The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent's Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence
A home education expert and mother of eight shares her experiences and insights into harnessing a child’s natural desire to learn.
 
Joanne Calderwood has been a popular magazine columnist for several years and has become a popular speaker at home-education conferences across the country. Her self-propelled philosophy of education has transformed lives across the nation and around the world. In The Self-Propelled Advantage, Calderwood shares her wisdom, experience, and philosophy of education and parenting, as borne out in the lives of her own exceptional children.
 
Informative and inspiring, The Self-Propelled Advantage is for any parent who places a high value on their children’s education. Detailing her methods for raising inquisitive, diligent, self-motivated children, Calderwood also shares valuable information on preparing for college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT. Having taught one SAT perfect scorer, one near-perfect scorer, and four students who have gone to college on full academic scholarships, Calderwood has proven how successful her methods can be.
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The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent's Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence
A home education expert and mother of eight shares her experiences and insights into harnessing a child’s natural desire to learn.
 
Joanne Calderwood has been a popular magazine columnist for several years and has become a popular speaker at home-education conferences across the country. Her self-propelled philosophy of education has transformed lives across the nation and around the world. In The Self-Propelled Advantage, Calderwood shares her wisdom, experience, and philosophy of education and parenting, as borne out in the lives of her own exceptional children.
 
Informative and inspiring, The Self-Propelled Advantage is for any parent who places a high value on their children’s education. Detailing her methods for raising inquisitive, diligent, self-motivated children, Calderwood also shares valuable information on preparing for college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT. Having taught one SAT perfect scorer, one near-perfect scorer, and four students who have gone to college on full academic scholarships, Calderwood has proven how successful her methods can be.
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The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent's Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence

The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent's Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence

by Joanne Calderwood
The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent's Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence

The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent's Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence

by Joanne Calderwood

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Overview

A home education expert and mother of eight shares her experiences and insights into harnessing a child’s natural desire to learn.
 
Joanne Calderwood has been a popular magazine columnist for several years and has become a popular speaker at home-education conferences across the country. Her self-propelled philosophy of education has transformed lives across the nation and around the world. In The Self-Propelled Advantage, Calderwood shares her wisdom, experience, and philosophy of education and parenting, as borne out in the lives of her own exceptional children.
 
Informative and inspiring, The Self-Propelled Advantage is for any parent who places a high value on their children’s education. Detailing her methods for raising inquisitive, diligent, self-motivated children, Calderwood also shares valuable information on preparing for college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT. Having taught one SAT perfect scorer, one near-perfect scorer, and four students who have gone to college on full academic scholarships, Calderwood has proven how successful her methods can be.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781614482970
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Publication date: 10/01/2012
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 248
File size: 567 KB

About the Author

Joanne Calderwood is a professional educator-turned-mom who has a heart for teaching parents to teach their kids to teach themselves with excellence and motivation. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education and has been actively working with children for over twenty-five years. She has been a youth director, a houseparent at a children’s home, a fourth grade teacher, and has borne her own eight children. Her first four home-educated, self-propelled children have all attended the colleges of their choice on full academic scholarships. She has been a regular columnist in Homeschool Enrichment magazine for several years, where her column, “The Underwhelmed Homeschooler,” with its revolutionary methods and loving, gracious style has encouraged, blessed and de-stressed thousands of parents. Joanne is the founder of URtheMom.com, where she encourages parents to let go of the bicycle and watch with amazement.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

The Power of a Parent xiv

The Greatest Choice You Will Ever Make xv

For Home Educators and Non-Home Educators Alike xvi

Introduction xix

How Our First Four Students Earned Free College Educations xxi

Chapter 1 Excellence in Motion 1

The Startling Truth 3

Goals and Success 5

How I Lost My Mind 7

Benefits Beyond Education 11

Experience: The Best Teacher 12

The Bicycle Analogy 13

Letting Go 14

The Three Elements of the Self-Propelled Advantage 16

Self-Learning 16

Mastery 16

Self-Mastery 19

The Most Important Thing 22

Chapter 2 Operation Motivation 24

Sources of Motivation 25

Attitude Is Everything 25

Ownership 27

What If? 29

Types of Motivation 30

Drive 32

What About Grades? 33

Time for Change 35

The Marshmallow Study 36

Seeing the Big Picture 38

The Perfect Score Study 39

Are Perfect Scores Weird? 41

Perfect Score Kids and Motivation 41

The X Factor 42

What About the Parents of Perfect Scores? 43

Home-Educated Students and the SAT 43

A Word on Parenting 44

Self-Esteem 46

How to Demotivate 47

Final Thoughts on the Perfect Score Study 48

Purpose 49

Bonus Tip: Four Little Magic Words 50

An Inner Drive to Succeed 51

Chapter 3 Educational Options 55

Public Schools 57

Public Schools and the Self-Propelled Advantage 60

Private and Parochial Schools 61

Private Schools and the Self-Propelled Advantage 63

Home Education 65

Home Education and the Self-Propelled Advantage 68

Why Not Choose Home Education? 70

Which Type of Education Is the Best? 70

What If Both My Spouse and I Work Full-Time? 72

If You Don't Know Where to Start 74

Chapter 4 Element 1: Self-Mastery 76

A Parent's Incredible Impact 78

Public Displays 79

How Do You Teach Self-Mastery? 80

The Five Steps to Self-Mastery 81

Who Runs Your Home? 81

Step 1 Set House Rules and Expectations 82

Expectations and the Very Young Child 82

Expectations and Older Children 84

Keys to Expectation Setting 85

Step 2 Set Consequences 89

The Power of a Praising Parent 90

A Thankful Heart is a Happy Heart 91

Discipline 92

Other Discipline Issues 94

Discipline and Guilt 95

Self-Mastery and the Advantage 96

The Behavior Barometer 97

The Fruit of Effective Parenting 98

Home Education Is No Silver Bullet, But... 100

Step 3 Family Meeting 101

Group Discussions 102

The Parent-Child Meeting 104

Natural Consequences 105

Deferring Discipline to Dad 106

Combining Steps 106

Discipline and the Single Parent 107

The Past 108

Step 4 Observer and Respond 108

Step 5 Repeat as Needed 109

Showing Respect 109

Teen Issues 110

The Link 112

Chapter 5 Element 2: Mastery Mindset 115

Is Teaching to Mastery Cheating? 116

What is the Goal of Education? 118

Why Don't Schools Teach to Mastery? 119

Success Motivates! 119

How to Instill the Love of Learning 120

A Mindset of Trust 121

The Gift 125

Mandated Mediocrity Versus Mastery 126

Government Regulations 126

Tips for Students in a Classroom 127

In Conclusion 128

Chapter 6 Element 3: Self-Teaching 129

What Is Self-Teaching? 129

Self-Teaching and the Classroom Environment 131

An Overview of Self-Teaching 132

Who? 132

Where? 133

Why? 133

How? 135

When? 135

Negatives? 135

Cornerstones of a Self-Teaching Home 136

Record Keeping as Motivation 137

A Sometimes-Overlooked Benefit of Self-Teaching 138

Conclusion 139

Chapter 7 Self-Teaching and Young Children 140

The Five Steps to Self-Teaching Success 142

A Parent-Directed Approach 142

Step 1 Provide a Planner 143

Step 2 Gather Curriculum 143

Step 3 Set Short-Term Goals 143

What Does the First Day of School Look Like? 145

A Note About Lesson Times 146

Working Ahead 146

Readiness 147

Step 4 Monitor 148

After Each Quarter 148

Parent-Directed Learning with a Reading Child 149

Transition Time 150

Step 5 Letting Go 150

Chapter 8 Self-Teaching and Older Children 152

Student-Directed Learning for Middle School Students 153

Student-Directed Learning for High School Students 153

Courage to Face High School 154

Focus on Strengths 155

How Does this Mesh with Mastery? 156

The Five Steps to Self-Teaching Success 158

Step 1 Provide a Planner 159

Step 2 Gather Curriculum 159

Step 3 Set Short-Term Goals 160

Fleshing It Out 161

Breaking It Down 162

At the End of a Quarter 163

Step 4 Monitor 163

What is Accountability? 164

To Test or Not to Test 166

At the End of the Year 167

Grades 169

Step 5 Let Go of the Bicycle) 170

Ultimate Goals 171

Chapter 9 What About Curriculum? 172

Worldview 174

Home Education and Curriculum 175

What's More Important Than Curriculum? 175

How to Use Curriculum 176

Virtual Schools and Curriculum 177

When You May Need to Change Curriculum 178

Pulling Back the Curriculum Curtain 181

Curriculum Conclusion 183

Chapter 10 High School and Beyond 185

Self-Teaching in High School 186

High School Record Keeping 187

Advantages for the Self-Propelled High School Student 188

The College Admissions Process 189

Preparing Your High School Junior for College 190

Senior Year Sanity Tips 193

Scholarships and Financial Aid 194

What About CLEP Tests? 196

AP Exams 197

Dual Enrollment 198

Distance Learning 198

Summary 199

Helping Your Student Uncover His Areas of Interest 199

Start at the End, Work Backwards 201

Chapter 11 Calderwood Kids Speak 205

A Student's Take on Self-Teaching 205

Siblings Speak 209

Questions for the College-Aged Kids 212

Chapter 12 Your Legacy 215

What Are You Seeking? 216

What I Would Change 217

One Final Question 217

Bibliography 219

About the Author 221

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