Review: For the Newbie - Read When Your Oldest is in Grade 6 or 7 - I Knew All of This Already
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 22, 2013
Binz begins this short Coffee Break book with encouragement that homeschooling high school can be done and can be a superior education to public school.  She then advises we build "margin" into our lives (a reference to self-help books written by Dr. Swensen). She wants us to leave room in our lives to keep our sanity.Advice on choosing curriculum is given but it is general and Binz does not push one style or method of homeschooling or any specific curriculums. She and I are in agreement that weaknesses need to be worked on. Binz encourages homeschooling mothers to educate themselves about education and learning. As the teen years begin, Binz feels that the teens need to have input on choosing the curriculum and to respect their personal preferences. I agree with all of this.Next the typical high school scope and sequence is discussed. This is pretty common knowledge and is covered in some of her other Coffee Break ebooks: four years of English, four years of Math, et cetera.A chapter focuses on learning disabilities and struggling learners. This is a skimpy chapter and more will be necessary to truly inform parents of LD kids. She doesn't say much except to get accommodations for high stakes testing and look for colleges that have special services for disabled students (this covers kids with LDs).Binz then spends a chapter discussing different ways to collect data in order to write summaries and transcripts. This was not covered in any of the more than a handful of Coffee Break books that I read and I enjoyed hearing of different ways to collect the information (bins, binders and other ideas) and what types of lists to make. She recommends what to keep and what to throw away.The book wraps up with a short section on the main things to do each year, such as start thinking about college in grade 9, start planning for college in grade 10, and so on.The Resources section at the end actually contains a chapter on single parenting such as when you suddenly find yourself divorced.After purchasing this book look on the page following the cover to find a link to purchase a webinar from The Home Scholar for one penny. I just noticed that and have not done that yet.I rate this book 3 stars = It's Okay. I found the information very general and perhaps with a rising junior I am too far into the journey already to expect to learn anything new. This I think would be best for a parent of a 6th or 7th grader to read. It is a gentle 40 page introduction to the topic of how to homeschool high school.