The moment many of you have been waiting for! The store is live with new downloads so you can begin reading and planning instantly!  Best of all everything is on sale! Just click to the individual product pages to see the sale prices. If you have already bought some of the Countdown to College products, please visit the catalog pages and rate the products.

Homeschoolers are excited about distance learning options that earn students college credit while they are still in high school.  But not all distance learning programs are created equal. Recently, Wanda Burdick agreed to chat with me about her excellent CollegeWorks program – a distance learning option that really does go the distance. CollegeWorks aims to assist parents as a yoke-fellow rather than as a replacement, providing options and tools to families to make the high school years both challenging and productive for motivated students. CollegeWorks provides great flexibility in preparing students for CLEP exams across the curriculum.  CollegeWorks helps students negotiate non-traditional degree paths with hundreds of colleges, not simply with the few colleges which have whole-heartedly embraced the credit-by-examination phenomenon. Families can begin by taking a consultation with Wanda to lay out a multi-year agenda for maximizing the impact of credits by examination on the degree programs at the top three colleges of the student's choice.  Alternatively, students can simply take one of the 2-week CLEP preparation courses to see if it actually suits their learning style and schedule. In any case, the courses are offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, so they are supremely affordable compared to other distance learning ...

The Countdown to College marketplace is currently under construction.  Expect a new, improved shopping experience in just a few days! You will find new features such as audio samples, downloadable books, downloadable videos and audio files.  Coming soon: a subscription section where you can enter discussions and workshops with other college-bound and launch-ready families, and private counseling. Meanwhile, if you wish to purchase one of our products, email kim@countdown2college.net for a catalog and purchase details.

One of the chief concerns for parents of teens is how to find or to create a community of positive peers. Kim's new book, Coaching a Club, just released by Monument Publishing, offers seven secrets for creating such a community and unleashing teens' longing to achieve something extraordinary. Coaching a Club: Seven Secrets for Forming a Successful Speech & Debate Club teaches principles of mentoring, networking, facilitating public service and preparing the next generation to change the world through the lens of developing a forensics club.  Kim has gathered the collective wisdom of her positive peers in the Christian speech and debate community over ten years of service to teens across the nation.  Even if you don't think your students need speech and debate, you need this book! Excerpts Commitment to Character We can readily see that studying speech and debate will improve intelligence in these more traditionally academic categories. But if that is all we see, we miss the most important possibilities in forensics training.  Forensics offers young people the opportunity to exercise those academic skills in an emotionally-charged social setting very much like the real world. It offers coaches a nearly unparalleled opportunity to train students in interpersonal and intra-personal intelligence.  Taken ...

My friend, Julie Ferwerda, has just released a new book, One Million Arrows. In it she outlines a vision to inspire us to raise powerfully spiritual children and to aim them at the heartaches of the world. The book began with the compassion of one man - a poor man in India - who gathered up orphans from the streets and began to nurture them in the name of Jesus. "Papa" Thomas in Kota, India has now raised over 16,000 throw-away children from the streets of India and set them loose to extend the love that rescued them to others who still do not know the Author of love, Jesus. Profits from the book will assist "Papa" Thomas's work Hopegivers International to continue the work of turning throw-away kids into arrows in the hand of God. Practical as well as visionary, One Million Arrows tells dozens of stories of parents just like you who have stepped up to the challenge. Today on the One Million Arrows website, you can read about some of the Countdown to College Carpe Diem Cadre members. Petra Anderson is featured. Read it and get your parenting rejuvenation vitamin! And today, you can join the party by buying One ...

Are your curriculum texts sending your students directly to yawnsville (do not pass GO; do not collect $200)? Do your community college professors lack that certain spark? Maybe you want your CLEP studies to be more than filling in the checkboxes. Meet i-Tunes U, a fabulous collection of (mostly) free lecture series from famous universities from Cambridge to Stanford!  Some are audio only, but some are enhanced by video tracks as well. Search the database by subject or by university. They download to your computer or i-pod for maximum transportability. This amazing resource is found by opening i-Tunes on your computer.  On the lefthand sidebar, click on "i-Tunes Store". When the store loads, look in the lefthand menu column for i-Tunes U. When you click there, several featured lecture series will be displayed, and you can search as you like.  It is easy to see which lectures are free - most are. You can download a whole series with a single click or select just the ones that impact your study. I will never have a dull drive alone in the car again.  And, of course, you will list those universities as resources on your course descriptions!

It makes no sense to me to send a young person to college in order that he might have stronger earning power throughout his working life, only to have him emerge with a slave's load of debt. So in general my advice about taking loans for college is, "Don't!"  However, my daughter's experience last semester has pointed out one exeception I'd be willing to recommend. Some of my daughter's financial aid award came in the form of work-study.  She would need to work all semester in order to earn the full amount, which was payable as she worked. Here's the rub: tuition and fees deadlines hit well before the end of the semester.  If she paid late, she'd also owe hefty late fees, not to mention that she couldn't register for the next semester classes until the full tuition was paid. So she accepted a federal, no-payment-no-interest until graduation loan in the amount we expected she'd be able to earn during the semester.  The idea is that she would pay off the loan as she worked instead of directly paying the school. No late fees, no registration penalties and no long-term debt. _______________________________________________________________ Try the new Countdown to College e-book for a comprehensive strategy ...

Check out the articles over at Mother-Lode about seeing Pentecost as a model for sending our children out to their callings. Inevitable Goodbyes Imitating the Perfect Father Fiery Harvest Celebrations that Sting Wind & Fire Parenting part 1 ___________________________________________________ Also try the new audio resource, Quests & Homecomings for more perspective on God's parenting through the difficult transitions of life.

New from Countdown to College! Instant access to the extensive information in the print Guide at a fraction of the cost! Download only the chapter you need or the whole guide.  Each segment just $6.50! All five segments only $25.00 Choose from: Countdown to College part 1: 5! Assess Your Starting Point Explore God’s workmanship in crafting your student for a specific calling.  Consider the different vocations of men and women.  Learn to help your student find a vision for his or her life. Try the world’s oldest personality assessment. Countdown to College part 2: 4! Aim for Success The future is a moving target.  Plan to be where you want to be when it arrives.  Evaluate various post-high school destinations and the most advantageous paths to them.  Discuss how to position your school and to describe your educational aims to best display your high school work. Countdown to College part 3: 3! Acquire Credentials Do you know when to say "No"? Learn how to invest your limited time in achievements in four areas critical for winning scholarships, job opportunities, internships and more. Countdown to College part 4: 2! Account Assets Learn to create a complete school counselor's pack that educational professionals will envy.  Structure transcripts and resumes to showcase ...

Folks at my Idaho Countdown workshop wanted more information about federal financial aid than we had time to discuss.  So here is  a more detailed look at what's out there from Uncle Sam. First, you should know that many private schools won't accept federal funds of any kind, including grants and loans awarded to students.  Their reasoning is that with federal funds comes federal regulation of school policies and curriculum.  Their fears are increasingly likely to be realized as the Obama administration begins to tie college funding to service in federally-run community service organizations like AmeriCorps - a move that will also negatively impact private charity as true volunteers are replaced by paid government workers on the AmeriCorps payroll.  So as you put together your college funding basket, be sure to check with the colleges you want to attend to see whether they accept federal funds. Federal funds can include both grants (gift money which does not have to be repaid) and loans (which do have to be repaid).  Most of these are need-based options. Let's specifically look at federal loans, because these are the instruments which could get you in the most hot water. Stafford Loans These are the most common federal loans, ...