Questions Re: Homeschooling

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Good Luck
V

I asked ma respected mom homeschooler I know, and she said this: "I would recommend reading two books to start. The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Raymond and Dorothy Moore and For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay.
Hope that is a help."
Best,
R.

I've been homeschooling for the past nine years and obstacles I face are when we're having a hard day and I feel like putting them in school just to have a break from them for 7-8 hours! Really. Getting started can be as easy as doing a web search but you have to have an idea of what you want: Christians education, one where there is a teacher who comes in once in a while to check on you, one where they tell you what to use (Somis), support group where you have to participate in some way (teach or help), etc. It can be overwhelming at first so we usually recommend NOT going to the curriculum fair in Pomona the first two years because you'll be overwhelmed by all that's out there. My kids were ready to do school by the time they were four (my daughter, three) so why hold back when they are ready? I started off using Abeka mostly, now I supplement with other things as well as my kids have grown. It's worth it for the flexibility and the knowing what they are learning. It's not for everyone.

I homeschool my kids (3 of my 4 are school age). I signed up through a public charter, Gorman Learning Center - which serves LA, San Bernardino and I believe Orange Counties. I have home schooled them all with the exception of 1.5 years for my oldest, who is in fifth grade, and 1 year for my second born 2nd grader - she went to public Kinder. I have found that in public school they came home with as much home work after being in school all day as I had to do TOTAL to finish the required work for the day. They are advanced and do extremely well in school. Our charter was very easy to get started. You just call the school, they send over an Educational Specialist (or whatever they call them) and you sign up. That person will help you pick curriculum. If you find that a curriculum set you selected isn't working for you, you can always switch to something different at any time. The cost is completely covered by the public school system and in fact they even have classes like music, karate, swimming, horseback riding you name it, that you can enroll in through outside vendors and the school pays for it up to a certain dollar amount per semester or year. Imagine how much they aren't spending on a building etc, so they have the funds to let you choose extra curriculars that are of interest to your child.

The best piece of advice I would give is that if you are going to do it be organized. Put together their work for the month all at once. Divide it down to a folder for each week. Then let them work through a week at a time. You may find that, especially once they get in the groove of it, they will finish a weeks work in just a few hours. You can spread that out over a few days and plan educational field trips and park days with other home school students on the other days.

My mom took over the work of home schooling my kids when I went back to work full time post-divorce. She is extremely organized and they know that if they finish their work by Thursday that Friday is field trip day. Sometimes it's just a trip to the library (they do this on work days as well sometimes) but other weeks it is a trip to a museum or park day, apple orchards, or the March field air museum. It's just so much fun for them.

My biggest challenge are the people who thing I'm a wack job for home educating. I'm sure enough of my decision though that I don't let that get me down.

We've been homeschooling for 3 years (my son is now 14 and my daughter is 10.) We were worried, but it's VERY easy!!!! There's all different styles of homeschooling. Some people "unschool," which means no formal curriculum or lessons, and you let the child tell you what they're interested in learning. Some people follow a strict 6 hour schedule, with 15 minute recesses, just like a "regular" school. We're somewhere in the middle. :) The most common way is to buy a packaged curriculum, with the lessons all laid out and answer kleys provided.

I'm a big believer in finding the educational value in everyday life - after all, real life is what we're preparing kids for. My kids groaned the day I told them we were having a "cross-curricular project." I told them, "You'll be doing reading comprehension, following directions, working with fractions and watching chemical reactions." They slunk down in their seats and moaned until I handed them a bag of chocolate chips and told them to make cookies.

We use purchased curriculum, classes at our local co-op (my kids have taken tennis, fencing, hands on science and sewing classes, among others), the library, the Internet, reading materials, educational TV and field trips & travel to build our school time. My kids see other homeschool kids at co-op, field trips and weekly park days, and their other friends are still available after school and weekends.

Look around on the Internet and talk to other parents. You'll find something that works for you. :)

I had a very easy time getting started with homeschooling. I signed up with K12 and they send you all the materials (books, lined paper, art supplies, science supplies, etc.) plus they give you a free computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, microphone, etc. You have to return everything if/when you stop homeschooling. All you need to do is maintain an internet connection. All the lesson plans are done for you and are online, along with lots of fun educational study games. My 7 year old can't enough of the Addition Bingo game!

We meet with a state licensed teacher once each quarter to submit work samples. Other than that, it's up to you to get the work done as fast or as slowly as you like.

We LOVE the flexibility it gives us. When the kids are sick or if we want to go on vacation, we don't have to worry about them missing school assignments. We can do school anywhere there is a computer. This came in handy when we decided to visit family back East for 3 weeks over the holidays.

The biggest obstacle for us is getting enough friend time to satisfy my girls' needs. They're usually finished with their school work by lunch time, but of course there are no kids around at that time to play with because they're all still in school. I've had limited success meeting up with other homeschoolers because many of the families who homeschool in my area are hardcore religious folks. Nothing against them, but that's just not our bag.

Make no mistake, homeschooling is a real job and you will spend a lot of time preparing, teaching, grading and organizing. But it can be so rewarding to be the one introducing your child to new ideas and skills.

Best of luck to you in whatever you decide.

Greetings ~

Please check out this web-site http://www.cfssd.org/portal/Default.aspx?tabid=89. It is a group of families who are more then willing to help walk you through your decision. Good Luck!

Hi
We have been homeschooling for almost 3 yrs now and love it!!! We are considered virtual homeschooling. We are with CAVA using the K 12 curriculum! It was so easy to sign up we went online and filled out a form for more info. They got back to me in about a day and then we had to take a couple of test to see where my Daughter was at in her schooling.

We were then mailed all our school supplies in about 2 weeks, including a computer and printer and books and art supplies and stuff to do science experiments! I5t was like Christmas at my house!

We love this schooling cause they make the schedule for you and it is sooooooo flexible! My daughter learns better by doing blocks of work so we do that! Our teacher is so understanding and willing to work with us and let us teach to our daughter the best way for her to retain the info!

If you want to check it out go to WWW.caliva.org