BTW - I am looking for sincere answers and not someone telling me that I am making a mistake or I am ruining my child's life, etc, etc. Like I said, my son has health issues and misses a lot of school. He will get plenty of socialization through other activities. First, don't worry about defending your decision to those who have already made up their minds about this issue.
Your first step is to find out what your state requires from homeschoolers - some are very lenient (like Texas), others are very strict, even to dictating the books you need to use, tests you are required to take, and making you submit lesson plans. Go to the HSLDA website to see the general rules for your state.
Next, find a homeschooling group in your area and talk to other moms and dads who are in the middle of it. They can give you suggestions for dealing with the local school district, unhappy relatives (especially the grandparents), socialization, co-ops, and maybe even let you borrow some curriculum to try before you have to buy.
You'll need to look at the different methods - classical, unschooling, eclectic... this will help determine which curriculum to use (if any). There are also several guides to curriculum, such as Cathy Duffy's "100 Top Picks...", Mary Pride's books, Rebecca Rupp's books, and "The Well-Trained Mind", by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise-Bauer. See if your library has any books ABOUT homeschooling.
I've actually found socialization to be the easiest part of homeschooling - just knowing other homeschoolers has opened up opportunities for my kids to meet with others on a much more flexible schedule.
Your son may need some time to 'decompress' from public school and find out that homeschool is NOT public school at home. You can work on your own schedule and not be tied into someone else's. Start slowly with just one or two subjects, then add another every 3-4 weeks until you're doing all you want to.
And realize that some curriculum choices will be trial and error - I can't tell you how much I've 'wasted' on curriculum that just didn't work out for us. Fortunately, I've been able to recoup some of the cost by re-selling things (eBay and used curriculum sales).
Best wishes for a happy homeschooling adventure! Feel free to email me if you have more questions. Source(s):
http://www.hslda.org Sincerely, be sure you have the time and the education yourself before taking on this job. It is your child's future that depends on you being a good teacher. If you foul it up, it will foul him/her up and there isn't a lot you can do to remake yourself after that.
Good intentions will not educate a child. You need time, dedication and a lot of good common sense.
best of luck :) Hi,
I am not an expert in homeschooling but I am a senior majoring in Special Education. I applaud you for taking the time to do what is right for your son.
The first thing you should do is contact your State Board of Education. They can tell you about all the rules and requirements.
Next, you should get ahold of a local homeschooling group. Try googling that or try asking your local school district, church, or YMCA for help finding one.
I know the YMCA and local park district around here have lots of programs so homeschoolers can meet other homeschoolers. You might want to check into that.
This is a very basic list, but it is probably a good start for you. Best wishes to you and your son. You can search on the Internet for curriculum programs. In our community the YMCA and libraries have home school programs. Good luck! Hi, My son is going to be in second grade and I have been homescholing him since he started school. He has never attended a brick and mortar school. What state do you live in? My eldest daughter is 20 right now and she had a lot of health issues. The brick and mortar school was bad for her (well you can understand why). You are making a good choice. There are different ways you can do homeschool, so I can help but I need to know what state you live in. So contact me and let me know and I'll happy to help. if your child was on the honor rolll all last year then whats the problem with the teachers? seems like it was working out, taking your child out of school to homeschool them will do no good for you or your child.your child will have no social skills and will be left out of alot of things in his life. your child needs to learn and be in a class with other kids his age. yes you think it is best for him to be with you at home but youdont know how to be a teacher, you are already asking yahoo for help. how can your child be on the honor roll if he has missed so many days, your school knows about the health issues and you can get work for him and take it home when he is sick, keep that kid in school, dont have your child stuck at home just because you think he is always sick and nned to be home, maybe your child escape is school, maybe your child wants to go to school to get away from home and see his friends. i wish you all the luck in the world, but i think you are making a big mistake, you know nothing about teaching and your son will loose in the end. good luck. I went to homeshcool for the last two years of my high school.I had difficulty with health and missed so many days I too had to do the same.I mostly taught myself as I also just seemed to work better that way and graduated top of my class,but the approach you need to take is more of a patience lesson.You will be helping him with basic stuff.Things he might not understand as quick as you will like sometimes so you have to learn not to make him feel bad or like he is failing you by not learning at your pace.Go at his pace.Plus make it fun.Like if you can,do interactive learning more than just reading from a textbook.Show him lessons over a computer where he must interact or with some sort of movie.It has been proven kids seem to remember more when taught with visual aid than by just hearing it read.And dont always take the lessons as they are.Teach the basics but be minful of what will confuse him as many of the things in lessons are not as valuable as others.Good luck! You are doing a good thing. I can tell that you care about your son. If you go to the local school they can probably put you in touch with other home schoolers in your area and they will be able to give you curriculum ideas. take some education classes at your local community college before you start this. if you have some of the college that ateacher would have it would be a big help. especially study children's literature, childhood development, and hone up your math skills. also be sure to set aside a specific time and place as your "school" this will help keep him disciplined to work during those times and seperate school from tv and play time. Rely heavily on the information resources available, like the internet and the library. You want to help guide your child through the process of learning, rather than be the "teacher" who knows everything. You are likely to learn a lot yourself while schooling him.
If he feels that the two of you are embarking on this journey together, he will be more motivated to make it successful.
Try to ensure he has time for physical activity and, if possible, socializing with other children. Both are really important to the overall level of happiness in children.
Be sure to set up a meaningful rewards system. In your home school he won't have the same report card, or the subsequent comparisons with other kids report cards. Both of you will need some rewards to keep you motivated. Gold stars aren't good enough. Perhaps when he scores high on a test you've given him, the two of you can congratulate each other by going to a favorite place or spending an evening doing a favorite activity.
Try to empart to him that this is a special experience, a better experience than other children will get from their schooling. Let him know that it will make you happy to be able to share this special experience with him.
This worked for us when we were snowed in for several months of school in Michigan. There is no comparison with your situation, but it worked. We learned and Mom didn't have to pull her hair out. It sticks out as a cherished memory to me and my siblings. Treat the child like how a teacher would treat any kids. Make sure u dont spoil the kid, by letting the kid thinks he's the boss. He'll try to take advantage since he feels u dont have the authority of a teacher, such as can i do it later or ill do it after this game of chess. Dont ably to such complains. Simply negotiate a more suitable possibility than rather just giving in to his protests, such as, as soon as ur finish with these math problems, u can have free time and do watever u like with limits of course. Give him tests once in awhile. If he does well reward him, such as taking him somewhere fun, or buying something he likes to have. If results are horrendous, punish him by not letting him do the things he like to do best. Make sure u dont give him time out like some teachers do. This creates more problems rather than solving any. Im sure u have gone to school at some point of ur life. You should understand the basis a teacher and student relationship. Good Luck homeschooling Contact local homeschooling groups in your area, they are out there.
We schooled our 3 kids at home and i would not trade it for anything. S.A.T scores from 1400 to 1600 and acceptance to colleges they chose with a lot of scholarships. Last son going to private baptist college with 15,000 dollars per year worth of scholarships. Start with your local homeschooling associations. Get to know parents of other boys a little older than your son, and find out what worked for them at this age. Consider joining a legal defense group, such as the Home School Legal Defense Association, that works for you to protect your rights, should you ever need. HSLDA can also explain your state's requirements and options better than the department of education, in most cases.
Check used bookstores for curriculum programs. Often, you can find old texts, and just order new workbooks to go with. Borrow whatever you can from others who are homeschooling. Choosing which curriculum packages are best for your child, that's a unique benefit of homeschool; you don't just have to take whatever the district is using. But it can take some time to try them out and figure out what works.
With kids under about age 13, especially boys, the most important things to make it a positive experience are hands-on activities. When my sister was nine, she studied the Revolutionary War, and as part of that, she set up diagrams of battles with little action figures on the dining table, and practiced being a Minuteman, grabbing her broomstick and being ready to do battle at a moment's notice. We did a lot of reading and discussing the time period, as well. We did not do a lot of written work, because it really didn't add to learning. Our parents talked with us about the material, and could tell by the interaction that we were learning it quite well. We didn't need to scour a textbook and answer written questions to prove our knowledge. We practiced communication skills by communicating in real life, by reading, writing, and talking... not by doing dull busywork.
One thing that we do is have a membership to something. Often it's a museum in town, but now and then we've done the zoo, or the science center. Check out the facility first, be sure they allow you to pack a snack, parking fees are reasonable, things like that. Instant educationally-oriented hangout, whenever you need to get out of the house. As an added bonus, indoor facilities are air-conditioned in summer and heated in winter, so you can escape the elements without having to pay as much for climate-control.
If you have cable or satellite, make use of educational programming. The History and Discovery channels run some really interesting stuff. Watch together, talk together, go to the library and get books on the topics... those kinds of things.
Math and science seem to be what frighten people the most. Saxon and Math-U-See are two math programs that tend to be favored among homeschoolers. Saxon works best for kids who learn by rote practice, and Math-U-See for those who need to work hands-on in order to get the hang of math. And science is not nearly as daunting as it sounds. We never had an official science program. We had books full of experiments that demonstrated physical science properties, and we had a chemistry set. We had a garden, where we studied the life cycle of plants, and basic ecological balance. Mom had a science textbook that she roughly followed along, but that was just her guidebook to be sure we didn't miss anything important. We learned it out in the real world.
I think one important thing to remember is, you don't have to be full of knowledge in order to homeschool. You're educating an eight-year-old, not diving into advanced physics. You have plenty of time to learn along with him. You can always take a basic class at your community college in summer, if you're nervous about an upcoming subject. Your child can always take a basic class at your community college, for that matter. My sister got too advanced for my mom after about 10th grade, and went on to community college to finish the last two years of high school. She went on to a selective private college, as an incoming freshman, with a full year of credits in the core classes, and a good chunk of elective credits that broadened her interests and experiences. Because she was homeschooled and had the ability to earn college credit for her last two years of school, she has the time available in her four years of university life, to pursue a double major, with a double minor. And she's not that bright a student. She was pulled out of school and homeschooled because she was floundering and already at-risk of dropping out. Home education simply made that big a difference.
One of the most important things you can do is research the question of socialization. Everybody you ever run into will ask that question, or tell you that your kid isn't properly socialized, or something. When they do that, ask what they mean by "socialization." Some of them are talking about spending time with other kids while playing or studying elective subjects. But often, I've found that what they mean is learning how to take turns and play nicely with others. I'm not sure why people think you can only learn that in school, but they do. I'm not sure why people think you learn that at school at all, actually, since most of the social skills we learned in school were of the variety that get you in trouble if you do it at home. But you'll get asked that question so many times... it will be helpful to learn the issue and know your answers, and remember that people have different ideas of what socialization means. Always ask what they mean by that, before figuring out which answer to give.
Also remember, any time you take him out in public between 8am and about 3pm on weekdays, people will quiz and/or badger him about why he's not in school. Most are genuinely curious, but some feel the need to be ugly about it. Teach him how to politely answer these kinds of questions. Learn how to answer them in more depth, also, so that you don't feel defensive about it. If you're in an area where homeschooling is uncommon, you're liable to get more questions than you could ever answer. It might help to acquire some business card paper at the office store, and print up simple cards with basic information and links to websites of local and national homeschooling organizations. The genuinely curious can research to their heart's content, and the naysayers can be left to stare at the card while you proceed on your merry way. motivate them train them hard make um learn give em brakes though Depending on where you live you may be able to e-school. These are on-line public schools. This is the way we are going. They provide everything we need. You teach your child but you also have a great support staff to help you. You have a teacher that goes over the work with you. You also have a site to keep track of grades, attendance, and scheduling. The important thing is to be flexible. Have fun and remember you are doing this for your son. http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com
Contact the person in-charge here
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/armoorefam I just attended a graduation for 4 homeschoolers and last year went to one with 5. We have many kids in our church home schooled also and I was very impressed with their education, maturity, responsibility, and relationship with their parents. I know it almost sounds to good to be true but I was there. The one thing that came out the most was the sacrifice of mom and all were thankful and mom didn't regret it at all. Hope all goes well for you. I wish I could be of help. Good for you. It sounds like you are doing the right thing for your son and family.
There are so many ways and reasons for home schooling. We have chosen to follow the "unschooling" approach with our children.
I would strongly recommend that you read the book "Teach Your Own" by John Holt, a pioneer in home schooling. Read it all the way through and you will not regret it. It is a fantastic start.
You can also check on the "Growing Without Schooling" web site for some more information http://www.holtgws.com/index.html. The organization of the web site is not so great, but there are a lot of links and resources that can give you some great info.
Good luck! Here is a great site with many areas to explore, and all the basics of starting homeschooling:
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/p/homeschool101.htm
They have links to articles, resources, laws, and requirements by state.
You might be interested in this site with resources on gifted children also:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/parents.htm
They have an area specifically for homeschooling gifted children:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/home_sc.htm
I hope some of this helps! If you live in California I am not sure about other states but they must have this as well. I home school my kids as well and I go through a charter school. A charter school lets you pic the curriculum you think best fits your child as well as assign a credentialed teacher that will help you throughout the year with your child's studies. The teacher comes to your home every 20 days. They also offer classes outside your home like for science, math, writing, etc...sometimes some really fun classes...they also have what they call outdoor vendors which are local businesses that offer karate, dance, tennis, gymnastics, music, etc...look up charter schools in yahoo search in your state that should help...I have 8 kids and this charter school has been the best help ever :) good luck you making the right choice...and what social skills are everyone worried about?? My kids aren't weird cuz they are home schooled they actually have morals and values and know right from wrong unlike some of the kids I know in public schools they know way too much for their age
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