Who is homeschooling this year?

[Homesteadmom]

Gravelcreek, I do the same thing with my ds I correct his papers & show him what mistakes were made & why they are not correct. I really think it helps him to understand it better too. DD who is 2 also is learning to spell words as we spell our spelling words out loud every day & she repeats what we are saying. How cool is that? One thing people always comment on with ds is how large his vocabulary is & that he actually uses a lot of "big" words & uses them in the right context. then I get where does he go to school? He is homeschooled always gets the response oh no wonder he talks like that(meaning it in a good way). Keep up the good work.

 

[punkin]

When this thread was started, I was not homeschooling. Well, guess what - now I am. My son is in his senior year. Since 7th grade he has attended a small Christian based day school and homeschool academy. We had talked about homeschooling over the summer, but I really wanted him to finish as a day school student.

Last year, things really started going downhill for him. He is a good student (could be better) and is a good kid. His teacher (same as last year) seemed to become less interested in challenging students, almost like she was just taking up space. Most of his friends left because of her. It became such a daily struggle to send him to a place he hated.

He does the Pace program. There is really no difference except where he does his work. It's cheaper (just books instead of tuition), plus we save on gas. He seems happier at home and I can be more in touch with his education.

This was a really scary decision for us. His welfare and sense of well-being was our main concern. However, I think we made the right decision: when I told the administrator we were going to start homeschool, he didn't even ask why.

Hopefully, this will all work out and we won't have too many clashes.

 

[Homesteadmom]

Punkin, good for you. It can be a hard decision for some to make. And the transistion can be hard for some too. But I think it is well worth it. Maybe he will be a better student now too with the pressure off from the teacher.

 

[scrambledmess]

When do you start your school year? We started the week after Labor Day. We usually start when public school starts. But we had a rough year last year (new born twins) and continued schooling until the end of July. So, we took all of August off and didn't start until after the holiday.

Is this your first year? This is our third year.

What are your goals? To educate my kids The public schools here are pathetic at best. The boys may go to a private school next year. They are really into sports and there is nothing local to play after 6th grade. Yet another reason to find areas to cut costs. I would really like to keep them home though high school, but I want them to find what fits for them too.

Are you doing anything different or special? As last year wasn't the best year, the boys scored low on the yearly test in writing and grammer. So that is our big focus this year for the boys. My DD is starting school officially this year. So we have the big push to learn to read and basic arithmatic. She is doing great so far!

 

[Homesteadmom]

Scrambled, not sure where you live but here the public schools have to let hs'd kids join the sports team(or try out at least). they also have to allow them to participate in any extra curricular activity like FFA, DECA, FBLA, prom. So check out your area & findout if that is true there then problem solved.

 

[scrambledmess]

We are in Louisiana. There is a bill going to the state, but at the moment they can not participate on sports teams

 

[Homesteadmom]

Thats sad. You pay for schools in your property taxes so you should be allowed to use the programs you choose to participate in.

 

[the simple life]

Thats definitely not right, do you have a town team he can play on? I suppose though that would cost more than the school sports.
You would think that you could have access to the clubs and such in your own school district, especially where it is a public school.
Well, I hope the bill passes and changes for you.

 

[hsm6kids]

We are homeschooling for the 8th year. Our kids have never been in public school and by the grace of God never will be. There are so many reasons why I home school and as the kids around here get older I just keep adding to that list.
What actually got us started though was that my oldest daughter was very energetic and had a very short attention span. I knew they would label her ADHD and I didn't want her natural energy and curiosity labeled and then taken from her. She is extremely talented and I think if she had been in a public school setting she wouldn't have had the opportunity to develop those talents as she has here at home.
We school year round with summers being more relaxed and winter being more structured. They do the basic subjects but math is the only one we use a workbook for. There are no grades here we just progress to the next stage in math or what ever. They all read a lot and have very different interests so we always have discussions about all kinds of different things depending on what new interest one of us has. We just finished studying the holocaust and world war ll. Very interesting but I have asked if we might find interest in something a little less depressing for awhile as it was a very sad subject for all of us. We studied it for 2 mths. though because we found it very interesting and were amazed at how what is taught here in America about world war 2 is different than what really happened.
Anyway I am very happy with our decision to home school and I know we are a much stronger more united family because of it.

 

[PotterWatch]

When do you start your school year? We are always "in school". Because we are very loose homeschoolers, we don't have a specific start and end date. We are very much about life-learning, and of course that never stops.

Is this your first year? This is our third year.

What are your goals? My ultimate goal for homeschooling is that my children learn what they need to know to live the way they want. If one wants to be a doctor, I want him to have the tools he needs to go to college and start on that path. If one wants to be a farmer, I want him to have the tools and experience he needs for that. Most of all, I want my kids to find a path in life that makes them happy.

Are you doing anything different or special? I have been thinking of having them start doing journal writing a few times a week. We don't usually do writing and I think they are getting to an age where they could do more. We don't force anything, but I may start strongly encouraging writing by setting aside time for it every couple of days.