*** Homeschool List ***

[Beca]

Hi,

I just saw this thread, and wanted to add my name to the list! We just started homeschooling my dd in Jan.

I think the Epcot homeschool thing could be really great! It seems to me that it is for "groups", and not individuals to do. I also think there is probably an age requirement. I have taken musical performance groups to WDW in the past, and they are pretty strict that parents not go with the kids. I don't know if this would be the same type of thing. We will be at WDW on the 12th. If anyone requesting information would interesting in forming a group, I would love to have dd participate if she wants to.

Lostmom....I have heard great things about k12 virtual academy. I know if your child is 8-18, the cost of the school and curricula is completely free (under a charter school agreement). In addition, you are assigned a counselor, can attend scheduled field trips, and still have the freedom to pick and choose the grade level of each subject (as well as what ones to omit). My dd is not old enough to attend, but I will be looking more closely at this option. Hoagiesgifted.org also has k12 listed as one of the curricula they highly recommend.

 

[crl]

I just wanted to mention that the homeschool days is for individuals. Though you could certainly go as a group. They are actually running the program right now. I think it was yesterday and today in Epcot. I know a few from this list are there. I'm hoping to do this next Jan if they offer it.

 

[sha_lyn]

Lostmom....I have heard great things about k12 virtual academy. I know if your child is 8-18, the cost of the school and curricula is completely free (under a charter school agreement). In addition, you are assigned a counselor, can attend scheduled field trips, and still have the freedom to pick and choose the grade level of each subject (as well as what ones to omit). My

That completely depends on the state you live in. Not all states offer it as an option, and what is offered and required varies depending on the state.
In GA you can not omit anything, and the charter school actually rquires a couple of additional subjects.

 

[disneymom3]

I just wanted to mention that the homeschool days is for individuals. Though you could certainly go as a group. They are actually running the program right now. I think it was yesterday and today in Epcot. I know a few from this list are there. I'm hoping to do this next Jan if they offer it.

I am curious how you know the ones in Feb are going to be like this. I know the ones right now are, but this was the first time they had offerred it to families individually. You always had to have at least 10 school age kids in your group before. I would love it if it were true but since they didn't seem to know anything about it when I called them yesterday I am wondering where you found this out. Thanks!

Lostmom....I have heard great things about k12 virtual academy. I know if your child is 8-18, the cost of the school and curricula is completely free (under a charter school agreement). In addition, you are assigned a counselor, can attend scheduled field trips, and still have the freedom to pick and choose the grade level of each subject (as well as what ones to omit). My dd is not old enough to attend, but I will be looking more closely at this option. Hoagiesgifted.org also has k12 listed as one of the curricula they highly recommend.

Also keep in mind that if you feel strongly about NOT participating in the public school system the charter school agreements ARE public schools you just do the work at home. Each family needs to make their own choice about that, but make no mistake--you are subject to their rules and their expectations. In the last few pages there have been several people who use K12 on their own and the feedback for that approach seems universally positive.

 

[Beca]

I am curious how you know the ones in Feb are going to be like this. I know the ones right now are, but this was the first time they had offerred it to families individually. You always had to have at least 10 school age kids in your group before. I would love it if it were true but since they didn't seem to know anything about it when I called them yesterday I am wondering where you found this out. Thanks!


Also keep in mind that if you feel strongly about NOT participating in the public school system the charter school agreements ARE public schools you just do the work at home. Each family needs to make their own choice about that, but make no mistake--you are subject to their rules and their expectations. In the last few pages there have been several people who use K12 on their own and the feedback for that approach seems universally positive.

Thanks for the info!! On the homeschool days, if you do actually hear back from anyone on how to do this, please let me know....I would love for dd to do this.

Also, thanks for the K12 info. It's funny, I did speak to a K12 rep, and she did not mention ANY of the charter requirements you mentioned....she made it sound like I was in as much control if my dd attended the "school" as if we did it on our own (paying for the curriculum). I wonder if that is also a "state by state" thing? Maybe the requirements change depending upon your state? We are in Texas, and the homeschool requirements are pretty relaxed here. I will definitely check into that before I ever officially enroll her.

 

[ConnieB]

We just got back from Homeschool Days in Epcot. We signed up as individuals, not a group. We just got lucky that our already-planned vacation fell exactly right to include today's program.


The lady in charge (I think her name was Tish or Trish) didn't say anything about February, but she did say that the next Homeschool Days is in September and will be at Animal Kingdom. She didn't have exact dates yet, and said that the program was still being developed so she couldn't give us specifics yet.....but January and September were the only Days that she mentioned.

The way it was explained to me was that there normally is a minimum number required, EXCEPT for homeschool days. They consider HS Days to be the creation of a group. In other words, on any other day of the year, a homeschooler would have to have the minimum...except during Homeschool Days. It was also explained to me that's because they don't have these YES programs every day....only when someone books one. So imagine a homeschool family of 2 adults and 2 kids wanting all that cast member attention for just 4 people. But by WDW scheduling Homeschool Days they are essentially creating a "group" that will have enough people to book a tour. We had 45 kids/adults in today's program...they split us up into two groups, and each group had 2 cast members. I believe that Tish floated between the two groups as we only saw her occasionally.


The lecture/discussion part this morning was not very interesting....those two young men who came to speak to us were quite pleasant, but it was very obvious that they hadn't been prepared at all...and frankly seemed to not understand the questions asked of them because their answers often were far off base of what was being asked....including my own daughters' question (for any of you there, she asked whether the World Showcase countries were an accurate representation of their homeland).

The YES program that we did, Ocean Discovery was quite interesting for the kids, but I have to say that I felt it was geared for a much younger crowd. There wasn't much new information for my family, but that didn't negate the excitement of getting to go "backstage" and see things that most people don't....like the top of the dolphin tank. (though I have to also say that I was a bit shocked to see how dirty and unkempt the "backstage" areas were. I didn't expect them to have the same theming as onstage, but the plants/trees were distressed and brown, the grass area was either brown or mostly dirt (think dead grass). ) We weren't allowed to take photos backstage because they didn't want photos getting out and spoiling the magic for others, and I totally understand why

At the end the entire group was led behind the building of Soarin' and through a backdoor right into the loading area! We had a wait of maybe 5 minutes, and then got front row seats. The regular standby wait was 50 minutes, and the fastpass was to come back an hour later.

They also gave us exclusive trading pins that had the YES logo on it. Very cool, as the only way to get them is to go through the program. They also gave us a rather thick workbook type booklet that gave you things to look for, or learn about, and answer questions for each Country. We haven't done that yet as there just wasn't time after the program and before our Dinner ADR's, but we'll probably do it another day. I have to say that lugging three of those workbooks around all day was a pain in my back, . Next time I wish they'd save them to give us with our pins!

 

[lori1043]

Okay, about homeschool days, I have read the sight about the group things and the homeschool days. I took it as they are 2 seperate things...


1. homeschool days happen twice a year-Jan and Sept. You get great rates and a "curriculum" of sorts and a guide and you do this on your own.

2. group programs-sounds to me like field trips that happen b/f park opening that you set up like a field trip. There was a form on there to fill out that you could pick the sessions you wanted so long as you had a group of 10(??) and it only allowed 2 adults per session(I know this part is correct). These are lectured and possibly some hands on 3 hour sessions. It seems like if you have an interested group going you can set this up and schedule it anytime, not just in Jan and Sept.

If you all knew this already than I am BEHIND!!!

Lori

 

[TNKBELL]

Wow, I haven't checked in for a few days and this thread has just exploded!!


I just wanted to chime in and talk about Seton and Mother of Divine Grace.
Before I started HS, I received info from Seton and all thier requirements, which I felt would be too oppresive for my dks. I have used Mother of Divine Grace off and on throughout the 6 years we have been hsing. I basically, now use Mother of Divine Grace as a guideline, but pretty much we do our own thing. I think Mother of Divine Grace provides a very well rounded classical education.

I second the travelling experience!! I always notice that when we come home from a trip, the dks seem to just blossom!! And we too, always drive, that helps create bonds and also gives them lots of time to read, play games and if they ask how much further, we toss them the map and let them figure it out! We are planning 3 trips this year, Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri in March, Napa, California(db is getting married) with a detour to Redwood National Park, also we will be traveling through Colorado and Salt Lake City as well, in August. And of course we are planning to go to Florida in October or as the dks refer..our vacation home!

In reference to highschool, most of the hs teenagers we know, take college courses at the local universities, this is much more affordable for highschoolers and then of course, they count toward thier college credits. This is definately the route we will take.

 

[lori1043]

Can anyone comment on the Flashmaster or on "Story of the World" series by Susan Bauer????

Like it, don't like it, worth the money??? Stuff like that.

Thanks ahead of time!!

Lori

 

[crl]

I am curious how you know the ones in Feb are going to be like this. I know the ones right now are, but this was the first time they had offerred it to families individually. You always had to have at least 10 school age kids in your group before. I would love it if it were true but since they didn't seem to know anything about it when I called them yesterday I am wondering where you found this out. Thanks![Quote/]

Sorry, I miss read and thought you were asking about the homeschool days in general. I don't know about the ones in February. Sorry I misread that first post.

 

[TNKBELL]

Can anyone comment on the Flashmaster or on "Story of the World" series by Susan Bauer????

Like it, don't like it, worth the money??? Stuff like that.

Thanks ahead of time!!

Lori

Our family LOVES the Story of the World series of books!! My DH and I have learned so much, and the way it's presented is so interesting. I would definately recommend it!

I have never heard of Flashmaster. What is it?

 

[lori1043]

Flashmaster is a electronic flash card "game" system. It is $50 and one friend of mine loves it-but I need more than that for spending $50 on a math game. It is basically flash cards on a hand held computer.

Here is the link...

https://www.flashmaster.com/multiplication_table.htm


Thank you for the good feedback about Story of the World.

Lori

 

[sha_lyn]

Love Story or the World.
I've been waiting for the release of the updated activity guide for Vol II.
You post just reminded me to go check and see if it is available

 

[dizcrazee]

We have a flashmaster, and we love it. It has really helped my daughter to learn the multiplication tables.

 

[dvcbnd]

I love this thread and all the great tips that I'm receiving regarding hs'ing. I want to say thank you to all of you who have shared info on Seton, Mother of Divine Grace and hs'ing during the highschool yrs. I am finding it very helpful and reassuring. Thanks!

 

[Praise2Him]

In reference to highschool, most of the hs teenagers we know, take college courses at the local universities, this is much more affordable for highschoolers and then of course, they count toward thier college credits. This is definately the route we will take.

We had planned on DD doing this starting this past fall (she's in 11th grade and we live in a college town). The problem is that we had 2 Disney trips planned, and you can't really miss that many classes in college, so we put it off until spring semester. Well, now we have another trip planned (we have AP's) so we didn't do it this semester either. I think it's a great idea and maybe we'll do it next year, but it definitely interferes with travel plans!

 

[NHWX]

Can anyone recommend pre-calculus resources? So far I've heard good and bad about JHU and EPGY. I've also looked at Chalkdust (ds deemed it too simple) and something else - Dr. Callahan? - who ds said had uninoformative videos. (Since he's going to be largely teaching himself with the aid of the book/video, his analysis holds pretty high value.)

DS likes Thinkwell (JHU without the $1000 pricetag) and I'm wanting to find out more information about a state virtual charter school. Anyone use Mathtype or An Internet Approach which are the two items in the materials list?

Does anyone have any great resources that they'd like to share?

Thanks!

NHWX

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Hi all!

I guess I spend way too much time on the Disney Cruise board, I never knew this thread exsisted.

This is my first year of homeshcooling my DD12. DH and I also have a DS15 who is a freshman at the public high school and a DS1.

I'm so glad to find other homeshoolers who like Disney. The first time my DD and I went to "activity day" with our local co-op and I started talking about Disney and won't make that mistake again. Glad to see that they can mix.

Anyway, we're doing SOTW this year and we love the books. I'm waiting for the new activity guide to come out too, we start Vol II next week.

 

[sha_lyn]

This is my first year of homeshcooling my DD12. DH and I also have a DS15 who is a freshman at the public high school and a DS1.

I'm so glad to find other homeshoolers who like Disney. The first time my DD and I went to "activity day" with our local co-op and I started talking about Disney and won't make that mistake again. Glad to see that they can mix.

Anyway, we're doing SOTW this year and we love the books. I'm waiting for the new activity guide to come out too, we start Vol II next week.

For an older child like your DD you might want to look at history oddysey's level II curriculum. We'll be moving on to that next yr when we hit early modern history.
http://www.pandiapress.com/history_odyssey.htm

 

[TNKBELL]

Hi all!

I guess I spend way too much time on the Disney Cruise board, I never knew this thread exsisted.

This is my first year of homeshcooling my DD12. DH and I also have a DS15 who is a freshman at the public high school and a DS1.

I'm so glad to find other homeshoolers who like Disney. The first time my DD and I went to "activity day" with our local co-op and I started talking about Disney and won't make that mistake again. Glad to see that they can mix.

Anyway, we're doing SOTW this year and we love the books. I'm waiting for the new activity guide to come out too, we start Vol II next week.

I know the feeling! I just can't help it...I love Walt!! I have to be careful when going to birthday parties or buying new baby gifts that they don't have any "Disney" theming! When it comes down to it, almost every company/product does something that my values conflict with, but unfortunately, I have not learned to be self-sufficient enough to live without toilet paper, food, and soap.(to name a few!) As hs parents we have an opportunity to make a difference by instilling values in our dks and hopefully the world will be a better place!! That's the hope!!