Homeschoolers-tell me if I'm insane

[siouxi31]

Some of you may have read another post I started about my 9th grade son failing miserably. I'm still in the process of deciding the best route for him, but today I've been thinking an aweful lot about homeschooling. I'm not even sure if he will go for it but while I research this, I need some opinions.
I work full time and so does my husband.
I've been reading that we really should have 3 1/2 to 4 hours of dedicated time to schooling per day. But, I can also have him take care of some things on his own during the day since he's old enough, and we have some time on the weekends too.
In my mind, I have no idea if this is virtual academy, true homeschooling, the Moore academy method or what. I'm just wondering in general if this is even possible.
In my mind, I would be dedicated to my child. My husband may be a different story. Anything that's unconventional that doesn't save him money he can't really comprehend or support. I'll have to work on him.
My question: Can one work full time and home-school a child?

 

[JennyMominRI]

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My question: Can one work full time and home-school a child?

I know many people that have.. I know some that do the virtual route but supplement that with other stuff

 

[Divamomto3]

I'm not a homeschooler and so then maybe I shouldn't comment. But to me, homeschooling is the parent taking over where the school would be because either the quality of the public education is poor, private school is not an option due to finances or location, or the family has religious beliefs that they want reinforced along with the daily education. I view the parent as the full time teacher and the school day as long as normal.

I'm not sure how staying home alone all day would help your child succeed in school. If you have time after work and on weekends to dedicate to your child's education, why not use that time to supplement the school work with tutoring, going over the lessons, re-teaching, going to museums and places that coincide with what lessons are being taught in school.

If he's home and your working, even if you leave him other things to take care of, won't he just either be on the internet or watching TV or playing video games like any other 9th grader would?

I commend your desire to give your child the best education possible. I just don't see how you can do it a few hours in the evening or on weekends.

 

[Barb D]

I worked 30 hours a week and homeschooled for a long time. That said, my kids were not alone; they were either at their 2-day school for homeschoolers or with me or DH. (I worked 3 ten hour days.) They're all in public school now.

Your son would have to be very self-motivated in order for y'all to be able to pull this off.

You might want to check out American School. They have an accredited correspondance program for high school.

 

[JennyMominRI]

I'm not a homeschooler and so then maybe I shouldn't comment. But to me, homeschooling is the parent taking over where the school would be because either the quality of the public education is poor, private school is not an option due to finances or location, or the family has religious beliefs that they want reinforced along with the daily education. I view the parent as the full time teacher and the school day as long as normal.

.

The thing is,in most cases that is not the way homeschooling is done. It is usually not replicating the classroom at home.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Yes it is possible.

A fellow homeschooler said something which makes sense--homeschooling is nothing more than parent-directed education. If you take him out and have him educated at home via another means be it virtual acadamy or whatever--you are still homeschooling.

And with him being a teen---granted he will need something to do during the day--but "school" in the evenings shouldn't be ruled out either.

And for those wondering about a few hours---if you squash down the academic time in school, it is indeed only a few hours, so yes it is possible. (removing class switching , roll taking--all the "business" stuff).

And keep in mind...the incentive to do his work at home--would be so that he wouldn't have to go back into the public school enivornment. For some kids--that is enough incentive to do their work at home.

From what I understand though--be prepared for the transition....it isn't necessarily easy to "turn off" public school and "turn on" home school and could be met with some resistance. Just an FYI.

Some in our homeschool group have had that experience and what they did is basically have a week to a month long break to transition.

 

[Brier Rose]

We know several people that have done this successfully!

I think it just requires a little adjusting your ideas of what a school day "should" be like, and going with what works for your family instead.

My DD is a little older, but because she rides (horses) competitively, there have been lots of days where she is at practice during the day, and does her school work online in the afternoons or weekends.

She can also do well on her own with the online school, because there are teachers right there to help her if she has a question.

You have longer than the normal school year to complete your courses, so there is some of the pressure lifted off right there. It kind of gives you a little more time to figure our what works for you.

Oh, and as far as the hours per day goes, I would say 4 hours a day is an accurate guess.

Sometimes more, sometimes less, just depends on your child really.

The online academy that we use is The Morning Star Academy .

If you have questions about it, ask away! I'm happy to help!

 

[siouxi31]

Thank you all once again. I'm feeling as if there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. The big problems we would need to get over are:
1) making sure my son understands that he still has an education to pursue and it's not all sleeping until noon an playing video games. This is a concern but I can tell him his other option is to go back to school where things are not working for him.
2) my husband. He's going to freak out when I tell him what I'm thinking of.

 

[Brier Rose]

Oops! When I first read your post I somehow thought your DS was 9, instead of in 9th grade, so he's NOT younger than my DD!

 

[LiteBrite]

I think you could do it. And about your son sleeping till noon, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Teenagers circadian rhythms are notorious for not matching the rest of society, and if your schedule is such that he's going to need to do his school in the afternoon and evening anyway, why not just let him stay up late and sleep in? I know that may sound like slacking off, but part of what's so great about homeschooling is that you can tailor how you "do school" to what works best for your family. Plus, maybe the idea that he could sleep in and stay up late would be so appealing to him that it would help him over the psychological hump of switching to homeschooling in the first place.

3 or 4 hours per day sounds about right to me, too.

I remember reading your post about your son's troubles in school, and I commend you for being committed enough to his welfare to consider doing something that might seem so radical. Of course, it doesn't seem radical to me, because I homeschooled my daughter all the way through high school, so it's a perfectly natural choice to me, but I understand how it could seem radical to you (and most likely, your friends and extended family). So what if your schedule is unconventional - the conventional way wasn't working for your family anyway, so why not try to find a way that does, even if it is a little out of the ordinary? Good for you, and don't hesitate to ask if there's any way we can be of help.

 

[barkley]

you need to check out the state and school district's regulations regarding homeschooling in your area. we have some districts in california that only permit homeschooling when the homeschool meets specific criteria (including so many hours per day/so many hours per week) of instructional time-and they have attendance monitors who drop in unannounced to spot check compliance with the "attendance" plan (same districts also require an actual school attendance record be maintained by and attested to by the parent/teacher). it has to do with minimum school attendance laws in our state and the fact that some parents used homeschooling to by-pass meeting them.

i don't know if it's available in your area, but a couple of the districts around us offer an independant study program wherein the student goes to the school campus once a week to meet with an academic advisor to receive assignments and review their progress, but completes all work independantly at home. it's nice in that it ensures the student is on track with their studies and it provides them access to resources not available at home (such as specialized programs to prepare for the 2 standardized tests that are now required of california seniors-one for the designation of high school completion and one to be designated a high school graduate).

 

[Hannathy]

I think you need to think about how awake and full of energy are you going to be every evening after working full time every day. I know when I worked full time I would not have had the energy to get home eat and then teach until 10 at night every night. Will your Husband take over your DD homework duties if you are teaching your son ? What about a different school if your school doesn't solve the problem. I can't believe 5-6 High school level classes are being covered in 3-4 hrs a day. My DD is in classes fo 7 1/2 hrs of instruction -lunch and transfer time taken out- and has 2 hrs or more of homework every night.

 

[JennyMominRI]

you need to check out the state and school district's regulations regarding homeschooling in your area. we have some districts in california that only permit homeschooling when the homeschool meets specific criteria (including so many hours per day/so many hours per week) of instructional time-and they have attendance monitors who drop in unannounced to spot check compliance with the "attendance" plan (same districts also require an actual school attendance record be maintained by and attested to by the parent/teacher). it has to do with minimum school attendance laws in our state and the fact that some parents used homeschooling to by-pass meeting them.
).

Homeschooling laws are the same in the entire state of California,and the laws are not made by the school district..In fact the school district should not even be notified that homeschooling is going on..In California Homeschools are considered private schools and file an R4 Private School Affidavit with the superintendant of instruction..If someone is answering to the school district it is because they have chosen too.. A few years ago Delaine Eastin from the CDE got a bug up her butt about homeschoolers and started sending us notices telling us that homeschooling was illegal in the state of California..Eventually the state stepped in and told her to cease and desist in harassing homeschoolers..
Now that I live in RI the laws are different and I was answer to the city BOE... I can look up the laws in Souxi's state every easily if she would like me too.

A breif summary of California laws
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=CA

Edited to add... The people you are talking about are homeschooling under option 4.They probably went to their school district saying that they wanted to homeschool and this is how the school district told them to do this..By being under the school districts umbrella ,the school district gets funds for the student... Most people don't know their legal rights and do what the school district tells them

 

[JennyMominRI]

Illinois homeschooling laws
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=IL

 

[siouxi31]

Jenny,

I appreciate your help. I'm just getting started on my research and looking up Illinois State homeschooling laws will have to part of that. I hadn't thought about that part yet since this just really entered my head today. I did stop by the library after work and picked up a few books to read up on homeschooling in general.
Right now I'm looking at "Homeschooling, Take a Deep Breath --You Can Do This". The title seemed befitting so I'm looking at that first.
I told my husband of my thoughts and he's my first negative to overcome. He threw some comments at me saying how my son needs the interaction at school to get used to having to deal with all kinds of people in life. I know better than to shoot off an answer to my husband right away. He's just giving me the fuel I need to come up with a complete response to him. The way I see it is that my son will have social interaction with positive and negative personalities since he's already developed a circle a friends, belongs to hockey, and may be getting a job soon. Does he think that the kid is going to be shut up in the house day and night?

 

[JennyMominRI]

Jenny,

I appreciate your help. I'm just getting started on my research and looking up Illinois State homeschooling laws will have to part of that. I hadn't thought about that part yet since this just really entered my head today. I did stop by the library after work and picked up a few books to read up on homeschooling in general.
Right now I'm looking at "Homeschooling, Take a Deep Breath --You Can Do This". The title seemed befitting so I'm looking at that first.
I told my husband of my thoughts and he's my first negative to overcome. He threw some comments at me saying how my son needs the interaction at school to get used to having to deal with all kinds of people in life. I know better than to shoot off an answer to my husband right away. He's just giving me the fuel I need to come up with a complete response to him. The way I see it is that my son will have social interaction with positive and negative personalities since he's already developed a circle a friends, belongs to hockey, and may be getting a job soon. Does he think that the kid is going to be shut up in the house day and night?

Your kids won't be cut off from other kids..Mine weren't . They played with the exact same kids they would see in school. Schools are done by neighborhood,and unless you live in an isolated area, they will see the exact same kids.. When we moved here to RI 2 of them spent a year at home..When they started school,they already new many of the kids from hanging out with them in the afternoon,weekends and summer..Unless you make the conscious choice to isolate them they should get plenty of socialization.
I hate shows like Wifeswap and Trading Spouses because they alwasy show the cray hoeschoolers.

 

[Brier Rose]

I think you need to think about how awake and full of energy are you going to be every evening after working full time every day. I know when I worked full time I would not have had the energy to get home eat and then teach until 10 at night every night. Will your Husband take over your DD homework duties if you are teaching your son ? What about a different school if your school doesn't solve the problem. I can't believe 5-6 High school level classes are being covered in 3-4 hrs a day. My DD is in classes fo 7 1/2 hrs of instruction -lunch and transfer time taken out- and has 2 hrs or more of homework every night.

The thing is, if she was using an online school she wouldn't be having to teach him.
She would basically just be supervising. Checking in every now and then to see how he's doing, and being avaliable for questions.

IMO, this is a good thing. It's more like a realistic work situation.

Does your DD really do 7 1/2 hours of school instruction?
I'm not questioning you really, it's just that that is not the norm around here!

Kids go to school from 8:00am-2:45pm, or some schools go from 8:30am-3:15pm.

They have a 30 min. lunch break, 5 min. between each class (25-30min.)

So total day...6hr. 45min, with instruction time being maybe 5 hours.

 

[Hannathy]

Our 9th grade goes from 7:34 till 3:10 . So even with an hour off it is still 6- 6 1/2 hrs. My point was I think it would be hard to home school a high school student and work full time. It leaves very few hours to get a lot done and not peak hours for anyone working full time. I also think it would be very isolating for a 14 yr old to be home alone everyday for 8-9 hrs. That would take a strong personality to tolerate that. I think and it is my oppinion that it would be hard to cover a high school day of material in 3-4 hours. some people are able to home school and that is great I know I could never handle the chemistry, trig, or Physics and I feel for her to make an educated decision she should hear all sides.

 

[JennyMominRI]

. some people are able to home school and that is great I know I could never handle the chemistry, trig, or Physics and I feel for her to make an educated decision she should hear all sides.

I knew I couldn't handle those things and as my kids got older they have gone back to school. It is important to know your limitations..I could have hired tutors and I could have used a virtual classroom..There are some that have teachers available for help..It is workable for some, just not for me

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I told my husband of my thoughts and he's my first negative to overcome. He threw some comments at me saying how my son needs the interaction at school to get used to having to deal with all kinds of people in life. I

My answer to this--it is almost "convention season"--see if there are some homeschooling conventions---sometimes it works better for some when they hear about it from other people.

Hubby and I were at a crux--he wasn't really into it but saw that I truly was--he volunteered to go to convention and nothing like a seminar for homeschooling dads lead by a homeschooling dad. Took the burden off me and he picked that as one of his seminars to go to.