Do your kids have an interest in medicine, law, national security?

My 16 year old is interested in the CIA.  So, this spring he will attend the National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington, D. C.. In case you have a child interested in leadership, national security, medicine, law or crime scene investigation I want to let you know about this amazing opportunity.  The information below is from the forum's website.

"STUDENTS EXPLORE U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY DURING SPRING FORUM
National Youth Leadership Forum Provides Insight into U.S. Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This spring, outstanding high school students from across the United States will take part in a unique career development program in our nation’s capital. During the six-day program, the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security (NYLF/NS): Exploring American Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense will introduce students to the challenging careers in national security, intelligence, the diplomatic corps and more.

“Imagine being 16 or 17 years old and the responsibility of securing the United States at home and abroad rests on your shoulders. Through specialized simulations, the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security strives to put students in the driver’s seat of building a strategy that will uphold our national security,” said Dr. Marguerite Regan, Dean of Academic Affairs for NYLF. “The combination of interacting with professionals and with other students in this setting ensures that leaders are being developed
so the future of our country will remain very bright.”

The curriculum for the Forum on National Security is based on actual world events. Throughout the program, students use critical thinking, leadership and public speaking skills to tackle the complexity of national decision-making as they examine how the U.S. plans for peace and prepares for crisis. They employ a crisis decision-making process similar to that employed by the nation’s top policy makers. Students also participate in thought-provoking question and answer sessions with highly respected, internationally recognized civilian policy makers and senior military personnel. In addition, leading institutions open their doors to Forum on National Security students, where they are educated in diplomacy, international affairs and military strategy. In the past, students have explored several government institutions and military installations, including the Pentagon, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Naval Academy, a variety of embassies and many others.

Founded in 1992, the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) is an educational organization established to help prepare extraordinary young people for their professional careers. Forums are offered in 14 cities across the United States in a wide variety of career fields, such as national security, law and medicine. Over 50,000 young people have attended NYLF programs.

For additional information, visit us at www.nylf.org." (click here for  NYLF website)

 Students can earn one college credit after attending the forum!

The National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security: Exploring American Diplomacy, Intelligence and Defense has partnered with nationally ranked George Mason University to offer one college credit to our attending scholars! George Mason University was featured in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Colleges 2009" ranking as the number one national university on its list of "up-and-coming schools."

Click here to view a mind-boggling sample schedule for the forum!  

 Until a few months ago I didn't know anything like this existed.  Please share with others who may be interested.

Do you know of other opportunities like this?  If so, please share it, and other opportunities for high schoolers, in the comment section!

I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

Hello again,

It's been too long since I've posted and I've missed you!  I hope you had a Merry Christmas.  Below is a copy of an email note (with some minor editing) that I sent to the pastors at my church asking them to host Frank Turek from CrossExamined.org at our church.

I've been using his I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist curriculum in my high school homeschool this year and I am so excited about it that I want to share it with you.  I thought that an easy way to share it with you is to share the note I sent to my pastors.  Feel free to forward my note to your pastor(s) too!

Hello Gentlemen,

Would you consider inviting Frank Turek, from CrossExamined.org, to come to our church (*)? Frank is a former Naval aviator, with a PHD in apologetics, who conducts seminars on college campuses, churches, and high schools to help young people understand why the Christian faith is true and reasonable and train them to defend that view.

I am using his curriculum, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, in my homeschool with my high school boys this year and we are enamored with it. One day I said to my boys, "I can't believe I've never heard this before even though I've been a Christian since I was a child!"

We recently completed the first 6 of 12 chapters in the book, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Those chapters use science, logic and philosophy, not the Bible, to help people see that it only makes sense that there is a Creator. It's fascinating. My boys, who are generally not jumping up and down with enthusiasm to do their school work, actually like this class and are learning from it....which, I think, is the equivalent of them jumping up and down with joy!

"Christian young people are leaving the church at an alarming rate, mainly because they are not equipped to examine the skepticism and atheism they encounter after leaving home, often coming from their college professors." (CrossExamined.org) I believe that having Frank speak to our church would greatly benefit the Kingdom.

"CrossExamined.org is a non-profit ministry started in 2006 that conducts dynamic I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist seminars on college campuses, churches, and high schools. Led by Frank Turek and other Christian apologists, CrossExamined.org exists to address the problem that 3-out-of-4 Christian youth leave the church while in college, many because they are intellectually skeptical." (CrossExamined.org)

When I asked Frank about coming to our church, he requested that a church pastor contact him to make arrangements. Here is the email address where you can contact him: seminars@crossexamined.org.

Below is a link with more information:

CrossExamined.org

If you would like to take a look at the curriculum, let me know and I would be glad to show you what I have which includes a DVD with 12 recorded sessions of Frank giving his seminar.
Thank you for all you do for our community.

Sincerely,
Sue S

* The original note had the name of our church.

Click here for

You Tube Clip about I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist

What do you think about what Frank says in the clip?

PSAT, SAT, ACT Testing for Homeschoolers

Recently I asked my local homeschool group where homeschoolers take SAT/
ACT tests.  The only people who replied on our email group also wanted to know, so I'm posting this information for others who are curious.

At the bottom of this post I listed the websites for SAT and ACT test dates, sites and registration.  You need to register on the site and then choose a test date and the site will prompt you to find a location.  The tests are offered at local high schools, so you pick where you want to take the test. 

The next SAT date is 6 October and the registration deadline is 7 Sep.  (You can register late for additional fees.)

BTW, PSAT/NMSQTs are on Wednesday, October 17, 2012 or Saturday, October 20, 2012.  My son is taking it at our local high school. I contacted the guidance counselor and arranged that.  He took them there last year too.  For students to qualify for National Merit Scholarship they need to take the PSAT as a junior.  

Read this for more info on PSAT:

Each year, over 1.4 million high school students take the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, also known as the PSAT. This test helps you prepare for the SAT while determining your eligibility for a National Merit Scholarship.

The PSAT offers you the chance to improve your test–taking skills with no negative consequences; your results will have no bearing on college admissions or your high school transcript. And if you do well, you could earn more than bragging rights – you could win money for college.  http://www.princetonreview.com/nmsqt.aspx

SAT and ACT test dates, sites and registration:

SAT test date and registraion information.

ACT test date and registration.

You can homeschool highschool. 

What questions do you have about homeschooling highschool?

 

High School Portfolios

What did you have for dinner last night?

Time's up.

Did you remember?   I didn't.
That's why I spent time this week putting together High School Portfolios for my teen students.

My oldest is going to be a junior so I haven't had the college application experience yet.  But, after listening to others, I'm keeping records in case my kids need them for college.

Since I can't remember last night's dinner, it's important that I write things down (and store the information in the computer).

I have a binder for my two oldest.  The binder has tabs for each subject for each grade.  With my oldest, I started in 9th grade, but for my next I'm starting in 8th grade because he may use some or all of his 8th grade as high school work.  Actually, my oldest will probably use some of his 8th grade work as early high school courses too (possibly Algebra 1 and Physical Science).

For each subject put some/all of the following in the binder:

• description of the class which I can usually get from the curriculum provider's website or the website of the online class
•  final grades
•  copies of tests
•  a list of every grade the student received for that class ( I only do this for some classes)
• for writing- an example of a writing assignment
• a list of books used for each class- the literature and history lists are long 
•  service hours- I require at least 50 hours per year for high school 
• special awards (ie: Eagle Scout)

 A great website that we use to track service hours is   http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/

How do you keep track of your middle school and high school students' work?  

Any veteran homeschoolers have additional suggestions? 

What are your top tips for high school?

How did I get half way through high school with my oldest child?  What I mean is, how did the time go so quickly?  Wasn't I teaching him to read yesterday? 

If you have graduated kids from homeschool and have some suggestions/gems/tips that you would like to pass to the rest of us who are still in the middle, or maybe for those who have kids about to enter high school in the next few years, would you give us your top tips for getting through homeschool highschool? 

I know there are a ton of books out there about this (I love Deborah Bell's The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Teens), but I'd love to get some of your thoughts. 

(You can't actually look inside this copy.)

Just send a comment below or to my FB page which I hope to be able to access again tomorrow after the whole hacking debacle!

I look forward to hearing from you.  Do you have suggestions or things you wish you would have done differently? 

College in High School

High school is going so fast.  Luke will be a junior next year and Josh will be a freshman.  

Luke was enrolled in CollegePrep this semester which is a slower pace semester of CollegePlus.  He is still working on taking his first CLEP test for College Algebra.  Hey, slow is ok.  Slow and steady wins the race, right?  He is going to pause on his high school algebra 2 studies for a few weeks as he completes his preparation for his CLEP test.  I'm wondering if he'll need to finish the high school algebra 2 if he passes the college algebra test?  I'm waiting to hear what the CollegePrep rep recommends about that.  

Hopefully, next year Luke will CLEP a few more courses.  I'm pretty sure we'll stay with CollegePlus.  In addition to helping students earn college credits via CLEP tests, they mentor them and help them figure out what to pursue and how to pursue it in a way that best meets their individual needs. 

I think Josh will start CollegePrep next year too.  His personality is suited for reading, testing, finished, next!  He wants to get as much of his college done during high school as possible.  Why not? 

Since Luke is the oldest, I'm figuring out how all this high school and college stuff works with him.  It will make it much easier (for me) when the next ones hit high school I hope!  

And...I received my Institute for Excellence in Writing's Speech Boot Camp (SBC)  and The Elegant Essay (TEE)  curriculums this week.  I haven't looked at the SBC yet but the TEE looks awesome!  I'm going to see if I can get a few more high schoolers to join the The Essay class with Luke and Josh in the fall. 

Here's what next year is looking like for Luke (11th Grade):

Worldview:  Apologia Apologetics

Math:  Pre-Calc Teaching Textbooks

Science:  Apologia Chemistry (in a local co-op)

History:  apestry of Grace History Year 3

English:  Tapestry of GraceLiterature (online course), Writing (IEW SBC)

Foreign Language:  German 3 (Oklahoma State University)

PE:  Soccer

Fine Arts:  Choir

I'd really like to throw Latin in here too, but that might/would be pushing it (:

With CollegePlus he'll be taking CLEP tests to get some college credit too.

Wow, it feels good to get that schedule out of my head and onto paper...screen, you know what I mean.

Is anybody in the local area interested in joining us once a week for the essay class?  Oh, or maybe you could join us by Skype?  Let me know.