*** Homeschool List ***

[disneygal33]

I agree with Ellester. The biggest con is there is very little "me" time. I also agree that the lack of "me" time is a small price to pay and the benefits outweigh the negatives 100/1. I wouldn't send my kids back into public school for anything.

 

[sahwifeandmommy]

Pros-Where to start My kids love to be together (that can also be a con) and generally play well together. They are in different classes for Sunday School, AWANA and homeschool classes which is good for them. We don't have to write a letter like the one posted to get permission to take our kids on vacation,more family time, more time with daddy, don't have to work around the school's schedule. The time when that was most important to me was when my grandparents were here visiting and my oldest son got to spend that time with them in the morning and I was almost in tears when I realized that if we were in a traditional school he would have missed out on that time with them. I could go on and on. The hardest thing for me is getting to be by myself (my dh is wonderful about this and sometimes realizes that I need a time out before I do). Also in an effort to save money I try to get most of my work off of the internet which can be time consuming. Any sites you use would be greatly appreciated. Of course another downside is that I don't have an unlimited homeschool budget and I can find some really neat things that I would love to have.

 

[Ellester]

I recently discovered www.enchantedlearning.com. There is a bunch of stuff for free, but I ponied up the $20 for a year's subscription to get more content and better printable pages. In fact, I am heading there now to print out a few Thanksgiving things for dd8 to work on this morning. We're having a light 2 days of school before we head to my mom's on Wednesday.

 

[Poohbear77]

My house is always a mess, a byproduct of being home so much. If my two oldest were in public school for 7 hours a day and my littlest in preschool 8-10 hours a week, I know I could bang out some housework. But, I'll take wading through the toys/books/laundry any day over not seeing my girls for 35+ hours a week.

Hi Ellester

I just loved this!! You know most people think our homes should be super clean do to the fact that we ARE home all day. If that isn't furthur from the truth

 

[meandtheguys2]

A bump to this great thread.

We are still homeschooling, and usually still liking it. But too many of our friends are bailing. I hate that! We have a decent private school nearby and we lose a couple of kids from our group each year.

 

[sully7]

I'm thinking about homeschooling my ds9. He has some 'issues' that a few of his teachers cannot handle. (He has Tourette's Syndrome and his current tic is throat clearing and it can be very annoying.) I can kind of appreciate their giving him a wider berth than most kids but it still ticks me off, too. So I think I am going to HS. He is excited about it! My other two (DD6 and DS8) want to stay in regular school. I might just leave them there and hs their brother! I am so torn!!

A plus is that we can go to WDW in less crowded times if I hs all of them!

 

[dairyou]

Well everyone...I don't post much but read all your messages.

After 5 years of homeschooling my kids want to go back to school. We have struggled for the past 2 years debating and we finally made a decision. Tough as it was in the beginning I am getting used to it now.

DS's are in 9th and 7th grade. We said we would never send our kids to Junior High and here we are doing it. I'm exciting for them to go to football and basketball games and join the school band. There are so many things we can offer at home but there are things they just can't get either.

So wish us luck. They start on the 22nd of this month. We'll reevaulate once the school year is over if any of us want to return home.

Deb

 

[momto2girls]

A bump to this great thread.

We are still homeschooling, and usually still liking it. But too many of our friends are bailing. I hate that! We have a decent private school nearby and we lose a couple of kids from our group each year.

I know how you feel. That is really disappointing.

 

[sha_lyn]

For us it wasn't people bailing on HS'ing, but them moving away. DD had 3 friends in our HS group move away in about 6 months time.

 

[meandtheguys2]

For us it wasn't people bailing on HS'ing, but them moving away. DD had 3 friends in our HS group move away in about 6 months time.

Poor kid!

 

[hsmamato2]

I haven't really posted here at all...but.... just wanted to say hi- and I feel for you- with other kids in the group moving away,but if they choose to go to school,and your kids really like them, just make sure you set up planned playdates for them frequently- a couple of my kids best buds went to school this year,so he's seeing less of them, but that also means less arguing! (absence made his heart grow fonder) So we do alternate playdates,and he's learned to have fun with some other local kids-
We have always homeschooled, for us,it's not so much just an education choice,it's a lifestyle that we wouldn't willingly give up for anything! I've been asked,what *if* that pricey private school in town was free,would I send the kids then? The answer is always NO! For our family, the whole school experience is not one we want for the kids,or for ourselves anymore -

 

[Ellester]

Well everyone...I don't post much but read all your messages.

After 5 years of homeschooling my kids want to go back to school. We have struggled for the past 2 years debating and we finally made a decision. Tough as it was in the beginning I am getting used to it now.

DS's are in 9th and 7th grade. We said we would never send our kids to Junior High and here we are doing it. I'm exciting for them to go to football and basketball games and join the school band. There are so many things we can offer at home but there are things they just can't get either.

So wish us luck. They start on the 22nd of this month. We'll reevaulate once the school year is over if any of us want to return home.

Deb

I'm sure this was a very tough decision, but I wish you and your boys the best. It will be interesting to see what they think of school now that they've been homeschooled. I'd love to hear how it goes for them.

 

[Ellester]

I'm thinking about homeschooling my ds9. He has some 'issues' that a few of his teachers cannot handle. (He has Tourette's Syndrome and his current tic is throat clearing and it can be very annoying.) I can kind of appreciate their giving him a wider berth than most kids but it still ticks me off, too. So I think I am going to HS. He is excited about it! My other two (DD6 and DS8) want to stay in regular school. I might just leave them there and hs their brother! I am so torn!!

A plus is that we can go to WDW in less crowded times if I hs all of them!

Personally, I think special needs kids are the perfect homeschool candidates. He will avoid the unfortunate ridicule that goes with being "different". That he is excited is great! I would bet that if you start homeschooling the oldest, the younger two will quickly want to see what all the fun is about. You can always bring them home later, if that's what seems best. Three at once could be a bit overwhelming, but yours are so close in age that many subjects could be together.

On the subject of Tourette's, one of the news anchors where we used to live (Charlotte, NC) has Tourette's and did a series on it a few years ago. It was really interesting to see how she deals with it on a daily basis. The public had now idea until the story, and she is on live TV twice daily!

 

[BeckityBobbidyBoo!]

This year I'm homeschooling (with the online school provided through the school district) my 9 year old son. He is dx'd with autism and adhd. His school years were mostly terrible and some might say abusive. We are struggling with the appointed curriculum, it is beyond him even though it is a grade lower technically. Next year I might be winging it, as it doesn't make much sense to follow a curriculum that is not benefitting him. I've read portions of The Well-Trained Mind and like the idea, but having a hard time compiling resources that follow it, taking into account my ds's special needs. Does anyone know of a list or group that incorporates the Well-Trained Mind principals for special needs kids?

 

[dairyou]

I'm sure this was a very tough decision, but I wish you and your boys the best. It will be interesting to see what they think of school now that they've been homeschooled. I'd love to hear how it goes for them.

Thanks for your kind words. I think someone else stated how hard it is as your kids homeschooled friends go back to public school. We had a tight group 4 years ago and little by little they are all in school. It's hard to hear them talk about the fun they have meeting new friends. As they meet new friends my kids are dwindling in their friendships. I wish my 9th grader would have held out one more year. Then he would go to the local community college and he could be "normal" as he would say. For the longest time I thought that was socialization. He finally defined it as when someone asked what school you attend, you can say "I go to _______ high school". He wants to relate to other kids and the teachers they don't like. Or, the hot chicks they are talking about...lol I guess the hot chicks at church just wasn't enough

I'll let you know how it goes. We're bracing for the things they'll be exposed to at school...ugh!

Deb

 

[disneymom3]

Hi everybody! We are plugging along here. Have decided to rejoin our co-op that we dropped out of last summer. Getting all of our history done in one day is pretty appealing!

As for the Well Trained Mind, have you seen the Story of the World with the Activity Guide that goes with it? I personally really like the first two, am not totally enamored of the third and have not seen the fourth yet. There are a lot of choices in the AG for things to do to really bring the lesson home as well as suggestions for reading books and picture books. Even some videos. I honestly think it is very easy to create your own total curriculum and yes, then it can be geared specifically to your child. Heck, my kids use different math curriculums because what works for one does not work for another.

To start off with, I would recommend you look at just some basic workbooks from a bookstore by McGraw Hill or Scholastic etc. Singapore Math is also an easy place to start and not too expensive either. Spelling Power is an awesome spelling curriculum. It is pricey to start off with but it is the only thing you will need in terms of spelling curriculum until they are done with high school. For science, I went online my first year and just checked out sites I found links to by doing a Google search of kids science experiments.

Good luck to those of you just starting! At this point I cannot see us ever doing anything else. It becomes addicting!!

 

[disneymom3]

Well everyone...I don't post much but read all your messages.

After 5 years of homeschooling my kids want to go back to school. We have struggled for the past 2 years debating and we finally made a decision. Tough as it was in the beginning I am getting used to it now.

DS's are in 9th and 7th grade. We said we would never send our kids to Junior High and here we are doing it. I'm exciting for them to go to football and basketball games and join the school band. There are so many things we can offer at home but there are things they just can't get either.

So wish us luck. They start on the 22nd of this month. We'll reevaulate once the school year is over if any of us want to return home.

Deb

Oh, that is hard. I think you are very wise giving it a try though. Otherwise I think it becomes like the forbidden fruit and may even look better to them because of it. Do let us know how it goes. DD went back to school for a short time last year and I am pretty sure got that out of her system. Like you say though, sometimes you find yourself doing things that you wouldn't expect.

 

[sha_lyn]

I just started purchasing all of DD's 4th grade material
For some things we are sticking with what we've been using...
Once we finsh up SOTW 1 we will be moving into Vol 2. I also use the activity Guides. I like to incoporate a Book of The centuries (a charlotte Mason concept, basicallly it is a timeline notebook)

Math..... This will be our 3rd yr using Singapore Math . I love this program. The only downside I've ever heard if is they don't cover multiplying and dividing decimals. For that reason I'm going back to using the homeshool guide for singapore that sonlight came out with. I found it wasn't worth it for 2nd grade, so I didn't buy it for 3rd. However I think for 4 onward it is a good idea.

Language Arts..... This is the subject I have the biggest problem with. We've used the workbooks from Singapore math most recently. The offered a couple of them in Us editions, but the rest use British spellings and terms. It was just too much of difference to work around long term.
I want a complete program, but everything on the market is Xtian based.
I've been struggling with what to use. Luckily I found out that a large online homeschool store http://www.learningthings.com/ Is 25 miles from here andthey have a retail store. DD and I went and looked for hours through their language arts materials. I decided to go with Spectrum wqorkbooks. We will be using their Language Arts, Phonics, Reading, Spelling and Vocabulary workbooks.


Geography... Maps Graphs and Charts is what we have been using. I like them, but then I found http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Maps-Geography/dp/1561895032


Science.... We are still sticking with http://msnucleus.org/curriculum/curriculum.html
for hands on we use Real Science Made Easy http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-4403854-5965650?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=real+science+made+easy+rob+king (it's the first 3 kits on that page).

Music Art etc.... We've never really done anything formal for these. We do incorporate art history with our history. However this yr she will be taking classes through an after school enrichment program that is open ot all kids (it isn't through the PS). the offer Choir, Art and several musical instruments.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Maps-Geography/dp/1561895032

 

[dis4harley]

Where did everyone go??

I had lost this thread for a while, but now I am working on trying to prepare to start HSing next year(if at all possible). I have so many more questions I don't even know where to begin. I am overwhelemed by figuring out a ciriculum. But right now, my biggest ? is, how do you figure out which cover(umbrella?) to join under?? There are so many in my area, and we are very rural. I was amazed at how many there were.

Also, tis may seem an odd question, but what are the main differences in christian and non-christion groups. I think I get the main difference, but what is taught differently other than bible study??

I am sure I will have more questions later. Thanks for any replies.

Alisha

 

[Ellester]

Welcome Alisha! Where are you in Alabama? We have lots of Alabama homeschoolers in our group from Phenix City up to almost Auburn. I don't know that much about Alabama law, since we're in Georgia so I don't really have any suggestions about the umbrella thing (we don't have to do that in Georgia). My best suggestion is to find a local HS group and see if you can meet with some of the parents and just fire away with your questions. It is overwhelming at first (and sometimes later) but there are lots of HS'ers out there willing to share what they know.