Written by a homeschooling husband and wife team, College Prep Homeschooling is a handbook meant to prepare parents to teach through the high school years. Byers is a college professor, and homeschooling was the topic of his doctoral dissertation. This book is the result of his research and experience, as well as his wife’s day-to-day experience and wisdom.
They state in the first chapter that their purpose was to report the facts of homeschooling objectively in order to help others come to their own conclusions on the matter, although they make no bones of the fact that they wish to encourage parents to homeschool through high school. By the end of the book I decided they must be Christian, but they do not present any kind of religious slant or agenda.
There are twenty-seven chapters to the book, divided into five sections. I give the high points of each section below.
Section 1: Making the Choice to Homeschool Through High School
A brief history of homeschooling is offered in the first section, along with some statistics on how it has grown as a viable educational option. The Byers also tell their homeschooling story– their oldest child was hearing impaired and they weren’t sure the school system would optimally serve her. Dr. Byers was (and still is) a professor at a university, but his wife had never prepared for teaching children, and was a bit intimidated by the prospect. So when they began homeschooling, he drew up the plans and she implemented them. They agreed to a trial year. (They have homeschooled two through high school and right into college already, so obviously they decided it was working out all right.)
He lists fifteen thoughtful questions parents should answer honestly before deciding to homeschool through high school—such as “Am I willing to devote time, money and energy toward planning… actively learning about teaching… locating and buying high school-level curricula… teaching my child, grading her work, providing feedback and corrective instruction… locating sources for classes I don’t feel qualified to teach and transporting my child to and from these classes… etc…?” (I think these questions alone are worth the price of the book.)
Another valuable aspect of this section is the breakdown of what ought to be taught before and during high school. The Byers provide a checklist of pre-high school skills and go over the basic requirements a given college might have for an incoming freshman student, including test scores. They also devote an entire chapter to electives, and how to fit in the things the student *wants* to do. (I like this book a lot because they often balance the hard-hitting requirements with a little reminder to help the student have a rewarding and successful experience in a personal way.)
Section 2: Academic Discipline—Building Skills for Success in Higher Education (And in Life)
Dr. Byers highlights the skills needed to succeed in college, giving examples of struggles his own students often endure because of their inadequate preparation. He discusses self-directed learning, commenting that, unfortunately, many students associate learning with being entertained. He suggests the direction students ought to take in their studies: utilizing resources to find things out independently, learning from mistakes rather than simply repeating them, and answering open-ended questions rather than true/false or multiple choice. Open-ended questions are more than simple summaries or outlines of chapters, too. There is a detailed list of subject-specific ideas for developing critical thinking in this chapter. (I just love all the lists in this book.)
Of course, to be self-directed, a student must be self-disciplined, which includes proper time management, effective communication and personal organization. Professor Byers provides more lists detailing what constitutes self-discipline and what college professors will expect from their students. (At times I thought the book could properly be called, “What College Professors Wished Their Students Understood”.) The most important thing to me in this section was that he came out and said parents must be willing and able to hold their children accountable for their work—a challenge for me as I attempt to educate three children on three very different levels. I was inspired to not let assignments get away from me, and to hold my children accountable for the work I give them to do. It reminded me of a statement I once heard at a homeschooling conference: “Children do what you *inspect*, not what you expect.” I am taking my responsibility as “schoolwork inspector” more seriously as a result.
Section 3: Homeschool Teaching Approaches—What Works and What Doesn’t to Prepare Your Child for Higher Education
I was a little nervous as I started reading this section, thinking that because he is part of the ‘educational establishment’ he would bash the less traditional methods of homeschooling, but that was not the case. He divides methods into two categories: teacher-directed and student-directed. (His definition of ‘student-directed’ includes various levels of teacher/parent influence—in other words, ‘student-directed’ implies more liberty given to the student, but not total freedom. No, not even in unschooling, because even the decision to unschool has initially come from the parent.) He gives the benefits and drawbacks of each method and makes recommendations. (He has killer charts detailing all of this. Did I mention I love the lists in this book?)
For those of you who, like us, have chosen a CM-type method and would like to know how he presents Charlotte Mason method, he classifies it as “student-directed,” and gives it high marks where developing students’ self-discipline is concerned. The drawbacks listed include the assumption that the parent is comfortable with guiding the student through source documents and classical writings, and with teaching the student to present what he has learned. He seemed to like CM method nonetheless, saying, “Reading, writing and speaking about a particular subject are educationally sound methods for helping children develop critical thinking skills.”
The Byers classify their approach as eclectic—a combination of several different methods—and devote a chapter to providing details on their own program, discussing learning styles along the way.
Section 4: Creating Your Homeschool Program
The Byers recommend a balanced program that emphasizes discipline, independent learning and critical thinking. The first chapter in this section deals with selecting curricula. I was most struck by the concern that some publishers accelerate their curriculum, seemingly to lend credence to the idea that homeschoolers learn more rapidly than their public school counterparts. This is a valid concern and something to watch for. The Byers have noticed this most often when dealing with math and writing skills curricula.
They talk about articulating goals for your high schooler: writing objectives, developing courses (and writing syllabi), laying down and following a schedule, and how to align the learning with college admissions requirements. They discuss the benefits of doing this work on the front end, especially the comparative ease of writing transcripts when preparation has been thorough, but they also talk about how to write transcripts when the learning has been more open-ended. (I just love how they look at homeschooling from more than one perspective. They aren’t assuming everyone will be as formal as they were.)
Section 5: Preparing for the End
The actual discussion of transcript writing takes place in this section. The Byers give advice on how to prepare transcripts and portfolios, and how to write course descriptions. I found the many sample course descriptions very helpful.
In the last chapter, the Byers wrote:
“We wanted to provide you with the perspective of colleges, universities, and professors with regard to children being prepared for higher education so you can effectively plan your homeschool high school program accordingly.”
I appreciated the perspective they delivered and felt it was balanced. I didn’t agree with every recommendation they made, but I did find this a valuable book and plan to refer to it often as I lay plans for the coming years.
