homeschool ? Please help.

[castleview]

I wonder what everyone's thoughts are on schools of choice?

We have them here in our county...some are performance/visual arts, some are math/science, and there are a few others that I can't think of right now. But clearly from school to school within the same county, their approach to education for these schools of choice are going to be completely different.





:

We have a ton of them in the cities. They were meant to satisfy quotas or something. Admission was based on a lottery rather than one's interest or talent for the school's specific emphasis. The problem they found (at least in New Haven) is that parents didn't care what the school's specialty was, they just wanted their kids in a brand new building.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Sounds like a close connection between home and school - that's great. How do they determine academic eligibility though?

Forgive me, but I am a bit fuzzy in trying to interpret what you mean.

So let me answer this way and see if it answers your question:

SHORT answer: They are eligible based on their current level as if they were in public school as determined by age. For simple academics, if they do not have the knowledge, it would be obvious I am sure. A student who is not academically qualified will not do well in the course work and possibly would flunk as would happen in the real world.

LONG answer:

Children in Florida, can be no YOUNGER than the compulsory age for a given grade.

Compulsory attendance begins at age 6 and the child can start (if they are academically eligible) first grade. Often though, it is difficult to prove they are ready for first grade. So it is advised that parents choose to homeschool (or not ) Kindergarten, then they should also homeschool first grade as well. B/c after that first year of compulsory education, then they will just place you in the proper academic year to your age.

So age 7 prior to 9/1 is 2nd grade, age 8 is 3rd grade, age 9 is 4th grade, et cetera...

I am fuzzy on the states rights regarding this, but essentially if your child is not performing on grade level (in regards to "standard" basics such as reading, writing, and math) there can be some wiggle room on this. So in that case if a parent is planning on later to send their child to public school, it is in their better interest to "keep" their child at least on grade level. But I haven't heard of anyone having too much difficulty placing their child in the classroom when they feel the time is right or necessary to do so (I have known several who have done this), so I think barring your child having developmental issues academically, physically, or psychologically, they just mainstream in. If they are dumb as a rock academically when there is no reason for their academics to have suffered (due to disability or any ongoing external factors)--it will be caught and the state can knock them down a level if necessary.

The same would hold true for any course work taken al a carte.

For any services, they would consult with the county to determine eligibility. Once eligible, then the student can take advantage of those services.

For activities, auditions or tryouts would be necessary.


If that didn't answer your question, I can try again.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

IMO it is very shallow not to consider allowing homeschool children to participate in public school activities. Not only do the hs children pay the price, but so do the children in their neighborhood, town, community by being denied a safe opportunity to interact.

At the very least, public schools should be required to make their curriculum resources available to families wishing to homeschool.

I don't know about your state, but in Florida, schools are only funded based on attendance. A homeschool student is NOT in attendance.

So while it would be nice to have free access to curriculum, the school doesn't have money to spare for a student for whom they do not receive funding.


Just like a childless couple who pays school taxes. They can't get a free textbook either.


BUT--our county (not sure of others in the state) does have a depository where they will give out old textbooks for free. But that is after they have finished being used by the schools and they have nothing else they can do with them.

School activities I place in a different category than curriculum though.

 

[disneymom3]

No, I don't want a specific answer. I'm sorry if I came off that way. I disagree with the info. I don't want you or anyone else to give me the answer I want to hear.

What I want, after 4 days of further investigation, is for this country to require an education for all students, not just attendance. I want all of them to be tested, public school, private school and home school. I don't want to see any child not given a fair shake in this life.

Does it happen? Of course. It happens in all 3 places I mention. I have never disagreed that public school students are doing poorly - very poorly and that your children are probably doing better than most. That is what seems to be lost. Perhaps the solution is a national test. Get the states out of it so we're comparing apples to apples.

Just because someone disagrees with what is going on at this very moment does not mean there is another agenda or someone is trying to start trouble. Your way is not the right way - neither is mine - who knows? We could all be wrong .

Gotcha. Thank your for taking the time to explain to me what it boiled down to. I had been missing that. Some of this really comes down to state's rights I am thinking and whether one wants government to be bigger or smaller. I am one who wants it smaller as I think they already have too much say in our lives, but there are plenty out there who I am sure would agree with your stance.

Have a good one!

 

[Mary2e]

Thank you Julie. I appreciate your post.

 

[JennyMominRI]

and yet I normally fall on the *socialist* end of the spectrum, but not on this...Maybe that's hypocritical

 

[Mary2e]

No, it's not hypocritical. No one is ever absolutely anything, socialist included

There's good and bad in all philosophies. Too bad we can't just take the best of each

 

[SamRoc]

My 13 yr old son (who will be in 9th grade) and I are battling about school. He wants public school and I want him to homeschool. Last year we did Alpha Omega Lifepacs and he didn't really like them. I'm not sure what to do for high school. Any suggestions would be great.

My next question is-has anyone used James Madison High School or Keystone National High School as a correspondence course for a high school diploma? Any input good or bad would be appreciated. Thanks.

My friends that homeschool love the laurel springs program.
www.laurelsprings.com