Latest / The Christy-Faith Show / Ep. 131 - How to Homeschool High School With Confidence (Part 1 of 4) // Natalie Mack

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Ep. 131 - How to Homeschool High School With Confidence (Part 1 of 4) // Natalie Mack · The Christy-Faith Show

• 0:00
  Christy-Faith: Welcome to the show, everybody. This is gonna be great because you're gonna be able to meet one of my favorite people in the homeschool space, and her name is Natalie Mack, and she is a beautiful person inside and out. But although we all care about that and that is wonderful, we wanna talk to good, amazing people. She's also an expert in homeschooling high school, but not just how to homeschool high school, which we will get to, but an expert in the different pathways that our students take through high school. So we're gonna do a four episode series, and I'll have you introduce the series in just a second, Natalie, on what each episode is gonna be about.
• 0:41
  But first, I wanna read your bio because one, it's pretty impressive. And two, I don't wanna mess it up.
• 0:45
  Natalie Mack: Okay. Oh my gosh. And it's long. Oh my. Okay.
• 0:50
  Christy-Faith: So are you ready for the look. I'm even gonna put my glasses on for this. Natalie Mack, master of education, is the founder of Homeschool Natalie Mack, and a homeschool consultant, TEDx speaker, and author of a 101 tips for homeschoolers. With more than twenty three years of homeschooling experience, she helps families confidently navigate high school, transcripts, college admissions, military service, and other post secondary pathways. Natalie is passionate about equipping parents with practical guidance so they can make informed decisions.
• 1:38
  And can I add to that bio? Yes. That whenever you're in whenever you're in the same room with you, you make people feel special.
• 1:45
  Natalie Mack: Aw. Okay. Don't know. Didn't put on my eyeliner today because I forgot. So that's a good thing because I would be crying.
• 1:55
  I'd be chilling right now.
• 1:56
  Christy-Faith: And when I am gonna be at a conference where Natalie is, it feels like we we just run up to each other and hug each other and Yeah. Wanna have lunch, and we try to if we can. And I don't know. I just I just always have appreciated you, Natalie, and what you do and your heart for homeschooling. And you are so well equipped and qualified to be guiding the moms who are listening to this episode today and the next four episodes.
• 2:26
  So before I'm gonna ask you a little bit about your family because I think that's important. Yeah. But first, would you share really quickly what our four episode series is going to be on? Today, we're gonna do episode one on
• 2:38
  Natalie Mack: Homeschooling high school with confidence, what parents really need to know, and that's today. And then and then episode two is homeschool athletes in the NCAA, what families need to know before college recruiting. So that's for those families who you might have been successfully homeschooling K through eighth, you wanna continue, it's working for your family, but you have an athlete who has said, I wanna play in college. I wanna play the sport I love. And you pause and you think, oh, I can't do this.
• 3:10
  I have to now find a brick and mortar. No. You don't. No. You don't.
• 3:13
  So we're gonna talk about that episode two. Yeah. I've lived it. That's why I can say it adamantly. Yes.
• 3:21
  Episode three is from homeschool to college. We're gonna talk about community college, dual enrollment, and the college transition. And so that's and I've lived that too, the dual enrollment part. On that episode, we're gonna
• 3:32
  Christy-Faith: talk about whether you do four year or dual credit. That episode is gonna encompass all of that, you guys. So Exactly. Just if they're going to college in any capacity, that is the episode for that. And then this is so important, episode four.
• 3:49
  You know, I know nothing about this. I'm excited to learn a lot on episode four.
• 3:53
  Natalie Mack: I hear that all the time. So and that's totally fine. So episode four is from homeschool to military service, enlistment, ROTC, service academies. You might say, what's that? Military academies that are like West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Merchant Marine Academy.
• 4:12
  And we're talk about a little bit more like National Guard and something called military service colleges. You might say, well, how is that different than the academies? So tune in to episode four.
• 4:23
  Christy-Faith: Yes. Yeah. And I thought that would be great. One, if you want a lay of the land, you can binge all four episodes, but also there's gonna be moms who kind of already know that path. So that's why we're separating them, and I'm really excited to do this series.
• 4:37
  I've told two people the series that actually, I just told my mom because she's here. She's actually upstairs helping me. Aw. She's so sweet. She's you know, it's it's now we're ending summer.
• 4:47
  When we're filming this, it's we're ending summer, entering fall, and my three girls are the same size. So I don't get any hand me downs. Oh. And so every season, we have to sort through everything, what doesn't fit, and she's upstairs helping me do that with the girls
• 5:02
  Natalie Mack: right now. That's awesome. Shout out to mom.
• 5:05
  Christy-Faith: I know. I love grandmas who come, and she's
• 5:07
  Natalie Mack: so supportive of grandmas who come. Grandmas who help. Right?
• 5:10
  Christy-Faith: Yeah. I know. I know. Yeah. But what I told her my point is, why did I even do that tangent?
• 5:17
  We don't know.
• 5:17
  Natalie Mack: It's not good.
• 5:18
  Christy-Faith: I said what I'm about to do, and she goes, Christy, that is such a good series. Aw. She's like, that's gonna help a lot of people. So first, we have a set of questions here today for you. But first off, we have had you in Thrive Homeschool Community to teach a master class.
• 5:35
  Yeah. Women loved that master class.
• 5:38
  Natalie Mack: Aw.
• 5:38
  Christy-Faith: I loved it too. And one thing I loved was in the beginning, you shared a little bit about your kids and the paths that they have taken. Would you take a moment to share that?
• 5:48
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. So we are a retired navy chaplain's family, served thirty four years military. Twenty three years, we homeschooled. Two years ago was Outlast, and we launched our youngest. So our youngest is a rising sophomore.
• 6:01
  He goes back to college this Friday. He's studying environmental sustainability and starting, like I said, sophomore year. He was passionate about conservation. So there's something there. We can talk later about some extracurriculars and importance of finding students' passions and interests and how you can segue those into not only the Common App and college admissions applications, but just their life and who they are.
• 6:22
  Okay, then the next child is our middle son, Noah, who graduated college two years ago. Just now this past May finished his master's in urban and regional planning. So he's excited about that. He's phenomenal. Then the oldest son graduated from American University School of International Service in 2019.
• 6:44
  He's now his own entrepreneur business owner doing well. And then the oldest are two girls. So our youngest is 32 and both of the girls went to Liberty University. The youngest one, the 32 year old was a division one starter athlete on the women's soccer team, The Flames, is now a licensed clinical social worker. So after Liberty, she did get her master's in social work.
• 7:07
  And then the oldest one is an international baccalaureate coordinator for a DC charter school and expecting our first grandchild in the end of November. Oops, I don't know if I was supposed to say that yet. It's not on social media, but anyway, here it is, it's out. It's out. So it's all good.
• 7:25
  And then and she also has a master's in international education, and she's conversing in Russian through dual enrollment and going to Ukraine on mission trips. And she speaks Mandarin, and that was through studying college and continued study and leading some high school kids to China about three or four years in a row through DC Public School. So those are our babies. Yeah. And I should have my son-in-law my son-in-law now.
• 7:54
  Right? He's yeah. He's our baby too.
• 7:56
  Christy-Faith: Was you well, I'm so was your son-in-law homeschooled? He was not homeschooled.
• 8:00
  Natalie Mack: No. But he's super excited, and he and they're talking about homeschooling. So yeah.
• 8:05
  Christy-Faith: Oh, great. Now did you and I just wanna clarify. You homeschooled your kiddos in high school.
• 8:11
  Natalie Mack: We did. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We started, two weeks before 09:11, so I'm dating myself. For the younger, listeners may go, oh, what?
• 8:20
  She's old. Right? So, anyway, I'm old, but I have wisdom and a little gray to show for it. But, yeah. So definitely, yeah, we started then, and we that was in 2001, of course, and we just continued on.
• 8:36
  So twenty three years. The two girls were ninth were nine years old and seven years old, and they segued from a Montessori private school. And then the boys were homeschooled all the way through.
• 8:49
  Christy-Faith: Alright. So Yeah. And I know Natalie's heart and I listeners, I hope you you see that was not a big brag sheet, really. No. She of course, you're proud of your kiddos.
• 8:59
  But when I say this is a person who is qualified to be advising us on making sure no doors are closed for our kids' futures in homeschooling Yes. Natalie Mack is the person to ask, and she is the person to trust. And she has done all the pathways clearly from the athlete to, yeah, to being a military family herself and also in postgraduate education, yourself and your kids included. So this is just so exciting to have you on. Today is that general show, just homeschooling high school.
• 9:27
  And I wanna dive right into the first question here. Okay. And it is what changes when a family moves from homeschooling the middle school years into high school?
• 9:37
  Natalie Mack: Yes. This is the scary part for a lot of families. Because again, they are thinking, oh, this is when it really counts. Right? As if the kindergarten through eighth didn't count.
• 9:47
  It did. Kindergarten through eighth is foundational, and it's the bonding. And one of the most important things during that period is establishing a love for learning. At least this is from me. Right?
• 9:58
  Yeah. But then when you think about transitioning to high school, that's when people get a little apprehensive in general. Not everyone. Some people jump right in and say, we're gonna make it happen. And that's good.
• 10:07
  But those, many people get a little like, oh, you know, little shakes, right? And so I think it's just this idea of like, how do I know what counts? How do I know what to do? How do I know what's important? Because it all feels important.
• 10:21
  And to some degree, there's levels of importance and some paths do require you to know a little bit earlier about that path so you can help your student, you know, successfully get to that destination, what I call post secondary destination. But in general, in high school, it's like this blank canvas is how I think of it. And I'm not an artist, but it's always stuck with me when I thought of this is a blank canvas that an artist is looking at, and then they start to paint or draw or whatever, and they are creating something. Sometimes they don't fully know, like, what it's gonna end up being, but they are, like, dabbling and figuring it out. And then at the end, it's this amazing masterpiece.
• 11:00
  And so high school to me is the same way. It's like you're figuring it out. You're helping your students figure it out. This is when they become more confident of who they are, their voice, their advocacy, what they're interested in. And so that's all transitional, but it doesn't have to happen all at once.
• 11:17
  And it's not something that you have to get perfect or correct. Like, there's some one perfect, correct way. So don't allow that worry and fear about, like, what's the right way, and I gotta walk through that gate, because there really isn't necessarily a right way. And all of this depends on your student that you are, you know, starting high school with, who they are, what's the perfect fit for them, and you're figuring it out, right? Because sometimes you don't know and the students are only, what, ninth grade?
• 11:47
  They may not know. Every once in a while you have a student who's like, oh, I wanna be a veterinarian. And they've shown that throughout their younger years and you see it and they continue to be adamant that's what they want. But most students really just don't know. And so they are kind of like thinking they should know too, but they might not need to know yet because they're still young.
• 12:09
  High school is what, only what, 14 years old ish, right?
• 12:14
  Christy-Faith: Yeah.
• 12:14
  Natalie Mack: On average. Like, you're still a baby, you're still figuring it out. So use those years to develop. But we can also say, let's create a plan. Let's develop a plan.
• 12:23
  Let's create a plan that will work for just about any pathway. And that way you keep your doors open, but you're not stressed about it. And I was just doing a recording for my own boot camp that is available for families to sign up for. And I was just doing a recording last night and I was just reemphasizing in those episodes I was recording was this idea of just calm down a little bit, you know? It's gonna be okay.
• 12:50
  And you're probably thinking, yeah, yeah, yeah. Need to calm down. Calm it down. Bring it down. You're in the thermostat and it's okay.
• 13:00
  It's okay. If you don't know something, it's okay not to know something. There's plenty of resources. You got Christy-Faith, you got me, you got all these people out here who can help you. Just make sure you're finding people that know what they're talking about.
• 13:14
  Sometimes these social media streets, just in general, you're just asking questions and everybody has an answer. And homeschoolers, we love to give answers. But sometimes you might need to just kind of say, okay, who has really been in the trenches doing the work? Who's qualified to lead me down this route? It's like anything else, get guidance.
• 13:35
  If you need insurance, you call insurance companies. If you need a doctor, you search around all the things. You find a Christy-Faith and now you're like, okay, now we got the real deal. So I'm going on and on, but I just wanna encourage parents that it's okay that you don't know everything. Just let's work on developing that foundational plan, and you wanna start with the end in mind.
• 13:56
  So
• 13:56
  Christy-Faith: yeah. Homeschooling four kids means I'm juggling roughly 24 different subjects at any given time. And a few years back during a particularly busy season, I hit a wall. I needed some serious help with the heavy lifting of teaching everything myself and managing schedules for four kids. That's when I found BJU Press Homeschool, and we've loved their courses so much that we keep going back.
• 14:17
  Some families use them for everything and love it. I use them for certain subjects. Either way, total mental load relief. Here's what my mornings look like now. Let us take science for example.
• 14:27
  My three girls do that one together. They fire up the lesson taught by a real teacher, well produced, actual teaching, not just click through busy work. And I sit there with my coffee, watch them, or make breakfast, and we discuss the big ideas. Every BJU Press homeschool course prioritizes critical thinking, a biblical worldview, and hands on learning. I just guide the conversation and pick which activity or pages or projects we want to do, and everything's already planned out.
• 14:52
  They have an online platform included for you called the Homeschool Hub, and it keeps everyone on track, both me and my kids, without micromanaging or nagging. And when I have questions, I call my Homeworks consultant. These people don't just help you get set up. They're available for you whenever you need them. It's like having a homeschool expert on speed dial.
• 15:10
  Go to bjupresshomeschool.com or click the link in the show notes to find out more. I wanna talk about homeschool math for a minute, specifically CTC math, who I'm so glad is sponsoring this episode because you need to know about them. I'm picky about curriculum, and there are a few subjects I won't compromise on, and math is on the top of that list. CTC math is what I use with all four of my kids, and it's an excellent k to 12 math program. Rigorous, thorough, comprehensive, everything I want my kids to have in their math education.
• 15:44
  But without all the stress, the tears, and me having to learn long division all over again. Here's what happens at our house now. My kids log in. A real math teacher walks them through the lesson four to nine minutes clear step by step. They do their lesson and finish up practice problems.
• 16:00
  The program grades them, and I don't have to remember how to do fractions with unlike denominators or where exactly they left off last week, which means I get to be the mom in the room. I can sit nearby, listen in, encourage, fold the laundry, and watch math get done beautifully. Easier on mom? No sacrifice on academics? Yes, please.
• 16:21
  Join me and tens of thousands of homeschool families using CTC math for their go to math curriculum. Links in the show notes. Grab your free trial today, and you'll see why we love it for our kids. When you were just sharing that, something came to mind. First off, is that, one, here's what I wanna acknowledge that as a society, we are told that we are not qualified to do
• 16:44
  Natalie Mack: this. Right.
• 16:45
  Christy-Faith: Okay? Right. But then also, we also realize why should a 14 year old have to decide what they're going to be forever?
• 16:54
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 16:54
  Christy-Faith: And, you know, I was an I was a very good athlete. I was a basketball player. I'm tall. And I remember staying in basketball when I hated it because it was what was expected of me. I believe that because I was good at something that meant I should be doing it.
• 17:10
  Right. And as soon as I could quit, I did. And then I pursued student government in college and loved that. Clearly, here we
• 17:17
  Christy-Faith: are today. Right? But
• 17:20
  Christy-Faith: but my point is is that here's what I want parents to hear about high school. Mhmm. And this is our flex as homeschoolers. Yes. We you know, I was in a a group of parents at it was at my church, and it was a whole bunch of parents that have high schoolers, and they were walking through the admissions process.
• 17:40
  The level of anxiety that these parents had Oh. Was it I felt it. Yeah. Physically felt it. And you know what?
• 17:48
  One comment was made. They felt really bad for their child that they have to basically decide their major now because their particular major, which I'm not gonna mention
• 18:00
  Natalie Mack: Okay.
• 18:00
  Christy-Faith: Requires a special school And not an inexpensive school. A type of school, and you really have to know you're doing that path.
• 18:09
  Natalie Mack: Mhmm.
• 18:09
  Christy-Faith: Other because they said, this is a lot of money. Yes. This is a lot of money for us. I mean, putting your kid through a private college is a lot of money. Right.
• 18:19
  And so and I was just thinking, one, unfair to the kid. Two, unfair to the parent. Like, why are we doing this to children, first off?
• 18:29
  Natalie Mack: Yes.
• 18:29
  Christy-Faith: So I wanna ask you this then, that this makes homeschooling the flex because if we homeschool in a way that gives our kids some breathing room to develop their self
• 18:41
  Natalie Mack: Yes.
• 18:41
  Christy-Faith: And their likes and their dislikes without pressure. Oh, you better do this internship if you wanna be a lawyer or else.
• 18:48
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 18:49
  Christy-Faith: I wanna will you talk about that? Because I I think that when yes. I think that will help moms calm down. You know, with because our society is the opposite. Like, you have to decide your path now.
• 19:01
  And then there is some wisdom to knowing if your child is bent towards humanities or bent towards sciences, which I want you to get into. Yeah. But, also, how is homeschooling that flex in terms of giving our kids some space?
• 19:16
  Natalie Mack: Right. Right. Yeah. So my thoughts on homeschooling is just exactly that. This is an opportunity to yes.
• 19:26
  Academics has its place and it's important. And we're not at all not saying that, but what I hear you saying is what I agree is that this is an opportunity too, to help your student just become more confident, to know who they are, to breathe a little, to dabble and explore, to become exposed, to find opportunities that just kind of like make them smile, right? Develop them as a person, because those are the foundational things that will help a student be successful anywhere they go afterwards. So we don't have to necessarily line up and do a checkbox and make sure that we're checking all the blocks. I will say for, like, NCAA, I will say for, like, a service academy, those are pretty unique paths.
• 20:11
  I will say, like you said, for some of the highly selective colleges, those are little bit they want some bells and whistles, and that's just the way it is. But in general, still, even for those kids, they need to know who they are. They need to be okay with who they are. They need to know, you know, what is their voice? What do they believe in?
• 20:29
  You know, what are they passionate about? What what difference do they wanna make in the world? You know, what impact do they wanna have? And trying to just kinda put them into a pigeonhole box, and that's not what parents are intentionally doing. So please hear me.
• 20:42
  No. I know. Yeah. Parents are not intentionally doing it. Many parents have chosen homeschool because they want that breathing room.
• 20:50
  They want that flexibility, but we tend to be scared. We're scared to really, like, accept that. We are really afraid to breathe because that might then make us choose a wrong decision or we misguide our children. And so, you know, it's really important though, because just to trust the process, like in the book that the 101 tips for homeschoolers I wrote, that's the first one, trust the process. And just, you know, you're the thermostat, so calm it down, calm it down.
• 21:21
  It's gonna be okay. And I know people say, no, yeah. You graduated five to college and da da da. So of course you can say that, but no, no, I even believed it. And I want to impart that to encourage families that it's okay.
• 21:35
  You're gonna be all right. You're gonna be okay. And you don't have to check all these blocks in and be so worried. Right? You don't need if you rev your if you allow yourself to be revved up, then that's what homeschool is like.
• 21:55
  And that's not your heart. Right. I don't wanna tear up. I'm tearing up. Yeah.
• 22:01
  Ugh. I feel passionate about it because I know how hard homeschool parents and moms particularly, because we're the main ones. There are some homeschool dads, so shout you out. But we want it so badly to do well. We wanna be told well done, and we get scared, and we try to do all the things at once.
• 22:18
  But I just you know, I don't don't. It's okay. And and the Sorry.
• 22:24
  Christy-Faith: And the definite no. I love that. And our definition of well done is different. Now what Natalie and I are we're we're both on the same page in regards to we don't want doors closed for kids. So and we'll talk about this in a minute where even if you think your kid is not going to college, she and I both believe I I did a a lot of counseling for college.
• 22:44
  We got a lot of kids into Ivy Leagues, and we worked with special consultants that were very expensive to help get these kids into Ivy Leagues. Yeah. And so that was that's a pathway that I'm really familiar with. But but one thing for sure is I can't tell you how many kids I know that they they I'm not going to college. I'm doing this.
• 23:01
  I'm doing that. Yeah. And then they do it for a year or two. Even they get a a certification and they do that, and then they decide they don't wanna do it, and they wanna go to college. And so I think that with one beautiful thing about that we can do with homeschooling also is just making sure that our kids have the coursework that they need, which is the next question that I wanna get to today.
• 23:22
  Okay. Because kids do change their mind, and we don't wanna shortchange our kids. Exactly. What we're holding in the balance is how do we preserve these last four years that we have with our kids?
• 23:34
  Natalie Mack: Yeah.
• 23:34
  Christy-Faith: Right? And we this is where they're asking the big questions about worldview. Right. This is when I want my kids home.
• 23:42
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 23:43
  Christy-Faith: And then, you know, I hear it like I was at a couple years ago, a party in my neighborhood, and they're like one of the ladies there who had a couple of drinks said, but you'll send them to real school for high school. Right?
• 23:55
  Natalie Mack: Oh, dear. Oh, dear. Dear. And I Yeah. Yeah.
• 23:57
  Bless your soul. Yeah. Yeah.
• 24:00
  Christy-Faith: No. I said I said, no. I'm not I'm not doing that. But but this is what is so hard that we hold because with people that don't understand how homeschooling is done, they think I'm sitting here teaching AP chemistry. Yes.
• 24:13
  Teaching AP chemistry.
• 24:14
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 24:15
  Christy-Faith: So Right. That's not how we do it. The kids are really independent. You know, I do it's almost like I'm the CEO of Lincoln right now in his high school. We give him a lot of space.
• 24:27
  He has to make mistake. He's he's making all these mistakes now. The planning, the executive functioning
• 24:32
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 24:33
  Christy-Faith: Managing his own schedule, making mistakes. I'm guiding him when he comes and asks for help. I'm being a safe person, offering help if he needs it, but I gotta let I want him to fail here in my house where it's safe. And so anyway but everyone loves homeschooling those little years, and it's nature walks and, you know, journaling and read alouds. And then I don't know if you know this, Natalie, but one of the reasons why I started showing up on social media I have a couple of reasons why I started doing it.
• 25:07
  And one of them is is it broke my heart how many parents quit homeschooling around junior high and high school.
• 25:12
  Natalie Mack: You tell me. Right. Yeah.
• 25:13
  Christy-Faith: And I'm I did not want that to be me.
• 25:15
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 25:15
  Christy-Faith: And I had to figure out a way for my own self Yeah. How to make this life sustainable with the resources that I needed so I can make it through the long haul because I knew enough because we worked with so many thousands of students, and we got you know, we the pathways into college and into the IVs. Right. And there were so many just really sad stories.
• 25:36
  Natalie Mack: Sure the
• 25:37
  Christy-Faith: kid got there Yes. And then was struggling with addiction or had to quit in the first semester. And it's like everything was done. You can't see my air quotes if you're listening, but everything was done right. And that kid was worked to the bone Right.
• 25:51
  To get there. Why?
• 25:53
  Natalie Mack: There. Yeah.
• 25:54
  Christy-Faith: When would that really have stopped the ultimate path anyway? If a kid wants to be a doctor, they're gonna if they really, really want it and they have the gumption, they're gonna do it. Right? Whatever that means. So, but what do let's talk about that for a second, that high school coursework.
• 26:10
  What do parents really need to understand about credits, transcripts, and graduation requirements?
• 26:16
  Natalie Mack: Yes. Okay. So I'm gonna segue back to what you were just saying a few minutes ago where we wanna make sure we keep doors open without this this living in a pressure cooker. Right?
• 26:27
  Christy-Faith: Yes. I love that. Yes.
• 26:29
  Natalie Mack: Living in an instant pot. Right? Yeah. So I just by the
• 26:35
  Christy-Faith: way, instant pot had a really good publicist the last decade. I threw mine I threw mine out yesterday. Oh, wow. Really? I was like, I don't need this.
• 26:45
  Natalie Mack: Right. Right. Okay. Let's yeah. So we don't we wanna keep doors open because kids do think they know what they want to do, and then they change.
• 26:52
  Or they don't know what they wanna do, and then they figure it out. So what does that look like? That means creating, what I call a sound foundation. There are what I call five c's that are core. So What are they?
• 27:05
  Yeah. The five c's would be, would be your your language arts, your English, you know, American lit you know, that whole English category, your maths, your social sciences, your sciences, and foreign languages. So you want to have those pretty much for the most part, other than the foreign language, most kids do like two years, unless you really love it and you can continue on, that's totally fine. But the other ones you wanna kinda like make sure you're getting at least three to four years of those in. And again, if you know where your student's going, like let's drop in here.
• 27:38
  If the student's going to a service academy or an Ivy League, or they're to NCAA, there are certain, you you wanna go four years with these things. Those are unique paths. So we're not gonna dig into those too deep yet, But just so people know, they hear it now. Right? But in general, you want those five c's, and then everything else is elective, passions, interests, those kinds of things.
• 27:59
  Mhmm. So typically, you're looking at how many credits per year to end up with a pretty sound transcript for your student. So I tend to say between like six and a half to eight credits a year, and a credit represents the work that your student has done. So typically we're working with one credit or a point five credit. You can drop them down to less, but it gets kinda hard to add all that up together.
• 28:28
  Right? So one credit would be equal to about a hundred and fifty academic hours, right, or more. And then if you're gonna do a point five, you're talking about half of that, which is, you know, 75. Now it doesn't mean you can't go over. Student really wants to dig deep.
• 28:44
  This is what homeschooling is. Like, you you know, you're covering a math, but they wanna keep going, keep going. They wanna segue a little bit and dig a little bit deeper into a particular part of history. Let them go, because that's all learning. And it's great that they recognize they want to do that.
• 28:58
  So you have that credit, and then you're looking at that every year, and you're building on the foundation. So you're starting with like, let's do a math because that's one that a lot of people like to talk about and worry about. So let's say a high school math is algebra one. So you're starting with that and then you're going on up and building. If your student starts high school math earlier before ninth grade, make sure you continue all the way because it doesn't necessarily look that good if they started and they really like went gung ho and then they stopped.
• 29:32
  What are you doing with those other years? Right? And so all of these courses, titles, credits, grades, right, will go on something called a transcript, and that is the best gift. I had an adviser, when I was with HSLDA, Carol Becker. So that's the best gift that you can give your student for graduation.
• 29:53
  It's not on their list because they got a probably like a DoorDash card or an Amazon card or something. Maybe a trip, maybe a new car. Who knows what? But literally as a homeschool parent now wearing that, what, guidance counselor hat, then the transcript. And so make sure you do give a transcript to your student.
• 30:11
  Even if they're not college bound, you don't know. Later on, two years later, they decide, okay, I did a little bit into trades, but to go deeper, I really need a degree. So, hey, mom, I need a transcript. And you're like, oh my god, you told me you weren't going to college. Now you woulda- Yeah.
• 30:29
  You know? Yeah. Now you gotta remember all that stuff and make sure you get it right because it is an official document. So, you know, just give them a transcript. And when do you start that?
• 30:40
  At the end of ninth grade so that you catch all of what you did for ninth grade or your student did, and you just create a draft document. It's yours.
• 30:48
  Christy-Faith: That's right.
• 30:48
  Natalie Mack: It's a draft document. No one's gonna see it. Now potentially, you know, at some point later, the student might be like in junior year and wants to say, Oh, I wanna do an internship because this is really in my area and I really could get a great opportunity with this. Then that internship may say, Hey, we need a transcript. So you just tidy the one you have up that's in draft form, and you make sure everything looks the way you want it to look.
• 31:16
  And there's a format, we're not gonna be able to go into the deepness of what a transcript format looks like. There's plenty of examples out there, but you wanna be able to give that transcript. And so that's that's in a nutshell credits and transcripts. Graduation requirements. When you're looking at graduation requirements, a lot of that is what do you require as a family for your student?
• 31:40
  Like, people will put in home ec or auto shop or whatever. Right? So you put in what you want your student to graduate with. You look at your state home school law and see if there's any nuances there for subjects that they need to cover, because some states do say you need to have like PE, right, or art, and then make sure you're in line with that. And then that's your job then to say, okay, they have finished.
• 32:06
  And now that, you know, this is the graduation date, and you then could choose to give a diploma, which we didn't mention, but that's like a ceremonial certificate acknowledging that they've completed all of your requirements for graduation and that they are done.
• 32:23
  Christy-Faith: And I I really think it's important that the transcript is professional. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. When when you're done.
• 32:30
  And I'm in that right now. It's actually we're about to start another year, and I'm about to update Lincoln's transcript
• 32:35
  Natalie Mack: Good. Yes.
• 32:36
  Christy-Faith: On everything because I well, of course, perimenopause, my memory is not the same. I there's no way I can remember. In two years, I'm not gonna remember everything he did this year. Right. There's no way.
• 32:48
  Natalie Mack: Right.
• 32:48
  Christy-Faith: So if I write it all down now and I actually before we've thrown away the stuff, I can look at it and Mhmm. I mean, he because our co op is phenomenal, and these kids did this beautiful year of cultural geography. And we mixed together geography with history with bible, like we did missionary heroes with the writing, and we made this huge, beautiful, like, super course. And so but we're I'm we gotta parse it out to make sure the credits fit and everything. So I'm in the middle of doing that.
• 33:18
  And so we have a lot of freedom, though, because I we're able to take the essays that those students wrote this year, and that does count as an English credit the way that we did it.
• 33:28
  Natalie Mack: The way you did it.
• 33:29
  Christy-Faith: Right. The way that we did it, we made sure that we were doing it because it's a our co op has a whole high school program.
• 33:33
  Natalie Mack: Awesome. Love it.
• 33:35
  Christy-Faith: What are the big mistakes that you see homeschool parents make when planning high school? If you are watching every single dollar right now, a lot of us are, I wanna tell you about something that gave our family a thousand dollars back per month. So I'm so happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by Summit HealthShare. That's my husband's company, and I am so grateful for the support. Can we just all agree for a hot minute here that health insurance is a complete nightmare to deal with and completely overpriced?
• 34:03
  The copays, the denials, the in network, out of network nonsense, having to get permission for everything and not having freedom on where to go. I just hate it. And for all of that headache, you're paying thousands of dollars a month and still facing a fight when you actually need good care. This is why I believe so much in the freedom that comes from a good, solid, honest health share. Now health sharing is not health insurance, but it does replace it.
• 34:29
  And it's been around for over a hundred years. What's so cool is with Summit HealthShare, the families who move over to it, they are saving between 4060% per month, and they have a 98% customer satisfaction. You can see any doctor you want too, even holistic ones. I just went to my crunchy doctor the other day, and my new prescription was $0, and so were my labs. Yes.
• 34:52
  You heard that right. On a health share. We're saving all that money, and our family is getting the best care that we've ever gotten. Now I know this sounds too good to be true. That's what a lot of people say about it, but it's not.
• 35:03
  It's actually how healthcare should have worked all along. Insurance companies, of course, they don't do it that way. So if you are paying even a cent to a traditional health insurance company, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go to summithealthshare.com and go to their savings calculator. That is where you will find out how much you should be paying per month for the care that you need.
• 35:21
  And it only takes two minutes to do the calculator. And when you see what you should be paying, yeah, you're gonna be grabbing your phone so fast. And when you do, they're gonna walk you through absolutely everything. But make sure when you call, tell them you listen to the show because I want you to have the VIP treatment. This is something completely free to homeschooling families that I am so proud to be a part of.
• 35:42
  A while back, I built a directory. And what it was was a directory trying to help homeschool families find doctors and service providers who wouldn't give them a hard time just because they're homeschooling. You've been in that situation where you're getting that side eye. The directory started out really small and really scrappy, and it was born out of frustration, really. I was sick of ignorant pediatricians telling moms that they shouldn't homeschool.
• 36:05
  But here's what is so cool. It has grown into something I never expected. A real robust community, a whole economy, colleges, businesses, curriculum, doctor's offices, reading specialists, homeschool graduates who are now in business, young entrepreneurs who get a free account by the way. You name it. They are all saying, we are in your corner.
• 36:27
  We wanna work with homeschool families. It's called The Christy-Faith list, and it is completely free for homeschooling families to search. And I am so proud of it. And if you are a business owner or part of an organization that loves to work with homeschool families, please sign yourself up. We wanna know who you are, and we wanna find the people who support us so we can support you back.
• 36:49
  A link to the Christy-Faith list is in the show notes. Go search for somebody right now. What are the big mistakes that you see homeschool parents make when planning high school?
• 36:58
  Natalie Mack: Yes. Planning out of fear. That's what
• 37:01
  Christy-Faith: I mean. Speak to that. So what does that look like?
• 37:04
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. Because, again, what we talked on briefly earlier, your student maybe has to take all AP classes. Who said that? Why? I am on the, I was selected to become a member of the college board's new parent advisory council.
• 37:21
  So I am the only homeschooling, person, persona on this council, on this committee. And, we were just in New York a few months ago and all. It's amazing opportunity because you know? And college board is like, no. They don't want kids stressed out.
• 37:38
  It's it's out there. There's this myth that they need to take all these AP classes. Is that what your student wants? Does it fit where they're going? Is it within their capacity, or is it just you saying, oh, no.
• 37:52
  You have to do all these things and they're struggling? Because the one thing you don't want is a student to show up overwhelmed and struggling on their transcript. Like, to have started something and you can see, like, this plummeting. Right? Or this all kinds of things, or to stress them out so much that maybe they just kinda can't do work, right?
• 38:12
  There's that, the mental health piece, right? The wellness piece. So we wanna back down a little bit. So planning from fear, right? That you have to have dual enrollment.
• 38:21
  You won't get into certain colleges unless you do x y z, that type of thing. And so suddenly your student's homeschool plan is driven by what everyone else is saying rather than what actually fits your particular teenager. And so let's let's, again, calm it down, plan, pencil and paper plan. Right? Google Doc plan where you can cut, copy, paste.
• 38:42
  Right? It gives you a shell, a framework to work with, and you can change it because your student develops and, you know, and has interest that they they may they may jump into like, youngest student showed that he was interested in conservation when we were at the commissary. For those who are not military, commissary is like a grocery store on a military base. And we have baggers when we're at the checkout, and the bagger said, do you want paper or plastic? And I said, I said I said plastic.
• 39:12
  And my my little youngest kid, right, was like I was like I was like, what? I'm trying to get my my my debit card out to pay, and I'm like, what what is wrong with what's wrong with you? Now that's what happened when you have your homeschool kids with you and and and Yeah. Yeah. And a product of homeschooling because they can think.
• 39:32
  Right? They you have critical thinkers, and you want that. So I I I just kinda was wondering what had happened. And he said, do you know where all that plastic goes, mom? I said, in the in our cabinet?
• 39:43
  So we reuse the plastic bags? Like like, what? He's like, no, marine animals. And he went on and on. So anyway, long story short, passions and interests are important also.
• 39:54
  So don't minimize those extracurriculars that you're so focused on all the academics that you miss out on those things that really allow a student to really get to know who they are and what they really want to do in life. And that it's okay that they can wanna do this and that they pivot and build on this and it's foundational. So yeah. So that's the big some of the biggest mistakes that I see parents make. Yeah.
• 40:19
  Christy-Faith: And you mentioned this a little bit. I'm wondering if you have anything else to add. Yeah. How do parents decide between options like traditional courses or dual enrollment or AP or CLEP Mhmm. Online classes and other learning opportunities?
• 40:32
  Do you have kind of a decision tree for parents or how do you advise them?
• 40:38
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. So so the dual enrollment path typically means you're on a college campus, a community college campus. There are some four year universities that offer dual enrollment online, but most students go to their local community college. So you really kind of need to know, is your student ready for that campus environment? Like for our daughter, we did she her the the Russian course I mentioned earlier that she did, two years she did a year rather of Russian at community college when we lived in Virginia Beach, and it was nighttime.
• 41:09
  That's the only time the course was offered. So we got her to class literally, made sure she went in, class door closed, and we were there when the class door opened and we walked to the car. And our our oldest son, who is her younger brother, did classes his were during the day. We lived in North Carolina then. I got him comfortable walking around campus.
• 41:28
  He knew which where his classes were, and I felt comfortable letting him get out and walk. So to his class. Right? So it just depends. So you so some of those things are what you're weighing in on in terms of dual enrollment.
• 41:40
  There's a few other things too. APs. You know, the thing about APs is it doesn't necessarily matter whether you take the AP course. It's really all focused on the AP exam. That's You can take the exam without taking the course.
• 41:54
  Don't hear me say don't study. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying you can self study for the exam, but you need to set up a plan to do that. And there's no guarantee the dose that if the student takes the exam, they're gonna get the score they need that will be given as a credit, right, if when they go to college. So there's that.
• 42:16
  CLEP, some students some schools accept it, some don't. And in online classes, it just depends. Do you want does your student do well online, or do they need an in person experience? Mhmm. If they do well online, do do do they do well online asynchronously?
• 42:32
  Meaning
• 42:33
  Christy-Faith: Right.
• 42:34
  Natalie Mack: They don't see the teacher necessarily. Teacher assigns the work. They upload it. They maybe have minimal engagement with other students. Some students wanna see other kids in their class and the teacher like we're talking now.
• 42:46
  So those are things. So you have to kinda know who your student is and look at fit. What's best academically fit, financially fit, because there's cost to a lot of these. Your family fit. Do you have the ability to meet these, get them to a community college course, lifestyle?
• 43:02
  You know, where are they going in the future? Those are some of the things. Filter them through through what I call those those fit, categories.
• 43:10
  Christy-Faith: And now let me ask you this because I've heard of some nightmare stories where homeschool families have spent a lot of money on, like, dual credit.
• 43:19
  Natalie Mack: Yeah.
• 43:19
  Christy-Faith: Classes that didn't end up transferring. Do you see that a lot? Because I it's they spent a lot of money, and then it didn't Right. The kid had to basically start over.
• 43:29
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. So, unfortunately, what a lot of times families don't realize is dual credit. If your student's taking it in with the hopes of going somewhere else, right, to transfer, then you wanna make sure they're doing what we call gen ed, general education.
• 43:43
  Christy-Faith: That's right.
• 43:43
  Natalie Mack: The basic the basic things that are pretty much transferable just about anywhere. You can also check with the colleges if you know where the student's gonna go. They the registrar's office can tell you these are courses that will transfer in, so you can get a warm and fuzzy that way. But if you don't know, but you just know they're gonna go to another college later, like for dual enrollment, they're doing it and then you're gonna transfer later to something, then definitely you wanna just kind of like stick with those general ed. Don't do your major courses because a lot of universities have a residency requirement.
• 44:17
  That means that they want the they want the students who are gonna graduate with that major. They want them to take their courses within that major. That's the residency part. Yeah. So so And we'll get into
• 44:31
  Christy-Faith: more of this. I know we'll get into more of this when we talk about the college part. But yeah. I mean, and not to overwhelm people listening. It's just it's there's just a couple of things that you should look into before you you write a big check.
• 44:43
  Exactly.
• 44:44
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. Just a few things. Just a few things. Yeah. Not a lot.
• 44:47
  But a few a few a free a few critical things, but it's okay.
• 44:50
  Christy-Faith: As you guys know, this show is free to you because our sponsors make it free, and I love them. So make sure to click on the links. If you're buying that kinda stuff anyway, man, please click the links and check out what they're doing. We love our sponsors, and as you know, podcasts are not an inexpensive thing to produce. So it is a wonderful way to say thank you.
• 45:08
  And also, don't forget to like and subscribe or give me the stars if I deserve it. Those little robots behind the screen, they push out episodes that have a lot of engagement. So if you like watching this show and you think a friend could benefit from it, send it to her. Comment a word of encouragement. Ask a question.
• 45:23
  We read all the comments. And they help boost the show and put it in front of more eyeballs. So thank you so much. It fills my cup. It really does.
• 45:31
  So how early should families start thinking about what comes after high school? I started okay. So I so I lived in a very you know, it was a listers and billionaires. So moms would make an appointment with me when the kids were around seventh grade.
• 45:48
  Natalie Mack: Oh, wow. Okay.
• 45:49
  Christy-Faith: And then we made the plan. Yes. She hired the people. Yeah. She and then the path was set.
• 45:57
  Yeah. And we executed the path for the next five, six years.
• 46:01
  Natalie Mack: And drag the kid along. Yeah. Yes. Down the path. In in many cases.
• 46:07
  In many cases. Right? In many cases.
• 46:09
  Christy-Faith: Not I am not proud. Okay? No. No. That was the before, Christy.
• 46:13
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm not saying you. This was driven by the parents.
• 46:17
  I'm not saying
• 46:18
  Christy-Faith: you. Well and also remember, this is one of the reasons why I had the awakening that I had. Yeah. I'm like, wait a minute. This is not a childhood.
• 46:25
  Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right.
• 46:26
  The kid go out and play in the backyard, please?
• 46:28
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.
• 46:30
  Christy-Faith: But I know that I mean, is that early? Is it not? I I think some things you can start thinking about. What do you think? Yeah.
• 46:39
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. And this will the thing is is that the more children you have, the youngers will get to this space sooner than the old than your oldest.
• 46:49
  Christy-Faith: Right. Right.
• 46:49
  Natalie Mack: So I saw that with our own family. But just have exploratory conversations. That's what I just kinda no pressure. Yeah. You know, you're not saying, hey.
• 46:58
  Tell me everything you wanna do, you know, the rest of your life or who do you wanna be in in this etched in stone? And also help your student know who they are. Like, what do they enjoy? What what are they good about? How do what environments do they thrive in?
• 47:11
  You know? What makes them feel good? What makes them happy? What makes them wanna make a difference, right, in the world? What are they curious about?
• 47:19
  Like, how do they learn? Do they do they learn textbook to study high with a highlighter, or do they need hands on learning? Do they learn by actually maybe doing service work or entrepreneurs, or are they very creative? Are they more right brain than left brain? Those are things that you probably know already about your child, but they may not know about themselves.
• 47:40
  So help them begin to, like, have those kind of conversations. And then as they start ninth and tenth, just let them know, hey. You know, if they say they wanna go to college and say, okay, we're gonna just develop a plan. These are some things we need to look at. You know, for ninth grade, we wanna cover this.
• 47:56
  We need a social science. These are some things that social sciences are. Like and they can choose. Right? Who said that everybody has to do the same thing?
• 48:06
  No one. Right? And at homeschool, you get to choose and love it, love that you can. And then as they get older, conversations become more purposeful, more concrete, maybe certain pathways decisions do need to be made, those kinds of things. But always exploration, always keeping that open, and always saying that if a student is like 16 or 17 and they decide they're gonna change direction, that's not that the plan failed.
• 48:34
  Right? It's that's high school. Right? So
• 48:37
  Christy-Faith: Exactly. Yeah. And, you know, whereas I think we live in a culture where if a kid does an internship and then they decide that they don't like that, they feel like it was a wasted internship. But, no
• 48:49
  Natalie Mack: They've learned a lot
• 48:50
  Christy-Faith: from it. Learned so many things. Well, we're out of time, and we're gonna film the next episode, which is gonna be on athletes and NCAA, what families need to know. But first, I want on this episode, if this is the only episode that parents listen to, please share any resources you have for families and where they can find you.
• 49:10
  Natalie Mack: Yeah. Great. Great. Great. So a couple of things.
• 49:12
  I have a free download of a homeschool high school checklist from ninth to twelfth. So that's on my website, natalie- or -mack.com. You can take advantage of that. There's a few other freebies on there as well. Also, a high school decisions workshop where we talk through a lot about fit and all that I've been mentioning.
• 49:32
  So that's a free download as well. And then I also have the boot camp that you can purchase that is ongoing right now. And, we'll post a discount for for Christy-Faith Show podcast viewers to be able to take advantage of of that discount as well. So you can put in your show notes if you like, Christy. Yes.
• 49:52
  And I have the book on Amazon, the 101 tips for homeschoolers. And then I'm teaching courses. I teach every year even though I'm finished homeschooling. So I have two, there's a council on foreign relations. I'm an ambassador, distinguished ambassador with council on foreign relations, as well as an organization called Retro, R E T R O report.
• 50:13
  I'm an ambassador for them. And so I am teaching this year a cross cultural American literature course. So we're starting with Hispanic American literature, we're going to native American literature, we're going to African American literature, and then we're ending with Asian American literature. Because families have said, I want to learn literature in terms of different culture groups. So I I'm about that.
• 50:37
  So I'm teaching that. And then I'm teaching again our model diplomacy, like global affairs simulation where Oh. Students are gonna learn about, like, nuclear negotiations, nuclear proliferation, Caribbean small states in the in some of the challenges, you know, United Nations, NATO.
• 50:58
  Christy-Faith: Are these classes for homeschoolers?
• 51:00
  Natalie Mack: They're all for homeschoolers. I've taught every year.
• 51:03
  Christy-Faith: Yeah. Oh, where where do you sign up for those?
• 51:05
  Natalie Mack: They're on my website. Natalie hyphen Mack, m a c k
• 51:08
  Christy-Faith: dot com. Okay. So this can count as part of high school
• 51:12
  Natalie Mack: course Yeah. These are high school courses. Yeah. We have people signing up
• 51:15
  Christy-Faith: for that. Knew that how come I never knew you did this?
• 51:19
  Natalie Mack: I don't know. I don't know.
• 51:20
  Christy-Faith: I wanna take that literature course. Yeah. I wanna take the literature course. Yeah.
• 51:26
  Natalie Mack: I'm excited about that one for sure.
• 51:28
  Christy-Faith: Oh, that's gonna be awesome.
• 51:30
  Natalie Mack: The simulation one is amazing. I have like a sample of what I when I've taught it before. So but this year, we're actually students. There'll be someone who will act as the president, someone who could be The UK prime minister. Like, it depends on the scenario and it's I'm gonna give them a scenario, a situation, and they're gonna have to grapple with it.
• 51:49
  We're gonna do breakout rooms and they're gonna come back and like, you know, kinda simulate these positions. So I'm super excited.
• 51:55
  Christy-Faith: Well, we will have everything clickable in the show notes for sure. And make sure to come back for the next episode on NCAA, and we're not done. We got three more episodes. We're gonna do the college bound episode after that, and then the last episode of our series is gonna be on military service. So listen to all of them, just even if you wanna lay of the land or listen to the one that pertains to your particular student, and we will see you on the next show.