Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
Sandy Winn
Hi Kelly,
Your words below in the "All or Nothing Topic" were very helpful even though I wasn't the one asking. I've actually never kept records because we're with a private school that doesn't require anything other than attendance. However, our oldest is 14 so I thought I'd try to at least keep up a portfolio should he need one for anything.
Do you (or anyone) have any recommendations of how I can make one based on the following? I want to focus on what he's "doing" rather than what "should be" done.
- He's read tons of books on real estate and finances (no "work" to show for it though) from authors like George Carnegie, Robert T. Kiyosaki and Donald Trump.
- He is avidly researching our family's ancestry
- He has a virtual stock portfolio
- He volunteers to help do work on the church of his best friend
- He has been hired to do yard work for a friend
- He volunteered at the library last summer
- He plays video games
- He's learned many things about the Navy
- He occasionally does math books (that one is easy)
Also, do I need "schooly" language? If so, any advice on how to do that would be great. All I know is what report cards say and he really doesn't fit "report card" language in a lot of areas (science, no math grades, no grammar or language arts), that's why I'm asking.
This is for "just in case" he proceeds with his plans to dual enroll when he is 16. Also, in case he runs into problems with no matter what he chooses to do, I'd like to find a certified, unschool friendly teacher and be able to show what he has done.
Lastly, through the books he's read, he's learned history but it isn't the same as the "school" kids. I think they do World, Ancient, European and American.
Please forgive my ignorance on the subject and also my worrisome tone. My neighbor confronted me the other day about not making my kids test, not giving grades, and not using a curriculum--apparently she's spoken with "numerous" home schoolers and they've never heard of "your way of home schooling". She then used fear tactics by saying the FCAT (Florida standardized test) is hard and her 17 yo son couldn't even take adult high to finish out his senior year without passing it first so "good luck getting your son in to college because they want grades and FCAT scores and a "real diploma."
Thanks so much ~ Sandy
Your words below in the "All or Nothing Topic" were very helpful even though I wasn't the one asking. I've actually never kept records because we're with a private school that doesn't require anything other than attendance. However, our oldest is 14 so I thought I'd try to at least keep up a portfolio should he need one for anything.
Do you (or anyone) have any recommendations of how I can make one based on the following? I want to focus on what he's "doing" rather than what "should be" done.
- He's read tons of books on real estate and finances (no "work" to show for it though) from authors like George Carnegie, Robert T. Kiyosaki and Donald Trump.
- He is avidly researching our family's ancestry
- He has a virtual stock portfolio
- He volunteers to help do work on the church of his best friend
- He has been hired to do yard work for a friend
- He volunteered at the library last summer
- He plays video games
- He's learned many things about the Navy
- He occasionally does math books (that one is easy)
Also, do I need "schooly" language? If so, any advice on how to do that would be great. All I know is what report cards say and he really doesn't fit "report card" language in a lot of areas (science, no math grades, no grammar or language arts), that's why I'm asking.
This is for "just in case" he proceeds with his plans to dual enroll when he is 16. Also, in case he runs into problems with no matter what he chooses to do, I'd like to find a certified, unschool friendly teacher and be able to show what he has done.
Lastly, through the books he's read, he's learned history but it isn't the same as the "school" kids. I think they do World, Ancient, European and American.
Please forgive my ignorance on the subject and also my worrisome tone. My neighbor confronted me the other day about not making my kids test, not giving grades, and not using a curriculum--apparently she's spoken with "numerous" home schoolers and they've never heard of "your way of home schooling". She then used fear tactics by saying the FCAT (Florida standardized test) is hard and her 17 yo son couldn't even take adult high to finish out his senior year without passing it first so "good luck getting your son in to college because they want grades and FCAT scores and a "real diploma."
Thanks so much ~ Sandy
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Kelly Lovejoy <kbcdlovejo@...> wrote:
From: Kelly Lovejoy <kbcdlovejo@...>
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] All or nothing?
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 12:34 AM
In SC, we *have* to keep records. So I jot down what we "cover" daily and keep tickets. brochures, flyers, etc. that we collect when we go out. I keep lists of library books, personal books, games, and projects. I have to write two progress reports each year. It's the law.
But I don't keep track of what he *should* be learning/doing- --just what he actually learns/does. I think "shoulds" have no place in our homeschooling.
If your state requires record-keeping, then by all means do it! As long as it doesn't interfere with your child's learning,... .
If it keeps you busy and out of his way and if it helps you see the learning that is happening, then I think it can help you be at peace with unschooling. On the other hand, I think it can stand in the way of REAL learning if you're too busy trying to keep him at "grade level" or "ahead."
Caution. <g>
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Debra Rossing
FCAT scores mean diddly to pretty much any college outside Florida (and
probably for many private colleges/universities inside FL also). Most
colleges accept parental issued diplomas for homeschoolers - a 'diploma'
is simply a piece of paper indicating that a person has completed
something. And grades not so much important as SAT/ACT scores - and even
then many colleges are moving away from standardized tests to portfolios
or other means of seeing what this person has been doing for the last
several years.
Rather than operating out of fear, go ahead and research a few colleges
and see what they actually require of homeschoolers. There are several
books out relating to preparing for college specifically for
homeschoolers. And there's a new yahoo group of teen/grown unschooled
young people who answer these sorts of questions from their perspective
- maybe track that down and ASK the young people who are preparing for
college, in college, done with college how they handled these issues.
Deb R
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probably for many private colleges/universities inside FL also). Most
colleges accept parental issued diplomas for homeschoolers - a 'diploma'
is simply a piece of paper indicating that a person has completed
something. And grades not so much important as SAT/ACT scores - and even
then many colleges are moving away from standardized tests to portfolios
or other means of seeing what this person has been doing for the last
several years.
Rather than operating out of fear, go ahead and research a few colleges
and see what they actually require of homeschoolers. There are several
books out relating to preparing for college specifically for
homeschoolers. And there's a new yahoo group of teen/grown unschooled
young people who answer these sorts of questions from their perspective
- maybe track that down and ASK the young people who are preparing for
college, in college, done with college how they handled these issues.
Deb R
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This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
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L Staley
This is interesting,
I'd love to see the response because I know several individuals in this situation as well. I would think maybe a power point portfolio would be a good start. My 11 yr old wants to become a Vet but she LOVES Science so we do a lot of that. She is enrolled in an online course with Apologia Biology and she is the youngest in the class. I've been researching College requirements for homeschoolers and I do see they want portfolio's but I also see that they want the kids to pass the SAT with extraordinary scores. I'd say check out some schools and the requirements first.
"Our way of homeschooling" is definitely more effective than what they have going on in these institutions...lol
I know..we did private, public and we've been homeschooling for a little over a year. My daughter has accomplished more in the year than she ever has in school...and LOVES it!!
I'd love to find out more regarding the process as well:-)
Luwana
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
I'd love to see the response because I know several individuals in this situation as well. I would think maybe a power point portfolio would be a good start. My 11 yr old wants to become a Vet but she LOVES Science so we do a lot of that. She is enrolled in an online course with Apologia Biology and she is the youngest in the class. I've been researching College requirements for homeschoolers and I do see they want portfolio's but I also see that they want the kids to pass the SAT with extraordinary scores. I'd say check out some schools and the requirements first.
"Our way of homeschooling" is definitely more effective than what they have going on in these institutions...lol
I know..we did private, public and we've been homeschooling for a little over a year. My daughter has accomplished more in the year than she ever has in school...and LOVES it!!
I'd love to find out more regarding the process as well:-)
Luwana
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Sandy Winn <sereneaspirations@...> wrote:
From: Sandy Winn <sereneaspirations@...>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 7:26 AM
Hi Kelly,
Your words below in the "All or Nothing Topic" were very helpful even though I wasn't the one asking. I've actually never kept records because we're with a private school that doesn't require anything other than attendance. However, our oldest is 14 so I thought I'd try to at least keep up a portfolio should he need one for anything.
Do you (or anyone) have any recommendations of how I can make one based on the following? I want to focus on what he's "doing" rather than what "should be" done.
- He's read tons of books on real estate and finances (no "work" to show for it though) from authors like George Carnegie, Robert T. Kiyosaki and Donald Trump.
- He is avidly researching our family's ancestry
- He has a virtual stock portfolio
- He volunteers to help do work on the church of his best friend
- He has been hired to do yard work for a friend
- He volunteered at the library last summer
- He plays video games
- He's learned many things about the Navy
- He occasionally does math books (that one is easy)
Also, do I need "schooly" language? If so, any advice on how to do that would be great. All I know is what report cards say and he really doesn't fit "report card" language in a lot of areas (science, no math grades, no grammar or language arts), that's why I'm asking.
This is for "just in case" he proceeds with his plans to dual enroll when he is 16. Also, in case he runs into problems with no matter what he chooses to do, I'd like to find a certified, unschool friendly teacher and be able to show what he has done.
Lastly, through the books he's read, he's learned history but it isn't the same as the "school" kids. I think they do World, Ancient, European and American.
Please forgive my ignorance on the subject and also my worrisome tone. My neighbor confronted me the other day about not making my kids test, not giving grades, and not using a curriculum--apparently she's spoken with "numerous" home schoolers and they've never heard of "your way of home schooling". She then used fear tactics by saying the FCAT (Florida standardized test) is hard and her 17 yo son couldn't even take adult high to finish out his senior year without passing it first so "good luck getting your son in to college because they want grades and FCAT scores and a "real diploma."
Thanks so much ~ Sandy
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Kelly Lovejoy <kbcdlovejo@...> wrote:
From: Kelly Lovejoy <kbcdlovejo@...>
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] All or nothing?
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 12:34 AM
In SC, we *have* to keep records. So I jot down what we "cover" daily and keep tickets. brochures, flyers, etc. that we collect when we go out. I keep lists of library books, personal books, games, and projects. I have to write two progress reports each year. It's the law.
But I don't keep track of what he *should* be learning/doing- --just what he actually learns/does. I think "shoulds" have no place in our homeschooling.
If your state requires record-keeping, then by all means do it! As long as it doesn't interfere with your child's learning,... .
If it keeps you busy and out of his way and if it helps you see the learning that is happening, then I think it can help you be at peace with unschooling. On the other hand, I think it can stand in the way of REAL learning if you're too busy trying to keep him at "grade level" or "ahead."
Caution. <g>
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandy Winn
Thanks Debra for your input. :-) I'll check out the group mentioned too.
~ Sandy
~ Sandy
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Debra Rossing <debra.rossing@...> wrote:
From: Debra Rossing <debra.rossing@...>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re:Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 8:58 AM
FCAT scores mean diddly to pretty much any college outside Florida (and
probably for many private colleges/universiti es inside FL also). Most
colleges accept parental issued diplomas for homeschoolers - a 'diploma'
is simply a piece of paper indicating that a person has completed
something. And grades not so much important as SAT/ACT scores - and even
then many colleges are moving away from standardized tests to portfolios
or other means of seeing what this person has been doing for the last
several years.
Rather than operating out of fear, go ahead and research a few colleges
and see what they actually require of homeschoolers. There are several
books out relating to preparing for college specifically for
homeschoolers. And there's a new yahoo group of teen/grown unschooled
young people who answer these sorts of questions from their perspective
- maybe track that down and ASK the young people who are preparing for
college, in college, done with college how they handled these issues.
Deb R
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This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
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are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
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This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
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CNC Software, Inc.
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JJ Ross
Sandy, we are in Florida, too. I want to demonstrate from our personal experience here that there's absolutely no need for concern, whether your neighbors like it or not! :)
Favorite Daughter now 18, suddenly decided at age 15 (the state law dual-enrollment minimum age) it would be fun to take some theatre and writing courses at Tallahassee Community College, and have access to their library. She had no transcript or test scores (FCAT or SAT/ACT) and none was required -- she simply took the free computerized math and English placement test offered at the college, scored extremely high on the English portion and was approved on that basis to take whatever she wanted, except math.
When her two calendar years of free dual enrollment were up, we "graduated" her from home education (again without any sort of diploma or transcript) so she could be re-admitted to continue at TCC as a regular degree-seeking student, who by that time had been invited into the honors program. She then was forced to take basic math and discovered that she had a clinical math coding disorder, which was duly documented by the college disability office. Science courses were legally substituted and she aced them.
The point of the story is that community college provides all the academic documentation needed good OR bad, without you as the unschooling parent giving a thought to any high schoolish curriculum or transcripts/testing. She just got accepted to FSU and in her chosen major (creative writing, very competitive at FSU) and will begin as a junior transfer in May, after graduating with her AA in April. Without taking the community college exit exam the CLAST either, btw! Florida law guarantees general university acceptance to in-state AA transfers, although the student is not guaranteed automatic acceptance to any major, many of which are highly competitive and may involve auditions and/or additional prerequisites.
She's now realistically excited about a Ph.D.in English despite her radically undocumented unschooling background and math disorder. :)
Favorite Daughter now 18, suddenly decided at age 15 (the state law dual-enrollment minimum age) it would be fun to take some theatre and writing courses at Tallahassee Community College, and have access to their library. She had no transcript or test scores (FCAT or SAT/ACT) and none was required -- she simply took the free computerized math and English placement test offered at the college, scored extremely high on the English portion and was approved on that basis to take whatever she wanted, except math.
When her two calendar years of free dual enrollment were up, we "graduated" her from home education (again without any sort of diploma or transcript) so she could be re-admitted to continue at TCC as a regular degree-seeking student, who by that time had been invited into the honors program. She then was forced to take basic math and discovered that she had a clinical math coding disorder, which was duly documented by the college disability office. Science courses were legally substituted and she aced them.
The point of the story is that community college provides all the academic documentation needed good OR bad, without you as the unschooling parent giving a thought to any high schoolish curriculum or transcripts/testing. She just got accepted to FSU and in her chosen major (creative writing, very competitive at FSU) and will begin as a junior transfer in May, after graduating with her AA in April. Without taking the community college exit exam the CLAST either, btw! Florida law guarantees general university acceptance to in-state AA transfers, although the student is not guaranteed automatic acceptance to any major, many of which are highly competitive and may involve auditions and/or additional prerequisites.
She's now realistically excited about a Ph.D.in English despite her radically undocumented unschooling background and math disorder. :)
--- In [email protected], Sandy Winn <sereneaspirations@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Kelly,
>
> Your words below in the "All or Nothing Topic" were very helpful even though I wasn't the one asking. I've actually never kept records because we're with a private school that doesn't require anything other than attendance. However, our oldest is 14 so I thought I'd try to at least keep up a portfolio should he need one for anything.
>
> Do you (or anyone) have any recommendations of how I can make one based on the following? I want to focus on what he's "doing" rather than what "should be" done.
>
<snip detail>
> Please forgive my ignorance on the subject and also my worrisome tone. My neighbor confronted me the other day about not making my kids test, not giving grades, and not using a curriculum--apparently she's spoken with "numerous" home schoolers and they've never heard of "your way of home schooling". She then used fear tactics by saying the FCAT (Florida standardized test) is hard and her 17 yo son couldn't even take adult high to finish out his senior year without passing it first so "good luck getting your son in to college because they want grades and FCAT scores and a "real diploma."
>
> Thanks so much ~ Sandy
>
>
Sandy Winn
Wow, JJ...I don't think college determines ones success in life but you have really and truly eased my mind should my son go through with his long time talk of dual enrolling.
You've made my entire morning. It's nice to read real stories of people in "your neck of the woods" who are doing fine without documentation, testing and transcripts. And, you made me feel better about my neighbor's confrontation too. She was almost to the point of accusing me of being neglectful without actually saying it. Normally she is unobtrusive and we get along fine but it sounded like she was doing a side investigation on how we home educate.
Thank you so much for taking time to write all of that out and a huge KUDOS to your daughter! :-)
Virtual Hugs to You ~ Sandy
You've made my entire morning. It's nice to read real stories of people in "your neck of the woods" who are doing fine without documentation, testing and transcripts. And, you made me feel better about my neighbor's confrontation too. She was almost to the point of accusing me of being neglectful without actually saying it. Normally she is unobtrusive and we get along fine but it sounded like she was doing a side investigation on how we home educate.
Thank you so much for taking time to write all of that out and a huge KUDOS to your daughter! :-)
Virtual Hugs to You ~ Sandy
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, JJ Ross <jrossedd@...> wrote:
From: JJ Ross <jrossedd@...>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 10:08 AM
Sandy, we are in Florida, too. I want to demonstrate from our personal experience here that there's absolutely no need for concern, whether your neighbors like it or not! :)
Favorite Daughter now 18, suddenly decided at age 15 (the state law dual-enrollment minimum age) it would be fun to take some theatre and writing courses at Tallahassee Community College, and have access to their library. She had no transcript or test scores (FCAT or SAT/ACT) and none was required -- she simply took the free computerized math and English placement test offered at the college, scored extremely high on the English portion and was approved on that basis to take whatever she wanted, except math.
When her two calendar years of free dual enrollment were up, we "graduated" her from home education (again without any sort of diploma or transcript) so she could be re-admitted to continue at TCC as a regular degree-seeking student, who by that time had been invited into the honors program. She then was forced to take basic math and discovered that she had a clinical math coding disorder, which was duly documented by the college disability office. Science courses were legally substituted and she aced them.
The point of the story is that community college provides all the academic documentation needed good OR bad, without you as the unschooling parent giving a thought to any high schoolish curriculum or transcripts/ testing. She just got accepted to FSU and in her chosen major (creative writing, very competitive at FSU) and will begin as a junior transfer in May, after graduating with her AA in April. Without taking the community college exit exam the CLAST either, btw! Florida law guarantees general university acceptance to in-state AA transfers, although the student is not guaranteed automatic acceptance to any major, many of which are highly competitive and may involve auditions and/or additional prerequisites.
She's now realistically excited about a Ph.D.in English despite her radically undocumented unschooling background and math disorder. :)
--- In unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com, Sandy Winn <sereneaspirations@ ...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi Kelly,
>
> Your words below in the "All or Nothing Topic" were very helpful even though I wasn't the one asking. I've actually never kept records because we're with a private school that doesn't require anything other than attendance. However, our oldest is 14 so I thought I'd try to at least keep up a portfolio should he need one for anything.
>
> Do you (or anyone) have any recommendations of how I can make one based on the following? I want to focus on what he's "doing" rather than what "should be" done.
>
<snip detail>
> Please forgive my ignorance on the subject and also my worrisome tone. My neighbor confronted me the other day about not making my kids test, not giving grades, and not using a curriculum-- apparently she's spoken with "numerous" home schoolers and they've never heard of "your way of home schooling". She then used fear tactics by saying the FCAT (Florida standardized test) is hard and her 17 yo son couldn't even take adult high to finish out his senior year without passing it first so "good luck getting your son in to college because they want grades and FCAT scores and a "real diploma."
>
> Thanks so much ~ Sandy
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tammy Curry
Sandy,
I am not Kelly but "Sage Momma" that she is will definitely have an answer for you. I just wanted to make a comment about your neighbor. Don't let her get you into a panic. Her ignorance of your philosophy on life and learning should not get in the way of how you and your family are schooling your children. Your son will be fine. Just because this person has never heard of unschooling and it is so very different from the way these other homeschoolers she has supposedly spoken with approach learning in a more traditional method does not make your choice wrong nor are you endangering your son's chances of getting into college if he chooses to go that route. From the list of things you posted your son sounds like a "well rounded" individual (college speak for we want those types of students).
When I sat in college lecture halls in 2001-2002 I had a fellow class mate who was 13 years younger than I was, she had been home schooled and started college at 15. She was accepted into the physician's assistant program at the school. Which is highly competitive and very intense. The last I heard she had graduated with honors and went on to become an excellent PA. She had never taken a test before college. She was also my calculus tutor. Thinking back that was probably the first time I had heard about unschooling.
Stand fast and know that it sounds as if you have made the right choice for you and your family.
As for a portfolio it sounds as if you have started one with your post. I have been keeping my own personal records of what the kids have been doing, I live in SC as well. I also love to hold on to my kids projects. I think my refrigerator is white, I can't remember it is covered with works of art, short stories, poems and photographs. They get moved into shoe boxes that have a label with the list of contents. Eventually I will scan and make digital scrapbook of everything. We have a shoe box full of envelopes labeled with any tickets/receipts from places we have gone to.
Many colleges now have a spot on their application for home schoolers to check off and have adjusted their application process to make it easier for home schoolers to comply with their requests. :)
Tammy Curry, Director of Chaos
http://tammycurry.blogspot.com/
http://crazy-homeschool-adventures.blogspot.com/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I am not Kelly but "Sage Momma" that she is will definitely have an answer for you. I just wanted to make a comment about your neighbor. Don't let her get you into a panic. Her ignorance of your philosophy on life and learning should not get in the way of how you and your family are schooling your children. Your son will be fine. Just because this person has never heard of unschooling and it is so very different from the way these other homeschoolers she has supposedly spoken with approach learning in a more traditional method does not make your choice wrong nor are you endangering your son's chances of getting into college if he chooses to go that route. From the list of things you posted your son sounds like a "well rounded" individual (college speak for we want those types of students).
When I sat in college lecture halls in 2001-2002 I had a fellow class mate who was 13 years younger than I was, she had been home schooled and started college at 15. She was accepted into the physician's assistant program at the school. Which is highly competitive and very intense. The last I heard she had graduated with honors and went on to become an excellent PA. She had never taken a test before college. She was also my calculus tutor. Thinking back that was probably the first time I had heard about unschooling.
Stand fast and know that it sounds as if you have made the right choice for you and your family.
As for a portfolio it sounds as if you have started one with your post. I have been keeping my own personal records of what the kids have been doing, I live in SC as well. I also love to hold on to my kids projects. I think my refrigerator is white, I can't remember it is covered with works of art, short stories, poems and photographs. They get moved into shoe boxes that have a label with the list of contents. Eventually I will scan and make digital scrapbook of everything. We have a shoe box full of envelopes labeled with any tickets/receipts from places we have gone to.
Many colleges now have a spot on their application for home schoolers to check off and have adjusted their application process to make it easier for home schoolers to comply with their requests. :)
Tammy Curry, Director of Chaos
http://tammycurry.blogspot.com/
http://crazy-homeschool-adventures.blogspot.com/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
L Staley
Tammy...that is funny. I don't recall the color of the fridge or walls...LOLOL. I have projects, pictures and drawings EVERYWHERE....lol.
You are correct, some people can be so ignorant it makes me laugh....funny thing is that I was always in to "traditional schools" but I accepted what was BEST for my daughter. I heard about it and tried it IMMEDIATELY and will never look back.
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
You are correct, some people can be so ignorant it makes me laugh....funny thing is that I was always in to "traditional schools" but I accepted what was BEST for my daughter. I heard about it and tried it IMMEDIATELY and will never look back.
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Tammy Curry <mamabeart00@...> wrote:
From: Tammy Curry <mamabeart00@...>
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 10:34 AM
Sandy,
I am not Kelly but "Sage Momma" that she is will definitely have an answer for you. I just wanted to make a comment about your neighbor. Don't let her get you into a panic. Her ignorance of your philosophy on life and learning should not get in the way of how you and your family are schooling your children. Your son will be fine. Just because this person has never heard of unschooling and it is so very different from the way these other homeschoolers she has supposedly spoken with approach learning in a more traditional method does not make your choice wrong nor are you endangering your son's chances of getting into college if he chooses to go that route. From the list of things you posted your son sounds like a "well rounded" individual (college speak for we want those types of students).
When I sat in college lecture halls in 2001-2002 I had a fellow class mate who was 13 years younger than I was, she had been home schooled and started college at 15. She was accepted into the physician's assistant program at the school. Which is highly competitive and very intense. The last I heard she had graduated with honors and went on to become an excellent PA. She had never taken a test before college. She was also my calculus tutor. Thinking back that was probably the first time I had heard about unschooling.
Stand fast and know that it sounds as if you have made the right choice for you and your family.
As for a portfolio it sounds as if you have started one with your post. I have been keeping my own personal records of what the kids have been doing, I live in SC as well. I also love to hold on to my kids projects. I think my refrigerator is white, I can't remember it is covered with works of art, short stories, poems and photographs. They get moved into shoe boxes that have a label with the list of contents. Eventually I will scan and make digital scrapbook of everything. We have a shoe box full of envelopes labeled with any tickets/receipts from places we have gone to.
Many colleges now have a spot on their application for home schoolers to check off and have adjusted their application process to make it easier for home schoolers to comply with their requests. :)
Tammy Curry, Director of Chaos
http://tammycurry.blogspot.com/
http://crazy-homeschool-adventures.blogspot.com/
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Yahoo! Groups Links
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L Staley
Correct...what I've seen is the SAT/ACT scores or the College itself has their own exam.
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Debra Rossing <debra.rossing@...> wrote:
From: Debra Rossing <debra.rossing@...>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re:Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 8:58 AM
FCAT scores mean diddly to pretty much any college outside Florida (and
probably for many private colleges/universities inside FL also). Most
colleges accept parental issued diplomas for homeschoolers - a 'diploma'
is simply a piece of paper indicating that a person has completed
something. And grades not so much important as SAT/ACT scores - and even
then many colleges are moving away from standardized tests to portfolios
or other means of seeing what this person has been doing for the last
several years.
Rather than operating out of fear, go ahead and research a few colleges
and see what they actually require of homeschoolers. There are several
books out relating to preparing for college specifically for
homeschoolers. And there's a new yahoo group of teen/grown unschooled
young people who answer these sorts of questions from their perspective
- maybe track that down and ASK the young people who are preparing for
college, in college, done with college how they handled these issues.
Deb R
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dana_burdick
>>Please forgive my ignorance on the subject and also my worrisome tone. My
neighbor confronted me the other day about not making my kids test, not giving
grades, and not using a curriculum--apparently she's spoken with "numerous" home
schoolers and they've never heard of "your way of home schooling". She then used
fear tactics by saying the FCAT (Florida standardized test) is hard and her 17
yo son couldn't even take adult high to finish out his senior year without
passing it first so "good luck getting your son in to college because they want
grades and FCAT scores and a "real diploma."
<<
I know she directed those words toward you (or at least that is what she thought she was doing). She just may be scared herself about HER son, though. I can only imagine how anxiety producing it is for her knowing that her son may, after going through so much work, not be able to move on to the next thing/level. She may be way more concerned about herself and her son than she is at all with you. Your alternative ways cause her to reflect on how she is doing things and she understandably may feel that need to justify and/or defend her path.
-Dana
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
I don't know if you are in the US but Veterinary Schools are looking for kids with all kinds of different experiences
They are packed with girls that love cats and dogs, have 4.0 GPAs . Those they have plenty of.
They are looking for kids with hands on experience and that want to do different things. They are looking
for kids that want to do large animals. Kids that want to work with horses, cattle, pigs, etc.
Get her volunteering at kennels, shelter, stables, dairy farms, beef farms.
Get her into genetics which is big right now.
She can do all that now and when she is in College and that way her portfolio will be different and more attractive than all those
girls that love cats and dogs and have perfect GPAs.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
They are packed with girls that love cats and dogs, have 4.0 GPAs . Those they have plenty of.
They are looking for kids with hands on experience and that want to do different things. They are looking
for kids that want to do large animals. Kids that want to work with horses, cattle, pigs, etc.
Get her volunteering at kennels, shelter, stables, dairy farms, beef farms.
Get her into genetics which is big right now.
She can do all that now and when she is in College and that way her portfolio will be different and more attractive than all those
girls that love cats and dogs and have perfect GPAs.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
L Staley
Thank You!!!!
I just told her that I was going to get her some volunteer experience lined up. We are in Georgia.
She loves ALL animals but you made an excellent point. She is only 11 and taking her very first Biology course. It's High School level and she is in the top 10 of her class with a 95% so I am just watching her interest and will definitely encourage it.
Thank you for the help...I'm right on it:-)
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
I just told her that I was going to get her some volunteer experience lined up. We are in Georgia.
She loves ALL animals but you made an excellent point. She is only 11 and taking her very first Biology course. It's High School level and she is in the top 10 of her class with a 95% so I am just watching her interest and will definitely encourage it.
Thank you for the help...I'm right on it:-)
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, BRIAN POLIKOWSKY <polykowholsteins@...> wrote:
From: BRIAN POLIKOWSKY <polykowholsteins@...>
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 12:38 PM
I don't know if you are in the US but Veterinary Schools are looking for kids with all kinds of different experiences
They are packed with girls that love cats and dogs, have 4.0 GPAs . Those they have plenty of.
They are looking for kids with hands on experience and that want to do different things. They are looking
for kids that want to do large animals. Kids that want to work with horses, cattle, pigs, etc.
Get her volunteering at kennels, shelter, stables, dairy farms, beef farms.
Get her into genetics which is big right now.
She can do all that now and when she is in College and that way her portfolio will be different and more attractive than all those
girls that love cats and dogs and have perfect GPAs.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
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Tammy Curry
Now wait a minute!! You have walls?? LOL We started with the great wall of school, contact paper over the wall for "lessons" and so the little super hero could draw. Well, I have these murals appearing through out the house. I think if it were safe enough they would cover the oven as well. LOL
Tammy Curry, Director of Chaos
http://tammycurry.blogspot.com/
http://crazy-homeschool-adventures.blogspot.com/
http://myspace.com/mamabeart00
________________________________
From: L Staley <luwana_staley@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 11:06:09 AM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
Tammy...that is funny. I don't recall the color of the fridge or walls...LOLOL. I have projects, pictures and drawings EVERYWHERE.. ..lol.
You are correct, some people can be so ignorant it makes me laugh....funny thing is that I was always in to "traditional schools" but I accepted what was BEST for my daughter. I heard about it and tried it IMMEDIATELY and will never look back.
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
Tammy Curry, Director of Chaos
http://tammycurry.blogspot.com/
http://crazy-homeschool-adventures.blogspot.com/
http://myspace.com/mamabeart00
________________________________
From: L Staley <luwana_staley@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 11:06:09 AM
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
Tammy...that is funny. I don't recall the color of the fridge or walls...LOLOL. I have projects, pictures and drawings EVERYWHERE.. ..lol.
You are correct, some people can be so ignorant it makes me laugh....funny thing is that I was always in to "traditional schools" but I accepted what was BEST for my daughter. I heard about it and tried it IMMEDIATELY and will never look back.
"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."
Barack Obama
Yes we can!
--- On Wed, 3/4/09, Tammy Curry <mamabeart00@ yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Tammy Curry <mamabeart00@ yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Help with an Unschooling Portfolio
To: unschoolingbasics@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 10:34 AM
Sandy,
I am not Kelly but "Sage Momma" that she is will definitely have an answer for you. I just wanted to make a comment about your neighbor. Don't let her get you into a panic. Her ignorance of your philosophy on life and learning should not get in the way of how you and your family are schooling your children. Your son will be fine. Just because this person has never heard of unschooling and it is so very different from the way these other homeschoolers she has supposedly spoken with approach learning in a more traditional method does not make your choice wrong nor are you endangering your son's chances of getting into college if he chooses to go that route. From the list of things you posted your son sounds like a "well rounded" individual (college speak for we want those types of students).
When I sat in college lecture halls in 2001-2002 I had a fellow class mate who was 13 years younger than I was, she had been home schooled and started college at 15. She was accepted into the physician's assistant program at the school. Which is highly competitive and very intense. The last I heard she had graduated with honors and went on to become an excellent PA. She had never taken a test before college. She was also my calculus tutor. Thinking back that was probably the first time I had heard about unschooling.
Stand fast and know that it sounds as if you have made the right choice for you and your family.
As for a portfolio it sounds as if you have started one with your post. I have been keeping my own personal records of what the kids have been doing, I live in SC as well. I also love to hold on to my kids projects. I think my refrigerator is white, I can't remember it is covered with works of art, short stories, poems and photographs. They get moved into shoe boxes that have a label with the list of contents. Eventually I will scan and make digital scrapbook of everything. We have a shoe box full of envelopes labeled with any tickets/receipts from places we have gone to.
Many colleges now have a spot on their application for home schoolers to check off and have adjusted their application process to make it easier for home schoolers to comply with their requests. :)
Tammy Curry, Director of Chaos
http://tammycurry. blogspot. com/
http://crazy- homeschool- adventures. blogspot. com/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
JJ Ross
FWIW I agree this rings true! And the FCAT actually does ruin or at least threaten to ruin lives. I helped our dance studio director get her artsy and smart son an (early) high school diploma from a Maine correspondence school after he got mucked up in school requirements like credit hours and the FCAT, when all he wanted to go dance professionally once he turned 18. The dad wouldn't hear of him not having "a real diploma" and Disney had a job waiting for him and, oh well, we can't all homeschool and very few get to unschool, but we CAN all make things a little less schooly for one kid at a time. . . :)
So maybe you can express sympathy and concern for your neighbor, offer to share some ideas? ;-)
Only half-kidding. Think of the boy --
JJ
So maybe you can express sympathy and concern for your neighbor, offer to share some ideas? ;-)
Only half-kidding. Think of the boy --
JJ
--- In [email protected], "dana_burdick" <DanaBurdick@...> wrote:
>
> I know she directed those words toward you (or at least that is what she thought she was doing). She just may be scared herself about HER son, though. I can only imagine how anxiety producing it is for her knowing that her son may, after going through so much work, not be able to move on to the next thing/level. She may be way more concerned about herself and her son than she is at all with you. Your alternative ways cause her to reflect on how she is doing things and she understandably may feel that need to justify and/or defend her path.
>
> -Dana
>
Pam Sorooshian
On 3/4/2009 6:00 AM, L Staley wrote:
Here in California, none of the state colleges or universities would
accept a portfolio. Neither would the major private schools like USC or
Stanford. They want some combination of transcripts and essays and test
scores and letters of recommendation and lists of "extracurricular"
activities.
I've really not heard of colleges wanting portfolios (with the exception
of art majors, of course).
I know of some private colleges that have happily accepted narrative
transcripts - not just lists of courses and grades, but descriptions of
what the kid has been doing during what would have been his/her high
school years.
-pam
> I do see they want portfolio'sReally? Where did you see that? I'm curious.
Here in California, none of the state colleges or universities would
accept a portfolio. Neither would the major private schools like USC or
Stanford. They want some combination of transcripts and essays and test
scores and letters of recommendation and lists of "extracurricular"
activities.
I've really not heard of colleges wanting portfolios (with the exception
of art majors, of course).
I know of some private colleges that have happily accepted narrative
transcripts - not just lists of courses and grades, but descriptions of
what the kid has been doing during what would have been his/her high
school years.
-pam