Heather has homeschooled for 14 years, entirely with Heritage. She was a public school teacher before having kids. She has a Master’s degree in Education with an emphasis on Literacy & Curriculum, and she firmly believes that you do not need to be a professional teacher to be the best teacher for your child. Her favorite part of homeschooling is the many years of sweet moments on the couch discussing literature and big ideas. Heather fell in love with homeschooling and enjoys equipping and encouraging fellow homeschool parents.
Her oldest daughter is an HCS grad currently thriving in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University; her 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter are active in the HCS band, choir, & drama club, and in Stoa speech & debate. Heather’s husband Steve is a physicist. The Jensens love reading aloud as a family, watching Marvel movies, and eating yummy breakfast food at any hour of the day.
Can homeschooled students be accepted to a selective college? Yes! My homeschooled daughter won academic scholarships and is now thriving in the Torrey Honors College at Biola University. I share my experience to encourage and advise fellow homeschooling parents. I will discuss how I prepared my child to be accepted to a selective college and positioned my child to win academic scholarships. I will explain:
* The how and why of Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, AP tests, and CLEP exams.
* The how and why of standardized tests: SAT, PSAT, ACT, CLT.
* Choosing courses and extracurricular activities.
* How to make homeschooling work in your favor, not against you, as you successfully journey to college acceptance.
Sonlight is a Literature-based Christian homeschool curriculum. It is built around real books (the ones you could buy in a bookstore) more than textbooks. The Instructor’s Guides include thorough lesson plans and notes, turning a stack of engaging books into a fully-planned, flexible curriculum. Sonlight’s flagship product is the History/Bible/Literature curriculum. They also make superb Language Arts and Science curriculum, as well as offer every subject. Sonlight makes curriculum for every age, from preschool to advanced high school. You can teach multiple children of different ages with one level of Sonlight.
I will answer questions on choosing and using Sonlight. Bring your questions!
We have been a Sonlight family since my first child started kindergarten 14 years ago. I have used just about every curriculum Sonlight offers, from preschool to level 600. My favorite things about Sonlight? Lasting family memories created while curled up on the couch with a good book. Deep discussions with my teens over books and everything else. Compassionate globally-minded children who are excellent critical thinkers.
