| So what is a college prep education? What do | | | | this way we "tricked" our kids into thinking they |
| homeschool kids who want to go to college need | | | | really weren't doing school!! |
| to know. These weighty questions have been the | | | | Fine arts can vary widely. Just about anything |
| subject of full length books. In this article, I will | | | | artistic counts - from ordinary subjects like |
| give you a simple, "no fear" approach to educating | | | | painting and dancing; to more unusual hobbies like |
| your homeschool high school student. Just some | | | | knitting and crochet! Believe it or not, foreign |
| basic guidelines to encourage you to do what you | | | | language may be successfully learned in as little as |
| probably already know is right for your student. | | | | 30 minutes per day. PE can be what they do for |
| First off, it's important to balance what your child | | | | fun, like dancing or sports. We defined homeschool |
| needs to know, with what they WANT to do. If | | | | PE as "anything that breaks a sweat!" |
| you can focus on just the basic, core classes, | | | | Electives are the subjects you don't assign - they |
| with limited fluff, then even in high school they | | | | are things they just want to do! Maybe that's |
| can still get their schoolwork done in a reasonable | | | | animal husbandry or interior design - let them |
| amount of time. Math does take a long time each | | | | decide as often as possible. For our electives, we |
| day, and it's important because it builds on itself. | | | | didn't assign much of anything. We just followed |
| You can't quickly regain math skills if you don't | | | | along behind and scooped up what they did into |
| keep up with it. Other subjects can be handled a | | | | neat little courses to add to their high school |
| bit more quickly, and with less stress. | | | | transcript. Believe me, when you have kids with |
| Core subjects means one hour (not more) on | | | | passionate interests, our way is MUCH easier than |
| English, social studies, science and math. Add | | | | trying to control what they learn and do! |
| some foreign language or PE or fine arts or | | | | So what do homeschool kids need if they want |
| electives. The strategy we used was to focus | | | | to go to college? Core classes, and the freedom |
| our "school time" on the core classes, and let the | | | | to choose the electives that will encourage their |
| other subjects become more delight-directed. In | | | | love of learning. |