Any Disney Homeschoolers?

[sha_lyn]

If we get drums it will be an electronic drum pad so he can put headphones on. He's teaching himeslf right now with Yoyetra's Teach me Rock Guitar CD-ROM. However a good friends DH might start back teachign guitar out of their home. They met when he taught guitar/music at 2 yr college in Cal. I believe she was teaching piano there. I will probably start DD on piano next year.


The cheapest deals I've found are at the local curriculum fairs. GA has a big one the beginning of Aug.


The SAT course is offered at a local homeschool resourse center, founded by Mary Pride (author of many home school books)

 

[house_of_princesses]

RainbowResource.com has good deals. You can also find a lot of different books on BAMM.com. They sell regular books and some text.

 

[peg2001]

E-bay can be real hit-or-miss as far as good prices for curriculum. I've been tracking several different things over the last couple of months and have been amazed to see many things going for more than they sell new!

Then again, I recently picked up the Scientist's Apprentice (retails for $27) for $8 on ebay.

Peggy

 

[house_of_princesses]

I have a situation I've been pondering over for a month or so now, and I'd like to see if anyone has any input. (This will be lengthy.)

As some of you know, I lost my DH this past July. I have 4 dd's aged 2.5, 5, almost 10 and just 11.

I am going to have to sell the business here in town. A friend of ours, who is in the same business will be buying it from me. He has told me I can work there under most any condition I might set. Now, the question....what to do with the girls?

There is a local private school that I could send them to. None of them have ever been in school. It would be yet another transition.

I would really like to try and keep them home and work part time. Maybe even work from home a bit. (Don't know that that is possible, due to the nature of the work.) I've got a math teacher who comes to the house now. Am working on finding an expository writing teacher to come to the house, Tuesday afternoons they are at the co-op taking science, Spanish, etc.. and co-op may go two days a week. We have some young ladies in our church (currently being home educated) that may be able to fill in the gaps....mothers helper type of thing.

It would be a lot of juggling, but do you think it reasonable and fair to all involved if I were to work part time and keep the girls home under the general outline worked out above?

Or would it be better for all involved if I were to send them to the local school? I would most likely be driving them the 13 miles one way, it is a small (high school has 9 students) Christian school, using the Abeka (sp?) program.

Thanks for considering this puzzler...Looking forward to some great insight from some great DIS'ers!!

 

[peg2001]

Originally posted by house_of_princesses
It would be a lot of juggling, but do you think it reasonable and fair to all involved if I were to work part time and keep the girls home under the general outline worked out above?

Or would it be better for all involved if I were to send them to the local school? I would most likely be driving them the 13 miles one way, it is a small (high school has 9 students) Christian school, using the Abeka (sp?) program.

You and your family have been through a lot this year. Not only do I think it would be fair to all for you to work part time and keep the girls home, I think it is the best option available. Use the most reliable trustworthy teenager available to stay at your home while you are at work. The teen would mostly supervise your two youngest and just "be there" for your older two.

It would be unfair, IMHO, to ask your kids to make another huge adjustment at this point by sending them to school. Besides, school would not fully meet your needs unless they also have a preschool for your youngest.

It may take some juggling to balance work hours with hours you are needed at home. I wish you well and please let us know how it goes.

Peggy

 

[sha_lyn]

I sent you a PM with the online name of someone in a similar situation.

I just wanted to add that in a way I agree with peg2001. Try to be keep as close to what they are already use to. However juggling around to continue to homeschool may or may not be the least disruptive. It really depends on several factors including what changes in curriculum would take place in either case. IMHO if you already use Abeka at home then the school might (might not would be) an easier transition than using all the tutors, co-ops etc that you mentioned. What do the older 2 girls think? Would continuing to HS mean much more running around than they are use to? IMHO the situation you describe, by using so many others to do much of the teaching, might be more strenuous on them.


There are jsut 2 many factors for me to say one way or the other. As I said in my PM the solution for the person I mentioned was to work at the private school her children are now attending.

Another ? With the co-op you are in now, how many hrs are they in classes and do you have to be there. Iwas thinking if you could work on the 2 days (if it goes to 2 days) they are there, and keep them enrolled for much of the day, that would work out pretty well.

 

[crazymomof4]

Another sad case that may lead to future problems for homeschooling parents.

http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=33027

When I read about this case in the paper and saw that the parents "homeschooled" (sure they did

I thought, "uh oh!". This coming on the heels of the CBS story is definitely bad timing. Don't get me wrong. I feel very sorry for the boys in this NJ story but I really resent the implication that if you homeschool you are now an abuse suspect. It seems that once again we will all be judged by the lowest standard. A few "bad eggs" (that's an understatement!) could spoil it for all of us!

 

[house_of_princesses]

Thank you Peg2001 & Sha_Lyn for responding to my inquiry. Currently, we are using Sonlight, LLATL and have the math teacher. The co-op has Spanish, science, music lessons, etc. I do not have to participate personally. The gals running it have been oh so accomodating to me. (My church community is fabulous!)

All in all, having a young gal coming to the house for 25 hours a week or so is probably the way I'm going to go. She can oversee studies, help with household chores, do some running around if need be (minimal). Now, trying to find that gal is another story! Although, I think it will work out. We have so many young ladies in our church, someone has to have the time and desire!

BTW, I asked about Abeka because the private school I considered uses it.

 

[sha_lyn]

another idea is to find another homeschool mom who might like to trade off watching your kids for you watching theirs. You might actually find a mom who would like to work part time too, or just needs the time to run errands, tend to a baby, time to herself etc.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Where did everybody go?

Just an update... I have a woman, 29, coming to the house to get to know us and us get to know her. It looks like she may work out beautifully!

I also found a woman to come to the house and teach the girls Composition. So I have a math and comp teacher now! IMHO, two of the bigger hurdles for life preparedness.

So how are your autumn's going?

 

[peg2001]

I'm glad to hear that it is coming together for you!

We just finished our first week of homeschooling (DH is a SAHD). DH intentially made it a very laid back week since it was DD's first so they could get used to the new routine. Still, when we wrote it up in journal form, it looked impressive! She read, we read to her, she did a little math, Brownies, gymnastics, started her cave unit study, visited a museum (Tennessee archeology and ancient Egypt exhibits), and did lots of housework to prepare for her birthday party today.

I could use some feedback though. When people hear that we are homeschooling, they start to grill me on what "curriculum" we are using. We bought Math U See, but are just doing everything else ourselves. I don't think a boxed curriculum is essential but I get funny looks and comments when I say that we don't have one. I don't want to start defending our approach, but what should I say?

Peggy

 

[house_of_princesses]

I'm in the same boat. I answer differently to different people, (but tell the truth ). I tell them I use different books for different subjects. Or, we're just starting an interesting study on caves. Or, there's so many resources out there, you can't name just one. (Completely evades the question!) The reason I give different answers is because I can tell who is genuinely curious, those who don't understand, and those who disagree with my decision.

Glad to hear the week went so smoothly! Don't be discouraged on those weeks that don't go too smoothly. We all have them!