The Management Consulting Group

With the proliferation of the Internet, there has been an increase in dishonest business practices. When enrolling in an online high school, you need to be careful that you are getting what you think. Diploma mills have become commonplace on the Web. These are companies that offer low-quality, false programs or courses and/or sell you a copy of a diploma or degree with your name on it.

Just as there are many fake schools, there are many legitimate ones as well. Before you enroll in any online school, you should:

1) Find out if the online high school is accredited. This is essential! First, make sure that the school is recognized by the Department of Education. Second, check to see if the school is accredited. Beware: The majority of diploma mills will be accredited. However, you will find that they get their accreditation from a company they created.

2) Watch out for promises of a diploma in a short period of time. If you are promised a diploma in a few short days, it’s probably too good to be true.

3) Beware of schools that offer diplomas based simply on life experience. A reputable school is not going to give you a diploma without requiring you to complete any schoolwork.

4) Check with licensing boards and professional associations . Find out if the school is approved and provides an acceptable level of education.

5) Contact the Better Business Bureau . Check to see if the school is operating in a legal manner and if anyone has filed a complaint. Chances are that if the school is a diploma mill, there will be multiple complaints.

6) Determine if the school has a reputable parent company . Many online schools are part of larger companies. If the parent company has been in business for many years and serviced numerous students, there is a greater chance that the school is legitimate.

7) Research the faculty . Find out who teaches the classes, what degrees they have and how long they have been teaching. Be wary of schools that do not have a list of faculty members. Check their credentials!

Beware! Most diploma mills charge a flat fee, require little or no course work, and promise to award a diploma in a short period of time. Fake credentials can compromise your credibility and reputation.

Take pride in your education! Do your homework before you enroll in any online school.

For information on high school homeschooling or additional homeschool resources, please visit http://www.alliedhighschool.com

Heather Brunson is copywriter and editor for Allied Business Schools.

Regardless of what methodology you normally use for your homeschool, unit studies can provide you with a nice break from the norm sometimes. They are especially nice whenever you’re trying to teach your child(ren) to think a little more about how the different parts of life actually fit together, and they can also give you a break whenever you’re faced with the doldrums.

So, how do you decide what subjects to persue whenever you’re ready to do a unit study? Well, take a look at your child and see what he/she is deeply interested in. Those are the subjects to pursue with your unit studies. Another way to decide what would make a great unit study is to look through your year’s studies and notice if there are any “holes” in subject matter that you think should be filled. Once you find that “hole,” you can find a unit study on that topic, and take a week or two to teach it. For instance, if your child finds black holes fascinating, but your science text book covers them in just a paragraph or two, then there is the perfect opportunity to do a unit study on astronomy.

Once you’ve figured out what you’d like to do a unit study on, all you need is a little time and creativity, and you can create your own unit studies. Assembling your own curriculum around one topic sounds difficult, but if this wasn’t the case, then educational companies such as “Teacher Created Materials” wouldn’t publish and sell as many great unit studies as they do.

There are 2 main drawbacks to designing your own unit studies. First of all, it takes time. If you’re a busy parent, this could be enough of a reason to take a trip to your nearest teachers’ supply store with your credit card in hand. Secondly, it may require access to a couple of grade-level subject books (ie science, language arts, or math) so that you know which skills are typically covered at a particular grade level. If you have a good library with an educational books department, then you may also have the perfect excuse to spend a long Saturday with a pocket full of change at the library with a stack of books. Another idea is that if you have a good set of Internet research skills, you can spend your Saturday tucked away at home.

Now that we see the drawbacks, what are the benefits of a unit study? You can teach whatever your heart desires. Plus, if you decide to create your own unit study, you’ll find that it is cheaper and more economical than tracking down a pre-made unit study. Furthermore, nobody knows your child as well as you do, and therefore nobody can prepare a unit study for your child as well as you can.

Whenever you’re creating your own unit study, you need to keep in mind that your unit study needs to cover all of the subjects that you’d normally teach, unless you plan to skip a specific subject and keep working through your regular curriculum for that subject. However, to create a complete unit study, you need to include the first 2 subjects from the following list and as many of the other subjectss as you can logically fit in there too. Now for the list:

(1.) Math - You need to create math problems at your child’s level. For instance, if you’re working with a young child on a unit study about baseball, then you can practice addition with bats and balls, write a story problem that talks about number of pitches thrown until the team reached the final out, etc. However, older children would need something that is more on their level. For instance, you may discuss the speed of the bat, distance the ball travels, or the number of hot dogs that individual team fans eat.

(2.) Language Arts - This area includes reading, comprehension, grammar and writing skills. While you don’t need to include every one of these items in every unit study that you write, you should have your child write something about the topic. A great suggestion here would be to have your child read a book about the topic then write a narrative telling you about what he/she read in the book.

(3.) Science - Sometimes a unit study lends itself quite easily to science, but other times you’ll find yourself having to work a little bit harder. For instance, a unit study on bugs will let you off the hook since the entire unit study is about science. However, if you are doing a unit study about ancient Egypt then you may need to take some time to look at the creations of the Egyptian engineers, study mummification, think about ancient medicine, or consider the tools that the Egyptians used to do their work.

(4.) Social Studies or Geography - This may be your main topic, but if it isn’t, then you’ll need to work some information into your topic. Some questions that can help you here include: Where was your topic first seen or invented? What culture surrounded the time or event? Where did this take place? You may also want to learn more about the people of that time period and place.

(5.) Art - Take time to draw, build, act, design or create. You could design a Roman mosaic, sketch an insect’s genetic makeup, build a temple from clay or LEGOs, create a tapestry to illustrate the unit that you’re studying (felt shapes work for quick tapestries when needlepoint takes way too long), or paint the flowers that you’re learning about.

(6.) Music - Sometimes music fits into a unit study nicely. For instance, you could always listen to some folk music while you explore the civil unrest of the 1960s. However, if you’re studying something more scientific, then you may need to work a little harder to fit music into that unit study.

(7.) History - Adding history to a unit study should be relatively easy, regardless of the topic. You could simply research when an event began or an item was invented or you could talk about the events and times that affected an item’s inventor.

(8.) Physical Education - Here again, you may need to be a bit creative. However, when you discover that physical education fits into your unit study, then you should definitely use it! For instance, if you’re studying the ancient Greeks, then you could run footraces like they did.

If you’re still not certain what to do for your very first unit study, try “following” your child(ren) around for a couple days and watch what they do. For instance, if your child spends all of his/her time engrossed in books, then think about a literature-based unit study (ie how books are made). On the other hand, your child may spend his/her time outside digging for rocks. Then why not do an archeology or rocks and minerals unit study?

Of course, there are some topics that you can use numerous times as your child(ren) grows older. These include:

(1.) Animals, horses, or mammals

(2.) Baseball, basketball, fencing, or sports in general

(3.) Cooking or catering (which may include business and economics information)

(4.) Kites

(5.) Flight

(6.) Transportation

(7.) Weather

(8.) Historical cultures (ie medieval history, ancient Egypt, etc.)

The spark of a unit study is lit whenever your child(ren) mentions an interest. Whenever they do, you need to write it down somewhere. Keep a running list of interests and you’ll soon have more than you’ll know what to do with. However, even if your child only shows a deep interest in one or two topics, you should take time to explore those. You may discover that you’re able to create several unit studies based on the first one as new interests are developed.

Many parents are very excited to begin home schooling their child. At the same time, however, they are also very scared. They worry about how to keep their child interested in the material, how they are going to fit everything in, and, of course, they worry about their child being happy. There are many resources for the home-schooled child. If parents utilize all the resources they have available to their child, they can guarantee their child’s home school success.

Parents of home-schooled children will find many resources available to them. Many public libraries have reading programs set up for young children and a home-schooled child able to benefit from them. Your local library will also have the variety of books your child needs to research subjects, as well as reading for enjoyment. Audio books, videotapes, and computer games are also available at many of them. The local library may be the resource you use the most to ensure your child’s home school success.

Other resources may be available in your community, as well. Many parents of home-schooled children have started up support groups. Often, these groups will plan activities for the children, such as field trips to museums. This will allow your child to interact with others, as well as give you support from others that have the same goals for their children. If there is no such group in your community, consider starting one up yourself. This will allow you to plan further for your child’s accomplishments.

There are also many online resources you and your child may use for their home school education. Many online education resources have material that you may use for helping your child to learn certain material. You’ll also find online classes are available for your child to take. Online classes are available in many subjects, such as English, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Business. Materials will be provided to your child and your child will be able to learn at their pace and receive assistance, as needed. These online classes are very helpful in teaching subjects to the child that the parent is not confident in and can guarantee your child receiving a full education.

The fact is there are many resources available to the home schooled child and their parents. Your community may provide a wide variety of resources, as well as enrichment classes for your child to enhance their education. By utilizing the available resources, you are securing your child’s home school success.

Do you want more information on Homeschooling or a High School GED?. Visit www.citizenschool.com/ged.htm and download a FREE 14 page report for a limited time only. If you need immediate help phone 1-800-736-GRAD(4723) or email studentservices@citizenschool.com. This article can be distributed and used free as long as it remains unchanged and includes links.
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Your home school curriculum can also incorporate your own religious and moral beliefs, something that no one but you can teach your own child. By taking control of a child’s education a parent can shape that child’s value system better than any other way.

It is not necessary to have a teaching degree or to even be a college graduate for that matter. Although it is a tremendous responsibility to teach your own child the education they will receive from a concerned parent will be much greater than they can get in a public school system. And if you don’t feel comfortable with some of the harder subject materials it’s possible to hire a tutor for those classes.

If you want your child to excel in home school you need to possess two things. One, you must have the desire to teach your children and two, you must have the determination to succeed with home schooling. With home schools that’s all it takes, a desire and some effort. With those two things your child can realize an education that will far surpass a classroom environment. Any parent can be an effective teacher if they truly have the desire for their children to learn.

There is no one else that will want your child to succeed as much as you do. And to progress at a better-than-public-school pace a child must have a teacher who knows them and wants them to learn. Many public school teachers are only in it for the paycheck. And most others have so many kids in their classroom there is absolutely no way they can give them the individual time and attention that a parent can with homeschooling. This is why home schooled kids have the potential to far exceed public school children.

The biggest hurdle that most parents face is being unsure of their own ability to teach. School teachers must go through many years of education programs before they are qualified to teach others while many parents have no training at all. But should this be the deciding factor?

You may be surprised at how effective you can be as your child’s instructor. School teachers are face with many obstacles and regulations that you will never have. They must overcome many children’s learning styles and behaviors, children with disciplinary problems, school regulations and a host of other things that will not be required of you. As a homeschool parent you are in charge of only one child, not a room full of children who possess different personalities that learn in many different ways.

In the public classroom, when it comes to curriculum, school teachers are required to follow a program and use materials that the public system as approved. Plus, they are bound to get through the material no matter how slow some of the children may be. You, on the other hand, with a homeschool curriculum can proceed at the perfect speed with home schooling. You can make sure your child learns a specific subject before going forward. And possibly, you can proceed much faster because there are no less intelligent kids slowing things down for you. In the public system you can only go forward as fast as the slowest kid, otherwise they will be left behind.

Another positive aspect to homeschool is your individual time. A teacher must start school precisely at a predetermined time and finish at a predetermined time. A parent can adjust the schedule as their children’s learning abilities dictate. It is usually much easier to deliver the subject matter more quickly one-on-one which makes it possible to delve deeper into certain subjects. Deeper examination can help a child understand things greater. By getting through lessons quicker it also allows more time for other activities and field trips.

Take a little time to search the web for ideas and lesson plans. You will find many different topics such as accredited home school, home school materials, Christian home school programs and more. If you think you can’t do it think again. With all of the resources, online home education groups, forums and your desire and effort you can help your child achieve a brighter future that they can achieve in no other way.

This article is brought to you by Home School Materials, an online source for quality accredited home school education information. Find resources for Christian home school curriculums, home school material, homeschool books and much more.