e learning
Homeschooling High School
The last four years of school could prove to be the most challenging for both student and parent alike especially if you are planning on homeschooling high school. The course subjects will be getting much more difficult, teenagers are entering puberty, dating will commence and interpersonal relationships with other young adults will become more important to your student.
First, the curriculum. If you’ve been homeschooling prior to this time, algebra has probably already been introduced to your student. It will now get more technical and you will move onto geometry and perhaps calculus. Many people loathe these subjects or will not feel comfortable teaching them. Some homeschoolers hire tutors for these courses, send their kids to local colleges to take these courses there or use correspondence schools.
Tutors can be local college kids who are vouched for by their professors. Expect to pay $10-20 an hour for their help. And to protect both parties from any trouble, make the student and tutor work where you can see them just to be safe.
Correspondence courses are not inexpensive. Both the University of Nebraska and the University of Oklahoma have distance learning courses for high school students. They cost between $300-400 for each semester’s course by topic. A full year’s tuition cost for an average curriculum load would run from $3,000-$4,000.
Another correspondence school is called the Keystone High School. Their annual tuition is approximately $2000 for the online version and about $1500 for the written.
All three schools offer study materials, standardized tests and grading, transcripts and graduation diplomas. All are said to be accredited by the college rating agencies and allow easy access to institutions of higher learning according to their websites. These are almost set-and-forget high school learning systems. If you choose the whole course correspondence method you will have little involvement but to see that the work is carried out and sent in. Otherwise you can pick and choose the subjects you want your student to learn and teach the other topics yourself or with tutorial help.
Puberty, as you know, brings on a whole new set of problems. Moodiness, rebellious behavior, attraction to the opposite sex, dating and a whole host of other things are there to deal with. It may be difficult to keep your student attending to their work or your teaching. They may begin to argue with you over the curriculum or just about anything else. They are going to begin speaking their minds about everything and often. It can be very difficult at times to deal with. But perhaps if you’ve homeschooled for years up to that point, you may have a very strong bond between you. Perhaps you can reason better and talk things out. Good luck with that
Dating, driving and staying away from home are all coming up too. You’ll be worried for several reasons. Their safety will likely be your biggest concern, especially after they and their friends start driving. Drinking and drug use are right up there too especially combined with driving. Teen sex is another worry around this time. They’re really too young to have a caring, meaningful relationship, but they’re not to young to do the act. Teen pregnancy is of big concern.
But you know, there is one other solution to this whole dilemma. Consider enrolling your student in public high school. Unless it’s just too dangerous or has a bad curriculum, it would solve a lot of problems. It would also let your student socialize easier with other kids his age at a time when there’s a lot they want to talk about, but not with their parents. It would also be a cheaper solution if you thought you were going to have to use tutors or correspondence schools.
If you’ve done a good job homeschooling your kids up to this point, they’re probably more self-confident and well-grounded that any other kid in that public high school. They will probably be better prepared to face the challenges the last four years of school present. They will probably make the right choices too.
Unless you have a specific educational curriculum goal in mind for high school, maybe it’s time to let your student spread his wings and fly on his own. Maybe it’s time to sit back and see how all your hard work the last eight years will pay off. Maybe it’s time to realize that homeschooling high school isn’t such a great idea after all.
A J Adams has had a keen interest in home schooling for a number of years. With several public school teachers in his family, he has had many discussions regarding current school problems. He’s heard many suggestions, one of which was the growing number of children being home schooled.
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Teaching Studies
At this point in my teaching practice I feel that I am ready to discuss matters relating to effective delivery of lessons. I have worked particularly closely at this aspect of teaching and will bring to light my very own thoughts, experiences and future goals that I have managed to set myself. The most important of all these is the fact that I feel that changes can be made in terms of becoming a better teacher or at least I understand that there is a need for evaluating oneself and learning from the evaluation lessons which cannot be learned through theory alone.
The very first lesson I learned in becoming an effective teacher is that children learn better when they are interested, motivated and can clearly see what the teacher is presenting to them. This is also stressed in the 2004 Qualifying to teach handbook. The standards S3.3.3 also stresses the importance of promoting active and independent learning and that children should take some responsibility to manage their own learning.
On this paper I will focus on the areas mentioned above and would also like to look into differentiation as another instrument for delivering effective lessons. On my teaching practice I have now covered a substantial number of lessons in the core subjects on which I will base my writing. My very first lesson I taught began with a numeracy lesson. I had observed a number of numeracy lessons delivered by the class teacher already. The teacher employed a number of effective strategies to motivate the year 1 and 2 numeracy group. For e.g. the teacher introduced a number locking method by which children took the biggest number and locked it inside their heads and then added the smaller number by the use of their fingers. This method was so effective that it could also be done with subtractions as well as additions.
The method was not part of the school strategies but one that the class teacher discovered herself. It was a method that did not involve the use of equipment and could be practiced anywhere in the class and even on the playground. I found myself instantly employing this strategy to teach my numeracy lessons. I have also learnt from my observations of the class teacher ways to engage children and capture their attention through clear explanations and motivating children to discuss questions and to work collaboratively. For e.g. the teacher allows the children to pair in groups to discuss a particular answer or ways of working out a particular equation. This is part of the school targets of promoting dialogue between children. This really works well as children are very keen to share answers with one another and those in year 1 usually benefit from talking to a year 2 classmate. I maintained this process of encouraging children to discuss among themselves and found that I successfully captured their interest and enthusiasm for numeracy.
I found myself very motivated in planning my numeracy lessons as I began to employ interactive methods of learning and ways that really encouraged children to participate. This motivation was extended to other lessons I taught. For instance, in Literacy I did a lot of interactive work during carpet sessions, modelled exactly what I wanted children to do and consistently asked if the children were clear in their objectives. I employed the school policy of using different colours to highlight the emphasis on different things. Even the writing of the date on the whiteboard was done in colour code so as to stress the importance of writing the date. I feel that these small interactive moments and focusing on school policies and maintaining these practices helped to deliver my lesson very effectively.
I took the initiative to introduce a new rule in the class. This decision came about due to behaviour management needs. I found myself that while I was delivering lessons and capturing children’s interests on the other hand I was not balancing my behaviour management on the same level. This was a problem I had to address in order to continue the practice of delivering effective lessons. This is where I introduced the ‘name mats’. Name mats were given to each child to sit on. This ensured that children did not move around from place to place while on the carpet. This did not eradicate behaviour problems but helped me to focus more on my lesson delivery.
I have found myself adapting to the class teacher’s differentiation methods. The class operates in a colour code system where the red group is the lowest achieving, the blue and green are average and the yellow and orange being the above average group. The colour code system has always been in place in the school but care is taken that the red group is not made to feel like the lowest achievers but more as a part of a normal group. Hence a lot of my planning involved incorporating the red group into the whole of the lesson and making them a part of the whole class yet providing them with work that is appropriate for their level.
Aspects of differentiation proved to be the most challenging for me to manage. I simply ran out of ideas of different activities for different lessons and to maintain this week after week proved to become very difficult. I engaged in discussions with my mentor and class tutor and also began to participate in the P.P.A. sessions with other year 1 and 2 teachers. This decision helped me to overcome my difficulties in providing stimulating and interesting modes of differentiation to the class. My overall experience in teaching so far has been one of learning and moving on from strengths to strengths to deliver effective lessons. I still have a lot of work to do in terms of making my lessons more interactive and differentiating in such a way that does not hinder the learning experiences of the lower ability groups. In light of my experience so far, I believe that I am aware of the essential elements of delivering effective lessons.
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Online Bachelor Nursing Degree Consideration Guidelines
If you are a LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) or RN (Registered Nurse), it’s time for you to advance your career by earning a bachelor degree in nursing. Today, with so many nursing degrees offers through distance learning, now you can earn your bachelor nursing degree without the need to put your life on hold.
With so many nursing programs offers online, it sometime makes you feel difficult to choose one from among all the best. This article will outline the basic guidelines on how to consider an online nursing degree which will secure you for a brighter future. Get the answers to the following questions in order to make an informed decision:
1. Is the university accredited?
Although graduating from an accredited university does not guarantee jobs or licensure for individuals, it reflects the quality of the educational programs offer by the university. It speaks to a sense of public trust, as well as to professional quality. Thus, it is important to enroll to a university which is accredited by a recognized accreditation agency.
Regional accreditation is the highest level of accreditation a college or university can obtain and is recognized throughout the United States. Examples of regional accrediting bodies include the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.
2. Is the nursing school accredited?
Accreditation of a nursing school is a voluntary endeavor, but it ensures the quality and commitment of its educational program in the proper training of nurses. If you are planning to apply for any financial aid or you plan to advance your studies to a higher level in the future, an accredited nursing school is a factor to consider. Online nursing programs offered by an accredited nursing school will also increase your competitive edge in the job market because many employers prefer to hire practitioners with degrees from accredited institutions.
3. What are the lectures like?
Most university programs are purely reading and taking tests, but if you enroll into an online nursing degree program which can offer streaming video and audio lectures, along with textbooks, study guides and CDs; these visual learning material will definite help you to understand your courses better and faster.
4. Does proctored exams needed and can you take the test online?
Some online nursing programs require you to take proctored exams at testing centers, which involves traveling to testing centers and paying fees. But there are universities which you can take your proctored exams and complete your assignment 100% online.
5. Do you need to attend physical classes?
Some nursing courses require you to attend a certain hours of physical classes at campus. But there are universities offer the courses fully online. It is good for you to ask and confirm with the university to avoid any crash with your working schedule. If attending a certain hours of physical classes is not possible for you, then 100% online classes may be your better option.
6. What are the fees over and above the tuition and textbooks?
Many institutions charge not only tuition costs but also a host of assorted fees that may include application, transcript evaluation, library privileges, graduation and more. Plus, tuition may seem low at first, but then they hit you with extra expenses when you matriculate.
7. How can I contact my professors and classmates?
A worthy University program will give you several options such as chat room, message board, email, MSN or the university may implement their own proprietary online learning system for contacting your professors and classmates.
8. What are the practice project requirements?
This is a very important question. Determine your obligations by asking the following:
- Do I have to travel to another city? If so, for how long?
- Are there additional travel costs, or is travel included in my tuition costs?
- Can I select a preceptor I already know?
- Can I fulfill the requirements with my own employer?
- Are there additional fees?
- How many hours are required?
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