HOME EDUCATOR'S NETWORK, INC HANDBOOK
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Table of Contents:

Introduction

Role of Parent

Role of Student

Joint Responsibility

Rules for Study Time

Getting Organized

Parent-Student Conference

Curriculum Guides

Forms

Class Schedule

Daily Planner

Areas of Difficulty

Grade and Attendance

Report Card

Six Weeks Summary

Lesson Plan Outline.

HOME EDUCATOR'S NETWORK, INC.

Home Schooling Handbook

Introduction

The suggestions offered in this handbook are optional. We are hoping that you find them useful.  Changes are on the horizon for Home Schooling, and the purpose of the handbook is to prepare you for those changes and to help you facilitate a successful home study learning program. This handbook contains all the information you will need to set up your program except the curriculum.  We do provide a suggested curriculum upon request.  But we have provided other sources of curriculum on this disk.

We would like to experience the fun of learning, and observing your growing self-esteem that results from your meeting challenges, tapping your capabilities, and enjoying one of life's most meaningful and rewarding pursuits. 

Role of Parents

1.  Communicate positive expectations.

2.  Provide instructional support.

3.  Monitor academic progress.

4.  Encourage responsible behavior.

5.  Foster positive self-image in your child.

6.  Always take a moment to review previous day's activities.
    This could be in the form of an oral or written review.

7.  Remember:  Home schooling can be isolating.  It is your responsibility to see to that your child has healthy, up building association.

As one student put it.  "There are two circumstances that can tear away at a young person's self-esteem - bad associates, and no associations.  This is were networking with other home schooling programs is a plus.

These can be dangerous and debilitating circumstances, so as parents, make sure to consider this need in your child.  Just as vital a part of life and learning is academic pursuits, so is the reed to feel loved and involved.

Identify and understand your child's learning style. This helps to enhance your instructional support.  How?  By having this knowledge about your child, will help you determine method of teaching, as well as the type of resources that you will use in your instructional support.

Role of Students

1.  Cooperate with your parents' efforts to guide and support you.

2.  Study times should be scheduled and regular.  Even breaks should be scheduled in.

3.  study in a quiet, well lit, and well-organized desk area.

4.  School books, assignments and homework tools - pens, paper, outlines, should all be organized in your area - NOT scattered all over.

5.  Avoid distractions from the T.V. phone calls, and so forth, until study time is completed.

6.  No studying on a bed.

Joint Responsibility

Parents and students should have a regularly scheduled parent-student conference time each week to review progress, assignments, in which to communicate needs, problems, and so on.  There forms contained in this handbook to help you set up these schedules.

Rules For Study Time

1.  Study in complete blocks of time.  (Parent and student can decide how long each study block will be, depending on age,  attention span and learning style of each student).

2.  Finish your assignments for each subject for each day.  Do now allow incomplete assignments to lapse over into the next day.  In other words, Do not get behind.

3.  Schedule breaks.  (Suggestion as shown on the enclosed form.  45 minutes of study, 15 minute break between subjects.)

4.  Parents and siblings should respect the study time, and not interfere with questions, conversations, chores. etc.  There are forms available for chores.  Study time is Study Time!

5.  Weekly work should be completed and recorded on forms provided in the handbook.  If we are keeping records for you, the grades for that week for each subject should either, be e-mailed to us or snail mail the form to: Home Educator's Network, Inc. P. O. box 666, Temple, TX  76504.

Getting Organized

This meant to help you as the parent to organize your child's schedule and study area. To break the monody of study area.  Create a study area in a corner of each room in the house for each subject.  Of course using the kitchen area for math and science. The wall in that corner can decorated to fit the subject matter.  

1.  Set a definite wake up time.

2.  Set a definite study time, scheduling breaks.

3.  Schedule your weekly parent-child meeting time (s).

4.  Decide where the study area will be.

5.  Organize the area with proper lighting, shelves for books and tools.  Outlines and homework should be kept in an orderly fashion in each area.

 Parent-Child Conference.

a.  Discuss strengths and weaknesses exhibited during the week.

 b.  Suggest ways that student can improve study/behavior skills.

c.  Parents should share his or her experience in overcoming some problems in learning that they might have had.   Shared experiences are valuable.

d.  Discuss personal needs - loneliness, frustrations, anger, etc.

ABOVE ALL:  PARENTS, be positive and encouraging.  Encourage your child to be independent in meeting academic challenges, but reassuring him or her that you're there to help and support.

REMEMBER:  Self-esteem comes from successfully meeting challenges.

Curriculum Guides

The curriculum guides are from k-12.  These are provided as guides as to what you should be taught in each grade level.  The order in which you teach should be sequential.  In other words, building on pre-learned information.  These guides are in harmony with most school district, with some minor variations.  You will need to check with your local district to verify variations if any.  You will have to create your lesson plans or search the internet for applicable lesson plans.
  (At http://www.google.com enter lessosn plan + that subject that you are about to teach.) 

You will need to purchase your own,  textbooks.  The ones that we suggest are, the Core Knowledge Series books, by Ed Hirsch, for the lower grades, and Cliff's Notes for the higher grades. Also for higher grades, there are e-textbooks. We suggest these books, because they are very good books, easy to use, cost effective.

 FORMS
RECORD KEEPING

Please Print Forms, before reading this page.  Click on the link to get to the form.  By looking at the form at the time you read this page, you will get a better understanding of how this is done.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Class Schedule  reflects the time of day the subjects will be taught.  This helps your planning.  It also will reveal to you when the student is at his best during the day and when he or she is not.   For example.  for some students, the earlier the hardest classes are, the better he will do.  Still others are a little slow waking up in the mornings, and the lighter classes or subject may be best for him first.  These are things you have experiment with until you find the suitable time for your child.

DAILY PLANNER

Daily Planner: The Home School Academy Daily Planner, designed for the purpose of making a daily record of what you are going to teach, what activity you are planning for that day, or what the student will do that day. As you read these instructions, Please have this form in front of you.

Date:

DATE:  From_____________  To:_____________________

The Date From and To should cover at least one week of work.  The from date should be entered in the from:  Ex.  January 11, 1999, or 1/11/99, To:  January 15, 1999 or 1/15/99.

Subject: 

Across the top of the planner is a place for the subject.  You list across the page in the Subject box, the names of the subjects.  using of course, page 2 if necessary.  Be sure you have your core subjects listed. The last two boxes maybe an elected subject that you are going to address for that given week.  Like computer literacy.  The next week you might use, another extra short subject.

Day of the Week:

In this section you will write in what you are going to be studying in English on Monday. If you are making your choices daily from the Hotlinks section,  you would put in the topic for that day for English.  If you are using the curriculum guide, you would put in the topic and/or sub-topic for that day that you are going to teach.  The same steps would be followed for each subject and each remaining day of the week.

Follow through each day as shown for Monday and Tuesday. Begin each new day with review of the previous day's activities.  If you are using the curriculum guides, it is so noted in each day's activities.  Friday should be review of  the week's activities.  This can be oral or written.  Make sure grades are recorded for each days activities.  Areas of difficulty should also be noted on Friday, and you should setup your program for the next week.

AREAS OF DIFFICULTY

Areas of Difficulty: This form is used weekly or daily.  As you come upon areas of difficulty, go over those areas on the Friday of that week of occurrence.  Note that area of difficulty on the following form.  The purpose is to review this information again at the end of the six weeks or at the end of the semester. You might also note the URL so that you can go back to it if necessary.

       GRADE AND ATTENDANCE RECORD

Grade and Attendance Record:   This form is used to keep grades/scores of daily activities and tests.  There should be one page for each subject, for a period of six weeks.  If grades are kept on a regular basis. At the end of six weeks, or semester, it would be a matter of averaging up the scores, and placing them on the Evaluation form for the given six weeks.   1st  2nd or 3rd, and so on.

Student: 

Of course on this line, goes the student's name.

Subject:

On this line goes the Subject that is being taught.  English/Language Arts, Science, Math, or what ever it might be.  One page per subject.

Week No, and Day of the Week

This section gives week number, and the days of the week.  There is one extra column, that you may use to average the activities or tests for the week. Or it may be used however it best fits your needs.

Date:

The date should always be entered, for tracking purposes.  Example.  On this date an assignment was given, and was not completed.  An "I" can be entered there, on this date under the score/grade boxes,  and should remain until the assignment is completed.  Also, this can be another way of identifying areas of difficulty.  You will know the subject, topic, unit and the date. The planner should also reflect what the topic was.

Score/Grades

The scores and grades should be entered in these boxes keeping note of the date, unit, topic, or  test.  This will help you visualize the areas of  weaknesses and strengths.  This help you to know what you need to emphasize in your reviews, and tests.  Looking at the scores here you would know what areas student is having difficulty.  This area also involves a little math on your part.  Here is the formula for arriving at the average for the week:  (Mon score + Tues. score + Wed score, + Thurs. score, + Fri. score, the sum divided by 5 will give you the average for the week).  Let say you only recorded scores for three days, then the sum will be divided by 3.

Unit, Topic, Test

In these boxes should be the activities that student completes.  Each activity recorded here should be graded on the date that the unit, topic, or  test was completed. Each assignment, test or activity should be named as such.  Remember each subject should have a separate grade and attendance sheet.

Now, Let us Tie it altogether:

1.  The student's name is John Doe
2.  The subject Mathematics
3.  On Tuesday, February 4, John Doe, made 50 on a practice exercise in mixed numbers. And his average for that week was 78.4.  Which isn't a real bad grade.   

What does this tell me I need to do?
Can this grade be improved? 
If yes, what areas do we need to work on?

On Thursday, 02/06/98 for example, his score was 70. You should make note of this on area of difficulty. You look at the areas where the lowest grades are.  Check your daily planner, or your grade and attendance record, to see what was done on that day. Review information for that day again. Could use some different activities, possibly software or a fun site to help this situation.

REPORT CARDS

Six weeks Report Card: This is the proof of the pudding.  How well did the student do?  How well did the teacher do?

Student's Name:  Of course the student's name goes in this blank.

Semester: One semester is composed of three 6 weeks periods which is equated to a total of 18 weeks. Another system that may used is the quarter system.   you have two quarters per semester, composed of two nine week periods.  Either of these will give you a total of 36 week for one complete school year.  So you will enter that information here.  First semester, grades.

Date: The date the report was issued.

Student's grades should be entered here.  If it's the First Semester, and the First Six weeks, the grades should be entered in those boxes.  The grades come from your week averages on the Grades and Attendance Record, divided by six.  This will give you the final grade for that six weeks.  There is an extra box for a subject that you might to add.

Strengths:  These are the good points that should be noted about the student.  For example:  Studies well,  personal participation, etc.

Weaknesses/Needs:  The negative things should be listed here, like attitude if it's bad.  personal motivation if it need work, etc.

Goals:  List some goals, academic as well as personal goals.   What would you (student) like to achieve  over the next six week period.

Plan:  What is your plan to reach these goals, or improve some academic area, in other words, how are you going to reach that goal.

Six Weeks Report Card:  The student's final grades go here for the each six week period for the first semester, and same for the second semester.  These grades come from the weekly averages, on your Attendance and Grade sheet.  You will only need to use one page (Attendance and Grade Sheet) per six week per subject. 

Report Card For 9 Weeks

Student's grades should be entered here.  If it's the nine weeks, and the First Six weeks, the grades should be entered in those boxes.  The grades come from your week averages on the Grades and Attendance Record, divided by six.  This will give you the final grade for that six weeks.  There is an extra box for a subject that you might to add.

Strengths:  These are the good points that should be noted about the student.  For example:  Studies well,  personal participation, etc.

Weaknesses/Needs:  The negative things should be listed here, like attitude if it's bad.  personal motivation if it need work, etc.

Goals:  List some goals, academic as well as personal goals.   What would you (student) like to achieve  over the next six week period.

Plan:  What is your plan to reach these goals, or improve some academic area, in other words, how are you going to reach that goal.

Nine Weeks Report Card: 

Six week Reports Summary 

This form help to keep a running recorded summary of how the student is progressing.  The information that goes on this form, comes from your Attendance and Grade Sheet.  If Home Educator's Network, Inc will be keeping records for you,  This form along with the Attendance and record sheet should be mailed to us at the end of each six weeks.

Home Educator's Network, Inc.

Six week Reports Summary 

Student's Name:  _____________________________

School Year - ____________        Semester:_________

 []1st 6 Weeks              []   2nd 6 Weeks               []  3rd 6 weeks
Please check the 6 weeks this report applies to.

This report should be completed at the end of each week for the week's averages.  The total number of days should be counted and entered in the blank below.
This can also be done by making this report weekly to Home Educator's Network, for electronically setting up your transcript.

Total number of days attended this six weeks________.

Total  number of days you did not attend this six weeks:________.

 The last three blank boxes are for any extra subjects, work experience, that you might be involved in this six weeks.

Please complete and e-mail a, copy this page and  your attendance and grade sheets for the completed  six weeks to:

e-mail:  educator@vvm.com. or Snail mail to: 
Home Educator's Network, Inc. P. O. Box 666, Temple, TX, 76503-0666

©1998-99
All rights reserved
Home Educator's Network, Inc.

Lesson Plan Outline

This form is almost self explanatory.  Just Answer the Questions.

HOME EDUCATOR'S NETWORK, INC.

Daily Lesson/Unit Plan

 Course Title:  

What is the title of the subject that you plan to teach? Example Math, English, etc. 

Unit: 

What is the name of the unit or topic under that relates to the subject that you plan to teach.

Introduction:  

Give the student some background on the topic or unit, relating the how's, when's, where s' and why's, etc.

Performance Objectives:

What will the student be able to do one he completes the study of this unit, topic.?

Lesson Content:

What are you going to teach ?

Instructional Procedures:

How are you going to present the material to the student? (example, from a book, lecture, reference link on the internet, etc.

Evaluation:

What method of evaluation (testing) will you use? (example oral, written? If written, true or false, multiple choice, etc.

Materials and Aids.

What materials will you use?  Internet, text book, references, graph paper, telephone, etc. 

This form is for those who would like to create their own lesson plans or unit studies.

©1998-99
All rights reserved
Home Educator's Network, Inc.