Kari has recently earned her Silver Award with Girl Scout Troop 2872 – the highest national award that a Girl Scout in grades 6th through 8th can earn! A ceremony recognizing Kari for this great achievement was held this past June in Indiana. She also has earned her God and Church Award in 2011, a Christian award earned by grade level that allows her faith to grow as strong and true as her own exceptional character.

Here are some excerpts from a recent interview with Kari:

BA: When did you begin homeschooling and why?

IP: I started homeschooling at the age of 12 after moving to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in June of 2010. My family decided on homeschooling because the school options in Saudi Arabia are limited.

BA: How is homeschooling different from public schools in Saudi Arabia?

IP: The homeschool curriculum gives me the opportunity to work at my own pace. In the local school, there is little space to work independently. Everyone is at the same level, with little room to be creative or work in a more advanced curriculum.

BA: What do you like most about homeschooling? And the least?

IP: The curriculum is tailored to my own needs and strengths, and the flexibility of it offers something that is not possible in a regular Saudi school. But there are no days off due to the weather in Saudi Arabia!

BA: Tell us more about your experience with the Girl Scouts and the achievements you have made in that program.

IP: My experience as a girl scout has really been a great part of my life. The program has taught me to help others, to never give up, and to always believe in myself. I have earned the Leadership, Bronze, and Silver Award, along with many badges. I have also earned the God Award for the Brownies, Juniors and Cadets. Currently I am working on the last part of the program for the Seniors which will entitle me to the four star award recognition.

BA: Describe why you received your God and Church award and what it means to you.

IP: The God and Church program allowed me to learn how to know Jesus on a more personal level, how to worship God, and learn about the talents given to me and how to use them. It was a self discovering journey where I had the opportunity to work with the youth and provide voluntary work for the Church and reach out to others. It was very important for me to achieve these awards. It is an important way to keep growing spiritually.

BA: Any special experiences you would like to share with us?

IP: Saudi Arabia is a beautiful country with a different culture, views of the outside world, and many contradictions. I have learned that cultural education is as important as basic education. We must learn to accept, understand and respect other cultures and their point of view without losing ourselves in the process, this has been a journey with great satisfaction and trials along the way. I was surprised to see that we might look very different but in reality we are individuals with dreams and hope for the future. I also learned that sometimes we take for granted the freedom that we have back home.

BA: What are your plans or dreams for the future? Colleges you are interested in?

IP: Living overseas has opened my eyes to a whole new view of the future and what I would like to be. I want to continue my schooling, followed by College, and I want to keep traveling and experiencing adventures and other cultures. I am not sure what college I would like to attend. I have considered Michigan State University, Rice University, Butler University or maybe even to study abroad. I have also considered a military career as an aviator. Whatever I choose, it would be because it will give me the opportunity to be a better person and serve God, to honor Him in everything I do.

Thank you Kari for sharing your experiences with us. We wish you all the success you dream of in 2012 and beyond!

We’ve come up with a list of questions you might have regarding a mentoring program – and the answers you need to make an informed decision on whether it’s the right move to make for YOUR household.

What is a homeschool mentor – exactly?

It’s a good basic question, as the term “mentoring” covers quite a broad area. Mentoring can include anything from calling another parent in your homeschooling network who has been through it all and getting some sage personal advice. Or it can involve enrollment in a program that can provide you with weekly or even daily assistance with your teaching methods researching, coping skills, or even spiritual guidance and prayer. A good mentor (sometimes called a homeschool coach) should be able to assist you with these things:

• Help you connect to other homeschoolers, either locally or through online communities
• Give you great ideas for activities or educational field trip ideas in your area
• Help with lesson plans, researching tips, and gathering resources for teaching
• Allowing you to observe a functioning homeschool program if you are just starting out
• Help you problem-solve with any issues that arise
• Give you advice on how to deal with local school officials if necessary

In a nutshell, mentoring can cover such a wide range of resources or input to your current homeschool program that it is hard to provide any one definition of the term. It can be what you need it to be – you just need to make an informed decision on how much help you really need.

How do I decide if I need a homeschool mentor – really?

Of course everyone could use an experienced coach in their back pocket through the course of any given week. If you are a parent, then you’ve asked yourself many times – oh my gosh, how do I know what’s the best course of action here? Often times, your best hunch ends up being the right answer. Sometimes, it’s not – but then you learn and move on. If you are not sure if you “really” need a mentor, ask yourself the following:

• Do you feel uncertain in your ability as a teacher?
• Do you feel exasperated or frustrated at the end of the day?
• Do you wish you had someone to bounce your ideas off of or give you motivation?
• Are you struggling with decisions related to the public school system and want to know the best way to handle them?
• Do you want to network with other homeschooling parents and teachers?
• Is it taking you way too long to plan your lessons and research materials?

If you’ve answered ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions, it’s likely a good time to look into mentoring!

What does mentoring cost – straight up?

It is possible to find a free mentor, especially if you have many personal connections in your own homeschool community. You may be able to find another parent who has been through the experience, and is willing to provide you with some guidance, tips, and be available when problems arise. With the age of the internet and its bounty of resources available at your fingertips, you can easily join an online forum or community where you can post your questions and receive answers from others like you. However, if you are looking for someone to reach out to on a consistent basis – and who has proven experience behind them with positive strategies for all of your roadblocks or issues, you should look into a paid mentor. Mentors are usually paid:

• By the hour for phone consultation (somewhere in the neighborhood of $25/hr)
• Monthly fees with access to website materials/program (we found $30 – $50/ month is reasonable)

So to sum it up – mentoring is affordable – even free if you’re resourceful enough – and it may just give you that extra boost you need.

How do I find a reputable mentor – and avoid charlatans?

If you perform a Google search on the term “homeschooling mentors,” you will be amazed at the number of sites that pop up. Some are other homeschooling parents who want to share their story, some are online programs, and some are people trying to sell their books and other things. Here are some things to scout for:

• Look for someone who has homeschooled their own children successfully – you want someone who has been down in the trenches and emerged successfully!
• Check credentials. A mentor should have substantially more experience than you do.
• If it’s an informal arrangement – perhaps another mom you admire in your homeschool community – make sure you formally ‘ask’ for mentoring help, and be very aware of how valuable that person’s time is!
• Look around on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, or on other online forums – there is tons of free info out there and many ways to connect with potential mentors through social media.

Remember that the best way to know for sure that you are getting a good mentor is through the reference of other parents like you. Ask around! A good homeschool mentor can provide specific advice, resources, and the encouragement you need for your own success. So go for it!

Our Winner is Anthony Willis – a 3rd Grader from Texas!

Congratulations Anthony!

Step 1. Consider Your Available Time

Realistically, please! Remember that you will still need to accomplish the items every ordinary parent handles in the course of a day, such as laundry, cooking, cleaning, health issues, appointments, and the general drama and conflict that erupts on a daily basis when children and teens are concerned. You need to budget a slot of time for these items, even if your laundry pile is manageable, as issues will surely creep upon you without fail.

If the realization that children enrolled in the public system spend nearly 8 hours of each day engaging in the “school process” gives you cold sweats, fear not. Some estimates conclude – if you subtract the time involved in bus rides, recesses, lunches, walking in hallways and visiting lockers, electives like gym and art, study halls, roll calls, and the general passing out of papers – a child schooled in a public system may only receive about one hour of valuable learning time (where information is actually absorbed) a day. That’s a number you can trounce in a heartbeat!

Tip: Check around online to find out how much time other successful homeschool families are budgeting time – but remember that each child is different!

Step 2. Consider Your Approach

Your approach is going to be affected by the number of children in your family, their ages, and their learning speeds and abilities. There is just no set formula to figuring out exactly how needs will be met before you get totally immersed in homeschooling. But the beauty of homeschooling is – it’s flexible!

Younger children learning to read and write are going to require a more intensive approach with the need for larger time increments with more built-in breaks. Older children will require a greater number of outside resources and direction, but should be able to self-direct to a significant degree. Children with disabilities or special learning needs require a different approach, and you may need some outside help too.

To get a realistic grip on what the best approach for your family will be, you must fully understand how much time it will take you to complete a number of tasks. Many parents fall into the daily trap of underestimating this figure. Even if you are only cutting yourself short on a task by ten minutes, if you complete 15 tasks a day – you are going to come up 2.5 hours short!

Tip: Take a full week to note – and write down – how long your child needs to complete specific assignments, such as spelling lists or math tables. Average the figures, then be sure to tack on a few extra minutes for good measure!

Step 3. Consider Your Priorities

Get out that curriculum well in advance, and take the time to really pull it apart – ALL of it. Start with you biggest goals, and then work backwards. Beginning with the year in general, list all subjects, coursework, service activities, and projects necessary to complete the year. For each course, develop a list of monthly goals (ie. amount of tests, reading, worksheet pages, hours of service, etc).

Continue onward, breaking each month down into weeks, before finally arriving at your daily schedule.

Working backwards puts the emphasis on the big goals, and not the individual time increments, which can help to prevent over-scheduling and the needless spinning of your wheels.

Remember that meals, breaks, outdoor activities, special interests, and social groups are a significant part of the homeschool process as well. They should be officially entered into your daily schedule as items of importance. You can shuffle the when, where, and how, but don’t leave them out (or underestimate their allotment by ten minutes!)

Tip: Treat yourself to an over-sized activities planner BEFORE you begin your budgeting/planning process. It will become your best friend and personal assistant! Free printable versions online.

Step 4. Consider When To Relax

With time being the unrelenting task-master that it always is, a good bit of stress from the homeschooling commitment is inevitable. We often begin to doubt our capabilities, our patience, and our organization. Failure to meet goals, no matter how small, will wear you down over time. At some point (much as with parenting), homeschooling will become about “when to just let it roll off your shoulders.”

You may also feel guilt about your child not being involved enough with district sports teams and activities. But the truth is, many public school children are suffering due to the fact that parents become obsessed with the success of their child in school sports to the extent that grades falter, self-esteem is damaged (or over-inflated), and a child is taught the wrong kind of sportsmanship altogether.

Tip: Remember that a solid moral background and the academic self- confidence to succeed in college and the job market is going to outplay Little Johnny’s star pitching in the long haul – hands down.

Homeschooling is ultimately about embracing values, creativity, and the LOVE of learning – and not about watching the clock tick away to feel like you’ve accomplished a task. To be sure you don’t fall into the age-old parent trap of faulty time management, don’t doubt yourself. You CAN do this!

First of all, kids (and that includes you, at some point in your past) are natural scientists. Don’t worry about your ability to teach complex subjects, stimulate or motivate them. Remember all those questions they ask? The wonderment your kids express about new discoveries? Kids are naturally curious about the world around them, even if they don’t think of their interest in the natural world as ‘science.’

Secondly, there are plenty of options out there for worried parents, allowing you to be as involved as you’d like without compromising the quality of a homeschool education. You don’t need to worry about how to teach homeschool science or math!

With self-instructional science curriculums, parents are free to focus on creating hands-on, real-life learning experiences  for their children, which enhance the learning experience and reinforce the material they are studying. Here are the three key ways to teach (or have your children taught) science, depending on your comfort level with the material.

1. Learn It & Share It

You thought math, chemistry and physics would never be needed again, didn’t you? You should have paid more attention the first time around. One of the easiest ways to teach grade school science… or even high school science is to first understand it. Review your child’s course materials or class curriculum  to determine the scope of the lessons. The web is an easy place to begin finding out just how good your knowledge really is. While this may prove an effective technique for one or two science courses, if your budding young PhD is engaged in a science-focused curriculum, you may find it difficult to amass sufficient knowledge to keep ahead of them.

2. Discover It Together or Let Them Go It Alone

Many parents choose to have their child take self-guided homeschool science courses either online, on video or in a textbook format. Homeschooling really runs the gamut of options from parents who manage the entire process to homeschool academies. Here’s a sample of a college-prep physics class that emphasizes hands-on experimentation by the student. If your student is a little younger, you can pick up science project kits at craft or teacher supply stores to get your child interested in science experiments. And if the curriculum starts to get beyond your knowledge, remember: teamwork gets it done! Science is a very community-driven practice; serving as your child’s lab partner and fellow student is both fun and helpful to them.

3. Dual Enrollment

Many states have a dual enrollment (also known as concurrent enrollment) option in which your child can attend traditional school classes for science courses, computer labs or foreign languages. You must check your local laws and with your school district. In Pennsylvania for example, state law doesn’t mandate that individual school districts allow dual enrollment; it is left to each district’s discretion.

Dual enrollment becomes a really good option for parents of science-oriented kids as they get older. As their curriculum progresses, they may be ready for more advanced coursework. In addition to dual-enrolling at high schools to take the burden off your shoulders, many homeschoolers choose to dual-enroll at local colleges, with college credits that can be transferred when they head off to college.

Teaching science properly requires you to make the subject interesting. Science isn’t about facts and numbers that need to be memorized; rather, it’s the collection of systems that make our world – and everything in it – function…and it’s fascinating! If you plan to take on the task of teaching your children science, remember:

• Start them out enthusiastically. This is science…this is going to be cool, and we’re all going to learn new stuff!

• Scientific experiments can go wrong…but there isn’t really a “wrong.” Everything that happens in the lab is a learning opportunity – that’s science, after all – and it’s a great way to exercise the logical parts of kid’s brains!

• Children can have misconceptions about science, so talking to them about their understanding of various topics on an ongoing basis is critical.

• It’s important to help them build connections between concepts. As you teach them various subjects, help them make connections by briefly revisiting the old information in the new context. For example, meteorology relates to geography and astronomy, which ties in physics.

• Be willing to supplement whatever curriculum they choose with other materials and even subjects! Biology is based on chemistry…chemistry is based on physical science…they are all interconnected and interrelated. Don’t be afraid to introduce concepts from other disciplines to help them as needed…science is about learning, but not necessarily learning in a linear fashion.

Science isn’t something to fear as a teacher, it’s an opportunity to be embraced. Forget the high school science classes you attended; homeschoolers don’t need to conform to that format…and they’ll be better off for it. Whatever option you choose, help your child make their science education informative, engaging and exciting.

Do you have any tips for homeschool parents who are nervous about teaching science and math?

Three of the biggest complaints students have about traditional classroom learning are boredom, panic and being judged according to the performance of other students. Teachers tend to cover material either too fast or way too slow. Unlike homeschoolers, kids who attend traditional school know that classes either move at a snail’s pace or lightning fast. Rarely are classes “just right”…moving at the perfect pace for every student. And being compared to know-it-all Madison in the second row? Yuck. (Sure, Madison does well on tests. But her mom is a teacher and her dad hired tutors before they left for France last summer.)

Homeschooling addresses all three of the classroom complaints heard by your fellow students everywhere: boredom, panic and those terrible “Why aren’t you doing as well as Madison?” moments.

How? Flexible learning.

This is one of homeschooling’s greatest advantages: moving exactly at the pace you need in order to properly learn a subject…or the pace you want in order to study a subject you really enjoy in-depth.

While there are any number of reasons for you or your parents to choose homeschooling, flexibility in learning is always towards the top. Whether you need a bit of extra help getting up to speed in chemistry, or whether you want to modify your curriculum to spend a bit more time on English classes because of a passion for writing, homeschooling offers the perfect solution.

The flexibility in learning you have as a homeschooler has other great advantages. Your parents can decide to put history aside for a week or two and allow you to explore other subjects. And there are so many more opportunities for flexible learners. One Bridgeway Academy family gives their daughter time off from homeschool class work every fall to visit family in China for eight weeks (take that, Madison!).

Flexibility also means pursuing your interests. Dancing, cooking, or an amazing musical ability can all become part of your school day. Transforming a love of guitar into an understanding of the impact Rock & Roll has had on society and culture makes social studies more appealing.

Haven’t you ever noticed? When things are fun, you’re more interested in them…and you do better.

Oh, and as far as Madison is concerned…she’s not doing too hot in Physics. Seems the class is moving too fast for her. But guess what?

She’s not bored anymore.

Now she’s panicked.

Do you think that flexibility in learning would make your classroom experience better?

The First Day of High School

The bus finally pulled up to my school and as I walked out I saw at least two hundred kids in the courtyard hugging and reacquainting themselves with their friends they haven’t seen in about three months. I walked over to my “crowd” of people who happened to be the football players, and on our way to class we talked about the girls we were going to date, homecoming, and the Nick’s game on Sunday. Luckily, my first class was German and several of my football buddies were in the class with me. By the end of the day everything seemed to be looking up; new friends, cool teachers, and plenty of pretty girls.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go as I planned during the months of October and November. The workload began to get overwhelming and I was failing tests left and right. On a positive side, my social life seemed to be booming. I walked down the narrow hallways saying, “Hello” and exchanging inside jokes, all while dodging juniors and seniors. At home, my parents started adding pressure on me to succeed…but it just made things worse. I found myself zoning out and talking in class. My seat was constantly changed due to talking and I cared more about my social life than my academics. In November, I finally started caring about school. But it seemed the harder I tried the worse it got. By January, I found myself skipping lunch and my free time just to keep up with all my schoolwork.

The Challenges of Learning

In the second grade I was classified with a mild learning disability, for which I needed more time and a little extra help. In the spring of eighth grade, as I was getting ready for my first steps into high school, I tested out of the Special Education program and was declassified. Even though I was ecstatic about finally being on my own, I was relieved when the high school counselors reassured me that I would have plenty of support if needed. As time went by, I realized all the help the teachers were promising me faded away. My school guidance counselor didn’t even know me; to them I was just a number in a sea of overachievers and failures. I saw my successful friends get extra help and rewarded by their teachers while I was completely ignored. Most of my teachers gave up on me; therefore, I gave up on myself.

One day after class a teacher pulled me aside to look at a chart. She explained that the chart contained three lanes; the 1st lane consisted of math courses that would guarantee me to get into any good college, the 2nd lane were courses that would knock 23-30 colleges off my list and then there was my lane. “Your lane’” might get you into a state school or an average school.” she snidely remarked. She made me feel like a failure before I even started and to boot, she said, if you start out in this lane you can never switch unless you earn a perfect score and that would be highly unlikely. The feeling was like a pinball machine where the balls fall into different lanes. My ball always fell into the last, never to come out. I felt like the school was going to just let me slip through the cracks and see how I ended up. They were focused on the high achievers – the ones who would most likely attend Ivy League schools.

Changing Learning Lanes

It was now March and I was excited about Saint Patrick’s Day coming up, even though the last several months had been very difficult. My parents were really concerned and decided to formulate a new plan.  Again, I found myself in a similar situation as before, with two lanes to choose from – I could continue to be miserable and lose all self-confidence (whatever was left) or I could be homeschooled. My parents went on to explain that this program is only temporary, it could reverse all of my grades, and I will be able to steer my education into whatever lane I chose. The only thought that went through my mind was, “Hey, let’s give it a shot.”

After I made my decision, my parents gave me a day to say goodbye to all my friends. It was pretty hard to do, especially since I knew I would be finding out who truly was my friend and who was not. It’s easy to lose friendships when you’re not in contact every day. The next morning I woke up at an early 10:00 and I began the first day of the rest of my freshman year. It was a hard transition, but I eventually got used to it.

Most of my grades were pretty bad in freshman year but I was able to redo it. I finally completed freshman year before August and I got my first glimpse of summer. Although my summer was extremely short, there was nothing better than earning a 93.8 grade point average! It wasn’t easy, but it was totally worth it. When I received my report card in August, I was elated and felt on top of the world and in my own lane…one where I have the choice to pass or not!

My future looks pretty bright now. I started playing a new sport – rugby – which has taken the place of football, and I like it so much more! As part of my educational plan, I have the opportunity to do things that I always wanted to do, such as take piano lessons and attend an art school to learn how to oil paint. My extra time has been spent working diligently on becoming an Eagle Scout, along with training for a two-week hike in Philmont,New Mexico. My decision to be homeschooled was a great one, after all, and I hope that my life will continue to look up for me as it has already!

As summer progresses and we get closer to the start of school, it isn’t unusual for you and your kids to get a bit stressed out. School is stressful, no matter where it is…and not just for the kids. Schedules become compressed, deadlines loom, and tempers can rise. Since your home may serve as the workplace, the school, and the family’s retreat, it’s important to prevent stress from building up.

Everyone knows it takes many miles to turn a supertanker, and getting back into the homeschooling groove is no different. In fact, many parents find it’s easier to slowly ease the kids back into the classroom than it is to announce (and enforce!) an arbitrary Monday homeschool start date.

Hopefully, you’re spending the summer working on your child’s less-formal education, but even if you’re not, don’t fret! Here are seven things you can do to get you and your child back into the learning groove before fall arrives!

1. Reset the Schedule

For many families, summertime means freedom…especially freedom from alarm clocks and tight schedules. Start reinstating schedules in August, but do it gradually. You want to slowly train your kids to put on their thinking caps in the morning. By incrementally changing wake-up times to earlier in the morning, you can make the back-to-school transition a good deal less painful. You may want to start limiting television, video games and other fun activities too…but do it slowly! You’re trying to begin the process of shifting their thinking, not punish them.

2. Organize the Classroom

Homeschoolers don’t typically give too much thought to the classroom. It might be an office, a spare bedroom or the dining room table, but they need to start thinking of their learning space in the context of school. A lazy, rainy day is a great opportunity to have them help set up the “school.”  Have them put some thought into it…where to store books, where they’ll do their solo studying, where sports gear should be stowed, how the classroom should be laid out to minimize the impact of non-school life at home. Having them help prep the school can reduce the stress and anxiety kids feel about their looming return to the books.

3. Review the Curriculum

Taking some time with your child to review what they’ll be studying in the fall is another way to get them to transition into school mode. It also helps you – as the teacher – begin to make a lesson plan. Talk through any concerns your child may have about the material to help fend off stomach butterflies. When discussing their coursework with them, take the time to identify subjects that they’re excited about. Designing special activities or trips around those subjects they love allows them to look forward to fun educational events.

4. Sell Education!

Think back to when you were a kid. Was there ever a time you actually wanted summer to end? Probably not, and your child will be feeling the same thing. It’s up to you to help change their perception of school as a negative. Remind them of all the cool things they loved about school last year (activities, trips and the subjects they are passionate about are a good start), and invite them to discuss what they’d like to do next summer.

5. The Unforgettable Event

End of summer traditions are a great way for kids to recognize that change is coming! A special family back-to-school barbecue or that last camping trip of the year is a great way to help kids understand that change is coming.

6. Reschedule Mealtimes

Summer is great fun when it comes to eating, but mealtimes tend to become more erratic. When the season starts to wind down, it’s time to get your kids back to regular meals. Not only is it healthier for them (no ice cream right before bed!), but it also helps them re-conquer the school year routine. Best of all – they probably won’t recognize it as one of those back-to-school things you’re doing!

7. It’s All on You!

There’s no doubt about it…kids feed off of their parent’s emotions. If you’re feeling stressed out, chances are they will too. Sure, your kids are getting older and one more summer is passing into the history books, but it’s important for you to be confident and happy. Remember…sometimes your kids just need a little motivation!

What do you do to make the transition back to the classroom easier on your kids?

A fun and quick article on why homeschooling should be outlawed.

Click here and enjoy

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Thanksgiving is an annual event announced by the President of the United States.  Each year, the current president issues a proclamation and each year that proclamation gives thanks to God for his blessings.

Although the feast between the Pilgrims and the local native Americans did occur, it is not the reason behind Thanksgiving.

To read several of the Presidental Thanksgiving Proclamations, visit this link.

After printing the proclamations, have your child write the different phrases that the four Presidents below used to describe how Americans should thank God for His blessings:

• Bush
• Clinton
• Reagan
• Kennedy

Then have your child(ren) describe ways they have celebrated Thanksgiving in the past and think of one or two new ideas they might incorporate in the next Thanksgiving to emphasize God’s goodness and their thankfulness to Him.

You can read several other proclamations here.

Read Thomas Jefferson’s entire proclamation.