*** Homeschool List ***

[lexeka]

I have a question. Does anyone have opinions of Bob Jones vs. Calvert vs. Sonlight. We are doing Sonlight core 3 this year, but I've been looking at the other two and was just curious to hear if anyone has experience with any of these 3. This is our first year homeschooling my 5th grade son. He is on the autism spectrum, has speech apraxia and handwritting issues. We will be doing most of our learning orally. We tried SOS last year and it was a complete failure, so that is one curric. down the drain. He loves computer for playing, but definately not for doing school. I see it getting expensive finding the right fit for him. Thanks!

I used Sonlight and hated it. But some really love it. I think so much has to do with your child's learning style as well as your teaching style. It didn't mesh for us. We are using Bob Jones this year and it looks great. I have friends in MD who swear by it and have used it with their children. I've never used Calvert and haven't really heard anything about it.

Good Luck!

 

[sha_lyn]

If I was going to used a boxed curriculum (and probably will eventually again) I would go back to Calvert. If did feel it was too worksheet heavy for K, but I really didn't think of just scaling back on the worksheets. Math was the worst as for worksheets. Had the same problem using Saxon Math too.
Everyone I know who has used Calvert loves it. One friend who now unschools even still praises it.

 

[lori1043]

Our daughter has had elevated white cell counts for most her life. They discovered it when she was close to six months of age and we've had to go to cancer specialists and the like ever since. She will be four in Oct. and they've never been able to figure it out. We worry about bone marrow damage, though.
Her cells have been as high as either 38 or 48 thousand and she generally runs in the 22-25 thousands. So you can see why they were worried about leukemia.

I am so happy for you; cancer in any form is a horrible and tragic disease but especially with little ones. God Bless you and your family.

Ashton's labs were not that high even at diagnosis(dx). Maybe a couple times with fever, but at dx, her WBC was about 10,000. Is there a name for it?? l
Is there a reason to worry about her having leukemia other than her high white count? Obviously, if she has had this for 4 years, it's just some benign thing that she has. Do they check her regularly b/c of this?
Ashton's ANC was low, her RBC, hemoglobin and platelets were low. She has had 7 transfusions over the course a couple months when she first started chemo. This is on the low end considering all the chemo kids we knew. Some had them daily.
Has she been a well child? Meaning, since they are high, does she fight off illnesses easier? That COULD be a perk as long as nothing is wrong with her otherwise.
Thank you for the well wishes and YES God has blessed us and thank you for the future blessing!
I will keep yours in my prayers.

Lori

 

[dreamn_Disney]

Help! My dd (16) informed me she wants to be home schooled. We have toyed with the idea when she was young but not since high school. I am not sure what to do here. There are so many things to take into consideration. It is a few weeks from the start of school and this has just thrown me for a loop.

 

[sha_lyn]

dreamn.... could you give us some details as to why she's asking and why you've thought about it in the past. What would your budget be?
Would she mostly need to be self directed? What are her plans for after highschool? What does she enjoy doing?

I see you are in Michigan. Which reminds me of what DH's family says about homeschooling. Aparently there are no homeschoolers in Michigan. It's just a "southern thing"

 

[gaylem]

Hi all. I'm new to the board and thrilled to find it! I have 3 children ages 5, 4, and 9 months and have really toyed with the notion of homeschooling all of them full-time. My five-year-old was successfully homeschooled the year before she entered K and 1/2 days during the year she was in K (went to the public school for the AM and then homeschooled PM). She was the youngest in her class and ahead of all of them academically. In fact, I think she was pretty bored during the AM at public school. Our current family situation doesn't allow me to homeschool her full-time this year, so she will be attending public school (full days) for first grade. Once things settled down a bit for our family, I will probably go back to homeschooling her and her 2 brothers full time.

I'm so glad to find this board for help/resources! Homeschooling is very big in my area (central Illinois), so I wouldn't say it's just a 'southern' thing!

Looking forward to reading more of your posts!

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Another Homeschooler here. We just started this past week. I have two girls, ages 12 and almost 4. We are in Kindergarten/1st and my older one is 7/8. I find it hard to give them a grade level because they are on different levels in different subjects. My almost 4 yo started reading a few weeks back and can read some 1st grade books. My 12 yo is doing 8th grade math and her reading is at least 11th grade level. So, homeschooling is the perfect fit for us.

Glad I found this post!

Nicole

 

[lori1043]

I know what you mean about the grade thing-technically, DD9 is 4th grade and in math, she is, but in LA she is way ahead. I have her a year ahead curriculum wise, but her comprehension is higher level-so she reads a lot on her own!

Lori

 

[pixiepower1971]

I was wondering how many of us have kids that post on the DIS? Are your kids in love with Disney as much as you are? I know my DDs would love to be able to "talk " to other homeschooling, Disney loving kids. DD11 has been allowed to post on the VMK boards for awhile now with no problems. Any ideas on how to connect them? Would any of them be interested?

 

[disneydreamin-gang]

I was wondering how many of us have kids that post on the DIS? Are your kids in love with Disney as much as you are? I know my DDs would love to be able to "talk " to other homeschooling, Disney loving kids. DD11 has been allowed to post on the VMK boards for awhile now with no problems. Any ideas on how to connect them? Would any of them be interested?

I suppose if they had an account of their own and started a homeschool kids thread much like this one it would work. I'm sure the mods could tell us if its possible. My DD11 would love that.

 

[mousehouselover]

I know what you mean about the grade thing-technically, DD9 is 4th grade and in math, she is, but in LA she is way ahead. I have her a year ahead curriculum wise, but her comprehension is higher level-so she reads a lot on her own!

Lori

I was that way with literature when I was in school. I always scored several grade levels ahead of my actual assigned grade. I don't think the grade level system is an accurate way of determining proficiency since you have childrent who are advanced, average and deficient. Some kids are all three at once depending on their learning style or ability to understand some subject matter. In addition, not all education is equal. Some people are more in depth than others so two kids in the same state but in different school districts can cet vastly different educations. I found this as an 8th grader when we moved mid-year. I was so much farther along in several areas and had to catch up in others.

I was wondering how many of us have kids that post on the DIS? Are your kids in love with Disney as much as you are? I know my DDs would love to be able to "talk " to other homeschooling, Disney loving kids. DD11 has been allowed to post on the VMK boards for awhile now with no problems. Any ideas on how to connect them? Would any of them be interested?

I know my kids enjoy corresponding with other homeschoolers and would love to be on DIS. My biggest concern is this is an open forum with out the dictionary filters that VMK has. Letting them have their own thread would be fine but we'd have to monitor it closely to make sure our kids aren't revealing too much personal info or that there aren't posts from people who have no business posting with the kids. I would prefer a yahoo or MSN group personally since those can be set to totally private and you need an invite to find it, let alone read and post in it. That's just my $0.02. I would be happy to set one up if there is enough interest.

 

[pixiepower1971]

I know my kids enjoy corresponding with other homeschoolers and would love to be on DIS. My biggest concern is this is an open forum with out the dictionary filters that VMK has. Letting them have their own thread would be fine but we'd have to monitor it closely to make sure our kids aren't revealing too much personal info or that there aren't posts from people who have no business posting with the kids. I would prefer a yahoo or MSN group personally since those can be set to totally private and you need an invite to find it, let alone read and post in it. That's just my $0.02. I would be happy to set one up if there is enough interest.

I think a yahoo group would be great! I know both of my DDs would really enjoy that. Having a closed forum for them with an adult monitor or two would be ideal! I have never set up a yahoo group. I only post on them!I would definately allow my girls to join one that I knew was a good fit for them.

 

[disneymom3]

Help! My dd (16) informed me she wants to be home schooled. We have toyed with the idea when she was young but not since high school. I am not sure what to do here. There are so many things to take into consideration. It is a few weeks from the start of school and this has just thrown me for a loop.

Well, with this short of notice I would seriously consider doing an online virtual school. I know there are some who don't consider this "real homeschooling" but I look at it as simply another choice. You are overseen by a teacher and have the lessons very clearly laid out for your DD. All materials are provided as far as books etc. That may give you time to figure out what you would want to do in the future. Of course, I don't know the laws for Michigan but you may not have to start exactly when the public schools do. In MN we can start our school year whenever it works for us. For instance, a friend of mine does her new school year starting in Jan and goes through August.

As for those of you in the last couple of pages who homeschool highschool, I would also love to hear more about that. DD has tentatively decided she would like to go to Juliard for college. I say tentatively because she is only in 6th grade. They do accept homeschooled students but of course you have to have grades and course outlines etc. Have your kids gone to college or are they on a college track? What types of records do you keep? How do you determine grades? Do you have any website or book recommendations for figuring this out? Thanks!!

And gaylen--welcome to the DIS!

 

[disneymom3]

I know my kids enjoy corresponding with other homeschoolers and would love to be on DIS. My biggest concern is this is an open forum with out the dictionary filters that VMK has. Letting them have their own thread would be fine but we'd have to monitor it closely to make sure our kids aren't revealing too much personal info or that there aren't posts from people who have no business posting with the kids. I would prefer a yahoo or MSN group personally since those can be set to totally private and you need an invite to find it, let alone read and post in it. That's just my $0.02. I would be happy to set one up if there is enough interest.

Heck, I would love a yahoo group for US!! My oldest would probably be able to do that. She has only done American Girl club as far as an online community. I would like it better if in order to sign up they had to give their mom's DIS name and then have it verified by the mom and also verify that the mom's username is really listed on this thread. Then we know for sure where they came from and it adds a little more security.

 

[mousehouselover]

Heck, I would love a yahoo group for US!! My oldest would probably be able to do that. She has only done American Girl club as far as an online community. I would like it better if in order to sign up they had to give their mom's DIS name and then have it verified by the mom and also verify that the mom's username is really listed on this thread. Then we know for sure where they came from and it adds a little more security.

That sounds like a plan! I'm off to set up a group!

 

[mousehouselover]

The group is set up! Please PM me with your email addy as this is by invite only. My yahoo ID is baby_dreaming73 but I will start a thread so we can keep track of who's who if their DIS name is different.

 

[pixiepower1971]

The group is set up! Please PM me with your email addy as this is by invite only. My yahoo ID is baby_dreaming73 but I will start a thread so we can keep track of who's who if their DIS name is different.

Is this for us or kids?!

 

[lori1043]

Heck, I would love a yahoo group for US!! My oldest would probably be able to do that. She has only done American Girl club as far as an online community. I would like it better if in order to sign up they had to give their mom's DIS name and then have it verified by the mom and also verify that the mom's username is really listed on this thread. Then we know for sure where they came from and it adds a little more security.

Don't you MISS AG club?? I loved that site. I am sad it is over. DD9 was a memeber only for about 6 months when they shut down. I loved giving her "stars" for good grades and smart choices. She really benefitted from it too- has AG club outfit that matches her doll AG club outfit, charms, etc... I loved how everything came through my email before she saw it and everything she emailed out did the same before sending it on. It was a very PC safety savvy site. Sad, it's gone.

Lori

 

[Cinderella_17]

Hi,
I am 17 years old and my sister(15) and I are Homeschooled! We have been Homeschooled for 8 years! I just found this Homeschooling thread and I just wanted to say that I would LOVE to chat with other Homeschoolers who love Disney as much as I do! I am really interested in the Yahoo group I think it would be great!! I have a question do you know if there would be any Teenagers our age on the yahoo group? Thanks in advance for your help=)

 

[Brier Rose]

As for those of you in the last couple of pages who homeschool highschool, I would also love to hear more about that. DD has tentatively decided she would like to go to Juliard for college. I say tentatively because she is only in 6th grade. They do accept homeschooled students but of course you have to have grades and course outlines etc. Have your kids gone to college or are they on a college track? What types of records do you keep? How do you determine grades? Do you have any website or book recommendations for figuring this out? Thanks!!

Julie -

This is our first year of homeschooling highschool, so I don't know if I'll be much help to you, but I'll tell you what we're doing.

First of all I researched all of the colleges that DD was interested in to find out what they required.

We then decided to enroll her in Keystone National High School http://www.keystonehighschool.com. I was impressed with all they had to offer as far as college prep classes go..both Honors and AP classes. They also have things like a school newsletter, and clubs that the students get to sign up for.

They keep all of the records, and issue formal transcripts. They even have an Honors Society, and counselors to help with college applications, letters of recommendation from Keystone teachers and administrative staff,etc..

And you don't have to take EVERY class through them. As long as you can validate the work, they will issue you credit for it. I think they require 21 credits, with only 5 being through them to meet Graduation requirements, and be issued a diploma.


I'm still doing a lot of research into what classes she needs to take, but so far her course plan looks like this...

9th grade -

Algebra 1 (which we are doing through Teaching Textbooks, but receiving credit for it through Keystone)
Physical Science
English 1
Civics
French 1 (She will be taking French through them, and while she does have access to their French teacher, we felt like she needed some "in person" help to make sure she was pronouncing the words correctly so she will be meeting with a French tutor once a week)

Health and Fitness

10th grade -

Consumer Math
Algebra 2 (TT)
Biology/Biology Lab
World History
English 2 (Honors)
French 2
Art and Music

11th grade-

Geometry (TT)
Chemistry/Chemisty Lab
Creative Writing
American History
English 3 (Honors)
French 3
elective
elective

12th grade-

Trigonometry
Physics
AP English Lit
1/2 American Gov
1/2 Economics
AP French
elective

It was recommended to us to have her take the SAT every year through highschool, but I don't know if we'll do it this year or not.

She may also be able to take some classes her Jr and Sr year at the college here, which would probably alter her course schedule a bit.