BJU Press Blog

High school is the home stretch and can seem overwhelming, especially if you’re homeschooling. Is homeschooling high school different from homeschooling lower grades? Can you even homeschool high school? Can your homeschooled kids get into college or a good trade school? As these questions, and more, are bouncing around, it might seem easier to send your kids to school. That way, you know they’ll get a good preparation. But depending on your situation, where you live, or your concerns, that might not be an option for you. We’d like to help you start homeschooling high school with confidence.

learn how to start homeschooling high school

Have you ever observed a child who is truly delighted with learning? It’s amazing. You can see the intense concentration. You can hear the joy and excitement. The child isn’t asking for snacks or breaks or fewer math problems. For that magical moment, nothing else matters. That child just wants to learn more. This is the goal that everyone who pursues child-led learning longs for.

You as a homeschooler want that joy-focused learning experience for your child. Maybe that’s why you chose to homeschool in the first place. You may be interested in child-led learning because of its emphasis on child-initiated activities and homeschooling at your own pace. But before you implement child-directed learning in your homeschool, consider its strengths and weaknesses.

Learn about child-led learning

Creating a lesson plan for your homeschool can be a daunting project. If you have multiple children each with multiple subjects to plan, you might find yourself overwhelmed. Homeschool lesson plans do not have to consume all of your time. Homeschool lesson planners are available to automate and simplify the process of filling out your calendar with lessons. Many also find that relying on homeschool curriculum that include detailed homeschool lesson plans makes the planning process much faster. Read on to find out how to create lesson plans for your homeschool. As you make your own lesson plan, start with general overviews and chunk the project into smaller tasks.

[Read more…] about How to Create Homeschool Lesson Plans in 5 Steps (with Examples)

For most homeschoolers, we know that reading is crucial for a successful homeschool experience, but many children may be struggling readers. Reading is a process that begins with letters and sounds, which children learn to spell words and construct sentences. Then it expands to include paragraphs and chapters, which introduces children to all kinds of wonderful stories, facts, and ideas. Lastly, reading culminates in guiding children to explore world after world of information, knowledge, and adventure. If you’re wondering how to help your child to read, increase reading comprehension, and improve reading skills, you’ll often need to go back to the basics—regularly.

Some children grasp reading quickly and can read by the end of kindergarten. For other children, it may take longer for the concepts of reading to click and make sense to them. Most experts agree that children should be able to read by second grade. But this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Most parents agree that children will learn to read when they’re ready to read. If your child is a struggling reader, you’ll need to learn how to make reading fun while you keep reviewing the basics until they’re ready to read. The key for helping children to read is to keep it fun, motivating, and engaging. Check out these tools for making reading fun while also improving reading and comprehension skills.

[Read more…] about 7 Fun Ways to Help a Child Struggling with Reading

With the expense of raising children, does adding on the potential cost of homeschooling give you pause? In addition to the costs of groceries, clothing, medical care, babysitting, the expenses add up fast. If you are considering homeschooling your child, you probably have a lot of questions related to how much homeschooling costs and what the actual cost of homeschooling is. Is it something that your family can afford? How much do materials for homeschooling cost? How do homeschool costs compare to public and private schools? Are there any funds available for homeschoolers? Are there any homeschool tax credits? Let’s look at how much homeschooling costs so that you will have a good idea about how homeschooling might fit into your family budget.

Learn more about homeschooling costs