Any other Homeschoolers out there?

[catwho]

I *know* I can't be the only homeschooling Dis fanatic here! So who else is hsing and what (if you do) do you include in your curriculum on your trips? Do you do anything specific while there or do you just relate back to it when you get home? Do you plan to incorporate anything or do you just let it come as it comes? So what's on your curriculum for your next trip?

:earsgirl:
62 more days!

[DiznEeyore]

We homeschool our 8yo ds. And I don't plan ANYTHING school-wise on our vacation. It *is* a vacation, after all! ;) However, that being said, my ds is a science FANATIC and we spend tons of time at Innoventions, Living Seas, etc. I'm one of those who believes in seizing the "teachable moments" and that kids can learn from everything! Have fun!!

[sha_lyn]

Great question. I've been debating whether or not to "school" while we are at WDW. One thing I have considered (if we can afford it) it to leave a day early and take DS to Discovery cove. He is 12 and is very interested in Marine Biology.
Be forewarned... You have just opened yourself up to a lot of criticizing by admitting you home school. There are a few here that think we should be in jail and lose our children.

[Tracy0315]

We homeschool our 10 year old DD. We leave in 9 days and she has saved her own money for this trip, $200. I was planning on giving her a blank check book register to help her learn how to keep up with her spending. Also, I bought her a travel journal, it has all kinds of questions for her to answer about the trip and she'll have it for years to come. Besides that almost everything at Epcot is a learning experience.

Have a great time.

Tracy

[catwho]

Oh goodie more homeschoolers!! We don't do much as far as curriculum when we go, we do have the girls keep a journal and send post cards to their friends (writing and learning to how to address and send mail) We also spend the majority of our time at AK and Epcot as the kids love it and get so much from it!

As far as the people who would nay say homeschooling, well, they obviously haven't dealt with the substandard schools where I live (Alabama). Just got the report card for our school district and it fails nationally! I have 3 very right kids who would be bored to tears in school. My oldest one was so we pulled her out. If we had a better school system then maybe our kids would be in school and I'm not about to pay more than my house payment for private schools! (not on top of what I have to shell in out taxes to support a school my kids don't go to!) Yeah, I have a chip on my shoulder about the school system here, but most parents would if they saw their child start hating learning!

So when do the rest of the hsers here go to WDW? We go in late January when the crowds are smaller and the weather is cooler.

:earsgirl:
61 more days!

[sha_lyn]

catwho well you live in about the only state that does worse than GA. What I really hate it the people that tell us we should just move to a good school. I live in my home town and love the property We live on. If I can get my son a better education at home why does it bother so many people?

[Tracy0315]

Catwho,

Just wanted to say Hi, we live in Alabama also. We live in Alabaster outside of Birminham and I also can't stand the school system. I know just what you mean. By the way we are going in Dec.

Tracy

[singitalto]

We didn't do school when we went to WDW this past year. (It is vacation)But- Since we homeschool- we always take advantage of the teachable moments!


We'll, I hope all that are going soon have a great time! I'm trying to climb out of my "after Disney" depression. Its been really hard this time. We went to Disney for 2 weeks end of Sept and it's hitting me hard that I know we can't go back for at least a year or two.(finances)

I love being able to go to WDW during the off peak times!!!

BTW- schools are ok here- I just choose to teach my kids(DD9,DS7) and we love being together.

[catwho]

sha-lyn, We started off in Oregon and then Florida. Both of these states had excellent schools (at least where we were ) and my oldest dd was in a public Montessori school. When we moved to Alabama (Lower Alabama) the saying used to be "Thank goodness for Mississippi" (which has the worse schools in the country) but now the people in Mississippi say, "Thank goodness for Mobile County" Our school district is one of the worse in the country and is facing bakruptcy. We moved into the best elementary school in the county and we ended up pulling our dd out of that school! Pulled our youngest out last year and oldest out this year. I doubt our son will even go to school if we are still living here. I lvoe homeschooling, but it sure does get tiring. My dh works long hours many weekends and out of town often. I joke with him that I feel like a welfare mom sometimes. I take care of the kids all day, clean house, and someone magically puts money into our bank account, but it never seems as though it is enough to cover everything we need.

Disney is our *vacation* and we try not to do too much. So what do you all relate to when you get back home? I will say though that there is the yearly "physics lesson" while standing in line for BTMRR or Splash. My dh explains why you don't fall out of roller coasters. This year he will be able to explain why we don't fall out of RnR. Of course *I* know why we don't fall out. It's because mom is holding onto that bar as tightly as she can and she wishes that her kids would do the same! :)

:earsgirl:
60 days and with PS for CP!

[sha_lyn]

When we started HS'ing I didn't plan on doing it "forever". I only wanted to get DS caught up since the school would not offer any help. Now the more I research HS'ing the more I think we will be involved in it for a long time. I plan on enrolling DS in a more structured program next yr. Possibly a 2 day umbrella school. With DD I am thinking a church school for kindergarten and first grade at least (she attends at church preschool).

[leebee]

We went from a school system in MI that was rated in the top 20 nationally by several magazines/journals to rural PA. DD went from having learned to read, print and do basic addition in kindergarden to a 1st grade where they taught colors, matching upper and lower case letters, etc. We pulled her out and homeschooled her for the rest of first grade. She went back to public school and loved second grade. Now we are in Maine, where third grade is teaching spelling, addition/subtraction facts, and cursive. The problem with this is that second grade in PA taught addition/subtraction to three digits in columns with borrowing/carrying, introductory multiplication, and cursive. The 3rd grade teacher has given my DD a 5th grade spelling book and she's excused from cursive learning, but I think we are about to become a homeschooling family again! At least it's easier to do here in ME than it was in PA. Actually, we have always felt that EVERYTHING we do is a learning opportunity, so homeschooling wasn't much different from the way we normally live!

[Lora]

We're in our second year...DD's are 4 and 6. We use Sonlight most of the time along with a bunch of other stuff. We leave that all at home when we go to WDW. I have to say this though, one of the benefits of homeschooling is really knowing what your kids are learning. We were going through Spaceship Earth with all of the historical scenes and I kept pointing them out to my then almost 3-year-old saying that we had read about that in our school work. (I mostly did this so she wouldn't be afraid of the dark). On our next trip...when she was 3 1/2, she kept pointing them out to me saying "we read about that in our encyclopedia". We're always learning. :)

[aprincessmom]

Here are some of the things DD and I did just recently since our vacation was during school.

Learned how to say Please and Thank You in other languages (DD's teacher said we could ask any phrase we wanted and this was what DD picked)

Explored the Big vs. Little themes -- It is this month's theme for curriculum. Very easy to do there. So many big vs. little areas.

Dinosaurs -- spent some time identifying the dinos at Animal Kingdom. Learned about them prior to going in our dinosaur handbook and DD was able to identify them. Was also really able to appreciate the marvel of Sue, the big TRex.

I've heard of other things for older children related to mathematics -- budgeting, working with attendance figures, statistics, etc.

Hope this helps.

[CJMickeyMouse]

I can relate to what all of you are saying....

We live in Iowa.... best schools, right? WRONG!

Our 6th grader is dual enrolled because he is many years above grade level in every subject. He just took the ACT and got a score any highschooler would be proud of!

We really look for teaching moments... especially in EPCOT. Our kids (the younger one is in 4th grade) are completing a high school Spanish 2 course and they love learning about the other countries, their languages and their people. You can also learn a lot by simply taking the time to talk to people. We spent hours talking to a lady from Scotland in the concierge lounge at the Poly! She complimented our boys for being well behaved, and the conversation went on and on from there.

If you are not close to a good zoo, I think AK would be great for learning about animals and their habitats. We frequently visit Omaha, though, and IMO it is better than AK.

I agree with the journaling and then just take what comes, I think the main thing is to be willing to slow down and seize the opportunities when they present themselves!

Have a great time!!!!

[Mom of 5]

Hi-

Our family is in our 6th year of homeschooling. We started when our oldest was in 5th grade. He was home for 3 years, then went back to public school. Our second child was in 1st grade when we started, and our daughter was 4, so she did preschool at home. They are still at home and in 6th and 4th grades. As of now, we also plan to homeschool our two youngest children.

Our youngest have never been to WDW. Our three older children got to go quite a few times when we lived in Tampa (day trips), but haven't been since we moved back to Baton Rouge. Our oldest is the only one old enough to remember anything about WDW (he was 6 on his last visit). This trip is a surprise for them - their Christmas present from Santa.

My DH has already spoken to my oldest son's teachers (he is an honor student with over a 4.average!), and none of them were concerned at all that he would be missing 4 days of school after the holidays. He will be allowed to make up any work he might miss.

We will not be doing any school on our trip - just pure family fun! We leave in 18 days!!

[heart4dis]

I know this thread is a year old. Hopefully someone will still see it. I homeschool and am designing a unit study to prepare for WDW. We don't leave until next school year (I can't stand the wait). We'll start our unit study in Oct/Nov and be ready to go in Dec. I thought we could easily cover every study discipline. I am schooling my DD 10, DS 9, DS 7, DS 5. We would study BEFORE the trip to get more out of it. During the trip we'll journal, keep up with their own spending money, and take their own pictures for scrapbooking. I thought each child could study a different country of his/her choice and orally report to the family (the older ones will write the report). That way at Epcot, they are already familiar with one of the countries (besides the USA). Plus each child could take a different subject area out of Future World and report to the family before the trip (oceans, land, etc.).
Great to hear others homeschool. I jokingly tell people I homeschool so I can go to Disney during the off-season!

[Lora]

Wow! You did bring back an old thread! :) But I still got an email notice about your repy.

My kids are now in K and 2nd grade. We're leaving for WDW in a few weeks. We never fail to find something related to what we've studied there. Of course, we're not afraid of a little bit of fun either!

Before I had kids, I went to Epcot during their free admission year for teachers. We were able to go to a part of Epcot where they had all sorts of learning materials related to the attractions at Epcot. I don't know if that place still exists, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out ahead of time and see if they'd send you some stuff.

Have fun with your unit study.

[catwho]

Wow! This thread is a year old! LOL!! It sounds like you are off to a great start. Epcot also has Future World which can be a study in itself. No need for preparation really. There are all kinds of physics experiments and Wonders of Life is great for biology challenges. My kids (dd 10, dd7, ds4) really got a lot out of our trip.

And don't forget AK! You could do a study on the continents of Asia and Africa, what kind of animals are there, what the climate is like and why Orlando is a hospitable place for those animals (you could talk about why this park wouldn't work in Nebraska or Maine) We love love love AK! I think our kids get as much from that park as they do from Epcot.

One thing that we do is take the time to talk to the CM's, especially those CM's that are not from the US. We go to WDW in the Jan/Feb time frame and so we don't have the crowds and so the CM's have more time to sit and talk with you. If you mention that you homeschool they seem to open up and tell you more than the average kid. We had a very nice lady from Pakistan tell us all about the village that she grew up in and how it was different from the city that we live in. We sort of did a comparison thing like, "We watch TV at night." "We told stories about our ancestors."

And don't limit your talking to just the CM's. We have found that most of the people from other countries or cultures are very open to talk about where they are from or what they believe. On our last trip we passed by a Jewish gentleman with his hair in curls (prayer curls) wearing a top hat with Mickey Mouse ears. There he was with his prayer shawl showing, wearing dark clothes, looking so "proper" but with Mickey Mouse ears. We all burst out laughing and he started laughing with us and he winked and said to my oldest dd "You think that I should wear this to temple next week?" Which of course made us laugh even harder! He then took a few moments and shared with us that even though people of his religion seem stoic and serious that they enjoy having fun just like everyone else.

2 years ago we were on the monorail with a woman from India who was in a sari and had all kinds of jewelry on. My oldest leaned over and asked me why she had a red dot on her forehead and the woman struck up a conversation with us about what all her "regalia" was about. Her different pieces of jewelry, her dress and yes even her red dot.

We try not to do much other than journal when we go. Last year I was obsessed about making sure that my kids would "get a lesson" from our trip and what I found out was that I didn't have to do all that much work. They naturally "get it." Somedays we will be working on something and one of my kids will say, "Oh, that was like 'da-dee-da' when we were at Disney." So they do get it even without us even having to put much effort into it.

But I like your idea of using Disney as a catalyst to your curriculum. Think we should get together and do a complete "Homeschool Your Child with Disney Curriculum" and get really rich (and afford all the trips for our "research")? ;)

[heart4dis]

Great ideas. Thanks. I've never been to AK, so I had forgotten about it being another good source of edu. mat'l. I wish we could make money off the curric. idea. :teeth: Then I could go to WDW more often. As it is, it will be a one-shot deal for our family of 6 on a minister's salary...I'm not complaining. We plan to make the most of it. We're doing the cruise as well.

I figured we could even do math work on the velocity of rides!
PE: getting in shape for walking and "nutrition on the road"
:smooth:

[chemteacher]

I don't home school (my son is almost three)! But once upon a time, I did teach high chemistry (thus my user name). I found a sree web site enchantedlearning.com that I use for work/color sheets for my DS. They have great units on geography and foreign languages from many of the Epcot countries that would be appropriate for early to mid elementary. Also the interactive activties at Wonders of Life, Innoventions, and the playland at Journey into Your Imagination are excellent "hidden" learning attractions.
For older students, math/physical science lessons could be appropriate. Tea cups, Dumbo, RnR (the loops)ect. are examples of centripetal/centrifugal force. ToT is an example of free fall. All the mountains and TT can be used to calculate distance, speed, velocity, and acceleration problems. Just a few suggestions.
Gina

[WDW2002]

I don't homeschool, but I do intend to take the time we are at WDW to do some "schooling." My children will miss 2 weeks of school. There is so much that can be turned into fun learning and luckily both my children like to learn.

[pwoodham]

We homeschool our oldest 4 boys, and we have a 1 yob also. I agree that this is a vacation, so I don't want them to feel "burdened." I did make a memory book for them to write in each day, we've studied four of the Epcot countries, and know a few words in Spanish, French, and Japanese to use while we're there. other than that, it's a free week!! That's why we start school in July, so we can take off two weeks in September.

[disneywith6kids]

We just started our 7th year of homeschooling. We have 6 kids. DD17 DS15 DS12 DS8 DD7 and DS3. This will be our 2nd time ever to WDW. We do not school at WDW, however, we usually make up for lost time on Saturdays or sometimes into the summer.
One of the greatest things we have taught our children is how to budget. We have spent 7 months planning this trip. It was supposed to be for a week. However, with proper planning we are able to spend the same amount and stay for 18 days!!!!!!!!!! The bonus is that the kids helped me with all the planning. So not only did they learn how to budget, they learned how to plan, organize and enjoy life to its fullest!!!
So which public school is going to offer that??This is where the rubber meets the road.
All of our kids love WDW. They can't wait for our upcoming trip. The hardest part of the wait is keeping their focus on their school work. We try to do something Disney oriented every week to keep their excitement in check. This week we will all be making our own luggage tags using neon colored poster board and lots of clear contact paper. Yes our oldest children love doing this too!

Soon we will be working on our mousekeeping envelopes. Right now the older kids are trying to earn enough money to go to Discovery Cove. Its amazing how hard they are willing to work to earn something.
This may be our oldest DD's last family trip since she will be graduating this year and going off to college in August. One thing I have to say is enjoy every moment with your children-you will not regret it!!!

[heart4dis]

I hope it is clear that I intend for our vacation to be a vacation! Our unit study will be done in the months BEFORE we go in order to diffuse our eager anticipation and to get more out of the experience once we are there. The children will journal, watch their money and have a great time.
BTW Does anyone know if the original Mickey Mouse cartoons have ever been put on VHS and if so how to get them? (eg Steamboat Mickey).
I love the responses we've gotten here. Great ideas.

[Angel M]

We're in our 4th year of homeschooling. Last year my oldest son went back to ps, he's now in 8th grade and taking advanced classes. He does very well in school, but I wish he still was at home (sometimes).

Our younger sons are 9 & 10 and we're using Calvert to homeschool them this year, we've done unit studies in the past and I needed a break from all the planning. We're having a good year at home, too.

We just got back from Disney last night, we took our older son out of school for 3 days and yesterday was an off day for them, so we were there from 9/11-9/16. We had a blast! I didn't plan anything for school with them, but we learned a lot anyway. They really liked Epcot this time, they've never been interested before so that was a learning experience in itself.

It's funny that you mentioned Alabama. We're originally from Alabama and Birmingham is our home, but we spent the last five years that we lived in Alabama in Mobile. At that time, only our oldest son was school age. I worked and he went to a private school, we vowed he would never attend a Mobile County school. We moved to south Florida in 1996 and he started attending ps due to financial reasons. In the fall of 1998 I was able to stop working and then we started homeschooling in 1999.

The schools in our area are not the best, but they're not too bad either. We just choose to educate our children our way. I'm not sure what the future holds for us, but for now this is what we choose.


:) Angel

[Barb D]

I homeschool my 11yo and 9yo, and my 9yo homeschools my 2yo. (They're doing "preschool" together this year, since my 9yo always finished her schoolwork much faster than her older brother!)

The big kids go to a 2-day-a-week classical school. I work those two days a week, and the little one stays with Grandma. The big kids get history, science, Latin, Grammar, and Composition at school, with assignments to do on the home days. We do math, spelling, etc. at home.

This has worked out well for us. I'm still their official teacher (and still accountable to the county as a homeschooler) and we still have the closeness and one-on-one attention that hsing provides, but they also have experiences working and dealing with other kids, and with being accountable to teachers other than me.

Edit: Oh, and about school/Disney... When the kids were younger I had them read For Kids By Kids and make an outline of all the parks and attractions for reading and handwriting. All they wanted to talk about was the trip, so this was a way of getting them to do some schoolwork at the same time. :-) Last year I counted EPCOT as a school day. I think I counted MGM, too, since we did the animation tour, etc.

[KerriKaden]

Hi! Just wanted to add our family to the list of homeschoolers. This is our 3rd year to hs. We are using HomeSat by Bob Jones. We love it. It has really taken the stress off of me. We have a new baby (4 months). I don't think I would have been able to hs w/out HomeSat.
I've really enjoyed the comments about learning at Disney. This will be our first trip. I may have my DD do a journal. That would be a great keepsake. We are going the last week in January. Hopefully we will be staying for a week!! I love the flexibility of homeschooling!

:Pinkbounc :bounce:

[Spirit Feather]

Okay, I'll admit it, we homeschool also! We have a 13 y/o and 5 y/o.

My kids learn all the time. I tried to make them stop while we were in WDW but they just would not stop!

We do not use anything formal and avoid pre-packaged curriculum whenever possible. I suppose we are child-led learners, in that we let the kids study what they want, when they want and for as long as they want. Right now the current interests are fundraising, saving, dancing, basketball, physical science experiments, sign language, particiapating in historical re-actments as costumed interpreters and camping. Some of these things could change tomorrow or maybe not for a year or maybe not forever.

BTW- I am planning a WDW trip for Ohio Homeschoolers and I think we are going to be getting a great rate. This will include two Disney educational programs, park admission, BB admission and DQ admission. You can PM me if you have kids that would me interested.

[momofdbsdc]

We homeschool our children also. We didn't do "school" per say on our vacation either, but rather expounded upon teachable moments. Leading up to our vacation though, we studied the states that we would be travelling through to get to Florida, studied about Walt Disney the man, and made our own t-shirts to wear in the parks. We also wrote in a journal when we were their to keep all the wonderful memories alive!

Blessings,
Kim

[jldriscoll]

Originally posted by catwho
As far as the people who would nay say homeschooling, well, they obviously haven't dealt with the substandard schools where I live (Alabama). Just got the report card for our school district and it fails nationally! I have 3 very right kids who would be bored to tears in school. My oldest one was so we pulled her out. If we had a better school system then maybe our kids would be in school and I'm not about to pay more than my house payment for private schools! (not on top of what I have to shell in out taxes to support a school my kids don't go to!) Yeah, I have a chip on my shoulder about the school system here, but most parents would if they saw their child start hating learning!



:bounce: Well said!! I don't home school, BUT we sent DD #1 to private school for k-1. (Yes, tuition was more than our house payment!) Then we moved to a new town with wonderful schools!! ALL because I toured the schools in our old district and was horrified!!! I couldn't send my child there for an afternoon let alone every day!!!! My dad laughed at me when I told him how much tuition and then our increased morgage for the new house were. Said that was as much as it cost to send me to college!!! We firmly believe it is an investment in our child!! The BEST one you can make!!! I applaud all homeschoolers for caring so much for your children!!!

[~Czarina~]

We have homeschooled for eight years. We leave our standard homeschooling matrials at home and do studys on things such as how planes work while sitting in the air port in Atlanta for four hours. There was the geogrpahy lessons when we drove or flew. When we drove the boys kept tabs on what roads we were taking where. When we flew they told us how many miles and how long it was going to take so we got to figues the speed we were traveling. EPCOT is one big school room and so is Animial Kingdom. If the children find something really interesting they come home and we can teach them more about it. I am fifteen and have basics in Japenesse, French and Spanish so the passports are a blast for me. I love being able to tell the people what they just wrote and since I am teaching my brothers those languages it is kind of a creative reading assignment. Manybe they should make a DIS board for homeschoolers....there seems to be a ton of us on here.

~Joey~

[Hsminnie]

Ah the joys of homeschooling!! We vacation in Dec instead of buying Christmas presents and we usually take the whole month off! WOOHOO!

This year our trip is our very first vacation to WDW Dec 12-19!!

:D

[Belle5]

We are in our 11th year of homeschooling. We have read a lot of the books on the Sonlight reading list. Many of them deal with Oriental themes. My kids have taken special interest in spending time at the museum-like displays at the Chinese and Japanese pavillions at Epcot after reading these books. "The Samurai's Tale", "Young Fu of the Upper Yangze", Dragon's Gate", " Dragonwings" and the "Master Puppeteer" are some of the books they read on these subjects.
Those areas of Epcot might not draw a lot of interest from kids who don't feel familiar with the cultures. My kids could have spent hours looking at those displays! I thought that was so neat!
BTW, we have 5 boys ages 16 (just had a birthday), 14, 12, 10 (just had a birthday) and 5 (just had a birthday). They are in 10th, 9th, 6th, 4th and Pre-K. Even though we take big breaks to go to WDW my kids are involved with lots of outside activities (scouts and sports) and they are very advanced in their school work. My 10th and 9th graders are taking precalculus, Spanish (they've already studied Latin for 2 years) chemistry (biology was last year), economics, etc. My 4th grader is doing all 6th grade work and my pre-K kiddo is reading and doing double digit math. I mention this because sometimes folks wonder when we get our school work done with all our vacations and activities. Perhaps their time would be better spent wondering what other kids are spending their time on;).

[Hsminnie]

Belle5:

We use Sonlight as our primary curriculum and this year my oldest is using year 5 - heavy in the Asian cultures. I am so excited for her to see WS!!!! My middle has been studying world history in year 2 but there is a heavy emphasis on third world countries and missionary needs. The exposure is wonderful and has created and interest in anything 'non-western' as far as cultures are concerned. We may be the only family of kids 10, 7 and 2 who won't leave Epcot! :D

I know it can be excrutiating at it's worst, but I love homeschooling, don't you??

Czarina: Did you say you were 15? What a fabulous life to be homeschooled!!!

[Evil Princess]

I have a question for everyone who home schools their children or who have been home schooled themselves. Keep in mind this is in no way meant to judge or criticize.

Currently I am filling out college applications, and I would just like to know what colleges look at when they see that a child is home schooled.

I live on Long Island and attend a public school district with very high academic standards. I was taking high school classes in 8th grade and am currently enrolled in college courses at my high school. (I pay money and actually receive credit from St. John’s University, which many colleges will accept next year). I also realize that there are many public schools in America that are nothing like mine.

I'm not asking you to explain the entire home schooling process to me, but I'm curious as to what a home schooled high school senior fills out when it comes to extra curricular activities, class rank, GPA, teacher recommendations...how does it compare? The college application process is crazy enough when you attend high school, how is it for the home schooled child?

For any parent who has home schooled their child, how did they do on the SATs? Are they used to that kind of testing situation? How did they perform?

Just curious, college application time is crazy for me right now! :)

[CJMickeyMouse]

We are not there yet, but I can give you a little info.

There are colleges that are more home school friendly than others. In our situation, we would be required to present a portfolio (which we have to keep for the state and to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse as well) and provide ACT/SAT scores.

From what I have gathered, there are more and more colleges that will accept home schooled young adults... and the requirements are about the same as for a student that attended public high school. Test scores and personal applications probably are weighed a bit heavier, I would guess. Also if you have taken college courses already that can only help.

Our son scored a 22 on the ACT as a 6th grader, and will take the SAT this year as a 7th grader. He is not currently homeschooled, but that possibility is always there since offerings at our public (small) HS are limited.

Good luck and it sounds like you have everything in order to be very successful in college!

[ilovefh]

I have a lot of respect for parents who homeschool! Its a tough job!
I would love to homeschool my children, but financially I dont think it will be possible. (we dont have kids yet, so who knows what will happen in our future).
I do have a ? for homeschoolers though. What do you do for extracurricular activities? Do you children play sports (ie. Little League, Pop Warner, dance class, etc)? And how do you develop your children socially?
I ask this, because I have known only 1 homeschooled child in my life and this child had NO social skills! I'm sure she is in the minority.
I am very unfamiliar with the homeschool process, which is why I'm asking.

Thanks,
Elena

[DiznEeyore]

Elena,

Thanks for the interesting question. I would agree that the one child you know is probably an exception. Socialization is every anti-homeschooler's favorite issue (I'm not saying you're anti-homeschool :) ). The best response I've heard is to ask someone if they'd rather have their child "socialized" by a bunch of other kids whose families don't share your values, or if *you'd* rather be the one to socialize your child. ;)

My ds (9) is an only child, is homeschooled, and is virtually the only kid in our neighborhood. If anyone should have socialization issues, he should! LOL However, he's extremely outgoing (unlike me!) and is very comfortable in situations with people of all ages. With kids, he acts like a typical goofball boy, and with adults, he's respectful and responsive. I work part-time as our church's secretary (one morning per week usually) and ds obviously comes with me. There are often others out doing various things at the same time (mostly folks in their 60s & 70s) and he loves nothing more than to be right in there working along with them. I never cease to be amused to walk into the fellowship hall and see him sitting with gentlemen older than his grandpa, having "coffee" and shooting the breeze. :teeth:

Ds was involved with tae kwon do for many years, but decided this past year it wasn't for him. He hasn't picked anything new up yet, but I do hope he will. He has friends at church that he gets together with every now and then (we're quite a ways away from the church so it's not easy to do "play dates"); I wish we could do it more often.

So, I don't know if that gives you any insight at all ... I'm sure others will have lots to say, too! :)

[CJMickeyMouse]

We actually dual enrolled - which means our boys were at school part of the day and at home the rest. Even if they are homeschooled full time they are allowed to participate in athletics and various other clubs/activities at school.

I feel that homeschooled kids may actually have an edge socially - our kids went to meetings with the governor, city meetings, etc from a very young age - learning how to interact with adults. The sports and activities keep them in touch with their agemates. So in the end, like the previous poster's child... may be more well-rounded than the average kid that spends all day with his or her agemates.

Just FYI I hate the word PEER, because it is misused so much. I would consider the high school kids in my 7th grader's advanced classes his peers and he interacts with them as such.

[sha_lyn]

Elena ....
Thaank you so much for asking instead of prejudging. We are very busy with "social" activites, not because I fell my kids have to socialize (or at least not the amounts that ) but because they are doing things that they enjoy.
My 13 DS has in the past played basketball, baseball,football, soccer and wrestled. This started when he was in PS and continued until this year. It was to the point where he was always participating in a sport, and sometimes they would over lap. Now we have backed off on the sports and he takes Karate 2x a week and begins competions in Dec.
My 5 DD has played soccer and baseball, but has also decided on Karate instead.
We are active in 2 homeschool groups. The larger of the 2 is devided into age groups. DS in in the teen group. They have just started so he has only attended one activity (bowling). The plans are to meet once a week eventually. They will do the following activities a differnt week each month ... Social- bowling, skating etc. A Movie (video) with discussion after. They will be given a list of movies to vote on that have "educational" value. Either adaptations of works of liturature, or historical movies.Also a comunity service project. They will probably do this 2 x a month. Once week being a long term project (adopt a mile, adopt a grandparent etc)and the other picking one for the month (such as a can drive, coat drive etc). They haven't picked their comunity projects yet.

The younger kids in this group have 4H , art classes etc, among other things. We tried to start a girl scout troop, but didn't have enough people interested in it.

We also have a weekly social day and orgainzed activities through the year such as field trips.

In the other group we have 2 playdates a month, a monthly field trip and several educational co op a year.

My DS is also in Trailblazers ( a scout type group through the YMCA).

I'm not asking you to explain the entire home schooling process to me, but I'm curious as to what a home schooled high school senior fills out when it comes to extra curricular activities, class rank, GPA, teacher recommendations...how does it compare? The college application process is crazy enough when you attend high school, how is it for the home schooled child?

It really depends on the college and how the child is homeschooled. For the most part it really isn't that much different. We use an Umbrella school that issues exams and grades. I grade DS's daily work (following their lesson plans) and sends in 1/4 exams to them. While some schools will take HS issued grades and SAT/ACT test scores alone, other require additional test such as SATII and or a portfolio.

[ilovefh]

Thanks for the responses!! I wasnt aware that they could participate in activities at the school. I wasnt aware that they could be dual enrolled either. (I dont know much, except that its a tough job and I respect anyone who is willing to take on the task of homeschooling!) I am about to graduate and become a teacher, but I do agree that our public schools are in need of some serious help! I only went to public school through 8th grade, but then went to private school for high school because in public school the majority of our time was spent listening to the teacher discipline. I know this isnt the case everywhere, but I think it happens alot nowadays! I would love to homeschool my children if it is the best thing for them, but with both us being teachers, I'm not sure if financially we could afford it! I do think that the decision to homeschool or not is totally up to the parent. Its a personal decision and parents know their children better than anyone else! Whats good for one child may not be good for the other (ie. I went to private high school, my younger sister went to public because the private school only offered advanced classes, the public schools offered more classes at her level with more assistance) Anyway, I'm digressing from my point. Thanks for all the great responses! I commend you all for homeschooling!!

Elena

[ilovefh]

sha_lyn you have some very busy kids!! I think the homeschool group sounds like a very good idea!! Are there a lot of families in your area that homeschool?\

also...what is an umbrella school? I have never heard of this.

[sha_lyn]

The laws vary from state to state. Here they can't dual enroll or participate in school sports but they can use the school libraries. The atlanta area has a huge HS population and many groups have formed their own sports leagues. Most comunity sports programs go up to at high school , so sports are easy before High school.
Home schooling is so popular in our area now that many there is always a special activity going on. SciTrek (science museum) has monthly homeschool workshops. In feb there is a week set aside at the state capital for homeschool students. A local working dairy just had their homeschool days. The field trip there was wonderful.

[ilovefh]

This is a very interesting topic!!

[sha_lyn]

sorry we were posting at the same time. I didn't see your questions.


The home school population here is very large. I couldn't even begin to give you numbers, however I know several hundred thousand attended the home school expo in August. The large group we are in has 170 families in it. The smaller has about 30.

An unbrella school keeps reconrd and issues grade. Some are more like correspondence schools, all work is submitted to the school to be graded. Others like the one my son is in (www.greatbooksacademy.org) gives 1/4 exams. Greatbooks is very flexable and lets us pick the text books that we use. Some have their own boxed curriculum such as Calvert. Calvert comes with all the materials needed for the year, even most of the craft supplies. DD is listening to the music tape while I'm posting this. We are using Calvert K for my DD but I'm not using their grading service this year. I'll wait a few years for that. With them you send in selected workbook pages from each 20 lesson period from each subject and fill out a detailed evaluation on their performance. Other homeschool "schools" are online or computer program based. One such computer based program is Switched On School house. We use their GA history (it is the only state history program I could find). The programs can be used alone, or you can pay for their services and e mail assignments into them for grading.

[ilovefh]

thanks for the link!

[ilovefh]

I have one more ?
When you started homeschooling how old were your children?

[tmfranlk]

Thank you everyone for the helpful information. We are having a baby in February and my husband and I have already started talking about homeschooling. From the basic research I've done already, I'm guessing that it's never too early to start planning.

ilovefh, finances is also one of my big concerns about homeschooling. Currently, I work full-time and we receive a stipend from my in-laws so that my husband can write his novel. When he's done writing, he will probably get at least a part-time job to help cover expenses. Our tentative plan is to split the school and work days up so that we are both participating. I will work early morning to mid-afternoon and he will teach some during that time. When I come home, I'll teach for a little while in the afternoon while he writes or works.

Do any other homeschoolers out there split the teaching responsibilities with thier spouse? How does it work for you? We are in CA and I hear the laws here can be tricky for homeschooling. If anyone has any start up advice, I would love for you to PM me.

Thanks!!!
Tia

[Hsminnie]

Tia,

You will find that 30 min - 1hr will cover the early K and pre K. For 1-3 you may need 2 hrs. Even my 5th grader can do all of her 'work' in a few hours. Plus, the early years (until 7 or 8) require very little formal instruction anyway. I did teach my daughters to read and taught them math basics, but the rest is happening all around. See, everything is homeschooling. Are you cooking? Then you're teaching life skills, math, fire safety and health. Are you gardening? More math, science, nature studies, conservation, social studies. Do you read books? History, religion, science....you get the point.

Since you are beginning early, the best advice I have is to read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on about home education. There is no reason for your child, or any other, to learn according to an institutional guideline. The reason ALL third have to learn "X" in a certain school is continuity. They cannot possibly track the individual learning styles and progress of each child in the school. YOU CAN!!! :D It's a great benefit of home schooling!

Try to avoid 'school at home' and you will have so much more fun. It will be more work sometimes, but much more rewarding for all.

[sha_lyn]

Ds was 12 and in the 7th when we began. DD is 5 now and this is her first yr. Since last yr was DS's first yr HS'ing I decided to send DD to private preschool. One point that really influenced my choice of pre schools was the teacher. Her grandchildren are Home schooled and she tried to keep things balanced in metioning all options (PS, HS and private or religious school)when the subject of "real" school came up.

I handle most of the schooling here but DH does help. I know of a few families where the father in home durign the day. In one family the mother is a PS teacher and her DH is at home homeschooling the kids during the day. Another family the father works out of the home and the mother is on the road a lot. He in the only dad at our playdates, but he is just "one of the girls" to us when we stand around talking about home schooling.

here is another home school "school" that I'm looking at using for DD in place of Calvert. It just depends on how her learning style developes this year



Oak Meadow (http://www.oakmeadow.com/)

Here is the
Calvert (http://home.calvertschool.org/hs/homeschool_title/) link just in case anyone want to check them out too.

[disneymom3]

When we go to WDW we will be doing some learning activiies in the car on the drive. And bringing the Leap Pad which is fabulous for hands-off schooling! On our last trip, DD and I went on Spaceship Earth like 10 times. After we left she decided she needed to learn more about Michaelangelo so we did. Right now she is obsessed with the Revolutionary war and Ben Franklin so that is what we are learning about. We are also focusing on US Geography and so the drive down will be a great learning adventure. I agree with the earlier poster who said she just can't make her kids stop learning!

We are very child led and also have a quick learner. I would say we spend about two hours a day on schooling This includes half an hour of silent reading and half an hour of the PBS show Liberty's Kids. We have been homeschooling for about a year now. DD went to PS for kindergarten, but got pretty bored with it and the kids who misbehaved really stressed her out. We started h's'ing on her days off (she did an every other day program.) All of us loved it, so one day I asked if she wanted to just do school at home all the time for first grade. She did so here we are. We are in two support groups. One of them focuses on a topic of learning for the kids and the moms take turns leading it. The other is playtime for the kids and an arts and crafts time and a conversation/support time for the moms. My DD also participates in dance and a community soccer team. Our local support group is also very active in getting group rates for plays, museums, etc.

I blushingly admit that one of the big draws for me when considering h's'ing was that I could go to WDW whenever I wanted to!

I enjoyed reading everyone's commments and the fact that those asking questions were very respectful. I think we are so blessed to live in a country where we can all choose what is best for our own families. No one thing is going to be the right thing for everyone.