Homeschool Chat Part III

[grafxgirl]

Because I do not think I should have to answer to the school system every year with testing my kids. They are expensive and none of their business. I have to continue to pay taxes to the school system, why do I have to pay for all my curriculum, and then turn around and spend another $100 to have my kids tested? If I use the religious exemption, I don't have to do any of that.

I don't homeschool, but I have many friends who do. In my state if a parent is homeschooling their child does not want to do the formal assessment exams they can keep a portfolio of the work they do during their homeschool year to present, and have a teacher within the county assess them instead. Perhaps this would be an option for you?

 

[disneymom30]

I've been reading this thread for awhile now (my family is definitely a Disney family) and found this forum. I am so glad that I found it. I just took my first grade son out of public school to homeschool. There aren't any homeschool support groups in my area. Just wondering if someone could give me insight about the best curriculum to purchase. There are so many to choose from and I am new at this. Also, I would like to get some type of lesson plans for the rest of first grade but I don't want to spend the money on the whole year curriculum because he knows most of it already; but I really need some type of lesson plans to go by the rest of first grade. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[bumbershoot]

Here we are supposed to have them tested or evaluated every year, but we don't turn it in to anyone so you could get away w/not testing. I test every year because I like to know where he's at.

Other than that we just have to file an intent to homeschool. We don't even have to tell anyone what we are teaching.

Basically the same in WA.

Religious exemption for homeschooling...

I googled around, and are you sure you still have to do that? It looks like there was something that changed in 2008 that allows you to not test, though you still do need evaluations, and in some districts it's *possible* that they'd accept such a thing from the parent. But the VA homeschool group that I was reading this on said they don't recommend it for a few reasons.

Anyway, http://vahomeschoolers.org/guide/religious_exemption.asp had some info...

I'd look at the homeschool forum on the mothering.com community (I assume they still have their forums even though the magazine is gone). I bet you'd find others who would know.

Are there any homeschool classes anywhere around you that he can participate in (the once a week type thing?) That might satisfy his 'school' curiosity. My kids take homeschool classes w/ their friends every Tuesday (shakespeare, art and science), then we have park day after. So it's sort of like Tuesday is our "go to school day" - even though they're not being graded. But they're w/ 3 different teachers that day, we start at 10am, classes run till 1pm, then we're at the park till 5pm. It's a FULL day, but so much fun for the kids.

Alas, apart from the Homeschool PE program at the Y (which I caused us to quit this year b/c it went co-op and I don't LIKE co-ops, because if I hire someone to teach him I want them to teach him, not me! LOL), I can't find anything around here. Well, I can find some groups, but they are all religious, and we don't fit in (barely fit in at the Y)...but I'm not sure that any of them really teach classes. (and if they did, it would be co-op, which would mean I'd have to chip in, and I don't wanna, whine whine whine)

 

[Nicolepa]

Basically the same in WA.

I am in WA.

 

[Nicolepa]

I've been reading this thread for awhile now (my family is definitely a Disney family) and found this forum. I am so glad that I found it. I just took my first grade son out of public school to homeschool. There aren't any homeschool support groups in my area. Just wondering if someone could give me insight about the best curriculum to purchase. There are so many to choose from and I am new at this. Also, I would like to get some type of lesson plans for the rest of first grade but I don't want to spend the money on the whole year curriculum because he knows most of it already; but I really need some type of lesson plans to go by the rest of first grade. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

If you are OK w/a Christian curriculum, Christian Light Publications lets you order part of a curriculum. Each subject is 10 books (ie one for each month) and it is pretty reasonably priced. http://www.clp.org/ I used them last year for my daughters summer work.

 

[bellebud]

Just wondering if someone could give me insight about the best curriculum to purchase. but I really need some type of lesson plans to go by the rest of first grade. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I think you'd be fine using the internet - edhelper-dot-com, enchantedlearning-dot-com, many others too. You could also just go to a store (I use Sam's Club), and get a "National Standards" workbook for 1st grade (I'd pick up the 2nd grade one too). Easy - don't make it harder than it has to be, especially for the young grades. You don't need a full "curriculum".

Alas, apart from the Homeschool PE program at the Y (which I caused us to quit this year b/c it went co-op and I don't LIKE co-ops, because if I hire someone to teach him I want them to teach him, not me! LOL), I can't find anything around here. Well, I can find some groups, but they are all religious, and we don't fit in (barely fit in at the Y)...but I'm not sure that any of them really teach classes. (and if they did, it would be co-op, which would mean I'd have to chip in, and I don't wanna, whine whine whine)

I totally get that - we don't co-op for that reason - our hs group hires professionals in their fields who also happen to be gifted teaching children. That stinks you can't find hs classes. We have tons here in NY. BUT I would never know about them if I weren't on many local (local meaning w/in a hours drive) yahoo hs groups. Would your ds be happy if you signed him up for one on-line 'course' that they grade, etc. even like time4learning or something like that? To satisfy his need for that? Just a thought...

 

[bumbershoot]

I am in WA.

Well there we are. Your username threw me! Thought the "pa" part was a hint of where you were.

 

[Nicolepa]

Well there we are. Your username threw me! Thought the "pa" part was a hint of where you were.

Ha! Never had anyone think that before. When I worked at Microsoft that was my username. My brain is too full to come up with cutsie names for everything. I stick to what I can remember.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

Well....we're OFFICIAL!!!!
I filled out the withdrawal paperwork today & we are officially homeschoolers!!!! DS7 is absolutely thrilled & DD10 is just "okay" with it right now.

We are basically going to unschool for the next two months. We will take 1-2 field trips a week (science museum, zoo, etc....) and we will have Bible study & literature everyday. Other than that, we're just gonna take it easy until I can decide exactly what to buy

I still think we'll do Charlotte Mason for literature, handwriting, Bible study, art, music, nature walks, etc... I'm looking at My Father's World for history; Apologia for science; TRYING to figure out math; Rosetta Stone for Spanish; Dave Ramsey for finances (taught by DH)

We will be a part of our local homeschool group & we'll take lots of field trips & trips focused on mission work. We know God has called us to homeschool, so we will try to glorify Him by helping others in need.

 

[bellebud]

Well....we're OFFICIAL!!!!
I filled out the withdrawal paperwork today & we are officially homeschoolers!!!! DS7 is absolutely thrilled & DD10 is just "okay" with it right now.

We are basically going to unschool for the next two months. We will take 1-2 field trips a week (science museum, zoo, etc....) and we will have Bible study & literature everyday. Other than that, we're just gonna take it easy until I can decide exactly what to buy

I still think we'll do Charlotte Mason for literature, handwriting, Bible study, art, music, nature walks, etc... I'm looking at My Father's World for history; Apologia for science; TRYING to figure out math; Rosetta Stone for Spanish; Dave Ramsey for finances (taught by DH)

We will be a part of our local homeschool group & we'll take lots of field trips & trips focused on mission work. We know God has called us to homeschool, so we will try to glorify Him by helping others in need.

Congratulations!!!!!

I pulled mine in March 2 years ago, and was SOOOO glad I didn't have them finish out the year!! Glad to hear you're deschooling for the rest of the year! Your plan sounds absolutely perfect!!!!!! ENJOY!!!

 

[sullins5]

Well....we're OFFICIAL!!!!
I filled out the withdrawal paperwork today & we are officially homeschoolers!!!! DS7 is absolutely thrilled & DD10 is just "okay" with it right now.


We will be a part of our local homeschool group & we'll take lots of field trips & trips focused on mission work. We know God has called us to homeschool, so we will try to glorify Him by helping others in need.

Love it...Love it! Because we are homeschooling, we spent the greater part of January and February helping a family of 9 from Congo Africa find a home, pick 7 up from school everyday, and just love on them. My dd actually learned a lot of French from spending so much time with them. She did her work everyday in the car back and forth, but learned more 'life' lessons that I could ever have taught her just by being available and helping. ....and some folks think we are holding them back 'socially'...

 

[weHEARTmickey]

Congratulations!!!!!

I pulled mine in March 2 years ago, and was SOOOO glad I didn't have them finish out the year!! Glad to hear you're deschooling for the rest of the year! Your plan sounds absolutely perfect!!!!!! ENJOY!!!

Everyone looks at me like I'm crazy, but I just KNOW it's the right thing We couldn't wait two more months & why should I put my straight A 4th grader through the stress of that DUMB Texas TAKS test???

Love it...Love it! Because we are homeschooling, we spent the greater part of January and February helping a family of 9 from Congo Africa find a home, pick 7 up from school everyday, and just love on them. My dd actually learned a lot of French from spending so much time with them. She did her work everyday in the car back and forth, but learned more 'life' lessons that I could ever have taught her just by being available and helping. ....and some folks think we are holding them back 'socially'...

That's so awesome! I agree with the whole social thing. My kids are ALWAYS with friends at church & on play dates. Now we will have EVEN MORE time for socializing. In fact, I may have to limit it some.

 

[Mouseketeer67]

I would also add to this line of thought that high school today is not at all like high school was when we were kids just like it was nothing like when our parents were kids. Add to that we've had some interim years to romanticize the experience (if it wasn't horrible) and ah, those were the days, weren't they? Or not. I taught high school 15 years ago. What I saw then was enough to convince me to homeschool my children. When High School Musical first came out, I saw the green gleam in my kids' eyes and I told them flat out, if that were REALLY what high school was like, I'd send 'em in a heartbeat, but it's not. It's about kids who push girls with broken arms into lockers just to be mean. It's about "holding it" because you know if you go to the restroom between 3rd & 4th that you are going to get beat up, offered drugs, or see kids doing things kids shouldn't be doing.

When I first announced I was homeschooling 15 years ago, back before it had gained momentum, people would say, "How are you ever going to prepare them for the 'real world'?" That remark always made me . I would say, "When you are at work, when was the last time someone stole your lunch money? When was the last time someone offered you meth in the washroom? When was the last time someone walked by your desk and shoved your files off onto the floor?" For many, THAT is their high school experience, not the posies and proms and homecoming rah-rah-rah that is so commonly touted as the necessary "rite of passage" which has absolutely NOT A THING to do with the "real world".

I totally agree with everthing you said!
I really find it hard to belive that I am nearing the end of my oldest son's homeschooling journey. He is graduating with honors in May!

 

[sl_underwood]

I would also add to this line of thought that high school today is not at all like high school was when we were kids just like it was nothing like when our parents were kids. Add to that we've had some interim years to romanticize the experience (if it wasn't horrible) and ah, those were the days, weren't they? Or not. I taught high school 15 years ago. What I saw then was enough to convince me to homeschool my children. When High School Musical first came out, I saw the green gleam in my kids' eyes and I told them flat out, if that were REALLY what high school was like, I'd send 'em in a heartbeat, but it's not. It's about kids who push girls with broken arms into lockers just to be mean. It's about "holding it" because you know if you go to the restroom between 3rd & 4th that you are going to get beat up, offered drugs, or see kids doing things kids shouldn't be doing.

When I first announced I was homeschooling 15 years ago, back before it had gained momentum, people would say, "How are you ever going to prepare them for the 'real world'?" That remark always made me . I would say, "When you are at work, when was the last time someone stole your lunch money? When was the last time someone offered you meth in the washroom? When was the last time someone walked by your desk and shoved your files off onto the floor?" For many, THAT is their high school experience, not the posies and proms and homecoming rah-rah-rah that is so commonly touted as the necessary "rite of passage" which has absolutely NOT A THING to do with the "real world".

 

[bumbershoot]

Ha! Never had anyone think that before. When I worked at Microsoft that was my username. My brain is too full to come up with cutsie names for everything. I stick to what I can remember.

Why do you think I used a big festival for my username? (when I worked at amazon my username was.... molly ...no one could believe it, since I wasn't the first Molly that worked there! I got nastygrams from the earlier hired Mollys for a couple weeks! lol)

I would also add to this line of thought that high school today is not at all like high school was when we were kids just like it was nothing like when our parents were kids.

Even HS when our parents were kids wasn't peaches and cream. My mom went to high school in Schenectady NY and Los Altos CA (and then back to Schenectady). She was an honors student in NY, loved it. Even though they had to wear skirts and blouses and stockings and heels and serious undergarments and all that. Even though her school looked like a jail from the outside. Then she moved to CA with her family, and that school REFUSED to believe she was in the courses or that NY's courses were on par with their courses, and put her in the non-college-bound coursework, meaning the bottom of everything. By the time she went back to NY, she felt as dumb as a rock. And when she went back (begged her parents to let her live with friends if she could just move back to NY) the NY school didn't take any of her credits and she was at the bottom there, too!

Her older sister went to university, it wasn't like that wasn't expected from her, but her last two years of HS were just so bad in so many ways...it's no wonder she accepted my dad's proposal and skipped out on walking through graduation to get married...


I'm so glad my mom never colored her past all rosily!


*********
Continuing to catch up with Oak Meadow curriculum! The longer we use it the more I like it.

 

[DisneyDoc5]

I just want to applaud all of you homeschooling parents!!! We have been blessed with a wonderful Christian school here in Holland MI, but I have always be intrigued with homeschooling and continue to consider it as a possiblity. We had a homeschooled babysitter for years and learned a lot from her. I just admire all of you! If our circumstances ever change and we couldn't afford our school, or had to move (or if one of our children needed the change for whatever reason), homeschooling would be our next step.

I'm sure this question has mutliple answers and has been asked a million times here so please forgive me, but here it is. Is there a website or resource you would recommend for general, non-teacher information about starting homeschooling? I read and hear all the different methods, companies, groups, tests, regulations for your state, college preperations, etc. and the thought of starting seems overwhelming, I wouldn't know where to start. I am a methodical, type a planner, so having a process laid out in front of me would be awesome. I liken it to the first time I planned a Disney trip and had to learn everything Disney I could get my hands on!

Thank you for anyone who has taken the time to read this. Again, cheers to all of you for your dedication to your children and their education - bravo!

 

[KibbyCat]

I just want to applaud all of you homeschooling parents!!! We have been blessed with a wonderful Christian school here in Holland MI, but I have always be intrigued with homeschooling and continue to consider it as a possiblity. We had a homeschooled babysitter for years and learned a lot from her. I just admire all of you! If our circumstances ever change and we couldn't afford our school, or had to move (or if one of our children needed the change for whatever reason), homeschooling would be our next step.

I'm sure this question has mutliple answers and has been asked a million times here so please forgive me, but here it is. Is there a website or resource you would recommend for general, non-teacher information about starting homeschooling? I read and hear all the different methods, companies, groups, tests, regulations for your state, college preperations, etc. and the thought of starting seems overwhelming, I wouldn't know where to start. I am a methodical, type a planner, so having a process laid out in front of me would be awesome. I liken it to the first time I planned a Disney trip and had to learn everything Disney I could get my hands on!

Thank you for anyone who has taken the time to read this. Again, cheers to all of you for your dedication to your children and their education - bravo!

So, You're Thinking About Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel is a great place to start.

 

[robinsegg]

Happy St. Pat's Day!

I have proclaimed today to be Pajama Day for me and my kids. We never have school on Wednesdays, because dh is home. We had minor errands to run yesterday, as well as ds's vision check at the local Children's hospital. Ds was *not* hungry at all yesterday, and could hardly keep his eyes open during his exam. I am feeling extremely tired today. So, I've made the executive decision that we are having pajama day until we're done with schoolwork ! That will help today feel more fun!

This is also my laundry day, so I'll have a bit of extra time to help the kids find cooler clothes (highs in the 70s today?)

Have a great day, ladies!

 

[robinsegg]

I'm sure this question has mutliple answers and has been asked a million times here so please forgive me, but here it is. Is there a website or resource you would recommend for general, non-teacher information about starting homeschooling? I read and hear all the different methods, companies, groups, tests, regulations for your state, college preperations, etc. and the thought of starting seems overwhelming, I wouldn't know where to start. I am a methodical, type a planner, so having a process laid out in front of me would be awesome. I liken it to the first time I planned a Disney trip and had to learn everything Disney I could get my hands on!

Hi! Thanks for the encouragement!

I'll second the book by Lisa Whelchel "So, You're Thinking About Homeschooling?" It's a great overview of styles and curricula, but without having too much jargon or assuming you have a wealth of previous information. It's conversational, taking you to 15 different families who each use a different curriculum and homeschooling style.

To understand the current laws/regulations in any given area, www.hslda.org is a great resource. It stands for Home School Legal Defense Association. Homeschoolers can join by paying a "retainer" for their legal services, but there is a wealth of information available for free, including the various legal conditions around the US.

Another great resource is to understand how your child learns. So there are books and websites you can access to figure out what learning style you and your children understand best.

If you have any other info you want, feel free to post here or PM me

 

[figment3258]

Well....we're OFFICIAL!!!!
I filled out the withdrawal paperwork today & we are officially homeschoolers!!!! DS7 is absolutely thrilled & DD10 is just "okay" with it right now.

We are basically going to unschool for the next two months. We will take 1-2 field trips a week (science museum, zoo, etc....) and we will have Bible study & literature everyday. Other than that, we're just gonna take it easy until I can decide exactly what to buy

I still think we'll do Charlotte Mason for literature, handwriting, Bible study, art, music, nature walks, etc... I'm looking at My Father's World for history; Apologia for science; TRYING to figure out math; Rosetta Stone for Spanish; Dave Ramsey for finances (taught by DH)

We will be a part of our local homeschool group & we'll take lots of field trips & trips focused on mission work. We know God has called us to homeschool, so we will try to glorify Him by helping others in need.

congrats!!!

We use alpha omega life pacs and switch on school house and we love those