Where Will You Go?

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.

–Dr. Suess, Places You’ll Go

Home school?

Home School.  When I first heard about home school (can’t remember when that was), I first thought it was for children who stay home and learn from their parents instead of going home.  Then, I learned that it is more than that.  I learned that any parents can home school their children even if they are attending a regular school.

I send my children to a small christian school where AP classes are not offered and top few students from the school’s middle school transfer to a large public school when they start 9th grade.  My older son did not want to go to a large public school where he can easily become just a number.  So, he is staying with his small school, in a way deprived of some opportunities found in bigger schools.  To provide my son with the opportunities that he is missing out, I decided to home school him while he is still attending his high school.  What?  Let me explain.

I believe that parents should be in charge of their children’s education, not the school or the state.  Parents send their children to school to fulfill the requirements for graduation from high school, and parents send their children to different after school programs after school, taking music lessons, art lessons, sports or whatever, or send them to different summer programs.  That is not much different from what home schooling parents are doing.  Even if you send your children to regular schools, do not fool yourself thinking that you have given your children all the opportunities they deserve.

I live in a small town.  I send my children to a small school.  But I am taking charge of their education.  I select the best music teachers I can afford for them.  No AP classes at school?  I and my older son are going to prepare to take some AP tests after preparing at home.  It won’t be easy.  But I think it will make my son stand out more if he goes beyond what was available to him.  In a way, I am homeshooling my children.  All of us are homeschooling our children.  What do you think?

high school counselor

When I was in high school, I met my counselor only prior to the registration time each semester.  At least that is what I remember at the public school that I attended.  After moving to a small christian school, I had a more personal relationship with the counselor at the school.  He might have been motivated in getting me to transfer to his small school, or maybe he was genuinely interested in helping not so good students like me.  Either way, large urban public school counselors seem to have too many students on their lists.  I wonder if they even get meet every student they are responsible for if students do not have to have the counselors’ signatures for class registration.

Counselors, however, are the experts when it comes to college application and financial aid.  I do not know how active they are in promoting the services they provide.  There are some good websites managed by some high school counseling departments.  One that I know is Arlington High School in Riverside, CA.  I do not send my kids to that school or live in the area.  Here is the link to the web site On the web site, you may find a lot of helpful information, even if your children do not attend that school.   For example, there I learned that US congressmen hold art competitions in their districts and invite winners to DC and acknowledge their achievements.  I do not know if all congressmen do that, but this information led me to learn that my  district’s congressman has an annual art competition.  Since my children were taking art lessons, I thought they should participate in the competition when they are older and ready.

That is an example of what counselors can do, providing information on anything that any students or parents might find interesting.  So, go ahead and call your children’s counselors or check out their websites.  You will find SOMETHING useful.

Top College Prep Blog Intro…

Top College Prep:

I was running a web site in which I tried to gather and share information on college admission.  Before turning my web site into a blog, it was a site where I wrote my ideas and opinions on education and preparation for college.  I decided to turn the web site into a blog (well, a blog is a web site after all, but you know what I mean) so that more people can contribute and share ideas.

I am a father of 2 boys.  The older one is in high school, and the younger in middle school.  I have been reading books and websites on college admission, hoping that I can help my own children through the process.  Many people say that today’s college admission is totally different from how it was 30 years ago.  I agree.  I was watching a program (could be local news) and there was a lady in her 40’s helping high school students prepare for SAT.  She said that she probably won’t make it to Stanford now with the GPA, SAT scores and whatever she had back then, although she was successful 25 or 30 years ago.  At any rate, it is difficult for anyone to get into the college of his/her choice.

What I plan to with this blog is to gather and share information on college admission, SAT prep, advice on extracurricular activities and so on.  Also, I hope to discuss various issues surrounding education in the US and raising strong and well rounded children.  I hope to have many quest bloggers and contributors and make this blog meaningful anyone who is interested in education.

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