Brag Alert!

At the beginning of Connor's high school journey, I was encouraged to read , "How to be a High School Superstar", which basically encourages high school students to follow their passions.  The premise is that students who follow their passions are more likely to have direction in college and are more interesting to colleges.  We gave the book to Connor and then had him read "Do Hard Things" and "Start Here".  I took a hard look at Connor's schedule and re-worked my high school plan with an emphasis on math, science and computer programming while still maintaining a rigorous high school experience.  I took many of the extra English Literature and History programs that I planned off his plate.  Note that we still kept an Honors program level in all the subject but made time for him to follow his passion daily.

This has worked beautifully.  Actually, far too well for my piece of mind but I am so proud of his accomplishments.

Check out some of his latest projects.  You need to know that Connor's screen name is technoboy10.
You might also need to know that Scratch is a program from MIT which teaches kids basic programming.  SNAP! Is an extension of Scratch.  Connor is a curator for the Scratch site as well as a Beta tester.


SNAPExtension wiki



Blog mentioning Connor..



Categories: parenting

The Habit of Excellence

Homeschool Handbook


I have been thinking and praying over the idea in this article for over a year now.  I feel very passionate about the idea that we, as homeschoolers, should not only train our children in the way they should go, but to teach them with academic rigor.  I want my kids to be prepared to do whatever God has for them which means that I have to teach them with academic excellence.  Not to mention that, if I had my way, the next generation of Doctors, Professors, Politicians, Teachers, Moms, Dads and World Changers would be taught to have Godly character and to have academic excellence.

 I want them to be Godly and Educated and that has to start when they are young.  Honestly, it starts with Scott and I as their parents setting goals and then working side by side with our kids to achieve them.  It doesn't mean that I am a Tiger Mom ( most of the time) but it does mean that even when I don't feel like it or am crazy busy, their education is my first priority during the hours of 9 and 2. It means that every math problem they get wrong gets re-done, generally with me sitting next to them.  It means we edit and re-edit papers.  It means they have to read the assigned pages of a book whether it is their favorite genre or not.  It also means that we sit together and read and discuss the Bible.  It can also mean that we can learn and play at the same time.  Whatever we do, we want to make excellence a habit.  Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we do not but we are going to persevere until our successes outweigh our failures.

I will get off my soap box now and let you read the article.  Let me know what you think.  I love hearing from others.








Categories: parenting