How To - - -

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

March 11, 2016 | 4 Comments
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,

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.

3 Reasons Why You Should Be Reading Homeschool Magazines

March 9, 2016 | 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The homeschool community is tight-knit. Geographical boundaries or cultural differences are transcended when a family mentions they are homeschoolers. For many years, homeschool magazines have played a huge role in helping homeschooling families stick together.

Is Homeschooling Your Hobby?

Today, in sharing 3 reasons why you should be reading homeschool magazines, I want to share about not only why I love homeschool magazines, but why I specifically love Homeschooling Today.

Homeschooling journeys are time specific, but not so with homeschool magazines.

If you have homeschooled for a while and graduated a kid or two like I have, you know how precious short the time is to homeschool and to share personal experiences of your journey through blogs.

Homeschooling magazines don’t necessarily have a short life (that is unless we support them) span. This is a good thing because if you are new, you are encouraged from experiences of the past and are informed about trends of the future.

For example, one year at a booth Kelley and I had, we got to visit with Debbie Strayer, who was one of the original founders of Homeschooling Today and my heart was moved by her passion and love for homeschooling.

We shared some chit chat, but more than that she was willing to share so openly about what kept her going through her homeschool journey for many years.

Sadly, she is gone now, but her daughter keeps the homeschool passion alive through the pages of that magazine. So the homeschooling community moves forward strong as ever as our ideals are passed down to the next generation.

Do not miss precious nuggets of wisdom shared in that magazine from many seasoned homeschoolers from times past. A homeschool magazine, like Homeschooling Today, gives you roots.

Ready to Use Lessons. Love it!

Another perk of Homeschooling Today that I love is that they have ready made lessons.

In the above picture is one ready made lesson you’ll love that just came out in their current magazine.

The lesson is built around beautiful literature and the book in this lesson is about Abe Lincoln. Not only is a book mentioned, but hands-on activities and ideas are given so that you can use them instantly with your kids.

I love the teaching support I have received from them throughout the years. You’ll pine over this section.

Not time specific, but subject specific.

I know you would get hot under the collar if somebody told you that homeschooling is a hobby. It happened to me back when the kids were little and I was shocked and speechless.

Yes, I know hard to imagine me without a word to say, but I realized that a lot of people just don’t understand that homeschooling is a lifestyle.

And because homeschooling is a lifestyle choice, we need help on specific subjects and concerns that might come up in our journey.

Whether we are teaching multiple ages, special needs children or need help on organization, Homeschooling Today gets very specific on teaching tips.

Not all homeschool bloggers can host more experienced homeschoolers or even professionals on their blog, so we need homeschooling magazines, which continue to share very subject specific content.

Get a glimpse of Homeschooling Today by reading some of the up to date articles on their blog.

So not only purchase magazines for your children, but grab some help for yourself too.

I am unabashedly proud to say that homeschool magazines, like Homeschooling Today, not only make me feel like I am part of the global homeschooling community, but revive my homeschooling spirit when I feel it slumping.

Those are just three very short reasons why I love homeschool magazines.

Have you seen Homeschooling Today? You’ll love getting yours in the mail too. (uhmm yes I still love print magazines)

Hugs and love ya,

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.

Mixing It Up: How to Combine Homeschool Approaches (Without Losing Your Mind)

March 7, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Get off the curriculum hunt and get back to understanding just your child. It sounded sane enough and it was because it was my mother’s advice. Today, in mixing it up: how to combine homeschool approaches (without losing your mind) is not about loving or leaving a homeschool approach, but how to combine your favorite ideas from each one.

When You’re Not a Curriculum Expert

It can be painful to make a decision that you thought was the best for your family. It was for me. Not only was it painful to leave my loved classical approach, but it can have you questioning your ability to teach your kids.

Finding balance is not easy and like others, I made some knee jerk decisions about curriculum with my classical approach and then found myself coming back to some of the things I loved about it. Look at my post, How to Use a Boxed Curriculum Without Giving Up Your Homeschool Approach.

Look at these things that I learned and that I hope will help you to avoid the same insane trip I made.

Analyzing a few of these things before I dropped my homeschool approach would have saved me needless stress.

**Forget What Type of Homeschooler You Think You Are.**

I know, we all like to say that we are classical, unit study homeschooler or unschooler or whatever type, but I learned that choosing an approach right away is not what is most important.

What is important is analyzing which parts of a homeschool approach will work for your family.

By labeling yourself right away or identifying right away with a group, you think you may have to follow all of the parts of a particular approach.

That is what I did. Because I wanted strong readers, I felt the only way to do that was with a classical approach.

That brings me to the second point, which is to identify the teaching idea or suggestion that makes you excited about teaching.

Examine EACH part of a Homeschool Approach.

Research in great detail about what you do like about the approach you are drawn to.

Again, I did this wrong. I read in generalities about the different homeschool approaches and then I chose a homeschool approach instead analyzing the pieces first.

It reminds me of a point that Susan Wise Bauer said when teaching reading and that is to teach pieces to whole.

Teaching is much the same when you are trying to determine a starting point. What am I talking about?

Look at these fine points that I wanted to teach though I didn’t know how to bundle them up, so to speak, as a homeschool approach.

Having a love for learning lifelong was important.
Being able to teach not only rigorous academics, but a Biblical view was important.
Having lifelong readers was important.
Hands-on learning is important, especially for wiggly boys.
Learning as much together as we could.

Comparing what is the mainstay points of each homeschool approach with your goals allows you to see the strong points and the not so good points about each approach.

It Only Matters How Your Kids Learn.

Another vital point to mixing homeschool approaches is to read about, become an expert in and learn the best points of each homeschool approach that works for your kids. This was a fantastic point made by my mother.

Again, this is a huge area I made a mistake in. Not only did I overwhelm myself in trying to understand all the approaches, my focus first should of been on how my kids learn.

That is the reason I had to let go of doing classical homeschooling because it is not hands-on focused.

Mix It All Up and Determine Which Approach Has More of Your Checklist.

Then next because you need a starting point for curriculum, one homeschool approach needs to be your dominant approach.

It helps to narrow your focus not only for curriculum, but about following homeschool blogs and reading books that give you tips on how best to teach the homeschool approach you chose.

For example, look at this list below that helped me to see that a unit study approach was a much better choice for my family.

Though reading and history are two favorite luvs of my mine, my goal is to have my sons to introduced to a well rounded list of literature. I know the classical approach is primarily history focus. So I crossed out that part about the classical approach. The unit study approach allowed us to read what we are learning about or our topic and it is a much more better fit for my kids.
When it comes to history, the classical approach about covering history in order makes complete sense to me and my kids. So we followed the classical approach when studying history.
I love the hands-on approach to unschooling because thought it’s not my learning style, most children thrive, including mine, with a large dose of hands-on activities. However, I prefer a much more predictable start and end to my day and do not leave it completely up to my kids (child lead learning) to find out what they want to learn about. We need more organization, but I take the hands-on aspect of this approach.
The relaxed approach of unschooling also appeals to us because it is opposite of my personality. I other words, I don’t leave it up to me to make the complete decision because my teaching style in the beginning tended to be strict and austere. (ugly, I know, but it’s true.) I followed how my boys learned with a relaxed approach and that dictated taking that piece from this approach.
Another concept that appealed to us that I did not find in the classical approach or the unschooling approach was learning until mastery. Unit study is a mastery learning approach. My children could learn until their appetite was satisfied and some subjects have very little review or repeat the next year because of how in depth your child go when learning a topic.

When I learned, albeit the hard way, that mixing a homeschool approach should start first with understanding the way my kids learn best and not what just appealed to me and letting go of my ideal homeschooling (i.e. fantasy), it allowed me to follow my homeschool dreams.

Knowing where to begin is key.

Are you struggling with your homeschool approach?

102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum is one of my favorite resources in helping you to determine learning styles and understanding homeschool approaches.

Hugs and love ya,

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.

Homeschool Co-ops Turned Private Schools

March 5, 2016 | 16 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschool Co-ops Turned Private School @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Newer homeschool families seem to now outnumber those of us that have homeschooled for 10 years or more. That is a good trend.

What is the Offspring of Two Types of School?

However, there is another shift or trend that has gained momentum and that is hybrid homeschool co-ops, which are popping up and growing in popularity. Have homeschool co-ops turned private schools?

Using the term hybrid homeschool co-op reminds me of the fact that homeschool co-ops (if you can call them that now) are taking what has worked for homeschooling for years and morphing them into mini private schools.

Back 10 or more years ago, the line between a homeschool co-op and a mini private school was clearly defined.

Too, it is important that new homeschool families don’t bring with them their ideas of what they think homeschool co-ops should be.

Embracing homeschooling is about valuing the principles of education that have not just worked for years for homeschoolers, but that breeds creative and independent learners. That sets us apart from a public school robot like mentality.

Look at my article, The Great Homeschool Hoax – Public School At Home, which helps to separate the two very different educational approaches.

Are homeschool co-ops really changing because of the times or because more and more families do not understand the roots of homeschool co-ops? Are homeschool co-ops really not for some families because they have only experienced a hybrid homeschool co-op? I don’t know.

What I do know is that there are foundational pegs that are inextricably linked to homeschool co-ops and the successful co-ops may have a bit more guidelines because they can grow quicker, but co-ops never took the place of home.

There are fundamental facts, which are the live blood of any healthy co-op and they are important to understand as the homeschool movement should always improve without compromising the most sacred and essential elements.

Look at these 5 points that are worth taking note of when measuring your homeschool co-op.

1.Enrichment is Essential.

Homeschool co-ops have always been about enrichment, making friends and otherwise learning subjects that may not be easy to learn at home or that may have gotten monotonous. Enrichment looks different for each family.

For example, families that cover the basics or 3 r’s may look for ways to expand how they learn science, art, geography and history with others.

Other families have children that struggle with writing or math and a homeschool co-op class can shore up the weakness of a child.

2.Multi-level vs. Split level classes.

Another negative feature that has cropped up in the last ten years is only offering split level classes.

Not only do split level classes stress a family with multiple children who may want to attend co-op classes, which may be on different days, but it separates siblings.

Homeschool co-ops are flexible enough that as their core group of kids grow older, leaders adjust to suit the needs of teens like preparing them for adulthood, but it has never been the only criteria.

Are the ways of the one room school house to be abandoned now because homeschool co-ops want to group kids by grade level?

3.Model curriculum (or is that one size fits all).

Isn’t a model curriculum used by a homeschool co-op from year to year with the same age group the very reason most of us left a pubic or private school setting?

Why trade what we left behind for a smaller group setting?

Curriculum is suppose to help each child grow at their unique pace and not in sync with a one size fits all mentality.

4.High Cost.

Homeschool co-ops have been an extension of parenting and a community spirit has existed in homeschool co-ops.

They were not a way to add extra income or substitute for a one family income.

However, a lot of homeschool families are a one income family and keeping costs down, but the fun factor high has always been the standard for price setting.

While it can cost for a place to hold the co-op and materials fee exist, and members should rightly pay to cover those expenses, leaders of the past have tried to keep the classes affordable.

5.Small Group Can Equal More Wow.

The other way to measure a co-op is by how large it is. Homeschool co-ops normally grow fast if they are successful and the members’ needs are being met. Word spreads fast among eager homeschoolers.

However, in the beginning, homeschoolers of the past have also joined homeschool co-ops so that their children have friends. Keeping a homeschool co-op small allows kids to have time to make friends.

Parents wanted like-minded friends as well. So big does not necessarily mean better.

Is a co-op trying to grow “chain stores”, uhmmm I meant co-ops, or have parents united together to use their collective experiences to enrich their children?

What is the Purpose of Homeschooling?

When a homeschool co-op steps over to invade the time spent at home, and every class is taught by somebody else, then why are you homeschooling?

Though a small private school can be a fit for some families, a majority of the teaching is taken out of your hands and placed in the hands of a “professional”. That is very opposite of what is homeschooling

Homeschool co-ops should enhance and improve your homeschool journey, but when a homeschool co-op meets 3 and 4 times a week, time at home learning together is diminished.

And lastly, a homeschool co-op should fill a need you have and each co-op should be weighed against that.

If you want to get a bird’s eye view of the differences in how terms are used in the homeschool world look at Homeschool Co-ops, Support Groups and Regional Groups. How Does It All Fit?

Do you find that your homeschool co-op is taking over your homeschool journey and life or enhancing it?

Hugs and love ya,

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.

Add 1004 Blog Subscribers in 26 Days – From Feedblitz to Mad Mimi

March 3, 2016 | 15 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

You know what is better than analyzing blog stats? Learning how to add 1004 blog subscribers in 26 days with almost no cost, but with a rewarding payoff.

Is a Slow Start Really Necessary?

When I first started my blog (2 1/2 years ago), I looked at several newsletter providers or rather I should say email delivery providers. My top four choices at the time were Mad Mimi, Mail Chimp, Feedblitz and Mail Poet.

I chose feedblitz because sending out blog posts with a rss feed “newsletter type” format was not time consuming.

What do I mean by that? I need to explain first about what it means to be clear about your goal when you begin to blog.

The absolute number one goal is awesome content. Time is needed to find your voice and sharpen your focus. Did I mention that takes time?

Mommyhood alone makes finding the time to prepare a well written newsletter that bubbles with your personality and tips that you are burning to share seem like a super human feat.

Add homeschooling to the mix, and you almost feel defeated. I say almost because attitude is everything and a huge dose of patience is key.

What I am saying is that when I first started, Feedblitz allowed me to send a newsletter type of post where I could share all my blog posts without having to take time to add them to my newsletter.

Check a few boxes of what I wanted to send in the feedblitz set up, add my header, and click send was the extent of what I wanted to do at the time. I didn’t have to recreate the blog posts like you do in a newsletter format with Mad Mimi.

In Mam Mimi, you add images and some text or all the text and prepare like a newsletter. Feedblitz used the images you already have on your blog and there is very little to no writing that I had to do.

This is important to understand when choosing how to communicate with your followers in the beginning days of blogging.

I needed time to focus on my blog (and homeschool first) and not prepare a newsletter right away. Getting my content to my followers and growing my list were my goals for the first two years. First things first.

See, I don’t believe that delivering a newsletter (content yes) to your followers is the first goal when you are a beginner blogging. You can’t do that and blog stunning content daily.

Oh, you could, but would it be as snazzy? Probably not.

Feedblitz (and yes it has a huge techie learning curve) had more bells and whistles than the other providers and I started off with their free trial period.

Their price scale for paying for subscribers was nice and slow in the beginning. The best part was that I could pay for a year and get a discount and it locks in the present number of subscribers.

This means that if my subscribers increase and fall into another price bracket before the year is up, I am still paid up and not paying for those extra subscribers.

I could also send newsletters on demand. This means I could communicate with my followers about anything without or without having blogging content.

This allowed me to communicate with my followers in a more personal way when I needed to.

Also, by using feedblitz initially, I could focus on creating products in my shop.

Lesson 1 Learned: When you’re a beginner blogger, use the best email service with the most bells and whistles you can get and not the best newsletter service. You have to focus first on content, your blog goals and product.

However, the time came to move on to the second part of my blogging business goals, which are to increase followers rapidly, make money beyond just paying for blog expenses and sharing tips in my newsletters too.

I don’t want to wait for five years to do that.

Up Your Game

However, being a budget savvy blogger is also important. I noticed how Feedblitz moves up significantly to a huge price bracket when you reach between 500o to 9,999 followers ,which is where I am right now. And having 5K followers is not near like having 10K followers. That is just too wide of a gap to pay one price.

Enter Mad Mimi.

I went back to the newsletter providers I had researched earlier to compare prices now that my subscribers are knocking on 9K.

Knowing now that I had successfully accomplished a huge techie learning curve with Feedblitz, I was ready for Mad Mimi.

My focus now is on sharing creative homeschooling tips in a newsletter while I add my blogging content that is now overflowing.

Did I mention that Mad Mimi is cheaper as well?

Mad Mimi costs $27.00 for 5,000 subscribers and $42.0o dollars for 10,000 subscribers. Feedblitz cost $75.00 for 5,000 to 9,999. See what I had noticed?

Mad Mimi has a price increase that goes up slowly, as it should, as you build your list instead of such a huge range in followers, which costs more with Feedblitz.

Not only that but Mad Mimi is super easy to use, beautiful and very user friendly for both blogger and follower. It makes sending my blog posts and a time worthy newsletter super simple too.

However, the other significant part of using Mad Mimi is that when I started using Mad Mimi, my subscribers have doubled for the day. I have gone from 20+ subscribers each day to 40+ and I am working on tripling them now.

The other thing I am using is the free icegram which I brag about a lot. You can use one of their premade popups or create your own graphic, which I did. Mad Mimi and icegram have made for a great partnership with minimal cost.

Feedblitz just recently got web forms that you can create, but before that the web forms were poor quality. Though it didn’t affect my growing significantly, it did not contribute to it either.

Icegram allows me to show my personality and create a warm invitation to follow me.

Lesson 2 Learned: I trusted my gut instead of going with Mad Mimi, Mail Chip or even Mail Poet (which I like too) in the beginning. It’s important to change when you need to and more importantly your newsletter provider should help you grow rapidly. Too, it doesn’t have to cost a lot to grow your followers if you’re willing to stay flexible. And web forms are important and should be inviting and easy to use for both blogger and subscriber.

Now that I have added 1004 subscribers for the last 26 days and growing substantially each day by now using Mad Mimi, I hope these steps will help you to grow just as fast.

Do you have any questions?

Also, be sure to grab the beginner blog tips at my 5 Days of Homeschool Blogging Basics: Purpose, Plan, Performance, Persistence and Payoff.

I know you will love my Forever Blog Planner that I created much like my 7 Step Homeschool Planner. I know you would love it too because I help you step by step to choose the pages you want in your blog planner and and the best part is that you receive forever updates. Be sure to download the free printable from the planner set.

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Also, check out the must-have book, iBlog Pro, by homeschool bloggers, I am proud to be a co-author.

Hugs and love ya,

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 - - -

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

No-Fail Homeschool High School Tricks

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.

3 Reasons Why You Should Be Reading Homeschool Magazines

Is Homeschooling Your Hobby?