How many Dis'ers homeschool?

[DisneyMom5]

I am homeschooling my 3 oldest using Sonlight www.sonlight.com and have been for 5 years now. We love it.
Funny Disney Homeschool story: We were on a bus from FWilderness to Epcot in the middle of the day and my kids were wearing their shirts from our homeschool group and the family sitting across from us (there were only 3 families including ours on that bus) says "Hey, we homeschool too!" And suddenly from the back of the bus we hear "So did we!" The family in the back had now grown children, but all of us were homeschoolers! What's the odds? It WAS January, so maybe homeschoolers make up a bigger group when regular school is in session! LOL
We had a lot of positive remarks from the CMs while wearing the shirts.
Anyway, I counted 1 day school at AK and 1 for Epcot out of the 1.5 each we were there.
If that was any of you that I met, glad to see you again!

 

[risy]

CynJ,

We are homeschoolers and former foster parents.

Foster children are "entitled" to many things. Public school education is one of them. Unless you have a child with serious medical conditions, it is unlikely that you would ever be allowed to homeschool.

We (unexpectedly) adopted as foster parents, but during the process we never mentioned our future plans to homeschool. Nor were we asked...

PM me if you have any other questions.

 

[Good Deeds]

This is my first year homeschooling my two daughters (1st grade and 5th) and I am loving it!!! I am teaching language to my girls as well as two of my girlfriends daughters (She teaches history) so we each get some "down" time each week

Anyway, I am looking for some pen pals as we are learning about writing letters, composition etc. Plus I think it would be great for the girls to have pen pals that are also homeschooled and love Disney!! Anyone interested??

Looking for "pals" for 2 5th graders, a 1st grader, and a 8th grader!!



Karen

 

[takemetoo]

We homeschool, too. My dh is a teacher, though, so we still have to follow a school schedual for our trips . We actually are considering kindergarten for next year as a temporary solution to some problems we're facing. Very identity-crisis-like for me.

 

[umbluegray]

We homeschool, too.

Well, our son is 22 so he's done. Our daughter is 4. She'll start in August. So really, we're between homeschooling right now.

The Memphis area has incredible resources. There are so many churches that offer so many things to homeschoolers. We can participate in sports, music programs, various classes, field trips, etc.

We attend Bellevue Baptist. It's a huge church (roughly 30,000 members) and it has so much available. My 4DD takes harp lessons in the music program. When we registered we found out it qualifies as course credit.

And there are several homeschool groups based on age/grade. It's fantastic.

To be fair, my DW is the one who does all the work. I'm so appreciative that I have a wife who feels that her time can be best spent by taking care of our children.

Hats off to you ladies! It's amazing the to see all the things y'all do.

 

[crazymomof4]

To be fair, my DW is the one who does all the work. I'm so appreciative that I have a wife who feels that her time can be best spent by taking care of our children.

Hats off to you ladies! It's amazing the to see all the things y'all do.

Thanks for the encouragement! I just got similar kudos from, of all people, my gynecologist!

 

[dturner]

Hi everyone!!

I also homeschool DS (8) and have since 1st grade, we let him go to public Kindergarten but it just didn't work out for us so I started homeschooling in 1st grade. I like it, DS LOVES IT!!

I order hard back books and workbooks from Harcourt because I wanted a secular program.

I'm lucky to live in the state of Texas where homeschooling laws are minimal - no annual reporting, etc.

I also love the fact that I can go to Disney whenever I want - mid-September is my favorite time to go when the crowds are low.

Happy homeschooling everyone!!

 

[TNKBELL]

How is the weather in September? Is it hot and humid? We always go in October but it is getting so crowded, I wondered if the weather was that much different in Sept than Oct, which is usually around 80 degrees pretty comfortable.

 

[dturner]

How is the weather in September? Is it hot and humid? We always go in October but it is getting so crowded, I wondered if the weather was that much different in Sept than Oct, which is usually around 80 degrees pretty comfortable.

The only bad thing about September - HUMIDITY!!!

You'd think I'd be use to that living in Texas but NO WAY!!! It was hot and humid but then again you get the daily 5-10 minute shower in the afternoon, LOL!!!

It's worth the heat and humidity because of NO CROWDS!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Wow! I didn't see this thread until today. This is great. It does the heart good to see how many families make the sacrifice to homeschool. Very good to see.

This is my 6th year homeschooling. DD12, DD9, and DS5. My son is only in preschool. I hit the big time next year, I guess.

Can't believe that ranking of the smartest states. It says NY is 6th. I don't think our schools are necessarily bad, education wise, around here, but 6th??? I guess their priorities are different than mine.

We've done almost everything as far as curriculum goes. This year my girls are doing Abeka DVD. They LOVE IT! And although I don't think it is perfect, I must say, I like it more than I thought I would. Anyone else using this??

 

[sha_lyn]

This year my girls are doing Abeka DVD. They LOVE IT! And although I don't think it is perfect, I must say, I like it more than I thought I would. Anyone else using this??

How much religious content does it have? I'm trying to find a secular DVD or computer based program for DD. It seems only the religious publishers have them on the market right now.

 

[Good Deeds]

Due to an unfortunate situation at my daughters school this Fall, we became a homeschooling family almost "overnight" I have two girls (10 and 6) and we have been so blessed to have met so many wonderful homeschool families and resources.

My girlfriend also homeschools her daughters (10 and 14), so we trade off each week. I teach all of the girls language and she teaches history. That way we each get a morning to ourselves to do what ever we need or want to do

I am looking for some homeschool pen pals for the girls and thought a love for Disney would give them something in common as well as the homeschool experience.

Anyone interested in pen pals...? or know of a resource for this???

Thanks

Karen

 

[Bird-Mom]

We'll be joining the ranks of Disney homeschoolers soon. DD1 is 2.75 and DD2 is 6 months, so we'll start in a couple of years. I'm planning a combo of traditional curriculum and unschooling.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

How much religious content does it have? I'm trying to find a secular DVD or computer based program for DD. It seems only the religious publishers have them on the market right now.

Well, it is all from a christian point of view. Ofcourse, that's what I like about it. , but you could skip the Bible class...........let's see...spelling is spelling, math moves along pretty fast but my oldest is not strong in math and gets B's mostly, some C's, I love the History and Science.........Science is taught from a creationist point of view........they have a strong Language program........library research papers startin in 5th grade (public schools might do this to, I don't know...but I never had one of these until 7th grade...things sure have changed).

My kids love their teachers. It is more "conservative" than I would prefer (for instance, when they memorize Bible verses it is in the King James Version instead of the NIV) but that is more a matter of style, it doesn't offend me, by any stretch.

Hope that helps. I know it's not for everybody and it's not cheap. It just met a need and I'm grateful for it.

 

[CynJ]

I've spoken with a friend who did the Connecticut foster system then adopted - she said they frown upon homeschooling for fosters but once the adoption is finalized that it would be up to the new parents.

This is a neat link - from the CT Department of Environmental Protection - all about wildlife-nice activites for kids -http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/learn/kids.htm

Also I don't know if anyone else's state does this - but we have letterboxes in most of our state parks- a letter box is : "Letterboxing is fun and exciting. It is about the adventure of finding your way through the woods, and the thrill of reaching your goal. In letterboxing, you visit interesting locations and collect unique stamps to mark your visit. The letterboxes that DEP's Division of Forestry is placing in Connecticut’s State Forests provide the means and inspiration for you to visit the State Forests and learn something about the state’s history, wildlife, and, of course, the forests!

Letterboxing involves a plastic container hidden in some specific location out in nature, along with a set of clues as to how to find that container. Inside the container is a stamp and a stamp pad. The visitor uses this stamp to mark his or her visit to this letterbox site into the visitor’s own, personal record book – which you bring with you. Additionally, there is a record book in the letterbox container. The visitor uses his or her own stamp – again, also brought with you - to mark this record book, leaving a record of your visit to this letterbox."

The state of CT has detailed info on finding all the letter boxes - its very fun - and educational! here's a link : http://www.dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/forestry/centen/letterbox.htm

 

[sha_lyn]

Thanks for the info. Probably wouldn't be worth the $$ for what I would want to leave out of it. A friend is having good success using the Switched on School House CD-roms in a secular manner.

 

[ohiominnie]

Does anyone use the K12 program? I've looked at that one and it seems great.

Just finding this thread. I use the K12 curriculum and LOVE it. I must get to bed now, but I'll be back tomorrow and let you know more about it. If you have any specific questions for a user, go ahead and post and I'll try to answer. I've been using it since it came out....in 2001.
See ya tomorrow!

 

[Good Ol Gal]

We use the K12 program also.. but I probably don't know near as much as Ohiominnie! (Karen~ is that you??? It's Liza )

We have used it since 2002. It is so rich! I love it, but sometimes my kids feel overwhelmed. This year has been a real challenge teaching 3 in 3 different grade levels. There are days I feel so burntout! They suggested combining my kids in classes (science, history, art or music). We tried it twice, but it just didn't work, so we are using 1st, K and 3rd/4th combo. Not to mention a preschooler at home!

 

[ohiominnie]

We use the K12 program also.. but I probably don't know near as much as Ohiominnie! (Karen~ is that you??? It's Liza )

LIZA! Dahlin! We just MUST get together! Sounds like you're ready for a day at Funland! Should I organize one? We've been so busy with rehearsals/plays/dog/trips/Christmas/flooding.....that I haven't been able to organize anything. PM me and let me know what's good for you and we'll work from there!! I want to hear all about your trip "home" too!!

Ok, supposed to be doing school.....

p.s. Ok, you're on the DIS AND doing a WISH challenge. Also you've got cute little smilies in your signature....you're such an *addict!*

 

[Good Ol Gal]

you're such an *addict!*

And it's all your fault!!​

We had sooo much fun!! The best vacation ever!! I LOVE Disney, I LOVE DVC, I LOVE DIS!!

My guys were just asking last week about Galaxy. I will PM you and let's go!