a than academics and ECs are the door into a non-academic side life" (How to be a High School Super \Star- by Cal Newport) and that has real-life applications.
Wow! You did an awesome job of summarizing the event!
ReplyDeleteThanks. You did an awesome job- lining up speakers, planning for your talks, and speaking at- this great event ;)
ReplyDeleteBut thanks.