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Category: by Debra Bell
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Our Attention Span is Short (Part Four of “How They Learn”)
A few weeks ago we hosted a webinar that focused on how the latest research can improve your homeschool. You can watch the entire webinar here.
Our attention spans are short and so are those of our kids. How is this a part of God’s design? And how can we effectively address it?
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Motivation Matters (Part Five of “How They Learn”)
A few weeks ago we hosted a webinar that focused on how the latest research can improve your homeschool. You can watch the entire webinar here.
In this section, Debra Bell addresses the importance of motivation.
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Multisensory Experience (Part Six of “How They Learn”)
A few weeks ago we hosted a webinar that focused on how the latest research can improve your homeschool. You can watch the entire webinar here.
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Positive Emotions Enhance Memory (Part Seven of “How They Learn”)
A few weeks ago we hosted a webinar that focused on how the latest research can improve your homeschool. You can watch the entire webinar here.
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5 Ways Advanced Placement (AP) Exams Can Cut College Costs
The Advanced Placement (AP) program, offered by the College Board, allows ambitious high school students to take college-level exams each May that potentially qualify them for college credit at the college of their choice. Each college lists the AP exams and credit they will award for a passing score on their website. Just search for “AP credit” or “equivalency exam credit” on the college’s site. Our daughter Kayte took 5 AP exams during high school and earned high marks on each. The University of Pittsburgh awarded her 24 credits for her efforts at no cost. Here is the break down of what she did:
Exam Grade Score* Credits Awarded by Pitt No. of classes eliminated AP U.S. History 10th 5
6
2
AP European History 11th 5
6
2
AP Psychology 12th 5
3
1
AP French 12th 4
3
1
AP English Literature 12th 5
6
2
*5 is the highest score possible.
Here are five ways the time she invested in preparing for those exams during high school reduced her college costs:
1. The value of those 24 credits at the University of Pittsburgh saved her at least 2/3rd of a year in tuition costs (approx. $12,000 at the time) and all the costs of the required texts for those courses.
2. The 24 credits eliminated almost a full year of the time necessary to complete her degree — time she could then use to earn an income.
3. The credits awarded gave her “sophomore” standing and “junior” standing in French (her second major). This meant she got to register for her classes much earlier than other freshman. This meant she ALWAYS got the required courses she needed the very first semester she was eligible to register for them. (A big reason most students today need 5 years to complete a 4-year degree is they cannot get into required courses when they need them.)
4. Kayte’s high performance on these AP exams qualified her for the honors college at the University of Pittsburgh. This then included many free perks, including preferential housing close to campus and early registration for classes. (Safe, affordable housing is in short supply at Pitt.)
5. Finally, Kayte’s high performance and evidence of a willingness to academically challenge herself with the most rigorous coursework available in high school earned her a full tuition, 5-year scholarship worth approximately $75,000 at the time. (She double majored and finished in 4 years anyway.) High AP scores are often the most decisive factor in a college’s decision to offer merit scholarships to homeschooled students. AP scores are viewed as an objective measure of a student’s achievement, ambition, and readiness for college-level rigor.
Kayte used the AP classes to prepare for these exams. The cost of those classes was money well spent when you think about how much time and money Kayte saved.
Taking AP classes is not required. Anyone can sit for the AP exams in May — students just have to sign up with a local test center (usually a local private or public high school) and pay the fees. But research shows that taking classes aligned with the AP exams substantially improves a student’s success on these exams.
Based on my daughter’s experience, I started Aim Academy Online. We offer coursework beginning in 7th grade that is aligned with AP exams. My rationale is students who have been gradually preparing for these rigorous exams over their entire middle school and high school years will be much better prepared to earn the highest scores possible when they take an AP exam. So far, that rationale appears to be working for the many parents and students who report better than expected success on the exams they have taken. And Kayte — now Kathryn Gomes — is offering her own college-prep coursework in mathematics through Aim to help the next generation of homeschooled students realize the time and savings she did. (See her SAT/ACT test prep course here.)
P.S. I should mention the #1 advantage to all the hard work Kayte put in during high school, according to Kayte: She was able to study abroad for three semesters and one summer at a reasonable cost, and still graduate on time. (Pitt allows students to apply their scholarship monies to these ventures.) Kayte studied in Provence, France; Cairo, Egypt; and sailed around the world with Semester-At-Sea, docking in 10 different countries along the way.
Aim Academy AP Courses
There are now 9 AP courses available through Aim Academy. All of these courses are taught by qualified and passionate teachers with the goal of helping your student earn the best possible score.
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Is It Me? My Child? Or the Curriculum? What to do when homeschooling frustrations abound
Last week we began a series on mid-school year self-evaluations, and how to trouble-shoot your homeschooling frustrations. This week I continue my discussion with Debra Bell, as we look at how to determine if it’s just a bad day, a character issue with your child/children, or simply a child in need of more support.
Is it just a bad day?
Heather Eades: In trouble-shooting issues with your homeschool, last week we talked about what to do when the problem is with you, the homeschooling parent. But what can parents do when they determine that the majority of schooling frustrations appear to be coming from their child?
Deb Bell: When I see frustration in my child, I stop and ask, “Is this child just having a bad attitude today?” Because that is a very real possibility. But we also want to consider the child’s character, because sometimes kids are prone to laziness and don’t enjoy putting out extra effort. However another question to certainly consider is, “Is the child being over-challenged?”
Does the child need extra support?
HE: What should parents do if they feel their child is being over-challenged by specific subjects?
DB: Then we either need to provide more support as a parent or make a change—I’ve found at different times that, even though I’m all about raising independent learners, at times my kids just needed me to sit beside them and help them with that subject on that day.
One of the hardest challenges of being a homeschooling parent is keeping ourselves free from distractions. We have goals for the housework; we’re always multitasking. For me to homeschool with integrity, I had to turn off my phone (at least for the morning.) I tried to frontload the day with our homeschooling, in order for me to be solely focused in the morning on my children’s individual needs.
Does the problem exist outside of schoolwork?
HE: And after you’ve given your child support, what if you suspect a character issue with your child? How does a parent determine this?
DB: My husband had excellent wisdom in this! If I thought I was dealing with a character issue, my husband would always ask, “Well, is it pervasive?” The character issue can be determined as a rule of thumb, I think, by asking yourself, “Does the problem only emerge when my child is doing school, or do I see the problem during other aspects of the child’s life?” If your child doesn’t want to do math…but he also doesn’t want to do anything…it might be a character issue and no curriculum is going to fix that.
HE: So, what is a parent to do with a character issue?
DB: I would start by telling my child what I’m seeing, couching it all with empathy. I remember one time my husband concluded the resistance from one of our kids was really just laziness. We’ve all had those moments when the real reason we don’t get something done is we are being lazy. Fortunately, our child listened to our perspective and asked for help and forgiveness—which we both immediately offered on both counts. We prayed together and asked the Lord to help all of us put more effort into our responsibilities. We need to come along side our kids when they struggle with a character issue or immaturity. Let them see that parents have to resist these temptations as well.
Allow your homeschool to be HolySpirit-led. We need to be asking the Lord, “What is my child ready for? What does he/she need from me? How can I challenge each child appropriately?” As you become more in tune with the Holy Spirit’s leading, you will become more in tune with each child.
Finally, in our next post we look at what to do if it is the curriculum.
