... what’s on my desk right now?

If you look closely, you will see a giant economy size Kleenex box (I’m getting a little cold - achoo!), a red scotch tape dispenser, my favorite stapler, a magnetic paper clip holder, a red and white book marker from Morningstar Research Center (who knows where I picked this up-it must have been free somewhere!) my purple pen, a steno pad, “In” (full) and “Out” folder organizers and “The Complete Career, College, and High School Guide for Homeschoolers” by Jill Dixon, B.S. Ed., M.Ed. (in my purple notebook)

This e-book is just like having a Guidance Counselor in a Binder!

 As Home Educators one thing that can be a concern to us as our children near High School age is the possibility of a gap in the area of career direction. Sometimes a parent is their child’s best career advisor, but sometimes, an objective opinion of our child’s strengths, such as a school guidance counselor might be expected to provide, is desirable for the Homeschooled child.

It can be a challenge to try and find information on different types of careers for which our student might be suited based on their temperament and interests. Many career assessments are written with adults in mind and they tend to focus on helping an established adult change careers rather than helping a young person direct their thinking toward beginning a particular type of career.

Educational Diagnostic Prescriptive Services has done a superb job of assembling this book in order to help your student with this type of “self discovery”. This is a practical resource that will enable them to formulate a workable plan for their education and desired career.   

 (from their website) The 224 page guide includes:

 4 clear self–administered and self–scored assessments designed to find:

1) Your work and service preference and gifts

2) Your personality type

3) Your primary learning style

4) Your work environment preference

and match these with your 3 best College Majors and Careers

(Now, this is from me) The Book also brings insight to parents who are teaching their High Schoolers at home which will help us to determine proper coursework and create learning opportunities which will best suit our young adults. Including :

(and this is from their website – again)

• A list of college majors / Middle School and High School Courses and activities for each major
• Career Interview candidates for each major
• Over 650 occupations and the fastest growing jobs for this decade
• A complete High School Handbook which includes: High School Requirements, a complete list of Courses, Volunteer and Service Opportunities, ACT/PSAT/SAT Preparation, Calculating Your G.P.A., Preparing Transcripts, Applying for Scholarships, and more
• Several Forms for High School and Career Planning (*The guide itself can be used as an elective credit of ½ for High School)
• And more!

(me again) I have noticed that many High Schools require their 9^th or 10th grade students to participate in classes designed to help them with future career choices, so this course is appropriate and qualified to include in your High School student’s transcript.

My 9^th Grade daughter is learning and thoroughly enjoying the self assessment format of this guide and I am relived to have help in choosing classes for the next few years as well as validation of the courses we have chosen for her in the past.

I am impressed with how comprehensive the guide is. They didn’t include a list of all the “little extras” on their list at the website. Some of the things that my daughter and I both liked were:

 Detailed information on the types of college entrance tests and the differences between them

Suggested activities and Community service participation that can be counted towards High school credit

Advice from Homeschooled Graduates

 Samples of a transcript and Student Biography

 Information on CLEP and AP exams

  I am sure that my daughter will be better prepared for her High School, college and her career choices as a result of using this curriculum! Even students who are not interested in going on to college will benefit from using this curriculum as it does not have a narrow focus.

The guide helps the student and parent find the educational plan and the future career which suits them best by taking into consideration the many dimensions of personality, temperament and preferences instead of simply drawing conclusions based on a students strengths and weaknesses which are not the only indicators of what would be a good career for the individual.    

E.D.U.D.P.S. has two other great products that we are currently using and reviewing for “The Old Schoolhouse Magazine”. They are “Roots and Fruits” and “Write With the Best” (Vol. 1 &2). I plan to write a more detailed review on our use of each of these products in the very near future, because they are wonderful!  

“The Complete Career, College, and High School Guide for Homeschoolers” is available in soft cover for $39.95 or as an e-book (not a PDF) for the one that I have used most extensively with my daughter and I want to do justice to each one of these terrific resources so that you can decide if they might be just what you have been looking for!   The information on the Guide is on their website here: http://edudps.com/career-guide-details.html

 “Write with the Best” Vol. 1 is available in a 3 ring binder format for only $24.95, printed pages only (no Binder) for $22.95 and is on sale in the e-book format for only $14.95. Volume 2 of the set which teaches expository and informative writing, continues with some of the same wonderful features that I love such as;

The use of real literature to illustrate descriptive writing to young people and encourage them to model their writing after the great writers (such as my personal favorite - Charles Dickens J)

The lessons involve nominal teacher prep –which encourages independent learning and allows Mom to catch up on the laundry!

It employs short lessons that can be used with different age groups which appeals to lots of styles of Homeschooling

And it provides specific guides for your writer so that they can check their rough drafts and correct them before you evaluate their writing. These parameters serve to make writing an enjoyable process for the student rather than a discouraging task and help them to see that they can succeed in this important area of communication.  

 “Write with the Best” Vol.2 is only $18.65 for the e-book format, $29.95 for the soft cover and is available in printed pages only for $ 27.45

http://edudps.com/WWTBVOL2.html

“Roots and Fruits” vocabulary program is useable with young students and yet still interesting to older students. The program emphasizes an understanding of the vocabulary word rather than just memorization of a definition. Mrs. Dixon makes suggestions for ways to use “Roots and Fruits” with different age groups and all of these books keep in mind the different learning styles of children. http://edudps.com/roots-and-fruits.html

This book is available as an e-book for the excellent price of only $11.25, the soft cover is in a comb binding for $19.98 and you can get the pages only (to put in your own purple notebook like me;) for $17.48.

It is obvious that Mrs. Dixon is a gifted teacher. Her experience and wisdom shine through immediately in the practical organization of the material, the teaching tips and suggestions and the consideration for the unique character of Home education.

I can highly recommend these resources to you.

Hope you will go and check out for yourself all the other great items and free excerpts that are available on their site!

Have a good Week - Merit K