high school Archives - Julie Naturally | Teen Health Coach

5 Entrepreneurial Skills Needed For a Job in the New Gig Economy: Preparing Teens

May 3, 2025 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As homeschoolers, many of us are called upon to be more than high school instructors. We also need to be career coaches and guidance counselors. As such, we tirelessly research the ins and outs of college admission, vocational school requirements, financial aid and scholarships, and other valuable information on behalf of our teens. It’s our responsibility to make sure our teens have the skills needed for a job. Our high school students’ coursework often depends on their future career path. However, the world of work is changing rapidly and many now need these 5 entrepreneurial skills to be successful, even …

Economics for High Schoolers That Won’t Bore Them to Tears

March 24, 2022 by Julie Brow-Polanco

When I was in high school, one of the electives I took was economics for high schoolers. I remember the law of supply and demand as a key part of macro-economics. Even though a lot of it was a bit dry, my favorite part was pretending to invest in the stock market. We selected and tracked our stocks and made graphs. Then, we discussed our choices and whether we should sell. This class helped me understand how different economic systems work. Nowadays, I hear a lot of discussions around capitalism versus socialism, especially on social media. Sadly, many young people …

5 Reasons why study botany in high school

August 20, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As I’m sure you know, most high schoolers take three science courses. These are: Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Some students may also take a Computer Science course. But, in all of those courses, they rarely get advanced Botany. In fact, most children never study Botany again after third grade and can’t even name ten plants or trees in their neighborhoods. They may not even see that botany is important to their everyday lives. We need to remedy this! Let’s talk about why study botany in high school to combat the growing labor shortage and general ignorance about plants. Why Study …

Presenting a great career prep tool for undecided teens

August 6, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

I can’t believe that my last two kids are both now in high school! It’s bittersweet. I have been talking with my daughter who’s a junior this year about life after high school. Will she choose an alternative to college or will she need some college readiness skills? To help her figure this out, I went hunting for a career prep tool. I was looking for one of those career assessment tests that would give her a list of options that matched her interests and skills. I found a few of those online, but what I ended up using is …

Top 10 STEM Careers in Botany You Must Check Out!

June 23, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Does your teen love plants? Is he looking for something a bit off the beaten path to do after high school? Maybe one these careers in botany is a good choice. After all, botany is important, perhaps the most important science of all. Without botany, the world starves. Want to solve world problems? Want to make an impact? These careers give your teen an opportunity to make a difference in a big way. Careers in Botany Conservation Biologist Do you care about the environment and being a good steward of Creation? Then, this might be the career for you! Conservation …

Why a Flexible Online Degree is a Great Option

June 16, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

This year, my younger daughter enters her junior year of high school. You know what that means, it means it’s time to talk about career choices. She has already told me that she thinks she wants to go to college. I told her that she needs to decide on some possible careers first so she can determine whether or not it will truly be necessary. After all, there are many alternatives to college. In the meantime, I’ve been taking a look at flexible online degree options for her. When I learned of Total Testing and their partnership with Daemen College …

Easy to Use Curriculum to Make Teens’ Writing Better

June 10, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Since I don’t believe in teaching little kids to write, we often do formal writing instruction a bit late. Narration and oral storytelling naturally lead to better compositions when kids are older. But, sometimes middle schoolers and teens need a bit of help with some of those mechanical skills such as tricky spelling and homophones, grammar, and more obscure sentence mechanics. (They usually know what a sentence is, but how about prepositions and clauses?) I like to use a targeted but immersive approach to pick up these skills easily and quickly. So I veer towards an easy to use curriculum …

Achieve more with high school dual enrollment at Thiel College

January 5, 2021 by Julie Brow-Polanco

As I’ve talked about before, I don’t think that college is for everyone. But, if your teen wishes to pursue a career that requires college, I definitely recommend high school dual enrollment. It is one of the excellent college options to reduce cost and get a head start. In fact, my oldest two (who have already graduated) took a few courses at the local junior college while they were still in high school. This helped them get a head start on general college requirements. It also helped them gain skills and determine their paths while they were still at home. …

How to win the heart of your rebellious teenage son

July 10, 2019 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Many families I know stop homeschooling their sons when they reach high school. Moms state many reasons for this. I hear, “Well, my son plays baseball and the high school team offers more options for him.” Or, I hear, “My son is into computers and techie stuff. He can get that at the high school since I can’t offer him that at home.” But, the most common reason is that she has a rebellious teenage son. He doesn’t respect her authority. How can you win your (teen) son’s heart? What do I mean? What it means to have your son’s …

3 R’s of How to Motivate a Teenager

March 15, 2019 by Julie Brow-Polanco

Are you struggling with how to motivate a teenager in your life? Maybe he sleeps half the day or falls asleep in the middle of your co-op class. Maybe he doesn’t seem to put much effort into his science book and leaves a lot of blanks on the experiment sheet. Perhaps it’s not your son, but your daughter. Does she put off finishing that research paper you assigned weeks ago? Do you feel like you butt heads frequently about schoolwork? Trying to figure out how to motivate a teenager exhausts us. When the usual ways of how to motivate a …

Some Reasons Not to Go to College: A homeschooling mom’s perspective

October 3, 2018 by Julie Brow-Polanco

In 2018, we graduated our second child from our homeschool. The first question everyone asks upon discovering this is–you guessed it–“Where is he going to college?” Well, he’s not going to college. He completed a career assessment tool and his path doesn’t necessarily need college. The question is uncomfortable, and I wish people would broaden their view of post-high school life. When I say that he isn’t going to college, the barely-concealed disappointment says volumes about the expectations of our youth. Seventy percent of high school graduates attend college as their next step. The generally accepted wisdom is that college …