A Christmas Literature Evening

        We will republish this blog post yearly.....because we are a literature-based blog.......and because this is such a fine idea......fun idea.......we want to inspire you to start this tradition in your home, in your life.  If you cannot do it, maybe encourage a friend....or work with a friend or a group to make it happen.  Another way to keep celebrating the Christmas season.....after Christmas Day.  Posting this early in December can give you time to make your plan, get it on the calendar and invite your guests.  Please let us know if you do it!  You can even just do it in your own family.

Christmas Literature Evening…….

 What fun we could have, my literature-loving friends, if we could all gather together! In my dreams!

     I guess if I cannot have you all here with me, I will invite you to begin this tradition in your own home.  If you DO take me up on this invitation, please share!

     I like to send an email invitation out to my local friends sometime in early December, so they can save the date.  The date always falls in the first week of the Christmas season.  It usually is on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which I find appropriate considering the room is often full of young people. I find it a nice way to commemorate the feast. 

The official invitation:

Dear Friends,

       The Bryans of Our Hearts' Haven would like to invite you to an old-fashioned get-together. We would like to celebrate Christmas Through Literature.

        Please join us on December 28th, 2013, from 6:30-9:30pm, for an evening of literature with a Christmas theme. Come hear or read aloud your favorite stories, and enjoy new ones, too. Look forward to The Little Match Girl, The Gift of the Magi, The Other Wise Man, and authors such as JRR Tolkien, Hans Christian Anderson, Beatrix Potter & Truman Capote. We have stories, poetry, and Christmas Mad-Libs as well as tea & cake.

       Enjoy an evening like folks used to do. The evening will be held at our home: Our Hearts’ Haven. Please call ***-**** for directions, if you need them, or for more information.

       Please feel free to listen only, or take a turn at reading aloud. If you would like to read aloud, and/or have a favorite story to choose, let us know so we can put it on the literature list.  Feel free to bring something quiet to do during the reading: knitting, crocheting, mending, drawing.....

      Please email me as soon as you know, yea or nay, so we can know our numbers.  Folks deciding to come last minute will be welcomed. :)....though let us know, if you can, that you need to decide last minute. Please email your response, if you can. If you can only come for part of the time, please still come.

       Due to the nature of the evening, we would like to keep this for ages 10 years to 100 years. Eight or nine year olds who can be quiet and still and really want to come, will be considered. Give us a call.

       We hope to make this the first of several literature evenings in the new year, focusing either on a specific author, or theme.

     In the meantime,

     Advent & Christmas Blessings to you and yours this season as we celebrate the Birth of Our Savior.

                       ~~~the Bryans

     We usually have between 12 and 20 people with ages from 7 years to.......well, my age.

     When folks arrive, they are welcomed into a room with a cozy fire blazing, a Christmas tree brightly and prettily lit, and candles at various spots in the house.  I have a lovely seasonal scent melted in the Scentsy, a gift from my little sister.

     I have the books for reading displayed in a basket.  I have Christmas art books within easy reach displayed on a table for perusing.  I have Kapla blocks set out on the side of the room for any youngsters.  I inform them that they must play quietly or the blocks must be put away.  Or, they will be put away.  : )

     I always begin with the The Nativity:  From the Gospels of Matthew & Luke as it has museum-quality artwork, and especially, because it reminds us to focus on the reason for the season.

     We read for about an hour or so, with variety: short stories and poems: serious, sentimental and humorous.  I read a poem or two in between each short story or book excerpt.  After I read at least one story and a couple of poems, I ask others in the room if they brought anything to share and encourage them to do so.  I also ask for volunteers and give them something to read.  There usually are only a handful of people willing to read.  We then follow this hour with a lively round of Christmas Mad Libs.  After a twenty minute break for treats and beverages.........we gather again for about an hour more of read alouds….followed by a last round of the Mad Libs.

     The evening ends with visiting and chatting……..and goodbye hugs.

     I have here below, the list of books that I created for the first year from my own resources, as well as from our local library.  As I researched, I tried to focus on famous stories or stories from famous and familiar authors.  I put “own” if I have it in my own library or “L” if it came from the library.  Collecting Christmas anthologies from the libraries are a great resource for short stories. The underlined words are the actual titles. You can find a copy of this list in Google Docs for easy printing (link will be provided as soon as google docs and I figure out how to get along......grrrrrr). I have provided links below to stories available online. Great resources!

CHRISTMAS THROUGH LITERATURE

The Nativity:  From the Gospels of Matthew & Luke-own
(read first)  (link)

The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien-L

1.     Read Intro

2.     Share drawings

3.     Read first three letters

4.     Read letter of 1938

5.     Read last letter.

6.     Pass book around.

The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke-own

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, Illustrated by Beth Peck-own

The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Anderson, illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert-own

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry-Own

The Little Juggler by Barbara Clooney-own

The Huron Carol by Father Jean de Brebeuf, Iullstrated by Frances Tyrrell-own (link)

Little House Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder-own
Little House in the Big Woods-pg 59 Chapter 4, Christmas
Little House on the Prairie-pg 238 Chapter 19, Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus
On the Banks of Plum Creek-pg 80 Chapter 12 The Christmas Horses & Chapter 13 Merry Christmas


Christmas Anthologies

The Christmas Story Book published by The Neumann Press
The Goblins and the Sexton by Charles Dickens-pg 51-64

The Reader Digest’s Book of Christmas-L
Amahl & the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti-a dramatization-pg 210-217
Susie’s Letter From Santa by Mark Twain-pg 103-104
A Christmas Alphabet by Marion Conger-pg 241-243
Christmas Meditation of a Young Student (Pope John XXIII)-pg 275-276
(read last)

Merry Christmas to You-own
Christmas in the Woods by Beatrix Potter from pg 55-56

Treasury of Christmas Stories by Ann McGovern
The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe-pg 64

The Christmas Eve Reader:  Selections from A Christmas Feast by Charlton & Gilson
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson

A Christmas Treasury by Jack Newcombe-L
Poems:
Little Tree by e.e. cummings-pg 97-98
The Oxen by Thomas Hardy-pg 179
On Lending a Punch Bowl by Oliver Wendell Holmes-pg 216-217
The Burning Babe by Robert Southwell-pg 413
Christmas at Sea by Robert Louis Stevenson-pg 414-415
The Magi by William Butler Yeats-pg 472

Stories:
Christmas Eve by Washington Irving-pg 223-233
A Hint for Next Christmas by A.A. Milne-pg 292-293
The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potterpg-369-376
Christmas by Eleanor Roosevelt-pg 382-389
A Winter Walk by Henry David Thoreau-pg 455-457
Christmas at Claremont:  Queen Victoria’s Journal-pg 463-464

Other pages: 14, 17, 32, 47, 91, 100, 120, 137, 141, 163, 166,179, 180, 183, 189, 196, 236, 239, 277, 294, 302, 315, 369, 438, 440

Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book: Carols, stories, Poems, Recollections by Molly Rockwell-L
Poems:
Hamlet, Act I, Scene I-pg 20
That Holy Thing by George MacDonald-pg 24
On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity by John Milton-pg 26-28
Christmas Trees by Robert Frost-pg158-159
A Visit from Saint Nicholas by Clement C. Moore-pg 166-167
Christmas Greeting from a Fairy to a Child by Lewis Carroll-pg 169
The Boy Who Laughed at Santa Claus by Ogden Nash-pg 174-176

Stories:
The Miraculous Staircase by Arthur Gordon-pg 54-57
A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True by Louisa May Alcott-pg 97-106
Christmas This Year by Booth Tarkington-pg 206

Christmas in the Stable:  Poems Selected & Illustrated by Beverly K. Duncan-own
Midnight in Bonnie’s Stall by Siddie Joe Johnson-pg 9
The Barn-pg 14-15
The Stork-pg 22-23
The Canticle of the Bees-pg 26-27

The Real St. Nicholas: Tales of Generosity & Hope From Around the World by Louise Carus
Pages:  17, 117, 137, 173

ART RESOURCES:

Born is He, the Child Divine: Images of the Christ Child in Art by Amy Gelber-own

Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book: Carols, stories, Poems, Recollections by Molly Rockwell-L

A Treasure of Christmas Religious Art, an Ideals Publication-own

The Pageantry of Christmas, A LIFE Book of Christmas-Volume Two-own

Other Resources:

Christmas Carol Mad-Libs-own
-----Christmas Fun Mad-Libs
-----Christmas Carol Mad-Libs
-----Ho-Ho-Ho Mad-Libs

(We never write in our Mad-Lib books…..we use another piece of a paper to extend the life of the book.)

Stories avaliable online:

Free Christmas Short Stories 

Best Christmas Stories

Christmas Short Stories

     Please know that your crowd could be as small as only two people or large as large as you can hold in your space.  Keep things simple.  One beverage and one dessert is all that is needed.  Use the books that you own…..borrow from the library or from friends. 

     Do realize that sometimes your guests will look a little drowsy or bored.  That is normal for anyone listening to an hour of read aloud.  Just be encouraging, provide that variety as well as the Mad-Libs and give them a break with goodies.  They will survive and remember the good memory of being together.

     Have a relaxed and enjoyable evening, in the olde, fashioned way.


Advent Blessings,

       Chari

P.S.  Here is a little gift for you: Play Mad-Libs online!

It's a Mad Libs World

What My HIgh Schooler is Doing

Now for my high schooler.    My plans for him are here.   Remarkably, they've hardly altered at all -- at least the basic texts.   This seems to be a consistent thread with all of them this year -- I have only altered my plans slightly!   What's up with that, I wonder?

The main thing I don't think I wrote there is that I have a Guided Reading program for him that to me kind of fills out the sparse places in a textbook-driven curriculum.    Right now he is reading, in addition to the textbooks:

• That Hideous Strength (the last book in CS Lewis' Space Trilogy -- he's finished the rest)
• Firepower through Confirmation by Fr Albert Shamon (he was confirmed about 8 years ago so I want him to review what it means)
• Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?   The start of an economics semester-credit which he needs to graduate in California.   This is more of a middle-school resource, folks, but I have more age-level resources waiting in the wings.  
• The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry.

I figure out what to give him just based on browsing through my bookshelf where during the summer I put everything I thought might be good reading material for him this year.   

I think there is one more book I m forgetting about.   When he finishes one I add another.  They are basically just books I want him to read for one reason or another -- so there is no super-formal plan.  I can use Guided Reading to supplement a certain subject (as I am doing with Chemistry) or just to bring in another field altogether in an informal way (as with economics in Penny Candy).   It works really well for us.

He breaks his day up into two parts, one where he reads, and one where he works at Henle Latin, Life of Fred, and Apologia Chemistry.   Before I got sick I would tutor him in those subjects in the evening, and then he would do follow-up work by himself the next day.   Now I know I won't be able to focus for a while, so I handed Latin and Math over to him completely, and we've dropped Chemistry for a while, because that was at the very edge of his comprehension zone.  

 THAT'S the one I was forgetting.  I added "Exploring the World of Chemistry" -- a middle school level history of chemistry by John Tiner -- as a kind of placeholder for him to read while I'm off duty.

Oh, I forgot.  Discussion is an important part of the curriculum, so we discuss frequently, not just one book, but a combination of things.   He will apply the Morality book to something in real life or that he watched in a movie, or tell me about an aspect of the Space Trilogy that captured his imagination.  It is not narration precisely but I suppose it is an older cousin of it.   I suppose it is a bit like Mortimer Adler's synoptic reading.   Anyway, it is something I look for in my kids as a sign the homeschool is basically flourishing, so I am glad to see it.

I also made him a weekly checklist.   Before that I was writing them out by hand daily, which was fine, but a little redundant.

The main change I want to make with him is to get him started on a writing program.  He writes stories  and draws on his own but I really want him to make a bit of progress in the progymnasmata before he leaves home.   We worked at it with all three of the older kids, though we never got to the end of the exercises, and they have good memories of it.  It wasn't the core of their writing curriculum, since they all wrote stories and blogs and things, but it was a nice way to teach some concepts you might not pick up just by writing on your own.  

Plans for My High Schooler

OHere is  my high schooler's box of books.     I'll go through them in detail below.  I basically went for structure and ease of use.  My main goal is to work on college-prep study habits, so we are doing a lot of answering the actual questions in the textbooks, which in the past we haven't done so much. 

This is an artistic, thoughtful type of kid with a great sense of humor who likes to draw, write stories and talk about moral philosophy.  Oh yes, and bake cookies, and he can fix almost any computer problem that comes up.  But he doesn't particularly like to do hard, tedious things, so I am still pretty involved in planning out and following through on his courses.       

 

Didache Moral Life in Christ

 

Life of Fred Beginning Algebra

This is for an algebra review/refresher during the summer.    The kid developed a strong math aversion during the year we used K12.     California was pushing algebra for 8th graders and the book K12 used at the time was just not a good presentation -- it was more like a dumbed-down Algebra II, extremely confusing even for me, and I still remember all my high school algebra.

This is also for review.    I've used this quite a bit as you can see from the cover falling off.   Presently he is doing the chapter on Geometry.   We do a unit in Fred then a couple of sections of Geometry. 

Henle Latin. 

Another time-tested resource for my family.   We've used it 5 times to some degree or another.  
I am using Memoria Press for the syllabus and supplemental quizzes and tests.  

Exploring Creation with Chemistry

I always say I will not use Apologia, then I do it again.   The reason is that the presentation of this book is clear and readable and the format is homeschool-friendly, and since Liam used it and turned out fine in regard to college science, it seems to do what is necessary.  

History of the United States, Boorstin and Kelley

I found this at a thrift store for a dollar and liked the look and Daniel Boorstin is one of the authors.   Quite readable.  

Modern Literature:  Kolbe Academy
scroll down for the modern literature outline.  

Huckleberry Finn is the first book in the literature course.   You also get to read The Wasteland, Tale of Two Cities, Crime and Punishment, Brideshead Revisited,  A Day in the Life of Ivan Denosovich, and 1984.  I am skipping 1984 and possibly Crime and Punishment.   I'll probably add in some Chesterton and Lewis.

For English, I am also using Kolbe's course, with some tweaking.    The senior year is focused on creative writing which is my focus for Kieron as well. 

Read Japanese Today

This book teaches you 400 Kanji.   It has a cool approach in that it tells you the origin of the kanji, how the symbol evolved from an original pictograph to the stylized form of the modern day.  

Kieron is interested in all things Japanese, and Japanese was an old obsession of mine, but I never could find books like this one.   I'm not putting "Japanese" on his transcript, since I see it as more of an etymology and drawing/penmanship type course.  I just read it to him and we write down the characters in our notebooks and then review occasionally. 

In another post I will share more about how I actually am planning to work with my 3 students. 

Study/Review Resources for these books. 

•  Quizlet is a great resource for review and simple vocabulary and Q&A quizzes.  You can play games online, or print out terms, or design customized quizzes that you can print or do online.  
• Another resource that is great for math at all ages is ThatQuiz.    So easy to customize the quizzes and my kids like them. 
• VocabTest is excellent for vocabulary study for middle school/high school, including SAT prep.

Highschool Homeschool Carnival: May Edition

May's Homeschool Highschool Carnival is hosted at Lapaz Home Learning. 

The topic for this month is

A ‘Day in the Life of a Homeschooled Teenager’ Share with us a glimpse into a day of your highschooler, in particular focusing on the learning aspects.

I am going to use that as a launchpad for a slightly different topic.... more "where a homeschooled highschooler's time goes" and less about a particular day. 

In high school, a student divides his time between:

1. Academics 
2. Spiritual Life 
3. Vocational/Apprenticeship activities
4. Exploration of hobbies/ interests
5. Recreation with family/friends

I suppose you can add community or Christian service in there but I would probably put those in with vocational or spiritual.

My high school kids all get up, work on their studies, then do other things in whatever time is left.   If you visited us you wouldn't necessarily see them studying hard.    Most of the time they fit their studies into whatever else is going on around the house.

For example, this week my high schooler spent a lot of time helping me build shelves and a desk (not from scratch -- just out of the box type construction).  He also helped me move furniture since I was rearranging everything around the house. 

Last week I did some number-crunching to find out just what amounts of time would be required to get a credit in a subject, and from there, how much time it takes to meet the California college prep recommendations.

I won't bore you with the results in detail, but you can see them here if you want:

• Homeschool Number Crunching
• School Time

To sum it up, based on 210 days a year (we school year around with 10 weeks of holidays mixed in there) the student would want to work approximately 35-40 minutes per day on a subject to complete a credit in a year.

To graduate from high school, a student is required to get about 13 credits over the course of 4 years.  You can see that he could easily graduate by 11th grade and perhaps take college classes for a year more before leaving for university.

To prepare for a 4 year university it is recommended that a student get about 21 credits over the course of 4 years, which adds up to about 5 credits a year.     Based on my 210 day school year that comes out to about 3 hours of work per day, which seems about right.

This is California only, I suppose, but I am guessing most other states are somewhat similar (in the US).

To get back to my student's typical day, none of them ever did a continuous 3-hour school day.  Most of them would work part of the morning and part of the afternoon, interspersing with various other things included on my list above.       It would total 3 hours, and sometimes quite a bit more since some of their hobbies and activities could easily be counted as electives at a pinch.

My oldest was a slow worker, though very thorough, and took 6-7 hours a day to get everything done.  For a break he would cook with his younger sibling, play classical guitar, apprentice at programming with his father, make wooden swords and swish them around as he went for walks in our woods.

My second had a different routine.  We would start the day together -- I would read an Homeric epic or a medieval romance or modern biography to him, then I would give him a start on the day's work by tutoring him in Math, Logic, German and Latin.  Then I would write out the day's assignments in a composition book.   In his spare time he wrote a novel and studied forest lore and football statistics.  He and his brother made up a fantasy football league and number-crunched the statistics.

My third was different again.  She read widely across the curriculum, did some math and Latin and German, and in her spare time blogged, corresponded with pen pals, wrote fiction, sewed, knitted, participated in choir and cantored in church, taught herself to play a little piano, guitar and tin whistle, and took lessons in different areas -- violin, English riding, step dancing, and acting.

My fifth is my current high schooler (my fourth went to public school).  He likes to bake; he writes fantasy stories; and he is trying to learn to draw.   He runs daily partly for the exercise and partly because it helps him think.    He is my most easy-going child, and is just starting to realize that his laid back nature sometimes hinders him from getting everything done that he wants to do.

I guess that is all I have to say about this topic! 
 

Follow These Links: Homeschool Highschool Carnival and More

April's edition of Homeschool High School Carnival is up at Every Bed of Roses

Check it out!  The topic is Language Arts.

 

-----------------------------

I am researching memory, and found this page of quotes from historical sources on memory and writing.  I like this:  guess I am not the only one who actually memorizes the page where I find something I want to remember.   And I especially like the last line. 

From The Liber Magistri Hugonis Sancti Victoris, c. 1130

To fix something in the memory, it is of great value when we are reading to take pains to imprint on the memory through the imagination not only the number and order of the verses or sections in books, but also at the same time the color, shape, position, and placement of the letters: where we saw this written down and where that; in what part and in which place we saw it positioned---whether at the top, in the middle, or near the bottom; in what color we discerned the shape of a particular letter or the ornament on the surface of the parchment. I think there is nothing so effective for exciting the memory as meticulously paying attention to the surroundings of things, to those features which can occur accidentally and externally. Knowledge is a treasury, and your heart is its strong-box....

 ------------------------

I remembered another example of a Rule:  St Maximilian Mary Kolbe's Rule of Life for those consecrated to the Immaculata.   I often think of these ones particularly, not that you'd necessarily notice if you were a fly on my wall (but think how much worse I would be if I didn't have things like this to think about). 

4. Do not permit: a. that evil remain without reparation and destruction; or b. that good be without fruit or increase.
5. Let your rule be obedience to the will of God through the Immaculate. I am nothing but an instrument.
6. Think of what you are doing. Do not be concerned about anything else, whether bad or good.
7. Preserve order, and order will preserve you.
8. Peaceful and benevolent action.
9. Preparation—Action—Conclusion.

----------------------

I also like this called The Ladder of Four Rungs.  I found it on a site about Lectio Divina.  

Understand now what the four staves of this ladder are, each in turn. 

Reading, Lesson, is busily looking on Holy Scripture with all one's will and wit. 
Meditation is a studious insearching with the mind to know what was before concealed through desiring proper skill. 
Prayer is a devout desiring of the heart to get what is good and avoid what is evil. 
Contemplation is the lifting up of the heart to God tasting somewhat of the heavenly sweetness and savour. 

Reading seeks, meditation finds, prayer asks, contemplation feels. Vnde querite & accipietis: pulsate et aperietur vobis. That is to say 'Seek and you shall find: knock and the door will be opened for you'. 

That means also, seek through reading, and you will find holy meditation in your thinking; and knock through praying, and the doors shall be opened to you to enter through heavenly contemplation to feel what you desire. 

 *  Reading puts as it were whole food into your mouth; meditation chews it and breaks it down; prayer finds its savour; contemplation is the sweetness that so delights and strengthens. 

 * Reading is like the bark, the shell; meditation like the pith, the nut; prayer is in the desiring asking; and contemplation is in the delight of the great sweetness. 

Reading is the first ground that that precedes and leads one into meditation; meditation seeks busily, and also with deep thought digs and delves deeply to find that treasure; and because it cannot be attained by itself alone, then he sends us into prayer that is mighty and strong.  

* And so prayer rises to God, and there one finds the treasure one so fervently desires, that is the sweetness and delight of contemplation. And then contemplation comes and yields the harvest of the labour of the other three through a sweet heavenly dew, that the soul drinks in delight and joy.

---------------

I guess none of those have much directly to do with Language Arts, but the memory and the lectio divina one do relate a tiny bit.  

 

 

Homeschool HIgh School Carnival: Language Arts

The April edition of the Homeschooling High School Carnival is on the topic of Language Arts and is being hosted by Chareen at Every Bed of Roses.

Language Arts in High School..... What does your language arts program look like? What influences your choices/selection?

At first I wasn't quite sure what to write for this topic, since it excludes literature and writing, which are overwhelmingly the main components of our high school language arts program.    After thinking about it a bit more, I guess I do have something to say, three brief phrases:

• Analysis and Dialectic
• Where the Student is At
• For a Season

Now I will quickly explain these, since I know it is spring and most of us are busy and/or restless this time of year! 

Middle School Grammar and Dialectic

To me the middle school years are ideal for a study of analytical grammar including, if possible, diagramming.  Here are a few online resources I really like:

1. Gene Moutoux's The Basics of Sentence Diagramming.     
2. Reed and Kellogg's Higher Lessons in English.  This is a public domain resource from, I understand, the inventors of diagramming.
3. Ed Vavra's KISS Grammar.    I love this site and browse around it frequently for inspiration, but I will admit I have rarely used the workbooks as written. 
4. Daily Grammar.    Free, extensive, and easy to use.  The sentences don't have the literary merit of the other resources, but they are chosen to clearly illustrate the grammatical concept being taught.    Since I am lazy, I have directly used this resource more than any of the others.

Analytical grammar is closely tied to natural logic, though I have had trouble convincing my husband and kids of that.    As Dr Vavra points out, many syntactical mistakes in student writing are due to difficulties with thinking clearly.     So I find the middle school years a good time to introduce logic in a very easy format.

I use:

• Memoria Press's Traditional Logic.   
• Homeschool Connections has logic classes which my present high schooler has enjoyed.  

And don't forget that there are lots of living books on grammatical or related topics.   A few we have around the house. 

• Eats, Shoots and Leaves
• Graves of Academe
• How to Read a Book 

Finally, middle school is a good time to start working on some word root study.  

• A few years back I found this online Vocabulary Practice.   Quite nice. 
• We have a set of simple workbooks around the house that are out of print and don't even seem to be listed online.    Most of my kids have used these intermittently.   I have tried Wordly Wise and Classical Roots, but they aren't simple enough for us.  
•  GreeknStuff has some free word study pages based on Latin and Greek words which are interesting. 

Where the Student is At:

When my children reach US high school age (about 14 or 15) I assess informally where they are in language arts.    Do they need more grammatical study?  How about vocabulary?   Handwriting?   study and research skills?

The main practical reason they will need to study vocabulary, grammar and handwriting is for the SAT tests.   You can easily acquire an SAT practice test either online or in any bookstore.    It is useful doing a couple of practice tests about twice a year starting in high school (or in junior high if you want to go that way).

I also look at their study skills and target areas as needed.

Their writing tells me what language arts concepts are still not quite established.    Then I can work with them on those areas specifically.    Purdue's OWL site has all kinds of handouts on different areas where students have trouble.  

For a Season

I already brought this out in the bit about assessment above, but this is another principle I keep in mind.    During the middle school years, as I mentioned, we try to do some formal grammar, but once in high school, courses such as grammar and vocabulary are not usually going to be planned out for the whole year.   They are components of a larger course which mainly focuses on literature studies. 

Instead, I make targeted mini-courses, targeted meaning that I focus them on what that child needs to get to the level where he can do adequately in the SATs.     Mini-courses are little series that range from a week to a quarter, but are usually around 3 weeks or a month long, or if they are longer, they are the type of work where you only do a drill for 10 minutes a day. 

If a child has been reading and listening to good books, and discussing and narrating them, writing regularly, following topics he is interested in, he will probably already have a good vocabulary, know how to deal with new words in their context, and will be able to see when a word is used wrongly or misspelled.  He will notice syntax errors. 

So vocabulary and grammar will already be well on their way without the need of formal exercises.   Some of my kids may need a brush-up in handwriting.   Calligraphy can be a good entry into working up a good handwriting style.

The goal is to avoid perpetuating the dreadful English of a good many high school graduates, and to gain an appreciation of correctness and how words and sentences function.      Ultimately the goal is to be a better reader and writer, but those are subjects for another time! 

 

Record-Keeping Help for High School!

The March 2013 Homeschooling High School Carnival is up!

Go to Creating with Wisdom for much wisdom on a very good topic,  Record-Keeping.    Looks like there are a lot of good ideas shared there, and just in time for starting to plan the next school year.

Homeschooling High School: Keeping Track

This month's Homeschooling High School Carnival will be hosted by Vicky at Creating with Wisdom and the suggested topic is:

Record Keeping..... What records do you keep?  How do you present them? What influences your method, your emphasis in certain areas?

To answer this question I went back and looked at some of my old posts and I will link to them in chronological order but you don't have to follow the links unless you want to.

Age Quod Agis -- Logistics in the Homeschool
from a long time ago,  when only my oldest was past high school age
Record-Keeping Resources
(a list of links from 2006)
Trying for Specifics
Thoughts on Less is More Homeschooling
Strategies for Less Paper 
(a list of ideas)

From just the titles of the posts you can see that I am interested in logistics and record-keeping, but always try to steer the balance between too much and too little.    Keeping too careful records can be as unproductive as keeping no records at all.   And I use different systems at different times.  I used to deplore this, but now I think it is part of the creative element of homeschooling.   I am not a teacher dealing with 30+ children, after all.

Record-keeping for 1-10 children, after all, is not like trying to itemize the national debt.  If you are a scrapbooker or love to journal in pretty notebooks or blog, there is no reason that can't become an effective component of your record keeping.  Or perhaps you want your kids to learn to compile their own records, instead of or alongside your own.   Or you love spreadsheets or elegant forms to fill out, or like paperless electronic programs.  Or you like to hand that element over to a charter or private school.  Why not?  I increasingly doubt there is one best way, and it seems to me it would be a burden to work in a format you deeply disliked,unless there was a strong reason for it.

I can think of 4 reasons to keep high school records:

1. To preserve the memory of those fast-fleeting  years.
2. To lay the groundwork so planning is easier for subsequent children.
3. To meet the requirements for a charter or private school in which your children are enrolled.  
4. To prepare for college applications.

My four oldest children graduated from our homeschool rather from private or charter programs, so #3 wasn't a factor for us.

#1 and #4 are the most important for me.    Laying the groundwork for future children didn't really work out for me since they were all so different.    I love reading what we were doing at a given time, and though I don't love college planning, I know it's important.      Family record-keeping and college readiness don't have the same type of format, but I've found they can be somewhat compatible. 

Usually if you just keep up a habit of weekly checklists or assignment sheets, even just lists on pieces of paper or brief journalistic logs, the records basically take care of themselves because at the end of the year, or four years, you already have all the checklists to refer back to, and if you keep a book log (for independent reading) and an activity log (to record various trips, vocational activities or outside classes or exams) in addition, you really have all you need for a paper trail. 

My most comprehensive effort to keep detailed plans and records were usually on blogs, which are easier for me to use, search through and keep track of than any other paper or paperless system I have found.  Here are links to a few of these efforts (which generally didn't carry through consistently, but give me time-lapse snapshots of what we were doing at given times)

Year 9 Index
Year 11
Schola et Studium

In a lot of ways, keeping records for high schoolers seems easier to me than keeping records  for younger children because high schoolers tend to use the same books/texts/resources for longer periods of time than younger kids do.     So for example, my high schooler at present is doing Theology, Physics, Geometry, Literature, English, Latin, and World History, plus various resources I call "Worldview" but which I will end up lumping in under more standard subject titles when I fill out his formal transcript.  I also have a category for life experience in which I would keep physical exercise, travel, work experience, skills developed, etc.

I keep loose running track but things like Physics and Geometry come down to "do the next lesson".    If in addition  I keep a log of books read, and life experiences, I am basically set as far as college prospects go. 

I usually don't make a formal transcript until late junior or early senior year.   For example, when my oldest w was getting ready to apply for college, we just sorted through his box of notebooks, papers and checklists.   I went through his math and science papers and developed course grades based on the scores of the individual papers.    Then I went through his checklists where he had logged books he read either for requirements or in his spare time.   The checklists plus the papers also gave me a good estimate of how much time he had spent on a course -- for example, in his freshman year he only did enough Latin to add up to about a semester credit but the following years he did close to a year's work in a year.

Once I had estimated the number of hours he had logged, I adjusted downwards, being very concerned about not puffing up his grades or credits just because I was his Mom : ).   So for example he generally did enough hours on Language and Literature to make 2 courses worth in English (since I am a literature type) but I would just fold the literature hours into either his Language Arts or History credit.   Since we did less "busywork" and more reading than the standard American high school course, I felt that the extra reading helped make up for slightly less time in the other components of a course.    A public high schooler, for example, will spend an hour per day in English class and come home with half an hour of homework;  my children did not spend that much time listening and writing out worksheets, but made up the lack in a greater quantity of reading.

Basically,  my experience with college applications was that they didn't want long booklists or detailed portfolios.  They wanted titled courses, grades, a list of extra-curricular pursuits (again, titled generally like "Violin Lessons" or "Computer Internship", and any independent verification of academic ability or experience (for example, references from adults the students had worked closely with, transcripts from outside classes, exam scores, etc).   So this made it simple to compose a transcript; though I would also have the lists, paperwork and etc ready at hand if someone DID ask for it). 

Here is a sample transcript from my three older high schoolers.   I generalized it to protect their privacy.























Here's a sample checklist of Sean's when he was in 8th grade (he was going to the Bryans' house for a visit, so it was a sort of streamlined version of his normal checklist, with things he could do on his own)
























Here's another version of a middle school checklist/recordkeeping sheet.  This one was for a 6th grader. 


 The way our homeschooling works, we swing between more formal academics and more flexible, open-ended seasons.     When we are doing more formal stuff, I keep this kind of record; when we are being less formal, I just keep running lists or journal-type documents.  I don't have sheets for those, but if you are interested,the Learning Log on my old planning blog shows the flow of the days for two middle schoolers (Kieron and Sean)
 

Homeschool High School Carnival: February is for Science

 

Go to Lapaz Home Learning

for the February  Homeschool High School Carnival!

 

THe "Messing About" Science Curriculum: Homeschool HIgh School Carnival

"Nice? It's the only thing," said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing," he went on dreamily, "messing-about-in-boats--messing--"    ~Kenneth Grahame The Wind in the Willows, quoted by David Hawkins in Messing About In Science (PDF)

This edition of Homeschool High School Carnival is hosted by Theresa at Lapaz Home Learning and the suggested topic is:  

Science in High School....What does your science program look like?  What influenced your choices/selection?

  I am one of those people who doesn't particularly enjoy hands-on science but loves to read science books because it inspires their imagination and expands their view of the universe.  But I am raising boys who like to actually do science and am married to someone who works in a STEM field.   I am using a Charlotte Mason/classical type curriculum.   I will try to sum up what we do with links to further reading.  

How We Prepare

In elementary school, our science curriculum is scattered and interest-based but fairly lively for all that.    We have lots of science related books around the house -- Usborne type experiment books, field guides, "Let's Read and Find Out" type books, and whatever else looks interesting in the thrift store or the homeschool catalog.  We check out books in areas of interest from the library.  The kids pore through them focusing on what interests them most.  One child loved volcanoes and lizards and space exploration, another read all about dinosaurs, another was fascinated by ants and theoretical physics, another one loved learning about domesticated animals (horses, cats and dogs, etc).

Their interests overlapped and interlocked through the years, leading to many discussions and much shared learning.   We sometimes buy science kits, which my more physical-science oriented boys love.  We watch science videos sporadically (generally because my husband turns them on).    We do a lot of informal nature study, also known as watching what walks past our home in the Sierra National Forest, or playing or walking outside, or playing with the Bryans' kittens in their garage.   In former days, playing with the baby counted as nature study, too.  Unfortunately we don't have a baby to center everything around anymore.    We kept nature notebooks (very informal indeed, often involving complicated storylines). 

Transitioning to Secondary Level Science

When the kids reach middle school I try to get a little more focused, though it takes 2-3 years to build momentum and figure out what works best for the kid.   We may actually have topics to cover.  I pore through the Ambleside Curriculum for recommended books.  Particular favorites are The Boy Scientist and the works of JH Fabre.  He is a great guy.   I also go to MacBeth's Opinion which has all kinds of fascinating living science books.  Every school year I buy a couple more of these, and there have been some treasures.  I discovered Richard Feynman that way, and Michael Faraday.   MODG's Natural History Syllabus has great recommendations, too.   We all were fascinated by King Solomon's Ring and use examples from it not infrequently. 

I will generally introduce a  biology text in 8th grade along with natural history.  That gives us time, which is very valuable so I don't have to lock them down to textbook study alone.  My goal is to cover three high school science courses in five years (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics; we don't generally bother with Earth Science because that seems to be learned fine informally).   Or at least come as close as possible given the circumstances and the child.  Giving ourselves five years lets me break it up with living books and reading/study projects and biographies.

How it Actually Looks 

How this plan works out in practice varies --  my second son gave himself practically a grad-level background in national-forest lore, while getting through biology and halfway through chemistry in formal textbook work.  He already knew all about geology and astronomy etc from childhood immersion studies.   My oldest plowed through biology, chemistry and physics using Apologia for the latter two, and also read quite a bit about the philosophy of science, and about physics (his favorite).   My daughter did a LOT of natural history but otherwise a fairly informal science curriculum, but she had learned a fair amount from riding along with her brothers' interests.  

My third son went to public high school, and acquired a vigorous hatred of "school science". He did Earth Science, Biology and Chemistry.   I wrote about it in Science the School Way and More on School Science. 

My fourth son, my current high schooler,  has always been a science hobbyist.   Like my older three, he spent a lot of time outdoors catching lizards and snakes, watching ants and that kind of thing.  When he was in middle school I enrolled him in The Young Scientist Club, which he really enjoyed.   We also got him the basic type kits like Volcano Kits, Crystal Making Kits, and Electronics Kits (I can recommend Snap Circuits).  He  watched numerous science videos and has listened to Great Courses along with my husband and me.    He is also the computer hardware consultant around here, taking a burden off my husband's shoulders.    I hope to get him started programming soon.     There are courses available at GiantCampus but they are not exactly cheap.


I look for AP science Youtube video courses and Khan Academy and that type of thing for his science.   I wrote some thoughts about his high school biology here, with some thoughts on teaching science in general.   Currently he is studying physics.    I have a small science booklist in this post:  High School for 2012-13 if you scroll down.   

How It Turns Out

For further reading,  I liked these posts at bearing blog: plan for science next year and follow-up. Good points about homeschool science teaching, made by a homeschooler with a science (engineering) background.    Also some quotations on the problems with science-as-she-is-taught by scientists Richard Feynman and David Hawkins. 

I think that is all I have to say about science.   For my next child, currently in 4th grade, I hope to get more into science notebooking/lapbooking.  I think there is lots of potential there for developing a customized and creative curriculum.   "Developing a curriculum" didn't really happen with the older set -- we had sort of a grab bag experience, since I am not very organized and also was quite busy during their high school years -- but it did not seem to hurt too much, since all of the grown ones have had positive experiences in college level science, and two of them either have or are likely to have science-related careers (computer programming and forestry). 

Go to Lapaz Home Learning to read more high school science posts.

Homeschooling HIgh School Carnival is Up!

Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home has put up January's edition of the Homeschooling High School Carnival.   The topic is "finding your homeschooling groove."

Get a cup of coffee or tea or cider, and go take a look!   

Homeschool High School Carnival: January 2013 Edition

This first Homeschool High School Carnival of 2013 is hosted at Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home and the topic is:   

Finding our Stride..... Homeschoolers with highschoolers, particularly long term homeschoolers tend to find a groove.  How has your family’s educational philosophy evolved over the years?  Where do you find yourself in the highschool years?

"Finding a groove" reminds me of LP records.   Do you remember those?  I grew up with them, and I suppose that dates me.  CDs didn't come out till I was out of college, or at least, we didn't get a player until we were married, and they were still pretty new then.

Anyway, the principle of the LP record was that a needle travels along a groove in a concentric spiral, getting further and further in until you reach the ungrooved middle when the record ends. 

In child-raising, though, it seems to work the other way.    The "groove" spiral starts out small and goes outwards, getting bigger and bigger. until it gets to the end and then, I suppose, the child launches out into the world.   Though I've realized more and more that you are a parent till the day you die; you don't quit when the child goes out into the world, and though your role does change it has been changing all along, so it's not exactly an abrupt break.

Our educational philosophy hasn't really changed over the years, but I guess it has evolved or developed in that it's being road-tested now as three children go out into the world and four more are in various stages of transitioning.
 
This is what we started with:
 
We wanted our children to be "trained up in the way they should go" which to us meant attention to their own unique qualities and inclinations, but at the same time, with solid formation that applies to every person because they are humans made in God's image and intended to be citizens of heaven.  

Another way to say this would be Pope John Paul's "Families, become what you are!" which means both attentiveness to the uniqueness of each child, plus a lively discernment of what God wants them to be.

Obviously this is a trial and error proposition.    It involves a certain kind of balancing between two things.   "Formation" or "training" means raising children properly.   It has both its negative and positive sides.

On the negative front, Chesterton points out that God gave us freedom when He gave us the Decalogue.  Only Ten "Thou Shalt Nots".    That is insanely simple compared to, say, the regulations of our society, which seem to be getting exponentially more complex.   Just look at your tax forms and the papers you have to fill out to get your children insured, say, or to enter kindergarten, for that matter.

On the positive front, there is "freedom for excellence."   Because our society has so very many constraints, and many of them are artificial, there is a constant discerning process going on.    Which restraints truly promote the good of the individual and of society?  Which can be dispensed with?  When you are homeschooling, or trying to live as a Christian, more possible laws and restraints pop up.    Again, there is that discerning process.   There are "gurus" everywhere who will heap up burdens and laws if you let them.   Which are good?  Which are unnecessary or even harmful?  

Here is where I love our Church, which focuses on the necessary ones, and also provides wholesome ones that are not necessary but which CAN be good.    Voluntary following of certain rules in a spirit of freedom can be extremely beneficial.  Any time you join a club, or pursue a hobby or sport, or marry, or take part in a group endeavor, you sign on for a certain set of voluntary limits.   Humans thrive on this kind of voluntary structure.  Watch how children naturally invent rules for themselves, or how they are attracted to games and fairy tales, where the rules are deeply inherent in the thing itself, and mysterious and arbitrary.  Chesterton talks about that, too.

But take the game or fairy tale and make it obligatory, or add false rules that come from the exterior.   The child shrinks or pushes away, as it should.    

As a mother, I have made many mistakes in this dance, this delicate balancing act between "rules for excellence" and "rules that offend, despise, and hinder" the child.   

A teenager seems to be pre-programmed to "test" the childhood structure, not in a rebellious, nihilistic counter-dependent way, but in a very human, idealistic way.    The high school years are often at least partially a time to sort out and re-order childhood structure and values.     From my teenage years (which weren't spent very wisely) I can remember my intense hunger to see and hear my parents, what made them operate, how they thought and decided.   At the same time I remember my impatience with mere restatements of the "old rules".

I see this, mostly in a more healthy form, in my own teenage children.  They ask questions, they learn more complex skills alongside me, they discuss and sometimes protest.    To me this is both a discipline for me as parent, and a great joy, because even though I feel humiliated or frustrated sometimes (the kid is RIGHT!  How do I acknowledge that and still keep my parental mystique?  The kid is WRONG!  How do I show him where he went off course!)

How This Works in Daily Life

This seems to me to be the core of what homeschooling a teenager is about, but of course, that doesn't really touch the daily details and it is getting away from "finding your groove" so here are some things we have found that help with this basic agenda.    This is our "groove".

Good Books and chances to discuss them .  Good books raise questions and deal with issues that are important for kids to think about -- when I look at young adults nowadays I see them being encouraged to settle for easy, shallow solutions to big issues -- either by their peers or by authority figures. 

Some movies -- for the same reason.

I think it's important to have a mixture of classic and modern books and movies.  The classic ones are usually guaranteed to be quality resources for whatever reason made them stand the test of time, and so studying them gives you a natural historical perspective.

Modern ones, studied *in the context of the family* (this part seems very important to me) gives both kids and parents a view of the present society.

If we could only do one, classic or modern, I would go for the classic, because the modern world is too much with us anyway, late and soon.  But current art forms give us perspective, help us stand back and look at our environment, so I think they are valuable in that way, as long as they aren't just another form of unconscious immersion.

Lots of conversation.  Not just about books and movies and art, but about life in general.

Live alongside the high schooler.   I am trying to do this more consciously.   My older three kids did more chores at an earlier age than my younger ones do presently.   But with my younger kids I am trying to make more of an effort to teach them skills, the kind that come up in everyday life, that involve problem-solving, like replacing the flapper in the toilet tank.  I think some parents do both of these things naturally.  Not me though, I have to focus on it.

Another aspect of "living alongside" is continuing to develop as a human oneself.   That doesn't mean deserting the family in the name of fulfillment.  It means, if possible, continuing to learn and grow, particularly as a Christian, but also in other ways.   If it's not possible -- if one is struggling just to survive, I think God makes up for the lacks. In this regard  I always think about Assunta Goretti, Maria Goretti's mother, who was illiterate and was forced to live in dehumanizing near-slavery, but raised a saint, which is what we are all trying to do whether we know it or not. 

Logistics and Details:  Then there are the details of preparing a high schooler, like essay writing and test prep and higher math and apprenticeship/job training.   Our "groove" in my family is to do these things for a season and in whatever way the highschooler can accept "ownership" of it.    I like to pick which hills to die on, and these aren't them, for me.    Usually we can find something that works for both me and the individual high schooler, and usually they manage to get what they need.

On the other hand, "transparency" seems important to me during these years.  If I think essay writing is important, why do I think so?  It's worth discussing and recommending and making the thing workable for the student.    On a wider note, part of transparency is evangelization.   If the child is already devout in his faith, share with him or her.  It is so sweet to pray with a teenager, or follow some devotion chosen by him or her, or hear what his faith means to him and her.    In these times, perhaps I am being evangelized as much as my child.  What a blessing!  On the other hand, if the child is questioning and doubting or just seems lukewarm, it is hard to reach out and show your own faith and how it works in your life.   Easier perhaps to scold or criticize or reproach, or just keep silent or stop thinking of your child as a fellow soul, a traveler in need of aid.    But I am so very thankful that my parents were open about their faith even when I was doubting and falling away in my teenage years, and that they didn't judge me or try to force me to say or do what I couldn't think or feel.

While things like college prep writing may not be hills to die on, mortal sins ARE hills I would have to die on.    I couldn't let it go if the child living in my home was missing weekly Mass, taking communion in an obvious state of sin, or openly and unrepentantly breaking one of the commandments.  I am not sure what I would do, since we haven't been faced with such a situation, but it would have to be the equivalent of a medical crisis, where ordinary life would basically stop until we had a treatment plan.

This brings up the issue of balance and priorities.   The things I have listed above are in our groove, but over-emphasizing one of them would make our record needle "skip"and go out of its alignment, and I am always watching to make sure this doesn't happen (or more honestly, usually trying to recover and get back on track.    Movies are good, but not to the exclusion of hard work.  Hard work is good, but not to the point of grim joylessness or major stress.   Holding the moral line is good, but not to the point of fighting battles that are really the child's, not yours anymore, or making your battle against sin into a battle against the child.   So balance seems important to me, though elusive, since I'm both lazy and obsessive, and those things work against proper ordering. 

And finally, prayer, my major weapon.    Probably really my only one.   Prayer and trying to progress in imitation of Christ.   I am trying every day to make this more of an essential and primary part of my homeschooling groove.  In that way, the groove reminds me of the traditional LP one, which gets deeper and deeper in until it reaches the center, the Center, when I hope to "be like Him, and to see Him as He really Is."    I can only hope for that, not do it myself, so I need grace, and when we ask for grace, we are promised that we will receive it, so I have to keep asking, and asking. 

And that will probably continue, even increase, when all my students have left our home LP and ventured out to begin on their own. 

Homeschool Highschool Carnival: December 2012 edution on Math

The Highschool Homeschool Carnival is up at Fisher Academy International!  

It looks great.  

Go there for discussion and sharing of resources on Maths in high school.

Homeschool Highschool Carnival: Math in the Homeschool

This month's Homeschooling High Schooling Carnival is on the topic of math.  

What does your highschoolers math program look like?  What influenced your choices/selection?

I just recently wrote as a guest blogger about high school math, though through the filter of teaching Euclid.  I will link to those posts because they told a bit about our high school experience, but you don't have to follow them unless you want to!

Teaching Euclid Part I 
Teaching Euclid Part II

My main theme in these Homeschooling High School posts has been something like "you plan and prepare with the ideal in mind, but you do what suits the child and your circumstances."   The same thing is going to run through this post on math.

I was handicapped by not having a real ideal in math.   There are plenty of criticisms of high school math out there; one recent one I read was Lockhart's Lament, and the corresponding book, A Mathematician's Lament.   I also came across some strong criticisms when I was researching for the Euclid posts linked above, and some of them are linked in the posts. 

They offer solutions, but generally the classroom type, not the kind of solutions that are easy for me, a homeschooling mom with not a lot of math background, to adopt.  

 Classical education and Charlotte Mason, my main influences, generally just incorporate the best of the conventional in math.   They might advance the child the equivalent of a grade level or two, or add some Euclid and/or living books, but they don't really change it from the ground up, at least not by high school age.   So you are stuck with the conventional math scope and sequence:

7th grade-- consolidation of basic math, plus prep for algebra
8th grade -- Algebra (at least now in California that's the ambition)
9th grade -- Geometry
10th-11th grade -- Algebra II and Trigonometry (usually a combined course in my experience, often 2 years worth of work)
12th grade -- no math, or advanced statistics, or calculus




If your child is especially strong in math, you may advance faster through this standard high school sequence.  If your child takes a little longer to get to the abstract stage, perhaps it's as well to linger longer.     My strongest two math students got up to Algebra II/Trig.    The other two got most of the way through Geometry.    The three that are in college or beyond all did very well in college math environments.

Curriculum we used for the older three:

Jacobs for Algebra I and Geometry
(if a child reached Algebra 1 during middle school, or seemed shaky on the transition to abstract conceptualization, we used Key to Algebra, which I highly recommend for those purposes)

One of my boys went on through Foerster's Algebra 2/Trigonometry.    It is very good but at least in the older edition, seems to require much self-discipline and conceptual understanding. 

The other boy who went past Geometry did so in a public school/independent study format.  I think he used Prentice Hall's Algebra II/Trigonometry.    He did not like it though he struggled on and got a decent grade.  I helped him with some of the lessons and I had considerable trouble grasping the material though I did quite well in high school math, so I sympathized with his criticisms.

My present high schooler is somewhere between 10th and 11th grade (haven't quite decided yet).   He is doing geometry using Jacob's.    We use Khan Academy Geometry as a supplement. 

The Great Courses also have some mathematics resources.   My son and I geeked out the summer before last on this "Secrets of Mental Math".     For us, it was a fun and energizing break.  We plan to watch it again some time.   

I don't know if Chari is going to post on math, but I know that she has found a solution for the challenges of teaching math in high school.  She has a good friend who is a former homeschool mom, from a math background, who loves to tutor.  Once Chari's kids reach high school age, they are tutored by this friend and do well.  

I have looked up tutoring resources in our area, especially when facing some kind of challenge, and they are expensive and require driving 30 to 80 miles.  So, yeah, no.   But I've seen it work well, and I've considered moving nearer Chari not only to be closer to one of my best friends, but to join her great homeschool community, which we don't have here.

However, you can do it without a tutor, and to show it's possible, my oldest came close to acing his math SATs (he was pretty upset he didn't get a perfect score; he did get perfect LA results).   I remember talking to a friend, a retired high school teacher, who was skeptical about homeschooling because he didn't think homeschool parents could teach all subjects at a high school level.  I didn't normally talk about our kids' SAT scores because, well, you know, that's not the point, but I did mention my son's results then.   Our friend was quite surprised and I think it modified his opinion at least a trifle.

The thing is that in the homeschool, teaching is not everything (though being a support and guide is important, and sometimes that does mean teaching or at least finding the right teaching materials or outside resources).

Learning is the thing, and realizing that it's the learning that is key can streamline things for the homeschooling mom who doesn't remember all her high school math and science courses.