milestones

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! And welcome back from what we hope was a joyous and memorable Christmas break. Can you relate when we confide that it's a bit difficult for us to get re-engaged into the real world of responsibilities after the holidays? Or, are we the only two sluggards we know?

A new year always brings fresh resolutions and goals, so we want to suggest that you consider reviewing and reevaluating your goals for the rest of the school year. The overarching question to ask is: "Am I homeschooling responsibly?" We'd like to help you honestly assess how well you are managing your high school homeschooling responsibilities.

The word "responsibility" rightly carries with it the idea of being accountable to somebody or for something. Often accountability is viewed in a negative or discouraging way. But as we look at homeschooling responsibly, we want to emphasize the positives. You may discover ways you need to change or to do things differently, but if the end result improves your...

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2009! The dawn of a new year is a wonderful opportunity to start afresh with a blank slate. If 2008 ended on a high note for you and your teen, praise the Lord. On the other hand, if 2008 was a year you would like to forget, we pray that the Lord helped you to grow in endurance, faith and hope. In either case, let's all launch into 2009 with great anticipation of seeing the Lord's hand in all we do.

January may be a good month for you to evaluate your progress for this school year. Adjustments may need to be made to your yearly plan--a course may have already been completed or is not coming along as anticipated. One of the benefits of homeschooling your teen is the opportunity to alter or re-customize not only your high school plan, but also to adjust the rate of speed with which you cover individual course material. Deciding the course of action you should pursue will depend on your teen's abilities and maturity level. Here are some items to keep in mind.

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Dear Friends,

Time governs our days. The harder we try to hang on to it, the faster it seems to go! But, with careful planning, it is possible to use your time wisely during the high school years.

We suggest that you lay out a time line of important to-dos and major deadlines. You'll see the big picture, while at the same time you will be able to prioritize individual items. Your confidence will grow, and you'll see progress as items are checked off your list.

To help you get started, we've outlined a possible time line below Jump in at any point, but be sure to make up for any lost time by doing a quick review of prior years to check if any items were missed. For a more detailed look at what to include in your time line for high school, you may wish to download the HSLDA brochure "Keeping on Track: A Time Line for High School" along with the...