Is anyone planning on homeschooling or does anyone know of a great homeschooling network/websites/co-op? We are seriously considering homeschooling our girls and would love any information on how to get involved with a group. My oldest is almost two years and my youngest is 5 months. I would like to begin a network (preschool) pretty soon. We attend church but are not necessarily looking for a christian based curriculum. We are passionate about living a holistic life and are looking forward to connecting with like-minded families. We live in the East Valley (Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe area). Thank you for any advice, suggestions, etc.
Thank you, L.
My husband wants me to homeschool my son after he is done with first grade. Right now my son is in a public special needs preschool, I am also working on my bachelors in elementary education, I know you do not need a degree to do homeschooling. I want to teach kindergarten when I get my bachelors.
Hello L.,
For preschool I used lapbooks for my boys. They really enjoyed doing them and I had fun. I got most of my ideas for them at www.lapbooklessons.com. It is a really nice site with all sorts of help.
Also, my friend homeschools her children with great results. I know she researched all her curriculam intensely. Her blog is http://offthegridhomestead.blogspot.com/2008/11/not-so-ri.... I believe she has some homeschool resources on there as well.
my husband and i coach a wrestlign team and all i can say is tomake sure that the kids do wome kind of extracurricular activity whether attached to the local schools or with others for socialization. we have several kids that participate in our high school team and we see so many changes. they are timid and not socialized when they come in and we can see them develop their skills and ist exciting. the school system has to let them participate. also make sure when you home school that you register with the school superintendent of your are. we ha a senior last year that went to home schooling after the first semester. he thought he had graduated in the spring but at graduation time he found out that all of the classes he took didnt count for anything because he didnt register. that was so sad
You could try the Arizona Virtual Academy - it's an on-line program that provides materials, books, computers (pretty much everything) with local groups who meet and do field trips and social stuff. Go to www.AZVA.com to find out more about it. The enrollment process can be time-consuming but it looks like a good program. We were going to use it for our 12 year old (7th grade) son last November after we pulled him from the charter school he was attending when a teacher threatened him. We were in the process of enrolling him on-line when we were able to enroll him in the district school we preferred. We would seriously have used AZVA if our only other choice would have been another district school that we pulled him out of two years ago. Good luck.
Hi L.,
A WONDERFUL site that I frequent is <ldfr.com>.
Here is the link to the latest newsletter that I received from them this past week. Check it out. You'll find many answers to your questions there.
http://us.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.rand=4949c1sv9rmjd
They offer tons of tips and advice, even a blog that you can subscribe to.
I hope this helps!
Have a GREAT day!
Huggs,
L. (STAH mother of 5 very active and intelligent children)
Get connected with a group called "HERO." It is a resource for home schooling parents. They send out an email newsletter and helps you get connected with other home schooling parents in your area. There are dozens of home schooling groups around the valley and lots of opportunities for things like field trips, PE, etc. I'm in a group in Queen Creek, but there are many, many groups around and you can find one near you that matches your parenting style.
I've been homeschooling my daughter since 2001 and my son since 2002. When we took our daughter out of public school she needed to repeat the 3rd grade. Our son was doing good in public school so we left him in so I could have the first year to get her on track. Now they are in 9th and 10th grade and are loving it. They have enough free time to be in 4-H for the last 4yrs. The best place to get hands on info about homeschooling is the AZ homeschool convention go to afhe.org to find out the exact date, it's in July. It's held at the phoenix convention center. We've gone for the last 4 years just to get us geared up for the next year. They have school stuff for every age, parent taught lessons, dvd lessons taught by teachers and the parent is reinforcement. It is an an awesome experience, seminars for the parents and seperate geared towards kids and parents and you can get just about every question you have answered.
Good luck & have fun
Hi L.,
If you are still looking into homeschooling try Arizona Virtual Academy. My friend is a teacher for the organization and it seems to be a good program.
Look into Alpha Omega Publications. They have been around for a long time with their Lifepacs. When our church had a school, that's what our curriculum was. They now have several options besides the Lifepacs too. When they were based in the valley, they also had some activity days for the Home Schoolers in the valley, even across the state. They may know of some groups for you to check with too. Go to aop.com for their website.
B.
I started homeschooling my daughter and loved it from the beginning but I found that planning the curriculum can be time consuming and sometimes very costly. This year we decided to try arizona virtual academy which is still homeschooling but without all the headache. The provide you with a computer, everything for your curriculum, a daily plan to help you stay on task, and more. And all of this is free to anyone. You just follow all the provided curriculum at your own pace, and they get to include any extra curricular activities as schooling. There's also another school called Connections Academy. I highly recommend you go this route, I love it!
Check out the web page for the group Happily Educating Our Own. Just search the name and it should take you there. They have a wealth of info and contacts.
You need to read a book called "A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century" by Oliver DeMille. You can order it on Amazon. It advocates homeschooling, and teaching your children to become and think like leaders. I plan on homeschooling my children, and this is the method I will use, it is excellent! After writing this book, Oliver DeMille then started a University called "George Wythe University" you can check out their website at www.gw.edu Hope that helps!
L.
I dont home school my kids are too young and we have not decided fully about schools yet but I heard Hero are suppose to be a good resource
http://www.happilyeducatingourown.org/
I also heard Peah is a good resource too
http://peah.com/
Hope this helps
H.
I was home schooled for a short time and the curriculum that we used was http://www.americanchristianacademy.org/ The are a wonderful school that has a bible class and teaches both intelligent creation and the big bang theory thoughout all of the science courses, for a well rounded education. If I recall correctly they offer an actual diploma at the end of the k-12 course. This is a good idea if you are a high energy, motivated mom. In order to home-school a child you have to be able to motivate your kids, because they will rarely motivate themselves. And because I was homeschooled for a time I feel compelled to remind you that if you decide to do so, that you should definetly find activities outside of your home and even chuch for sufficient social growth. Girl scouts, dance classes, Fitness classes, and college offered family and kids classes are great for this. Best of luck!
Hi L.,
I just read your responses first and I have also heard good things about the Thomas Jefferson Education. They have a website too you can check out: www.tjed.org. I hope to be able to use this program for my son who is only one and any other children we may have. Good luck!
