The Homeschool Highschool Podcast

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Career Exploration for Teens Who Don’t Have a Clue- Special Replay. Career Exploration for Teens Who Don’t Have a Clue “SO, what are you going to do after graduation?” That’s the dreaded question for many teens. They simply don’t have a clue what they want to do. How do you help a teen find direction in life? How do you help them get to know themselves or get to know God’s leading? For teens who know they do not want to go to college but do not have a clue what they want to do Many teens do not have any idea what they want to do after graduation. That is okay. They do not need to know everything about the future during high school. However, it is wise to help them explore. Here are some ideas: Give them rich experiences Many times teens do not know what they want to do because they have not experienced it yet. One kind of rich experience is field trips. Hey, the good thing about homeschooling is that we homeschool moms tend to value field trips (although sometimes at high school level, it is harder to squeeze them in to our teens’ busy schedules). However, if you create a Career Exploration elective credit for their transcript, you can log many field trips towards that credit. That is because, any trip gives a little more life experience. Any life experience helps build the ability to make decisions- especially career decisions. For instance: ranger-led nature walks at state parks, cooking demonstrations at special events, car shows or museum exhibits. Sometimes, a teen will get inspired by a watching the person in charge of whatever event they are experiencing. They think: “Hmmm, this might be a cool job!” Or, on the other hand, they might think, “Ugh, I would NEVER want to do that!” Either way is valuable career exploration. Show them role models Movies based on careers Biographies of interesting jobs FB Watches or YouTubes about interesting jobs Volunteer work Teens need to do volunteer work. It is good for transcript and the soul. Service work is SO important for personal knowledge and development, as well as making the world a better place. Some volunteer opportunities our teens have done: Church (worship, set up, digital team, nursery, office) Digital volunteer opportunities Food bank State park volunteer events Library volunteers For teens, whether they have a clue about career or not, try a career exploration course A good career exploration course is very helpful. For non-college-bound teens, 7SistersHomeschool has a simple Career Exploration Textbook. Even if you choose something else, think about looking for curriculum that includes (like our workbook): What is God’s will? Teens who are believers sometimes feel anxious about choosing a career that will please God. A good curriculum helps them trust God to direct their paths. Past experiences What have teens already done that help them find strengths or interests What other people see in them Get some feedback from people who know them Can they identify interests? IF the power went out for the day, what would you do for fun? If you had a day to yourself with no chores or schoolwork, what would you do? Define career values Career values help teens choose a career field by defining what is important to them: Work hours, desire for involvement in things after work, level of income desired, etc. (Rabbit trail, all teens will benefit from taking a Financial Literacy course that helps them understand and plan for financial responsibilities coming their way in adulthood.) Explore careers Check out career descriptions and information at CareerOneStop.org. Join a club or interest group Sometimes a group experience will help them explore an interest or strength, network or lead to the next interesting experience. Even if it does not turn out to be fun, no experience is wasted. All experiences are growth, one way or the other. Try some apprenticeships We cannot recommend this enough. See if you can help your teen find something that can count as apprenticeship. Be sure to log everything! Those Career Exploration electives are SO valuable and look great on the transcript! For more on this topic Check out this interview with our friend, Angela O’Shaughnessy about her non-college-bound sons’ career exploration experiences: Helping Non-college-bound Teens Find Success Why Trade School? AND check out Susan Stewarts suggestions of Careers that Don’t Require College. If you are just starting out, here is information on how to get teens interested in career exploration. Join Vicki for a quick discussion to help non-college-bound teens get their career exploration underway! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER Follow this link to our Apple Podcasts page. OR take this IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on  View in “…your favorite podcast source” This will take you to Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast source and our own podcast page. Click SUBSCRIBE. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!) Thanks! OR PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon Tap *Subscribe* Please tap *Ratings and Review* Sabrina, Vicki, and Kym have been mentoring, coaching, and teaching homeschool high schoolers about Career Exploration for decades.   Join them for an expert discussion on helping teens who don’t have a clue. Resources: Case Study: Teen Doesn’t Have a Clue HSHSP Ep 23: Career Exploration for Homeschool Highschoolers My Next Move Career Interest Survey Career One Stop (US Dept of Labor)     The post Career Exploration for Teens Who Don’t Have a Clue- Special Replay appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Working Moms: Homeschooling Your High Schoolers. an episode from Homeschool High School Podcast Working Moms: Homeschooling Your High Schoolers Every single homeschool mom is a working mom! If we are homeschooling, we are working at it, juggling our kids’ needs, growing, and managing households. Many of us also hold jobs outside the home (or inside the home) to bring in extra income for the family. As most of our podcast listeners know, Vicki worked as a licensed professional counselor while homeschooling her kids through graduation. It helped pay the homeschool bills, and besides, it was her calling. If you’ve ever felt unqualified, this encouragement on how to homeschool high school when you don’t know everything may help. Encouragement for being a homeschool working mom with teens It can feel intimidating and tiring to hold a job and homeschool high school. Vicki wants to encourage you that you can do this. Remember: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool. Homeschooling for working Moms can look many different ways! You can do this and your teens can do this! Include your teens in the planning and process When you are facing high school with your teens, sit down with them. Talk about your priorities (yours and theirs). What are the most important things that you need from them? What do your teens need out of their high school experience? Remember: you are homeschooling high school in the way that is right for your family. There’s no right or wrong set of priorities. Some priorities will include: Meeting their graduation requirements Completing high school in four years (for most teens, although some graduate early and others need extra time due to illness or other complications) Doing some career exploration Clarifying or discovering what their gifts, interests, or their talents Building their transcript with lots of electives in their interest area Being prepared for college, for a vocation, or the military Discovering the best-fit resources for curriculum, courses, electives, and extracurriculars For asynchronous (self-paced) courses, check out 7SistersHomeschool Live courses are offered at FundaFunda Academy (the online school sponsored by our fellow podcasters at Homeschooling with Technology) Looking for good-fit service and volunteer activities Learning self-directed study skills like using a syllabus Think about your career and personal needs Make sure you define your own career priorities and goals. Do you: Need to advance up the career ladder? Want to maintain the status quo in your career? Pay off some bills? Are you caregiving for an aging relative or for a member of the family who has a chronic illness? Do you homeschool multiple children? Remember: there’s no such thing as a Pinterest-perfect homeschool Perfection is only in Pinterest photos. In real life, you are a real human, and your whole family is full of real humans. Real humans are messy, busy, and complicated! So, do what you can with the best heart you can. Let go of “perfect”. You may feel like your teens are not receiving the world’s most amazing homeschool education. However, if you all stay aligned, if you stay together on this, they will get the education they need. And you will get through it. And, you may be tired, but motherhood’s all about tired. Someday, they will be all grown up and out of the house.  You can sleep in on those days. Don’t forget to pray Remember to pray because we need God in on this. (That’s not cheesy.) 7Sisters Kym always says, “Pray first, last, and always.” Then you start planning. Check out 7SistersHomeschool’s useful blog post: Authoritative Guide to Planning Homeschool High School. Find your community We homeschool working moms need community as much as anybody: Church community Family community Homeschool community (digital and/or in person) Join Facebook groups like our friends at Simply Homeschool or Homeschool Mama Self-Care Don’t forget to join 7SistersHomeschool Facebook Group. Ask questions. You matter! We will get this done. You may need to be working to bring in some income. That’s not a bad thing. If this is what God has given you to do, then it’s the right thing. You can work the process in the way that works for your family. Community can happen in the homeschool world, in digital forums or in person. You can communicate with your teens. They will get educated and be well-prepared well for the next phase of life. Thanks to Seth Tillman for editing. Hey, would you go to your podcast network and leave us some stars and/or a review? THANKS!! Keep Listening How to Homeschool High School When You Don’t Know Everything GPA on the Homeschool Transcript 5 Ways to Earn Credits in Homeschool High School Homeschooling College-Bound Teens First Resume for Your Teen’s First Job Character Development in Homeschool High School How to Start the Homeschool High School Year PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER Follow this link to our iTunes page. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page. Click SUBSCRIBE. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!) Thanks! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon Tap *Subscribe* Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily. Thanks! The post Working Moms: Homeschooling Your High Schoolers appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Homeschooler Becomes a Veterinarian, with Dr. Sarah Varnell, Special Replay. Homeschooler Becomes a Veterinarian, with Dr. Sarah Varnell Dr. Sarah Varnell is a veterinarian near Cincinnati, OH. Homeschooled through high school, Sarah studies zoology at the undergraduate level, went to veterinarian school, and now specializes in equine medicine: a homeschooler becomes a veterinarian! How did Sarah handle her time in high school so that she was college-ready for a science like zoology? Academics for Sarah were heavy in the maths and sciences, both textbook-wise but also hands-on! Dr. Sarah Varnell. Photo used with permission. Heavy Sciences on the transcript, completed at honors level: Biology in 8th grade Zoology Chemistry Advanced Chemistry Physics Volunteering, MANY hours: Horse rescue Brandywine Zoo (snake handler who walked around the zoo carrying a snake for visitors to meet) Teaching at a Christian summer camp that specializes in horses (she was also a camper there when she was a child) Shadowing, MANY hours: Small animal veterinarian (this steered her away from small animals because Sarah likes being out and about, not stuck inside) Noticing and developing interests and loves: Being in the outdoors Being around large animals Through college, her networking and shadowing helped guide her in her studies but it took time to clarify that she wanted to be a field veterinarian. She connected to an equine vet (through a homeschool family that she babysat for- nothing like networking!) and spend many hour shadowing For college success, Sarah learned to: Look forward to necessary courses and kept in touch with college advisor for advice on specialized and extra courses she needed to take. (Sarah needed some specialized courses that most zoology undergraduates did not need.) Visit her professors often during office hours. Sarah chose a small, Christian college (Malone College) for her undergraduate degree. When choosing her college, she made these a priority: Small college, so she could know her professors and advisor well Good college advisors that are interested in the success of their advisees Opportunities for networking and exploration/volunteering/shadowing Of all the vet schools in the nation, Sarah applied to the best vet school in the nation: University of California. She chose her graduate program by applying to the average number of programs, not choosing University of Delaware (her local college) since it had no vet program and few opportunities with their reciprocal programs at other schools. Rather, she chose to other nearby colleges and the vet school that her veterinarian of her childhood cats. After applying, she flew to California for interviews and tours of campus. She liked the way their program was organized. AND it was December with NO snow! She rocked her interviews. How did she do that? Beginning in 8th grade and all through high school, she was a member of the homeschool rhetoric team, so was comfortable speaking. This is the curriculum that Sarah’s rhetoric league used. She was also involved in her college forensics team (public speaking), where she specialized in 5-minute impromptu speeches. At UC, the interviews were MMI format (Multiple Mini Interviews), which are 5-minute impromptu speeches in a sort of speed dating format. She did so well that she was accepted into the program. Sarah’s advice for homeschoolers thinking about college? Make sure you avail yourself of advisors and professors. Network, network, network! Keep a class listing of what you will need. Keep an eye on when courses are offered (some courses are only offered periodically). At the University of California, Sarah learned: At the end of every lead rope there is a human. So soft skills and speaking skills are important. Sarah began her skills in her homeschooling high school years. Today, Dr. Varnell is treating horses out on the road and in the clinic where she works. Just like James Herriot of All Creatures Great and Small, she’s out in the field with people and horses. Here’s a free resource for helping teens choose a college major. Join Vicki and Dr. Sarah Varnell to find out how a homeschooler becomes a veterinarian. Keep Listening How to Homeschool High School When You Don’t Know Everything GPA on the Homeschool Transcript 5 Ways to Earn Credits in Homeschool High School Homeschooling College-Bound Teens First Resume for Your Teen’s First Job Character Development in Homeschool High School How to Start the Homeschool High School Year PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER Follow this link to our iTunes page. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page. Click SUBSCRIBE. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!) Thanks! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon Tap *Subscribe* Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily. Thanks! Homeschooler Becomes a Veterinarian, with Dr. Sarah Varnell The post Homeschooler Becomes a Veterinarian with Dr. Sarah Varnell, Special Replay appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool High School Podcast: First Resume for Your Teen’s First Job. First Resume for Your Teen’s First Job Many teens look for a first job sometime during their homeschool high school years. I have found that a good way to get the job-hunt process started is to help them develop their first resume. When I tell teens that we are starting with developing their first resume, they sometimes reply, “How can I have a resume? I’ve never had a job?” It is hard to have a resume showing your jobs if you have never had a job, and that is very true. However, our teens, by and large, have lots of resume-worthy experiences. Our high schoolers generally have: done volunteer work been involved in community organizations participated in sports and/or the arts served at church and the homeschool community All of those things are experiences that demonstrate that they can do things that are attractive to an employer, such as: teamwork responsibility drive. We can help our teens capture these activities on an experiential resume. This is not a job resume because they have not had a job. However, an experiential resume us useful and valid to show what kind of person your teen is. An experiential resume Let’s take a look at an experiential resume sample. (BTW- You can download a guide to help your teen develop their own experiential resume at 7SistersHomeschool.com) The experiential resume captures your teen’s experiences rather than jobs. Remember, these experiences tell potential employers about your teen’s work ethic and character. The resume includes: Student’s name Contact information (address, phone number, email) Skills section emphasize teamwork computer skills speaking and writing skills time management skills second languages spoken (check out our interviews with Karim Morato for ideas for learning Spanish, such as 5 Tips for Making Learning Spanish Fun) Experiences Use a bullet-point format and list The experience, contact or location information “Job title”/what they did Dates (nice but not 100% necessary) List of tasks, accomplishments, or interesting experiences Education List the homeschool or umbrella school’s name or simply write “homeschool” and projected graduation year Achievements and awards This section is optional References List two people as references Give their job title or connection to you Add their email and phone number You can decide to simply write, “References provided upon request” Have your teen ask the potential reference if they would be able to be called upon by the “powers that be” Teens should ask permission before listing a person as a reference. Be sure your teen alerts the references to expect a call from the interviewers. Tips: Keep experiential resumes to one page Avoid using the word “I” Use bullet points BTW- 7Sisters Career Exploration textbook contains (note that it includes Successful Experiential Resume Writing): Step by Step Through Career Exploration (providing a basic checklist of steps for you to follow) Career Exploration Questionnaire Career Exploration Workbook (31 pages) Successful Experiential Resume Writing (to create a resume that captures worthwhile experiences BEFORE that first paying job) Successful Cover Letters (a first impression is SO important) Introductory Interview Skills for Teens (a practical and empowering 9-page resource) Writing Your Personal Mission Statement (14 page workbook) Career Exploration in the Bible (a fun look at David, Joseph, Mary…and yourself!) Collected Posts on Career Exploration from 7Sisters’ extensive blog post archive Collected Posts on Financial Literacy (an important part of preparation for adulthood) Click image for full description. For more help with the job hunt, check out this episode of Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Job Hunting Skills for Homeschool High Schoolers. Fun tips about experiential resumes Your teen’s experiential resume is good for more than just a job application! Keep a copy for their portfolio (count it as a writing assignment). Include it as part of your teen’s Career Exploration course (In fact, the Experiential Resume Guide is included in 7Sisters Career Exploration download. For those in states that reimburse for curriculum, 7Sisters has a version of Career Exploration that meets the requirements for reimbursement.) Get your teen busy working on an experiential resume as their first resume for their first job! Note: We could sure use some new reviews on your podcast platform. Please leave stars and a review to help others find us! Also, thanks to Seth Tillman for editing, and thanks to everybody for being here with us! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER Follow this link to our iTunes page. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page. Click SUBSCRIBE. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!) Thanks! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon Tap *Subscribe* Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily. Thanks! The post First Resume for Your Teen’s First Job appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Three Ways to Teach Health in Homeschool High School. Three Ways to Teach Health in Homeschool High School Do you remember Health class when you were in high school? Lots of us had forgettable classes and remembered little once we graduated. However, Health can be a meaningful course for our teens. As homeschooling parents, we can choose the way to teach Health that best fits our teens’ interests and needs…and helps prepare them for healthy adulthood! As you know, most states require one-half or a full credit of Health for high school graduation requirements. There’s not ONE right way to earn that credit! Let’s talk about three ways to teach Health The beauty of homeschooling is that we can pick the right kind of learning process for our teens’ learning styles. Log hours with useful life and health experiences For some teens, the idea of doing Health in a textbook is going make their hair curl. Other teens are so busy with other academics that working in an intense Health credit will be difficult. Hands-on, practical learning might be the best way to earn a Health credit for these high schoolers. Earning the Health credit by logging hours requires a little more work on mom pulling resources together. A few of our 7Sisters’ homeschool high schoolers earned their Health credits in this way. Some activities they logged hours for included: CPR classes Red Cross First Aid classes Co-op cooking and nutrition classes Mindfulness activities at our local umbrella school Videos and YouTubes on the human body and healthy lifestyle Our teens needed a full credit of Health for their homeschool transcript. In our area, a full credit required 180 hours of educational experiences. This number varies by state. You can check HSLDA or your local department of education for your state’s credit requirements. If your teen is earning the credit by logging hours, remember the adage: If it isn’t written down on the log, it didn’t happen! Use a textbook (there are good ones out there!) There are lots of publishers that offer homeschool health curricula. However, when our teens were in high school, those who wanted to use a textbook insisted on a text with no busy work. That’s how 7Sisters’ High School Health for the Whole Person was created. It is a downloadable PDF textbook in a no busy work format. While the textbook covers the scope and sequence for a good Health credit, each chapter is a few pages long. It covers only the material that needs to be covered for that topic: What they need to know How to recognize some issues if there are issues Some ways to take care of their body and mind Interestingly, our teens wanted us to also include more on personal development in their textbook. Thus, the 7Sisters High School Health for the Whole Person has two sections. The first section is the physiological health Then, in the second part of the textbook, we covered mental, emotional, and social health recognizing mood how to live a healthy thought style gratitude self-awareness depression and anxiety ways to, to get help for that or to live a healthy lifestyle to help that feel better friendship skills helping a friend if they are concerned about a friend drugs and alcohol Homeschool high schoolers gain experience as a whole, healthy person: physical, emotional, and social. The text is not Because we are all people of faith, the textbook is written through a Christian worldview. However, it’s not preachy. Also, there are many states that will reimburse for curriculum. If you live in a state that reimburses and want to avail yourself of that, you must follow its guidelines for curriculum. Your curriculum must be non-religious.  That’s why 7Sisters also offers a version of the text that fits the reimbursement requirements: High School Health for the Whole Person (suitable for states that reimburse). Courses for visual learners Many homeschool high schoolers prefer to learn with the help of an online course. You can find live courses at online schools like our friends at FundaFunda Academy (who also bring us the Homeschooling with Technology podcast). 7Sisters offers an asynchronous (self-paced) online course that accompanies the High School Health for the Whole Person textbook. The authors of High School Health for the Whole Person The first part of the book covering the physiological parts of health was created by 7Sister Marilyn Groop, who is a physical therapist. Then, the second half of the text is taught by Vicki Tillman, who is a licensed professional counselor. Remember We are all in this homeschooling thing together. So, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us [email protected], and even better, go to 7SistersHomeschool Facebook Group and share a question with the group. Many of the 7th Sisters (that’s everyone, because YOU are our 7th Sister) will share wisdom and experiences to help. Also, don’t forget our 7 Sisters Homeschool YouTube channel! Thank you to Seth Tillman for editing. Hey, would you leave us some stars and a review to help new homeschool high schooling parents find us? Thanks! Keep Listening How to Homeschool High School When You Don’t Know Everything GPA on the Homeschool Transcript 5 Ways to Earn Credits in Homeschool High School Homeschooling College-Bound Teens First Resume for Your Teen’s First Job Character Development in Homeschool High School How to Start the Homeschool High School Year PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO HSHSP VIA COMPUTER Follow this link to our iTunes page. IMPORTANT STEP: Under our Homeschool Highschool Podcast logo, click on View in iTunes This will take you to iTunes and our own podcast page. Click SUBSCRIBE. Click RATINGS AND REVIEW. (Please take a minute and do this. It helps others find us. Thanks!) Thanks! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE VIA iPHONE Tap the purple Podcast icon on your phone Tap the search icon on the bottom-right of your screen In the search bar type: Homeschool Highschool Podcast Tap the Homeschool Highschool Podcast icon Tap *Subscribe* Please tap *Ratings and Review* and give us some stars and a comment to help others find us more easily. Thanks! The post Three Ways to Teach Health in Homeschool High School appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.