March 29, 2008 - College Scholarships...
We are finding out more and more the scholarships available. Wow! We aren't applying for all of them at this time, but I am trying to file them away for the next child on the horizon. For my oldest daughter, we are focusing on our county scholarship. We needed our application in by April 15th. The process entailed that we have a letter of acceptance from a college of our choice. We chose our local community college because our daughter will likely start there to do general ed. classes.
To get our letter of acceptance, we did what every other child in school had to do... submit a copy of our transcript and any college exams taken. We submitted our daughters transcript and her ACT scores. 2 weeks later, we received our acceptance letter.
We submitted our application for the scholarship. As long as we follow the rules of the scholarship, we should have no problems with getting the monies, as the only requisite for receiving the monies are that you live in the county for your junior and senior years of high school. We qualify on that, so our application was just verifying that information and showing our intent to send our daughter to college.
We should find out sometime this coming month what amount the monies will come to. We are told it will be around $4,000. Woo Hoo!
As a side note, my disorganization last year at this time, caused us to not submit in time for last years' scholarship. The students have to apply their senior year... my daughter was in her senior year, last year... however we had a horrible lambing season, which caused our entire household to stop. We didn't do any school during this 3 to 4 month period of having a selenium deficiency lambing flock. We lost many lambs, we had a lamb nursery in the house, we had round the clock schedules so that someone was up taking care of these little lambs that could not care for themselves. Anyways, to make up for this, we had to finish up this fall, she completed the last of her classes by the end of October.
This disruption in schedule had a purpose. God allowed our family time... time to deal with our farm troubles, time to deal with financial struggles, time to finish school, time to test for college. We finished classes this fall, as stated above, then my daugther took her ACT's in October and December. She was a young graduate, so this extension of time was OK... my daughter also came to terms with graduating later than expected by saying... at least it was still 2007! LOL. When I asked about the scholarship this fall, they said it was perfectly OK for my daughter to apply this year, since she didn't officially finish her classes until the public school years, school year 2007-08. God was sooo good to us, that in my disorganization and in my stress, he allowed time for us to heal and still be completely ok with scholarships, testings, transcripts and graduation.
God is so good to us! His timing is perfect!
Warmly, ~Melissa
February 29, 2008 - It is Finished!
It is Finished! (Copy of post from my PRAISE blog)
Now, I don't claim to understand what God must have felt like to finish the creation of the world. No not at all. But, the satisfaction of putting yourself so deeply into a project and pushing yourself to keep at it, to not give in to temptation to do a little less, to finish with the knowledge that you've done the best you were able to do....it had to be a little taste of that great accomplishment.
Thursday morning, I felt that. I finished my daughters high school transcript. Now for some that start this record keeping process early (like before high school!), the process may not be as painful as say... mine was for waiting until the end to figure out how to compile it all together. That is not completely true. I had a plan in the beginning, but it changed each year. My record keeping also changed as I progressed through the past four years and I had to meld it all together to make sense... to be similar in format so that the information made sense to one reading it. I found that people get confused over homeschooler's transcripts, because they are different anyways... and to give them one that had differences within itself... well, I didn't want to do that. The feeling of having it done... completely done was like none other. It was better than finishing that first research paper I had to do in high school. It was better than organizing all the bills and creating a budget. It was simply done and all I could do was smile.
I've come upon a new plan for the coming girls. It is easy to change without creating a bunch of work. I have a new recording program that keeps track of grades, hours, activities, etc. It is fairly easy to change your grading scale, to include weighted grading, to rearrange assignments for courses, etc. So, should I change my mind down the road... I have a program that is ready to work with me.
I praise God for helping me to accomplish this goal. (so does my daughter!) I praise God for standing by my side when I felt so drained and totally exhausted from this project. I simply... Praise God!
Warmly, ~Melissa
February 26, 2008 - Moore Academy
I had been a bit stressed out over school as of lately. I was doing my oldest's transcript (she is done with her schooling... I am not!). Anyways, I was reliving all the frustrations we had with our high school years. Each assignment I had stuffed into these boxes was looked over again and I cringed and cringed and cringed. It was an awful time. As I was doing that, I was looking at my 10th grader floundering in her schooling as well. Now she does some things very well, but some things we picked out for her were just a bad fit.
With the review, I realized I needed something that fit my daughter a bit better. I wanted her happier. I wanted her smiling again. So, I got courage and called the Moore Academy for a consultation. I had never used their service before, so I was unsure what to expect.
I was really pleased with my call. I talked for an hour over several options and we talked about my daughter specifically and we found several options that might fit her a bit better. I was encouraged for what we were doing right. I was encouraged that doing better in other subjects won't be that hard. And I learned some of how to put a class together and how to feel comfortable with figuring credits for a couple of those classes that you know you should do, but what are the normal guidelines.
I also got help with understanding that not all classes have to be quizzes and tests... and if they aren't... how do we grade them? Well, I am so happy and so pleased with the Moore Academy. The counseling session may have been a bit high, but I consider it well worth the money. I have some direction that fits my daughter specifically. I feel confident with our plan for the coming year. And really, they let me plan the year, I asked questions and she answered my questions. I asked about curriculum and she shared the level of difficulty and what wouldn't work for my daughter for sure.
I'd say another thumbs up on a great service! I will definately use it again, should I get into a pickle with our plans! Thanks, Moore Academy!
Warmly, ~Melissa
February 7, 2008 - Two Thumbs up for Homeschool Tracker Plus!
I have been fiddling with the new program for some time, now. I was struggling with some things... because I simply did not read the manual and tried to learn as I went. That isn't the best way, all the time! LOL
I contacted the company over some error codes and some troubles with saving information and finding the information. I have been back and forth by email and the customer support is AWESOME! I figured out what I did wrong, it had nothing to do with the program... (thankfully!), it was just some errors on my part. Confusion came when I had a computer crash that I was using it on. I had saved some of my progress on the jumpdrive, but not all.
I was helped to find where my data ended up being stored and found a solution to my struggles. Plus some extra tips with making up my transcript which I am currently in process of doing.
I cannot say enough about the program and the people that are there helping out with support. And the gal apologized that it took her so many "hours" to get a reply out to me, as it was evident to her that the email had been lost, so she retyped it. I felt she got back to me in such a timely manner... much quicker than Dell or other support centers I had been to in the past.
Oh, and there is a forum for help with the program. And it is busy! Nice to jump in and find new friends willing to help make your day go easier. I tried other computer planners and just did not have the support like this. There are people there to help you with the basic (free version) and the plus version... which is WAY worth the money in my opinion, especially with the great support. They had previously helped me figure out how to record our HS over 4 years rather than the traditional one year courses. It is hard enough doing things untraditionally, but then trying to track all that information!!! Well, they just made my life so much sweeter!
I am smiling! *Ü*
Warmly, ~Melissa
February 5, 2008 - Long, Busy days...
I normally love winter because it is my time to slow down and enjoy a few hobbies. This winter, I took on some projects of getting organized and uncluttered... and well, I am full to the brim with long, busy days!
I recently purchased Homeschool Tracker Plus. I am pleased with it and am getting rid of some of my paper piles. I am diligent with backing it up on a jump drive, because we've had two computers crash in the last 6 months. (they were older laptops, but still!) This is taking some time to get all the information in, but I am slowly seeing the piles disappear. That is such a relief to me! I have so little storage areas, that having to store paperwork for three kids for all their schooling years... well it was getting to be a burden and so I have begun the process of recording on the computer and putting together portfolios of their schoolwork and reducing it by tons and tossing the rest! (Just like every other mom... if it doesn't fit on the fridge, it's outa here!... well, not quite that drastic, but getting closer!) I am thinking of scanning some of the favorites so we can see them, but just not have to store them!
I really love paper! I have 3 file cabinets by my desk and I had them full to the brim. One had farm /bill records in it. One had unit studies in it and the last one has teaching helps and current year school work filed in it. I recently went through my school file cabinet and reduced it by half. There were unit studies on units I never would have done. I was given alot of materials from teacher friends and I realized I will never to an exclusive study on bats. Not to the point of having bat manuscript paper and bat letter stationary and bat counting papers, etc... So I let go of the bats and a few other units that have sat lonely in my files. I will let someone else have them!
My other large project is the house declutter. I think we finally have the house rearranged to where items may permanently stay for an extended period. No more moving the school room or bedrooms or any of that nonsense. We've hip hopped the house round and round because of daycare needs in the past, then homeschooling 3 kids was messy on the dining room table and now we are down to just 2 in the books and they seem to keep the dining room neater and there is less stuff, just one bookshelf, vs. the two we had to have before. Anyways, we are still debating over the piano issue. Dh wants to get me an electric piano with CD copying capabilities and so much more... found a really nice one for around $700, but we are on a debt-free journey so that is just a wish for now. Our huge piano is just in the way, it is older and it is hardly played. I play from time to time, but where it is (the only place it can be), it can't get played because that's the TV room! (Dh's haven! *grin*) I've set up the house with areas in mind, rather than filling an empty hole along the wall. Each room has purpose and storage of particular items. This works so well! I often wonder why it took me so long to figure this out.
I know the kids were growing and because of that we moved things around... we also added on to the house, so we moved things around... we then didn't like the loft and the high living room ceiling, so we put in a lower ceiling and we moved things around again... round and round and round!
My days are long and busy. I barely have time to keep up, but there is progress each day. I no longer feel frazzled by disorganization. I am tackling the huge piles and they are slowly going away, even if only a half a box at a time. I am having a hard time keeping up with the household duties and am tempted to hand them over to my oldest who is done with high school, but waiting on college until next fall. I could continue the overhaul of the house and complete it before she enters college (yes the house is that bad... actually the bad stuff got moved to the basement, but I have to take care of that mess before spring!).
Today's accomplishments seemed little in the eyes of my husband. I corrected 30 lessons today. I added a couple new files to the bill cabinet. I cleaned out a half of a box upstairs and I cleaned out half of a pile downstairs on the buffet. I also planned out lessons for the next two weeks and logged in some past lessons from old plan books. Dh says I have trouble keeping to one task, LOL. I just did what presented itself to me along the path of my day. Between going up and down the stairs for baby and making supper this evening... well, life happened, but I still accomplished something. I haven't felt that way for a long time... I felt life was passing me by and I was just continuing to get further behind.
I praise God for long busy days! I interacted with my children. I got some things accomplished. I made Dh smile today. And I even got my devotions in. I am slowly feeling peaceful with each passing busy day. That we accomplished something, yet we weren't too busy for family and we weren't too lazy and stuck on the computer all the day, either. Lambing season has started at our home. Our days will be long and busy, but full of life and new beginnings. What a precious time. Each season is full and I love each of them. I have been praying for peace and order in my life and I have read books and been on email lists and nothing really worked. I finally just cried out to God and asked for help and He is leading me to a plan specific for me and it is working. It starts with spending time in God's Word every day. Most of the time it is in the morning before the girls awaken. But if a bad night puts that off until mid morning or late afternoon, that is ok...I don't freak out... I just keep going and know that I will have time with God sometime today. That I think is the source of my peace and each item I tackle with organizing and decluttering, has gone up in prayer and for the first time in years, it is falling into place. My home is feeling homey. I am opening up my home again to visitors and everyone comments on how our house isn't the best dressed, but it is the most homey... one of the teens mentioned homely... but laughed at his mistake and said... I meant Homey ... HONEST! LOL!
That's what a home is for... to be homey... not to be schoolish, not to be Better Homes and Garden picture ready, not to be the path house full of piles, either. But to be at home... toys may be on the floor at times, laptops sitting at the feet of the couches, blankets tossed over chairs. But it is clean enough and organized enough for life to function without being distracted by clutter. It is welcome enough to visitors to plop on the couch with a smile on their face, not apprehension at whether they are sitting correctly and might upset someone. School books may still be on the dining table, but quickly clear to the bookshelf near the table. Our white board shines of "School", but others laugh at how included in that is real life... call the dentist may be on the side or a favorite Bible verse to be shared by those who stop to read it.
I'm glad for my long, busy days. I'm glad for my Saviour. I'm glad for my home. I'm glad to be home with my kids. Sometimes one just has to think on those things and be thankful and send up praises.
Warmly, ~Melissa
January 12, 2008 - ACT results for just average homeschoolers....
After taking our first round of the ACT test, my daughter wasn't thrilled with her results. This confirmed her suspicion that her home schooling was "less" than adequate to prepare her for "real life". Our daughter Kate was in "real" school through the 4th grade. We took her out as she was having trouble in several areas and continued to fall further and further behind. We felt God led us to homeschooling and though we were not prepared for the change of our lifestyle, we felt we were doing what was right.
However, our homeschooling had its trials. We weren't part of the elite group that had the brightest students of the nation. Being a homeschooler has alot of expectations. Being an average homeschooler is less than disappointing to many. An average high school student in public school is fine and acceptable, but a homeschooler? You mean your daughter didn't take chemistry? You didn't take Physics? You only took Algebra 1 and Consumer Math? You don't play an instrument? You aren't artistically gifted? My daughter had to meet many of these questions by her lonesome as people questioned her when I was not in her presence. Many with kids my daughter's age wanted to make sure she was adequately being taught, and their disappointment in an average schooler's education was evident in their voices and often times disheartened my daughter. She wasn't good enough in school, and now in her homeschooling, she felt she was failing as well.
On a personal note, Kate enjoyed her education. She enjoyed the homeschooling. She admits she missed out on some social events, but as far as her education was concerned she personally was quite happy with it. She was average in the fact that she wasn't a high achiever. But, she excelled with hands on activities on the farm. She was by her Dad's side when it came to the sheep and she excelled in farm knowledge. She could detect troubles. She took classes on how to detect parasites and the symptoms; she took classes on coat specifications, although too young to get certification, she still did the same courses and did better than many adults in the class. She can pull lambs with the best of them. She has offered her help to other farms with turning lambs during birth and untangling them in the womb. She could run a sheep farm by herself, aside from needing another hand to help with worming or weighing. She knows this, yet others have made her feel that this isn't learning that will help her later in life.... that perhaps she should have applied herself to those more lofty classes like chemistry and physics.
Kate is also is equipped with life skills that many will struggle with early in their marriages, taking years to catch up to her skills. I know this, that is how I left public school... ill equipped to run a home and work within a marriage. I struggled over simple homemaking skills and that really caused a struggle with my early years in marriage. My hope is that her skills will bring less strain to those early years in her own marriage. Kate can cook. She can menu plan. She can clean the house (and the barn!). She knows child rearing, having a baby sister that was born when she was 15yo.
But, still... she's just an average homeschooler. Her first ACT test came back ok. She struggled with timing and admitted that she didn't finish any of the tests on time. She barely had time to read the last 15 questions of each test and make a quick guess.. she admits to filling in circles without even having read the questions. Now, we didn't do much for timed tests at home and this was new to her. Her test scores arrived back at home and they were lower than she had hoped. They were not high enough to get into the college of her choosing. The composite score was high enough, but the math score she needed one more point.
At this point, is when she felt comfirmed in all her fears. She wasn't normal. She wasn't even adequate. She went through stages of grief. The anger was the hardest for me. Anger at Mom for ruining her life. I didn't make her take geometry which the ACT does test over. I gave her choices, but now she wasn't happy that I allowed those choices... I should have known better. She chided me because of her disappointment. We allowed her to visit a friend of many years that lives hours away. We thought this would give her some time to sort out this disappointment. No matter how we said this was first time test jitters, she felt we were wrong... she was just.... stupid. She came back from her friend's with more anger. This mom was more than I could ever be. Her friend (also homeschooled) was excelling, having taken more classes than she was required. She also was nearly finished with an associate degree before even graduating from high school. And their home... spotless, immaculate. I endured a couple weeks of deep criticism before Dad stepped in and told her she had overstepped the limits. Respect was something we had always tried to instill... a good character and hers wasn't shining at that moment. She got over her anger and her pain and we came up with a plan. She admitted she didn't want to be a nurse and really didn't even want to go to this college that she was disappointed that she didn't get high enough scores for. It was just the fact that she couldn't that she was hurting. Our plan was to get through this year and retest.
Last month she took her second ACT test. Her scores came back about two weeks ago. She scored 4 points higher. She ranks just above average in the composite for the state, but like 65% in the nation. She excelled in English... coming back in the 87th percentile for the nation. That was her best subject. And in math she was in 65th percentile...in the geometry/trig part of the test... and she didn't even take geometry or trig! She was a much happier person and you could see relief spelled out on her face. She may be an average homeschooler, with just over average scores on her ACT... that's all she wanted to be... average. She didn't want to be a doctor or an engineer. She didn't want to be the smartest in her "class". She just wanted to be average...not behind like she feared she was, not behind like she was when she was in school. Her life goals were to be a sahm and homeschool her own kids. Maybe do some type of work until marriage, but it was not her goal to have a major career that she would struggle to give up when she married.
I wanted to scream... HOW DARE anyone tell my daughter that her life goals are less than adequate. HOW DARE anyone push their ideals on her making her feel that she should be pitied because of her parents' poor choices. They think she could have been so much more... much more what? She's average... above average in fact. And just because she was homeschooled doesn't mean she had to be an Einstein. And just because she's above average in her college entrance exams doesn't mean she HAS to be something she doesn't want to be, or something she isn't led to be. God is leading her life as we feel He has led us to train her up. She has learned to listen to His voice... as long as she can do that, she has succeeded in our eyes.
Kate came up and gave both Dad and I big hugs. Thankful for her upbringing. Thankful for her schooling. Thankful for our home. Sorry for her outbursts in the past month or two. Both Dh and I knew she had it in her. We knew she was a very smart girl. We just didn't jump the hoops and take every test out there... in fact she hadn't been tested since 7th grade. So yes, we had uncertainty, but we trusted that God had led us down this path and He would see us through. She now has a new sense of identity. Now able to stand with shoulders back. Able to look others in the eyes and say... Hi, I'm Kate... this is ME...
My hope is that this post will encourage other "AVERAGE" homeschoolers. Don't let others put you down for not pushing your child to excel in academics. I'm not talking about ignoring academics, I'm talking about pushing until it hurts. What happens if your child is just average? What happens if your child struggles in reading, in math, in writing? Do we give up? Do we push until it hurts? Or do we pray to God for assistance? If God leads us to be average and focus on other things... do we follow? When others tell us we're doing it wrong, when others cause us to lose focus or feel inadequate, ....DON'T. ... Lean on God... His way works!
Warmly, ~Melissa
November 8, 2007 - Books and Texts listed on half.com
I am cleaning out an old school closet of our church school. I am offering the old texts for sale on my half.com account as I have time to post them. I have two boxes posted so far. What is posted from the school is social studies materials...I also have several books of many different reading tastes, from fiction, to young readers, to cooking and crafting books...
Check it out at my HALF.COM listing.
Warmly, ~Melissa
November 6, 2007 - Scheduling our ACT test...
Today is another busy day. Among the things that need to get done, I am scheduling my daughter's ACT exam. Beings, we do not test on Saturday, I have to schedule it with the local college. We call them up, and they have to find a test administrator and once that is done, we arrange a date that works for both of us. After that, I need to drive in to the college and fill out the ACT registration form, sign it and my daughter signs it and I pay the $30 fee. Not too bad.
The first time, however, it seemed a bit more confusing and frustrating. I was checking with ACT and calling our local school district and even stopped in to talk with the guidance counselor who assured me she'd check into it and get back to me, which they never got back to me, so I ended up calling our local college. They were glad to help, but they hadn't done it before, so they called ACT themselves to get the information they needed to proceed. Once we figured it out, it went smoothly.... Although still nerve wracking since neither party had "done" it before so we were both cautiously stepping into the ring.
One thing I learned about taking the ACT is that you don't HAVE to take it your junior year of high school. You can take it anytime! Really!!! By anytime, I mean after your graduated, or during your senior year... anytime. The only advantage to taking it the year prior to college is to get your numbers in when you are applying for financial aid... a good score can me good scholarships. My daughter has graduated and we are taking her tests this fall. We hope to apply for financial aid this winter for college next spring. Currently she is working and saving up some money... and still trying to decide what it is she wants to do.
And you can keep retaking it every 60 days, if needed or wanted. Why would one want to do that? Well, the higher your ACT score, the higher the scholarship at many colleges. And for some colleges they want homeschoolers to have a certain ACT or SAT score to be admitted. Many colleges take your highest score, whether it was your first or your last test. The college we were looking at my daughter met the composite score, but she was one point too low on her math (we didn't take geometry). So, we are retaking it in hopes of raising that math score.
There are also lots of ACT study options. If you go to the ACT website, they will suggest their own study book. We found this book at the library and borrowed it for 6 weeks (we renewed it) and it was FREE! We also checked out older books just to give my daughter more practice on math and english type problems. We also got a ACT program for our palm pilot which we had found for $1 at the local office supply store. Lots of the resources are cheap. If you go to the bookstore and find a book you like, check to see if your library has it or can get it on interlibrary loan and save yourself some funds!
So, don't be scared of the ACT test. It is a nice test to take for college entrance. It does not ding you for missed answers, so you can guess on questions you do not know. My daughter struggled with the timing a bit, and she feels that she didn't get through the entire test, so has been working on her speed a bit. Knowing that she just filled in circles for 15 or more problems on each test because she ran out of time, gives her hope that her next test will go more smoothly. We always said... taking the test, there is a learning curve. Don't be afraid to take it twice or be disappointed if the first score isn't as you desired. It sure doesn't mean you are stupid... the score reflects alot of things more than knowledge... (nerves, timing, getting over sitting in a room by yourself with a complete stranger, etc.!)
Warmly, ~Melissa
October 15, 2007 - Sweet Bargain...
I am so excited. After sitting in the dentist's office for an hour today, I headed home, needing to stop at the grocery store. Just before the grocery store, I see the second hand store in our town. I stop quickly just to browse, but tell my daughter, NO CLOTHES.
We go in and I skim the adult books, then quickly check the children's books. I found the Foot Book by Dr. Suess. We had this summer lost our copy due to it being left outside during a rainstorm. I found two true to life history books, Anne Frank and another one from a Danish/Dutch version of this same war. Then, I spy two Rod and Staff Spelling books. Grade 6 and Grade 7. Neither one is written in. The covers show some shelf wear, but really good shape. I was so excited. I had been looking for these for some time and have bid on several on ebay, but I just can't afford much so always got outbid.
My total cost for the quick stop... was $1.50. And the $1 was for my daughter's blouse (remember I said NO CLOTHES... I am such a push over... can't pass a half price very nice white blouse up!) But the books were 50 cents... 10 cents each! God is so good! My husband tells me I should sell the spelling books on ebay, now, considering I always got outbid... we both laughed. Maybe, after I am done with them!
Warmly,
Melissa
September 10, 2007 - First visit of the year with our Supervising Teacher...
Tonight we had our first of eight visits with our homeschool Supervising teacher. This is one option of following the law in Iowa. We choose to work with a supervising teacher because for me it is the least stressful route and the cheapest route of keeping accountability.
Our visit went well. I was about 10 minutes late. Just alot to do today. I had gone to an orthodontist appointment with my 12yo and run to the grocery store, run home, prepared supper and out the door I had to run. Other than being late, it was a good meeting. We set a date for our next visit (phone visit). I paid my fees. And then we just discussed school plans for the coming year.
To make it easier, I handed her my form that I handed in to the local school district. She jotted a couple more notes about the extras that we are not required to submit to the school district. We discussed goals, our summer projects and exchanged some sharing about mission trips.
I have a better plan with time management for this year and so far it is working a bit better than in past years. I made some priorities about our extras in life and simply put... they come last!
My two current projects that are on the forefront of "my" list are decluttering and finding a way to organize school record keeping that is easier to use for me! The decluttering process is slow going, but it is working. I have been selling some stuff on ebay and had a garage sale this summer and hope to have another in a couple weeks during the city wide garage sale. The record keeping has been trial and error for the past 8-9 years and I am hoping to come up with a better way this year. I want something that works for ME, that works for making a transcript, that works for easy planning, I've tried other homeschool programs and record keeping planners and they work to a point, but not totally for me. I will probably make my own Homeschool Record Book with all the things "I" feel are necessary, instead of things that don't apply. You know each state has their own things that must be kept track of, each college has their own standards... and it just would be nice to have one that fits my needs. Instead of keeping track of the stuff others think is important... I will keep track of the things I have found that ARE important. Having one that is graduating in a month or two... I have found out MANY things that are important... that NO ONE told me about! And it is really hard to try and think back... so I want to have it recorded from the start with my next couple of kiddos.
So, that was all discussed at our meeting as well. We went a bit over on time, but we have been friends for years and it is good to have a chance to catch up, too.
Now, that first meeting is officially over... it is time to hit the books and set some goals for this year and really make it happen. (I have big goals, but I find little goals are easier to meet and great boosters to keep us actively accomplishing the bigger goals!)
Warmly,
Melissa
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