This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Resources for Homeschoolers Who Learn Differently with Keisha Berry.

The post Resources for Homeschoolers Who Learn Differently with Keisha Berry appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Passion Leads to Purpose for Teens with Maynard Okereke.

We are SO excited about this episode! One of our favorite things to do is talk to people who are doing interesting, fun, and inspiring things. Vicki has been enjoying the Hip Hop Science Show, so she contacted the Hip Hop Scientist, Maynard Okereke, and asked if he would talk to our podcast friends.

Vicki first discovered Maynard Okereke on Instagram. When she listened to his story, she said to herself, “This is the heart that we homeschool parents have for our teens!” Then, she discovered his YouTube channel MayNERD’s Wild World of Science, full of fascinating and fun science videos. She knew she had to invite him to talk to everyone on the podcast!

Maynard is not just a science lover, but an actual engineer who turned his love for music, acting, and science into a mission to make learning exciting for kids everywhere! Whether it’s crazy nature explorations through the jungle, or experiencing zero gravity on the vomit comet, he brings unique, curious energy to all his scientific adventures.

Maynard is a first-generation American. His mother’s side of the family is from Cameroon. His dad’s side is from Nigeria. So, I was born here in the States, but he spent his early childhood overseas in West Africa. When he returned to the States, he lived and then went to college in the Northwest. So, he has lots of perspectives on people and cultures.

As he was growing up, Maynard was interested in Wildlife Biology. He wanted to study it in college, but his academic advisors told him that he should go into Engineering instead. His advisors had the idea that people who looked like him did not choose careers in the natural sciences. Maynard thought about it. He loved nature shows on television, but rarely saw any people of color on these programs.

So, he chose Engineering as a field of study. Fortunately, he loves science, and he did well. At college, he made some amazing connections and got involved with the National Society of Black Engineers, where he met a lot of peers who looked like him.

Over time, Maynard branched out into science communication, where he can explore and share his love for all the sciences. Not only that, he has the opportunity to represent young people of all colors so that they can follow their passions and study any science. That’s why he loves the opportunities to undertake these incredible explorations.

Maynard started Hip Hop Science to show others, especially those who don’t always see themselves in science, that anyone can be a scientist if they stay curious.

While his official title these days is “Science Communicator.” He educates young people on various science topics, and anything under the umbrella of STEM.

Maynard’s technical background is in civil environmental engineering with a degree from the University of Washington. However, he always had a love for entertainment, music, and acting. So, he stepped away from engineering after working in the industry for a few years to pursue some dreams that he had in science entertainment.

His passions for both helped him bridge the gap between science and entertainment!

That’s where the hip hop science and pop culture elements come to play. These elements help all kinds of young people to connect with material by making it relatable. Young people like being connected to learning digitally, especially if they are having fun. That’s what Hip Hop Science is all about!

In tandem with his work of sparking curiosity and excitement, Maynard also tries to share on his platforms the inspiration for young people to follow their passion, follow their purpose, and be rooted in the things that they love doing.

Sometimes adults push expectations upon teens. And sometimes those expectations aren’t things that they necessarily want. However, Maynard likes to showcase that they can find cool science-related, STEM-related connections to almost everything they want to do, whether they love dance, fashion, history, art, literature, or STEM.

The Hip Hop Scientist has two fun ideas for helping young people explore their interests that may become their passion.

Maynard inspires young people through all kinds of STEM-related videos. These are just the right length of time for them to say, “I’m just gonna watch a video real quick!”

You don’t even have to go to the Amazon to do citizen science. There are things that teens can do in their backyard if they have a phone. For instance, they can use the iNaturalist app. This app helps teens find insects or whatever things might be in their backyard. They can take a photo and load it onto the app. In this way, teens are able to actually help scientists collect data. That goes a long way in helping understand where species are and how they are changing in different areas.

Maynard tells young people that the passion they have is in there on purpose, and they can make it their purpose. Parents need to give their young people permission to invest in that passion. Then the young people need to know that if they are not passive about their passion, it can come about, and the coolest things can happen!

Maynard’s passion for science has led to the purpose of being a science communicator. These days, you can find him on social media like YouTube and Instagram. He is also a popular keynote speaker and often travels to schools to bring Hip Hop Science to inspire young people to discover their passion and purpose.

You will find Maynard Okereke in many places. Here are a few:

Keep your eyes out for lesson plans and resources coming soon from the Hip Hop Scientist, Maynard Okereke.

Join Vicki and Maynard for his inspiring story so that you can inspire your teens to find their passions and purposes. Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing.

The post Passion Leads to Purpose for Teens with Maynard Okereke appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This year on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Mid-Year Recalibration for Homeschool High School.

We can remember starting every homeschool year with fresh curriculum and ideas, just knowing it was going to be awesome! By Christmas break, we often found out that some curriculum just was not working. That’s why we always took the new calendar year mark as a spot for recalibrating.

How about you? Got any curriculum that is not working? That’s okay. We homeschool to do what is best for our kids, so we can change things up whenever we need to!

This is a good time to evaluate:

Sabrina tells about the mindset that she used to hold about curriculum and plans: “Whatever the circumstances, I just gotta get to the finish line.” She thought she had to push through and finish the year with their curriculum, even if it was a poor fit.

We found that it was a good idea to recalibrate as a homeschooling parent within yourself. We learned to break recalibration into three areas:

If you want to have fun with curriculum change, you can start with Vicki’s 50 Ways to Scrap Your Schoolbook, where you’ll find out how she and her homeschool high schoolers handled ditching what needed to be ditched. Some of the ways they handled it included:

Kym shared that one of her homeschool high schoolers needed to try seven or eight Geometry textbooks before they found a good fit. Fortunately, she had homeschooling friends and an umbrella school library as resources!

So remember:

Instead of ending up with a bloody forehead from banging against the wall all the time, try something different.

It’s easy to fall into shoulds. We should push through and get this yucky curriculum done. Maybe it is time to recalibrate and try something new.

Just to be clear, friends, sometimes you should push through. Sometimes teens need to learn to persevere, to learn that they can do hard things. So, how to know when to scrap your schoolbook and when to persevere?

We cannot give everybody a formula and say, “This is how you have to handle your teens.”

That is because every teen is different, and our families are in different seasons of life. So take our advice and do some talking and listening, then recalibrate the rest of the school year together!

Homeschooling is a whole lifestyle, not just an educational choice. It impacts all sorts of other things:

The midyear point of the academic year is a great time to look at how family things are faring:

Mid-year is a great time to have a family meeting. Sit down and chat with the family about what is working and not working. Sabrina’s did “yucks and yahoos”. It is a fun way to find out what needs to be recalibrated.

Mid-year is a good time to see if you’re taking care of yourself. (Because if you crumble, it’s not going to make it easier for your homeschool!)

Not only that, but our own self-care is also modeling good life skills for your students. If it is difficult to find time or energy for your own self-care, our Cousin Teresa Wiedrick’s Harmonius Homeschool shares practical tips.

It is important to do these periodic points of recalibration for your family academically. Then you will all have a happier homeschool new year!

Join Vicki, Sabrina, and Kym for tips on mid-year recalibration! Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing.

The post Mid-Year Recalibration for Homeschool High School appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Have a C.S. Lewis Year: Full-Year ELA Bundle.

If you know Vicki from 7SistersHomeschool, you know that her favorite author is C.S. Lewis. The appreciation for Lewis is contagious. Her  Lewis-based literature courses for the teens in their homeschool co-op and umbrella school classes have always been popular.

Recently, 7Sisters has released the Lewis course as a full-year ELA Bundle!

Click image for full description.

As you know, our homeschooling high schoolers need a yearly English/Language Arts credit. While there’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school, we recommend that each English/Language Arts credit include:

The C.S. Lewis Full-Year ELA Bundle does that!

Lewis said that the imagination is the organ of meaning. Our creativity and the imagination that God gave us is the generator of the meaning and the purpose that God has created us to have as individuals (and as people altogether created in his image).

After all, God is a creative God and he made us in his image to be creative and to enjoy creative things. So when we do creative reading or  creative writing, we are actually creating some meaning in our lives, even if it’s just fun (because fun can be meaningful too).

So, this is this full year C.S. Lewis literature and composition bundle is about creativity and meaning.

Remember, all 7Sisters curriculum is NO-busywork, and level-able to various goals and abilities of each teen.

C. S. Lewis Literature & Composition is chock full of classic favorites from Lewis, plus a delightful graphic novel about C.S. Lewis and his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien.

(You will need to buy copies of these books for your teen to read, or borrow a copy from the library. You might want to purchase from Amazon; if so, we are Amazon associates, and will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you visit Amazon using our link in our sidebar to the right.)

Your teens will have fun with these movies and unique study guides:

(You will need to buy or rent these movies; many are available on streaming services like Amazon Prime, Hulu, or Netflix, or borrow them from a friend or from the library.)

If your teen has already completed these Cinema Studies Literature Guides in the past, see information below about how to adapt this ELA bundle.

Download the Full Year of High School English/Language Arts: C.S. Lewis Literature and Composition for an inspiring and empowering academic year!

We love having you as a 7th Sibling. (After all, there are only six of us 7Sisters, so who is the 7th Sister? YOU are!)

Meet us and all your 7th Sisters on:

Thank you to Seth Tillman for editing.

The post Have s C.S. Lewis Year: Full-Year ELA Bundle appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Homeschool Yo Kids with Jae Carter.

One of we 7Sisters’ favorite things is to make new friends. In this episode, we are so excited to introduce our friends to Jae Carter from Homeschool Yo Kids. We have been following Homeschool Yo Kids for a while and love how they are serving the homeschool community in so many unique ways.

Jae’s experience with education began with over fourteen years in the public school system. However, even before she had kids, she would always say, “I’m gonna homeschool my kids!”

Jae grew up with two competing desires: to teach and inspire students in a traditional school setting, and to teach and inspire her own kids through homeschooling. She had wanted to be a teacher since fifth grade because of her teacher, Ms. Crawford (“shout out to her”). Mrs. Crawford was inspiring and impactful. Her relationship with the fifth graders awakened in Jae the love of teaching.

Jae loved teaching her students. She ignited their love of learning. Many of her students had parents who were only marginally involved with their education, so what they experienced at school was not reinforced at home. In contrast, Jae was able to excite her seventh through twelfth graders about school and to believe in their ability to succeed at learning.

“I tell you, the kids used to look forward to coming into my classroom. They would see me in the hallway and tell me, ‘Oh, Ms. Carter, I’m gonna have your class next year!'”

We all remember the world health crisis in 2020. Jae’s classes were moved to Zoom. At the same time, she was automatically homeschooling her own kids. In truth, Jae had always been “homeschooling”. From the time that her kids were two years old, she was talking to them like she did with her middle and high school students.

Jae’s children learned to listen and think well from an early age. This was such a contrast with many of her high school students. She worked with some students who were teens, but without parent involvement, were years behind in their reading and writing skills.

Jae felt guilty about leaving the high school students. However, the pandemic and the frustrations of teaching on Zoom while teaching her own kids solidified her desire to officially homeschool her kids.

Jae moved the family from Virginia to Arizona, and she started homeschooling her kids full-time. Her oldest child was in second grade, and the second was getting ready to start school. They have been homeschooling ever since. It is the perfect fit for the family.

As Jae says, “Teaching and loving on kids is my issue.” She loved inspiring her students. Also, she loved teaching and inspiring her own kids. So, being in a new location and restricted from other activities because the world was shut down due to the pandemic gave the opportunity to launch into homeschooling.

But then, Jae said to herself, “You’re homeschooling your kids, but what about everyone else?”

She knew that at the end of the day, her kids were still gonna have to go outside and interact with everyone else. So, she asked herself,

Jae believes in parental involvement in education. In fact she trains parents that even if they cannot homeschool full time, “everyone should be homeschooling regardless of if your child’s in public school, private school, or charter school”.

Jae wanted to help more homeschooling parents get started homeschooling their kids. So, she created the app Homeschool Yo Kids to give them to show:

While the app has homeschool information, it does not give the feeling of “we’re omeschoolers and we’re the cool ones”. Rather, it gives resources for parent involvement and resources for education, homeschooling or not.

When Jae attended her homeschool conference in Arizona, it was all white folks. She thought, “We need a little more representation!” 

(Note: Vicki and 7Sister Marilyn have been saying that since they were in Delaware state homeschool leadership thirty years ago!)

So, Jae set about bringing homeschooling to a more diverse community, not only in Arizona, but all over the United States!

They began the Homeschool Yo Kids Expo. Based in their renovated and homeschool-decorated RV, they traveled to seven states. In each state, they presented workshops and introduced the local communities to the homeschool guides and resources available in their own areas.

The number of cities they visited has increased each year. They presented the Homeschool Yo Kids Expo in fourteen cities last year!

While they travel, the family does road schooling. Jae’s kids love the adventure of learning about different places around the country while also getting their lessons completed. They enjoy each stop and every time  they leave one Expo location, they say, “Can we stay a little longer?”

When the Expo comes to town, people will find:

She likes to maintain a community feel about the Expos, so she aims for around thirty or forty families in attendance. She knows that families new to homeschooling are often feeling like, “I’m about to jump into this new world, and I don’t know anything about it. I just need support.”

Jae plans on every family leave the Expo at the end of the day with access to resources and support. One example of a family leaving the Expo with the support and guidance they needed was the new homeschool mom in Texas who drove six hours to the attend the event. She had the opportunity to ask the questions that she needed to ask and buy the stuff that she wanted to buy. She told Jae afterwards that she felt really supported.

Jae said, “And I was just like, see that? That’s what this is all about!”

Check out Jae Carter at the Homeschool Yo Kids Expo, YouTube, Podcast and more!

Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing!

The post Homeschool Yo Kids with Jae Carter appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Stress Management for the Holidays with Natalie Mack.

We know that stress can be a big issue, especially during the holidays, but even after the holidays, anxiety, depression, and the winter blues can creep in. Let’s talk about ways to manage these feelings and create a calm and enjoyable atmosphere for our families. Our friend and Cousin Natalie Mack shares tips for stress management for the holidays.

Natalie has been a homeschooling mom for twenty-two years with five children, four have graduated from college while one is still homeschooling high school!

She is a retired Navy chaplain spouse and has a Master’s Degree in Education and Counseling. Natalie has worked in various fields such as drug and alcohol abuse, social work, and marriage and family therapy. Recently, Natalie has been leading the military outreach program for HSLDA. She also shares her wisdom at Natalie-Mack.com, where she offers some helpful freebies for homeschooling families.

Homeschooling through the holidays can look completely different from “work, work work”! You can slow down with the schoolwork during the holidays and focus on creating fun experiences with your children. While it may be tempting to push through and maintain a rigorous academic schedule, remember that the academics will always be there. Take the time to enjoy holiday activities, bond as a family, and create lasting memories.

(Here’s a fun writing project about creating a Holiday Family Narrative, instead of typical academics.)

The picture-perfect moments we often see on social media or in magazines are not the reality of everyday life. Instead of striving for perfection, try embracing the joyful imperfections that come with family gatherings.

Remember the quote from GK Chesterton: 

Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. 

Learning happens in many different ways (including the developing a growth mindset during the ups and downs of imperfect celebrations).

It may sound simple, but taking deep breaths and focusing on our breath can do wonders for managing stress. When we are feeling overwhelmed, our bodies flood with stress hormones, but the antidote is right there in the air. 

So, whenever you can, take a moment to pause, take a deep breath in, and slowly exhale. It helps chip away at those stress hormones and calms our nervous system. You can teach this technique to your teens as well!

Take advantage of the unique field trip opportunities available during the holiday season. Many places offer special events and attractions during the holidays. 

Whether it’s visiting nature gardens with beautiful lights or driving along the boardwalk to see Christmas decorations, these experiences create lasting memories and provide valuable learning opportunities for your kids. Plus, they are just a lot of fun!

Field trips during the holidays are a fantastic way to bond as a family and create positive memories. Education an happen anywhere, and these experiences enrich our lives in so many ways.

Holiday-themed picture books are a great way to create a cozy and magical atmosphere during the season. They have a way of bringing joy and warmth to our hearts. Snuggling up together and reading these books aloud fosters a sense of togetherness and creates cherished memories. 

Explore book lists from resources like Read Aloud Revival and 7Sisters Homeschool to discover wonderful holiday reads. Visit your local library and pick up some holiday-themed picture books. Make it a tradition to read holiday books with your loved ones and let the joy and laughter fill your home.

7SistersHomeschool has a Literature Study Guide for A Christmas Carol. Not only that, we offer a Cinema Studies for Literature Learning Guide for A Christmas Carol, as well. This is a meaningful way to sneak in some no-busywork, meaningful education.

Organization can make a big difference in reducing stress during the holidays. (Hey, it’s okay if organization is not your strong suit.) You can learn the value of organization, especially during the holidays, from others, such as from our 7th Sister, Allison, who is a master at event planning. We turned her planning skills into a unit study for planning the Thanksgiving meal.

Consider the flow of activities, such as setting up a buffet with silverware and napkins placed at the end to avoid juggling them while serving food. These small organizational adjustments can make a significant difference in reducing stress levels.

Do what you can to prioritize your to-do lists and let go of unnecessary tasks. Recognize that it’s impossible to do everything perfectly, and some things can be dropped without major consequences. 

Focus on what truly matters and be intentional about allocating your time and energy to activities that bring joy and fulfillment. Good holiday event planning is about finding what works for you and creating a sense of calmness amidst the busyness!

The holiday season should be a time of joy, togetherness, and relaxation. Follow these stress management tips for the holidays and then let us know how they helped you!

Find Natalie Mack at Natalie-Mack.com and lots of places through Linktree.

Wishing you a peaceful and joyful holiday season filled with beautiful memories!

Thank you to Seth Tillman for editing and Richie Soares with Homeschool & Humor for writing this blog post!

The post Stress Management for the Holidays with Natalie Mack- Special Replay appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: 3 Ways to Model Lifelong Learning for Your Homeschoolers.

7Sisters Sabrina was recently on a road trip with one of her homeschool-graduate sons. He was in the mood to reminisce a little bit about what he remembers about homeschooling: the things that went well and the things that didn’t work so well. One of the things that he feels homeschooling cultivated in him was an attitude of lifelong learning.

He said that there’s always something to be curious about, that he should stay humble enough not to be afraid to ask people to explain things to him that he knows nothing about. In other words, he learned to love learning!

This conversation got Sabrina to think about what a useful skill lifelong learning is!

Our 7Sister Marilyn always used to say,  “All of life is education.”

For instance:

Sometimes, when our homeschoolers were on a field trip, and we stopped to buy snacks, they paid for their own snacks with an “allowance” for that field trip. That’s budgeting!

Since all of life is education, we moms would educate ourselves, as well!

We were blessed that our homeschool community was fairly large, with co-ops, support groups, and an umbrella school. There were so many homeschool moms around! Our kids saw all of us moms getting excited about learning new things and sharing what we learned with other moms.

Sometimes we moms would find something that we wanted to study together, so we would make our own classes. For instance, after our homeschool high schoolers studied Cinema Studies for Literature one year, we moms did the course ourselves over the summer. It was fun (and the teens were totally amused that the moms were doing a high school course).

Or we would simply learn about things of interest out of our relationship with each other. For instance, we co-op moms learned to cook some really cool dishes from each other! That’s lifelong learning.

Of course, we tried keeping a stack of books on whatever topic we were interested in.

In tougher areas of life, we would run up against situations that we did not handle well. When you are a mom of homeschooling high schoolers, you have a sharp-eyed audience! They want to know what you will learn from a tough moment! We have learned to find a book,  video, or even an online class to learn how to do things better! This is also modeling a growth mindset.

Some of us moms (like 7Sister Vicki) went to graduate school and then became a counselor in the community to help support the family’s homeschooling habits. This definitely gave our high schoolers a chance to watch us learn! (Here’s a nice conversation from Vicki about working homeschool moms.)

7Sister Kym wanted to serve her church community, so she received training on youth leadership (and also officiating weddings- which she performed for Vicki’s youngest son’s wedding).

And remember: Go on field trips! Family vacations count as field trips, for sure. Also, sometimes we moms would take a day and go on a mini-retreat for planning and praying. Those counted as field trips. You learn a lot when you change locations!

So be curious in front of your kids! Over time, our homeschoolers will watch and learn lifelong learning from you! So, pat yourself on the back!

One thing we homeschool moms can learn is our to manage our self-care and not get overwhelmed with all our responsibilities. That’s why we love our 7Sister Cousin Teresa Wiedrick. She is the Homeschool Mama Self-Care Coach. Teresa offers online trainings, awesome support groups on Patreon, and an encouraging podcast.

The post 3 Ways to Model Lifelong Learning for Your Homeschoolers appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Learning Styles in Homeschool High School with Vanessa Hall.

If you know 7Sisters, you know what we say:

There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school!

That’s why Vicki was so excited to talk with an expert on learning styles, Vanessa Hall MEd (on the way to PhD very soon). Vanessa homeschooled her kids through high school while working on her graduate degrees, so she has lots of experience with learning styles!

Vanessa started out as a musician. She received a full scholarship to Howard University as an oboist. Originally, she wanted to perform, but her interests blossomed into music therapy studies. This led to a Master’s degree in special education. (For a more in-depth conversation on how to choose college degrees, check out this interview with Dr. Renae Duncan.)

With her special education degree, Vanessa ended teaching in the public school system. However, when their first child was born, she felt drawn to homeschooling through the inspiration of the moms’ group she attended. She discovered that some of her favorite moms there were homeschooling.

In those days, there were not many choices for homeschooling curriculum. At age three, her son was teaching himself to read, even picking up some high-school-level words. She knew that traditional curriculum would be a waste of his time. She would mostly need to provide reading material that kept his interests.

Then, her daughter was born. By then, the family was a committed homeschooling family. Vanessa’s daughter is a natural artist, so she made certain to provide fun art activities for that homeschooler.

Vanessa learned to notice and follow the way her children her learned. Just as importantly, Vanessa knew that it was vital that she enjoy being with (and growing with) her children.

No one gets to do everything they would like to do! That’s real life. Her son started playing football when he was eight years old. By the time high school came along, he started “feeling himself”. He told Vanessa and her husband that he was ready to go to school and “be with his friends”. Although testing showed he was two years above his peers in academic skills, he was willing to risk being bored.

For instance, Vanessa suggested that he enroll at  Bishop McNamara, one of the Catholic high schools with a football program. (Although she knew they did not have the finances to fund a parochial high school education. Finally, her husband walked over kindly and said, “We have found what works. And through eighth grade, we have homeschooled you, and you are doing proficiently. Look at it. You’re two years ahead. You’re gonna finish this way.” Then he walked away, and that was the end of the story. Her son never questioned further on this.

Vanessa never demanded that her son change his thoughts; instead, she helped him adapt his thoughts to what was realistic in the circumstances. Her son continued with his football interests through high school.

He was also interested in technology, so Vanessa made certain that he had access to STEM courses.

Her son today is happy. He married one of Vanessa’s best friends’ daughters and works in cybersecurity, a career that captures his interest and uses his intelligence.

Vanessa’s daughter is a “people person, even more so“. She loves social activity. However, she also loves homeschooling and has never asked about going to school.

To build into her daughter’s social needs, the family attends the same church with most of their homeschool co-op.

Her daughter has always been an artistic learner. She loves acting, drawing, and design.  So, Vanessa has invested in her daughter’s social, artsy learning style by taking her to New York for auditions for organizations that wanted to sign her or manage her, as well as for fashion-related activities.

One thing that helped Vanessa understand her homeschoolers’ learning styles is understanding her own learning style.  Vanessa’s is an auditory learner.  She says, “I literally could regurgitate anything my pastor preaches. I can regurgitate it verbatim.”

Vanessa says that other learning modalities help her learn. These are: reading and writing. For instance, she enjoys writing notes from what she is hearing in her Doctoral program classes. After class, she enjoys reading back what she wrote. This gives her three types of learning. This helps her internalize what she is learning and to “walk it forward“.

Vanessa says that the key to making the most of homeschooling with learning styles is, “Just like they tell you on the airplane, put the mask on yourself first. Once you can do that, then you can branch out and help your youngers!”

The book Me, the Teacher? Never! covers different learning styles and also give curriculum and teaching ideas for each style.

Here are some tips on ways to identify how your homeschooler learns best.

Some homeschoolers learn differently. They need skills to manage dyslexia, ADHD, or other challenges.

It’s a delight to talk to inspiring and successful homeschooling moms and thought leaders like Vanessa Hall. Join her and Vicki for a discussion on learning styles.

Thank you to Seth Tillman for editing, and we’ll see everyone next week.

The post Learning Styles in Homeschool High School with Vanessa Hall appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Modeling Gratitude for Our Homeschool High Schoolers.

Thanksgiving: ‘Tis the season of gratitude! We are so grateful to be part of your lives!

In this episode, Vicki, Sabrina, and Kym talk about what they have learned about modeling gratitude for our homeschool high schoolers. As we all know, character and habits are more easily caught than taught. So, if we homeschooling parents would like for our teens to be more grateful, we can help that along by modeling a mindset of gratitude for them.

Gratitude is part of a healthy lifestyle. Homeschooling goes better when we are in a healthy mindset, and gratitude helps with that. Not only that, but research is finding that practicing gratitude can be healthy to our bodies as well. Hey, Health is a high school core subject, so practicing gratitude can be part of that credit!

7Sisters Health curriculum talks about gratitude.

The Billy Graham Library tells us that, “more than 150 times, the Bible either calls men to thank God or tells them how to give thanks”.

Scripture it does not tell us to give thanks because it is  good for our health. It simply says give thanks because that’s the way God works. When we develop a lifestyle of gratitude, we are being faithful to Scripture and God’s instructions. However, isn’t it interesting that when we are grateful, our bodies, minds, and spirits become healthier?

So, why not think about ways to model gratitude for your family?

There are SO many ways to create a grateful lifestyle. Here are a few:

Laughter lightens the mood and helps us to think more positively. Laughter is also good medicine. (A merry heart does good like a medicine. – Proverbs 17:22.)

This is an old practice, developed by Ignatius, a monk back in the 1500s, where you examine your day to see where God was working and to be grateful for His work. There are several ways to practice an Examen. This is how Vicki practices a daily examen.

Notice three things that God was doing that day:

Here’s a freebie download from Vicki’s coaching website that gives how-to on the Ignatian Examen.

A few years ago, our homeschool umbrella school experienced a season of tragedy when one of our teens’ classmates passed away. It was very, very hard on a lot of the kids. We did a lot of supporting the kids and griefwork. One of the tools that helped them get through the hard times was encouraging the idea of noticing and being thankful for the little things. It gave them some grounding while they did the hard grieving.

This is simply a notebook where teens (this works for moms, too) and write down something(s) they are thankful for. Here’s post from Vicki’s coaching website with how-to do a gratitude journal.

Sabrina’s advice on journaling: “If I could go back and talk to younger Sabrina, I would say make sure this doesn’t feel like a five-paragraph essay that you’re assigning to yourself or your teens!”

In fact, here are a couple of freebie downloadable journaling pages to keep it from turning into an “academic assignment”!

Kym practiced gratitude in her homeschool Spanish classes. During each class, she had the teens share a high and a low. This practice respected hard things but taught teens to notice and be grateful for the blessings.

Have you shared your gratitude for your kids with them lately? It is SO good for them to hear that their parents appreciate them!

At some point on Thanksgiving, it is a delightful and meaningful practice to ask everyone to share something they are grateful for!

We are grateful for all of our listeners, and for all of you 7th Sisters and 7Siblings who join us over at our 7SistersHomeschool Facebook group.

See you next week! Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing.

The post Modeling Gratitude for Our Homeschool High Schoolers appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: How We Homeschool High School with Laura Varey.

Most of our listeners at the Homeschool Highschool Podcast know that we are all about community! However, for those of you who are to the 7SistersHomeschool community, there are six of us 7Sisters (Vicki, Sabrina, Kim, Marilyn, Sarah, and Allison). So, who’s the 7th Sister?

You are! We’re all in this homeschool process together!

One of our favorite podcast topics is learning how our various 7th Sisters homeschool. In this episode, we were SO excited to talk about how our 7th Sister, Laura Varey, and her family homeschool.

Laura and her family were originally from the United Kingdom. (Check out this Homeschool Highschool Podcast interview about homeschooling in the UK and the US with our friend Kat Patrick.)

Her eldest children started school in the UK, in the public school system. They did one or two years there. Then they moved to the US, nine years ago. When they settled in Washington state, they started off in public school.

After a couple of years, they were looking for more academic challenge. They moved to a private school that had some advanced classes. It was a Christian school (which they had never come across in the UK). They enjoyed the benefits of education through a Christian worldview.

That went great for a few years, but they hit some bumps in the road there, so they started praying about what to do. Their eldest was in sixth grade, which was still part of the elementary school. Laura and her husband prayed and both said to each other, “What about homeschooling?”

It felt like God had put it on both their hearts.

Laura notes that homeschooling has been more unusual in the UK than in the US. Because they were so unfamiliar with homeschooling, Laura and her husband began to investigate it. They talked to some friends who homeschool. They found that some of their friends homeschooled at home, some at home and in co-ops, and others used different sorts of systems.

They were very impressed that there were so many good homeschooling tools available. After a while, they agreed to go for it! They have now been homeschooling for three years and have two high schoolers and one in fifth grade.

Laura’s homeschoolers could take classes there two days a week. She found that the co-op covered “quite a lot of subjects and then they directed a lot of their learning at home”.

The co-op was a good stepping stone for Laura’s family. It gave them a homeschool community (including homeschooling friends for mom). Homeschooling with the help of a co-op built her confidence because the subjects they were teaching were Laura’s my weakest subjects. She had time to develop skills and resources for teaching things she did not know.

Laura says, “First of all, just understanding high school was a huge learning curve for me, especially because my husband and I were schooled in a different country!”

So, not only was homeschooling different, but the education systems were different. Laura felt the weight of responsibility of getting high school right. After all, in high school, everything counts. The pressure was on her to get it right!

So, Laura read as much as she could from different sources. Also, she tried to learn as much as she could from her homeschooling friends. She also avails herself of the support she finds in digital support groups like 7SistersHomeschool Facebook Group. (She has found that homeschoolers are very generous with sharing their knowledge, experience, and even resources!)

Over the last several years, Laura has found that she has been enjoying the high school years the most. She and her husband have noticed that, in some ways, homeschooling high school can be easier because their teens are now fairly independent.

Laura and her kids have built some strong friendships through homeschooling. These friendships have been a real blessing. She and the other moms can help each other out when needed. And when she’s having one of those crazy weeks where she feels like pulling her hair out (because we ALL do, sometimes!), her friends encourage her.

Laura has learned to provide educational experiences that build her homeschoolers’ strengths.

Her daughter is a fast reader. She prefers to read books over watching video curriculum. However, at her daughter’s request, Laura learned to scale back if she noticed that her daughter was stressed with the amount of reading. Laura and her teens have learned to communicate well about the types of learning materials and expectations for coursework. Teens need a voice in their education.

Laura works with her high schoolers on planning and organization for their academics and non-academic parts of life. For instance, she and her teens map out the week: commitments, appointments, or whatever.

Her other high schooler was born diligent and perfectionistic. Laura learned that with some students, she could say, “Do your best.” For her second teen, she has noticed that it’s never good enough. So, Laura has learned to say:

Here are some things that Laura and her family have learned in their time homeschooling:

Join Vicki and Laura Varey for encouragement for homeschooling!BTW

The post How We Homeschool High School with Laura Varey appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.