Homeschool Chat Part III

[JoanneDisFan]

Wish I was going in Sept but we are going in Oct. Just made the decision last week. Talk about crazy planning frenzy to try and get a few dining reservations.

 

[cnavarrete]

A huge thank you to momimouse27 for the Life of Fred books!! Thank you thank you thank you! We got them today and can't wait to put them to use!

 

[grumpy28]

Thinking about pros/cons to homeschooling. Live in NC if that matters. DD will be entering K this summer unless I choose to HS (year round here). Honestly mostly worried about her missing out on friends and the social aspect. She has a 3 year old brother, but no cousins. We do not attend church so no friends to make there. We do library storytime and the park regularly. No other kids in our neighborhood. I would love to have my kids home with me and am confident I could teach them,just don't want to deprive them of friends and being with other kids their age. Thoughts?

 

[cnavarrete]

Thinking about pros/cons to homeschooling. Live in NC if that matters. DD will be entering K this summer unless I choose to HS (year round here). Honestly mostly worried about her missing out on friends and the social aspect. She has a 3 year old brother, but no cousins. We do not attend church so no friends to make there. We do library storytime and the park regularly. No other kids in our neighborhood. I would love to have my kids home with me and am confident I could teach them,just don't want to deprive them of friends and being with other kids their age. Thoughts?

Look on Yahoo groups and Facebook for homeschooling groups in your area. It takes a little time to find your tribe, but you will. Honestly, there are so many different homeschool get-togethers in my city, if we went to all of them we would never have time for "school"! If you put in some effort you will find your kids (and you) have plenty of friends!

 

[grumpy28]

Look on Yahoo groups and Facebook for homeschooling groups in your area. It takes a little time to find your tribe, but you will. Honestly, there are so many different homeschool get-togethers in my city, if we went to all of them we would never have time for "school"! If you put in some effort you will find your kids (and you) have plenty of friends!

I will check those out. Thanks!

 

[chris31997]

Thinking about pros/cons to homeschooling. Live in NC if that matters. DD will be entering K this summer unless I choose to HS (year round here). Honestly mostly worried about her missing out on friends and the social aspect. She has a 3 year old brother, but no cousins. We do not attend church so no friends to make there. We do library storytime and the park regularly. No other kids in our neighborhood. I would love to have my kids home with me and am confident I could teach them,just don't want to deprive them of friends and being with other kids their age. Thoughts?

Just like the PP, look in your area to find some groups. The groups will help her, DS, and you. Need some adult conversation sometimes You can also check out homeschool legal defense, classical conversations, and the different churches(even though you do not attend they may have a group that you can join). Just some ideas for where to look. Your library might even have an idea of the different groups around.

 

[grumpy28]

Just like the PP, look in your area to find some groups. The groups will help her, DS, and you. Need some adult conversation sometimes You can also check out homeschool legal defense, classical conversations, and the different churches(even though you do not attend they may have a group that you can join). Just some ideas for where to look. Your library might even have an idea of the different groups around.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I will look into them.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Yikes, answered a very old question! LOL

 

[chicagoshannon]

Meetup is also a good place to find homeschool groups. Also google homeschool coop for your area. You should be able to find some things.

 

[clarklink]

Kept our developmentally delayed, immunodeficient daughter home since we discovered she had epilepsy at two. She just turned six so this was the first year we've applied any curriculum to her education. Learned her ABCs by her typing them on word processing program, watched YouTube videos on both sight reading and phonics in preparation. I write her curriculum based on state standards then find the best method for her learning style including library books, YouTube Videos, Smart Alec workbooks ($2 each online or Five Below), downloaded worksheets, and custom videos I make to fill in any gaps. They most expensive cost was prep books for her annual assessment to make sure I did not miss anything. She skipped the kindergarten test and took the first grade one where she did great. She is a social butterfly with church twice a week, dance class, swim lessons, and a two-week program each summer at the elementary school where she would go if she attended public school. As I write this she is at our public library for 4 1/2 hours for a dinosaur themed adventure.

Her first trip to Disney will be this fall as she suffers from short-term memory loss and we wanted her to be old enough to remember. I gave up our discounted room for the free dining plan which only saves a few hundred dollars in the end, but she will get a week of short, packed days at Disney World thanks to a slow week, Fastpass +, and Disability Assistance Services. On "princess day" she has a makeover at Bibbidi Boppidi Boutique, lunch at BOG, & dinner at Cinderella's Castle with every MK princess meet and greet in between. She is almost as excited after watching the video tour of Lilo's Playhouse where she will be Kids' Clubbing while Mom & Dad have date night.

 

[MinnieTink]

Hi All! I am so happy to find this thread on the Disboards (my people! Lol).
Anyway I am seriously considering pulling my son out of school to homeschool him. He will be in 5th grade in September and, long story short, the past year and a half have been awful for him. He has missed a lot of school due to anxiety and depression, school refusal. He was in public school until March, then was placed by the district in a private school with smaller classes, hoping that would help. It hasn't. He had a few weeks where he did show improvement in April but in May he tanked. I would have to peel him out of my car and he would be basically dragged in by a guy I will call the "School bouncer". When (if!) he would attend class he would sometimes just put his head down and just not engage in the activities of the day. He got so stressed that he actually ended up hospitalized for a couple days. He is and has been seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist. When he is home, he is fine. He plays with his friends in the neighborhood. No problem. He is very bright and has been tested and does not have a learning disability.
I just feel like he is missing so much educationally because he is so distracted by his emotions in school, and I have not found a workable option yet.
Has anyone had any issues such as these? where do I start? I also am curious about income loss for homeschooling parents. I would have to leave or really cut hours at a job I've had for 20 years. He is so worth it, but is it even possible to have a part time job when homeschooling? I'm sorry I have a thousand questions, and I am scared and nervous, but I am more scared to just let things go as they have been going. I feel like I am trying to force my "square peg into a round hole" and he's pretty great just the way he is. Know what I mean?
Thanks for an advice!

 

[chicagoshannon]

I'm sorry that your son is so anxious about school. That's really tough. First thing you need to do is find out the homeschool law in your state. HSLDA should have all the laws available. As far as working while homeschooling, it is possible. I know a lot of people that do. You could still work and then teach in the evening. With a 10 year old that would be tough unless you could work from home. A lot of my friends that have outside of the home jobs are nursessto they can work in the evenings.

 

[MinnieTink]

Thanks. I have a part time job I've had since my oldest child was a year old. It would be great if I could just keep my foot in the door and make a little bit of money. I could maybe do two days a week or maybe three mornings. They are very flexible like that (unfortunately I couldn't work from home tho). My son would probably go to stay w my mom and dad during the times I am at work. He could even do work there as long as it didn't require too much guidance.

My head is swirling. Lol.

 

[chicagoshannon]

That sounds like a doable plan. Some people even have school on Saturday or Sunday if they need to work around their work schedule.

 

[megs1313]

I didn't know there was a HS thread on here! I've been homeschooling (at least part time) for 7 years now. I've got a 6th grader, 4th grader, and a preschooler. We're eclectic in style. Use Lifepacs for math/grammar, sonlight for reading/history, apologia for science and then various resources for things like art, coding, music, and foreign language. My biggest homeschooling challenge is my 3 year old! We love being able to take a trip to WDW on short notice. We went twice last year and will be headed back in january.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Your curriculum looks similar to mine. We are actually trying out lifepacs for math this year (algebra EEK!). We also use Sonlight and apologia.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Does anyone else get kind of annoyed this time of year when you hear people complaining about the cost of school supplies? Most of my friends' kids have lists that might cost $100 if you include the backpack and lunchbox in that cost.

I'm over here, with our Reading Eggs subscription and our Time 4 Learning, our co-op fees, science kits, history, geography, math set (had to purchase the primer universal set-ouch!), various enrichment materials, plus the basic consumable school supplies (crayons, markers, pens, pencils, paper, etc.), and I feel like they get off easy! I don't say it, but I feel it. And I still have to pay school taxes on top of that.

I wouldn't choose any other option, and I am beyond grateful for a lifestyle that allows us to homeschool, but man, if they only knew...

 

[momimouse27]

Yes! Yes! I do get it, and why it's a lot for some people. But for those of us who homeschool, buying a full curriculum from a supplier can cost upwards of $1000.

I have always scoured amazon for used books, used less expensive curriculum and just pieced together what i think works for my kids. Somehow, I'm getting away with starting this school year for a little over $100. But only because I'm able to use some of the books I've kept from my two older daughters who are already finished with school. It can get seriously expensive.

 

[momimouse27]

Hi All! I am so happy to find this thread on the Disboards (my people! Lol).
Anyway I am seriously considering pulling my son out of school to homeschool him. He will be in 5th grade in September and, long story short, the past year and a half have been awful for him. He has missed a lot of school due to anxiety and depression, school refusal. He was in public school until March, then was placed by the district in a private school with smaller classes, hoping that would help. It hasn't. He had a few weeks where he did show improvement in April but in May he tanked. I would have to peel him out of my car and he would be basically dragged in by a guy I will call the "School bouncer". When (if!) he would attend class he would sometimes just put his head down and just not engage in the activities of the day. He got so stressed that he actually ended up hospitalized for a couple days. He is and has been seeing a therapist and a psychiatrist. When he is home, he is fine. He plays with his friends in the neighborhood. No problem. He is very bright and has been tested and does not have a learning disability.
I just feel like he is missing so much educationally because he is so distracted by his emotions in school, and I have not found a workable option yet.
Has anyone had any issues such as these? where do I start? I also am curious about income loss for homeschooling parents. I would have to leave or really cut hours at a job I've had for 20 years. He is so worth it, but is it even possible to have a part time job when homeschooling? I'm sorry I have a thousand questions, and I am scared and nervous, but I am more scared to just let things go as they have been going. I feel like I am trying to force my "square peg into a round hole" and he's pretty great just the way he is. Know what I mean?
Thanks for an advice!

I'm so sorry your son is having so many problems in school. I had similar problems with my oldest and my youngest, for different reasons. My oldest daughter literally had to be pulled crying and screaming from my van every morning. It was heartbreaking. My youngest son, who has autism, started having violent meltdowns at school and I finally said "enough is enough" and decided it was worth it to at least try homeschooling him. It helped that we have a huge amount of homeschoolers in our county, and it's pretty common. That made it easier to decide. My oldest daughter is now a senior in college, starting an internship and working part time. My son is now 14 and he has been homeschooled for going on 5 years. He still struggles but he is much better at home. We are able to tailor his learning to fit his needs, which is optimal. I know it seems so scary when you begin, I felt the same way. I can tell you I don't regret the decisions I made. Good luck and don't worry you can do it!

 

[MinnieTink]

I'm so sorry your son is having so many problems in school. I had similar problems with my oldest and my youngest, for different reasons. My oldest daughter literally had to be pulled crying and screaming from my van every morning. It was heartbreaking. My youngest son, who has autism, started having violent meltdowns at school and I finally said "enough is enough" and decided it was worth it to at least try homeschooling him. It helped that we have a huge amount of homeschoolers in our county, and it's pretty common. That made it easier to decide. My oldest daughter is now a senior in college, starting an internship and working part time. My son is now 14 and he has been homeschooled for going on 5 years. He still struggles but he is much better at home. We are able to tailor his learning to fit his needs, which is optimal. I know it seems so scary when you begin, I felt the same way. I can tell you I don't regret the decisions I made. Good luck and don't worry you can do it!

Thank you so much for the encouragement!