New to Homeschooling??!! HELP

[asfarrell]

Our DS is in 4th grade, our elementary only goes to 4th grade...then on to the DREADED 5th grade center (no way will I EVEN let him go there)..So we are in such a delimma. I grew up in this city and know all the local "Private Schools", which are basically where the "bad kids" are sent after being kicked out of public school (ok, it's not all that, but pretty much).

I work full time but he can go to work with me and can have his own "office and computer"....we are considering homeschool (only for 5th grade), until we decided where we want to move.

I found South East Academy online and a couple others...they offer an Internet Curriculum Program, everything is done online. I know this would appeal to him, way more than me trying to teach him.

I am not trying to have a "Is she qualified" discussion, just asking if anyone else does online school for a younger school aged child? Thanks, it's keeping me up at nights!!

I know there is a home school thread, I have seen it before...but could not located it..

 

[koolaidmoms]

There is a homeschooling thread on the Community forum. There may be some homeschoolers there who use on-line schooling.

Good luck!

 

[DawnM]

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1787845

Hopefully this will work. I just posted on it to bring it back to the front page of the Family section for you!

Dawn

 

[luvdiz2]

My son has been using Time4learning for the past three years which is an online curriculum. He is very computer savvy and hates writing so it works well for him. It tests, grades and provides a section that I can ensure he is doing the work and keeping his grades up.

 

[sfarmbo]

We are in our second year of on-line learning. I have a 3rd grader and a kinder that will advance to 1st grade on the 11th. We are using Connections Academy. We are madly in love with this program. When starting last year the 3rd grader was on meds for ADHD(on the ADVICE of the public school). Within 2 weeks he was taken off, and has been med free for over a year. I don't know if it is in your state, if it is look into it.

 

[HunnyJar]

My husband and I are currently homeschooling our son through the K12 program. This is our second year with the program and I have to say we love it! We know several other families that are going through the K12 program for their children from kindergarten all the way on up through high school. One thing that really appealed to our family is that they try to get group activities for kids in the same grade in your neighborhood so that way your child is getting some face to face interaction with other children. If you are interested in the program, just look up - k12.com

Good luck to you!

 

[kremenos]

My husband and I are currently homeschooling our son through the K12 program. This is our second year with the program and I have to say we love it! We know several other families that are going through the K12 program for their children from kindergarten all the way on up through high school. One thing that really appealed to our family is that they try to get group activities for kids in the same grade in your neighborhood so that way your child is getting some face to face interaction with other children. If you are interested in the program, just look up - k12.com

Good luck to you!

AND DO NOT GIVE UP!!!

 

[labdogs42]

This is so interesting. Thanks for asking the question OP!

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

We are another Connections Academy family!

I love the individual learning that my DD receives with this program. I can set the pace of her classes and I know when she is having trouble understanding a certain subject. Her teacher is Amazing and really takes the time to get to know each of the children and their families. We have more flexibilty than regular school (DD is a figure skater and trains in the AM) and there are days when we can finish an entire days worth of lessons before 1:00. The curriculum is VERY challenging, but I for one think that is a good thing. You can seak out information on CA by going to www.connectionsacademy.com

Good Luck!!
PS. we started last year when DD was a 5th grader, she is now doing 6th grade work.

 

[ScrapperBelle]

I homeschooled my son for 1/2 of last year (9th grade). This year he is back to public school. It is possible to do a year at home and get them back into school.

We spent our time basically "reviewing" a lot of subjects and trying to get him back on track with his studies. He had been slipping for a couple of years and we finally decided to pull him out, give him some one on one time and try to figure out where he was having difficulty.

I have a master's degree in history, so I taught him on my own. I didn't use a curriculum or anything online, but I knew (was definitely hoping) this was a temporary situation.

This year he is back to school, we restarted the 9th grade in another district and he is doing great. All As and Bs on his report card. I haven't seen that in years!

Bottom line, you know what is best for your family and sometimes you have to trust your gut feelings. Sorry I couldn't help you with a program, but I just wanted you to know that homeschooling can work as a temporary fix. It doesn't have to be a long term thing.

Good Luck!!

 

[Family Loves Disney]

We plan on using the K12 program next year through the Georgia Virtual Academy for my son. I have heard great things about this program, plus it is idiot proof for parents like me. lol. It is free, we will have a teacher, a special needs teacher, plus they will help us with all of ds's special needs issues (IEP, all of his therapies, etc). He is regressing this year, so dh and I decided to home school him next year through the virtual academy, the virtual academy is not accepting new students till March, so we are keeping him where he is till next school year. HTH

 

[asfarrell]

Thanks everyone...After posting the question, I couldn't get back on my home computer...Everything is up and running now.
I got some great websites to check out! Now I just need to decided which one is best for us.

Thanks Again...

 

[happymommy]

My kids are both involved in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY, it was on NBC Nightly last summer and my DD was on national TV - yippee, it was their "nerd camp"). Anyway, they have internet classes to supplement some school curriculum - maybe look into them? It's www.cty.jhu.edu

They have some interesting courses. Not sure if they could assist you now, or in the future.

My kids go to private school in Maryland, so I wish I could help you more. Maybe you have more options than you know - are all private schools so bad near you, or is public that bad?

I know it's heartbreaking to make these decisions. I wish you the best!

Oh, I also remember, I used to take my kids to Huntington Learning Center near us. Well, actually it wasn't that near us. But due to my son's lack of ANY education in "first grade" in his prior Montessori school (he went for 4 years) he was SO BEHIND in some basic academics, I got him into a different private school (for only 2 years, until we moved and found the perfect school) I spent many thousands of dollars and hours at Huntington. It really helped my kids - despite my son's learning difference he is now an honor roll student with ERB's in the 99th percentile, and my daughter who has no learning disability is also in 99th. They did help them use their ability (we went to Huntington for 4 years). I am not a tutor, and it's better that my kids would go to someone other than me, so this worked out best. Anyway, turns out most of their students are homeschooled, and get their math and LA (language arts) at Huntington. If it's just a year, maybe you have one of these type of centers near you? Honestly, just a few hours a week is enough. I think most homeschoolers do actual work much less than the typical school day. Most of the school day is other stuff, which I think is nice, but if you are looking to cover the basics, can be done in a few hours.

Good luck!