Ok guys, talk to me about home schooling...

My daughter is 12 years old and just finishing 6th grade.
For a variety of different reasons, I am weighing the pro's and cons of home schooling her next year and am on the fence.
If you teach your children at home, or have in the past, give me your thoughts.
Any websites that you have found to be helpful would be great. I have been doing some research and there are a TON of sites. I would like to skip the fluff and get right to the ones that are helpful. Any hints, tips pointers etc you have for ordering supplies on a budget and which curriculum you use would also be helpful.
I am in Mass. I know every state has different regulations so if any of you are from my area, how is it?

[JANE4girls]

I don't homeschool my kids and never would. I love them, but don't need to be around them 24/7.

my sister on the other hand home schooled her kids for 2.5 years. The younger of the two flew through subjects and finished 3 grades in 2.5 years. The older one struggled more. My sister was not the best student. She always "just got by" so that is why I always questioned her ability to teach her kids.

You must be really organized...and smart to be able to home school your kids. I know they do have co-ops where you get with other parents and swap out teaching subjects you are good at and they teach subjects they are good at. To me, that defeats the whole purpose of home schooling your kids though.

[BzyBee]

bugface...check out http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp
to get info on laws and regulations for your state. There may also be links to groups meeting in your area.
Check to see if there is a HS convention in your state. You can see curriculum there and they have some seminars you may find useful. Your choices of curriculum may be dictated by state regs...you have to find out about that. This is a great time of year to buy used curriculum as other HSers are finishing up the year.

I recommend a nationally recognized standardized test every year even if the state does not require it. In fact, we will continue to test our kids although they entered public school this year.

We HSed for 7 years with and without joining co-ops. I like the idea for older kids...they need to have social time, learn to be under the instruction of other adults (besides parents) but you can choose a like minded co-op unlike public schools and teachers where you get what they give you and that is it. They don't have to teach core classes, sometimes art, music, dance, baseball, swimming etc, can be accessed through a co-op. If there are a lot of HSers in your area chances are that your kids can get extra curricular classes for HSers during school hours so you don't have to fight evening traffic and try to gobble down dinner between soccer and swimming lessons...KWIM?

I don't know what it means that you have to be 'smart'. I have seen some pretty 'dumb' things at the public school this year so I am not sure what qualifies as 'smart' enough to teach your own children. Yes, organization helps...but everyone is different and you should find a routine that works for you and your DD.

[breezy2]

I home schooled all three of my children all the way through. I have to disagree with the other poster, that may be her opinion, but it is not how I feel or many others.
Can you read and write? Can you learn? Then you can teach. I learned many things I never understood when I was in school. (such as math concepts that I never got)

Before I can point you in the right direction on line I would have to know a little more about you and why you want to homeschool. This will help narrow the field. Many people choose this because of religious reasons, others because of health issues with the child, and yet others to get a better education than they feel can be provided by the public school system.

If you would like you can PM me or reply here. I would love to help. To find out info on your state look for the home school legal defense site. They have stuff on every state.

Wendy
ipication)

[JANE4girls]

Originally Posted by BzyBee I don't know what it means that you have to be 'smart'. I have seen some pretty 'dumb' things at the public school this year so I am not sure what qualifies as 'smart' enough to teach your own children. Yes, organization helps...but everyone is different and you should find a routine that works for you and your DD.

not that you have to be a genius, but in my sisters case, she couldn't teach well what she did not know herself.

and I agree, public school teachers can do pretty dumb things too!

[clarkestep]

We just finishsed our first year. We have 2 boys in the 4th grade (well just finished).

I would suggest you check out www.hslds.org to find the laws in your state to start off with. Crosswalk.com has a homeschooling forum that I frequent (though I seldom post....like anywhere, I just don't have the time).

With this being my first year, I may not be of much kelp, but I can tell you some things that I've learned so far.

1. HSing doesn't have to be like public school (or any 'school like' institution). We have 365 days of the year to do school, unlike PS (public school). We also have 24 hours a day we can do it so we can do it at any time.

2. Learning doesn't have to come from text books. Especially for science and history. We will continue next year to use text/workbooks for language arts, math, and reading, but will be doing more 'real life' S and H. Some of my friends don't use text books/workbooks at all, but have their children do a lot of literature based learning and 'living books' learning (Learning Language Arts through Literature, Son Light, and WinterPromise are some curriculum that do this). There are so many ways to HS. Being my first year and all, I needed a very structured program to tell me what to do. I still think I will need structure for next year, but I'm just getting to the place where I can relax a little. Oh, funny thing, when we first started in August a huge local water park had a homeschool day. We went and I just counted it as PE, life skills, math (how long could they hold their breath under water lol), and health. That was as relaxed as I got until about February.

3. You DON'T have to be very smart to HS, nor do you have to be extrememy organized. If you are not a very organized person, that's why you can buy a curriculum that will tell you what to do and when to do it. As you work through it, you can tweak it to meet your needs. Like if it says to do 20 problems and your child can do them already, just skip them and go on to the next lesson. And if you don't know how to do the lesson, the teacher's book tells you how it's done. There are also many moms on the net that can help out.

4. I loved my co-op we joined. We went one day a week, and the kids got to do things I couldn't do with them, like art (sketching). They also got to meet other HSed kids and met friends. They aren't absolutly necessary, but they do help in developing social interaction between kids the same age. With a co-op, the one you would choose will most likely have the same values you choose for your child.

5. Oh, and one of the biggest things I learned, is that homeschool curriculum fairs are huge and confusing. If you do go to one, take a pencil and notebook and take notes on what you may like. Go home and research it on line. A great site to visit for this is called homeschoolreviews.com. DON'T spend a lot of money at one time. There are tons of used book sales that can save a ton of money.

6. Oh, and I forgot, the cost of a curriculum doesn't constitute it's greatness. None will be perfect for every child.


There is so much more that I could share with you. If you'd like to PM me I could contact you by phone and talk one on one.

Anyway, I wish you all the best.

Jennifer


BTW, Busybee and her DH homeschooled up til this past year. If they don't respondto your post, I'd PM them to see what they have to offer. EDIT: she posted while I was posting. LOL!

[BzyBee]

Originally Posted by clarkestep 3. You DON'T have to be very smart to HS,

LOL...I know what you mean but this doesn't help out the 'image' of HSing.

Great post clarkstep!!

You guys make me miss HS. I am counting down the days till the kids start summer vacation!! Woo Hoo!!

You guys are awesome! thank you so much for giving me a bit of a head start on where to go and what to look at. I will do some looking at those sites and will definitely be pm'ing you guys to get more info as I start the process. I truly appreciate your willingness to help.
I will start with my states requirements and see if my area has a homeschooling network in place.
I think this is the direction we need to take. Its not for religious reasons. Just that she learns much better one on one and I truly think she would flourish with a less conventional way of learning.
I will defnitely get her involved in activities with kids her age so she doesnt miss the socialization she needs.
Im sure there will be many more questions to come! keep the suggestions flowing!

[Jenna26]

I don't have any websites to give you, just wanted to say that I was homeschooled all the way through, as were/are my 6 younger siblings! :)

[clarkestep]

Originally Posted by bugface711 You guys are awesome! thank you so much for giving me a bit of a head start on where to go and what to look at. I will do some looking at those sites and will definitely be pm'ing you guys to get more info as I start the process. I truly appreciate your willingness to help. I will start with my states requirements and see if my area has a homeschooling network in place. I think this is the direction we need to take. Its not for religious reasons. Just that she learns much better one on one and I truly think she would flourish with a less conventional way of learning. I will defnitely get her involved in activities with kids her age so she doesnt miss the socialization she needs. Im sure there will be many more questions to come! keep the suggestions flowing!

Hey bugie,
These are the reasons we pulled ours out. Even though we are devout Christians, God showed me that there are decent teachers in the PS system that hold to high moral standards. From a spiritual standpoint, I learned that not all PSs are spiritually 'going to hell in a hand basket'. I will say though, that most (not all) of them ARE from an academic standpoint. My children's school always tested in the very high 90%ile on the standardized state tests (BTW, GA's, the CRCT, is terrible and it is written to confuse the child not to see how much the child knows) but from January on, that's all they practiced for! No wonder they did so well.

We have chosen to use Christian based curriculum for most all of what we use but are open to secular curriculum for some subjects (like for math and grammar). Some Christian based curriculum, though is not pushy, so when you start searching for what you will be using don't toss it out without looking at it first.

We wish you well!

Jennifer