Homeschool - Parker,CO

I am in the same boat. I know I am being called to homeschooling but at the same time am freaked out. I recently found a book called Homeschooling for the Rest of Us by Sonya Haskins. It really is helpful even for a nonhomeschooler. It is written for people that don't quite know if they want to homeschooling or not.

I was homeschooled in 6th, and 10th-12th grades. The reasons why were all to so with emotional/social reasons and I am grateful to my parents for allowing me to get away from the problems at my school. That being said, for me homeschooling was not the best experience. The problem I had was a lack of structure and very low expectations. basically, if I wanted to study adn learn I could, but my Mom didn't have the time or inclination to acctually teach me. We bought some pre-packaged curriculum and some other textbooks over the years, but most of the time I only got through the first few chapters before losing interest. The only thing I wanted to study was literature so I read many novels, both clasic and contemporary. I took GED prep classes (along with a bunch of 40+ year olds) at a local community college and passed the GED at 18 (though I did very poorly on the math section I did pass it). It was not until I was married with a child that I braved college, I went to a State university and had to take remedial math classes, but I was able to earn an Associate's degree, and I acctaully had an excellent GPA of 3.8 for the course of my college education (that I want to continue at some point to earn a Bacchelor's). But I was really unprepared for college, I was lucky to have a great husband who helped and supported me every step of the way. I feel like my parents didn't care about me enough to ever really teach me anythign, all they seemed to care about was that I did my chores and took care of my younger siblings. I wish that I had had the courage to stay in "real" school. My younger sisters were homeschooled for their entire school careers and so far only 1 out of the 4 has gone on to take a couple of college courses where she did poorly and gave up. They are sweet, wondeful girls but they did not recieve an adequate education. I'm not saying that it is always a bad idea to homeschool, but if you do it make sure that you are organized and commited enough to really do it properly. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide!

No--we don't all know that our educational system is not what it should be--can you elaborate, specifically, on what you don;t like about YOUR district? Second from top in your STATE and you think you could do better with homeschooling? Really?

Hi J.,
I'm excited for your "new adventure" and glad to see you scoping things out before you make such an investment in your children's education. Many families homeschool for various reasons. My sister and her husband are considered "pioneers of homeschooling". They have been at it for over 20 years. So for us it was never even a question we always knew we would.Some of our reasons run along the biblical values line. The Bible instructs US as the parents to train and teach our children not strangers. Morals would be a good one as you don't see many morals being taught in the government run schools. There is so much more our children can learn from us then they'll ever learn in a boring classroom setting. A word to the wise about curriculum...don't get too hung up about it. You are still in the early ages. There is so much you can do with your kiddos without investing a couple of paychecks of curriculum. Consider what you and your husband can teach them by doing things with them. EVERY opportunity of your life with your kids is a teaching moment. That's what you need to take advantage of first. When you're in the kitchen, use that opportunity to teach them reading, following directions and math. Then you can work on additional home economics by proper handwashing, kitchen cleanup, table setting, dish serving etc. As you can see if you "teach" them with each trip to the grocery store, Goodwill, the local produce stand, the park, etc you can cover a lot of territory without any type of huge investment in the sit down at the desk style school. We take a lot of stock in our local library since everything it offers is "free". We attend the "story time" at the library once a week. It is at this time we make use of the library services. As you can see no curriculum is needed in the above scenarios. We are not interested in anything our government run schools have to offer regarding books, curriculum, agenda etc. That is why we homeschool. Since my husband and I are still young-uns at home schooling I will give you an example of how well my nieces and nephews faired after they graduated. My eldest nephew, after traveling the world, felt called into the ministry and received his degree in theology through online education. He has since gone on to marry a wonderful New Zealand gal and they operate their own horse training business down in NZ and he shares in the ministry down there. My eldest niece after "traveling the world" and spending a year of her life in China will be graduating from C.U/Boulder in December with an additional degree in linguistics and Chinese. (They have technical names for all of this you know:) She plans to return to China sometime after graduation to continue her education and teach English as a second language. My second nephew, as a sole proprietor doing ranch work (finally settled down after seeing the world) generally has so much work he can't keep up with it all. He (as does all of his siblings) has such a terrific work ethic folks always call on him to get the job done. He will head to Mexico this summer on another missions trip. Another niece has published a fictional short story book and a third has had her book of poetry published. They all play some type of musical instrument and a number of years ago had their own gospel band. There are numerous other stories to be told regarding my family's success at home schooling but I think you get the picture. They are hardly a bunch of under educated, socially inept adults as some would have you to believe will happen if you educate at home. I know this is very long but I really have a heart to share with others the wonderful blessings that can be bestowed upon ones family when the decision to homeschool becomes a reality. Check out what Homeschool Legal Defense Assc. has to say (online) so you're familiar with Colorado's laws concerning homeschooling. Catch a vision that's right for your family and hang onto it as there will be naysayers. Blessings, L.

I homeschool a 4th and 7th grader.
Go to hslda.org to find out the laws in our state.
I use a hodgepodge of curriculums.
Singapore for my 4th grader and Lial's Algebra for my 7th.
Shurley Grammar for 4th and Rod and Staff for 7th.
Spelling Workout/
Bob Jones science 4th grade
The Story of Us for USA History plus booksStory of the World for Wold History and History POckets by Evan More for both of them
The Latin Road to English Grammar for both of them

My daughter has some extreme anxieties. My son wanted to be hs'd Daddy was deployed and we were moving so I pulled him too.
It is the best decision I ever made.

I plan to do it through 8th grade.

Updated

I homeschool a 4th and 7th grader.
Go to hslda.org to find out the laws in our state.
I use a hodgepodge of curriculums.
Singapore for my 4th grader and Lial's Algebra for my 7th.
Shurley Grammar for 4th and Rod and Staff for 7th.
Spelling Workout/
Bob Jones science 4th grade
The Story of Us for USA History plus booksStory of the World for Wold History and History POckets by Evan More for both of them
The Latin Road to English Grammar for both of them

My daughter has some extreme anxieties. My son wanted to be hs'd Daddy was deployed and we were moving so I pulled him too.
It is the best decision I ever made.

I plan to do it through 8th grade.

So you have one child who wants to be homeschooled and the other who doesn't? Sounds familiar. If the brick-and-mortar school is what works for one child, and homeschool is where the other wants to be, what's stopping you from doing both? That's what we do, and while the logistics get a little involved at times, we're having a brilliant year.

My son (first grade) is in a bilingual gifted magnet program at a local school. He LOVES it, and so far is doing extremely well, so I've left him where he is. He wants to be in a classroom setting, and for for now it's working well.

My daughter (4th grade) is at home with me. We are part of the Utah Virtual Academy, which supplies us with the k12 online curriculum for free. (Is this the same set-up you're considering in Colorado? If so, PM me and I can tell you a lot more about the nuts and bolts of working with the K12 curriculum.) Last year in a brick-and-mortar school was a nightmare for her. She was so far ahead in her language skills that she was bored with the language arts and literature they did. And she started and ended the year in math (which she struggles with) in pretty much the same place. My decision to pull her out was made much easier when, in response to our concerns about her problems in math, her teacher told my husband, "Well, after all, she is a girl..."

This year she is successful and happy. We will finish the year at grade level in math, way ahead of what the local schools teach in science, literature and history, and with my daughter's self-confidence restored. I've given her the choice about going back to a brick-and-mortar school. To quote her - "Why would I want to do that?" She bowled me over a few months ago when she announced that she had decided she likes math now. It's not that it is easy for her - it's that she isn't frustrated any more. Bringing her home was the best choice for this child, and for her, the K12 curriculum is a good fit.

Hope this is of some use.

I haven't decided what to do on this yet either, but I can tell you many of my family members homeschool, and their kids are very advanced and many had no trouble getting scholarships to great colleges of all types-math majors, music schools etc. They did the Christian curriculum (their reason for avoiding public school) which I wouldn't do, but the point is that their academic achievement is fantastic. They had tons of socialization with other homeschooling families in addition to sports teams and other community activities they did. I think it depends totally on the dedication and ability of the parent to be diligent. Not everyone would be a great teacher, but if you are, the material is all there. I feel it leaves room to excel and add extra learning since the hours are much shorter and does not take up so much time on things aside from learning like a long public school day. I may try it for a year or two when my kids are in young grades. I'm not sure if I'm cut out to do it for the long haul. I want my kids to have the best (which isn't our particular public school district unfortunately).

Hi J.,

I have homeschooled my children for 3 yrs now; Pre-K thru 1st. My favorite part about it is the flexibility and variety of choices for curriculum. I use the Abeka DVD curriculum, but add other subjects also (Geography, History, etc..). We have a teenage girl who lives with us, and came from public school. We decided to use an online public school option ( Virtual Academy)for her, and it has been quite a challenge because the curriculum is quite a bit harder.
I always think it's awesome when someone is considering homeschool, because it's actually quite a bit easier and a lot more fun than most people think! Finding the right curriculum is the hardest part, so good luck!

I am a little late, but I was homeschooled my entire life and I loved it!! There are plenty of resources listed here already, but I thought I might add a few more.

www.Desiderataschool.org - complete curriculum help and guidance. They can also give your child a diploma which makes enrollment in a public school or college easier.

www.Starfall.com or www.Time4learning.com - for supplemental curriculum

Be sure to look into Explorers or 4-H and other local clubs to help further enrich your curriculum.

Good Luck

I think if you wanted to do the Public School curriculum you'd just send them to public school! It's wonderful to allow your child to follow his or her interests, within what they need to learn. I allow my daughter to pick her next science subjects from a list. She chooses what to study and that has been much more successful than making her study what's next in the book! We utilize our library a LOT!

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll give you my email. There's just so much, I can't even begin to post it all here!

First off let me say that being personally homeschooled myself I've not turned out so bad. My mom homeschooled me and my brother, I was the longest at 8 years. I went to school in the 8th grade. My mother has an elementary education degree but information was beginning to get to hard to teach, plus I wanted to go to school. I especially wanted the social interaction that I had not had yet. However when I entered the school system I was placed into a Magnet school for Engineering. Not your typical public school. I had to prove test scores were high enough and I had to maintain my GPA. So I don't believe that if I could accomplish that my mother did such a bad job. I am now a young professional in the engineering industry. Overall I would say if you have the time, energy, and skills to do it go for it. I would love to homeschool my own daughter, however I am a single mother and it doesn't work out. There are also statistics out there that say that homeschooled children are more advanced.