Cindy Downes

Oct. 4, 2005 - Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers

Barbara Frank says that, Life Prep for Homeschool Teenagers is a "parent-friendly curriculum for teaching teenagers to live as morally and financially responsible adults." That is exactly what it is; and, how I wish it had been available for my own children!

The spiral-bound, 100-page book includes lessons for the work-bound as well as the college-bound teenager. It teaches them life skills by having your teen read, research, and complete real-life projects that are related to the concept being studied. By the time your teen completes the curriculum, he will have had hands-on practice in buying a car, getting a loan, purchasing car insurance, learning about credit cards (the good, bad, and ugly!), purchasing health insurance, renting an apartment, grocery shopping, paying utilities, buying a home, paying taxes, and keeping a budget. For college-bound teens, there is also a project on college applications and writing the college essay.

Here's an example of one of the projects. For the Rent Project, you child has to look up rentals in the newspaper, but not just in your own town, but also in several other areas. After your child completes his research on rent, deposits, late fees, amenities, etc., then he must create a comparison chart of his findings and discover for himself what the best deal is. I love how Barbara not only requires the student to research the information, but the student must also create lists, charts, graphs, etc. to discover where and how to get the best deal.

An excellent reading list of books recommended for teenagers is included, along with ways to evaluate your student's reading assignments. The books on the list cover dating, personal living, money, investing, and the working world. If you have a slow reader and/or a child who does not plan on attending college, I recommend using Barbara's reading list as your child's literature requirement, rather than having them read Shakespeare and the like. It will be much more beneficial to his life.

If I had had this book when my children were a teenagers, it would have saved hours of time locating resources and planning curriculum to teach these topics. Your child needs this type of real-life education in order to be successful, whether he goes to college or not, and Barbara provides an easy way to get it. I highly recommend Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers for every homeschool family.

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