I recently had the pleasure to host two homeschool informational meetings on zoom due to the overwhelming number of requests many people have had thanks to Covid19.

Here is a recap.  I hope it not only helps you in making a decision but that it encourages you as well.

In my 20 years of homeschooling, I have experienced the good, the bad, the ugly, but also the blessings of homeschooling.

Warning!!!  This is long, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and stay awhile.

If you live in Texas, you may find the state’s requirements and regulations at www.THSC.org

This is also where you will find the template letter you will need to withdraw your child from public school.  https://thsc.org/sending-a-withdrawal-email/

If your child has never been in public school, there is no need to withdraw!

Outside of Texas, please visit www.HSLDA.org

If you are in the northern Houston area, Humble, Kingwood, Porter, New Caney, etc. I HIGHLY suggest you join H.E.A.R.T.  https://www.homeschool-life.com/506/

This group was my lifeline!  By God’s grace and the support of everyone in H.E.A.R.T., my homeschool journey of over 20 years has been possible!  It is only $30 per year for your entire family to join.  This is where you will find play dates at parks, field trips, academic classes, and other enrichment classes.  They also have a forum where questions are posted and where curriculum can be sold and purchased.  Being a member of H.E.A.R.T. will also give you a discount on membership with Texas Home School Coalition and Home School Legal Defense.  Lots of benefits!

Again, if you live in Texas, you will also want to join Texas Home School Coalition at www.THSC.org.  There are tons of benefits to this membership as well.  The biggest benefit is legal representation.

FAQs

Pre-school & Kindergarten

• How much time can I expect to spend with my child?

Formally, no more than 2 hours throughout the day.  Break it up into 20-minute segments.

• What do I teach my child?

Focus on the three Rs:  Reading wRiting, and aRithmetic!

Read to your child aloud a lot!!!  Aloud!!!  Yes, even if your child can read!!!  Check out Read Aloud Revival at https://readaloudrevival.com/

Writing– By writing, I don’t mean your child needs to be writing essays!  Here is where you teach them the names and sounds of the letters.  Have your child do copy work.  Depending on their age, you may need to start with a simple phrase like “God is love.”  From that, explain certain words are capitalized, why we have spaces between words, and punctuation.  There is so much here, I could do an entire class on it!

Arithmetic is just learning numbers, shapes, and basic adding with fun objects or coins.

• What curriculum do you recommend?

This all depends on your teaching style and your child’s learning style.  Most boys don’t do well with workbooks, and neither does a girl who is active and wiggly.  For this age group, my favorites are Five In A Row  https://fiveinarow.com/  and

Sonlight http://www.sonlight.com/rewards/FR20179261  If you decide to purchase Sonlight, please use my reference ID # FR20179261

• One of the best parts of our homeschool week was Super Friday!  My kids attended Super Friday from the time they were old enough until they aged out and then went on to work there.  Super Friday offers enrichment classes such as fencing, cake decorating, dance, art, and so much more.  Check out www.HomeRunMinistries.com for more information.

Elementary

• How much time can I expect to spend with my child?

As your child gets older and is beginning to be introduced to more difficult concepts, the time will increase.  There will be seasons in which your child will grasp concepts without a problem and your school day will be short.  However, there will be times when your child will be challenged and a concept may take a little longer to understand and master.  This is the beauty of homeschooling!!!

• What do I teach my child?

In the state of Texas, the only subjects required are per THSC’s website:

“The curriculum must include the five basic subjects of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and good citizenship.

Good citizenship is similar to civics. Public schools teach one semester of civics, usually in the senior year of high school. Teaching U.S. and Texas history, government (theoretical and practical), the Pledge of Allegiance, and similar activities will also help meet this requirement. THSC provides several ways to help you meet this requirement (see resource box below).”

For more information, please visit their website.

• What curriculum do you recommend?

This is when you start to realize what type of learner your child is.  With that said, I can share my favorite curriculum, but it all depended on each child.

My oldest, a girl, started reading at 3, and by the time she was 5, she was reading chapter books.  Her reading speed, vocabulary, and reading comprehension were her strengths, but she always struggled in math.

For her, Sonlight was heaven!!!  I’m not exaggerating. 

The moment the box filled with books came in, she devoured them.  Sonlight covered our Bible, History, Reading, and Literature.

For science, we loved Apologia.

Spelling Power for spelling was the best for all my kids.  This curriculum will take you all the way through 12th grade!

Because she was my first child, I used Abeka for grammar, but I NEVER had her do all the questions.  Abeka is designed for classroom use; therefore, it has a lot of busy work.  When using this curriculum, I only had my kids do anywhere between 5 to 10 of the questions to see if they grasped the material.  If they did, great!  Move on!  If they didn’t, we would stop, go over more instruction, and do more problems.  I was later introduced to Easy Grammar and Fix It Grammar (IEW).  I prefer these over Abeka.

Middle and High School

• How much time can I expect to spend with my child?

In middle school, your job is to work yourself out of your teaching job!  Yes!  Allow more independent learning and allow for your child to take ownership and responsibility for what he/she is learning.  The goal is to teach your child to teach themselves!  This is what will make them successful after high school whether he goes to college or trade school.

• What do I teach my child?

Well, that depends.  What does your child want to do after high school?  Does he want to go to trade school, Jr. college, 4-year university, grad school, etc.?

Here are the requirements from the state:  https://tea.texas.gov/academics/graduation-information/state-graduation-requirements

I am not even going to try to recreate the wheel.  The best place to go to plan your child’s high school years is HSLDA.org

https://hslda.org/post/creating-my-teens-high-school-plan

• What curriculum do you recommend?

My favorite is still Sonlight! (see comment above)

For writing, in my opinion, there is nothing better than IEW.

https://iew.com/

This is also when I started to outsource several classes.  If you are in the Kingwood/Humble/Porter area, I recommend you look into Home Run Ministries.  www.HomeRunMinistries.com

For specific questions on this program, please contact:

     KarenGriswold@homerunministries.com

AnneTrapani@homerunministries.com

At HRM, my kids were able to take several of their core classes such as math, science, history, etc.

Once I felt my kids were ready for college-level classes, I enrolled them into Lone Star College where they were able to take dual-credit classes.  This was a huge money saver!  When my oldest two graduated from high school, one had over 30 credit hours, and the other one had over 40 credit hours.  Those are classes they didn’t have to take at Baylor (daughter) or LeTourneau (son) which is where they chose to attend.

For more details, check out this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvRBBZUVtK0&list=PL72Iz-_c0cCHRmAKxlrEke6auXmNWc5rs&index=5&t=483s

Testing

• Under state law, you are not required to take any standardized tests.  You can breathe.  You can focus on teaching and not toward passing a test!

I personally had my children take the Stanford Achievement Test every other year at the most until they were in middle school.  Test scores from this test are only sent to you, not the state.  The purpose of this test is to see if your child might need more focus on a particular area, BUT do not allow this test to define you or your child.  Home Run Ministries administers this test once a year in May.  Please contact them directly for more information.

• PSAT/SAT/ACT

According to www.collegeboard.org, the PSAT is…

“The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is a standardized test administered by the College Board and co-sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation in the United States.”

Note that the only year the PSAT counts is your junior year.  Personally, I had my children start taking this test in 8th grade.

Both the SAT and ACT are college entrance exams.  More information on these can be found on collegeboard.org and https://www.act.org/

I had my kids start taking these during their sophomore year.

What about prom and graduation?

Most homeschool support groups put together a prom and a graduation ceremony!

What about sports?

There are many homeschool teams in the area that offer a variety of sports such as track & field, basketball, baseball, etc.

Other Resources

The Homeschool Store off 249  http://thehomeschoolstore.com/

Moms Rest Stop (MRS)- During Super Friday  www.HomeRunMinistries.com

Teaching from Rest by Sarah Mackenzie  https://www.christianbook.com/teaching-rest-homeschoolers-guide-unshakable-peace/sarah-mackenzie/9781600512872/pd/512872

Well, I know this is a lot of info, and I know that after reading all this, you will only have more questions.  That is perfectly fine.  Leave your questions in the comments and I will try to answer them as quickly as I can.  After all, I do have a full-time job as a homeschool mamma!

Our local support group, H.E.A.R.T. (Home Education And Responsible Teaching) holds monthly meetings to encourage, inform, and connect those who are looking into homeschool or already homeschooling.  However, for years, one of my favorite meetings is the one held in January. It is during this month’s meeting that a panel of home school graduates is brought before our membership and they share how their post-homeschool life is going whether they are in college, seeking a trade, or embarked on another path.  They candidly share the good, the bad, and the ugly of how homeschooling affected their current path. This meeting has always served as an encouragement at the perfect time of the year. It was held last night, and once again, I was encouraged.  Thank you to these young men and ladies for your willingness to share.

A topic that really stood out to me last night was the different curricula and teaching methods that were used with the different students who shared last night.  I am very familiar with that since I have four children, and they are all very different in their learning styles, talents, gifts, and bents. While they have similarities and have been able to use some of the same curricula, they are also different enough that I had to use different methods and materials with each of them, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to tailor their education to what was best and most beneficial to them.

Among other benefits, homeschooling has allowed students the flexibility to explore areas of interest and seek apprenticeship and internship opportunities because their school hours are their own.  These opportunities have led students to rethink or solidify the choice of whatever career they were exploring.

I love the fact that among other opportunities these kids had, they took the opportunity to serve.  They served their families by taking care of elderly grandparents, helping out with younger siblings, and they helped by participating in mission trips to other parts of the world.  

Opportunities to play sports in college was also mentioned.  This subject deserves a post of its own which will be coming soon, so please subscribe to get the updates!

I’d like to close with this.  I love, love, love and appreciate the fact that our H.E.A.R.T. president, Christina, stated, “This group is not anti-public school or anti-private school.  This group is pro-homeschool.” I truly believe that H.E.A.R.T. strives to support, encourage, and connect those of us who are choosing homeschooling as our path for educating our children and never put other methods down.  I love this because I personally do not think homeschooling is for everyone and the best choice for everyone. I do believe wholeheartedly that homeschooling is what is best for our family right now and has been for the last 19 years.  I honestly believe that this is clearly what the Lord has asked our family to do. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know who holds the future, and I’ve learned to never say, “I will never…” Homeschooling has been the most challenging and difficult job I’ve ever faced, BUT GOD!  All good things are hard work and worth all the effort and challenges they bring. The blessings well surpass the challenges. I pray you are encouraged by this, whichever decision you choose for your child’s education.

In His grace,

Fabi

As promised, here is the third and final post in this series.  I am sorry it took me a long time to get this one to you!

First, though, I need to let you know that if you subscribed to get updates on this blog, I’ll need you to subscribe again.  So please go to the right sidebar and enter your info. Thank you!

Disclaimer: Dual credit is NOT the same as the CLEP and AP exams.  That is completely different and honestly, I don’t know much about it because the schools to which my kids applied kind of frowned at them.  Just my personal experience.

What is Dual Credit?

Dual credit (DC) is when you take a college-level class and it counts for both a high school and a college credit.  This not only saves you time, but it can save you thousands of dollars, especially if you live in an area like mine in which tuition is free for dual credit classes.  Yes, you are still responsible to pay fees and purchase your books, but tuition can be free or discounted depending on the college from where you are taking these classes.

Dual Credit Saves Time

Every DC class you take eventually shaves off time you have to spend at a 4-year university.  If while still in high school, you take 12, 16, or 18 hours, that is an entire semester you don’t have to spend at a 4-year university.  If you take 30+ hours, that is an entire year! Statistics show that students who enter a 4-year university with DC classes already on their transcript are more likely to complete their degree.  More information on the benefits of DC can be found in the Community College Research Center.  For our family, this has definitely been the case.  My oldest child decided to change her major between her sophomore and junior year.  This meant she had to take some extra classes. Had she not already transferred over 30 hours, she would have more than likely had to spend an extra semester or year at Baylor which would have also meant more $!  Transferring over 40 hours of DC, my second child will be able to graduate in 4 years with both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees allowing him to go into the workforce sooner. Not only can DC save you time, but as you can see, it also saves you money!

Dual Credit Saves $$$$$

Regardless of whether you choose to attend a state or a private university, if DC can save you time, it can also save you money.  Not only tuition but room and board along with travel expenses. We could probably end this discussion right here, right?

When and What?!

“When should I enroll my child in DC?” is a very common question.  You know your child better than anyone, which is probably why you are homeschooling to begin with!  I took into account both their academic ability and their social and spiritual maturity. Most community and junior colleges have an entrance exam that your student can take to help you determine if he or she is ready for college-level material.  At our local community college, there is no limit in the number of classes a DC student can take. However, I strongly recommend not starting with more than 2 classes, so between 6 to 8 credit hours max. I start my kids in classes within their strengths.  This will give them time to acclimate and get used to what is required of them.

Wait!  I thought…

Because rules seem to change every year in regards to what classes to take and how many hours one can take their first semester, I highly encourage you to contact the DC advisor at your local community or junior college from where you plan on taking these classes and get any updates necessary.  The sooner you do this, the better. That way you don’t miss registration deadlines and class availability.

Will These Classes Transfer?

What good is it to take a class that will not save you time and money because it didn’t transfer to the university from which you plan on receiving your degree?  Most larger colleges and universities have an “Equivalency Tool.” This will save you time in figuring out what DC classes to take and make sure they will indeed transfer.  There are two ways to search for classes: by entering the class from your community college and seeing if there is an equivalent in the school you plan to transfer, or by entering a class you will need to take at the school you plan to transfer and seeing if there is a class that will take its place at your local community or junior college.  Because I am very familiar with Baylor University’s Equivalency Tool, I will use it in my example.

When my daughter first decided to go to Baylor, her major was going to be Entrepreneurship.  So I searched on Baylor’s website to see what the 4-year plan looked like, and this is what I found.

The first class listed on the above document is ENG 1302.  I entered the information needed into the equivalency tool by using the “Search by Baylor Course” to see if an equivalent class is offered at Lone Star College and found an equivalent course which was ENGL 1301.  Because this is an equivalent class, it will transfer, so I encouraged my kid to take it. 

Going down the list, I discovered which classes would transfer and which would not to quickly help my child come up with a game plan.  You can also do a reverse search by using “Search by Outside Institution” in which you enter the class offered at the community or junior college and see if the school you want to attend has an equivalent.

Most major universities have this tool.  Here is the one for TAMU.

Yes, I know.  Not nearly as pretty as Baylor’s.  Is it?  😉

I hope this all makes sense and hopefully will help you decide what to do in regards to DC.  Please do not hesitate to ask questions in the comments below. If you found this helpful and would like to get updates when a new post comes out, please subscribe by entering your information for the blog subscription.

In His grace,

Fabi<><

As I promised last week, this week I will discuss transcripts.  This is actually the easiest part of the entire process because all it requires is for you to document everything your student has done in high school.  In addition to a transcript, some schools may also require a student resume. Don’t worry, these are easy too. It’s just another document that allows your students to highlight their achievements and awards in academics, athletics, and the arts, as well as list their volunteer hours.

There are two main formats in which a transcript can be created: by academic year or by required subjects.  Either is fine! It all depends on what is easier for you to update or what a particular school requires. Personally, I like the academic year transcripts.  I thrive on things being in order chronologically. Most people I know who prefer the transcripts by subject are parents who have academically advanced children who have finished high school-level classes before their “high school” years.

Below are examples of both types of transcripts.

For more free templates, please visit Home School Legal Defense (HSLDA).

To determine what subject to include or offer your student, please see my previous blog post.

Credits and GPA

If a course is one that would normally take an entire school year to cover such as math, science, etc., you want to award 1 credit.  If a subject is only taken over one semester, you should only award ½ a credit. The exception here is with dual credit because even though the class is only taken over the course of one semester, it is a college-level class; therefore, an entire credit should be awarded, and you may even want to count it as an honors class. We’ll talk more about dual credit next week!

A student’s GPA is calculated by multiplying the credit of each class by the points of the grade received.  You now add your answers and divide them by the total number of credits.  You now have your GPA.  The most common grading scale is A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0.

Let’s calculate the GPA by using five common classes.  I color coordinated the instructions above with the example below to hopefully make it easier to follow and understand.  Say Johnny made an A in math, a B in physics, a C in English, a B in history, and an A in P.E.

Math A = 4 points x 1 credit = 4

Physics B = 3 points x 1 credit = 3

English C = 2 points x 1 credit = 2

History B = 3 points x 1 credit = 3

P.E. A = 4 points x 0.5 credit = 2

14 (Added totals) ÷ 4.5 (Number of credits) = 3.11 GPA

I hope this made sense!

Each year you will do the same thing and will include your current GPA and your cumulative GPA as well on your transcript.

Sending Your Official Transcript to Colleges and Universities

I have personally not encountered any college or university who didn’t accept my transcript directly from me.  I’m pretty sure all Texas schools are fine with that. However, I do know a couple of parents whose children applied to out-of-town schools and the school needed to get their transcript from another source.  If that is the case for you, shoot me an email (ThePottersHandHomeAcademy@gmail.com) and I’ll get you in contact with someone who can help you.  When I send a transcript, I print it on high-quality parchment paper, and since the ink is black, I sign it in blue ink.  It just makes it stand out and look official.

I know this is a lot of info at once, but let me encourage you that it is not hard at all.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I am working on hosting a workshop to go over requirements, transcripts, and dual credit.  It will most likely be on a Thursday evening, but I’ll keep you posted. Make sure to subscribe to this blog below by entering your email, so that you get the date as soon as I announce it!  Also, please leave a comment letting me know if this was useful and what other topics you would like me to cover.

Hope you have a blessed week!

My oldest has graduated from college and is on her own, my second is in college, my third is now in high school pretty much doing everything on his own, and my fourth is in 5th grade!

I never imagined this is where I would be when I started to have kids. Never did I imagine I would be a stay-at-home mom, MUCH LESS a homeschool mom!!! Looking back, I wouldn’t change a single thing. It has been and continues to be a long, challenging, and many times, frustrating journey, yet, so extremely rewarding. 

If you are at the beginning of this homeschool journey, I want to encourage you that, while it’s not easy, it WILL produce fruit. Yes, it is scary at times, and I cannot tell you how many times I wondered if I was completely screwing up my kids. Well, I am here to tell you that with God’s grace, I didn’t screw them up too badly. In one of our homeschool yearbooks, I once read, “God does not call the equipped. He equips the called.” It’s true. Equipped for teaching I was definitely not. I have three years of college under my belt, but no college degree. Something else I heard or read somewhere was that God does not want our ability; He wants our availability.

I still have a long road ahead of me before I am retired from this homeschool journey on which God called me to embark approximately 19 years ago, but it feels like it’s going so fast, too fast. While I am looking forward to spending more time with my husband, alone, just the two of us, I am also sad to be ending this chapter of my life. I think what made it too real was this last weekend when my 9th grader attended his first high school dance. Seeing him all dressed up and looking like a young man made it real. In just a few more years, I will have only one child at home. Crazy, right?

Moral of the story: The old adage The days are long, but the years are short is so very true. Cuddle with your babies every chance you get. Hug them and tell them you love them every time you see them. Take each day as an opportunity to serve God by serving them. After all, you are raising the next generation of disciples. Just sayin’!

With the help of some friends, especially Crystal Ayres, I am finally beginning to blog.  For years, people have been telling me I need to find a way to share the many lessons God had taught me, not just in my homeschool journey, but through life in general.

My first disclaimer is that I am not writing this blog because I think I know everything so you’re not going to get many “How To…” posts.  My desire is to share my experiences with you so that maybe one or two of you will learn from my mistakes.  I am not a professional at anything, nor can I boast of any type of degree.  However, I do have experience, and that has brought me some knowledge.

I will start out by sharing a little about myself.  I’ve been married for 23 years.  I have 4 blessings, two girls and two boys, ages 20 down to 9. God has graciously given me the opportunity to stay home with my children which has allowed me to home school all of them.  I love to scrapbook, crochet, and do other creative things.  I can’t stand cold weather!  I love clean healthy meals even though some times I splurge and have to eat a juicy burger.  I am intrigued by the new discoveries of functional medicine and always desiring to find out more.  The most important fact I would want you to know about me is that I love Jesus Christ with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  He is my Lord and Savior!

Homeschooling is the main reason why this blog has come into fruition.  It is in this journey that God has boldly but graciously and lovingly taught me many lessons.  It’s hard to believe, but I have now been in this journey for 17 years.  Besides God and my family, my passion is homeschooling.  God has given me a love and desire to show moms who truly want to home school that it is possible and very doable.  You will often hear me say that if I can homeschool, anyone can.

Thank you for visiting this site.  I hope you will be blessed by whatever the Lord leads me to share here.

Until next time,

Fabi (pronounced:  FAb ee)