Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

homeschoolhighschool

7 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips that May Change Your Perspective

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

Virtual homeschool field trips were almost unheard of when I started planning field trips for our group of over 100 homeschool families. And I don’t think virtual field trips will ever replace the homeschool spirit and camaraderie we experience when we’re together. However, having experienced many unique circumstances and problems with field trips through my 19 years of homeschooling, I couldn’t wait to try FieldTripZoom for virtual field trips.

7 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips that May Change Your Perspective @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I was given FieldTripZoom free and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Not every product will get a positive review. Too, because I carefully sort through numerous offers for reviews,  it means I’m giddy about the product when I do accept it. Read my full disclosure here.

Using FieldTripZoom for many weeks I am tickled to share with you seven benefits of virtual field trips that may change your perspective.

1. When you homeschool an only.

Beginning to homeschool my first son, then homeschooling all of my kids and now back to homeschooling one child has been a huge adjustment for us. Experiencing a virtual field trip has allowed my only child to participate in activities without having to join another homeschool group.

I don’t feel like he is missing out on enriching field trips that his older brothers participated in.

2. When you have many young children.

A common problem when I planned was to be sure the local field trip location had a place to push a stroller. Sometimes that would eliminate places we could go to because they were not stroller friendly.

A mom, which has several young children couldn’t go unless she brought help. FieldTripZoom has virtual field trips for all ages. No need to pack those huge double strollers.

Gathering the kids around your laptop or desktop, which I recommend because the screen is normally bigger is not only a great break for mom, but it spares your sanity.

Virtual Field Trips – Mediocre to Memorable

3. When you have to be budget conscious. Who doesn’t have to be nowadays?

The next problem I experienced with our monthly field trips was the different budgets among the families.

A mom of an only child versus a mom that had multiple children obviously were looking at different dollar totals by the time they paid admission fee, gas and maybe lunch.

Paying a yearly fee of $49.95 per household as an “all inclusive” and without any limits on how many interactive programs you can watch is a huge advantage.

4. When you have middle and high school teens. The fun shouldn’t stop.

After our kids got older, they wanted field trips that were not babyish and rightly so. I love the fact that with 100s of live streaming events, it is up to my son to decide which level he is interested in viewing.

Some science topics he wanted to view the lower level because there were more hands-on things to view.

With other subjects like the American Civil War, he viewed the high school level because he was more interested in higher level topics.

Without any restrictions, he could have even choose to watch more than one level on one topic on the same day because they are at different times.

5. When you can see artifacts and talk to a specialist in person.

Oh sure they are lots of free virtual field trips, but there is a reason they are free.

However, if you want a guided tour, view artifacts like you would when you pay for a guided tour at a museum, be able to ask questions to the presenter or make comments like my son did, you’ll be delighted with FieldTripZoom.

FieldTripZoom has a huge edge because they are live. No, not prerecorded. There is a chat box to chat or to ask a question to the presenter. All of this made it more like an interactive classroom instead of just watching a free video.

More Homeschool Field Trips Resources

Worthy of mention too is that your children can see an animal or artifacts up close without a lot of other kids crowding yours out of the way.

6. When you go to places from your home that you may not otherwise ever go to.

When I was in school, I could only read about places in other states. It’s the same problem when planning local field trips. You’re limited to local places or distances that families in your group are willing to drive to.

The Best Kind of Field Trips – No Planning!

On our virtual field trips we have learned about the giant Pacific octopus of Alaska, visited Virginia for Native American month and then on to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum to name just a few of the places. At the bottom, I will list more places we plan on going this year.

7. Weak subjects can be reinforced or delved into deeper.

We are especially finding FieldTripZoom helpful to cover some topics Tiny struggles with and with some he wants to delve into deeper. With content partners from museums,  science centers, historical sites, zoos, a literary group and performing arts to name a few, we are stoked about setting our schedule for the rest of the year,

I didn’t forget to list a few of the upcoming programs we are eye balling and there are a lot of other programs in between these dates like wildlife week, astronomy week, DNA week and Holocaust week.

Nov 21 & 22, 2016 – The Comanche Code Talkers and D-Day
Dec 14, 2016 -Exploring the Scientific Method and the Wright Brothers First Flight
Jan 9, 2017 – Journey to the Center of the Earth

Virtual field trips are a way to bring the world up close for your children all from the comfort of your living room or dining room table.

I don’t have to choose either a field trip to a local location or a virtual field trip, we can have both.

Oh the Places You’ll Go! (okay, okay couldn’t resist that by Dr. Seuss).

Also, grab my free homeschool journal pages to use as you explore new places with FieldTripZoom!

Field Trip Journal 1
updated products facts at a glance

Product Name: FieldTripZoom
Website: FieldTripZoom Zone Homeschool
About the product: We provide our Homeschool customers access to unique, live educational content created and delivered by a rapidly expanding community of leading museums, science centers, historical sites, zoos, aquariums, literary groups, wellness centers, arts and performing arts organizations
Grades: K-2nd  3rd-5th  6th-9th  HighSchool
Formats: All you need is internet access and a device. Gather the kids around because no fancy equipment is needed.

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

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

14 Fun and (maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives

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

,
Choosing homeschool high school electives are a fun part of your teen’s journey or at least it should be. Also, look at my page How to Homeschool High School for more tips!

Beyond the core homeschool subjects, electives allow a teen to pursue his passion.

When this time came for my oldest two, I tried to stay out of the process, but I didn’t realize that my boys actually welcomed my input.

Maybe some of this comes from my homeschooling them from the beginning.

They don’t really mind discussing things with me, but I want them to have the final say in what they chose to study.

14 Fun (and maybe Frugal) Homeschool High School Electives @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Keep in mind this part of high school is about discovery, exploring and maybe creating.

Each teen will view this time in high school differently depending on their goals.

14 Homeschool Electives

Some teens are more sports-minded, some academic-minded and yet others may be music and art-minded.

I’ve learned a lot about what I consider to be an elective and I’ve learned that you don’t have to spend a whole lot if you don’t want to.

Keep in mind though, this is high school and that means books do cost more.

So when I think about the cost of something, I think in terms of what value we get in return.

For example, if we pay and only get high school credit that is not necessarily a good deal to me.

However, if we pay for something and get some sort of certificate in addition to high school credit, then I’m all in.

The whole realm of what could be studied and discovered can be anything from art and automobile repair to woodworking and pre-med study.

Look at some of these options.

1 and 2. Home Repair and Maintenance & Woodworking.

My first son started off with Home Repair and Maintenance but switched to Beginning Woodworking.

High School Electives

Though I felt Home Repair and Maintenance was of much more value, this is again about my son choosing things that he thought interested him at the time.

3. Fine arts includes Ballroom Dancing. At the time it came to choose, my older two sons wanted to do some kind of sports, but we didn’t really have any homeschool sports group that were close.

I couldn’t do another hour of driving at the time.

What we did have close was an Arthur Murray studios for ballroom dancing. This is one of those things that I viewed as a two-pher.

The boys wanted to be with other teens and I wanted them to explore more fine arts.

At first, my boys said absolutely NO to ballroom dancing, but the Mr. got involved and told them to try it out.

After two lessons with hip young instructors and with other cool homeschool teens their ages, all of my boys took ballroom dancing for a few years.

I think they toned their bodies and learned a beautiful art more than they would have if they played sports and they also now agree.

4. Local programs assigning a certificate.

When my niece lived with us and was thinking about going into the medical field, I learned a lot about certificate programs.

For example, there are different levels of CPR training and it normally is offered to anybody as long as they can perform the duties.

This is one of those things I feel is not only practical to learn, but it gave her a glimpse of what it’s like if she decided to pursue something in the medical field.

Electives for Homeshooled Teens

Do you know how many certificate programs there are in every field?

Dozens as I began my search. It just takes some digging because it may or may not have a minimum age requirement. 

Also, it gives a teen has a completed certificate of completion in maybe a vocational field and a teen gets a taste of what a particular field is like. At this age, it is about exploring career options too.

5. Apprenticeship for photography.

My other niece was interested in photography and was offered to work with a local professional while learning photography.

Again, because she was going to get paid while learning a craft, this is an excellent choice for a teen. They are always looking for ways to make put some money in their pocket. This is a super two-fer and frugal.

6. Check out the local pool.

Though I wasn’t interested in my boys working at the local city pool, they are good swimmers and love the water.

Today some schools gives PE credit for working as a lifeguard, but this is certainly a doable option for a teen if he or she loved the water.

7. Weightlifting.

Yes, I know, but I have all boys and I really do love the fact that studying health, about the muscles and the body can be included in this and I did.

I didn’t really follow a course for my first son, but we did convert the garage to a weight room.

8. Create and collaborate with others for a group yearbook.

When I was with one group, they determined to do a yearbook to showcase our group’s activities for the year.

The high school teens would be the ones heading it up. If a student was interested in journalism, creative writing or art it gave them a way to use their talents.

Not only did the teens get credit for the year, but we got a unique yearbook.

I liked the fact that the teens had to follow up with homeschool moms to get information and work together to incorporate their ideas.

Electives for Teens

9. Choir.

One group that lived near us had a homeschool choir group. I had one son interested in taking choir, but it had a few too many girls for his taste. I wished it had a few other boys his age, but it was a great option.

10, 11. Foreign Language & Sign Language too.

Though foreign language courses can be costly, my boys got to use some of their Spanish when we went South America.

This is another example of how I don’t mind paying a bit more for this elective because it’s a great return in not only learning the syntax of a language, but it’s so practical as they travel.

12. Geography and history Unit study.

One of my sons also did a half of a semester learning about the country of Turkey.

Like his mom, he loves history and geography and not only did he read about it, but he learned about the culture, background, people, art and food. It was fun for him to share with our homeschool group what he learned.

13. Travel.

Yes, we intentionally moved to South America for a year and half so that my second son could receive credit for traveling and exploring other cultures.

Exploring the Amazon and trekking through mountains is the way my second son rolls.

Build Your Own Unique Homeschool High School Electives

So maybe this idea isn’t so frugal, but it sure was fantastic and he won’t easily forget what he and his brothers learned through their guided science tours in the Amazon.

Don’t forget that . .
(14.) Driver’s Education can be counted as an elective and it’s another two-pher when your kid takes this.

Most teens are ready to drive and I am here to testify that having a couple of chauffeurs in the family rocks.

My grocery shopping time has never been the  same because I rarely have to do it.

More Homeschool High School Teen Elective Resources

These are a few of the homeschool high school electives we have chosen so far. There really is no limit on the topics that your teen can choose.

Instead of focusing on the fear of how to count the hours and credit, focus on what your teen wants to learn because any topic or theme is readily available for your teen to explore.

Grab some other tips 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.

Linking up @ these awesome places:

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

| 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m showing you how to grade a homeschool unit study for an older child. Also, look at my free Homeschool Planner page for more forms.

I didn’t choose to do homeschool unit studies because I felt I was creative or liked flying by the seat of pants.

What I do like about homeschool unit studies is the unbridled time for learning topics that interests my kids. Later on I would learn that is called mastery learning.

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

Choosing to move away from laid out curriculum to mastery learning can bring a unique set of challenges for an older child.

And doing homeschool unit studies, with an older child looks very different than the themed learning I did with my boys in prek and Kindergarten. That is another topic to tell you about.

Today, I am sharing with you what I have been working on for several months; it is a unit study assessment for an older child and it works for high school too.

Grade a Homeschool Unit Study

I wished I have done it sooner, but you know I’m always slow about my homeschool forms because I need them to work.

It took me a while to wrap my mind around how to do an assessment as I was writing my notes for my older two sons.

The bottom line is that I won’t give up our passion for mastery learning so that I can put grades on a transcript.

However, knowing in high school, that you do need more conformity, I created my own unique assessment.

Now with son number three, I have been able to put on one page what I’m looking for when doing a unit study with an older child, even a high school teen.

Let’s just face it, too. There is a lot out there for younger kids, but not a lot of specifics for older kids.

And because I deal in specifics and know generalities won’t help you or me either one, I prepared a detailed unit study assessment.

3 Smart Tips for Assessing Work for an Older Student

I will share the specifics about the assessment in a minute, but look at these other ways to record keep, grade and assess.

  • Keep in mind this is mastery learning or project-oriented type of learning. Think about assessing each part of the unit study using general marks like Distinguished, Satisfactory and Fair. Don’t get hung up on grades during the year because you can still assess one at the end of the year or unit study.
  • When it comes to language arts use a simple column method. I listed books and other sources my kids read, topics they wrote about and things they learned in grammar. Those things fall easily under the category of English in high school. I gave an assessment on those areas like Distinguished, Satisfactory and Fair when I graded them, but on the transcript I made them an A or B. We followed different writing programs through the years and I used the concepts they were teaching, but took the topics from the current unit study. Having a few teacher’s notes from the writing program gave me guidance on grading their writing, but I didn’t let it consume me.
  • Also,I wrote down the subtopics we studied. Even though we don’t have to record keep in Texas, I wanted to keep them for high school. However, if you’re in a an area that requires record keeping, then writing down what you have done is a perfectly acceptable way to show progress.

Another reason to record keep is that normally an older child needs feedback. I wanted my sons to know what I thought of their work.

It’s not only important to self-evaluate for an older child, but they need to learn how to handle feedback from me. This is part of adult life when others evaluate you.

unit-study-general-assessment-high-school-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

About this DETAILED Unit Study Assessment

Look at how I created this unit study assessment, which can be used for an older child or high school.

  • It is a general evaluation of mastery.
  • Because there is no way I could cover every objective I have on my unit study unless I prepared an assessment for each one, I wanted one assessment that was unique. It is not about all grades and no benchmarks and vice versa. It has both a grade and assessments like I mentioned earlier.
  • I took each subject and highlighted two general benchmarks that I’m looking for at the high school level.
  • Also, unlike high school assessments, I created part of this assessment like a vocation adult mastery class because unit studies are about mastery. It’s important to treat my older children like they will be in the adult world of college and career. Each part of the assessment does not fit perfectly into a canned grading system. I’m not looking to fit each benchmark in my unit studies, but to have a general rule of thumb when grading.
  • The first section is the most important part to me because it deals with motivation and attitude, which are of more value to me.
  • The rest of the sections are about aptitude because there has to be some way to grade or assess older kids in each subject.
  • The last section is also of value to me because it is the very heart of mastery learning, which are projects. Projects are really self-evaluations for students because they demonstrate what they know and students will pick projects that fit their learning style.
  • Lastly, I can assign a grade at the very bottom if I need to. By not putting a grading scale, you can use your own.
How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

DETAILED Unit Study Assessment

Creating something unique that is both a mastery learning assessment and a grading system, I am excited to put this to good use.

Also, I love it because it makes a great add to my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

Ultimate Unit Study Planner Store @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 600x

I think it’s true when they say three times is a charm because with my third highschooler, I now have a super unique way to assess his efforts.

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus Blog

How to Get the Free Printable

Now, how to grab the free printable. It is a subscriber freebie.

When you sign up to follow me, you get access to this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.
2) Grab the printable.
3) Last, look for my emails in your inbox as a follower. Glad to have you.

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.

Starting Homeschool in High School – Is It Too Late?

| 5 Comments
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.

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

| 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,

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.