Most Frequently Asked Questions about Homeschooling

Click on the Question Topic, then the Specific Question for the Answer.

My child is in high school . . .  what do I do?

Q. I am interested in homeschooling but am concerned about whether or not the credits will transfer into a high school or college in the future.

A. Because we are both state and nationally accredited, Bridgeway Homeschool Academy's credits are transferable into both high schools and colleges. In fact, many colleges and universities solicit our school for students because they realize the quality of homeschool student we have.
We are accredited by the National Association of Private Schools and recognized by our home state of Pennsylvania; therefore, our diploma is accepted all over the country and around the world.
Our commitment to you is that if you should have trouble with a district or university, we will step in to take care of the problem for you.   Topic Questions

Q. I am considering homeschooling my high school student and am wondering how best to make a decision on what program to use. Why should I choose you?

A. As I am sure your are aware, having an accredited program in high school is presently very important in order for your student to go on to colleges and universities. Without an accredited program, many schools of higher education require a GED. Although this is changing, some new laws are actually requiring homeschoolers to take additional testing rather than just the regular college entrance exams.

With our program, you eliminate that risk. Our Academy works with each of our high school students to set up a program that best meets their goals in academics (with four academic tracks) and in Career choice. Our credits are
also transferable into both high schools and colleges. In fact, many colleges and universities solicit our school for students because they realize the quality of student we have.

Because we are not tied to any one curriculum publisher, we are able to select only the best for our students.  Therefore, our program is flexible and can meet the needs of your student, whether he or she is ready for college level honors and AP courses or needs review.  Because of this individualized approach, our students are finding success at every level and go on to do extremely well as college students. 

We also allow our parents to provide an unlimited amount of additional courses on your own. Although the record keeping is more extensive, we continue to make it as pain free as possible while obtaining from you the information we need to certify your program and grant credits for those courses. Most homeschooling programs either do not allow you to use other curricula or charge for each additional course. With us, your full tuition payment covers as many additional courses that you wish to provide.

Our diploma is also an accredited diploma, accredited by the National Association of Private Schools and recognized by our state department of education, and is accepted all over the country and around the world.

Our commitment to you is that if you should have trouble with a district or university, we will step in to take care of the problem for you.   Our students have attended colleges and universities all across the country and around the world; others were able to go on to the Military Academy and the Air Force Academy.
Topic Questions

Q. I have a ninth grade student who would like to begin homeschooling.  I like the sound of your program and would like to know if you provide services to high school students.

A. Our high school division is absolutely outstanding.  Not only do we have an accredited program, we have many options for our high school students and can cater their program to their current abilities and future goals.  At the ninth grade level, we usually test for course placement upon enrollment.  With those results, we are able to place your son where he is academically, project for you the courses he will need for graduation, maintain a transcript for him, and provide him with an accredited diploma upon completion.

Once we receive your enrollment information (including the state in which you reside), we can help you with every step of the homeschooling process--both legally and academically. Please drop me a note if you have additional questions, or leave your snail mail address if you wish to have information sent to you. You can also pre-enroll via telephone at 800-863-1474 or e-mail Contact Us in order to get the testing started as soon as possible.  Click Here for Tuition Costs
Topic Questions

Q. I am struggling with the decision to home school my child. She is struggling in school but is not really interested in home schooling. Plus, she is a high school student and I am concerned about whether or not I can handle teaching the material. What should I do?

A. Making the decision to home school is always a tough one but it is ultimately your decision and will depend on your child.  In many cases a struggling student at school becomes an exceptional student at home.  Because we do test for placement, your student will begin at a level that she can handle and progress as she masters the material.  As a result, if she is working through the curriculum as it is designed, she will have the foundation necessary to succeed at each new level.  

In addition, each course is self-instructional; therefore, it is presented in a step by step, clearly laid out fashion that most students can follow. Your job is not to teach in a conventional way, but to become a partner in her learning, helping when necessary. Plus, if you find that you too are stuck, she can call one of our teachers for assistance. As for her attitude--that will make all the difference in the world.  If she is adamantly against it, she may not put in the effort required to be successful. Once again, that will depend on her.
Topic Questions

Q. How do I go about homeschooling my high school student? Can you help with the academics as well as the record keeping?

A. Our curriculum makes it possible for a high school student to get the best education possible. The lessons are self-instructional; therefore, they are presented in a step by step, thorough fashion.  Plus, many of our high school math and science courses are available with instructional videos which enhance the material and help to ensure that the student comprehends what he is learning.

Our academy provides you with accurate and complete record keeping and an accredited diploma. Our graduates have and are now attending colleges and universities all over the country.

In order for us to start a program for a High School student, we will need his or her previous transcript. This will enable us to judge exactly what he or she needs in order to receive a diploma. Secondly, we will need to know which academic track you will want to follow: Vocational, Academic, College Prep, or Honors. This will make a difference as to which courses we would prescribe.

Thirdly, if your student is in ninth grade, we recommend our diagnostic testing which will allow us to find exactly where he or she is ready to begin in each subject. This will not change his or her grade level, but will allow us to customize the curriculum to your student.
Topic Questions

Q. I have a daughter who is struggling at the ninth grade level. I believe she will need to be moved back into the eighth grade or below to gain the skills she needs. Can you help me without causing her to add several years to her schooling?

A. We have the perfect program for you. Using our diagnostic placement testing, we can pinpoint the specific areas where your daughter is struggling and cater a course to those needs.  This approach will allow her to quickly gain the skills necessary to succeed at her chronological grade level, eliminating the need to add years to her schooling.   

Once she reaches high school, we will prescribe a full curriculum from ninth grade until graduation, maintain report cards and transcripts as she completes the program, and award an accredited diploma once she completes the requirements for graduation. Our curriculum is designed for independent study and is easily administered. It is an outstanding curriculum that prepares students to succeed after graduation, whether they attend a university or enter the workforce.
Topic Questions

Q. My son was just in a car accident and it will be several months before he will be able to go back to school. Can he start the program now and finish his high school program with you by the end of the summer?
Will he need a GED?

A. We can certainly help you and your son complete his high school requirements. Our diploma is an accredited diploma; therefore, he will not need a GED upon completion.  To get him started, we will need his transcripts and a list of the classes he began this year. We will do our best to continue him in those same courses and to set up a plan for graduation that includes all requirements. The timing is entirely up to him. If he wishes to finish by the end of the summer and is determined to follow through, he can certainly do it.
Topic Questions

My child is pre-school age . . . what do I do?

Q. I am interested in homeschooling my pre-school aged children and am wondering if you have materials for children ages 2 and 4?

A. We do have some excellent activity books for children ages one through five, which provide specific ideas and guidelines for preparing your children for the more aggressive learning of grade school. These books provide teaching in arts, drama, physical development, communication, reading, writing, and much more. Called the Active Learning Series, they provide you with easy to prepare teaching activities for your children.

I use them with my 31/2 year old and 2 year old and absolutely love them!

Our formal pre-school program is outstanding and is explained in more detail in the next question. 

Our pre-school through high school curriculum is also excellent! Not only are you able to place your student exactly where he or she is academically, this curriculum provides careful, step by step instruction which allows your student(s) to work independently. This frees you to care for younger children as well as to prepare more creative enhancement activities.
Topic Questions

Q. Do you have a formal pre-school program available?

A. We have a fantastic pre school program designed for ages three, four, and five, that includes coordination development skills, crafts, stories, songs, gross and fine motor activities along with a terrific phonics approach to letter sounds. Best of all, it comes complete with display letter cards, a song CD, four detailed teacher's manuals that explain what to do every day in a step by step format, and a complete set of student workbooks that are colorful and fun. There is no guesswork involved! When students complete this reading readiness program, they are already blending basic letters and they are ready to learn to read. This program is followed by a phonetic reading program, from the same curriculum manufacturer, which has student's reading on a third grade level at the end of the program.
Topic Questions

Our family has a unique learning situation.
(struggling students, gifted students, multiple students, teaching writing, & more)

Q. My son is becoming a behavior problem in school. I am unsure if he is struggling or not because he seems to know the homework. I am interested in homeschooling him but am nervous about whether I can meet his specific needs. Can you help?

A. We can certainly help you to homeschool your son. Because our program is individualized to each student, it is perfect for him. Our diagnostic testing will enable us to find exactly where his academic difficulties lie and address those before moving him on. Many times a student has missed key foundational skills which effect his ability to succeed in more strenuous work. Our testing allows us to find those areas and fill those learning gaps. 

As a former public high school teacher, I found that most students who had "behavior problems" were either struggling or bored with the material. They compensate for their struggle by acting out in class and thus avoid embarrassment and any potential teasing by their peers. Helping him to succeed academically may be what he needs to overcome his negative behavior.

I look forward to helping your son succeed. I know we can be a great service to all of you as you begin homeschooling.
Topic Questions

Q. My son is struggling in school and comes home every day discouraged and exhausted. He doesn't seem to be getting the help that he needs and he is beginning to hate school and learning. I need help knowing how to get started and knowing what to do for him.

A. Your son's struggle is not unusual.  There are many students who struggle in a large classroom where distractions are common and individualization is impossible.  In addition, he has more than likely missed some key foundational concepts early on that are making it difficult to succeed at his current level.   

It sounds like homeschooling is exactly what your son needs. Not only does it provide the opportunity for one on one instruction, but it far exceeds the quality of education he will receive in a public classroom.

How to get started will depend on your state. To enroll him in our Academy and receive the diagnostic and placement testing simply requires our enrollment forms (able to be printed out or filled in online at homeschoolacademy.com/forms.htm and payment of the registration fee. From there we will send you academic testing that will help us to individualize the curriculum to his needs and assess that testing once it is returned to our office. We will then place him in the curriculum at the level(s) that will challenge him, yet not overwhelm him. As I stated before, the laws on getting started vary from state to state. We will need to know in which state you reside in order to give you the detailed information on state requirements.

His struggles may indicate a need for additional help from Essential Learning Institute. Visit their web site at www.ldhope.com or call 1-800-285-9089. A free cassette is available to you for the asking, entitled "Identifying Learning Problems Before it is Too Late."
Topic Questions

Q. I have a gifted student and would like to homeschool her this year. Is your program a good one for gifted students and do you help me select curriculum, etc.?

A. We can help you with every step of your homeschooling process. Our curriculum is an excellent choice for gifted students not only because students are able to work through it at their own pace, but also because our diagnostic testing and placement insures that your student begins at a level that is challenging to him. In addition, the self-instructional format of our curriculum allows you the freedom to be creative in developing enhancement activities for your student as well as have time to work with your other children.
Topic Questions

Q. My students are moving through the curriculum fairly quickly--is that okay?.

A. As for their speedy rate--it sounds like they are doing incredibly well!  That is unusual; however, not impossible. I would recommend that you consider either purchasing additional units at the end of the year (available at our cost) or re-test to ensure that they were able to complete the diagnostics to the best of their ability.

If they were struggling in past years, it may be best to allow them to continue to succeed--their levels are comparable to where they would be in another school system. The testing allowed us to determine any academic gaps and fill those accordingly. Once they have mastered the concepts which held them back in the past, they will succeed much more easily.
Topic Questions

Q. I am struggling to teach writing to my children. I cannot seem to get them interested. Can you help?

A. Getting Started.  One method that worked for me when I was teaching writing was to have the students use  the first page of their notebooks to write a long list of ideas, events, or objects which they could tell me about. Then, whenever it was time to write and they had trouble picking a topic, they could select from their list. By allowing them to choose what
they should write about, I was able to encourage them to write. AND by having a back-up list handy, I was able to avoid the common phrase, "But I don't know what to write about."

Creative Writing is another way to encourage writing.  One fun but instructional writing activity that aids a student in learning to pre-write is called Guided Imagery.  This method helps a student thing through an event in order to produce a paper about it. For instance, I would ask my students to close their eyes and think of an accident--it could be a car accident, a bike accident, falling down stairs, or anything--just tell her to picture an accident in which she was involved. Then have her place a paper on her desk, grab a pen and be ready to jot down phrases describing the accident.

With her eyes closed, begin talking her through the accident, telling her to picture where she is (have her jot it down with her eyes closed) Other questions:

Look to the left, look the right, what do you see? Who is with you? What do you hear? Smell? Taste? See? What are you
saying? Doing? As you come closer to the scene of the accident, what do you see? hear? As the accident occurs, what happens? What are you saying and doing? What do you hear? See? Feel? Taste? Think? Are there others around you? Describe the aftermath of the accident--who is helping? Describe yourself and how you feel.
If you have her simply jot down words and phrases rather than trying to answer in full sentences, you will enable her to put an entire account down on paper as you speak. Then have her go back, take her notes, and turn it into a story following the sequence on the page.  Most students enjoy this exercise because it helps them to tap into their experiences, and make sense of it before they write. An accident tends to be something that remains vivid in their minds and
is therefore an excellent choice for this exercise.

From this, you can teach her to pre-write all the time by simply jotting down her ideas as she thinks of them even if they don't seem to relate to the topic at hand. By brainstorming first, she can organize her ideas from the page rather than in her head before she writes.

Struggling as they Write.   Students who can't seem to complete an assignment are often trying to say it right the first time rather than learning to jot ideas.  Once the ideas are outlined, the student should simply write a rough draft without concern for spelling and grammatical errors (their paper will contain errors if they are writing with their flow of ideas). THEN, once it is all down once, they should go back to check for the best organization, coherence, spelling, grammar, etc. Encourage her to do it wrong the first time--to have fun with her writing and to feel free to write anything as quickly as possible and go back to make it right later.

For Younger Children.  Children new to writing often need more interaction from you in order to develop their writing skills.  With my own children, I use dictation to guide them through the writing process.  We start with a question, which is usually something to do with what they are learning.  For instance, when my second grade daughter worked through Bridgeway's Animal Science course, I would ask a question at the end of the unit that related to the specific animal studied.  For instance, when she studied sheep, I asked, "What important character trait do sheep teach in relation to our Christian lives?"  and when she studied poultry, I asked "What is a pecking order?"  These were questions that had been taught in her course; therefore, my job was to simply guide her through rereading if necessary, prewriting--jotting her ideas (which she would dictate to me and I would show her how to organize), and her rough draft.  To create her rough draft, she would take the prewriting we had done together and follow the organization to dictate her sentences and paragraphs. 

Write these sentences exactly as she says them.  Then, go back and revise the assignment together.

Don't always require a final draft.  Because I love writing and teaching writing, my children would complete a fairly involved assignment every week.  But they were only required to take one assignment through revision and proofreading each month.  This helped to develop a love for writing rather than making it a dreaded experience.  

Don't give up on teaching writing--it is an important skill that will be necessary in every aspect of life--whether she goes on to college or to the workforce. Mastering writing will give her the edge wherever she goes!
Topic Questions

Q. How can I homeschool several students at different grade levels--I have students in grade 2, 5, 7, & 9?

A. Our program is one of the easiest to administer for multiple grade levels.   Rather than trying to plan for five to six subjects at three different grade levels, or to create ways to teach the same material at different levels, you are able to focus on enhancement activities and electives (such as home economics or music). 

Because all of our curriculum is self-teaching and explains each concept in a clear, step by step manner, students can work more independently.

And our services are the best available! We are with you every step of the way and are always just a telephone call away!
Topic Questions

Standardized testing and evaluation.

Q. I would like to test my children at the end of each year to be sure that they are learning. Can you help?

A. We can provide you with two types of achievement testing depending on your objective.

You can purchase the Terra Nova Test which is used in public and private schools country wide and is a norm-based test.
This is accepted by most school districts; therefore, if you are providing the testing to meet their requirements it is the one to use.

However, if you are testing your students for your own knowledge, we have an excellent testing tool for you. It is a computer generated grade level evaluation that will test your student in everything he should know by the end of his or her grade level. The detailed report tells you specifically which concepts he has mastered and which he has not mastered. In addition, it provides a full tutorial report explaining each concept and giving tutorial suggestions and exercises to use as you work to teach your student those concepts.

Best of all, your student can take and retake this test all year long, which gives you a fantastic gauge to determine academic progress!

If you are looking for a test that will provide you with accurate and detailed information on what your student has learned,
the Grade Level Evaluation is definitely the one to use!
Topic Questions

Q. The quarter is coming to an end and I need a quarterly test to turn into my district. Can you help?

A. You are not required to provide a quarterly test; however, we do have an outstanding computerized testing instrument available--The Grade Level Evaluation. This can be used continuously throughout the school year and
will test your student on everything he should know at a particular grade level in Math, English, and Science (other subjects to be added soon). This will then print out a full report detailing all concepts mastered and not
mastered, as well as a full tutorial report which will help you to review any weak areas. It also maintains a tracking system on the student and will demonstrate his improvements as the year goes on.
The cost for the complete battery is $49.95 per grade level.
Topic Questions

Homeschooling in foreign countries.

Q. We live in Italy and would like to homeschool our children using your program. Do you serve families overseas? If so, how?

A. We provide a complete program for students both in the US and overseas. Our overseas students receive the same outstanding services as those here in the United States; however the method of reporting grades, the personal help and the shipping costs vary.

For our overseas students, we provide e-mail correspondence for tuition payments, questions, and the reporting of grades. In most cases, any e-mail correspondence will be answered within 24 hours.

In addition, we are developing more and more on-line courses all the time--eliminating the need for costly shipments and regular reporting. 

Shipping charges are determined strictly by the ship to address, the size and the weight of your package. Rather than charge some families exorbitant rates, we do not have a set shipping charge; instead, we wait to charge shipping until the package is packed and ready to go. That way, we charge only what our shipper charges us.
Topic Questions

Q. I'm interested in home schooling my three kids (ages 5,8 and 9) in English. We live in Israel and they attend public school but English is only taught as a second language starting in 4th grade. We have only been here 6 months so they are on grade level. What do you recommend curriculum wise?

A. All of our curriculum is exceptional and will allow your students to continue to progress academically.   It is perfect for a family like yours where you have three different grade levels because it is designed to be self-instructional, thereby eliminating your need to create lesson plans for five different subjects at three different grade levels. Many of our overseas families love the freedom and flexibility of our program, which allows them to focus on their new culture and the language of their country.

You may opt to purchase the curriculum outright and homeschool on your own, or you may enroll your students in our Academy and let us do the work for you. We will test and place your students, order your curriculum, loan you
your teacher keys and resource books, maintain all records, and provide you with an accredited diploma once the children complete their high school program.
Topic Questions

Q. I am a homeschooler and would like to play football in college. How do I go about getting recruited?

A. You will usually have to be a walk on; however, my advice to you is to begin sending letters to the coaches for the colleges and universities in which you are interested during your JUNIOR YEAR. Most athletes are recruited in
their junior year--if you play for a local team, provide them with times and places where they can come to see you play and include some recommendations from people involved in your sport(s).

You may also want to request an opportunity to go to their campus for open tryouts in the fall of your senior year. If you are a talented player, this may help you know the odds of attending a specific university.
Topic Questions

Curriculum Questions

Q. Do you have a Scope and Sequence for your materials?

A. Our Scope and sequence information can be found at:
homeschoolacademy.com/academy/curriculum/descriptions/index.html
Topic Questions

Homeschooling with your own curriculum.

Q. I have two boys and am homeschooling for the first time. I would like to know if you can provide me with the guidance and accreditation that I need to ensure that they get the best education possible . . . Can you help?

A. It sounds like you have all of the curriculum you need for the boys.  Therefore, if what you need is the certification, record keeping, and legal services we provide, (Call for current pricing: 610-836-1474 Ext. 117).

 We will provide you with a projection for graduation as well as all of the forms you need to submit to us in order to receive report cards, transcripts, and testing services. We are also here to provide you with telephone help when you need it and help complying with your school district each year (in most cases we provide you with all of the materials you need to turn in to your district).
Topic Questions

The Home School Academy Questions.