Homeschooling: Where Do I Start?

Hi D.-First off-you do not have to be a teacher or have a background in education to homeschool your children. MI is a great state for homeschooling! You do not have to register, and you do not have to submit any records, or subject your children to any testing. I am a mother of 2 girls, 7 & 8, and have homeschooled from the start. I would not have it any other way. There are many great books available on the subject you should get. John Holt and Sandra Dodd are very good resources, also, get on local homeschool chat lists-there is a wealth of information and activities! REACH is an Oakland County yahoo group, there is also MI Unschoolers, and Enrichment Hub. Give these a try, you will get very solid information and encouragement! Good luck!

Dear D.,

I was homeschooled for most of my education. It is a good alternative to consider in this day and age. We used 2 different curriculumns, ABEKA and Accelerated Christian Education or A.C.E. ABEKA is good for Kindergarten and the first couple of grades, but is designed for a classroom atmosphere so can get tedious in upper grades. It does provide a great academic foundation for early years though. A.C.E. is good for the years after ABEKA. It is self-paced, allowing the child to learn at their own speed. Also takes little parental time. Homeschooling is a great alternative, like I said, but must take commitment, diligence, and organization. I wish you the best. Any questions, feel free to contact me at ____@____.com and I will help all I can.

Sincerely,
S. Ballou

I've been considering it....and spoke with a mom (while staying in a Ronald McDonald house in MN) from Georgia. Check out http://www.hslda.org She said that for $8/month - no matter how many kids you're homeschooling - if you have any legal trouble regarding homeschooling - the HSLDA will defend you for free. She said it's the best $8/month you can spend. Now, there's so much more for me to learn and research....I won't start until my boys hit 7th grade. But - you need to know the Michigan laws regarding homeschooling before you really look into the books etc. Good luck!!

D.

First of all, congrats for considering homeschooling. Let me just share a personal story about homeschooling. My husbands ex took it upon herself to homeschool their son for a year. She never had college education and was not qualified to teach. This may have been fine had she worked at it and worked with him, but she didn't. Two years later back in public school, and now his teachers are talking about dropping him back a grade because he is so far behind and literally failing.

Taking on the responsibility of your children's education is massive. Consider the schooling that teacher's must have and the training they go through in order to learn how to teach children of different ages. I'm guessing since you're asking so many questions that you're not qualified to teach and I would hate to hear of another child that was "behind" and failing because of an unqualified "teacher".

All I can suggest is that you thoroughly look into it and make sure that you are fully prepared before making this decision.

Good luck!

D.!
What a great choice! You will find that there is SO much support in the home school community. We have been home schooling our 4 children for 16 years (it really is just an extension of what you are already doing). Our oldest daughter is 16 and is a lovely, respectful, intelligent young lady. There are wonderful support groups in your area and a local book fair on March 15 in Farmington Hills (www.homeschoolingworks.com)
I would be happy to talk with you if you would like to call me. Also, let me know if you are planning to be at the book fair and I will show you around.
You do not need to register or have any testing done.
I can tell how much you love your girls - You can do it!!
J.

D.- I have to agree with Crystal. Every year at the middle school I work we have a few kids who have been "home schooled" for all or most of their schooling come to our school to socially adjust to attending school before high school. Most parents find that at the secondary level the material gets increasingly harder to teach. My point is that I have yet to see one of these students complete the year or have a very easy time of it making friends and adjusting to school. Let me assure you that most of the students at my school are very nice and accepting of new students. Please keep the social and emotional in mind if you do decide to home school. I am also curious why you are interested in home schooling. I totally understand that some situations require home schooling or tutors:)

http://www.homeschoolingmichigan.com/supportgroups.html#M...

Follow that link. Email one of the many women's email links and ask them. They will help get you started.

If you'd like to find a way to make great money in the evenings to accommodate your home-schooling lifestyle, check out www.dbyjewelry.com. We have the best income potential for weekday evening home parties.

God Bless You. I wish you all the best home-schooling your girls.

D.