Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool

The Getting Ready 1 alphabet stories and sight words are found in a few different places. We have been having issues with the links on the site, but those can all be found at an alternate site. You can find those links on the main Getting Ready 1 page. I’ve also started putting them up on youtube. It’s a work in progress. I’m sorry for the technical difficulties, but you don’t have to skip any lessons. They are all available. Please find the link you need on the main GR1 page. Thanks for your patience as we sort it out.

It took a lot of six-hour days with early morning and late nights to get this together, but we did it. Thank you to the moms and dad who have helped with various aspects of these courses.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read through everything before you start asking questions. A how-to video will be on the how-to page as well.

Please use this to aid you however you need it. Your homeschool is your homeschool. It’s not like anyone else’s. Make the choices that are best for your children and be happy about it. 🙂 Some families are going to be having their children taking college credit exams and trying to finish college and high school at the same time. Some will be counting helping around the house as a home economics credit. We all have different children and different goals. If we’re not all headed for the same finish line, we don’t all have to be running the same way!

Here it is: Easy Peasy All-in-One HIGH School

The site that plays the alphabet stories and the sight words is down for maintenance. We’ve been using it for a year and a half and never had this problem until recently. However, since they don’t warn us about when they are going to do this or tell us how long it’s going to be, I’m looking into a different options to get those files online.

Thank you for your patience. Hopefully it will be back online today.

I’m planning an August 1st launch of our new high school site. You will find algebra 1, physics, early American history, literature and composition, art appreciation, Spanish 1, and more…

This is just the beginning. New courses will be added each year until it is complete. 

Today I wanted to talk about transcripts, grades and records. On EP’s high school page I posted a sample transcript from Lee Binz and a transcript template I created based on the sample. I also have posted a sample course record.

For every course on your transcript, you should have a record page with the course description, a list of learning materials used for the course, a description of the criteria used for grading. You should also keep a sample of work from that course, which can just be photographs of your children doing what they do. These records are what make your “A” meaningful. (Lee Binz’s samples are sort of extreme. You can go to her site or watch the recordings to hear her perspective. I posted recordings of her transcript and records webinars.)

As I start working on high school, I will be adding grading guidelines. I will use online quizzes, assignments and rubrics to guide you in giving a grade to your children’s work. You don’t have to use those things. You can come up with your own guidelines, but I am trying to create a credible standard for grading. You can see how I am doing this on the English 8 page.

You don’t need tests though, in order to grade your child. I put my daughter’s art apprenticeship on her transcript. I gave her an A. I then created a record for that “course.” I described the apprenticeship, what she did, what she learned, what hours she put in and gave criteria for her grade. I listed that she had artwork sold and had her artwork chosen to represent our city in an exhibition.

Maybe you have an academic course without tests or set grading criteria. Maybe your child just has a topic he wants to learn more about. Describe what he did to research, a list of reading and research materials used, and an explanation for the grade you chose. Maybe something like, “Demonstrated comprehensive knowledge and thorough understanding of the subject through a twenty-minute speech (or a research paper or written essays).” Save the speech or an essay or report with the record as proof.

What about grading some of the alternative course examples from the other day? Community theater: You can give an A for “A hundred percent participation, diligence in learning the materials and successful participation in the production. You can take pictures, save a program and/or get a note from the director.

What about home economics? You can award an A for “successfully completing daily assigned tasks and for meeting each course objective by improving in sewing, cooking….”

I hope you can see that you’ll be able to homeschool high school using traditional courses as well as allowing your children to learn the things they love.