Editor’s note: This blog post, originally released on May 18, 2018, was written at a time when Julie’s son Riley was doing World Geography. Now, Riley is pursuing a degree in Cyber Security through Liberty University Online. How time flies! 
Heart of Dakota’s plans make it easy to see what must be accomplished each day!
This From Our House to Yours will focus on high school planned meeting times. High school is a new and exciting time for parents and students alike! Heart of Dakota makes this transition smoother in 4 ways! First, Heart of Dakota guides use easy-to-follow 2-page daily plans, just 4 days a week. Second, each credit includes detailed plans labeled “T” teacher-directed, “S” semi-independent, and “I” independent. This makes parent and student roles clear. Third, parents love the detailed course descriptions, suggested grading, and transcript helps. Fourth, students love the clear plans for each day’s work! Finally, you should always check your individual state requirements for high school. But, your student should typically earn all credits and electives necessary by doing HOD’s 4 high school guides!
So, now that we know the plans are complete, how do we as parents correct high school work?
Each high school guide’s introduction has detailed suggested grading for each credit earned. From this, we can make professional transcripts easily and inexpensively by using each HOD guide’s course titles and descriptions. We can also use the website www.transcriptmaker.com to input our student’s transcript details. I especially love this website because it figures my students’ GPA automatically! With all of this help, the only thing I’m left with is finding time to teach and to correct work. I’ve found one successful way to do this is to use planned meeting times!
What are planned meeting times?
I use planned meeting times to teach and to correct my children’s work. We set specific times to meet within the day. I’ve found 2-3, or even 4 planned meeting times work well. My kiddos often complete some work independently first, and then they take this work to our first meeting time. My first meeting time with my 9th grader using World Geography happens around 7:30 AM in the morning. He comes with his completed independent work from the night before. (As he is a bit of a night owl, he likes to do about 1 hour’s worth of independent work for the next school day the night before.) He also completes his Bible from 7 to 7:30 AM prior to the meeting. Our first meeting time includes going over completed work from Bible, the Living Library, Spanish, and World Religions and Cultures.
So, what does he share from each of these subjects?
For Bible, he reads aloud his answers to me from Rooted and Grounded. He also shares his prayer journal, unless it is more private. On days 1 and 3, I have him say his memorized Scripture verses for me. I also correct his Common Place Book entry if he had one. (If he had Practical Happiness, I read it on my own and so does he, annotating as we read. We meet at the third meeting time to go over the devotion.) For the Living Library, he reads aloud his sentence summary. I check to be sure it contains the main characters, main goal and action taken, main conflict, and the setting. Skimming the pages of the book’s daily reading is enough for me to see if he is on track for this 10% extra credit assignment. I also check any special assignments noted for this in the plans (i.e. if he was to star, cloud, circle, etc certain things). I correct his Spanish using the answer key, and I have him orally translate/read the odd problems aloud referencing the key as needed. For World Religions and Cultures, I have him hand me the book he read open to the first page’s reading. I skim the beginning, middle, and end of the reading. Also, I read the key idea in the guide. Finally, we either correct his bookmark together, or I listen to his oral narration with book in hand.
What does the rest of his day look like?
After the first planned meeting time, he checks off the Living Library, World Religions and Cultures, Foreign Language, and Bible boxes. They are done – hooray! Next, we discuss what he needs to do for his EIW composition or R & S English grammar part of the plans. He works on this independently then, while I do a planned meeting time with a different child. His next planned meeting time is around 8:20 to 8:30 AM, whenever he completes his composition or grammar. I correct his written work by having him read it aloud to me. He reads with pencil in hand, making any corrections he sees he needs to make first on his own. Then, I help him correct any mistakes using the grammar answer key or the EIW daily plans/rubric. We check the Composition/Grammar box off in the plans, and he is off to chores and breakfast!
How does he finish out the plans?
After breakfast, he completes his World Geography, Geography Activities, Literature, and Logic boxes. I pop in the living room to hear his oral narrations, correct his map work, edit his written work, discuss/check his literature, and check his logic answers. We love this time together, and the key ideas and answer keys make it fairly easy on me! If he had Practical Happiness, we meet on the couch go discuss our annotations. (It is more private there, and this is a special time 1 on 1 for us!) Finally, he completes his Science with lab and leaves it out on the counter for me to correct. (I’ve let him correct his own science the second half of the year, as I corrected it the first half, and he always did well. He loves science! So, I never worry about him skimping on this.)
His math is taught by my oldest son, as he loves it and is a business major! This was their idea – apparently I get somewhat tense teaching math, and they prefer doing it together without me. Who knew?!? Anyway, the math answer key makes this last subject easy peasy to correct. Then, drumroll, we are done! Usually by 1:30 PM or so. Not bad for 4 days a week of high school! Hope this helps you see how planned meeting times can provide both special 1:1 teaching time and time to correct work!
In Christ,
Julie
This Post Has 2 Comments
Thank you, thank you.
You are welcome, Deanna! So glad to have been of some help!!!