Contact us to Schedule a Workshop: countdown2college@gmail.com We are delighted that you are thinking about bringing one of Kim’s inspiring workshops to your community! What would you need and how would it look? Read on:   Countdown to College Workshop This is an 8.5-hour presentation; including a half-hour gathering time, a 1-hour lunch or dinner, and a 1-hour shopping/discussion time afterwards. Set-up takes up to 1 ½ hours (depending on tech glitches), and take-down takes about 1 hour. Countdown to College provides: · Full day of content, discussion, and media, developed by Kim Anderson. · Intergenerational presenters (as available), who can inspire the entire extended family. · Printed syllabi for workshop note-taking. · Electronic advance publicity materials and ideas for your local PR campaign. · Online and mail-in registration. You don’t have to do any of that paperwork! · Online publicity for your event on the Countdown to College website. · Transportation to and from the nearest airport served by Frontier Airlines. · Books and resources about the transition to post-high school life, family life, college, teen entrepreneurship and resume-development for participants to ...

Do standardized tests in fact test anything? The jury is still out in many educators' minds. However, the growing practices of grade inflation and grade-weighting* undermine the credibility of the high school GPA, so that often college admissions officials feel that standardized tests at least allow them to compare students' academic potential on a level playing field.  Until we find a better way to certify academic achievement, it pays to understand the tests' aims and uses, so that you can use them to your advantage. PSAT Widely thought to be a practice for the SAT, the PSAT actually focuses on a completely different set of skills.  Given in the fall of the Junior year, this test is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship.  Although the National Merit Scholarship itself is a small monetary value, it recognizes the top percentage of the top 1% of American students.  Colleges often try to attract this top-tier of students by plus-ing the scholarship with a full ride plus extras. So if academics are your strength this test is definitely worth taking. SAT This reasoning test is the most widely accepted exam for college entrance.  Generally it is taken in the fall of the Senior ...

Don't miss the opportunity to hear Kim live in the Coeur d'Alene area! Saturday, May 16th! The updated Countdown Workshop has all the hands-on workspace for families to strategize for high school from dreaming to sealing the graduation paperwork.  Plus the new workshop includes a preview of the post-high school survival seminar, Quests & Homecomings, and opportunities to interact with recent grads, one-stop resume builder providers and teens blazing a trail to their own post-high school destinations. Registration is now open!

This month, several of my devotionals about time management are being featured on CBN.com so I thought you might appreciate a practical follow up specifically about how to structure your time during high school for maximum effect. Paradoxically, the first thing on the list needs to be: remaining flexible and available to God as He brings unexpected opportunities into our lives. Our second daughter, Anne, was knocking down the academic benchmarks almost as fast as we could put them out there, but she wasn't sure of a post-high school direction. Then she was asked to compose, conduct and engineer the music for a short film. Composing hadn't been the favorite aspect of her musical training. However, she made it her policy to "just say yes" when God brought her opportunities that wouldn't detract from things she already had on her plate. So she decided to give it a try. She finished the composing aspect within two breathless weeks, discovering in the process, that when she had an actual reason beyond the "assignment for the week", she truly loved composing. Remaining available to God may be vital to discovering His calling on a young person's life. So here ...

What do you need to show in an entry-level or college entrance resume? Competence. Balance. Passion and direction. These last two are the things most people overlook as assets on a resume. As a result, those resumes which do address passion will stand out to an employer or a college official. The reputation of today's youth - deserved or not - is that this generation is more apathetic and less engaged with life in general than previous generations. My eldest daughter's experience of secular youth in college bears that out. "Nobody has any idea what they want to do or what's even possible. It's maddening!" she says. Young people who have begun to explore what they can do in society and what they might become passionate about are youth whom older adults want to promote. There are a number of ways to show this kind of initiative. One of the most unexplored is political action. Many are reluctant to include political action on a resume for fear that officials will disagree with the position their action supported. However, given the current policy of the vast majority of colleges and businesses to include as many viewpoints as ...

Dear Kim Another question for you- Is it possible to have 2 transcripts-one that you submit to secular schools and one for Christian schools?  My son has Bible/Theology credits that I could include from Torrey Academy, however, I would probably not list them on a transcript for a secular school. He will be applying to both secular and Christian programs. CK Dear CK, Yes, I would have 2 transcripts if I wanted to highlight theology courses in the context of a homeschool that isn't explicitly a Christian school.  That would impact the school profile and the course descriptions as well. Alternatively, you might consider positioning your school as a parochial school, which has a specifically Christian purpose (described in the School Profile).  Then the theology credits would make sense even in a secular application.  As long as your son shows a standard number of credits in non-theological subjects and you describe your school mission/purpose/philosophy in high-brow academic terms, the theology credits won't hurt him.  This way you could have a single set of paperwork for secular and Christian applications. Many of our country's most prestigious prep schools are parochial schools which have a specifically religious mission and affiliation.  Being a Christian school doesn't automatically flag ...

Today's Carnival of Homeschooling included a post from Designer City, USA listing dozens (really!) of free online courses on web design.  Check them out at Web Design.edu: Top 50 Free Open Courseware Courses to Design Better Websites Naturally, you'll want to check out the whole carnival, which today features a guilt-free, non-interventionist, government-free stimulus package of great resources for homeschoolers.

Rural Debaters Unite [caption id="attachment_135" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Nominate an Extraordinary Teen!"][/caption] One Oregon mom bounced out of the Countdown to College workshop armed with tools, ideas and enthusiasm. But she confided that she thought her family was a little behind the curve on public service. A couple of months later, I had the opportunity to catch up with Carla over a telephone coffee. She had a fresh gleam in her eye; she and her children had been out in the world and it had fallen at their feet! Her eldest two sons teamed up to take charge of the International Debate Society (IDS network), an online debate club which serves rural homeschoolers. Once a week the brothers log onto the network, conducting value debate classes, coordinating peer mentors, and coaching young debaters with varying skill levels from across the country. It makes a pretty intense afternoon, but the rewards are great. Dylan and Tait work with15 students from 6 states (and one in Uganda!), training them for competition in the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association. In the past, the IDS instructors and peer mentors have themselves become national competitors, due in large part to the experience of helping others get around their ...

The Value of Public Service Parents are often surprised that public service plays such a large role in the post-graduate success of their young people. It is the close second to academics in attracting college scholarship money. It is a vital element of building a network for entrepreneurship and post-graduate work; the business you helped will be happy to help you and when they need an employee or free-lance consultant, you will be tops on their list. Public service is also one of the most important stimulants to developing compassion and maturity. And, if you are looking for positive peers for your teens, the other young people who engage in public service become a social network of extraordinary vigor, usefulness and delight. Yet public service is not well understood by most families. We don’t sit around the soccer field discussing service opportunities like we discuss employment opportunities or college entrance exams, but service will benefit our teens far more than either of those. Most of us just don’t know what public service could look like on a teenager. The Power of Young Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs serve their communities in another way.  Young people who start their own businesses while in high school ...

[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignright" width="300" caption="High school music apprentice needs college too"][/caption] Many in the homeschool community present college and apprenticeship as competing models for post-graduate work. But it ain’t necessarily so. Surely, we want our children to have work experience and deep friendships with adults outside our homes as a pre-requisite for graduation from high school. They need the things apprenticeship provides before they leave home. It’s true that some businesses and trades will take an extended period of apprenticeship, which would extend beyond high school. However, many apprenticeship experiences will be enhanced by a college education. My daughter’s mentor offered her an apprenticeship during high school, which has extended into her college years, providing her with real-world experience, a growing professional network and a tidy income through her school years. He now recommends that she pursue an advanced degree, so that the maximum number of opportunities will be open to her in her future as a mother. An entrepreneur and innovator, he himself wishes that he had pursued advanced degrees, because now he would like to supplement his income by teaching. In fact, his experience in his field makes him an ideal candidate for teaching, however, his lack of a Masters Degree bars ...