The Complete Career, College, and High School Guide for Homeschoolers Professional Review
Product Review by Tina Rice, Senior Research, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
The Complete Career, College and High School Guide for Homeschoolers (The Guide) by Jill Dixon is a thorough guide to navigating the high school years. It is a great resource book for veteran and new homeschoolers alike.
As with many of my favorite homeschooling resources, Mrs. Dixon saw a need for a reference to guide homeschoolers and their parents through the many hoops of planning for college and choosing a career so she wrote one.
The Guide has three distinct sections: Student assessments, a list of occupations and careers, and a high school planning guide. You will also find a helpful how to use this guide section.
The assessment section contains 4 different assessments that will help you identify your learning style, your work/service preference, personality type, and a work environment questionnaire. Each section is followed by a listing of college majors and careers for the various areas. Following the assessment section is a list of considerations for men (to get them to think ahead to marriage and fatherhood), a list of stay-at-home jobs for wives and mothers, and a list of part time work for wives and mothers.
The next section begins with an alphabetical list of occupations and is followed by numerous pages of planning for various careers. High school course suggestions for various college majors/careers are included under each heading, as well as activities to consider and interview candidates. Under the nursing heading, for example, are 16 high school course suggestions, 8 career activities, and 13 interview candidate suggestions.
In the final section you will find a listing for cutting edge jobs, interview questions, 12 principles for raising godly teens (which was exceptional), a high school planning guide, CLEP test information, high school transcript advice, resource list by school subject, test preparation information, forms, and transcript samples.
Could you navigate high school and career planning without this book Certainly. Would it make life easier for a busy wife and mother? Most definitely. Do I recommend this book? Absolutely. I planned my oldest daughter’s high school courses and helped her choose a college major without The Guide. I wish I had this book 5 years ago. I estimate that I have spent 200 hours researching the type of information found in The Guide. For under $40 I could have spent most of that time doing other things (reading to my younger kids, cleaning, baking . . .) Based on $40, I “earned” 20 cents an hour on my research. My second daughter is a rising high school junior and undecided upon her future. She knows she wants to go to college. The assessments are helping her to narrow her focus and helping me to plan her final 2 high school years.
I think that most high school families will benefit from this resource and I recommend you buy a copy of The Guide. Glean from the wisdom of a veteran and save some research time.
Tina Rice
Senior Product Reviewer
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
14 Year Homeschool Veteran
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