<p>What can I do for these? I was just told I would need them to get into a good school.</p>
<p>There are lots of things you can do. I did various local community theatre groups, choir at the local high school and my church, speech and debate through the NCFCA (homeschool forensics league), filmmaking through the local public access channel and a summer program at Northwestern, community service through the ministry my parents work for, chess through local chess clubs, etc.</p>
<p>See if there's a homeschool group nearby with any interesting activities and see what the public high school will let you do with them. Other than that, decide what you're interested in doing and start looking for groups to do it with.</p>
<p>I think sometimes you forget all the stuff you are already doing. We were recently on the way to a scholarship interview and practicing some questions. I asked my son "Please tell me about your community service." He mentioned the most obvious thing, but forgot tons and tons of stuff. He was doing it because he loved it and not "for community service" so it didn't seem like that to him :-) You are no doubt doing tons of ECs already and just don't realize it. Every homeschooler I know is doing tons.</p>
<p>Hobbies, homeschool clubs or groups, or any sports or athletics are ec's you can include on your college apps. My kids also did Civil Air Patrol, which was a really good EC. Check to see if any of the YMCA's in your town offer Youth & Government. That's a great activity to get involved in!</p>
<p>crotmot,</p>
<p>You've gotten some very good suggestions already, but I want to give you something else as food for thought.</p>
<p>My daughter's most important EC was something we created on our own. She is obsessed with Shakespeare, and from sophomore through senior years she taught a couple of weekly classes to home schooled students. She has over 40 students. She also produced a big Shakespeare festival each spring, and directed many of her students in full length productions. She adapted the plays, held auditions, cast the actors, worked with the actors on costumes, scenery, props, sound and lighting effects. She submitted a supplemental group letter of recommendation from the parents of 19 of her students, basically describing the ways her mentoring changed their kids' lives. I think this was an important reason why she's already been admitted to Harvard and Yale.</p>
<p>Soooo.....what do you love? How can you use that to the benefit of your community? With some imagination and initiative, you can create your own EC! Home schoolers are not limited to the rather one-dimensional club involvements one finds in a typical high school. One of my daughter's students was inspired to start an e-zine on women's rights with girls in Afghanistan. The entire world is a home schoolers class room!</p>
<p>alchemymom, that is just the coolest EC ever. I mean the Shakespeare. Very nice!</p>
<p>I run an outdoor program for fatherless children. So, my 8 yr old has become avidly involved with it. Four times a year he gets up at 6 am and goes into the field with me. He works almost tirelessly beside me for 13 hours. He learns ecology, social interaction, the value of serving others, and sees the value of being raised in a home with a positive father role model. It is one of the best EC's I have found. I cannot wait until he is old enough to help me guide our summer climbing trips with church groups in Colorado. Week longs. I can't wait to spend that kind of focused time with him. He also is invovled in a reading group, soccer, archery, riflery, dog training, and various long term church activities. All of them count!!!</p>
<p>Think about what you really love to do and are passionate about (socially, politically, artistically) and look for opportunities in that area. One of the great things about homeschooling is that you can really create your own opportunities and seek out mentoring relationships in the areas of your passion...</p>
<p>My daughter, a rising senior, cares deeply about the natural world/biology. So she nurtured a relationship with a local naturalist who is now giving her one-on-one (free) taxidermy lessons, creating study skins for county educational programs; she volunteers several hundred hours a year in our local zoo's teen volunteer program; and she works summers on our farm, removing invasive non-native plants....There's more, but the thing is, she really loves doing all these things, and I think that shows in her essays applying for summer programs and will show when she applies to college in the fall. Most important, she's doing the things she wants to do, and is discovering where those interests lead to other interests...</p>
<p>what about dance?</p>