Homeschool Chat Part III

[wasnotafan]

So I'm trying to decide between private online school or myself teaching him? He's in 8th grade. I'm so worried. The online school looks like him teaching himself, so I'm wondering should I do it myself. Need a lot of info. Where do you buy the books( with answer key). And what books do you recommend? TIA

There are a lot of different sources out there for books and curricula. We finally found Saxon Math and the kids really like it and it works well for them. We do a variety of sources. This website helped us out http://www.hslda.org/highschool/curriculum.asp

 

[kohlby]

So I'm trying to decide between private online school or myself teaching him? He's in 8th grade. I'm so worried. The online school looks like him teaching himself, so I'm wondering should I do it myself. Need a lot of info. Where do you buy the books( with answer key). And what books do you recommend? TIA

There are so many different resources out there that it's hard to recommend anything without knowing what you're looking for. Some people don't use any formal curriculums. We do a mix. My 7th grader read Lies My Teacher Told Me for his social studies. Then he moved on to watching Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Life is Beautiful and discussing them - so interest based tailored to him. It's a curriculum in a way, but not a formal one. But his math is a formal curriculum, but one he picked, Art of Problem Solving. I don't want to go on and on about what we use though since I don't have enough info to make good suggestions.

If you're new to homeschooling, I'd suggest deschooling first. Let your child learn to love learning again. Let him take the lead completely. Chances are, you BOTH need to learn that you don't need to do things the way the public school system does. That means that I wouldn't rush out to get formal curriculums quite yet.

For curriculums, the website homeschool reviews is a good starting point - but they don't have some of my favorites on there. Before I gave any suggestions, I'd need to know if you want secular or religious. What specific subjects you're interested in finding formal curriculums for. What is your child's learning style? Is your child struggling, average, advanced? And what are your child's interests? The best curriculum for one family can be a terrible fit for another. Also, don't forget to get your child's input. At 8th grade, it's time for him to start realizing that he has a great deal of control over his learning. That doesn't mean you need to fully unschool if you're not interested in that, but that his input should matter.

 

[beffiegirl]

kohlby: Well my problem is that I don't understand homeschool in a whole. I don't understand that I can homeschool my kid up to graduation and he'll get into a ivy league school for example. Don't good universities want to see certain work, grades and test. My DS is pretty smart when he applies himself. Advance in math, great in history but needs a little help in writing. My other problem is what if he wants to go back to school in 9th grade. Which I would love! I have to talk to the High school and see what is needed for him to enter 9th grade. He wants to do an online school but I can't find a good one. They all have bad reviews and they cost$$. The only reason he wants to stay home is because he has been picked on for a couple of years. We moved last year because he hated his school.(bad ratings) So we moved to a good school with excellent reviews and he liked it at first but he can't make friends and their kind of mean. I don't think he give it a chance because he was jaded from the last school with being picked on. He's scared.

 

[cruisecrasher]

Yes, you'd need your homeschool child to get a good education to get into college.
Good SATs or good ACTs, a thorough transcript and good strong essays. Volunteer work and hobbies help.

Just the same as if they went to public school.

If you're concerned specifically about high school and all that I was reading a pretty in depth site the other day, but my preferred way of getting information would be checking with my local homeschool association. They will know what works best within your state's regulations.

 

[cruisecrasher]

Here are some of the sites I started with:
http://www.hslda.org/highschool/
http://www.thehomescholar.com

 

[sarahtar]

If there are specific colleges you're looking at for your son, such as if you really meant that you want him to go to an ivy league college, contact those specific colleges to find out what they require from homeschooled students. (http://www.princeton.edu/admission/applyingforadmission/tips_for_home_schooled/ is Princeton's page for HS kids, for example, but actually talking to someone at the school is probably better.)

 

[poohguys]

Well we survived our 1st year of homeschooling Still a little nervous about the upcoming year. I am looking for recommendations for 8th grade World Geography. Also anyone have a good idea of how to get a kid who hates to write up to speed?

Thanks!

 

[dreamweaver84]

Hi, all! I've been a loooooong time lurker on the Dis, but when I saw a homeschool thread, I decided it was my cue to finally jump in!

DH and I live near Memphis (but in Arkansas) and have two boys, ages 8 and 6. We are entering our fourth year of homeschooling, but we are very laid back and pretty eclectic in our educational philosophy. We have a WDW trip scheduled for November (our first!) and absolutely cannot wait!

 

[cruisecrasher]

Hi, all! I've been a loooooong time lurker on the Dis, but when I saw a homeschool thread, I decided it was my cue to finally jump in! DH and I live near Memphis (but in Arkansas) and have two boys, ages 8 and 6. We are entering our fourth year of homeschooling, but we are very laid back and pretty eclectic in our educational philosophy. We have a WDW trip scheduled for November (our first!) and absolutely cannot wait!

Welcome to the boards!

 

[antree]

My son will be starting 7th grade work. At the last minute I decided against going back to K12.
So I am trying to come up with other options quickly.

Anyone use A Beka? I am reading different reviews on it.
How about using it for, Hiastory? Math? Spelling/Vocabulary?

do you recommend something else for me to look it to.

THank You

I know I am 7 yrs too late in asking, but what recordes do you keep? I have used Horizon and K12 only in the past. I kept the workbooks that were done. The testing books or pages that came with it. I never did report cards. Did I make a mistake and not keep the right type of records?

 

[ssommerville]

I started reading this thread a few days ago and I'm so glad I found it. I'm only about halfway through it, but I've already gotten so many great ideas from all of you. I am a homeschooling single mom of 4 pretty great kids. I have DD14, DD13, DS12, and DS2. Public school was torture for me and I always planned to homeschool my own kids, but being a single parent with a full time job it took a long time for me to finally build up the courage to jump into it. I pulled the three oldest out of public school a year and a half ago and I will never send them back. Right now my youngest is in a developmental daycare but will age out of that at 3 and I don't intend to ever put him into the public school system. We started time4learning right after I took the kids out of school and we liked it, but I would like to see it be more in depth with some of the lessons. Last year, we pretty much unschooled all year. The kids followed their own interests and we had some light curriculum and it was good. We all learned quite a bit and had a lot of fun with it but they want more structure this year. I've got a hodgepodge of books and I'm considering doing time4learning again and supplementing with some of the things I already have, but I'm not sure. I have an entire curriculum in books, so I may end up just using books this year and reevaluate next year. We leave for Disney in 11 days and we're not starting school until we get back, so I've still got a little time to figure it out. Any advice would be awesome!

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

Ahh! How exciting a homeschool thread!

 

[PrinceOfPeace]

I have 2yr old in Tot School, a 4yr old in K4, and a 6yr old in 2nd grade. I do Abeka and classical teaching....but really am eclectic. Lol. Would really enjoy being a source of encouragement to those with younger kids.

 

[wasnotafan]

My son will be starting 7th grade work. At the last minute I decided against going back to K12.
So I am trying to come up with other options quickly.

Anyone use A Beka? I am reading different reviews on it.
How about using it for, Hiastory? Math? Spelling/Vocabulary?

do you recommend something else for me to look it to.

THank You

I know I am 7 yrs too late in asking, but what recordes do you keep? I have used Horizon and K12 only in the past. I kept the workbooks that were done. The testing books or pages that came with it. I never did report cards. Did I make a mistake and not keep the right type of records?

We have used Abeka for spelling/vocabulary. It was OK. We struggled with math but finally found Saxon math and the kids and teacher/mom love it!

Records depend on your state, but our local district contacted us last spring and needed copies of our attendance records. We also do a report card quarterly.

 

[antree]

Anyone here from NJ? Wondering what you do for homeschool and if you report to anyone?

TIA

 

[poohguys]

Anyone here from NJ? Wondering what you do for homeschool and if you report to anyone?

TIA

I am in NJ. We pulled DS out of school last year in November. We were able to get all of the workbooks he was using. We ended up buying the Saxon Math. We will be using the Saxon math again this year. Just putting together everything else ourselves. If you are not already enrolled in school you do not have to do anything. if you are in school you need to notify them that you will be homeschooling your child.

 

[antree]

We were nevered enrolled in school. I went to enroll him when he started Kindergarten but for reason we never went through with it. I did try calling the Board of Education 3 times between K and 1st grade, they were never able to give me answer if I had to do anything, they never knew if I had to talk to sonmeone. Finally after my last call they said I didn't have to do anything, so I didn't.
I tried calling the school to see if there were books they can help me with, their response was "we don't have to help you at all". All that did was remind me I was doing the right thing and homeschooling him.
now we are coming uo to 7 grade, I would like him to get his 8th grade diploma, I know the school he would be in right now had homeschoolers 8 yrs ago when my DD was there.
He doesn't want to go to school, he wants to continue homeschooling.
I don't want to rock the boat and contact the school since we never did anything about him being home schooled. I guess I just want to make sure he is where he should be and that everything is OK.

 

[beffiegirl]

I live in NJ, and my DS13 is going in to 8th. He is enrolled but wants to be homeschooled. I was told to unregister him, thats it. I did call High School and asked about if I home schooled him this year and wants to go to high school next year, what I needed to do. They said they can't refuse him, but if I kept records I would be fine. And to make sure he does Algebra 1. Pretty easy so looks like I'm a homeschooling mom. Though I'm worried about next year for 9th. It looks complicated to get him ready for college. Which they had more choices for accredited online private schools, that don't want a lot of money.
But most of the people in the NJ schools systems don't know to much. I had to ask around too. Shocked that up tight NJ has no rules.

 

[antree]

I found the info.

 

[vleeth]

I found the info.

There is a test online (free) that you print out and the results tell you what book you need.

Basically 7/6 is the average 7th grade and advanced 6th grade.