As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I recieved a free 30 day subscription to the ACT, Discover Online Career Planning Program in order to review.
This program essentially plays the role of the high school guidance counselor. Just as a guidance counselor, the Discover program guides students down a career path, something that can seem like a difficult task for a parent who perhaps has not gone to college, or if this is your first high school student, where do you begin?
Here is how ACT describes their program;
ACT Advantage offers DISCOVER—the career planning system developed for professional career counselors and used by millions of students to develop a comprehensive career path.
"DISCOVER is jam packed with career tips and uses a proven developmental guidance process to help students:
Assess interests, abilities and job values.
Explore occupations, majors and schools.
Build an education plan that relates to career plans.
Improve job-seeking skills and develop a resume.
The DISCOVER career planning process begins with a research-based assessment system that allows students to assess their interests, abilities and values—a critical step to building a career plan based on personal strengths.
Students can then explore multiple career paths using DISCOVER's up-to-date databases of occupations (including military), majors and colleges. DISCOVER also includes the latest information about financial aid and scholarships.
Price: $19.95 for a three-month license, $24.95 for a six-month license."
All of this sounds fabulous, however, I was a bit turned off by the program before I even had my son try it out. As I have done with my others review, I tried the program out before even introducing it to my son. I want to have a working knowledge of the product, as well!
So, I signed into the program and began to take the inventories they offer, in order to "Discover" what career path would be a good fit. However, as I took the inventories, following the directions they gave, I found that the career choices they gave me, were not anything close to what I would actually enjoy.
I was given things like refuse collector, paper hanger, plumber, butcher, among many other crazy things that do not fit what I would see as my ideal line of work!
I continued through all of the inventories, and was not pleased with the outcome all the way through. I felt that the reports at the end of the inventories were not helpful whatsoever. They were long lists of jobs, that seem to be disconnected. If my high schoolers had this result it would not give them guidance, it would cause more confusion.
We have been able to look at their interests and their talents on our own, and come up with a career path that is much more suitable then what was 'discovered' through the 'Discover' program.
The one thing that I did like about the program was the resume section, which gave a tutorial and examples of how to write a resume.
If you do not have any idea on how to guide your child, or what direction they might want to go in, then this may be a helpful tool.
Please visit their website to see if it would be a fit for your family.
And please visit the crew blog for varying points of view!
When I first heard that we were going to be reviewing ABC Teach, I really was not sure if this would be an item that is relevant to our homeschool. After all, I thought of ABC Teach as a site with free worksheets for the early elementary ages. I actually had not been on the site for years.
I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. First it was nice to see that a lot has been added to the free side of the site. As part of the crew, we were given a free one month membership, in order to review as part of The Homeschool Crew.
As I started to work through the members site. I was struggling to see how I was going to use this for my kids. While there is a lot available, we are really do not use the worksheet/textbook learning style. And then I found it, the one thing I was avoiding, it was a little thing called ABCTools. With ABCTools you can create custom worksheets. And that is the tool that I needed, the one that I was looking for...
I created worksheets to go with our Spelling Program. I created Crossword Puzzles and Word Finds, to help reinforce the words they have been learning.
However, that is not all that is available. There are custom math worksheets, bingo, soduko, handwriting sheets and so much more!!!
I have decided to purchase a one year subscription for ABC Teach. If the only thing I utilize from the website was the spelling worksheets, it would be well worth every penny spent! However, knowing that I will have access to all the many more worksheets (over 35,000 worksheets in the members area) and the custom worksheet generator (ABCTools), it was an easy choice!
Please take some time to visit ABCTeach and see if it will be a good fit for your family.
Here is the current pricing:
$40 per user per year / $70 two years — individuals/groups 2-9
$35 per user per year — groups of 10-29
$25 per user per year — groups of 30 or more. **SUPER SITE LICENSE pricing available for groups of 100 or more. Contact support@abcteach.com for details.
Don't forget to visit the Crew Blog to see what my Crew Mates have to say about ABC Teach!!!
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine $7.95 and 10 FREE gifts!!!
For many years now I have loved The Old Schoolhouse Magazine! And it isNOT because I am a part of the TOS Crew!!! TOS has blessed my family, myself and my homeschool for many years now. Long before the crew was a glimmer in their eyes! If you have toyed with the thought of subscribing, now really is a great time! Times are tough for so many, especially families living on one income! I usually have paid $39 for 2 years. Right now their special is $7.95 for 1 year, plus 10 free gifts. Please see the ad below to see how to redeem this offer!!!
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Our Winter 2009 issue is absolutely packed with articles on support groups, preschoolers, and tips and tricks for teaching writing!
Winter is a wonderful time to get cozy and catch up on YOUR homeschool reading.
You'll find all the support and information you need to get re-energized for the upcoming new year inside each issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.
Just take a look at what's inside the crisp, cool cover of the
Winter 2009 issue:
Speech & Debate by Chris Jeub
The Fast Track to Memorization by Carol Barnier
Conflict in a Homeschool Group by Carol Topp
World War I: The War to End All Wars, a Unit Study by Jennifer Steward
The Spiritual Instruction of Preschoolers by Mike and Carolyn Riggs
Leadership Education for Followers: "Freedomship Education" Defined by Andrea Newitt
Top 10 Tips for Teaching Writing by Fran Santoro Hamilton
Support Groups: Cultivating a Garden of Friendship by Cheryl A. Bastian
Three Keys to Teaching Writing by Danielle Olander
The Three Flavors of Speech Communication by JoJo Tabares
The Princess or the Pack Mule by Denise Mira
Preschool: Start at the Very Beginning by Kendra Fletcher
Helping the Reluctant Writer by Lee Roddy
Homeschooling: Growing and Thriving in the 21st Century by Amelia Harper
Mix It Up . . . From Scratch! by Lisa Barthuly
When "No" Is Beautiful--And When God Changes It by Melissa Culver
Contemporary Classical Education: It Really Can Work for You! by Andrea Newitt
Magnetic Books by Jan Bloom
Ten Writing Tips by Ruth Beechick
Seven Gifts to Give Yourself by Molly Green
"Every issue is just like attending a homeschool conference--motivation galore! I receive many homeschool magazines, etc., but yours really stands heads above the rest." --Katrina V. Spring 2007
". . . The pages of TOS overflow with ideas and thoughts that make me feel right at home . . . I've always been annoyed by magazines that are full of advertising, but with TOS, I find resources that make sense for real life . . . You have helped me to have the best year of homeschool I've had yet!" --Vicky Spring 2007
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Remember, use coupon code 10GIFTS to get the special price and 10 gifts.
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Home of the frugal, eclectic, hands on, parent led, child driven and special needs learning. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
