Considering homeschooling

[Leajess99]

I wanted to get the book "So you're thinking of homeschooling?" by Lisa Welchel at the library tonight and it was checked out. Funny thing when I saw the cover of it on the computer screen I thought "is that Blair?" But I didn't recognize her real name.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. They are greatly appreciated. I will most definitely be checking out the websites that you all posted. That along with the books from the library I'm hoping we can feel more confident in making our decision.

I had the program K12 suggested to me tonight as well. She teaches her 4 dd's at home using that program and just raved about it.

I don't know if Indiana offers the virtual school program? I don't remember reading about it (at least yet) but then again my head is kind of swimming with all the info.

I would definitely like something that lays it out for me. That has a way of keeping track of scores, attendance, time worked that sort of stuff. I feel like I would want/need a schedule of things like until I gained confidence.

Thanks again!

Indiana does offer the free public virtual school. It is listed on K12's website http://www.k12.com/curriculum_and_products/participating-schools-in-indiana/. I know I hate that Kentucky doesn't offer it as I would have liked that for my younger kids.

 

[Naisy68]

Indiana does offer the free public virtual school. It is listed on K12's website http://www.k12.com/curriculum_and_products/participating-schools-in-indiana/. I know I hate that Kentucky doesn't offer it as I would have liked that for my younger kids.

Perfect!! K12 is an awesome program - I know our neighbors in South Dakota are a little jealous that it is offered here in Wyoming and not there as well. Hoping that changes as I have a lot of friends that want to take part in it but K12 as an individual investment is very spendy. PM me if you would ever want more info on it.

 

[cruiserkaren]

Indiana does offer the free public virtual school. It is listed on K12's website http://www.k12.com/curriculum_and_products/participating-schools-in-indiana/. I know I hate that Kentucky doesn't offer it as I would have liked that for my younger kids.

Thank you for that.

I am also really interested in time4learning.

 

[cirquelovers]

I know we used Connections Academy, it is a virtual online school that uses the same curriculum as the local schools. They are available in many states. My son is going to the local High School this year but if it doesn't work out we will go back to Connections.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

I have two daughters who were homeschooled all through and an 11th grade son who will graduate from my school way too soon. We use mostly Abeka. It has an excellent phonics program which gave a great foundation for reading and spelling.
My DD sat bored in an upper level college comp class that spent over a week on its/it's, there/their/they're, etc. These were things a fourth grader should know!!! It is also very good in math and has a lot of review to reinforce skills already learned.
My DD graduated college summa cum laude with a double major with all A's but one B. My son took the ACT as a sophomore to enroll in dual enrollment and scored a 30--this will get a full 4 year scholarship to many colleges in our area. I have tutored kids in our public school system and am 100% confident our kids received a much better education at home.
At the same time, they are definitely well socialized. We were on a cruise once and spent a long ferry ride with the director of the teen program who was talking to my daughter about her summer job as a camp counselor. The woman was very impressed with her and offered her a job on the ship--told her she needed people like her and would schedule her on any college break.
She then told us how much fun they had with my son who was a natural leader and life of the party. She told me how he made up a story that he was homeschooled and they all knew he was joking because she had had homeschoolers before and they were quiet loners. You can imagine her shock when I told her he and my daughter she desperately wanted to hire had never been in a real school!
You would be amazed at the number of homeschooling moms who are former teachers disillusioned with the system. Many of these teach in coops where parents with less knowledge on a subject assist in the class or teach a different subject. My son will be in one for chemistry this year where a group of 10-15 kids will do the labs together. He will also have a comp class with a college prof and also take a college class.
My older daughter plans to homeschool her kids when she has them and my younger daughter has asked me to homeschool hers--she has observed how bad the schools are here but does not feel she has the patience to do it.
If you are willing to devote the time to homeschool, I believe your kids will receive a great education. We also have wonderful memories of things we could not have done in a regular school setting.
There is a homeschool thread here which will have many ideas for you.
Good luck in your decision.

 

[Tink561]

You can do it! We're starting our 11th year of homeschooling. I have had two sons graduate and now I'm starting Kindergarten with my 4.5 year old daughter. It can be trying some days but so very rewarding.

 

[disneymarie]

We are considering homeschooling our soon to be 1st grade dd. I'd rather not get into the reasons why but I'd just like some direction on where to get information. I've googled, of course, but the amount of information is downright overwhelming. I know there are a lot of homeschoolers here on the Dis. Can anyone point me in the direction of helpful books or websites with info, how to start, laws, that kind of thing?

I home school for the third year now, 9th grade for dd but Cyber School. We used Connections academy.

I would never be able to do it without them...she loves the program and is testing over 12th grade level. It is well structured, live lessons, they provide a computer, books and all needs.

She loves it.

 

[disneymarie]

I know we used Connections Academy, it is a virtual online school that uses the same curriculum as the local schools. They are available in many states. My son is going to the local High School this year but if it doesn't work out we will go back to Connections.

Just saw your post, we use Connections also for the third year. I though dd may want to try and go back. I am ok with graduating from Connections, but thought by 11 and 12th grade she should want to be with kids more and have a class experience.

I think she is too scarred by bullying and lack of support at the home school.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

http://www.connectionsacademy.com/indiana-school/home.aspx

We did Connections for 2 years while DD skated. We loved the program. She just started back to a brick and Mortar charter school last year when my employment changed. Check it out it worked well for us

 

[cruiserkaren]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I appreciate everyone with experience chiming in. It's weird how I go from feeling confident in the decision to scared out of my mind to thinking "what am I doing!!"

My very good friend is an elementary teacher and she is against homeschool. So I got to "defend" my decision to her today. She says in her experience those that return to school after being homeschooled are behind, are outcasts and lack the skills to socialize with other kids. My response: skills like making fun, exclusion and degrading someone? I also told her that in my research most of the time when a homeschooler returns to school they are ahead of their peers.

I feel like we will be doing it but I am so scared at the same time. I obviously want to do what is best for my dd and my family. Sending my 6 year old to school crying, scared and in a near panic attack just doesn't seem like the right thing to do. She literally wouldn't/couldn't eat breakfast or lunch because of anxiety and being upset. She would come home starving and then we'd do it all over the next day. That's when I knew this was serious. A 6 year old can't not eat for 8+ hours just to "defy" me. (this is just one example of an issue that we dealt with in one school year.) I don't want her hating school and in return hate learning at such a young age. She shouldn't have to hate school at 6, right? We have addressed the anxiety issues with her pediatrician and a counselor. She is making progress but it is not something that you can just pop a pill and get better.

Thank you all for listening and helping.

 

[Naisy68]

You will probably have to defend yourself a few more times before they really understand. A good teacher (not saying she isn't) knows that all children learn differently and in their own way.
Right now, in my experience (and I did teach in a traditional school for 6 years,) there is a LOT of drama in a lot of classrooms today. Some teachers do a great job of controlling it but others just aren't so good at it. I know in my daughter's case, there was so much drama and chaos in her 3rd grade classroom that she literally couldn't complete her work in school and would bring it home and we'd spend hours at home working on it at night. Now, we spend 4 hours a day on school work and we are done for the day and moving on to other things. Socially, she has lots of interaction with her peers at gymnastics, church and our virtual school program offers quite a few opportunities for field trip and peer learning.
Also, just for the record, my daughter takes the same tests as all others in the district and this past spring she blew past 99% of the other 3rd graders in the district completely out of the water with her scores. That's after only one semester of homeschooling/ virtual schooling.
Also in my experience, I know quite a few students who have been homeschooled and they are wonderful, well rounded kids. I know that not all parents homeschool in the same manner and some don't actually do a lot of teaching which might explain some of the negagivity your friend is familiar with.
Trust me, when I first pulled my daughter out of school, I as a nervous wreck but it didn't take long to figure out that I knew it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I appreciate everyone with experience chiming in. It's weird how I go from feeling confident in the decision to scared out of my mind to thinking "what am I doing!!"

My very good friend is an elementary teacher and she is against homeschool. So I got to "defend" my decision to her today. She says in her experience those that return to school after being homeschooled are behind, are outcasts and lack the skills to socialize with other kids. My response: skills like making fun, exclusion and degrading someone? I also told her that in my research most of the time when a homeschooler returns to school they are ahead of their peers.

I feel like we will be doing it but I am so scared at the same time. I obviously want to do what is best for my dd and my family. Sending my 6 year old to school crying, scared and in a near panic attack just doesn't seem like the right thing to do. She literally wouldn't/couldn't eat breakfast or lunch because of anxiety and being upset. She would come home starving and then we'd do it all over the next day. That's when I knew this was serious. A 6 year old can't not eat for 8+ hours just to "defy" me. (this is just one example of an issue that we dealt with in one school year.) I don't want her hating school and in return hate learning at such a young age. She shouldn't have to hate school at 6, right? We have addressed the anxiety issues with her pediatrician and a counselor. She is making progress but it is not something that you can just pop a pill and get better.

Thank you all for listening and helping.

 

[NHWX]

My very good friend is an elementary teacher and she is against homeschool. So I got to "defend" my decision to her today. She says in her experience those that return to school after being homeschooled are behind, are outcasts and lack the skills to socialize with other kids. My response: skills like making fun, exclusion and degrading someone? I also told her that in my research most of the time when a homeschooler returns to school they are ahead of their peers.

If you think about it - the children who return to public school might be returning because a parent's work schedule changed, or they moved onto a different school or any number of reasons. There are probably thousands of kids who make this move seamlessly and teachers probably won't remember that they used to be homeschooled after a while.

Then there are those whose parents didn't like/want to homeschool anymore and threw in the towel and said "Fine! The school has to take you!" So the child arrives with a huge attitude. Or perhaps a parent says "You and I cannot make this work, you're falling behind" and sends the child to public school. Those children will be memorable.

Ask your friend if children coming from other school districts are always well prepared. I know friends of ours moved from NH to PA and their public schooled children spent about 2-4 months playing catch-up. And they were really good students here. Are the children who move into your school district that have other distinguishing characteristics immediately accepted? Children with English as a second (or third) language, children with developmental delays, children whose clothing is markedly different, etc. are probably not going to blend in right away.

You have the right and need to decide what is best for your child.

NHWX

 

[cruiserkaren]

NHWX, I agree completely. I was actually quite surprised by her staunch stance. Like I said before, this is something I never thought I'd do so I doubt we had ever discussed it before.

Naisy68, I'm glad your dd is doing well. How much of the work is done online vs. offline in the virtual school? I was looking at Connections Academy and k12. I'm confused about the virtual school. Do you follow the public school schedule or are free to adjust if needed? (illness, vacation, funeral, etc) From the website it seems you follow public school schedule. But I am in contact with someone using k12 in Ohio (I'd be using IN) and she said they doubled up on work thru spring break and other times and finished in April.

Has anyone here (or know of someone) that has been contacted by CPS, local school district, etc, regarding homeschooling? Some stories on HSLDA website are a bit scary. While they seemed to turn out fine it would be intimidating and worrisome all the same. (And yes, I totally feel I'm over thinking this)

 

[QTnursestudent]

Has anyone looked into Texas Tech Independent School District? My daughter has been enrolled in their program for two years now. It's a wonderful curriculum and allows her the guidance that I'm not comfortable providing to her. I just help her with her homework just like I would if she was in public/private school. We love it!

 

[cruiserkaren]

Can anyone tell me any differences between the k12 program and Connections Academy? I have stared at their sites for 2 days straight now.

 

[Naisy68]

Can anyone tell me any differences between the k12 program and Connections Academy? I have stared at their sites for 2 days straight now.

I just sent you a reply to your message. Good Luck!!

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I've known people who had to call hslda, but it is usually due to a problem with the school system, and them not knowing the law.

 

[Magpie]

I homeschooled my son for several years because he was miserable in regular school kindergarten. I sent him back in Grade 5 when he was ready and willing to go.

Here's what I told my friends when they challenged my decision to homeschool: No one should EVER have to stay anywhere that they are unhappy. If you're in a miserable marriage, you get out. If you're in a horrible job, you find another job. It's not character building to put up with constant daily abuse, it's just dumb.

My son was homeschooled from 1st grade through to the end of 4th grade. Despite having a diagnosed learning disability, he had little difficulty transitioning into a gifted class in the public school system in Grade 5. He has many friends and is considered a "leader" in class. He does talk to adults as if he considers them peers, but as he's not rude, it's not been a problem.

My daughter was homeschooled for 3rd and 4th grade. Last year in 8th grade, she actually thanked me for the good job I did of laying a strong foundation in math! Apparently her peers were struggling, while she was able to breeze through.

I didn't homeschool for religious reasons, but I used a religious curriculum called "Sonlight". I really love books, and the focus on classic literature was something that suited me well as a teacher. Plus it was easy to follow, and well laid out. I found the lists-and-schedules very comforting when I was just starting out as a homeschooler. I just skipped any story books I didn't like (such as the occasional one that focussed on missionary work) and substituted something else from the library.

Good luck on your journey!

 

[dfluvsmick]

Hi. We are in our 3rd year of homeschooling. My ds is in 8th grade this year and we are starting something new. Abeka has a dvd program. He will sit through classes and get assignments and all just like he was in school, but he will be home. I am excited and so is he. We are not sure what we are doing next year for HS, but I have heard that students that have done Abeka seem to be a little more "advanced". We'll see.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

A thought about having to defend yourself. You don't have to. It is perfectly acceptable to smile and say it is what is right for you and your family. Then move on in the conversation. You don't owe anyone an explanation. People who want to argue are not going to listen anyway.