Homeschooling or Public/Charter Schools -Need Help Deciding

B., you know your #1 consideration is your son's health and well-being. Tennessee's rules on home schooling are very lax. They have no regulations regarding the qualifications of the instructors and, in most areas, they do not monitor the progress of the students. So the quality of education is pretty much up to you and, without a home school guild for guidance, your son might not qualify for high school when he reaches that point. (I know of one case where a mother who had not even graduated from high school, and could not pass a GED was allowed to home school her children and her daughter is three years behind her age group ... the state still allows this woman to home school her children!) That being said, Greensboro does have a wonderful support system for home schoolers and you should be able to find lots of help online and through the Board of Education for your area as well.
You will find home schoolers to be a very supportive group and always willing to offer advice and pointers and other helpful info.

If you do not feel comfortable with home schooling, check into small Cottage or Charter schools in your area. When you interview the schools, make sure they understand the situation and requirements with your son and that these are absolutely unbendable rules for his overall safety. You may also get recommendations in this area from home school families.

As you are already aware, it is highly likely your son's immune system will be stronger as he grows older and he may be able to go to a regular public high school when he gets older. He may really appreciate the interaction but, if he is home/cottage schooled when younger, he may find it too overwhelming and prefer to stay out of the public school system.

Good luck.

B., I only have a few moments at this time to reply but FIRST you live in one of the few states that totally supports homeschooling! I live in KY and it is awesome with not much restraints. YAY!

Go to HSLDA.org and find out your states laws/policies regarding homeschool as it is different for every state.

There also you can find support groups for your county, city or area.

Also go to TheHomeschoolLounge.com and get plugged in there it is a homeschool support site and there is something there literally for EVERYONE. State, style, boys, girls, sickness, etc... it is endless.

You may also contact me for more info if you chose. ;)
I just have to run as we attend a co-op that meets once a week and my daughter has 4 classes (enrichment) and today is the day... hope to talk to you more.

We Love Homeschooling!

BTW, I have a son who will be 21 soon and he was never HS and I have an almost 7 yr old daughter that has never stepped foot in a school building public or private... I can tell the difference! ;)

Health is everything and you need to do what is best for you and your family.

Hi B.,

I am so glad that you asked this question! I withdrew my son from the Brick and mortar school and enrolled him in SCVCS through K12. It was the best thing that i could have ever done.
for my son academically, as well as emotionally. He has processing difficulties and teachers were hard on him. Normally my son would become sick from being exposed to so many different people in the course of a day. Here it is October and not so much as a sniffle! He is excelling academically and is very happy.
It is better than homeschooling because you will have access to teachers through email and phone to help you. It is a free charter school and is held to state standards. It is still kind of new so this past year was i believe their first graduates but many were accepted to very notable colleges. I cannot say enough about it. We are thrilled!
Good luck, k12.com will take you to the home site, if you apply, and are accepted, you will be enrolled in your states k12 school. In other words, i applied through K12 and my son is now enrolled in SCVCS which is South Carolina Virtual Charter school

I'm actually starting to homeschool my kindergartner this week. There's a lot of really good information out there. Try looking for support groups on the internet- there are both religious and non-religious ones almost everywhere. There are pre-made curriculum that you can purchase or you can make up your own combination of books, playtime, and worksheets/video game.

In NC we have to send a letter of intent to the NCDNPE to state that we are homeschooling. We have to state test the children every year. Which is no biggee as you can order those online and you can choose your test.
I bought the book The Well-Trained MInd by Susan Wise Bauer. I pretty much follow her curriculum. It is classical. I also have the "What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know" series up through 6th grade.
My kids are involved in sports with the city rec and scouts. We are also very involved with our church youth group and a homeschool groups in our area.
Start attending homeschool fairs in your area in the next year or so and you will see what is out there.
You can do it. I didn't think I was doing the right thing for my daughter last year then I tested her and this year I pulled my son out. There is so much online to go through highschool.
Good luck. I love homeschooling but it isn't foreverybody.

If you want to homeschool, you should check out www.ncdpi.gov to get started. I've heard that around Greensboro, there is a great homeschool network, but I do not know how to contact them.
Good luck!

If you can afford it a private school might be more accommodating. Find out all your options and tour the schools. Interview the teachers, principles, and school nurse. Try to find a local homeschooling group and speak with the parents to see what curriculum they recommend. It will take a lot of research on your part, but it will be worth it to make sure that your son gets the most appropriate care for him.

Hi B..
We started homeschooling this year. You don't have to be genius to do this. That is a misconception. You would be amazed at what curriculum is out there and support provided through the curriculum makers, homeschool organizations, etc. Lots of people are doing this for various reasons. My daughter was born with multiple heart defects, bladder and kidney defects as well. I completely understand the desire and necessity to keep them as healthy as possible.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to know more. There are people who work full-time and homeschool. There are online curriculums, there are so many different ways to do it. It is amazing!

Let me know and I will help anyway I can.
W., Sellersburg

hello contact your school system ask abut homebound teachers.they come to your child. less chance of germs.and you tell them not to come if they have another child that is sick. and your child would still be part of the school system. try it you may not like if not then homeschool it is not hard to homeschool.

All the info provided is great, I just wanted to add a little from a different perspective. I wrote a paper on homeschooling in grad school and have taught a few home schooled kids in college. I even thought about homeschooling my own children, but decided against it for a few reasons.

There are those who say that homeschooled kids are not socially developed or as intelligent, and I can tell you from personal, non-biased perspective that this is not true. I have taught two homeschooled college students, and they were by far my two best students from my teaching time.

Most areas, even if you have to drive a few minutes to a more populated area, have homeschooling networks, so that you can have play dates or field trips with children to different places. Many also have sports teams, if your child is able to play when he is older. Also, these parents will be more understanding of any problems you have and will explain to their children when he has to wear a mask.

The others are correct, you don't have to have any special training. You might want to start getting him on a "preschool" schedule now, meaning have a definite "learning" time, so it won't be hard to adjust when he is ready for kindergarten. That way, you won't walk in one day and say, ok, play time is over, let's get to work. Such a schedule change may make it difficult for both of you to spend the time concentrating that you'll have to spend for homeschooling.

Good luck!!

B.,

I know you have a busy schedule, but you can still home school your son at least for the first few years (until he's about 8-9-10 when hopefully he'll outgrow some of the problems that you're currently facing). the advantage is that you can do the work in the evening or on the weekend or whenever you have time (and a lot of early school work you can do while you're doing chores -- early years is all about reading, drawing, writing, basic math) and if your son is interested in learning about animals, even better -- you can show him educational videos (that you can get from your local library for free) and books and take him to the zoo when he is feeling well.

as far as getting books & programs, i would look it up online. just type in home schooling and your area and see what pops up or go to yahoo groups and look up groups in your area or somewhere nearby, i guarantee there are plenty and some are church-based, some aren't, but you can talk to moms who do it & get some realistic advice, ideas, etc. i should add that while planning to homeschool, i wouldn't go too far ahead. who knows, maybe it will only be necessary for a few years & after that he'll be healthy enough to go to school. and by the time he'll be in 4th-5th grade, you won't need to homeschool him anymore.

also, while all this is going on, i would also do some research on foods that you can give your son to boost his immunity level. these include garlic, onion, ginger, pomegranate, citrus fruits, quinoa, blueberries, acai, honey and a few others. i don't know what your son's dietary restrictions are, but feeding him natural foods that promote healthy immune system might help him outgrow this phase faster plus hopefully would minimize the number of incidents in the meantime. it is more expensive, but i think he would benefit from it (and if you feed fruits/veggies that are in season, it's cheaper & less pesticides) and he'll develop healthy eating habits for the future. good luck!