Seat Time vs. Instructional Time

I am happy to get private emails about homeschooling with Leadership Education principles. I've been getting a few about Transcripts lately. This is a challenging subject for the following reasons:

• Each person is different and is going to study different things.
• Each person is going to do different things once they "graduate" from homeschool. They will attend different colleges and universities, or just different types of careers. Each college/university has their own entrance requirements.
• Each state has different requirements for homeschool students. One state has no requirements other than an agreement to teach certain subjects while another has hours that need to be met each year. Yet another has subjects and hours per subject plus yearly state testing. This means each student will have to jump through different hoops.

Another thing to consider is how public school hours work. They have what they call "seat time" and then "instructional time". Seat time is the hours they are at school - 8am to 3pm. Instructional time for high school is 15 minutes of each 1 hour period. A student that goes to 6 periods a day actually only receives 1 1/2 hours of instruction time. Anyone who actually does a Scholar Phase is going to have tons more than that.

What are the other "seat time" hours spent on? - standing in line, walking between classes, lunch, waiting for class to start, waiting for class to end, finishing busy work assigned in class, etc.

So 180 days of instruction for 1.5 hours a day is actually only 270 hours of instruction per year, yet the public schools claim 1260 hours a year. I worked in public schools as a teacher and heard many discussions about seat time and instruction time.

If your child is spending 3-5 hours a day for 180 days a year, they are studying (not just sitting in a seat or standing in line) 540-900 hours a year. By the way, most state homeschool laws say they want 900 hours of instruction per year, which we all know is ridiculous for anything below high school and that the public schools don't even come close to that.

Underground Lava River Hike

The average Scholar will study 5,000 hours in their Scholar years! Divide that by 4 years of high school and you get 1250 hours per year of instructional time, not seat time. 

Granted, not all young people will finish their Scholar Phase in the "high school" years. This is okay. As you can see by breaking down the hours that even a student who is Transitioning until their Junior Year and then gets down to business for 2 years will have enough instructional time.

Seat Time - NOT!

Seat time is a myth. Who says learning only takes place in a seat? Think of all the things that are learned through homeschooling. We get out into nature. We get out into the real world to learn about how things work and to work with others of all ages. 

I was also asked about Physical Education. During good weather, we spend a lot of time outdoors with a 2 hour per week park day where we invite other families and play basketball, tennis, baseball, etc. We also schedule hikes and visit various National Parks and things that are available to us.

Over the years we've hiked canyons, visited several kinds of caves including naturally formed and man-made, visited Indian ruins and cliff dwellings, seen Civil War battlefields and outdoor museums, visited National Grave Sites, etc. We've been to the Grand Canyon and seen natural waterfalls. Probably the funnest place we saw when they were little was the City of Rocks and Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico.

The world is our school!

Graduation! - Marlayna

We are so proud of our children! We are pleased to officially "graduate" our daughter, Marlayna. She is a bright young woman with a fabulous future ahead. We know she will continue to live a life where learning never stops and her progression through the Phases of Learning will bring her to the knowledge to fulfill her Mission in life.

I am often asked what we do to graduate a high school student while educating our children at home. She will not receive an official diploma. It is a myth that you need one in life. Yes, there are entities that will ask for a diploma. However, she has successfully received 11 credits at Brigham Young University - Idaho and maintains 2 part-time jobs outside the home. One in a fast food restaurant and one as a FBI cleared babysitter for HRT, a foster care licensing agency where she babysits children during training meetings.

Here is an overview of what Marlayna accomplished in her education using the Leadership Education (aka TJED or Thomas Jefferson Education) method since we brought her home in 4th grade.

• Concurrent Enrollment - BYU-Idaho - 11 credits in English, Science, Psychology, and History.
• Foreign Language - Latin - Wheelocks Latin
• Foreign Language - Sign Language - Various textbooks and software
• English - She did well on her SAT and passed BYU-Idaho English 101 with an A her Senior year. We also used Winston Grammar in the early years to solidify her grammar and a long list of classic books for her knowledge of the English language. (See Classes by Classics)
• Math - Mastery through Aleks Math online math program. She is taking College Algebra this summer at a local community college.
• History - Science - Government - Etc. - See our Classes by Classics listings. Marlayna studied a great deal of these titles to constitute a "class".

I know that she has studied far more than a traditional public school education. Marlayna is very well read learning from authors like C. S. Lewis, Tocqueville, Jane Austen, and Locke. Her studies include hours and hours of reading combined with real-world knowledge in working with people of all ages in the community with her work and church service.

Great job, Marlayna!

SAT Practice Testing

I should begin by saying that I do not believe in tests. Not one bit. They are a convoluted way of pigeon holing people into statistics. It is a poor practice adopted by colleges to make the process of admittance easier on them, not better. Thank goodness it is not the only criteria used by colleges and universities. But, for the home schooled child, it becomes more important than it should be due to the lack of a formally recognized high school diploma. Thus, 'When in Rome do as the Romans do' becomes a bit of a troublesome adage. What is a home educated student to do if they want to a) attend a good university and b) get scholarships to help pay for their education?

Yet, home schoolers go against the "norm" and do not follow the customs of those around them...so why do we suddenly switch when it comes to college?

When in Rome...
Nayna took her practice SAT online the other day and the results are in! She did well in Reading, and middle of the road for Math and Essay. She has had no formal SAT prep before the practice test was taken. This is simply based on her reading classics and following the Leadership Education philosophy. We were expecting to see some need for improvement in the Math and Essay sections of the test since she has not finished Algebra II yet. She has read at a college level since she was 13, so I never felt she needed any extra help there.

According to BYU entrance criteria, to enroll in ENG101 Writing and Reasoning she needs an SAT score of 390+ in Reading. To enroll in MAT108 Math for the Real World she needs an SAT score of 430+ in Math. She scored high enough to enroll in both of these college level classes.

We decided to use the online practice test directly from http://sat.collegeboard.org/. This is the organization who formulates the test, so we figured it would be the best choice for practice. It is very nice to see exactly which questions she missed and the correct answers are explained.

Math Preparation

We are getting the Official SAT Study Guide from our local library for free and Kahn Academy SAT Preparation video explanations for each Math question to further study the math sections. With the book and the videos together she should be able to work out the problems she struggles with. Math was never been her strong suit, but she is an excellent student and studies hard.

Essay Preparation
I have been debating which essay prep course would be best. I am leaning towards the Excellence in Writing products, either High School Essay Intensive or the Elegant Essay. I feel she has good basic ideas and grammatical skills, she just needs prep on formal essay development. If you have used either of these, I would love to hear about your experience.

We plan on having her take the SAT officially on December 1st. This will give her a semester to delve into practicing for the tests.

So, I have answered my own question. We switch because it is one of our only options to send our children to a good university and get scholarships.


Your thoughts?

 

Transcript Time!

Alright...I've taken a few weeks off to decompress after a 1200 mile move and the red tape of foster licensing (Can you say "government torture test"?). Whew! Now I need to prepare the transcript information for this past year. Yep...now that the kids are "high school" I need to keep track of what they do each year for transcripts for college. Yes, BYU-Idaho did want to see transcripts before enrolling Nayna into concurrent enrollment.

Our plan is still to let the SAT do the talking for college entrance, plus being in concurrent enrollment she has proven she can excel in their college environment.

So, I need to buckle down and go through the stuff we did and compile it, then package up the previous year's planners and get the new planners ready. The idea is to have all this done by July 1st...which is what I usually do. I'm just not feeling particularly motivated this week. *sigh*

Unmotivated?

So, how do I inspire myself to get motivated? For me, I need to go through my Compass and each child's Compass to see how we did. Then, I need to review Scholar Phase in Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning and some other sources. Next, it is time to write a new Compass and get fired up! Every time I write a Compass I get excited about the next 6 months. Yeah! I really do!

 

Economics Classics

We decided to have economics as a separate class simply because it is such a misunderstood area of study in our society today. I truly believe that if everyone in our society studied economics, we would not be in the downward spiral we are currently in, and I mean all over the world, not just the United States. There are a few TJED for Teens classics and then some others we have studied.

Economics Classics from TJED for Teens:

• The Science of Getting Rich
• Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not!

Other Classics We Study:

• Uncle Eric Talks About Personal, Career, and Financial Security
• Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? A Fast, Clear, and Fun Explanation of the Economics You Need For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments
• Whatever Happened to Justice?
• Are You Liberal? Conservative? Or Confused?
• Ancient Rome: How It Affects You Today
• Evaluating Books: What Would Thomas Jefferson Think About This? Guidelines for Selecting Books Consistent With the Principles of America's Founders
• The Money Mystery: The Hidden Force Affecting Your Career, Business, and Investments
• The Clipper Ship Strategy: For Success in Your Career, Business, and Investments
• The Thousand Year War in the Mideast: How It Affects You Today
• World War I: The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today, 1870 to 1935
• World War II: The Rest of the Story and How It Affects You Today, 1930 to September 11, 2001

We highly recommend all of the Uncle Eric books. We do not use them, but they also offer study guides. We study a chapter a day as part of our devotional time, and then discuss the topics of the chapter we studied. Sometimes there are topics and questions in the back of the book that we discuss as well. I have learned so much from these books! I can't speak highly enough of them.

World Religion Classics

I really only have one suggestion for studying the religions of the world....

....read their original works.

Scary? Yes, it can be. What if we are swayed to their beliefs? What if our children read their scriptural works and become hazy in truth and falsehood? For me the key has been to study the works with my own scriptures by my side. Sometimes I would check the references of my own scriptures after reading certain beliefs. Also, if a person's Core is not solid, then postpone reading other religious works until it is solid with right and wrong, true and false, good and bad.

What we found is that many religions have similar beliefs. Who knew, right? With that in mind, it is helping me to see two things:

1. We have much in common with other religions in which we can be happy about, sharing our mutual beliefs can help us find common ground to build relationships with our neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc.
2. Satan is very good at tweaking truth. He intermixes truth with his falsehoods. This knowledge helps me to see how easily people can be led away and reinforces the need to study my own faith DAILY!

World Religion Classics:

• Understanding the Times: The Collision of Today's Competing Worldviews - make sure you get the latest edition that includes Islam.
• Torah - Genesis
• The Bible
• Qur'an - Cows

Cross referencing between the Torah and the Bible is very interesting. My children and I found a few references in the Qur'an that are similar to Christian beliefs, yet many that are very different. We have not read all of the Qur'an, but have found certain parts of it to be useful to study so that we know where the Islamic culture is coming from.

This is not a very extensive list, for there are MANY religions on the earth today. Understanding the Times: The Collision of Today's Competing Worldviews is important to read to understand the different forces at work when it comes to religion and how they base their decisions.

NOTE: As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have another work to add to the study of Genesis in The Pearl of Great Price.

Science Classics

The Geometry of Fruits and Vegetables

Ooooo! Science! I've always been fascinated by science. I really enjoyed all of my science classes except Chemistry. I was feeling a bit daunted by the idea of learning science through classics. To me, science seems to NEED hands-on experience...you know...LABS! We tried a couple of Science curriculum packages, but really found them tedious and boring. With a sigh and my hands thrown up in the air I said, "Fine! I'll look for science classics!"

I have read a few now and found they greatly enhance my understanding in ways I was not expecting. First, I didn't understand everything, but I was able to understand MORE than before. Secondly, for me, most of these science classics will need to be studied repeatedly for me to grasp all the concepts in them. But, that's what classics are for! To be read over, and over, and over - finding new knowledge along the way in each re-read.

Science Classics from the TJED for Teens list:

• A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science by Michael S. Schnieder (See more below)
• The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition by Stephen Hawkins
• Relativity: The Special and the General Theory by Albert Einstein
• Elementus - Books I, II, III, and IV by Euclid

Constructing the Universe website

You have got to check out this website - Constructing the Universe. It goes hand-in-hand with the book "A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art, and Science". There  are lots of different links and additional activity books available on this website. We have not bought the activity books, but I thought some might like this nugget of information. I do want to go to his Constructing the Universe classroom, it looks like so much fun! If I had the money I would have a science "lab" like his.

When to Study Science Classics

It is interesting to note the interaction of math and science. I've read a few books, and also in the Robinson Curriculum, that suggest that students should not start any formal study of science until they have mastered Algebra II and Geometry. We have followed that path and discovered that this method is a sound one. Nayna is taking a college level science class because she felt the study of Science was one of her weakest points. She has since learned that she can rapidly learn all that she does not know. In fact, she is tutoring an adult in her college class and is the lead in her study group, simply because she waited until she was ready to study science.

Studying Science Through Nature

The Charlotte Mason home education method has some great ideas on studying science through observation and hands-on experience. During Core and Love of Learning Phases, this is how we addressed science. Now that my children are Scholars, we can still learn that way and begin adding in the science classics.

NOTE: Science and Religion. It is important to note that some science classics try to rule out God or any notion of Intelligent Design. Studying these science classics with my children, or often before them, allows me to know ahead of time what areas we may need to stop and discuss our beliefs and the truth and knowledge that we have gained. Those with a shaky foundation or Core could be swayed to believe untruths. We enjoyed a movie called, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed", which touches on the removal of God from science. You can watch this movie on YouTube here if you are interested.

World History Classics

This is a continuation of my posts on Classes by Classics. World History is an all encompassing task to study. One could spend their entire life studying all the cultures and their various histories throughout all time. Think of it...the entire world's history! Most of us are lucky if we study a few stories about a few important periods of time. I would like to emphasize that pretty much all non-fiction is part of world history, so we could really pull any non-fiction book and read it as part of our world history studies.

From the TJED for Teens list:

• Antigone
• The Illiad
• The Odyssey
• The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato
• Nichomachaen Ethics by Aritstotle

We have added:

• The World Before Christ: An LDS Perspective by Dan Hunter
• The World After Christ: An LDS Perspective by Dan Hunter
• Great Books of the Western World

See my post about our History Notebooks for more about what we are doing for history.

Medieval and Ancient History Classics

Aristotle

Medieval and Ancient History is a difficult one I think. First of all, there is not as much original texts from this time period. Secondly, what is available is harder to read and understand. I personally wait a bit on studying some of these original texts until they are firmly into Scholar Phase.

From the Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens list:

• Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 (Saint Joan) by Mark Twain
• Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, Vol. 2 (Saint Joan) by Mark Twain
• Antigone by Sophocles
• The Illiad by Homer
• The Odyssey by Homer
• The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato - Includes Euthyphron, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo of Plato
• Nichomachaen Ethics by Aristotle

Others we have added:

• Plutarch's Lives - also see Our Young Folks Plutarch, Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls, and the Children's Plutarch: Tales of the Romans.

Shakespeare Classics

 

Shakespeare...need I say more? An entire year can be spent on Shakespeare alone. My children have grown to love Shakespeare so much that they have requested their own copies. We have a copy from The Great Books of the Western World and one from the National Classics Series, both are accurate editions.

In addition to reading the classics, Shakespeare needs to be seen and experienced in play form to be complete. We try to attend as many Shakespeare plays as we can. They can be disappointing, however, in how they are interpreted. We've seen some modernized versions that are so cheap and misrepresented that it gives a poor shadow of the original. There are some good ones too, even some movies are perfectly depicted and are preferred over poorly constructed plays.

In my humble opinion, no education is complete without Shakespeare. I once read an article about all the every-day sayings that come from Shakespeare, and is second only to the Bible in the number of sayings derived from it's works.

Here are our recommendations. The links provided have several versions for eReaders like Nook and Kindle as well as audio downloads.

Shakespeare Dramas/Tragedies:

• Hamlet, Prince of Denmark - Movie: Great Performances versions (free online streaming), Mel Gibson version
• Romeo and Juliet
• Julius Caesar 
• Antony and Cleopatra
• Coriolanus
• King Lear - Movie: Great Performances
• Macbeth - Movie: Great Performances
• Othello
• Timon of Athens
• Titus Andronicus
• Troilus and Cressida

Shakespeare Comedies:

• All's Well That Ends Well
• As You Like It
• Comedy of Errors
• Love's Labour's Lost
• Measure for Measure
• Merchant of Venice
• Merry Wives of Windsor
• Midsummer Night's Dream
• Much Ado About Nothing
• Taming of the Shrew
• Tempest
• Twelfth Night
• Two Gentlemen of Verona
• Winter's Tale

Shakespeare Histories:

• Cymbeline
• Henry IV, Part I
• Henry IV, Part II
• Henry V
• Henry VI, Part I
• Henry VI, Part II
• Henry VI, Part III
• Henry VIII
• King John
• Pericles
• Richard II
• Richard III

Mathematics Classics

When I first considered learning math simply through reading classics, my mind immediately was full of "cricket sounds at midnight". Completely empty of thought basically. I couldn't wrap my mind around it at all! Nor could I think of ONE math classics. I had no idea where to start or what to do.

Thankfully, Dr. DeMille gives us some idea of where to start. I have read many of these, some were easier than others, but all were insightful after carefully making my way through them.

Math Classics from TJED for Teens

• Flatland by Edmund Abbot
• On Numbers by Isaac Asimov
• Introduction to Mathematics by Whitehead
• Arithmetic by Nichomachus
• Poetry and Mathematics by Buchanan
• Elementus by Euclid

Additional Math Classics

We own "The Great Books of the Western World" set. The Syntopicon in volumes 1 and 2 contain subjects covered in these books. Within volume 3 under "Mathematics" there is a fantastic explanation about the differences between truths proved or discovered about mathematics and quantity; or the study of arithmetic, geometry and other branches of mathematics.  After the explanation of what mathematics IS, there is an outline of topics and pages of references based on the outline. One could get a complete education about mathematics, both from the standpoint of the science of mathematics as well as quantity (how much), from studying the references listed in this book.

I am just beginning this study myself, but for someone who wants to truly understand everything about mathematics, this is the way to go!

Math Curriculum
We have used purchased math curriculum. I had purchased Math-U-See through Geometry before knowing about Math classics and how we could utilize them. My children do use Math-U-See and sometimes Khan Academy for math help. Another curriculum that I have heard good things about is Aleks, but we have not used it because I already have Math-U-See.

Mythology, Fairy Tales, and Fables

This subject is one my personal favorites. This is another class that we combine literature and composition. It is easy to have my children re-write fables and fairy tales or to even practice creative writing and come up with one of their own. Another fun thing to do is to compare versions of fairy tales or myths and discuss similarities and differences. I took Mythology in high school and it was just reading Mythology by Edith Hamilton and writing some papers on the subject for a half credit class.

As a side note on teaching composition, we use the Excellence in Writing program called "Teaching Writing: Structure and Style". I did not purchase anything other than that, the rest of their curriculum is too "textbooky" for me. We use the classics they are reading to practice the subjects of note taking, outlining, summarizing from notes, etc.

There is so much available for free online, so check out the links below.

Mythology, Fables, and Fairy Tales

There are only two listed in TJED For Teens:

• Mythology by Edith Hamilton
• Aesop's Fables - Stickney, Winter

We add the following as well:

• Grimm's Fairy Tales - Versions: Olcott, Steel
• Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales
• Andrew Lang

Study by Civilization

One way we are studying myths, fables, and fairy tales is by civilization. The Baldwin Project has several links to various civilizations with free online collections of their literature. We have found it very interesting to compare various versions from the different civilizations.

• Introduction to History - World History
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome
• Norse
• Britain
• European Continent
• American
• Spain and Latin America
• Africa
• Asia
• Islam

Science and Fantasy Fiction Classics

One of my favorite literature genres is Science Fiction and Fantasy fiction. Many may not agree, but there are MANY classics in this genre that are worth reading. Like traditional high schools, a "class" in these genres may not be required, but some may find it a fun elective "class" or find it part of their passion in reading. We used this as a semester class rather than a full year of study, giving it half a credit.

As a side note on teaching composition, we use the Excellence in Writing program called "Teaching Writing: Structure and Style". I did not purchase anything other than that, the rest of their curriculum is too "textbooky" for me. We use the classics they are reading to practice the subjects of note taking, outlining, summarizing from notes, etc.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction

• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (NOTE: This one has some adult language.)
• Elantris by Sanderson
• The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R Tolkien
• The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

British Literature and Composition

Most of our "classes" for high school credit are a literature and composition combination. British Literature is surely a fun class to read, write, and discuss. As I said in my last post, our state requires 100 hours to be considered a "credit", so I allow my youth to choose enough books to read and write about to fill that requirement. It so happens, that they have much more than 100 hours spent in this "class". It doesn't hurt to watch a few of the movies too.

British Literature

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Emma by Jane Austen
• The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes
• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
• The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable by Thomas Malory - Le Morte D'Arthur Vol. 1, Le Morte D'Arthur Vol. 2
• Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnnet

NOTE: The books chosen for this list are from "TJED for Teens" book, the AYLI classic books list and the Classics for Youth list in "A Thomas Jefferson Education" by Oliver DeMille.

American Literature and Composition

In high school it is often common to combine the study of literature with a composition class. We decided to take this approach and have our children write articles, essays, or reviews on the classics that our youth read. This not only cements their thoughts and what they learned, but gives practice in writing, grammar, and spelling.

Our youth choose from this list to create the 100 hours required for our state in a 1 credit class. Basically, I have them choose from this list and write about what they read.

American Literature

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott
• Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingles Wilder
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingles Wilder
• Pollyanna by Elleanor Hodgman Porter
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Rawls Wilson
• Man of the Family by Ralph Moody
• The Sackett Series by Louis L'Amour (link has reading order)
• Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
• The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

There are so many classics that could be added to this list as you see fit. If my children have a book they would like to use for this "class" then I typically look into it, read it myself and ask the child why they feel the book is a classic. If the book makes the classics list, then we use it!

NOTE: These books are chosen from the Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens list.

TJED "Classes" by Classics

For the past couple of years I've studied the best ways to create home education transcripts. I've thought a bit about how a TJED or Leadership Education will translate into traditional terms for "classes" and "credits". I know this must be possible, after all it is a far superior education. I spent some time thinking about all the standard conveyor-belt requirements and feel that I've been able to showcase a method of recording a Liberal Arts high school education with a TJED Classics basis and a traditional transcript.

A transcript by subject seems most preferable in this endeavor. Here are some examples I found online of Transcripts by Subject:

• The Home Scholar
• HSLDA Example

I do not suggest that anyone PAY for transcripts. It's too easy to do with a bit of time and a parent who does a little bit of research.

I've taken the TJED for Teens reading list as posted here and divided the classics into the various high school level classes. Our state requires 100 hours for a "credit" or 50 hours for a "half credit". Your state may suggest something else and you may need to adapt this list to your state's requirements.I will be posting each class over the next few weeks. It is easy to add your own classics as possible choices.

Classes:

• American Literature
• British Literature
• Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature
• Mythology, Fairy Tales and Fables
• Mathematics
• Shakespeare
• Medieval and Ancient History
• Poetry
• American Government
• American History
• World History
• Science
• Religions of the World
• Economics

In a few cases, I have purchased curriculum to fulfill the class credit requirements in Mathematics and Latin.

Concurrent Enrollment (Dual Credit)

With my previous post being about the "College Conspiracy", this post may come as a surprise. I really do believe the college bubble will burst and thus lower college expenses and have a balancing effect on secondary education. College is not what it used to be and I do not think everyone needs to have a college degree.

That said, I do believe there may be reasons, when the time is right, to take advantage of the classroom environment. We decided that Nayna should take advantage of concurrent enrollment at BYU Idaho since they are offering classes for $30 a credit, which is a fantastic price. (Concurrent enrollment are classes that count for high school and college credit.) I want my children to have various types of educational experiences so that they can choose the best path based on those experiences. One class in an online college environment will give her a view of what the Professional Conveyor Belt is like without a huge cost or commitment.

My oldest daughter, Sam, has chosen a Professional Conveyor Belt path to become a pharmacist. At least, that is what she wants right now. We have stressed over and over again that she should not go into debt for this education. So far, she has managed to avoid any debt. She has done well, her grades are excellent, and she is getting some education, even if it is not the Liberal Arts Education I would like for her.

Preparing for College Entrance - The Transcript

Many parents sweat over the question, "How will my child get into college?" I have to say, I have thought long and hard about this too, if my children choose college as their path. So far the university has only asked for a simple transcript. The TJED way seemed a bit difficult at first in order to show a transcript that will mesh with the Conveyor Belt world.

We decided on the following transcript format:



In addition to this very simple transcript, I am preparing a list of materials used for each class. Sometimes that is very simple, say for math, where we used a curriculum like Math-U-See Algebra 1. For the literature classes, we are listing the books read. Science and history have been a bit different since we used a menagerie of books, videos, and fieldtrips to accomplish these "classes".

I'll post more as we go through this process. They may yet come back and ask for more details and items.

Methods and Madness

I posted a couple months ago about Transcripts and Diplomas where I talked about how I plan on graduating my children. I have looked into several university acceptance policies and the main requirement for students with a non-traditional education is good ACT/SAT scores. We are also planning on taking CLEP exams for them to earn college credit by "testing-out" of classes they excel in. I wish I would have studied harder as a high school student and done this route. It saves a lot of time and money.

New "School" Year
The law in Missouri states that home educators school years should run from July 1st to June 30th each year. This is the same "school year" we have followed in Arizona, so we finished up our binders for the 2009-2010 year and packaged them up in simple 3-ring clasp folders as we usually do. I keep these in an Archive box to use as our proof if anyone ever asks.

We are in the process this week of preparing our binders for the 2010-2011 year. You can see this post about the Binder and the Compass and My Brain where I wrote about how we set up our binders. I am working with each youth individually this year in developing their Compass. Sometimes I lump them together without thinking how they are at different levels of Scholar Phase. Chris has mentioned to me that he feels I expect the same out of him that I do out of Marlayna. Chalk this one up to another one of my mistakes. I learn so much from my kids!

Gearing Up!
Getting ready for this year has been a fairly painless process. I'm feeling more comfortable in how we work things in our schedule, curriculum, and the general flow of our lives. The main things I am still working on is choosing where to place my efforts in building the Leadership Education community and which classes/activities my children will participate in for the Fall. I have several things "simmering" and we'll have to see which ones the Lord tells me are the right ones.

Transcripts and Diplomas

I attended a homeschool conference where I attended a class with a lot of emphasis placed on record keeping for the state. The HSLDA attorney who spoke says they are greatly concerned that families in states that are not required to routinely show their records are not keeping records. Missouri requires families to keep records in case they are investigated, but we are not required to file them or show them on a regular basis. Almost every mom I talked to said they do not keep records...hhmmm. This is not compliance with the law and I want to be a law abiding citizen.

With Obama's new "National Curriculum" that he is proposing, HSLDA is concerned they will come after homeschoolers as well. They want everyone to keep good records so that there would be a strong showing of true education going on in families around the country. So, how does a TJED family keep records? Each child will have a different "plan" with different "records" at different "ages/grades". How does this translate into the kind of thing the conveyor-belt system is used to seeing/requiring?

Interestingly enough, the idea of transcripts and diplomas have been plaguing my mind even before I attended this conference. My father-in-law has asked me several times how I'm going to graduate my children. His comments come out of concern and love for my children, so I have given them great thought. In Missouri, there is no recognized "homeschool graduation" and they say homeschoolers need to take the GED for a diploma. Many homeschoolers are against this because they feel this makes their children look like high school drop-outs.

While spending some time pondering this, I ran across an article about transcripts by subject (I wish I could find the source). The mother developed a detailed transcript of each subject and gave it to the colleges her child was applying for. The list by subject included textbooks and other books used and an explanation of what they did for each subject. HSLDA has a sample transcript by subject here. The one I read about was more detailed by far (7 pages long).

I decided that I want a transcript and diploma in case we are ever questioned and to give my children a sense of accomplishment that what they are doing is going to be transferable to the world. I took books from the TJED Books for Youth and the TJED for Teens lists and made a book list for each subject. As my children read/study these books we check them off. Once an area of study has been completed during their Scholar Phase they have completed the "course". How is that different from some of my high school courses? It's not. I took Children's Literature and Mythology, which had a book list that we read and studied together, I wrote a couple of papers and then I got a grade.

Here are some examples:

Shakespeare (All Plays are read) - 1 English Credit

• The Tempest - Watched movie
• Julius Ceasar
• All's Well That End's Well - watched movie and wrote a paper
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Hamlet - attended a performance
• Othello - Wrote a paper
• Romeo and Juliet

Government (all are read) - .5 Government Credit

• The Constitution of the United States - Wrote a paper
• The Declaration of Independence - Watched a documentary on the signing
• The 5,000 Year Leap - Discussed each Principle
• The Federalist Papers

American History (all are read and some are watched/listened to) - 1 History/Social Studies Credit

• "I Have a Dream"
• "Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death"
• "The Gettysburg Address"
• "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
• "Let America Be America Again"
• The Last of the Mohicans
• The Making of America
• The Real Thomas Jefferson
• The Real George Washington
• The Real Benjamin Franklin
• Field trips to civil war sites and attended a reenactment

 I firmly believe that A Thomas Jefferson Education is transferable to the world and we can show people how successful it can be while still giving them something understandable in their terms.