If you have a student going into grades 9 – 12, you won’t want to miss Mid-Metro Academy’s FREE workshop, Planning for High School and Beyond, for homeschoolers. We’ll share need-to-know information about changes enacted by Minnesota’s legislature this spring that could impact your student’s PSEO and college plans. We’ll help you get a handle on graduation requirements, designing a four-year plan, and preparing a transcript.
Date: Monday, June 12
Time: 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Place: Mid-Metro Academy, 1983 Dayton Ave., St. Paul
6:30 Your Four-Year Plan and Preparing Your Transcript (Rebecca Hope)
7:00 Alternatives to College (Miranda Brist, Mikaela Swedlund, Chris Paschen)
7:30 FullSTEAM Ahead: Incorporating Arts and Technology into Your Four-Year Plan (Miranda Brist, Suzann Beck, Chris Paschen)
8:00 PSEO and College
Recent Changes in Minnesota Law (Rebecca Hope)
PSEO at Northwestern: UNWSP Adviser
Scholarships, Grants, and Applying to Colleges (Rebecca Hope)
8:30 Parent and Expert Panel
What We Wish We’d Known
Informal Q & A
This event is free and open to the public. You’re welcome to bring your rising ninth- to twelfth-grade students, and feel free to invite families who aren’t current MMA members. Registration is required, so be sure to sign up today.
Important PSEO Update
If your high school student is enrolled in Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO) or if you’re planning on PSEO in the future, you’ve probably heard that the University of Northwestern—St. Paul is no longer able to accept new students into their on-campus PSEO program because of the recent law. Many homeschooling families in the metro area have depended on UNWSP as their college of choice for PSEO, so the new law impacts many of our families, who are now wondering what they can do. At our workshop, I’ll fill you in on the details of the situation and how we can respond. A representative from UNWSP will be on hand to answer your questions about other ways to take advantage of PSEO and Early College at Northwestern.
MMA may be able to help fill the gap caused by this recent legislation, but that depends on what homeschooling families—including you—want. The feedback you provide at this workshop will help us determine how to proceed. If you know of any families with students who don’t attend MMA but were or will be deprived of their first choice for PSEO (on campus at Northwestern), please invite them to attend this event as well.
It’s no surprise that the American workforce is changing. The pandemic response favored remote employment, and on-site jobs haven’t yet fully returned. Many workers fled the traditional workplace and never came back. “Where have all the workers gone?” is a frequent inquiry nowadays. Although it’s a complex question, one part of the equation is that workers have migrated to the gig economy.
What does this mean for homeschoolers? It’s not necessarily enough anymore to prepare your student to be a good employee. Chances are high that your kids will end up working in the gig economy—either by choice or necessity. Most young people don’t want to be stuck working in fast food or coffee shops for years. The good news is: Homeschoolers are uniquely positioned to prepare their teenagers to thrive in the new gig economy.
What’s the gig economy?
With traditional employment, workers get hired, work a regular schedule, earn a wage or salary, and may receive benefits. In contrast, gig employment begins when clients (employers) seek someone with specific skills or expertise to complete a well-defined and limited task. Workers choose the jobs—or gigs—they want and set their own schedules. In other words, workers are independent contractors performing temporary assignments.
The list of gigs is long and varied:
Babysitter
Bookkeeper
Dog walker
Graphic designer
Handyman
Home organizer/stager
House cleaner
Magician
Mover
Musician
Photographer
Programmer
Tutor
Uber or Lyft driver
Virtual assistant
Interestingly, many of these jobs are perfect for enterprising high school students, especially if they’re homeschooled. Homeschoolers have the flexibility in their schedules to start and run a personal business. And homeschooling families have the ability to tailor their students’ coursework to facilitate their business success.
Gig economy platforms
In recent years, more and more online platforms have sprung up that connect employers with prospective workers. As digital natives, young people are often quite comfortable navigating these sites and using them to land gigs. Some of the most popular platforms include:
Upwork
Fiverr
Remote.com
Weworkremotely.com
Freelancer.com
Qwick.com (food service)
Handy.com (household services)
Taskrabbit.com (household services)
The gig economy platform cycle: The more jobs you complete successfully, the more likely you are to be hired again.
Of course, platforms are optional. Young people can also build their businesses by word-of-mouth, networking, a personal website, social media marketing, and traditional advertising.
Why should homeschooled high schoolers prepare for work in the gig economy?
Certainly, this type of employment isn’t for everyone. Yet homeschoolers, who may have grown up marching to the beat of a different drummer, may find themselves drawn to gig work because it provides more personal choices and flexibility than traditional employment. Surveys of gig workers show that they like the ability to set their own schedule and prioritize their personal life. According to surveys, 70% of gig workers report having a good work-life balance, and 77% are very satisfied with their jobs. As parents, we want our children to have satisfying and fulfilling careers. Preparing them to thrive in the gig economy can help set them up for that type of success.
You can give your student a head start
Almost 90% of freelancers wish their education had prepared them better for gig work. As a homeschooler, you can create a high school experience that includes the hard and soft skills needed in the gig economy. Hard skills include technical skills related to the specific field your son or daughter is interested in. For example, your student can learn programming, bookkeeping, photography, graphic design, web development, or media production while still in high school.
But technical skills aren’t enough. In one survey, 78% of respondents agreed that “soft skills” are as important as hard skills for success in gig work. Soft skills include communication, problem-solving ability, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and even Zoom etiquette.
The academy advantage
Homeschooling through high school presents significant challenges. Parents want to make sure their students graduate with academic credentials that compare to public school graduates, so core academic work is essential. Since the level in high school classes is advanced, many parents outsource some or all of this teaching to homeschool academies.
Similarly, if you want to prepare your student for the gig economy, you don’t need to go it alone. Academies are great for helping your students acquire soft skills. The “flipped classroom” approach used by academies like Mid-Metro Academy in St. Paul allows students to practice communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving with peers. Drama, music, and even swing dancing classes help students develop empathy and interpersonal skills.
Some homeschool academies help students develop technical skills as well. Mid-Metro Academy offers many business and technology classes that can help students start a side hustle while in high school. Students who are college-bound can support themselves during college with their gig career, and some students may choose to become entrepreneurs without gaining a traditional college degree. Mid-Metro Academy allows you to design the ideal high school experience for your student that can prepare him or her to thrive as an adult not just as an employee but perhaps as a private contractor enjoying the benefits of his or her own career in the gig economy.
To learn more about career-oriented classes at Mid-Metro Academy, click HERE.
Homeschool academies offer classes, usually on an a la carte basis, to students who are homeschooled. The classes usually meet once a week. Students access additional resources provided by the teacher and work on assignments at home on days they don’t attend class.
Are homeschool academies schools?
They aren’t schools because they don’t retain student records or report to the state government as schools do. They connect teachers with parents and allow parents to outsource certain activities of the homeschool. Officially, the “school” the student attends is the home school even if he or she takes a full schedule of academy classes.
Are homeschool academies co-ops?
Generally speaking, academies aren’t co-ops. Homeschool co-ops usually offer classes that are taught by moms or dads who are part of the group. In a co-op, all members pull their weight by committing to regular duties like teaching a class, assisting in a class, staffing the nursery, planning social events, or serving on the board or leadership committee. Co-ops work well during the elementary school years, but when students reach junior high and high school, most parents don’t feel confident teaching academic classes to other parents’ kids—and often not even their own. Often parents cut back on co-ops and opt for academies when children reach their teens. That way, students can learn from qualified teachers, and parents don’t have the heavy time commitment that co-ops expect.
What classes can students take?
That varies with each academy, but high school offerings are often based on the state-required high school graduation standards so that parents can select classes that will help create a high school transcript that reflects the same classes a student might take in public school. For example, Mid-Metro Academy in St. Paul offers all the core academic subjects for junior high and high school: math, science, English, social studies, and languages. In addition, students can take classes in visual arts, drama, music, dance, design, technology, business, study skills, and personal development.
How many classes should a student take?
It’s completely up to you, the homeschooling parent. If you’re comfortable teaching most subjects to your student but need help with one or two (such as English and math), then you can enroll your student in just one or two classes per semester. If you want to outsource more of the teaching to professional teachers and/or want your student to have more social learning experiences, you can build your student’s entire schedule around academy classes. In that case, your student might take 5 – 7 classes each semester and attend two days per week—if the academy has that many options. For example, Mid-Metro Academy meets on Mondays and Wednesdays with four periods each day. Some students come for a full day on Monday and a half-day on Wednesday—or vice versa. Many academies offer study halls so students can stay on campus during any periods they don’t have a class.
How much is tuition?
Your student can take a full schedule of classes for a fraction of what you’d spend at a private school. For instance, private high school tuition in the Twin Cities metro area is about $13,000 per year, but six classes per year at Mid-Metro Academy costs under $3,500. Tuition varies by academy and by class. Academies also require an annual membership fee, which helps offset some of the costs of administration and staffing.
How can I learn more?
Find more information about Mid-Metro Academy and register for classes at www.midmetroacademy.com. If you have questions, email director@midmetroacademy.com.
