Wednesdays with Words: Perseverance not Panic

Today I finished Lee Binz’s Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (I didn’t read through all the examples in the appendixes, but I can refer to them as needed). Miss A is only six weeks into 9th grade, but it has already been a bit overwhelming: longer reading lists, a part-time job, various writing and other opportunities for her. And using a Charlotte Mason inspired, literature-based curriculum makes it a bit trickier to figure out courses and grades. So I really appreciated that Binz included so many examples and strategies for record-keeping and preparing transcripts and course descriptions. Her message is clear: Don’t change the way you homeschool, just learn how to translate that into the “language” that colleges and universities will understand. I was intrigued by her “Sticky-Note Strategy”, which looks like a great way to record both delight-directed (like Miss A’s penchant for writing) and literature-based learning.

Another thing I loved was her encouragement not to get intimidated by the big picture, but just to be faithful to do a bit at a time (those “little drops of water”), keep good records, and focus on character over academics:

It was the steady Tortoise that won the race. By working at a steady pace, with perseverance not panic, you will be in the best possible position.

And she reminds us to do it with love:

The secret of your success will be the love you have for your child. The love for your child will teach you what they need to know, how they learn, what they are missing, and how to prepare them for the future.

Highly recommended for homeschool parents heading into the high school years!

Also read/listened to this week:

  • Hubby: still working on Gulliver’s Travels and Roots of American Order
  • Me: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – beautiful writing, creepy, but rather morally ambiguous :/
  • Miss A: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  • Mr. D: The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin D. Wiker – one of his science books this year
  • Mr. E: Peanuts Treasury by Charles M. Schulz – I found a hardcover in great condition at Half Price Books last week!
  • Little L: George Shrinks by William Joyce
  • Little R: Busy Trains by Peter Lippman (the same copy I poured over as a child 🙂 )

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