August 24, 2010

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Homeschoolers may be welcomed regularly into most of the nation’s colleges and universities, but the scholarship application process still favors traditional students.  It can be hard to fill out the required fields and qualify for scholarships if you have an unconventional education.

Here’s a great new resource to help fill this need:

David Craft and his family just launched a much needed Homeschool Scholarship website.  Upon seeing a great need, they decided to offer a homeschool scholarship through their own small business and are challenging others to give what they can to support the next generation.  If you’re looking for scholarships or are a business or charitable person who would like to sponsor a college-bound homeschooler, check them out and spread the word. 

Do you know of other good resources for homeschool scholarships?  Please share them with all of us in the comment section!

Posted under Homeschool Teens

May 27, 2009

Here’s some info I could have used when filling out those endless scholarship applications:

Josh Barsch reads lots of scholarship applications and helps decide who gets the money.  After seeing tons of mistakes on applications that many scholarship applicants made, he wrote a book, and now produces a website called ”Give Me Scholarships.”  He offers lots of resources to help kids not make “stipid mistakes” on their scholarship applications, especially in the essay writing department.

If you have a high school aged child looking for scholarships, make sure to check out his site before submitting that application and/or essay.

Posted under Homeschool Teens

May 21, 2009

A reader, Cindy, mentioned she would like to see more information for homeschooling teens, since it is pretty sparse compared to homeschool ideas for younger kids.

I don’t have any teenagers yet, but my with my oldest (9-years-old) giving me a the occasional “Whatever!”, I’m not far off

It seems a lot of kids return to school during the high school years and it is more difficult to help those who don’t, find social outlets and friends.

How do you do it?  Have you found something that works well that you could share with us?

Here are some of my ideas:

1. Church teen groups – Depending on your religious persuasion, many churches expend special effort to help provide wholesome activities and social groups for teenagers.  If you don’t currently belong to a church, ask around and find out from friends which teen group their family really enjoys.
2. Volunteer – Choose an area that your teen is interested in and explore the volunteer opportunities.  Ask around locally or try a site like Volunteer Match to find ideas in your area.
3. Intern or Shadow – Again, find what your teen is interested in, and find if they can shadow someone in that field for a bit or do a summer internship.  Many careers have shadowing and/or intern programs already set up.  Check with your local high school and college career centers for more info.  (I shadowed an emergency room doctor once a week for a few months before deciding to go to medical school.  It was a great experience!)
4. Activities at the local high school – In many states, homeschool teens are welcome to participate in team sports, electives, and extracurricular activities without having to go to the regular classes.  It’s a great way to make friends and also to find low-cost activities like band, choir, drama clubs, and team sports.
5. Host a group – Find a topic your teen and his/her friends are interested in, and help organize get-togethers, parties, and group activities.  You could help them put together a play, invite an author in to give them some novel writing tips, provide space and materials for building and launching rockets or drawing cartoons, help them launch a group blog, send them to the movies once a week and have them write a group review and rating for the local paper . . .  The possibilities are endless, and many times all you need to do is provide a bit of direction and resources.

Online Ideas:

1. “Homeschooling Teens” on Family Education
2. “Why Homeschool Teens” on HSLDA
3. Search Yahoo Groups for Homeschool Teen Groups, or start one for your area.
4. A-Z Home’s Cool Teen Resource Page

Your turn:  What are your best ideas to help and encourage teenage homeschoolers in their social life?

Posted under Homeschool Teens, Thursday Topics