extra curricular activities

Dear Friends,

"Christmas is coming; the goose is getting fat...." It's that season of the year again and we are delighted to extend our Christmas greetings to each family. In the hustle and bustle of your preparations, we encourage you to set aside time to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and receive refreshment from the newborn King.

As you remember, last month we began a two-part series on high school graduation requirements. We covered your state's graduation requirements for homeschoolers (if any), your child's post high school goals, and your child's personal interests. To review this information you can go to http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3533 . This month before you break for Christmas, we want to complete the series by discussing how to structure your child's high school program to include the five core academic subjects, electives, and extracurricular activities.

Dear Moms and Dads,

This month marks the midpoint of summer--already! We hope you are using these summer months to plan your upcoming school year to include academics, extracurricular activities, volunteer opportunities, possible jobs for your teens, and...are you feeling overwhelmed? Well, please don't be. Let's look at ways to include these areas during your year in a manageable, non-stressful way.

Beginning in high school and then continuing throughout adulthood, your child will need to juggle many responsibilities. Time management will help him to be more effective in achieving his goals, to improve performance in academics and activities, and to move from the structured environment of home to one where she will have to manage a variety of schedules and commitments. Learning this skill will also reduce anxiety and build confidence to meet deadlines as your teen looks forward to graduation and beyond.

HELPFUL TIME MANAGEMENT TOOLS

You may agree that this is exactly what you need to do,...

Dear Friends,

Now that September is past and you have settled into your school
routine, we thought it would be a good time to discuss electives and extracurricular activities. What are the differences between them? How do they benefit your teen? And, how do you best document them? Let's start by discussing electives.

ELECTIVES

Electives are considered part of the academic course load that makes up your teen's high school program. They are evaluated and awarded credit and then included on a high school transcript. An elective is a course that is not required, but a course that your teen opts to take.

Even though your plate may be really full with trying to teach the core courses such as English, history, science, math and foreign language, keep in mind that elective courses are important to include in your high school program. Choosing some courses of interest to your teen will motivate him and provide the needed panacea to complete those less interesting, but "required"...