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Category: Homeschool For Success
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Printable Graph Paper
Graphing can be one of the toughest skills for math students to master. In my decade of experience as a high school math teacher I noticed that a good sheet of graph paper can make a big difference. I’d run off a bunch of double-sided copies of this before each unit on graphing so it was available and ready to go.
This graph paper is my favorite design because it fits four to a page and is numbered. I also included a sheet that is specific for Algebra 1, it has space for students to label the slope and y-intercept on the graph. This is perfect for linear equations. Finally, there is one for Algebra 2 students that has space to label the vertex and x-intercepts on a parabola.
Download the free Graph Paper Printable
Let us know how this resource works out for you. And feel free to share it!
Kathryn Gomes is Debra Bell’s daughter and teaches SAT Math for Aim Academy. She is also offering a self-paced course leading up to the August test. She is a guest blogger for debrabell.com
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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
On to curriculum! In this final post in our series, Deb Bell helps this homeschooling mama learn to let go of unchecked boxes, and embrace the learning lifestyle—flaws and all.
Heather Eades: So if you have determined your curriculum is the culprit of your homeschool’s frustrations, what would you suggest?
Deb Bell: First adapt. I adapted every piece of curriculum I ever used. I slowed it down, sped it up; if it was tedious, we did every other problem. Don’t be afraid to change the assignment. I do not subscribe to the philosophy that you have to be “thorough.” I believe in a spiraling pedagogy, and that over time with repeated exposure and different contexts, students will get there. It’s perfectly fine to skip stuff and adjust; modify assignments–read a different book! Curriculum is a tool. Don’t let it enslave you.
HE: While many of us know that makes total sense to hear, I have countless homeschooling friends who have told me they just can’t handle it if all the boxes aren’t checked. Any advice for us Type A personalities?
DB: Most homeschooling parents are simply trying to do right by their children. They feel they are shortchanging their child if they don’t do everything, or that they’re being a lazy homeschooling parent. But the vast majority of homeschooling parents just need to understand that they can be more relaxed in their approach, and that God is in the details.
For Christian homeschoolers, the main reason to homeschool is so God can show you His faithfulness and His abundant provision. God has already accounted for our mess-ups, failures, and limitations. Make God a big part of this whole evaluation, and show your kids it’s OK to make mistakes, even though we all try to do the best we can. It’s the wrong emphasis for a parent to think, “Homeschooling is something I’m doing to my children,” rather than supporting their child in their own quest for knowledge and understanding, and gaining competencies; figuring out what God wants them to do with their life. Support those things. Boxes can go unchecked.
HE: Was there ever a time when you completely abandoned a curriculum completely mid-year?
DB: Yes, one of my children was part of a co-op using a math program that was not a good fit for the child’s learning style. It wasn’t that my child was being over-challenged as much as the child was frustrated and confused by the way the material was presented. If you realize you can’t change the content or coach the child through it to make gains, you know it is time to make a change.
HE: How does a parent determine if a curriculum or philosophy does not fit their child’s learning style?
DB: Be“student- centered.” Focused on the child, not the curriculum. It’s the homeschooling parent who is actually learning how their child learns—they become a student of the student. If your child struggles continuously in a school subject and you see they are putting in a lot of effort and have the desire to learn, yet they’re not making gains, make changes. Every child is uniquely designed by God. Your child’s cognitive growth is just as unique as your child’s physical development. We need to normalize differences in our children’s cognitive development in the same way we normalize differences in their physical growth.
HE: Thank you, Deb! I think a lot of homeschooling parents like me need to hear this reminder. We can all feel such pressure, especially this time of year.
DB: At this point in the year, we’re all aware of our inadequacies. But I believe God allows that so we can then figure out how to call for a greater dependency on the Lord for these decisions and for our children’s lives—God is homeschooling us! So many of the practical questions we all have in this evaluation process are really just symptomatic of God calling us to press in to a deeper sense of His call and provision.
So celebrate! In homeschooling, we are so often aware of where we’re falling short and what’s not working and where our kids are struggling…that we over-emphasize, completely discount or minimize where God IS providing abundantly. Where are your kids THRIVING? Where are they IMPROVING? Where are they MATURING and SUCCEEDING? Celebrate those things in the process.
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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.
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Is It Me? My Child? Or the Curriculum?
What to do when homeschooling frustrations abound
Some things are probably working wonderfully for you this school year but others are not. How do you figure out how to address those problem areas? I sat down with Debra Bell for practical advice on trouble-shooting your homeschool.
This week we look at how to pinpoint the root of homeschooling frustrations, and 4 steps to help when the source of the issue is . . . you.
1.Trouble-shoot.
Heather Eades: Many of us are re-examining the investment we made in the year’s curriculum. What are some questions to be asking through this process?
Deb Bell: We need to be asking, “What’s working, what’s not? What do I need to adjust or flex to make the rest of the year a success and help my child feel successful?” Give yourself permission to stop and take a break to pinpoint issues.
2. Shift your focus from a curriculum-centered plan to a child-centered plan.
HE: Can you share some personal experience you have in doing this as a home educator?
DB: When asked what homeschool method I ascribed to, I always said my homeschool approach was intentional and strategic. And in order to be that, you have to be child-centered. So, at this point in the year I would look at each of my kids, and I would take a day—strategic and purposeful—to sit down and think about, “How is each kid doing? Where do I see focus? Where do I see interest? And if I saw those things, then I knew, “It’s working; I don’t need to adjust.”
HE: And when did you know to make changes?
DB: When I’d identify where any of my kids were losing self-confidence, were discouraged because they couldn’t be successful, or where I saw a lack of motivation and interest. I always want each child to feel successful—I can’t overemphasize how important a child’s own sense of success and accomplishment is. That doesn’t mean a child should expect things to feel easy. Hard is good. But sometimes parents may persist with a curriculum or resource even when their children are failing, or their confidence is being undermined. Many parents don’t know what to do, so they just keep going. When kids are losing confidence, parents really need to stop and prayerfully discern the root causes.
3. Set aside your timetable; adjust to the pace your child needs.
HE: If a parent has been pushing through a curriculum for quite awhile, without seeing gains, would you suggest backtracking–not being bound by a grade level?
DB: (laughs) I avoided buying resources that had specific grade levels for that reason. Dropping back might be an option, but just slowing down the pace often worked well for us. We can get very anxious about slowing down and moving at a pace that allows our children to be successful, but we really need to do that. Continually setting a pace that is beyond the child’s readiness is self-defeating. It only makes the problem worse. Whenever you’re undermining your child’s confidence, you’re actually making it much more difficult for that child to ever catch up or to ever like that subject. As a parent my goal is to make them confident in the subject. An inflexible schedule? That’s an issue with me. The schedule is not child-centered, and I need to change that.
4.Give yourself permission to use curriculum as a guide.
HE: I think many times, we parents feel like we have to keep pressing through a curriculum by the end of the year—we have to check all the boxes or we didn’t do enough. How would you respond to that as an educator?
DB: I think parents often feel like that! They feel like, “OK, we bought this curriculum, we’ve got to get through it by the end of the year!” But what many parents don’t realize is that as a classroom teacher, I never got through an entire curriculum in a year. Classroom teachers are very comfortable not doing everything. We’re picking and choosing, modifying (curriculum), not completing it. Give yourself permission to adapt, skip, or take a break.
Next post: Is It Me, the Curriculum, or My Child Pt. 2: What to do when it is your child.
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Aim Science: Vinegar Experiments
Every Monday Dr. Karen Joseph uses Facebook Live to conduct science experiments on the Debra Bell Facebook page. Recently she demonstrated three different experiments that all use vinegar. Although the setup and supplies list is simple, each of these experiment packs a big WOW factor.
Dr. Karen Joseph teaches The Wonders of Water and Sensational Senses for Aim Academy. Second semester, she will teach zoology for 4th – 8th graders. She believes that science should be fun. She works to create classes that have a strong hands-on component, and that will ignite in her students a passion to know more about the wonderful world they live in.
