Homeschool Chat

[Belle & Ariel]

Sha lyn,
I wasn't talking about the education parents needed but the red tape to get scholarship money, college admissions, and driving privileges.
We came from a state that did not have any registration requirements and had to basically research histories of immunizations, report cards, attendance (we counted hours, not days), tests, etc. My recordkeeping more than met the requirements where we lived, but was not what was important here.
Mommyintn,
I would not say any umbrella school is bad, some just take forever to get back to you. We had a really hard time getting approval for dual enrollment because they said the parents should do all the teaching--no co-ops, de, etc.
Another one was ridiculous about immunization records--would not accept my little green book from the hospital but wanted bills from each shot--now my kids were 16, 14, and 10 and there are alot of records to collect.
We are with Homelife now and very pleased.
We went through Knoxville a couple weekends ago for a youth retreat in Sevierville.

 

[mommyintn]

Mommyintn,
I would not say any umbrella school is bad, some just take forever to get back to you. We had a really hard time getting approval for dual enrollment because they said the parents should do all the teaching--no co-ops, de, etc.
Another one was ridiculous about immunization records--would not accept my little green book from the hospital but wanted bills from each shot--now my kids were 16, 14, and 10 and there are alot of records to collect.
We are with Homelife now and very pleased.
We went through Knoxville a couple weekends ago for a youth retreat in Sevierville.

We were with homelife last year and had no problems. I went through a local umbrella this year (Berean). That's strange about the shot records, wow I'm sorry about that and no co-ops? We'll be down your way for a wedding this weekend so we'll wave as we go through!

 

[Ellester]

That is one option, but it is not the only option.
The other option for highschool is that one of the parents have a BA in any field and you must include a list of courses with the letter of intent.
You can also file for an exemption to the teacher requirements (BA for 9-12, Highschool diploma or GED for K-8) but I don't know what is the
likely hood of one being granted .

I think it depends on your state. In Alabama, I'm pretty sure you HAVE to be enrolled in an umbrella school to legally homeschool. Then you can enroll in an "accredited" program or do your own curriculum. I'm hoping the GA laws will change before we get to high school. Right now, one of the local colleges will not dual-enroll homeschoolers but do dual-enroll private and public high schoolers. Several families have gone round and round with them, it's really aggravating. One of my friends just recently gave up and had her DS take the GED (another exercise in ridiculous bureaucracy) at 16 so he could take college classes. And I'm sure you know about the whole HOPE scholarship discrimination. So frustrating sometimes....

 

[sha_lyn]

I think it depends on your state. In Alabama, I'm pretty sure you HAVE to be enrolled in an umbrella school to legally homeschool. Then you can enroll in an "accredited" program or do your own curriculum. I'm hoping the GA laws will change before we get to high school. Right now, one of the local colleges will not dual-enroll homeschoolers but do dual-enroll private and public high schoolers. Several families have gone round and round with them, it's really aggravating. One of my friends just recently gave up and had her DS take the GED (another exercise in ridiculous bureaucracy) at 16 so he could take college classes. And I'm sure you know about the whole HOPE scholarship discrimination. So frustrating sometimes....

I was speaking specifically about TN

 

[Ellester]

I was speaking specifically about TN

Ah, my bad then.

I'm off to drink that yummy sugar water for my 28 week glucose test.

 

[TNKBELL]

Ah, my bad then.

I'm off to drink that yummy sugar water for my 28 week glucose test.

My doctor never had me take the glucose test this time. He didn't with my last 2 either, but my previous doctors tested me. I always hated those tests, and mine were timed and I couldn't finish the sludge in time and the nurses would always get a little tiffed at me.

Good luck with your test, hopefully they have improved the flavor!!

 

[sha_lyn]

oh the wonderful glucose test. I had gestational diabetes with DS so I had to do the test just about every time I went to the Dr


What about the GA HS laws would you like to see changed?
Personally I want the laws left alone.

 

[Ellester]

What about the GA HS laws would you like to see changed?
Personally I want the laws left alone.

Well, the big thing would be to have the HOPE scholarship available to incoming college freshmen. Now they can qualify their sophomore year and supposedly get reimbursement for the freshman year. But I know several families that have had trouble getting their reimbursement. Personally, I'd like the attendance to be like it was in NC. I had to keep track, but didn't have to submit it each month. And it would be nice if all public colleges were required to dual-enroll HS'ers if they allow public and private High Schoolers to dual-enroll. Also, there is some difficulty with drivers licenses. The same friend whose son recently took the GED had to jump through all these hoops to keep his license since to take the GED he had to certify that he "dropped out" of school and if you are a "drop out" you have to give up your license. And to qualify for the GED, he had to have 12 hours of "seat time" in a GED prep class even though his SAT's are off the charts. It was really ridiculous the hoops they had to jump through.

I agree that the laws are not too bad here, much less restrictive than many other states.

 

[Ellester]

oh the wonderful glucose test. I had gestational diabetes with DS so I had to do the test just about every time I went to the Dr

My doctor never had me take the glucose test this time. He didn't with my last 2 either, but my previous doctors tested me. I always hated those tests, and mine were timed and I couldn't finish the sludge in time and the nurses would always get a little tiffed at me.

Good luck with your test, hopefully they have improved the flavor!!

I've had to do it each time (this is #4), in three different states. Just lucky I guess. I've passed each of the previous times, so I'm hoping for good numbers today. Now I have to drop off my three at a friend's and head to the lab.

 

[sha_lyn]

What worries me about changing HOPE, requiring dual enrollment etc is that I am afraid that it would lead to more regulation/oversight of curriculum etc.

As for drivers license, all we had to do with DS is have someone in the Dept of Ed office sign the paper. All he did was check to see if we had filed a declaration of intent and attendance reports.
I see how the GED situation would make it sticky and I'm certain that some counties aren't as easy to deal with as ours. So I would agree that it probably does need to be addressed.



On another note:
I was researching last night (night before?) homeschooling laws in Kansas to answer a question on Yahoo Answers.
I ran across some info on HSLDA that really bugged me.
It said that enrollment in any secular program was enrollment in public school and therefore disqualified one from joining.
Also I received the email about Starbucks and it it HSLDA takes credit for "forcing" Starbucks into extending their teacher appreciation day to home schoolers and goes on to say that an ID card from them is official proof that someone home schools.

I completely get that they provide a service that many want, but as I have said before, I do not like their tactics at all.

 

[lori1043]

On another note:
I was researching last night (night before?) homeschooling laws in Kansas to answer a question on Yahoo Answers.
I ran across some info on HSLDA that really bugged me.
It said that enrollment in any secular program was enrollment in public school and therefore disqualified one from joining.
Also I received the email about Starbucks and it it HSLDA takes credit for "forcing" Starbucks into extending their teacher appreciation day to home schoolers and goes on to say that an ID card from them is official proof that someone home schools.

I completely get that they provide a service that many want, but as I have said before, I do not like their tactics at all.

Forgive my ignorance of all that is HSLDA(really) but don't they say they are a Christian organization up front? I think many Christian homeschoolers could use a public school curr. on top of any extra 'class' on thier particular beliefs easily, so that staement DOES baffle me too. As far as Starbucks, I don't see the reason for HSLDA fighting for coffee rights??!!! THAT baffles me too! If they are goig to protect homeschooling, in general, I do not think coffee is a big issue. Bookstore, sure, but coffee???

Now, I am a member of HSLDA, but only for the protective rights they can offer me. I am Christian also and use Christian curriculum, but use some secular curr. too. They do not ask you for the curr. choices you use when you fill out an application, so how do they know?

Anyway, NEWS to me!!

Glucose tolerance-took it for #1, not for #2!

Lori

 

[sha_lyn]

Actually no they don't say uo front (on their website) that they are a Christian organization

IE their mission statement is

The Foundation’s mission is to provide assistance to homeschooling families in need, preserve parental freedoms, promote homeschooling, and support like-minded organizations.

You have to look pretty deep to find the info that they are a Christian group


Also secular does not equal public school.
K12, Calvert, Timeforlearning etc are are secular programs. However they are not "public school" yet HSLDA wording on the one doc I found makes it sound like they would refuse membership of anyone who uses those programs. The more likely situation is that they would accept membership payment but refuse to represent when needed ,as they have a history of doing if the "homeschool" doesn't live up to their idea of homeschooling.

I actually started to fill out an application yrs ago(I would guess 6 yrs) and was infact thrown off because they did ask about curriculum. At that point I hadn't hit any info on their website (or elsewhere) about their religious stance. It was their detailed questions on curriculum and hrs spent on homeschooling that turned me off.

 

[sha_lyn]

I alos noticed they have changed their name to
The Homeschool Foundation. There was speculation a while back that they were gong to get in trouble for inplying that they can provide legal services to those who do not live in TX. First and foremost they are a lobbist group.
A lobbiest group that IMHO pushes for laws that make it harder for non-Christians to homeschool.

 

[Ellester]

I am not a huge fan of HSLDA's tactics either, I am not a member. I do find their links useful from time to time though.

As far as GA changing their laws, I agree that it is a slippery slope. I would consider my thoughts more of a wish list. I certainly don't think we need more oversight, less would be better in my opinion!

Well, I failed my glucose test by 8 points (needed to be under 140, mine was 148). So now I have to go back Monday for the three hour test. Sigh..... And I'm slightly anemic, so I have to go fill a scrip for iron pills. Same as last PG, so I wasn't too surprised.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hey girls!! Haven't posted in a while. Just wanted to pop in and say HI!! It's 3 months til Christmas today!!!! Get that shopping done!!

For all 3 of my kids I had to do the Glucose test-it was always that Orange Crush taste --always made me queasy!!!

Well, hope that ya'lls school year is going smoothly. We had quite a bit to catch up on this week thanks to Ike. We only suffered Power out's here. But, we were gone for a week-so that's double duty for school days. We will be all caught up tomorrow

Talk to you soon!!

 

[sha_lyn]

Ellester...I hope you "pass" the 3hr test. The one after that is really crazy if they still do it the same way as they did 19yrs ago. Don't remember what all was involved but I do remember it was crazy

 

[LittleBlue22]

When you figure it out, let me know! LOL!

My oldest is somewhere on that spectrum.

For him, very clear expectations, charts, lists of things to do, etc....have worked the best, but I can't always pull it together for him. Sometimes I feel like he would be better off in a school that could offer better help.

I have reread your post. My son is a bit different than you are describing. He has been preliminarily diagnosed as ADHD but it manifests differently.

Dawn

I have to catch up, but wanted to respond to this first. I have my son in OT and many would have thought this kid was ADHD before we started. I thought it myself some days. Long story, he is not. But the OT has given me some awesome tips on feeding a "sensory" diet. So, DS does some funky things to keep him focus. MAN would these NOT work in a tradtional classroom. First off, he doesn't like the feel of paper soooo...did you know that dry erase markers work on sliding glass doors? He does his math on there. He also spells his words aloud to me while jumping on a mini trampoline--one letter for each bounce. When he has to sit and listen to me read he holds some kind of squishy ball in his hands. Anything from a Koosh to a stress ball type thing. What happens is that by providing these other stimulations, his body gets the sensory input it is craving and his mind is able to focus on what he needs to for a much longer period of time.

I suggest you try it.

This sounds a lot like us. First of all, remember that boys are boys - cliche though that sounds. They are made to move and be busy! That said, my DS11 also functions much like that. It's getting a little better as he gets older, but has not gone away. We have not had him tested for ADD but I have my suspicions. Anyway he does much better with school work if his hands are busy. If I'm reading something to him, he will take in what's being said much better if he's fidgeting with a Lego or a squishy ball or SOME thing. If I "make" him sit still (like a classroom would!!) then most of it goes right past him and he gets very distracted.

Don't give up!! Everyone struggles at the start of home schooling to find their place. You will find yours!

.

Thanks for your replies, its just so frustrating. Its going to be a long year or ds will be in 2nd grade for a loooong time. I've been waking up with the thought, maybe today will be better. Today's tactic was to time him on his lessons and give him a penny for each completed lesson under the time limit. The combined coins will equal some thing - I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm leaning toward Pokemon cards (breaking the card set up for each coin or some combo there of). Thank you for the encouragement.

On another note:

Ellester, I hope you'll pass the next glucose test w/o problems. Could you request a redo of test #2?

 

[lori1043]

I am not a huge fan of HSLDA's tactics either, I am not a member. I do find their links useful from time to time though.

As far as GA changing their laws, I agree that it is a slippery slope. I would consider my thoughts more of a wish list. I certainly don't think we need more oversight, less would be better in my opinion!

Well, I failed my glucose test by 8 points (needed to be under 140, mine was 148). So now I have to go back Monday for the three hour test. Sigh..... And I'm slightly anemic, so I have to go fill a scrip for iron pills. Same as last PG, so I wasn't too surprised.

Sha_lyn and Ellester, thank you for the info. I am sorry, I knew that secular curr. doesn't = public. Thanks for clarifying. I do not remember filling out curr. info on my app. From thier monthly newsletters, I was under the impression the Homeschool Foundation was something they started/support to help homeschool families obtain much needed curr, for whatever reason(hurricane, death of spouse, hardship). I will look more into it the next time it is time to enroll. I have done the 2 year plan 2x so far. Thanks for the info.

Lori

 

[TLHB70]

I just wanted to post that I am not a member of HSLDA. I received the Starbucks news from a friend.

I hope I didn't offend anyone. I don't drink coffee so I will not be getting a cup on Monday. I just thought I would share the news in case anyone is near a Starbucks on Monday and would like to get a free cup.

 

[sha_lyn]

I just wanted to post that I am not a member of HSLDA. I received the Starbucks news from a friend.

I hope I didn't offend anyone. I don't drink coffee so I will not be getting a cup on Monday. I just thought I would share the news in case anyone is near a Starbucks on Monday and would like to get a free cup.

Oh no, no offense at all. I just found it funny that they fought(or claimed to have fought) for the right to a free cup of coffee LOL