Home Schooling Advice, Things to Consider, Etc

since you asked, i think the changes the pull out from public, then the push back in when mom is done with the homeschooling, would be difficult. But i also choose a school district that i knew i would be happy with the whole way through, and chose not to do prvate or charter through 6th and then switch for the rest. i guess it depends on the kids personality but mine wouldnt have made friends easily hopping all around.

my second reason for not being in favor of it, is that my kids don't jump and say yes mam' when i tell them to put their socks away, and if i were homeschool that is what i would want, i would want them to do stuff that maybe isn't their favorite but it needs to be done, and i'm too busy struggling to get them to pick up their toys and eat there veggeis to be the one to struggle with school work, I know they listen to there teachers and i know they enjoy the different perspective instead of mom nagging.

I'm always intrigued by the thought that someone would homeschool "for a few years". I guess I'm neither "for" or "against" any *type* of schooling.... I think as a parent you do the best you can and if it works so that you can make choices specific to your child, so much the better!

That being said.... my daughter attended a Montessori School for Early Childhood and then through the middle of 5th grade.

I then moved and she has been in Public School for about 2 years. It seems that 2 years in Public School (and a good Public School - state rated, school district ranks nationally above average) has COMPLETELY UNDONE many of the habits that I believed were so ingrained (and loved) about Montessori. It was like adolescence, puberty and public school were a perfect storm of disaster.
LOVE of learning? waned.
Interest in boys? peaked.
incidents of stepping up to help others? Not as much.
obsession with boy bands? through the roof
interest in popular TV shows? High
desire to work ahead in subjects? stifled and on a couple occasions was told not to be disruptive by asking advanced questions that de-railed the conversation for the majority of students.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you have the ability to home school and you find that your son flourishes in that environment..... for the love of mike don't then put him in a regular school. It will undo most of what you've taught him. Wait until he's older and the ways of learning are innate to who he is.

The pull of the status quo is quite strong. I would have said my daughter would rise above. That my daughter wouldn't be interested in all of the things that take her mind OFF learning. Because she was SUCH a learner in that environment -where it was low student/teacher ratio and the focus was on learning and helping others. I've had to REALLY have conversations with her about the benefit of going above, or even meeting the standard.... because she keeps telling me that the teacher's don't care. And so I say.... YOU should care.

I never thought I would write a pro-home schooling reply. For the most part I think "to each their own". But I would be REAL careful about transitioning a child to a public school when they are still *formative*.

1) no idea, really. i went into a homeschooling bookstore and sought out groups on their bulletin board, and those led to others, and so forth. google is your friend if you can't get personal referrals. but they're out there, i assure you. it took me 6 months to find a secular group. i had just about given up!
2) it's just impossible to answer that one. sometimes it works out great, sometimes it doesn't. many people choose to slant their entire homeschool experience to prevent problems in this eventuality, ie get the local board of ed's scope and sequence and adhere to it faithfully so their kids stay 'caught up' with public school kids. IMO this destroys what's best about homeschooling- the flexibility, fearlessness, and being able to help YOUR kids follow their own strengths and bolster up their own weak points with an individualized lifestyle that allows them to leave mass-education programs in the dust.
private schools have wildly varying criteria. there's just no way to presuppose what any one will want. most will have some sort of entrance exam in order to place the child appropriately, and may require catch-up classes if their requirements aren't a perfect fit with the homeschool program you'd been doing. this freaks people out, but honestly, it's just not a big deal. my kids started taking community college classes at 15. they both had to take 'remedial' math classes. they were terrific classes and gave 'em just what they needed.
3) be open to the distinct possibility that you'll toss any curriculum out the window when you discover how much better you can design a course of study for your own kids. but it is nice to start with a template. i really like the waldorf stuff. oak meadow and clonlara were my favorites.
good luck!
khairete
S.

Check out www.hslda.org! They have great information and resources for free (you don't have to be a member to benefit from their information). This is our first year homeschooling and I have found them helpful and informative. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.

Hi.

To number 1: Sorry I can't help as I don't live in your area.

2. In my area, you register with the school board. You submit your folder/curriculum and exemplars of your child's work. This is to ensure that you are teaching what they would learn if they were in public school. As they get older you can also have them take certain tests, given by the public school, to make sure they are on grade level.

If and when you decide to put them in public school, you just let the board know and register them. If you've been compliant there won't be any problems.

I don't know about private schools, they have their own policies and those vary from school to school. I would suggest contacting the one you would like your child to go to and speak with them.

I wish I could've home schooled my children, esp my son,6. I am not happy with schools in my area, but I am a single mom and cannot afford to do so. I think if it's great if you do it for the right reasons and make sure they are properly socialized. Years ago that may have been hard, but so many people home school now that there are lots of groups you can join. The local YMCA has home school P.E. for families. My local REC Dept has science and history classes just for home schoolers! The group I would have joined has one parent who is a former math teacher and she gets all the kids for math. they switch off with other parents who have expertise in another area. That's a good way to make sure they are socialized, know how to work in groups and with others and it gets them out of your house.

Trust me, if I could pay rent etc and still home school I would.

Good Luck!

Hi there,

1. Your state is one of the "friendly" states for homeschooling. About legal information and more, it is very helpful reading www.HSLDA.or (Home School Legal Defense Association) This site gives you information for each state and much more.
2. Personally I do not have experience with transitions from HS to PS or so; however several moms in my HS group have D. transitions, their kids have come back to PS or Private school. Most of them have been successful with transitioning in different aspects (socially, academically, etc), and some others have experienced some difficulties. As I always say, the success on your homeschooling journey depends on how seriously you manage your homeschooling (structure, plenty of enrichment activities, exercises, nice schedule-flexibility is wonderful but do not overdue it, expectations, goals, etc), I have noticed that private schools are more open in receiving home educated children. In your area, I cannot say too much since I don't live there.
3. Your kid is little, you don't need a curriculum; at this age (K,1 grade) they learn mostly from hand-on activities, visits to museums, zoo, parks, farms, home school group, enrichment classes, sports, etc); however, you still may use curriculum like ABEKA, SETON, etc, or use a blend of different curriculum, or use Curriculum Unit, you can google these easily. Online curriculum are not suitable, in my opinion for little ones, may be when they grow up; little ones need a vivid experience for learning!
YES!, it is a wonderful experience to follow directly your kid's academic experience , and discovering of the world.It is very rewarding, but your life and your kid's will change; you will have to find the time and patience to balance your daily life and give your education's child a priority.
I home school my 2 boys (7 and 13), the little one has never been in PS or private school and I pulled out my eldest from PS in Third Grade, he is finishing 7th grade now. I did choose a religious curriculum which is working perfectly for us.My 13-year-old kid has been academically tested once a year, and he is being very successful.
My advice: get all the information you can from good and professional resources. If you decide to home school, enjoy this journey to the maximum with ups and downs, and do not buy everything for homeschooling offered in the market. Use the library, Barnes and Noble, internet and HLSDA.
Check www.nheri.org (The National Home Education Research Institute), and read the book "The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child" by Linda Dobson, it can give you a very good idea about the realities of home education.

I'm homeschooling my oldest in first grade, but her younger brother is 5 entering K (home) and he's SOOOO FAR AHEAD from being around for all her lessons. If I went to put him in kindergarten next year he'd practically be ready for first grade. Anyway. Kindergarten is great because it's really loose. Plenty of homeschool activities, travel, hands on stuff. My son has absorbed lots of ancient history through all the reading I did with his sister during the year and all the library books...I follow The Well Trained Mind style.

BIG TIP: Get lots of library books from all educational sections each trip as well as fun reading. One or two on space, plants, biographies, animals, dinosaurs, fun books, etc. the book "What Your Kindergartner Should now is a another good guide.

My favorite actual curricula for kindergarten are: Math: Math-U-See, Primer level. My daughter has been so ahead for first grade having had this math foundation in kindergarten.

Favorite reading resource: "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" Wise and Buffington. We use a chalkboard for daily lessons and his reading is excellent.

Flexibility to travel at this age and experience things in the real world is so awesome. One major advantage to homeschooling is the ability to get lots of material into little hours so there is much more time for extra activities: music lessons, sports, play time, whatever. My daughter has advanced subjects every day and STILL has all afternoon to practice piano, violin and attend Tae Kwon Do AND play with friends and rest. She's already into her second grade work and it's not even summer. Tomorrow we're going to a homeschool event at our local National Park. Do it if you can!

Also, I keep track of what my daughter's friends are doing in school. We're in a bad district. My daughter is writing in cursive and manuscript neatly, has learned nouns, verbs, pronouns, she reads like crazy from advanced chapter books, memorizes poems, reads classic literature for grammar and dictation and writing lessons...does lots of history related crafts, has built a timeline of the era we're working through, science experiments etc...her friends in our local first grade haven't done any of those things yet. And we've also taken a million little trips to do things on school days.

****Here in PA I know lots of people who have had their kids in and out of schools with no problems transferring. One friend homeschooled several years and lived in France for several years with kids in school there. They now attend high school here and love it and had no problems adjusting. One just got accepted to the college she wanted.

***Here in PA you register with state by age 8 so I haven'thad to do that yet, but I have been building portfolios and reading lists since mid-kindergarten for my 7 year old. She will take the first standardized test in third grade at the school with other students.

My mom homeschooled my sister for a year and a half mid HS due to medical issues. It was NOT a good thing for my mom.

My mom talked to our school district and found out that there were 2 programs that they said matched theirs and would transfer back to the school without causing my sister to lose any credits or time. If my mom decided to continue for the remaining time, my sister would receive a HS diploma, not just a GED. That was very important to my mom.

My mom homeschooled with no community support. She found it difficult because she had to keep thinking up the various outings and activities. The program included a list or timeline on when certain tests needed to be comepleted and sent in for review. My mom would try to get my sister to finish the stuff in a timely manner, but each month, she would wait until 2-3 days before the tests were due to take them, so my mom was always having to overnight stuff. If was very stressful and my mom does not handle stress well. After a year, it was decided that my sister would return to HS for her senior year.

I have a friend who has homeschooled all of her kids. She has a set schedule, a group of home school friends, etc. The parents take turns teaching the subjects or a special project. Especially in the more dificult math and science classes. The would do group outings, their kids are in community sports and activities. Their family LOVES their life.

Please, visit www.k12.com and consider this option. They offer virtual academies in almost every state, the curriculum is one of the best available, and this situation offers many of the benefits of a public school with NONE of the drawbacks...and ALL the benefits of homeschooling! I started my daughter in K and she is now finishing 2nd grade...we love it. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to pm me and I'd love to share.

I know in Kansas the schools have a home schooling program done online from home so you don't have to do lesson plans, etc. You have to have phone conferences once in awhile with a teacher who checks on the progress, etc. Not sure on all details but one of our family members does this. You might want to start there and it's definitely NON-RELIGIOUS. You still have to buy books, etc. and they let you use one computer for the classes too. I don't know if this would be the best thing at all for one this young in K. Maybe later when older. I think our grandson used it in 3rd grade to start out.

We're right at the same crossroads you are. I wish you luck with your decision!

I know Texas Tech University has a home school curriculum (it is on-line) that you can sign up to use...you send in samples of work and tests and what not over the course of the year and it tracks that you are meeting the minimum state guidelines for each grade. Then if later you want to enroll your child in school you have an official transcript of what grade your child is "in".