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Homeschool Teens _ From Teen to Graduation

4 Tips Texas Homeschool Moms Need for New Teen Drivers

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

4 Tips Texas Homeschool Moms Need for New Teen Drivers. @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

(I know this is long, but I have too many details and too much experience to not share with you. Also, remember things can change through the years, but changes are slower when dealing with laws.)

When Mr. Senior 2013 started to drive, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. Oh, for sure the red tape that usually is associated with government offices was all I imagined it to be, but the way I thought my son would respond to driving was not what I thought it would be.

Now, that Mr. Awesome 2015 is learning to drive (although he held off a considerably longer time because we had moved to South America) I have learned a lot about driving.

Too, though you may not live in Texas, some of these things may apply to you and some of my tips may give you a heads up for asking the right questions in your area.

Besides, even from city to city in Texas, things are not the same. Also, not only do I want to share my personal experience, but I want to share some tips of teens who were in our homeschool group, some who are now on their own and even with families.

Look at my 4 tips Texas homeschool moms need for new teen drivers. Okay, I know many more are here than 4, but I don’t want to scare you, but arm you for this can do project.

Each teen is different.

You’re probably thinking, you’re not a kidding. But I promise, I am making a point here that I didn’t fully appreciate until later.

Looking at the teens in our group, a lot of them, like my kids, were homeschooled from the very beginning.

They had a different view of learning to drive and a good part of them just didn’t care if they learned to drive now or later.

Maybe it’s because they have been out in the world mingling for a good amount of time or maybe they viewed it as serious, but we had more teens who were pretty laid back than were waiting with bated breath to start driving.

Not all of the teens felt this way because some had a burning desire to get behind the wheel, but mostly our teens were pretty relaxed about when they got to driving.

The point I’m making is that unless you have a need, a teen can wait until he is even 17 and can still follow the teen track option.

Understand the difference between teen & adult driving options.

Another biggie to understand is that if you delay your teen driving, which is what happened in my case with Mr. Awesome 2015 is that he is now considered an adult. That doesn’t necessarily have negative advantages.

For example, with Mr. Senior 2013 I started off teaching him to drive and he did some work online. However, I was teaching the younger two boys and I had a driving school near me, so I took advantage of the convenience. (More on driving schools in a minute.)

With Mr. Awesome 2015, he is considered an adult and in a way it led to different options. I had more flexibility in some ways.

He didn’t have to take the mandatory classroom time that a teen has to take.

He was eligible to take the one day adult course training course and then apply for his license by doing the written test and driving test.

This doesn’t mean this is what we did because we are interested in him learning to be a safe driver and that comes only with behind the wheel time with another adult (me or his dad) in the car and/or a driving instructor too.

We had several other teens (especially girls) in our group do the same thing, which is to wait until they are considered adults in Texas. We all had the same thing to say about it, which is that it’s a great option too.

Understanding the differences too between a 15 year old and say a 19 year old, who now realizes the seriousness of getting behind the wheel makes teaching them easier.

Not quite as confident as they are when they are 15 years old and “know everything”, it’s actually a joy to teach an older child to drive.

I enjoyed teaching Mr. Senior 2013 driving at 16 years old too, but I am really loving it with Mr. Awesome 2015 who is older.

It’s important to understand the price package differences between a teen track and an adult track if you decide to delay driving.

Though it can be cheaper to teach an adult (in the eyes of the law) how to drive, it’s not necessarily so.

For example, if your teen has had plenty of driving experience around the farm, he may have a pretty good idea how to handle a vehicle.

Since we didn’t live on a farm, I am paying for Mr. Awesome 2015 to have behind the wheel instruction with an instructor. That is in addition to the adult class, which is classroom instruction only.

The beauty of this method is that I can pay as I go and then he can take the road test when he is ready and not wait the 6 months that an underage driver does when he gets a learning permit.

Ignorance Is Bliss! – I Only Wish

Comparing teen programs is a must do to get your moneys worth.

Look at these options to ask about or know about.

  1. What type of reviews does the driving school have? If we had looked at the reviews more carefully of one driving school I chose for Mr. Senior 2013, we would have known about the reputation of one of the instructors who owned a bar. (ugggg) Of course, I had to switch to a different driving school.
  2. How many driving instructors do they have? In other words, the classroom instruction is not hard to get, but when it comes time for your teen to get behind the wheel, is he or she fighting for the attention of 1 instructor or are there 3 or more? It makes a difference when it comes to scheduling drive times.
  3. Can the driving school give both the written part of the test and the driving test? I didn’t have this option with my first kid or should I say that the school was too far for us.
  4. In other cities, driving schools are approved by the DPS (department of public safety) to give the written test AND the road test when the time comes. That is a true help because having stood in line with Mr. Senior 2013 all day to do the written part of the test and then issue his permit, it was stressful. Driving schools where we live now can do the written test there and then you take your teen down to the DPS to stand in line for photo and finger prints only because he has already taken the written part of the test. So convenient! Did I mention taking the road test with a car your teen is use to driving at their driving school and with an instructor they know makes a huge difference. It keeps time dealing with the DPS down to very minimal, which is what you want.
  5. Does the school drop off your teen back at your house after driving practice? This made a huge difference to me when teaching Mr. Senior 2013 because we lived out a ways in the country. It was a nice convenience when I had the other kids to have the school drop him back off at the house. It may seem small, but it was a convenience that I appreciated that I don’t have now in the bigger are I am living in. The school here in the city won’t do that or so they say.

Those are just a few things to help you ask more about the school you may be thinking of.

A few more things to know.

  • There are two parts of the test basically, the written part and the road test.

The written part of the test can be taken by a teen about 3 days after getting classroom instruction.

They are ready to try for the learner’s permit. The written test comes in two parts. One part are road signs and the other questions are general questions like intersections, insurance and driving. They don’t have to do anything written after this. That is only time. After they complete time with you and the instruction, they are ready for the driving test (a.k.a road test) after 6 months.

This is one reason why I switched from online and went to the driving school because the online school we were doing didn’t help to slice between the information needed now to get the permit and the whole classroom instruction he needed to complete the driving school.

With the online driving school, it was like  Mr. Senior 2013 had to study everything before he could take the written test which is what is needed to get the permit. That is just our experience with our online school, they may not all be like that.

  • Read the paperwork.

Don’t go down to DPS asking them if they can take a copy of the birth certificate. When they say original, that is what it means.

But also, know the way around things.

For example, I didn’t use the birth certificate for either one of  my kids. I used the original  Social Security card  and a passport (current of course.)

  • Don’t sign the application until you get to DPS because the application says “don’t sign this part until you’re in front of the notary public or DPS”.

Don’t think DPS is going to highlight it in yellow for you the part where it says don’t sign until you are at the DPS office. You have to read with sharp eyes and ask questions about everything.

There is No Rush – Just Know Which Choice to Make

There are several more details to know, but this is a huge sweeping picture of how to get your teen on the road to driving.

Maybe when I get ready to do it the third time around, I may have it down.

Do you have any questions? Are you in the middle of this now? It’s an exciting time to have your kids driving.

That is all I get I all my grocery shopping done. (okay, okay)

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Also, check out my category How To Homeschool: A Teen to Graduation for more tips in teaching teens.

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


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Linking up @ these places:
Thoughtful Spot|Modest Monday|Homeschool Nook|Monday of Many Blessings|Good Morning Mondays|Mommy Monday|Inspire Me Monday|Practical Mondays|Tuesday Talk|Top-Notch Tuesday|

Starting Homeschool in High School – Is It Too Late?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Starting Homeschool in High School - Is It Too Late @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

It’s not my style to sugar-coat projects. Starting homeschool in high school is hard work, but it is never too late to bring your teen home.

Giving you practical and doable starting points, I hope you’re empowered to see that your child is worth every challenge you have ahead.

Look at these questions that need to be addressed right away so that you know how to move forward.

1. Do You Really Need the Cooperation of Your Teen?

Talk about a touchy subject, but it really has to be addressed first.

What we need to appreciate as parents is that we are influenced by our upbringing like whether or not we had overbearing parents, whether or not we had a choice to go to college and whether or not we were negatively influenced as teens.

Teens are not adults though at times they can make adult like decisions. I have helped new homeschoolers who had teens in school that did get negatively influenced by other teens.

Too, some teens are just plain tired of the grind of public school schedule and know that their time is better used at home where they can dive into what interests them.

Then other teens and parents feel that what is offered at home couldn’t possibly compare to what is offered in public school and are apprehensive about homeschooling, but need a break. I have much to say on this too, but need to save this for another thread so I can keep this manageable for you today.

The point here is: Who is Going to Be in Charge?

The most successful families have been those who guided their teens, but tried to work together with them too.

Never thinking that the teen is elevated to the “third” parent in a situation, but showing yourself as a parent who is interested in the way they learn best allays some of the stress.

Simply put, a teen’s future cannot be completely left up to him and his inexperience. Many times it calls for being the parent and sometimes not so much the friend. However, it never is wise to berate teens or not listen to their needs.

Do Homeschool Benefits Outweigh the Challenges?

Everyone, including teens, wants to be heard. Sensible parents listen to their teens input because it is valuable and you want to be the kind of person your teen respects and listens to, but realize the final decision is made by the parent.

Moving forward, it’s not necessary that you and your teen agree, but it is necessary that he realizes that you will listen to him, but you have the final say.

Besides, there is a reason you brought your teen home, whether it was physical, moral, spiritual or academic.

2. Is it Necessary to Lesson Plan Right Away?

As you can see before you even think academics, your relationship needs to be addressed. However, right behind that, the next weighty thing on your mind is academics.

No fear, you can do this. First, start by getting a copy of your teen’s transcript before you leave public school. It’s less hassle that way, but you can get it afterwards too.

Most public schools want to transfer the transcript to the next school, but just let them know you’re homeschooling and need a copy too as the parent.

After you get the transcript, you will know how many credits your teen has and that is your starting point.

Look here at my helpful article, Homeschool High School–How to Log Hours for High School because in most states, you are the one that determines how many credits your teen needs to complete graduation.

Base the total number of credits needed for graduation on the direction you and your teen chooses.

For example, if your teen is college bound, be sure your teen has enough credits, which are closer to 24 to 26.

If you are looking for your teen to graduate with a high school diploma and looking to start a career, then 19 to 22 may be just fine.

I often say, work backwards to plan. This means start with your end goal in mind, whether college or career and work backwards by deciding the number of credits.

 3. Are All Subjects Equal?

Next, before you choose curriculum or an online school, you need to be clear in your mind as to what subjects your teen needs.

You don’t want to pay for something you don’t need and also, you don’t want to neglect something you should be covering.

For example, if your teen is college bound, he may need one or two more English credits that the college requires. Maybe he needs to take a foreign language. Fill in the rest of the transcript by make a list of what subjects to cover.

If your teen is looking for a career in computers, he may need more computer courses.

Look carefully at the subjects because if your teen is working toward a career, does he really need one more credit in a subject that will be a waste of his time?

I have a few more helps for you, review my articles Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 1, and Homeschool High School The Must Cover Subjects Part 2.

I promise, scrutinizing those 3 questions will kick off your teen’s high school years on the right foot.

With the articles I have here and too by you posting your questions here, I will help you every bit of the way.

Take it slow by taking tiny steps, but know you will be making monumental and meaningful changes that are worth every effort.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

I gotcha covered. Arm yourself with more information.

How Does my High School Homeschooled Kid Get a Diploma If I Do This Myself and
Grab my free High School Planning Form Here.

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

12 Ways for a Homeschooled Teen to Earn Money – A Budding Entrepreneur?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m sharing 12 ways for a homeschooled teen to earn money. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

Long before they are of age to start working, kids want their own money.

And whether they count bricks at a construction site as a kid like my entrepreneur husband did or just want some spending money, kids are looking for creative ways to earn their own bucks.

12 Ways for a Homeschooled Teen to Earn Money – A Budding Entrepreneur @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I am sharing some of the things we have thought of to put some money in kids’ pockets.

Have You Seen My Husbands Book, Entrepreneur Born or Made?

I am so PROUD of him because he created this book as a manual for my boys. I know you’ll love it.

The First Signs of an Entrepreneur

Though, I have always wanted my boys to care for the elderly regardless of whether they got paid or not, there are some elderly people that set aside funds each month to pay for the “little” things like buying groceries or cleaning their house.

So, look at these 12 ways a homeschooled teen can earn money.

My mother in law just recently told me about wanting to find somebody to vacuum her house regularly.

1. Running errands for the elderly.

If we lived closer, we would do it no charge of course, but the thought got the creative juices flowing for my boys.

2. Garage sales.

If you live in a neighborhood that allows you to have garage sales a little more regularly than twice a year, then garage sales are a great way for your kids to help you clear out clutter and for them to earn a few dollars.

3. Pet walking/pet setting.

Pet setting for a friend going on a trip or walking a pet while a friend is at work is a great activity for kids too.

4. Vet office.

Kelley’s daughter started working at a vet office helping out and cleaning after the pets until she worked up to a full working professional.

5. Babysitting.

An oldie, but goodie is babysitting.

Nowadays, they even have free CPR classes and babysitting classes, unlike they did when I babysat.

6. Yardwork.

Most people, not just elderly would like reliable help for their yard at different times of the years.

Even raking leaves is hard work and people will pay to have leaves bagged.

Having all the boys I have, I didn’t realize how easy I have it when something needs to be moved.

7. Moving small furniture or hanging pictures.

They seem to consult with each other about what is the best way to move furniture longer than the actual process of moving a piece of furniture. 

That is okay, however, because they are learning to think of creative ways of moving furniture to make it easier for them.

So that is why I say small pieces or projects to move as they learn safety.

Also, picture hanging and getting on ladders is something teens can do since a lot of women, including myself, don’t like getting on ladders.

8. Washing and detailing cars.

This is also a great way to earn money.

If the teen has supplies, he can “travel” (meaning I don’t mind taking them to where my teens need to go to wash a car), be mobile and bring a personal service to a person.

People are busy and like being at their home and will pay for a washing service to come to them.

9. Washing the outside windows of professional buildings.

My husband has encouraged my boys to create their own business, like he did at their age by washing windows in professional buildings.

There are still many locally owned business today and they may get cleaning services for the inside but maybe not the outside windows.

Making a trip once or twice a month on a regular route to clean outside windows is a great teen business.

The best part is that your teen can make his own hours and do them after school.

It doesn’t matter if nobody is there or not at the business and its probably better because some businesses want cleaning done after hours anyway.

10. Make and sell crafts.

Though my boys are not always the crafty loving type of kids, they see this as a great business for some teens.

Teens can make jewelry or duct tape wallets and sell on line. Look at some ideas for duct tape crafting here.

11. Setting up instagram, email or printers for older folks.

Many folks, like my parents want to see what we are doing by having instagram or need help setting up a printer or even help managing an email account.

Things that are very easy for us and our kids are not so easy for older folks.

What older person wouldn’t like a well-behaved and respectful teen (cute probably too – okay, okay) set up some of these apps for them on their devices?

12. Selling New Products Purchased Freely

Then one more way to make income that I think is very creative is something I learned from a dear friend.

She would save coupons and buy products, like soap or toothpaste with her coupon that were 100% free.

And then turn around and sell those new items in a garage sale or flea market booth.

The garage sale was better and a lot of time, she would find flea market booths that would give her a free booth for a month or two as an introductory offer and she would sell items she got free with her coupons.

Many times, the products were small trial size, but it didn’t matter because she would still make a 100% profit.

I was impressed then and I am still impressed today.

Coupon cutting along with online apps save money in the store.

The best thing is to buy the size where the coupon buys it for free, but a discount works too.. Just show the app on your smart phone and you get a discount.

What ways has your homeschooled teen earn money?

Also, look at these other tips:

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Free Homeschool High School Planning Sheet (and pssst help for high school too)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschooling high school can be a scary time, but I created forms that helped me to successfully graduate two of my children and put some of my fears to rest. Today, in sharing free homeschool high school planning forms, I am sharing a much needed update to that form and sharing a tip or two when planning so that you too can see how easy peazy homeschooling high school can be.

Free Homeschool High School Planning Form @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

No-Fail Homeschool High School Tricks

I used my original high school planning forms found here on STEP 5a of my free 7 Step Homeschool Planner. It saved me countless hours of stress because I could plan.

Try to remember too that planning sheets are just that, a plan and not what will probably end up being the final goals.

Life will affect how you and your teen think, your teen will grow into a young man or lady, complete with very strong feelings of what they want to do and the job market and college scene will change.

However, it is better to plan because it gives you goals to shoot for and I find that putting my plans down in writing cements what we are aiming for.

For this year, I also stuck my editable high school transcript in my planner because it is my blue print of what I am looking for Tiny to do.

By the way, I did that for each year when I had a son reach the high school years.

I would add the transcript and carry the credits from the previous year. Since it’s editable, I updated it and added it to my planner and a few years I wrote my thoughts right on it.

Look at these 3 easy tips to remember too as you kick off the high school years.

  • Though you may start off doing most of the planning, your teen needs to be involved more so now in the planning. It’s not that he will have so much feedback about what to do, but you are training him to see this as his responsibility.
  • Also, remember when you include another person, it means you need to be flexible and not insist on everything you want for high school. You are molding your teen to be a unique individual, not a miniature you. (I know, hard to remember because you are spectacularly awesome and they are part of you, but you want your teen to find their awesome, unique self.)
  • Don’t go overboard and step back from all supervising. There comes a point when you feel like you don’t recognize your child and that is because they look like a grown man or woman walking around in your house. They may be pretty independent by now too. Remember, they are not grown yet and more than ever now needs your supervision more closely.

Focus on the end because it comes faster than you want it to and you’ll be planning an awesome graduation party.  Read my 10 days of How to Plan a Graduation Party.

Grab this updated Homeschool Planning Sheet here and don’t forget to check out my STEP 5a page for the other high school planning pages.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

How to Put Together a Homeschooled High School Writer’s Notebook & Free Resources

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

How to Put Together a Homeschooled High School Writer's Notebook and Free Resources

With two move overseas in the last two years, we have been slowly catching up on subjects. Tiny is still straddling middle and high school, but his writing has been at high school level. Because we had to set up his high school writer’s notebook after our move back, I am sharing it with you today along with some free resources.

WriteShop

I have used many writing courses with my boys through the years and I have genuinely enjoyed each one. One that we really enjoyed which was created by homeschool moms because it worked and made teaching writing easy is WriteShop.

In another post, I will be sharing some things we liked and didn’t like so much about writing programs because today I want to stick to showing you an easy set up for a writer’s notebook.

Really, this set up would work for a middle school kid too.

I. Outside Cover

Notebooks can be made out of anything, like a file folder, composition book or even a binder.



Your teen can design his own cover and coloring is cool now even for adults and young teens, which is why at the bottom, I listed some free and cool looking coloring pages.

I ask Tiny if he wanted to color or design his cover and he rolled his eyes. I took that as a no.

Instead, he found this handsome and dare I say elegant, houndstooth-ish looking Divoga black and gold notebook in late December when we arrived back in the states.

Handsome looking notebook 1

I believe it may have been seasonal, but you can look at this picture below to see the other ones they have.

They are pretty impressive looking if you have a teen boy or girl that wants a more professional look.

And it helps if the binders are on sale because a teen can change their mind often when it comes to expressing their individuality in their writer’s notebook.

II. Superb Writing Tools Equals a Master Writer (okay, well maybe, but it doesn’t hurt)

Next, the pen zipper pouch is important because I make sure Tiny has a variety of pen colors to work with.

When they boys were younger, we used the skip line method when writing so that there is a line to write on under the first draft and to rewrite the next draft or to change a word.

It keeps a child from erasing, which should be completely ruled out in writing, but kids have a hard time  doing that.

WriteShop Junior


If they learn to eradicate erasing when they are young, then as they grow to a teen writer, it helps them to learn the writing process faster because writing is the culmination of many mark ups and deletions.

superb writing tools 2

As the boys get older, they get the choice of whether they want to keep skipping lines and/or use different color pens to identify the different stages of writing like initial draft, revise and final draft.

Tiny likes black ink for writing and red ink for correcting. If it is needs to be completely rewritten as a draft, he can choose another color, like blue or green. I think Tiny keeps the pencil in his zipper as a good measure.

Tiny and I both tend to like the Zebra z grip, medium point.

And Z grip has the other colors too.

He also likes keeping highlighters in his zip pouch because when he has finished his thoughts, he can return later and substitute a more colorful adjective or word. At the time, I encourage him to keep his ideas flowing. He will highlight real quick and keep moving.

He loves the Yoobi highlighters like I do and grabbed mine, but we have been eyeing these mini yoobi highlighters.
A few paper clips  for keeping his pages together and some post it notes and he is set up for referencing his pages the way he wants to.

How to Help Your Teen to Find the Best Words for His Ideas

Next, I keep a heavy duty top loading protector page with fresh paper in it. It is by Wilson Jones.

This just keeps fresh paper in the front and he can easily see when he needs to fill it up again.

Then,  we set our tabs up in a variety of ways.

So we set up some of the tabs the same way, but not all of them. Remember, your teen still needs your help in organizing their notebooks.

III. But It’s the Inside That Matters.

We have five sections and they are:

One| Outlines/Compositions.

This is where Tiny keeps his outlines and drafts. He likes keeping his final compositions at the very end of the notebook. He also likes to keep the model he is working on here under this tab and not under a separate tab.

Two| Structural Models.

At this point, I want you know how important the order of the tabs are because it helps your teen to go through the writing process in a logical order.

For example, some teens like to correct spacing and grammar before they are finished writing their content. This is not only exhausting to do, but can be both stressful and a waste of time when their focus needs to be first on content.

This is an important part in helping a teen organize his thoughts. Your teen needs to understand that before he focuses on the mechanics of writing, he has to clarify his thoughts.

Put models in this section which you want your teen follow.

Three| Style Charts.

Put words or lists here that help improve his technique of writing. We like list of adjectives and adverbs.

Again, these three tabs helps a teen writer to not forget the very basics of writing like having a beginning, middle and an end, that writing using noun and verb is solid writing and wordiness is a waste of good writing.

Four| Banned Words.

Though this section for me could be part of Writing Helps, it is a section that Tiny needs to focus on this year. Keeping it a separate tab reminds him to narrow down his word choice carefully. Banned words, however, could easily fit into the Writing Helps too.

Five| Writing Helps

Tiny needed help with the details of his writing so we named this part Writing Helps. Placing this at the end of the notebook he is reminded that punctuation and grammar helps can now be focused on after he has made his choice of ideas.

That is the strength of making each writer’s notebook to fit their unique and immediate needs.

Because we have had many interruptions with our writing, I need to be sure that he has some of the basics like parts of speech that he learned in his younger years.

In addition, he needs to expand the way he connects thoughts so I have printed off a transitional words list.

parts of speech 3

Instead of constantly reminding him about them, it is his job now to check his work for that.

These helpful sheets that are free and that I list at the bottom are nifty for shoring up any weakness of a teen writer.

Free Homeschool Writing Helps

This is just an awesome site. I have referred to it often throughout the years. It has a number of free printables and helps for kids ages 3 to 13, but I think some of them can be used as a reference for older kids too.

Then I love this site because we have used some of her printables and they are especially for teen writers. I like the story brainstorming questions and it helped my boys to hone some of their thoughts.

A plethora of free helps and downloads here. I like the 475 Writing Prompts (be aware I have not read all of them, but a lot of them) and the templates for printing.

If you want to make your own notebook, your child can color a picture for the front of their notebook and glue it on a composition notebook or print the character sketch template.

Check out the wonderful graphic organizers and journal topics.

Then this site has been around for years and I have used it at various stages of my boys’ writing to help them visualize and organize their thoughts. It works fine for an older student too and especially if they are a visual learning.

The Worksheet Place, under the category Writing Worksheets, also has very helpful sheets. Under persuasive worksheets is where I found the transitional words worksheet, which I printed off for Tiny.

As I mentioned before, each one of my sons had things they struggled with or needed help remembering. I want their notebooks to be a place that not only helps creative thought processes flow, but to be especially helpful.

A writer’s notebook should reflect each writer’s personality and making the notebook feel personal helps.

The grading process stays with me, but as Mr. Senior 2013 did more writing he wanted to see how the paper was graded and so I added helpful rubrics for writing to his notebook. You can grab them here.

Right now, Tiny is not interested in that as he is beginning high school and he has different goals for this year.

Does this give you a good starting point for your homeschooled teen writers’ notebook?

You’ll love these other helpful tips:

What else do you like to include?

Hugs and love ya,