Career-Based Electives for Teens

Electives are an excellent way to delve into topics and interests – no matter how strange they seem – in your child’s middle and high school years.  There’s your typical shop and home economics, but also specifics like aviation or hieroglyphs.  Think back…when else did you have so much freedom to explore?  As homeschooled teens, the world is their oyster!  

Elective classes give them a chance for career exploration, too.  Your student may discover that he doesn’t really want to be a veterinarian after all….or that he loves to write!

If you want some inspiration or just a quick-start guide, discover several free downloads of elective course curricula for specialized electives in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Choosing electives for high school can be both exciting and nerve-wracking.  If it’s a class outside of the core curriculum (required courses for graduation), then it’s an elective class.  What do colleges want to see?  What does your child really need?  And how do you know what to pick…?

Electives can be a good way to make high school fun, to bring some moments of levity to a day crowded with the intense courses found in these upper grades, particularly in a college prep scenario.  What is your child interested in?  Which hobbies does s/he gravitate toward?  Are there any career interests yet?  This is a good way to let colleges know more about your student, as they see which electives made the cut and ended up on the transcript.

If your student doesn’t know what they want to take and / or doesn’t have a field of interest for a possible future career yet, it might be time to check out a Career Exploration course.  The Career Clusters Student Interest Survey is an inventory that helps narrow down your child’s field of interest based on preferences, hobbies, and skills.  It takes about fifteen minutes to complete and then shows the top three fields of interest for possible careers.  This metric includes sixteen different ’career clusters,’ including jobs ranging from entry-level to professional, and is a great way to determine elective choice!

If you have the opportunity, it will benefit your student to take elective choices aligning with his or her career interests.  This will help with determining if that is a good fit (it’s better to find this out in high school than once you’ve paid for that college training!), and will give them some introductory level knowledge, which can be a leg up in the job market.

Have an open discussion about future goals and plans with your high schooler.  Are they considering college?  Military?  Vocational-technical school?  Starting a business?  Each of these post-graduation paths will benefit from a variety of elective opportunities.

Depending on their future goals, create your high school plan.  First fill in your state graduation requirements.  Then add in all the interest-based ideas your teen has and work toward filling in the elective, and sometimes the core classes as well, with those interests.

Be sure to check with your local and state laws regarding what is required for graduating from homeschool high school.  Note the classes, credits, and other details so that when your student reaches their senior year, your transcript is ready to roll.  If you need help, the Sparks Academy School Counselor can help with creating a four-year plan

Discover more inspiration at:

Homeschooling Teens: College or Career Track?

For the last few generations, the collegiate years have been a crucial part of the growing up experience.  The system has changed, however, since my generation attended college, and it’s failing.  Inflated costs have driven up student debt so high that many cannot fathom how to escape it upon graduation, even with a good job lined up.

Also, because so many students are still being funneled into colleges, even with the prospect of crippling debt, there are too many graduates for the available jobs.  Students are either going on to graduate school, in the hopes of getting a job in their chosen field, or taking whatever job they can find.  Simply put – there are too many professionals being graduated, and not enough professional jobs.  

Or as Mike Rowe put it —  “America is lending money it doesn’t have to kids who can’t pay it back to train them for jobs that no longer exist. That’s nuts.”

Rowe continues, “Schools have done away with vocational training to focus on academic learning, creating a one-size-fits-all model of college-to-workforce that doesn’t recognize the real opportunities in the workplace and the real needs of society.”  And while it’s true that there are many careers which do require advanced training, such as those in the medical field, but not every career will require that four-year degree, and companies are just now starting to respond to this realization.

See the four traditional paths from high school – university, technical college, military, and career – in this article on ways to cut down on the cost of college.



General High School Help

As the homeschooling community continues to grow, one of the biggest concerns we hear from parents is that they don’t know what to do for high school…
  • Must-Read — Teens’ Guide to College and Career Planning 
  • Before this homeschooling life, I worked with eighth, ninth, and tenth graders…and loved it!  Teens are so exciting.  They are old enough to have a real, heavy conversation with (and it’s really fun to explore the basis for their opinions), but young enough to still need and want guidance (even if they won’t admit it).  From those years of experience, my experiences with my own children, and just the sheer memory of being a teen myself….here are five suggestions for motivating your student.
  • The Homeschooling the Upper Grades e-book is a collaboration project with bloggers from around the world, covering a wide variety of topics and issues facing the homeschooling parent of teens.  Twenty-two topics spanning special needs learners to academically gifted, and college to career-oriented students, are covered in this free download.
  • Worried you’re going to miss one of the pieces for moving from homeschool to college?  Here is the help you want with transcripts, scholarships, and making the transition!  In Through the Door, you and your teen will work through thirty-three modules to smooth the way from homeschool to college life.
  • Looking for high school help?  It’s not the academics for high school that are nerve-wracking so much as it is all of those ‘special things,’ like testing, applications, and deadlines that must be met for a smooth transition into college.


Career Exploration

Maybe your teen knows exactly what s/he has wanted to be since childhood.  Maybe they have no idea.  A little career exploration is good for both scenarios, as it helps to better understand what those jobs truly entail…

  • Must-Read — Career Planning for Teens: Discover The Proven Path to Finding a Successful Career That’s Right for You!
  • Career-focused electives can be a good way to make high school fun, to bring some moments of levity to a day crowded with the intense courses found in these upper grades, particularly in a college prep scenario.  What is your child interested in?  Which hobbies does s/he gravitate toward?  Are there any career interests yet?  This is a good way to let colleges know more about your student, as they see which electives made the cut and ended up on the transcript.
  • Career Exploration guides seventh through twelfth grade students to discover their career path or college major.  This eight-week elective course provides possible directions to the next step.  Each lesson includes informative articles, self-inventory worksheets, relevant links to additional information, and inspiring true stories.
  • The Career Center offers a whopping fifty-five different courses, ranging from eight weeks to full-year, to help your student further explore their interest and see if it is a good fit.
  • Parents can also pull together resources to create a year-long, career-based course for their student’s interest – such as this one on Architecture.  For technical or hands-on careers, check with your local community college to see if they have dual-enrollment high school programming.


Maturity / Relationships

Teens are navigating a tricky time of life, caught between the worlds of adolescence and adulthood.  Now is the time to talk about all those hard things…before they take the next step.

  • Ask Powerful Questions
    • Explore the clarity of intent, connecting through rapport, creating openness, reflective listening, and empathy. How can we explore the space between ourselves and others, and exchange meaningful perspectives? Just ask—powerfully.
  • Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen 
    • The fourteen essential conversations to have with your tween and early teenager to prepare them for the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead, including scripts and advice to keep the communication going and stay connected during this critical developmental window. 


Read Prior to Graduation


Organizational Skills

Whether it’s a bedroom, an office, or digital life, having a good system of organization can save your student time and trouble down the line…


Life Skills

Resources for a wide range of students and their needs…


Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is something every parent should help foster, age-appropriately, from the earliest years.  We want our teens to go out into the world with eyes wide open…

  • Must-Read — Do the Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations
  • Looking to focus on critical thinking skills?  This Guidebook Set features four books, each with multiple lessons that are direct, concise, and help students relate concepts to their daily lives. Two of the books are designed to make students think about thinking and thought processes.  The other two books are motivational and inspirational in nature, showing examples of people who trudged through difficult times to make a difference in the world.
  • Literary Adventures for Kids is a language arts curriculum that fosters both writing and critical thinking skills.  There are five different year-long classes to choose from, each including a blend of classic and modern books and encouraging students to ‘think beyond the book.’


Technology Skills

We live in a digital world, and any path your student chooses is going to require certain technological skills…beyond the cell phone.

  • Must-ReadFuture Skills: The 20 Skills and Competencies Everyone Needs to Succeed in a Digital World
  • Regardless of the path, all students need to become familiar with the Microsoft Office family. This elective curriculum uses project-based learning to teach critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and out-of-the-box thinking skills. It celebrates students’ creativity and innovativeness and allows students to learn by creating solutions, all while introducing learners to a full range of Office skills.
  • Using short, online unit studies, this site introduces your student to apps, online programming, and other ‘new tech’ being used currently in both educational and on-the-job settings. Students develop skills and practice through short, fun projects.
  • The Guide to Digital Student Projects is an excellent starting point for learning how to organize via computer (as opposed to the old-school, paper method).


Test Skills

We all know that test skills are a must for college entrance exams, plus academics in general, but many careers require occasional training and testing as well.  It’s good to brush up on those skills…

  • Must-Read — Mind Over Scatter: Conquer Any Test with Sharper Focus and Less Stress
  • Do you have high school students who are considering college?  One of the steps they’ll need to take is standardized testing.  This is especially important for homeschooled students as it helps to provide outside validation to the grades on their transcript.
  • Even if you know the material and are prepared for your test, it’s completely normal to experience test anxiety.  In fact, to a degree, anxiety helps you perform better on the test!  However, too much can prevent you from doing your best…so what test skills do you need?

10 Blunders That Are Sabotaging Your Student’s Productivity

Are you struggling to find productivity in your day-to-day? Are you feeling like you are constantly putting out fires and not making any progress on the things that matter most to you? If so, you’re not alone. Many people struggle with productivity because they are making some common mistakes. In this blog post, we will discuss 10 blunders that are sabotaging your personal productivity. Once you become aware of these mistakes, you can start taking steps to correct them and finally get stuff done!

Blunder #1: Not Having a Plan

One of the biggest productivity killers is not having a plan. If you don’t know what your goals are or what steps you need to take to achieve them, it’s going to be very difficult to get anything done. You will likely find yourself spinning your wheels and getting nowhere fast. Take some time to sit down and figure out what you want to achieve. Once you have a goal in mind, break it down into smaller steps that you can take to get there. Having a roadmap will help keep you on track and prevent wasted time.

This will get you nowhere fast on both the little things AND the big things. When looking at the major life decisions for what comes after high school, it’s easy to get stymied by all the “what ifs.” Do a little research and choose a path, you can always course correct later. Download the free Homeschooling Help book or pick up the High School to College course.

Blunder #2:  Not Breaking Down Tasks Into Smaller Steps

Another common mistake people make is not breaking down tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. When you have a big project or goal that seems overwhelming, it can be tempting to just try to power through it without taking the time to break it down. However, this usually leads to frustration and a feeling of being stuck. Instead of trying to tackle the entire project at once, break it down into smaller steps that you can complete one at a time. This will help you stay focused and make progress until the task is done.

Something I’m always telling the students at Sparks Academy, particularly as they begin to tackle large assignments, is – “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” A racer runs a marathon one mile at a time. And a good student tackles a large project one chunk at a time.

Blunder #3: Not Scheduling Time for Important Tasks

If you don’t schedule time for the things that are important to you, they will likely never get done.  It’s easy to fill up your day with busy work and put off the things that really matter, but this will only lead to frustration. Make sure you schedule time for the tasks that are most important to you, and stick to that schedule as much as possible. This will help ensure that you are making progress on the things that truly matter.

The ability to prioritize important tasks, culling the wheat from the chaff, is a hallmark of a good leader, and leadership skills are important for all kinds of successes in life, from employment to relationships. See how to boost your leadership skills here.

Blunder #4: Not Having a Dedicated Workspace

One of the biggest productivity killers is not having a dedicated workspace. If you are constantly working in different locations, it can be difficult to stay focused and get things done. Make sure you have a designated space that is just for work. This will help you stay focused and avoid distractions.

It’s possible to work from your kitchen table, but having a private workspace makes getting into the study zone much easier. Having set work hours and visual cues, such as a small sign or wearing headphones, will let well-meaning family members know you’re working.

Blunder #5: Not Taking Breaks

It might seem counterintuitive, but taking breaks can actually help you be more productive. If you are working non-stop, you are likely to get burnt out and make mistakes. instead of trying to power through, take a break every few hours to recharge. This will help you stay focused and avoid errors.

Your break can be a walk around the block, shooting some hoops with a sibling, or picking up a musical instrument for a bit. It could be having a snack or taking a field trip to town — after all, every field trip doesn’t have to be long and / or exotic…

Blunder #6: Not Staying Organized

Another common mistake people make is not staying organized. When you are constantly trying to find things, it can be very frustrating and time-consuming. Make sure you have a system in place for organizing your work so that you can find things quickly and easily. This will save you time in the long run and help you stay on track.

Get a hold on this with the Rise & Shine Student Planner. Each month contains an at-a-glance calendar, with space for notes and a to-do list. Weekly pages are broken down by day, and daily pages provide space for habit tracking, notes, meal planning, and an hourly planner.

Blunder #7: Trying to Do Too Much

One of the biggest productivity killers is trying to do too much at once. When you are constantly jumping from one task to another, it can be difficult to focus and get anything done. Make sure you are prioritizing your tasks so that you are only working on the most important things. This will help you stay focused and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Having a plan will help you keep on task.

Blunder #8: Procrastinating

One of the biggest productivity killers is procrastination. When you put off tasks, they tend to pile up and become even more daunting. Make sure you are staying on top of your tasks by setting deadlines and holding yourself accountable. This will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and ensure that you are making progress.

Are you easily distracted, noticing every sight and sound around you? When working on a task, are you often side-tracked and have a difficult time focusing? Procrastination is one of the hallmarks of distractibility. Learn how to focus more easily, which will help your studying.

Blunder #9: Not Getting Enough Sleep

One of the biggest productivity killers is not getting enough sleep. When you are tired, it can be difficult to focus and get things done. Make sure you are getting enough rest so that you can be productive during the day. This will help you avoid feeling exhausted and ensure that you are able to focus on your tasks.

Eliminate this blunder with the New Year, New Me Habit Tracker. This reusable calendar features monthly at-a-glance pages and weekly pages with space for notes and planning. Each week also has a habit tracker grid to help keep the momentum going with your new habits!

Blunder #10: Not Eating Healthy

Another common mistake people make is not eating healthy. When you are not getting the proper nutrients, it can be difficult to focus and stay on task. Make sure you are eating a balanced diet so that you can maintain your energy levels and avoid feeling sluggish. This will help you stay focused and productive throughout the day. 

It may take some adjustments in your shopping and cooking habits, but eating real food (and not nuking it in the microwave) is so much healthier for you!  Your body will appreciate the difference, and after a little bit your mood will improve as you begin to feel more energized. Check out the No Sweat! Cooking Bundle for quick, easy, and healthy meal ideas.

There are many common mistakes that people make that can stand in the way of their personal productivity. By avoiding these mistakes, you can ensure that you are able to stay focused and get things done. Make sure you try to implement some of these tips so that you can increase your productivity and achieve your goals.

Learning the Art of Discernment

Nike says, “Just do it.”  While spontaneous decisions work well at some points in life, there are other choices that require a depth of thought and consideration that won’t allow you to ‘just do it.’  Maybe something doesn’t feel right, or maybe it feels completely right…how will you know?  This is where discernment comes in to play.

To discern means to judge, evaluate, and distinguish.  Some people come by this naturally, while others must develop it, yet those who are gifted with discernment are often seen as judgmental, critical, and unloving.  However, we live in an age when ideas are spread globally within an amazingly short period of time, and discernment is the only way to cut through the noise and find the important, and correct, information.


A good discerner understands falsifiability and knows the difference between an argument and an assertion.  What should you know?

  • Argument – a claim supported by reason or logic
  • Assertion – an unsupported claim, often an opinion
  • Falsifiability – capacity for an argument or hypothesis to be proven wrong
  • Did you know – Facts can be both true AND false!!
  • Nice and charming do not equal honest.  Often when someone is accused of teaching something false, someone else will defend them by saying “But they are such a nice person.”

Decision-Making

In decision-making, the three steps of the discernment process are awareness, understanding and action.  All three are important — if you make a good decision, but fail to act, you’ve ultimately made a poor decision.  If you fail to apply consideration, and act hastily, you’ve not chosen well.  Therefore, it is important to go through the process completely.

Some decisions will be personal, such as where (or if) to attend college, where to move to, or whether to take that job.  Other decisions will be more general, yet no less important, such as who to vote for or how you feel about a particular issue of national / world importance.

Awareness

Know yourself.  This includes your hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses.  How do you perform under stress?  What is your ideal career / future plan / {insert decision here}?  How do others see you?

Start at the beginning.  What do you already know about the decision ahead of you?  What are the pros and cons, or the various factors?  What kind of support do you have?  Are there multiple perspectives involved?

Understanding

Give it time.  Not all decisions will have the luxury, but if you have the time to wait, do more investigating, and ruminate upon your decision, you may find that you do better.  No one is impervious to this process — folks familiar with scripture will remember that even Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Spend Time in Thought / Meditation / Prayer.  After making a decision, but before action, you should feel a sense of inner peace with your decision.  This is a feeling of tranquility about the next steps, and not just relief that you’ve finally made a decision.

Action

Get going.  Whether this means applying to college, putting a down payment on a house, accepting that job, going into the voting booth, advocating for a group or issue, or however else your decision manifests itself…now is the time to act.

Evaluate.  Every action has a reaction, a consequence.  There are both good and bad consequences, external and internal.  Internally, how do you feel now that you’ve acted?  Do you still have that peace?  How have others reacted to your decision?  Do you need to reevaluate and course correct?

It is worth remembering that you can’t please all of the people all of the time.  Ultimately, you are the one who has to live with yourself, and so it is important to focus on the internal response.  (Obviously, if your decision was to commit a felony, there will still be an external response you need to heed….)


Developing Discernment

Practice through Literature

These books can be difficult for students to plow through at times, but the online unit studies help break down their components, allowing students to practice predicting and analyzing, both of which lead to stronger discernment.

Parents can use these books to teach kids to ask meaningful questions, recognize bias, and stand up for themselves…


Learn about Worldviews

In a world that is constantly struggling for peace, having a better understanding of belief systems and values can help us to understand different people and cultures…which may lay the foundation for a thoughtful progression amid a multitude of complex cultures.  These courses provide that background.

Be a Detective

Develop Supportive Skills

Read (or Watch) the News

Remember to look at sources from both left-leaning and right-leaning media.  How do the stories compare in tone and coverage?  Try to find one topic and look at the stories on each side.

An Age of Revolution! Exploring World Change in Your Homeschool

From the mid 18th century to the mid 19th century, the world underwent a series of revolutions across many areas of life, including culturally, politically, economically, technologically, and through war. Call it the age of Aquarius…call it a response to the world connectivity spawned by the age of exploration…whatever the reason, new ideas and actions swept the world, changing it forever.

The American Revolution, largely influenced by the Enlightenment period, is considered the beginning of the Age of Revolution.  Then came the French Revolution, Irish Rebellion, Haitian Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, and civil unrest in Spain and Germany.  Shortly after the War of 1812, European powers came together to form the Holy Alliance in an attempt to restore the monarchies and prevent future unrest.  Less than a decade later, there were uprisings in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal.  The working class would no longer sit back, and around the world they began to demand more rights.  

The Age of Revolution also includes the Industrial Revolution – this is when mass production in factories replaced hand-made goods, led to the growth of cities, birthed consumerism, and eventually led to the transportation revolution.

American Revolution Resources

Novel Studies

                  Take a Virtual Field Trip


                  Hands-On / Funschool Learning


                  World Event Unit Studies


                  Additional Reading


                  Government Resources


                  Complete Courses


                  • For more resources, check out Expansion, Independence, and War! It covers both American and world history. Students will learn about major conflicts in American history, spanning from the French and Indian War to the September 11 terror attacks.
                  • The American Revolution course introduces elementary and middle school students to the key battles and players of the Revolutionary War and incorporates history, geography, reading, critical thinking and analysis, and cursive writing throughout.
                  • From the discovery of the New World to the end of the American Revolution, let Dave Stotts take your family on a Drive Thru History. Join him as he takes you to the places where America was born, shares facts about history you have never heard, and has a great deal of fun along the way. Plus, enjoy a special set of worksheets only available here!  Find out more about Drive Thru History

                  Download the FREE World History Timeline with Study Connections!


                  Legal Documents Every 18 Year Old Needs


                  After eighteen years of caring for your child, it can be alarming to realize that on that magical birthday, they suddenly take on ALL the responsibilities of adulthood, whether they are equipped or not. Young adults who are eager for independence may push back against a request to sign a college power of attorney, believing they don’t really need it or you’re trying to control them.  However, at some point or another, most young adults find themselves in over their heads, may end up in credit card debt, wind up in a car accident, or get into trouble at school. All of these are scenarios you, the parent, could assist with at age 17, but cannot once they turn 18…unless you have some legal protections in place ahead of time.

                  Medical Emergencies

                  HIPPA / Healthcare

                  HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is a federal law that creation national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.  This act also contains standards for individuals’ rights to understand and control how their health information is used. 

                  The act was created to make protect individuals’ healthcare information, but comes into play with your adult children when, at age 18, you can no longer legally go with them to appointments, inquire about test results, or even find out why they are in the hospital unless the child has given express, written consent.  

                  A few of the things you need HIPAA consent for include:
                  • Appointments
                  • Test Results
                  • Insurance claims
                  • Billing
                  • Benefit eligibility inquiries
                  • Referral authorization requests
                  Protect your child by having him/her complete a HIPPA authorization form.  Send one to the college and keep one on file at home.

                  Medical Power of Attorney

                  A medical power of attorney form is strictly for health care choices should your son or daughter become incapacitated.  There is also the option of a general durable power of attorney, which covers financial decisions as well as medical.  Find your state’s medical power of attorney information here.


                  Financial / Durable Power of Attorney

                  Durable POA enables a designated agent (such as the parents) to make financial and medical decisions on the student’s behalf.  When signing it, your child can choose whether that power transfers immediately or only if s/he becomes incapacitated.  You can also write in start and end dates to reassure that this is a limited power of attorney for college.

                  Powers may include:
                  • Managing bank accounts
                  • Paying bills
                  • Filing taxes
                  • Applying for government benefits
                  • Breaking a lease

                  A durable power of attorney document applies only in the state in which it was formed—so if your child is attending school in another state, you should secure power of attorney for the other state as well. Some states also require the signature of a witness or a notary public.

                  College-Specific

                  FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.  The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

                  Generally, schools must have written permission from the student to release any information from a student’s education record.  This includes class schedules, transcripts, and grade point averages, but also extends to financial records within the school, such as scholarship information and money due, and living circumstances, such as dorm room assignment or any personal issues the student experiences.

                  Protect your child by having them provide written permission allowing the school to discuss all FERPA-related topics with you, as needed.


                  Protect Your Child in 10 Minutes

                  You can get all of these young adult power of attorney documents at Mama Bear Legal Forms.  It’s considerably cheaper than going through a standard lawyer because this is what she does, and she has templates for each state, rather than re-creating the wheel each time (it’s the time that costs you more money).  

                  You’ll want to have these in place before your child goes off to school, but don’t fret if you’re running behind — there’s no time like the present!  The package includes: HIPPA, FERPA, power of attorney for health and finances, plus a free App for scanning, storing and sharing.  If you visit through this link, you’ll also save 20% off your order.