Keyboarding {course plans}

Keyboarding 
Prerequisites: none
Grade Level: 9-11
Credit: .5

Students taking this course will learn correct keyboarding technique and will work to improve their keyboarding speed and accuracy. Formatting of basic documents will also be taught, and students will be given opportunities to apply their keyboarding skills in “real life” situations. 

Curriculum List

• Typing Instructor

Websites  

• Basic Computer Skills Curriculum (Sorry, this link no longer works)
• Computer Skills Checklist (Sorry, this link no longer works)

Additional Projects

• Use word processing software to type and format papers for other classes.

Personal Notes: I wish we had gotten to this in earlier grades, but it is a necessary life skill. I did research course descriptions from various public high schools to make sure I could legitimately count this as a high school level class. 

Tips For Writing Your Child's Homeschool Transcript

One of the biggest points of concern for homeschoolers who continue to home school through the high school years is how to write a transcript. The first step in writing a home school transcript comes in planning the courses which will be recorded on that transcript. Once you know what is needed to make a transcript that will cause colleges to take notice, it is mostly a matter of keeping good records.

Start planning early. [Free High School Planning Sheet] I know I heard this advice, but didn't really pay it much attention. Then my son was suddenly in high school and I realized I should have taken a closer look at this transcript thing before I planned his first year of classes. As I was planning out his final year, I realized why it is useful to plan all four years from the beginning. After three very heavy years, there wasn't much left to study. (An easy senior year is a big transcript "no-no", but my son has opted to go directly into the workforce so I get a free pass this time.)

Find out what your state requires.  [VA High School Planning Sheet] (Do a search for your state's department of education website.) Our state has a religious exemption which allows parents to home school using their own choice of curriculum and to set their own requirements for graduation. However, knowing that colleges are more than likely going to compare my children's transcripts to those of other children from our state, I have used our state's graduation requirements as an outline for our high school program. (Homeschoolers who live in states with stricter laws will also need to research what their legal requirements are for graduation.) But keep in mind that, though you want your child's transcript to be noticed by colleges, your most important role is to equip your son or daughter for life. Make sure you are giving them the education that is right for them, not just one that looks good on paper.

Remember to write everything down. Don't assume that you will remember everything you have studied when the time finally comes to fill out the transcript. Also keep track of the extra activities and learning your children do outside of the "classroom." Check out the course descriptions of classes being offered at local high schools. This will give you an idea of things your children may already be doing which could be used for credit as electives. I don't believe in making up classes just to fill a transcript. However, I do think it is proper to give my students the credits they have earned.

Here are a  couple links to get you started writing your child's home school transcript:

•  Homeschool Highschool Transcript Template and Tips
• Homeschool High School Transcript Template

How To Organize Your Notgrass World History Notebook

This is a picture of the inside of my son's Bible
& history notebook last year. There were 3 tabs
 for the Notgrass study & 2 for other things.

 I put a lot of time into preparing my children's notebooks to use Notgrass Exploring World History last year. The first section of the notebook was for unit writing assignments, the next for literature reviews, the third for Bible study questions, the final for quizzes and tests. (Behind those was a separate study of Roman's that we did and a folder to store additional essays that they wrote.) I even made up a literature reading log to record hours spent reading, and nice title pages to glue to the front of the notebook tab pages. However, if I had put a little more time into actually looking at the program, I could have saved myself a lot of work. Here is what I discovered:

The unit writing division worked really nicely. These are essay type assignments that are graded by the teacher, not using the answer book. They take up a lot of space, so it is nice for them to have their own spot. My kids were pretty bad about forgetting to file them, so a folder might have worked better. [To add a folder to your notebook, use a regular no-prong folder. Place a piece of 3-hole punched paper on the front of it (because the folder is too long to fit in a 3-hole puncher) and use a paper punch to make holes.]



lesson quizzes

The second section (for literature reviews) was pretty much useless. I had planned to have my kids write something like a book report for each of the book selections they read. However, since the curriculum includes questions to answer on each book, and since the answers to these questions were included in the test & quiz answer book, and since my kids were a bit overloaded with work this year (OK, I was waaaay too ambitious in the lesson planning), we didn't end up doing this. Plan B was for them to store the answers to the literature questions in this file, but the answers to these were listed along with text and quiz answers in the order they came in the textbook, so it made more sense to file them with tests and quizzes. The literature reading logs, while a good idea in theory, also didn't work out well. My kids kept forgetting to time themselves when reading.

The third section for Bible study questions was unnecessary for the same reasons as the literature reviews section- answers in the quiz book along with answers for tests and quizzes in the order they were completed.

The final section, for quizzes and tests is where most of their papers ended up getting filed. There are questions for each lesson, a bible study question each week (after the fifth lesson), and occasional literature questions (after a book is finished). I had the kids fill out the answers to these on notebook paper and file them in order as they completed them. There are also tests for each unit, and four quarterly tests. These could also be filled out on notebook paper and filed in order as they are taken. However, I wanted to have these all in one place for easier grading, so I made up a form that the kids could use for taking the tests.

In hindsight, I think we would have been better off with a notebook full of lined paper with a folder in the back instead of all the fancy forms and divisions. The Notgrass History curriculum is well designed and is set up for ease of use. You really don't have to over think things.

Exploring World History Curriculum Package By Ray Notgrass / Notgrass Company Integrative and faith-based, Exploring World History presents a God-oriented view of history that combines biblical studies, word history and English (literature & composition). Two textbooks contain history lessons that are generally followed by studying grammar points, completing writing assignments, reading assignments in In Their Words as well as the required reading, and Bible study questions. Moving from creation all the way to the 21st century, your students will have a comprehensive overview of the events, concepts and culture of humanity. 2 Student Texts and Reading Book In Their Words, 1095 pages total, softcover.

Giving Your Kids The Credit They Are Due

fresh home canned beans

I am currently homeschooling three highschoolers and, as if the high level courses weren't enough to keep up with, I am spending a significant amount of time putting together transcripts for my two college-bound sons. One of the most exciting dicoveries I've made through this process is that many public highschools have their course descriptions posted online. It's exciting because I've come to see how many of the things my children are learning outside of their normal studies are being taught for credit in the classrooms of these highschools.

Now, let me clarify that I am not one of those mothers who tries to count every normal childhood experience as a "learning experience." I do believe that they are learning experiences, but I'm not writing them all down on their transcripts. But if students in the public schools are earning credit for classes in agricultural science, carpentry, and food prep, I think it is fair for my children to also get credit if they are doing the same work.


onions drying on the sidewalk

My children have planted and cared for two HUGE gardens in the past two years. And, due to pregnancies and births, I haven't been able to give them much help. They have learned about insect pests, plant diseases, and how to improve the soil. And they have also done quite a bit of canning, freezing, and drying. They have all been helping with meal preparation from a young age and are accomplished bakers and cooks.

My husband grew up in a family that hunted and raised their own meat and he has passed this knowledge on to his children. They have all participated in the butchering and processing of deer, cows, and pigs. They've hunted and skinned small game, and cooked things that I was too squeemish to prepare. They have butchered chickens for our own family and they have helped friends butcher for their commercial enterprises. They have seen calves being birthed, they have bottle fed goats, and they have helped castrate calves and pigs. The older boys even researched tanning and attempted to produce their own leather.

My husband is a trim carpenter by trade (one of the best!) and he has also passed those skills on to his children. The older ones have helped him with various projects and know more about wood, stain, and joinery than some adults who make their living in construction. They've completed projects which were far more complex than what is taught in a highschool shop class, and they've had a wider variety of experiences than could be offered in a classroom.

In researching how to transfer this experience to their transcripts, I came across a simple formula for determining how much credit to award. (I wish I could credit a source, but I've lost track of where I saw it.)

1 credit= approximately 120-180 hours of work

Lab science courses are usually closer to 180 hours, while English and history classes average 150 hours for a year-long class. 120 hours is usually considered sufficient for an elective class (art, music, sewing, carpentry, web page design, etc.)

I would also recommend that in planning "classes" for your child, you mix hands on learning with research (assign books or articles to read) and at least one written project to demonstrate mastery of the material covered.

Credit Log Sheets {free printable}

Edited 2/6/12 to add: Cindy Downes of Oaklaholma Homeschool also has some good information on  transcripts and giving credit for extracurricular activities.