Prepare Your Student for the Office with SchoolhouseTeachers.com
To help make sure my teens are prepared for the business world, I like to read business and finance blogs. I also interview business owners and consultants. One of the common themes is the lack of work ethic and basic office skills among many young people entering the work force. As homeschoolers, we can train our teens in office skills before graduating.
Word Processing Skills
First, we can allow and encourage our children to use Microsoft Word when they write essays. This application has many other functions that our teens probably don’t use regularly but an office setting does. That’s where SchoolhouseTeachers.com comes in. Check out How to Use Microsoft Word Online Training Course for Homeschoolers. When I looked at this course, I found a few lessons that could benefit me, too! This course teaches students how to display non-print characters, set and clear tabs, use the find and replace feature, control text flow around a graphic, and so much more. These video-based lessons are taught by a teen for kids as young as age 8, so the entire family can improve their word-processing skills. Maybe it might lead to a family newsletter project. Hmmm.
How to Use Microsoft Excel
I don’t know about you, but there are times when I wish I knew how to use this program a bit better. It would be so much easier to create budget sheets if I used Microsoft Excel. And, I recently learned that I could create calendars and other printables using this application. Who knew? I wish I had found SchoolhouseTeachers.com course How to Get Started with Microsoft Excel Functions sooner. This video-based course only takes five short weeks to teach students how to use the average function, count function, and maximum and minimum functions. These functions are important in research reports, such as sales data.
Other Fun Tech Skills
Web Design
In addition to office skills, employers also value basic knowledge of HTML and web design. SchoolhouseTeachers.com includes a course, Web Game Design, that instructs students in the basics of HTML while also teaching some JavaScript as they create games. While it’s a text-based course, the lessons include many screenshots and links to present clear, comprehensive instruction. Students start with developer bootcamp and progress through 44 weeks of lessons that teach sprites, sound effects, 2D animation, and more. Even if your child isn’t interested in gaming, he/she will learn some developer fundamentals and have a better understanding of the internet through this course.
Podcasting
Everyone seems to have a podcast these days. Why not? It’s so easy to listen while making dinner, driving the kids around, taking a shower or doing my morning routine, or exercising (ha, ha). Lots of businesses do, too. And, it’s great public speaking practice even if our kids don’t end up needing it for their careers. So many creative options are available to young people now, from fictional storytelling to teen perspectives on current events. SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers a video-based course, Podcasting to Change the World, that’s only six weeks long. My oldest son, now age 18, has shown an interest in podcasting and is looking at this course to help him get started. You’re never too old to try new things, and who knows? It may spark a new interest for one of your children, even a new career option in broadcast television, radio, or even the company spokesperson.
These courses are just the tip of the iceberg of what SchoolhouseTeachers.com has to offer your family. They now offer a full curriculum for the entire family. Check them out.
Julie Polanco is a 16+ years veteran homeschooling mom of four challenging, artsy kids. She is the author of two books for moms–God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn and 100 Ways to Motivate Kids–and the high school botany instructor for www.SchoolhouseTeachers.com. She teaches live middle school science workshops for her local homeschool co-op and is actively involved in her church’s women’s ministry. You can find her at www.julienaturally.com where she offers natural learning & living solutions for challenging kids and their families.
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