*** Homeschool List ***

[earthfaries]

Not yet, but the last couple of years it has been the 3rd week of September. They have now added the 2nd week of January as well.

Dawn

They are Sept. 15th and 16th at Animal Kingdom and the prices will be the same!!!

I just called Disney Youth Services and found out the dates for this Sept. I had been calling for a month now, but just got the actual dates a few minutes ago! Yay




Now I just have to remember how long the tickets were good for this past Jan....we have a villa booked that we can't change for sept. 27th and we are arriving in Orlando on the 24th. It would be nice if I could make it work...

 

[mykidsintow]

Anyidea how far out they will set the Jan dates? I want to go in Jan, but I need enough notice to use my DVC points.

 

[earthfaries]

So, can anyone go with you guys? The webpage makes it sound as though you have to be a member of your HS organization to get these discounts. The Showbiz Magic sounds SO COOL!!! I think my DD10 (will be in 6th grade then, though) would LOVE it.

Unless they've changed it from last year, if you go with a group that doesn't go during the official Disney Homeschool Days, you can buy a ticket at the discount rate for adults too, just one adult per school age child though. So if you have a mom and dad and an older child and a child who is 3, you'd be able to get two tickets at the cheap price, and the other two regular.

If you go during Disney's homeschool days, you can buy as many tickets at the discount price as you want, for whoever you want. Grandparents, friends, etc.

It's a really great deal, and disney does it so individual homeschoolers can purchase the tickets instead of going with an organized homeschool group like the one mentioned originally.

 

[wvdislover]

Today was DD10's last day of PS. We start HS on Monday

 

[DawnM]

I seem to remember that it was the week before and the week after, so that would be Sept. 7-27 or so?????

Why can't you change the dates?

Dawn

They are Sept. 15th and 16th at Animal Kingdom and the prices will be the same!!!

I just called Disney Youth Services and found out the dates for this Sept. I had been calling for a month now, but just got the actual dates a few minutes ago! Yay




Now I just have to remember how long the tickets were good for this past Jan....we have a villa booked that we can't change for sept. 27th and we are arriving in Orlando on the 24th. It would be nice if I could make it work...

 

[earthfaries]

I seem to remember that it was the week before and the week after, so that would be Sept. 7-27 or so?????

Why can't you change the dates?

Dawn

That's what I thought it was. A week before and a week after. Unfortunately that wouldn't work, because the tickets would expire a couple of days after we get there.

I can't change the date because it was made with one of those vouchers I bought from skyauction last year. As far as I know, they are non refundable and you can't change the dates once you make the ressie.

It doesn't really matter though becuase we did non stop parks in Jan., and the reason we are going back in Sept. is to relax and enjoy Disney not to do all the parks.

We're going to 2 MNSSHP's , going on an airboat ride, going to BB and just eating at different fun places around Disney and enjoying our villa and the pools and hot tubs I just thought that if we could get the cheap tix we could add an Epcot day or two in...

 

[DawnM]

Ah, got it. Was this the place you really, really wanted to go to? Tell me the name again.

I am not positive we can go in Sept. I actually applied for a job! If I get this job at this K-12 school we will all go back to school next year.

I am not counting on it though and really think we will be homeschooling next year. In fact, I am kind of thinking about this again and thinking it was a bad time to send in my resume, but it is one of the only schools I would want my kids in and they would be at the same school K-12 with me, so I decided to give it a shot. I miss working a LOT!

This school DOES have a fall break the first week of October though! A huge plus to getting a good off-season Disney trip in every year!

Dawn

That's what I thought it was. A week before and a week after. Unfortunately that wouldn't work, because the tickets would expire a couple of days after we get there.

I can't change the date because it was made with one of those vouchers I bought from skyauction last year. As far as I know, they are non refundable and you can't change the dates once you make the ressie.

It doesn't really matter though becuase we did non stop parks in Jan., and the reason we are going back in Sept. is to relax and enjoy Disney not to do all the parks.

We're going to 2 MNSSHP's , going on an airboat ride, going to BB and just eating at different fun places around Disney and enjoying our villa and the pools and hot tubs I just thought that if we could get the cheap tix we could add an Epcot day or two in...

 

[earthfaries]

Ah, got it. Was this the place you really, really wanted to go to? Tell me the name again.

I am not positive we can go in Sept. I actually applied for a job! If I get this job at this K-12 school we will all go back to school next year.

I am not counting on it though and really think we will be homeschooling next year. In fact, I am kind of thinking about this again and thinking it was a bad time to send in my resume, but it is one of the only schools I would want my kids in and they would be at the same school K-12 with me, so I decided to give it a shot. I miss working a LOT!

This school DOES have a fall break the first week of October though! A huge plus to getting a good off-season Disney trip in every year!

Dawn

Silver Lake Resort.

That's great about the job, I hope you get it if it's what you want

It will be nice to have a break in Oct.!

 

[DawnM]

I am not fully convinced it is the best yet, but I am kind of just putting some feelers out there. I think that this would be second best only to homeschooling. It is a charter school and I like that the kids in the 5th grade class are the exact same kids in 6th-12th grades, no feeder schools, that sort of thing.

Dawn

Silver Lake Resort.

That's great about the job, I hope you get it if it's what you want

It will be nice to have a break in Oct.!

 

[disneymom3]

Today was DD10's last day of PS. We start HS on Monday

Ironically, today was DD 11's last day of homeschooling! We didn't do anything extravagant or really even recognize it and now I am regretting that. It's a big change after 6 years. I will be homeschooling still as I have two younger boys but it will be odd not to have DD here. I am confident in our choice though.

I hope this adventure goes well for you! You might want to keep in mind that your DD might need a little time to decompress depending on how traumatic the school experience has been for her.

 

[DawnM]

Did you get a 2 bedroom? I just went to Getawayweeks.com and I see that the homeschool week is available at Silverlakes in a 1 bedroom.

Dawn

Silver Lake Resort.

That's great about the job, I hope you get it if it's what you want

It will be nice to have a break in Oct.!

 

[earthfaries]

Did you get a 2 bedroom? I just went to Getawayweeks.com and I see that the homeschool week is available at Silverlakes in a 1 bedroom.

Dawn

Yes, we got a two bedroom. That's why I grabbed it in Jan. when I saw it one morning. I'd been checking for months and hadn't seen a two bedroom at Silver Lake.

Do they have any two bedrooms anywhere else available for the homeschool dates?

 

[DawnM]

Yes, a few. Orbit One (where we stayed before) is open. Westgate is open, but I hear that they will HOUND you your entire stay to buy into their properties and we have less than a zero desire to do that! I don't do well with pushy sales people. By their 3rd attempt I can pretty much lose it and that poor sales person had better BACK OFF!

Dawn

Yes, we got a two bedroom. That's why I grabbed it in Jan. when I saw it one morning. I'd been checking for months and hadn't seen a two bedroom at Silver Lake.

Do they have any two bedrooms anywhere else available for the homeschool dates?

 

[momof3girls6712]

I saw this thread today. I do not homeschool my own children. However, I work at a public library and meet with 2 homeschool groups twice a month. Any fun ideas I could do with them? Or helpful information I could pass along would be great.
Thanks

 

[wvdislover]

Ironically, today was DD 11's last day of homeschooling! We didn't do anything extravagant or really even recognize it and now I am regretting that. It's a big change after 6 years. I will be homeschooling still as I have two younger boys but it will be odd not to have DD here. I am confident in our choice though.

I hope this adventure goes well for you! You might want to keep in mind that your DD might need a little time to decompress depending on how traumatic the school experience has been for her.

Yes, I'm not planning on doing a whole lot with her this week, but I feel like I need to do some, since the next week is Spring Break, and her DSis will be home with her, so I don't expect to do any schooling that week either. I'm afraid if we don't do anything this week, it'll be really hard to start after Spring Break.

Why did you decide to stop HS your DD11? And in the middle of the school year? (If you don't mind my asking?)

 

[disneymom3]

I don't mind your asking at all. DD is one of those kids who is just scary smart. You know all those people on there on the DIS who think they have a gifted child? I don't intend to be condescending at all but most of them have no idea. It is really really hard to keep her challenged and over the last year I have just been feeling like I am not opening the doors she needs opened and honestly have no idea where to help her go next.

Well, I found this school that is about 20 miles from our house that offers an age integrated, project based learning program for highly gifted kids. She had to apply and yada yada. After her interview they asked her to join the program and to both of our surprise said she could start right away. We had thought she would have to wait until fall. So, after thought and prayer we decided to start now instead of waiting. My sister who is a principal really pushed this idea. Her thougths were that if we waited until fall, then everything is new for everyone and everyone is feeling that beginning of the year stress. Whereas if we were to start in midyear, the other kids would be interested in meeting the "new girl" and helping her figure out where things were, what she needed to do next etc. She said she had seen the kids who start midyear transition much easier than the new kids who start a school in the fall. This sister has been a HUGE support to me since the beginning of homeschooling and I really trust her opinion.

The two teachers (for25 kids) in this program are amazing. They see their role as mentors in helping kids figure out where to find the information they need and helping the students as facilitators. They then go about teasing out the parts of their work that meet state based standards so they fulfill graduation requirements. The one teacher basically told me it was very much like a big homeschool classroom where they kept the records instead of me. I like getting rid of that stress.

So, hopefully it will be as awesome as we expect! We are already adjusting to the challenges though--we had a family vacation planned and had to switch our departure date to the day after DD gets out of school. She IS missing class a few days in October to go to WDW though. That just has to be!

 

[sha_lyn]

disneymom3...Your DD sounds a lot like someone that was in our HS group many yrs ago. The mom pulled him out of 1st because they basically said they didn't have anything to offer him. By the end of "2nd grade" he was working on a 7th grade level. His parents were trying to get him into a program for the highly gifted, but they needed to have him tested with a special IQ test that cost 3K. Last I knew they ended up enrolling him in PS. I've lost touch with them, so I have no idea how it worked out.

She said she had seen the kids who start midyear transition much easier than the new kids who start a school in the fall.

...interesting. Every teach I spoke to when when were moving told me just the opposite. I was told that kids that move in mid yr are labeled "the new kid" forever.

 

[disneymom3]

disneymom3...Your DD sounds a lot like someone that was in our HS group many yrs ago. The mom pulled him out of 1st because they basically said they didn't have anything to offer him. By the end of "2nd grade" he was working on a 7th grade level. His parents were trying to get him into a program for the highly gifted, but they needed to have him tested with a special IQ test that cost 3K. Last I knew they ended up enrolling him in PS. I've lost touch with them, so I have no idea how it worked out.


...interesting. Every teach I spoke to when when were moving told me just the opposite. I was told that kids that move in mid yr are labeled "the new kid" forever.

We had been recommended two different people to do the testing. One cost $350 and accepted my insurance. The other one didn't accept insurance adn cost $3800. Guess which one we chose?

That new kid idea surprised me too when she first said that. The kids were all incredibly welcoming when she had her "trial" day so hopefully it will all work out.

 

[DawnM]

Sounds like a great school!

20 miles away? Wow, do you carpool or do you have to drive that back and forth twice a day?

Dawn

I don't mind your asking at all. DD is one of those kids who is just scary smart. You know all those people on there on the DIS who think they have a gifted child? I don't intend to be condescending at all but most of them have no idea. It is really really hard to keep her challenged and over the last year I have just been feeling like I am not opening the doors she needs opened and honestly have no idea where to help her go next.

Well, I found this school that is about 20 miles from our house that offers an age integrated, project based learning program for highly gifted kids. She had to apply and yada yada. After her interview they asked her to join the program and to both of our surprise said she could start right away. We had thought she would have to wait until fall. So, after thought and prayer we decided to start now instead of waiting. My sister who is a principal really pushed this idea. Her thougths were that if we waited until fall, then everything is new for everyone and everyone is feeling that beginning of the year stress. Whereas if we were to start in midyear, the other kids would be interested in meeting the "new girl" and helping her figure out where things were, what she needed to do next etc. She said she had seen the kids who start midyear transition much easier than the new kids who start a school in the fall. This sister has been a HUGE support to me since the beginning of homeschooling and I really trust her opinion.

The two teachers (for25 kids) in this program are amazing. They see their role as mentors in helping kids figure out where to find the information they need and helping the students as facilitators. They then go about teasing out the parts of their work that meet state based standards so they fulfill graduation requirements. The one teacher basically told me it was very much like a big homeschool classroom where they kept the records instead of me. I like getting rid of that stress.

So, hopefully it will be as awesome as we expect! We are already adjusting to the challenges though--we had a family vacation planned and had to switch our departure date to the day after DD gets out of school. She IS missing class a few days in October to go to WDW though. That just has to be!

 

[JennyMominRI]

Hi everyone.. I am about to pull 12 you ds out of the 7th grade and homeschool him...
I'm not new to this..I homeschooled my kids for years but they all went back to school 3 years ago..1 in a high honors students..2 are so-so students and DS 12 is passing but not doing well..He is severa ADHD and it's just not working for him..The school has tried, but it's just not working.. He is struggling an the reality is they just can't focus on him like he needs..Nor should they really as they have tons of other children to deal with.
I have found an accredited homeschooling program called worldwide IDEA. It is associated with the Military and is used by a lot of military members in remote areas..I have leeway with regards to curriculum ,but they will monitor and test him and we will have teachers involved with us full time.
The only thing I'm even remotely settled on is getting him a first year German program , either with Power Glide or Rosetta Stone..
DO any other homeschool parents with middle schoolers have curriculum advice? He is a very bright kid but has serious attention issues. I am Jewish and as such am not interrested in religious curriculums.. I'm also looking for a math progam that is pretty involved as I am not comfortable teaching math ..I'm probably looking at getting him a math tutor