This is an ironic welcome post, because it is also serving as my final post on Highhill Education. After homeschooling for 14 years I have one child in college, and two in high school. I'm still homeschooling, but have really said all I have to say. With out a doubt homeschooling has been a huge success for our family. Although there have been ups and downs along the way, we (and I'm including myself) have learned so much and are continuing to learn. Each of my children has developed a love of learning, a fantastic work ethic, and many skills they will use throughout their lives. My oldest gra ..read more

Homeschooled kids often get a head start by earning college credits while still in high school. Since my oldest is 14 and very advanced in math I've spent several months researching this topic. Today many options are available for earning college credit thereby greatly reducing the cost of a college degree. Here are three main ways to earn credit. 1.Testing AP, CLEP and DSST are three different types of tests which can be taken and are accepted by universities. AP, or advanced placement exams are commonly offered by high schools which teach advanced classes such as calculus, English and hist ..read more

When it comes to highschool level science classes, many homeschool parents begin to doubt their teaching abilities. Fortunately there are resources available to help teach upper level science classes. There are two main issues to consider when it comes to teaching chemistry. One is finding the necessary resources, and the second is tackling the material. In addition to finding a textbook and lab kit, building an understanding of chemistry application and the history of chemistry can make the study of chemistry much more interesting. Fortunately it is possible to teach high school chemistry at ..read more

Homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive to be effective. Often those new to homeschooling believe they need to purchase a full accredited curriculum for their children to get a quality education. Fortunately, this is not the case. It is however, necessary for the parents to have a vested interest and invest time into their child. Parents need to support and encourage the education process by helping their child locate resources to facilitate learning whether expensive, low cost or free. As children become more independent, parents will need to invest fewer hours into education. Children wh ..read more

Computer skills are essential to success in our modern world. One way to build computer skills is to focus on a hobby or interest which incorporates computers as a tool. Kids who are interested in photography can increase their photography knowledge and computer skills by learning to edit photos. gIMP is a free downloadable photo editing software package. It contains common photo editing capabilities such as altering brightness and colors of photos, as well as cropping and rotating. In addition photos can be meshed together, silhouettes can be created and so much more. Download gIMP, open ..read more

In this unit study kids will have the chance to learn about birds and animal tracks. It designed to spark an interest in animals and get kids outdoors observing. Because many kids seem to be naturally fascinated with animals there are not many lessons in this study. Please expand on these simple ideas to study any plants or animals your child is interested in. Visit the library to discover new books and feel free to create animal art and spend time in nature. Homeschooling does not need to be highly structured to be effective. Rather kids need to be given opportunities and encouragement to dis ..read more

This is a five week free simple machine unit study perfect for kids in grades 3rd-5th which can be adapted to work for older or younger children. Each lesson connects an application of simple machines  to a period of history. This combined study is designed to spark interest that will lead to further study of history and simple machines based on the interests of the student. Don't be afraid to do research and take the learning in a new direction. The lever, inclined plane, screw, wedge, wheel and axle and pulley are commonly thought of as the six or seven types of simple machines, when in ..read more

This is a nine week free chemistry unit study perfect for kids in grades 3rd-5th which can be adapted to work for older or younger children. Several of the lesson weeks can be expanded to make this chemistry unit cover the entire year. It explores several different chemistry principles through hands-on experiments which can be completed with materials commonly found at home. Week 1: Density of Solids Read the book Archimedes Takes a Bath and do some density experiments. In the book Archimedes is challenged to determine whether or not the kings stole some of the gold he was given to make a new ..read more

Engineering involves using scientific principals to make useful things. This is a sixteen week, free engineering unit study where kids get to create useful things just like engineers. It is perfect for kids in grades 3rd-5th and can be adapted to work for older or younger children. The lessons are very hands-on and make reference to history and science. The references are designed to spark curiosity and can become a jumping off point for further study in many directions. If your child is curious about the historical references, I highly encourage you to take the opportunity and research furthe ..read more

This is a four week, secular, free computer science unit study perfect for kids in grades 3rd-5th which can be adapted to work for older or younger children. It uses the Scratch programming language to develop foundational programming skills. The lessons are video based followed by experimentation at the computer. After kids complete the Scratch portion of this unit study, they can continue creating more complicated games and animations using Scratch, progress into programming with Xcode used for Apple products, or learn to program with Javascript which is another programming language. Week 1 ..read more