Good luck to the punks having to take their ACTs at 8 a.m. on Saturday. What a waste of time and money.....

One week until A17 takes the ACT......

I HATE STANDARDIZED TESTING, and I have not made that a secret.  I do not think standardized tests are an accurate representation of the majority of students (99%). 

They are an archaic measure at best and need to be done away with. 

My kids have always tested above-average but that does not even matter to me. 

Some kids/people are just not good test takers but it is a nonnegotiable matter at the moment so we will play along.  Good luck A17 and the rest of the guinea pigs taking the test next Saturday!

Ramped up studying for the ACT......

Kudos to you if........

you are homeschooling a high school student.  You may want to read this article in its entirety.  Here is the summary but you may need $$$muchos dineros to pull this off.

Harvard wants homeschoolers:

Top schools including Harvard, MIT, Duke, Yale, and Stanford are all actively recruiting homeschoolers. These schools don't just grudgingly accept homeschooled students, they do everything they can to get them in the door, recognizing that homeschoolers are often better prepared for college than their brick-and-mortar schooled peers.

ACT help.......

More helpful ACT links.

ACT science
ACT strategies and tips
ACT math prep
More ACT tips and tricks

ACT....yeah you know me............

                                          Great ACT online practice tests.

ACT Crash Course: Last Minute Tips

ACT Blitz: 10 Rules for 2 Extra Points on the ACT

ACT Math 21 Concepts to Boost Your Score

The HARDEST ACT Math Problems

Kid #2 heading to the ACT........

I just do not know where the time goes.  C18 is in college and A16 is getting ready to take the ACT.  I am just posting a few more resources for test prep.  You can find other blog posts here for resources that C18 used.





~ACT official website.

~So I found these great online flashcards at Union Test Prep.

~Hit the jackpot here at Power Score Test Preparations.  They have four ACT practice tests with answers in PDF format.

~Prep Scholar math.

~Best ACT prep.

~Free Test Online.

~Great math review videos can be found here at Mometrix Preparation.

Seriously hate standardized testing and have many blog posts about testing but since they must be done.....

it certainly helps when they come back positive.  A16 just finished up her last standardized test to end 10th grade and head into 11th, and she nailed it.

Many of her scores were "post-high school," as in super awesome.  So proud of both of my girls!  Life gets better and better every single day!  Feeling so blessed.

Homeschooling Q&A........

I am going to take a minute and answer a few questions for the homeschooling community that have been submitted as comments on various post through out the blog, and this post specifically about graduation.  I had to disable the comments for public publishing for a number of reasons but I do read them all and comment back if I know who you are.

Anyhoo, my recent post about graduation.  The question was if you homeschool year round but the homeschool groups have graduation in May like traditional school, how does it play out.  So this is a good question.  We homeschool year round because it just makes more sense.  When kids are out of school for three months straight, their brains start to die plus in GA, it is 99 degrees all summer long so we tend to stay in during the hottest parts of the day so why not do school work?  Plus it allows for more frequent breaks, taking a break if you are sick or they are sick, being off on your birthday, moving, vacation, being random, and just free time.  For example, both my girls love to be in movies, and GA is the place to be for that!  Recently, they have both been filming two different movies for months including several overnight shoots which leaves no time for anything but sleeping and eating, the day shoots really are not school friendly either since they are usually out for over 12 hours.  After they wrap this second movie, it is back to school full blast.  They love participating in the movies and are lucky they can so there is no way I would let a math lesson take that away from them.  Real life experiences are far more educational than anything a book can teach.

So we homeschool from August to August every year.  Graduation is usually in May, sometimes June.  As I talked about in the other post, public schools will allow a student who has not met all the "graduation" requirements to walk with their class for graduation but will be given a blank, unsigned diploma.  At that point, the student has to meet the requirements over the summer to be able to receive their official, signed diploma.  Same thing with homeschooling.  Your child can participate in as many ceremonies as they like but until they meet the requirements and attendance, they are not officially graduated by the state you live in.  When you file a letter of intent to homeschool, you specify your child's academic calendar and will be held to that calendar accordingly.  We have a few friends who start in September so they can participate in a graduation ceremony but will not be recognized by the state until the attendance has been met.  September is many months away from May and/or June.  

Another person asked how to submit transcripts for college admissions when you have not determined the final grade for the year.  When C17 was filling out her admissions applications, her transcript reflected the fact that she does not have a final grade for the 12th grade year as of yet.  Obviously if the school year has not ended, there is no way to know the final grade.  Her transcript said in progress and had a mid-term grade.  Don't worry too much, she still was accepted to four colleges without final grades on the transcript.  I think colleges are more laid back now because so many kids dual enroll these days.  If you are dual enrolling, most likely your child is in 11th or 12th grade (sometimes 10th grade but this is a little ridiculous to me--dual enrollment is great but its not for child) and have no final high school transcript anyway.  It is also possible that your child has not taken an ACT, a PSAT, or a SAT either but they can still dual enroll and go proceed with college classes.  If your child does not dual enroll and applies to college in the 12th grade, the ACT and/or SAT are mandatory and hold a lot of value.  They pretty much speak to the schools.  

So the bottom line is don't worry.  Your child can be accepted to college without being officially graduated from high school.  

I hope that explains it.  Always check with your state's guidelines about anything you are unsure of. Thanks for the questions.  

Happy homeschooling...........

Tomorrow is C17 last go at the ACT.......

She did well enough the first time around to get in pretty much which ever college she wanted but she is going to take it again for the sake of taking it again.

Good luck, C17!  You got this!

ACT round 2 coming up......

Even though C17 got a great score the first time around, she is going to take this test one more time in February.  Some students take the ACT three or four times before applying to college.  The nice thing about this is that the tests are super-scored so only the highest scores will be used by the colleges.  

Mommy bragging rights..............

So proud of my girl for getting ACT scores, the first time taking it, better than good enough to get in to almost any school she wants.

She said next time, she will do even better!

Way to go C17!

ACT testing is finally here................

Tomorrow is a big day for several high-schoolers we know; C17, my nephew, a handful of friends, and thousands of high-schoolers!

It is the final ACT of the year.


So good luck to all of you students and way to go to the parents that have helped them get this far and are willing to get up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday and drive them to their testing destinations!


Click here for a checklist of what to bring and what not to bring.
Peterson's tips.

more tips.

Great video.

Poor guy, he has no idea she still has 3 hours to go on the ACT prep.....

Smokey is over ACT prep........

We shoved everything on the table back so C16 could work on ACT prep so Smokey seized the opportunity to take a nap there until she was done.

ACT.........is not easy as 1, 2, 3................