Any Canadian Homeschoolers?

[tmli]

I have been spending time on the family boards and reading all the great threads on homeschooling. I was wondering if there were any Canadians hs'ing? Since I am new at it, I thought it would be helpful if anyone had any tips, links etc that are CDN specific.

My ds(9) who has a number of special needs was in Grade 4. I have wanted to do this 2 years ago but he didn't want to. This year has been awful for him and he decided to give it a try. I plan on ordering the curriculum through ILC. Just took him out the week before xmas so I kind of jumped in with both feet.

Please, while i respect everyone's opinions and choices i do not want to debate the merits of hs'ing with public school. Just looking for some much needed guidance and support.

 

[mousy_in_canada]

I homeschool my Daughters, they are 4, 6, 8 & 9 we really love it, I belong to a homeschool group that gets together 2X a week for the social aspect of it and get my supplies from Rock Solid Inc. They have the alpha omega that I like. I really like this because it lays out the whole year by subject and it has 10 workbooks that we go through.
This site has some boards and links and people selling their older stuff too
http://welovebooks.com/_discussion/disc_1_toc.htm
This site has some Homeschool talk and swap as well.
http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool/

I hope this helps if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

 

[tmli]

Thanks for the links. I have read about that curriculum and was impressed. My issue is I have an ex who isn't really behind the whole hs'ing idea. So I figure if it is still somewhat ministry guided with "report cards" then i will be able to prove progress.

I am going to be joining a hs'ing group as well here in Kitchener. With the holidays it was difficult to get in touch with anyone.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Well at the rate things are going here I might be your next door neighbor in Guelph homeschooling.

I have a ds who is presently in gr 6 and has ADD and a non verbal learning difference and they are just not meeting his needs. He was 'supposed' to be put into a class of 10 kids for next year that all have similar learning needs but I was told before Christmas that it's just not going to happen and he might be put into a class of up to 30 kids all special needs... concern for me as my ds is NOT a behaviour problem and would fall between the cracks as he's so quiet... the school just isn't set up to teach him the way he needs to be taught. Might be jumping into homeschooling next year if things don't improve.

 

[tmli]

You're preaching to the choir here!!! Same stuff i ahve been going through, finally had enough!

 

[mousy_in_canada]

That is really to bad that they can not meet his needs, you will find with a 1 on 1 he will really excel. I like the fact that I can teach to their learning styles and I let them pick the science electives that they really WANT to learn about.
the rest I pick but they can pick the monthly theme for science.
good luck!

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Do you follow a school board set curriculum as to what they are to learn or do you decide what to teach?

Just starting to research it all now and want to go into this (if we decide to go this route) knowing we can both succeed at it. I also have a young man in KG right now (will be 6yo on Jan 10th and really should have been in gr 1 this year even though he missed the cut off by 10 days!!) and he's doing gr 1/2 work... so although there aren't learning 'issues' with that child I worry he's going to get bored at school!

My biggest worry is am I going to be able to teach my gr 7 child what he needs to know!?

 

[nepean]

We have homeschooled since grade 2 and it was the best decision we ever made. DD is now in Grade 9/10, she should be in grade 9. We have been able to work at her speed. We did not use the ILC curriculum for elementary and are using AMDEC for high school. Avon Maitland Distance Education Centre in Seaforth Ontario. There are a lot of HS using this program for high school. We initially joined two Ottawa area HS support groups and found that if we did all of the trips, events and activities there would be no time for school. Socialization, which everyone seems to think is deficient in HS, is never a problem, except for too much. We did meet with the ILC and looked at their high school program and decided it was too watered down and we didn't like things we had heard about marking times etc. For elementary school their is so much curriculum out there that I would never use the Ontario package. If you have any specific questions please send me an e-mail. As a HS family we are in Orlando until Jan 14th. School is everywhere.

Nepean

 

[tmli]

Well after a discussion with my ex he has agreed the ILC is not the best way to go so i am looking into other curriculums. I am very relieved to have the freedom to make a better choice. Being seperated adds a whole different set of concerns.

Off to do some research!

 

[SandraC]

Hi ~ There is a lovely group of homeschooling families in Mississauga who get together often for field trips. I was fortunate to teach the kids and parents yoga a few years back. Good Luck! Blessings ~ Sandra

 

[tmli]

In my search for curriculum I am feeling a little overwhelmed. He was part way grade 4 and was comfortable with the material and in some areas was bored. How does HS curriculum compare? Should i buy a year of grade 4 or could we maybe do our own thing for the rest of grade 4 with help from workbooks etc and maybe order individual course stuff and then order grade 5 curriculum.

Would it be okay to just order the grade 5 now and go back to review anything that he may be missing from grade 4 as it comes up? Would he be okay with the grade 5 stuff? So many questions!!!!

Next week we are going to the Science Center and i have signed him up for both basketball and swimming. He is excited as he has never been able to do anything in the evenings before after so much drama at school all day.

 

[Reese]

We've been homeschooling for five years now. I noticed your in Ontario. Have you checked out the OFTP (Ontario Federation for Teaching Parents) website? Here is the link OFTP . They have links to area reps that can perhaps put you in touch with other homeschooling families in your area.