Homeschool Chat Part III

[CharmingElla]

So is there a website or somewhere I can go to see about how to record keep? I'm a little confused on what I need to do. Or do I need to look it up by my state? (GA)

 

[bcbmommy]

Another shout out for Math-U-See. It now goes all the way through Calculus. I had a not so mathy kid who ended up majoring in Math in college, I think because of her solid foundation in Math-U-See she really "got" calculus when she took it her freshman year of college. My ds (17) is almost finished with Pre-Calc and will do Calc with Math-U-See. He is very mathy and really enjoys Steve Demme. My dd (11) also really enjoys Math-U-See, again I have noticed what a great foundation it gives them. She also is enjoying using Beast Academy for extra problem solving and critical math thinking skills, ignore the grade levels on the books, just work your way through them. We are also doing the Historical Connections in Mathematics put out by the AIMS Education Foundation.
You can make math fun pretty quickly by using Vi Hart's blog, http://vihart.com/ and don't forget Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land.
Make sure to review fractions, they really need to be comfortable with them to do well in Algebra.

Is MUS a program that one could begin in high school, or is it better having started with that program from the beginning?

 

[Mommaof3]

Hi everyone! We are homeschooling this year for the first time! We decided to pull our daughter out of public school because of the issues we've had to deal with the past year. For instance, she has an IEP on file and was to get help if her grades started to fall. Well last year at the beginning of the school year her math grade was a 92 and for the next 2 nine weeks her grades dropped down to a 72 and the school wasn't worried at all. I had to go in every 9 weeks for a meeting on her IEP and no help was offered even when I told them she needs help in Math. She ended up pulling her grade up to a C but she now hates math! She used to love it until this school year. She is going to be in the 4th grade this year and I'm thinking of doing Saxon Math with her, BJU for most of her other studies like English, Writing and Spelling, and Apologia for her Science with the Zoology. Is there anything that I should look into more for her. Thanks so much!

Many here have given some great advice about different programs. I really encourage you to think about the type of learner your child is and not just if she is "good" in a subject. There are programs that are better for more active, hands on learners and programs that are better for visual learners, etc. One of the beauties of homeschooling is getting to pick the right type of program for your learner. Sometimes it is better to go with a whole program for all subjects and sometimes better to pick and choose subjects from different programs. I usually encourage parents new to homeschooling to pick a whole program that is the best fit overall for the first year. That gives you time to adjust to the idea and world of homeschooling. But most importantly, you really get to know the ins and outs of your child's learning style. Then you can branch out and select a more "tailor made" curriculum.

Math Thoughts------Saxon is a solid program. Younger grades are more hands on than the upper grades. Saxon "spirals" previously learned material into lessons for a built in constant review. This is good for some learners, esp those with some attention challenges. It is generally thought of as great for kids that do well in math, but is often recommended in the younger grades for children with learning challenges because of the review. Math U See is a solid program also. It is really good for hands on kids. It seems to hold their attention better. Abeka is a solid program but not really geared to hands on and often considered more challenging. Bob Jones is a solid program also, very good but not quite as challenging. Abeka and Bob Jones are well thought out programs and will expose your children to a well-rounded education. They offer dvd and umbrella-type options which can be helpful.

So think hard about the type of learner. I believe many children struggle because they are not being taught in a manner in which they learn. That is usually what makes them "hate" a subject as they begin to struggle. We are drawn to things that use our strengths and give us success. But we are all different. So we should be taught in different ways.

Best of luck to everyone. I loved this time of year when you could make plans for the coming year, go to conventions and look at all the new stuff, and meet new people coming over to the "dark side" of education. (Not knocking anyone as I am a public school teacher myself) I so wish I still had some at home to enjoy. It is a huge task to educate your children, but soooooo worth every minute. It is hard at times, but keep going everyone! You can do it!

Melissa

 

[bcbmommy]

Many here have given some great advice about different programs. I really encourage you to think about the type of learner your child is and not just if she is "good" in a subject. There are programs that are better for more active, hands on learners and programs that are better for visual learners, etc. One of the beauties of homeschooling is getting to pick the right type of program for your learner. Sometimes it is better to go with a whole program for all subjects and sometimes better to pick and choose subjects from different programs. I usually encourage parents new to homeschooling to pick a whole program that is the best fit overall for the first year. That gives you time to adjust to the idea and world of homeschooling. But most importantly, you really get to know the ins and outs of your child's learning style. Then you can branch out and select a more "tailor made" curriculum.

Math Thoughts------Saxon is a solid program. Younger grades are more hands on than the upper grades. Saxon "spirals" previously learned material into lessons for a built in constant review. This is good for some learners, esp those with some attention challenges. It is generally thought of as great for kids that do well in math, but is often recommended in the younger grades for children with learning challenges because of the review. Math U See is a solid program also. It is really good for hands on kids. It seems to hold their attention better. Abeka is a solid program but not really geared to hands on and often considered more challenging. Bob Jones is a solid program also, very good but not quite as challenging. Abeka and Bob Jones are well thought out programs and will expose your children to a well-rounded education. They offer dvd and umbrella-type options which can be helpful.

So think hard about the type of learner. I believe many children struggle because they are not being taught in a manner in which they learn. That is usually what makes them "hate" a subject as they begin to struggle. We are drawn to things that use our strengths and give us success. But we are all different. So we should be taught in different ways.

Best of luck to everyone. I loved this time of year when you could make plans for the coming year, go to conventions and look at all the new stuff, and meet new people coming over to the "dark side" of education. (Not knocking anyone as I am a public school teacher myself) I so wish I still had some at home to enjoy. It is a huge task to educate your children, but soooooo worth every minute. It is hard at times, but keep going everyone! You can do it!

Melissa

Thank you for this! I have been planning on homeschooling 2 out of my 3 school-aged children (I also have a 2 y.o.), but just today my ds who will be a freshman told me he thinks he wants to homeschool too. While I'm so glad, as this is something I've prayed about, I'm 100 times more nervous now. He is extremely inattentive ADD, and definitely a hands-on learner, so I want to make sure I get the right program for him. I'm planning on getting the book, 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. Can you recommend any others?

 

[Mommaof3]

Thank you for this! I have been planning on homeschooling 2 out of my 3 school-aged children (I also have a 2 y.o.), but just today my ds who will be a freshman told me he thinks he wants to homeschool too. While I'm so glad, as this is something I've prayed about, I'm 100 times more nervous now. He is extremely inattentive ADD, and definitely a hands-on learner, so I want to make sure I get the right program for him. I'm planning on getting the book, 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. Can you recommend any others?

Cathy Duffy is great and has been around for a long time. For high school, I also liked a book called High School Form-U-La. I am trying to remember the writer, maybe Barbara Schefler, or something like that. High school was the most nervous for me as far as keeping records and making sure all was on the up and up. I used Abeka DVD a lot for high school, but I kept the grades as opposed to the grades coming from Abeka. Some subjects went well and others did not. As I remember, science was great but math did not work well for us. The spanish was good, but hard. The Spanish I course covered what our local district covered in 1 and 1/2 years instead of 1 year. So 2 years of Abeka was 3 years for us. (My sister was teaching high school Spanish at the time so I am sure about that) Any way.......look for things that would really engage him. The attention/ADD challenges are probably going to be his greatest problems. If so, really think outside the box to teach him. Sometimes computer driven curriculum helps. The Form-U-La book is really good for outside the box thinking. Cathy's book will help you to pick more hands on things. Things that are heavy into read and answer the questions are going to drive him a little crazy. Don't be afraid to alter his assignments to help him succeed. That is all that an IEP in public school is. Also, in high school, I discussed plans and curriculum with my children. I felt that were mature enough to have a chance for inclusion in the decision making process. They began to understand that there were times when it just had to be done, even if they did not want to. But there were some things that I could let it be their way. It was kinda nice. Hope you find what your children need. Hope you have a great year!

Melissa

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We use Saxon and really like it. My daughter skipped 2 grades before we pulled her out of school and my son had skipped 1, this could be why Saxon works for them but so far no issues!

 

[DisHmsklMom]

Is MUS a program that one could begin in high school, or is it better having started with that program from the beginning?

You can begin in high school, just do the placement tests to figure out what may have been missed and where you should start. You can call the Math-U-See folks with all your questions, they are great at helping out.

 

[GusGus77]

My kindergartener HATES handwriting. She knows the letters and can pretty much write them all, upper and lower case, but some of them she won't write correctly and she needs to practice for legibility, correct form and general neatness. She also has to work on sizing of the letters. Getting her to practice writing is like pulling teeth. It will literally take her an hour to do a short page of practice letters even though I know she has the ability to do it in about 5 minutes if she would just sit and do it. Any suggestions, tricks, or resources to use? (And tracing is out. She does NOT like to trace things.) She doesn't understand that some things she just has to learn and do and I don't want to start the year with fighting over handwriting. Thanks!

 

[bumbershoot]

My kindergartener HATES handwriting. She knows the letters and can pretty much write them all, upper and lower case, but some of them she won't write correctly and she needs to practice for legibility, correct form and general neatness. She also has to work on sizing of the letters. Getting her to practice writing is like pulling teeth. It will literally take her an hour to do a short page of practice letters even though I know she has the ability to do it in about 5 minutes if she would just sit and do it. Any suggestions, tricks, or resources to use? (And tracing is out. She does NOT like to trace things.) She doesn't understand that some things she just has to learn and do and I don't want to start the year with fighting over handwriting. Thanks!

Assuming you mean cursive, my suggestion is to stop requiring handwriting right now. Our curriculum doesn't even introduce it until 3rd grade. And if you mean printing I'd still back off for awhile, especially on the need for perfection. She's still very young and has ages to get the proper form down.

 

[chris31997]

My kindergartener HATES handwriting. She knows the letters and can pretty much write them all, upper and lower case, but some of them she won't write correctly and she needs to practice for legibility, correct form and general neatness. She also has to work on sizing of the letters. Getting her to practice writing is like pulling teeth. It will literally take her an hour to do a short page of practice letters even though I know she has the ability to do it in about 5 minutes if she would just sit and do it. Any suggestions, tricks, or resources to use? (And tracing is out. She does NOT like to trace things.) She doesn't understand that some things she just has to learn and do and I don't want to start the year with fighting over handwriting. Thanks!

Like the PP said have her do the about half the writing for language and spelling for her schoolwork. Have her do the rest orally to make sure she knows the answers. Then add drawing work to her day. There are some easy learn to draw books out there. The drawing will help her fine motor skills which will help her writing.

 

[mnewcomer]

Have you tried writing with no tears books they have fun little memory games for the letters and how to write them. They give little dots for starting & stopping points to help with sizing. My son would only work in these books for handwriting skills. Have fun with it and it will all fall into place.

 

[erin327]

Hi. We are new homeschoolers with our oldest starting kindergarten this fall. Have any of you done Girl Scouts or American Heritage Girls with your homeschooled children? How did you get information or get involved?

 

[DreamSweetsLove]

Hi, I'm not sure is this is the right place to ask but we live overseas and are not in an international school. I had put off teaching my son how to read in English because the writing system for the language here, Japanese, has three different writing systems and I did not want to overwhelm him. Now that he has a really good base in what he has to know for that language I really need to get him started with English.

I will be in the US for Christmas, is there any text books to teach reading in English and spelling you can recommend? Where is a good place to purchase text books? He is 6 years old and in the first grade. Thank you in advance for any replies or advice!

 

[bellebud]

I'm a homeschooler from NY... my cousin from Florida just informed me she's looking into homeschooling her ds11. Can anyone from Florida tell me in a nutshell the rules/regs? I can look them up, but I find having someone tell you in plain English is always better than the regs can explain them. (NY's seem daunting if you read the rules/regs, but they're really not when someone explains them), knim?

thanks! She's in the Jacksonville area - if anyone knows any local groups she can look into. tia!

 

[lovethattink]

I'm a homeschooler from NY... my cousin from Florida just informed me she's looking into homeschooling her ds11. Can anyone from Florida tell me in a nutshell the rules/regs? I can look them up, but I find having someone tell you in plain English is always better than the regs can explain them. (NY's seem daunting if you read the rules/regs, but they're really not when someone explains them), knim?

thanks! She's in the Jacksonville area - if anyone knows any local groups she can look into. tia!

FL requirements.

http://www.fpea.com/about-home-schooling/requirements/

Here is a link to a map and the homeschool groups in each area

http://www.fpea.com/find-your-district/

 

[bellebud]

FL requirements.

http://www.fpea.com/about-home-schooling/requirements/

Here is a link to a map and the homeschool groups in each area

http://www.fpea.com/find-your-district/

Do you homeschool in Florida? While I appreciate the links, I was looking for some wording from a person, perhaps you, that I can pass along to my cousin.

For example, in NY, we have to administer a test every other year, beginning in 4th grade. BUT, unless someone tells you, it's hard to know that you can take the 4th grade year as your "off" year, and test in 5th and 7th, instead of 4th, 6th and 8th. Even some school districts don't know this until it's explained to them by a homeschooler.

hope I'm making sense

 

[spectrecat]

I'm a homeschooler from NY... my cousin from Florida just informed me she's looking into homeschooling her ds11. Can anyone from Florida tell me in a nutshell the rules/regs? I can look them up, but I find having someone tell you in plain English is always better than the regs can explain them. (NY's seem daunting if you read the rules/regs, but they're really not when someone explains them), knim?

thanks! She's in the Jacksonville area - if anyone knows any local groups she can look into. tia!

have a friend that just announced that she is homeschooling in JAX this year. She's not on Dis, but I'll message her. I know she is participating with a sort of private school or co-op where they meet twice a month for field trips, chapel, etc. But I think they handle a lot of the requirements. (I am in NM...which is almost as easy as homeschooling in TX!) Her oldest is just starting kindergarten, so she may not have all the info on testing, but she will have something. I will get back to you unless another FL parent beats me to it!

 

[lovethattink]

Do you homeschool in Florida? While I appreciate the links, I was looking for some wording from a person, perhaps you, that I can pass along to my cousin.

For example, in NY, we have to administer a test every other year, beginning in 4th grade. BUT, unless someone tells you, it's hard to know that you can take the 4th grade year as your "off" year, and test in 5th and 7th, instead of 4th, 6th and 8th. Even some school districts don't know this until it's explained to them by a homeschooler.

hope I'm making sense

Yes, I homeschool in Florida.

First, your cousin will have to decide how she is going to homeschool in Florida. See the first link I gave you. There are 5 options for homeschooling.
-Public school
- Parochial, religious or denominational school
- Nontraditional private school
- Home-education program
- Private tutoring program

Once she has decided which one of the 5 ways to go, then there are different requirements depending on which she chose.

I chose the route of a nontraditional private school ie. umbrella school. The school keeps track of all his records and grades. Technically he is considered a private school student even though we educate at home. I chose an umbrella school that is accreditited, because that was something that was important to me.

All the paper work I need to keep, the umbrella school sends me. I get to pick and choose the classes my son will take, but the umbrella school gets the final say in the approval process.

 

[jahber]

Yes, I homeschool in Florida.

First, your cousin will have to decide how she is going to homeschool in Florida. See the first link I gave you. There are 5 options for homeschooling.
-Public school
- Parochial, religious or denominational school
- Nontraditional private school
- Home-education program
- Private tutoring program

Once she has decided which one of the 5 ways to go, then there are different requirements depending on which she chose.

I chose the route of a nontraditional private school ie. umbrella school. The school keeps track of all his records and grades. Technically he is considered a private school student even though we educate at home. I chose an umbrella school that is accreditited, because that was something that was important to me.

All the paper work I need to keep, the umbrella school sends me. I get to pick and choose the classes my son will take, but the umbrella school gets the final say in the approval process.

I would add to this that county-registered students, or students who are not registered at any type of official school (this usually excludes co-ops, which are NOT usually official schools) have many fewer requirements than students enrolled in a private or non-traditional school. We call it county-registered because our school districts are divided by county instead of by city or town or population distribution. To county register, just send a letter of intent to homeschool to the school board within 30 days of the beginning of your school year. Maintain a portfolio (whatever that means for you). Submit an evaluation by a certified teacher (essentially a letter that says your student will be promoted to the next grade) or FCAT scores or an eval by a psychologist within 365 days of the beginning of your year. And that's it. There are no curriculum or attendance requirements for county registered homeschoolers. But the school board may request to see (NOT evaluate, but see that it exists) your portfolio with 14 days' notice.

It's very simple and (in my opinion) Florida homeschool law rightly places the responsibility for overseeing education almost entirely in the hands of parents. If you want to have "official" records, an umbrella school would be helpful, but then you fall under the 180-day attendance requirement and have to keep records to prove attendance to the state (so, you report to the school and the school reports to the state IF proof of attendance is requested). Since I don't see a need for any kind of official records for my elementary kids to be kept by the government, I'm happy going it alone. But either way, Florida really does offer a good variety of options for homeschooling parents.

 

[bellebud]

Yes, I homeschool in Florida.

First, your cousin will have to decide how she is going to homeschool in Florida. See the first link I gave you. There are 5 options for homeschooling.
-Public school
- Parochial, religious or denominational school
- Nontraditional private school
- Home-education program
- Private tutoring program

Once she has decided which one of the 5 ways to go, then there are different requirements depending on which she chose.

I chose the route of a nontraditional private school ie. umbrella school. The school keeps track of all his records and grades. Technically he is considered a private school student even though we educate at home. I chose an umbrella school that is accreditited, because that was something that was important to me.

All the paper work I need to keep, the umbrella school sends me. I get to pick and choose the classes my son will take, but the umbrella school gets the final say in the approval process.

I would add to this that county-registered students, or students who are not registered at any type of official school (this usually excludes co-ops, which are NOT usually official schools) have many fewer requirements than students enrolled in a private or non-traditional school. We call it county-registered because our school districts are divided by county instead of by city or town or population distribution. To county register, just send a letter of intent to homeschool to the school board within 30 days of the beginning of your school year. Maintain a portfolio (whatever that means for you). Submit an evaluation by a certified teacher (essentially a letter that says your student will be promoted to the next grade) or FCAT scores or an eval by a psychologist within 365 days of the beginning of your year. And that's it. There are no curriculum or attendance requirements for county registered homeschoolers. But the school board may request to see (NOT evaluate, but see that it exists) your portfolio with 14 days' notice.

It's very simple and (in my opinion) Florida homeschool law rightly places the responsibility for overseeing education almost entirely in the hands of parents. If you want to have "official" records, an umbrella school would be helpful, but then you fall under the 180-day attendance requirement and have to keep records to prove attendance to the state (so, you report to the school and the school reports to the state IF proof of attendance is requested). Since I don't see a need for any kind of official records for my elementary kids to be kept by the government, I'm happy going it alone. But either way, Florida really does offer a good variety of options for homeschooling parents.

thank you both so much! This gives me some concrete wording to help her see it's not that difficult.