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I have decided to homeschool my three year old son. I have done a great deal of research for the past two years on education. I am loooking for advice from homeschoolers on the following. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1) Is anyone familiar with k12.com? Or other cyber charther schools in PA. Any thoughts on cyber schools?
2) Does anyone have advice on what to look out for in PA as far as education law goes?
3) Any advice on how to tide the public school propaganda at an early age.
4)Your best advice, from any homeschooler, on how to prepare for future family life while homeschooling.
Thank you!
Just know you are entitled to any after school programs and assistance that is provided to the public school children such as girl/boy scouts twirling cheerleading track, whatever organized groups there are. I was not aware of this until my son started second grade.
An excellent homeschool program is by Seton...... They are a Catholic Archdiosces based homeschool program with a complete curriculum from K-12. They are accredidated and provide a strict syllabus, books, tests, tutoring (phone and internet), recording of grades and maintenece of transcripts....
They also will provide legal support with a onboard staff of attorneys.....
The curriculum is faith based and uses Saxon Math......
You can find their web site at Seton.com
BTW, you do not have to be Catholic to use their program...
NeverGore
(1) Include instruction in the Bible. (2) As a general rule, don't be afraid to have high standards. Kids are usually a lot more capable than we sometimes think they are.
Oops, please excuse typos.
My best advice: look at it as a lifestyle and not as "school".
Try your very, very best not to have your "school" look like public school. That will be harder than you think it will be.
Don't start academics now at three years old! please!!!
Try not to educate the way they did in public schools.
Look and use materials that will fit your family and don't worry about what others are doing.
Require your child write an essay paper everyday--about anything, about something, just have your child write every single day--after grade 3. (most don't have much to say until then)
Don't make your children sit down and do school until 5:00pm.
pray, pray and pray somemore. pray everyday over your children and ask the Lord to bless your efforts.
We have just completed our ninth year of homeschooling. We have 3 sons - the oldest of which will be off to college in the fall (I don't know HOW I am going to handle that!) - and then we also have a son who will be a freshman and a son who will be a fourth-grader.
It has been SUCH a blessing to have been able to homeschool. Yes - there are THOSE days - but the good days far outweigh the bad.
If you want to send me a "freep-mail" - please feel free to do so, and I will try to help you out with any questions you might have. Also, there are many others here on FR who homeschool - so I am sure that there will be plenty of folks who can help out. :))
First, I just want to say: EXCELLENT decision! We've done it for something like eight years, have one in college HSed through high school, and it is one of the VERY BEST decisions we have ever made! It has been difficult and challenging to be sure, but we have NEVER regretted it.
My quick advice would be to know well why you're doing it, and let NO ONE discourage you.
I read hastily, so I don't know whether you want secular, Roman Catholic, or Christian material. We've used Bob Jones, A-Beka, Saxon math, Rainbow (?) spelling, and other miscellaneous. That's one of the beauties of HSing; you can flex and change according to what works.
Be flexible!
Dan
Contact the Home School Legal Defense Association (search for HSLDA on the web) for info on your state's legal situation.
Realize that to do the schooling right, you may need to face the reality of other tasks (i.e., housekeeping) may suffer.
Pray.
God Bless you!
This varies from state to state and how you may choose to homeschool. In our state I cannot do this because of the method we choose to homeschool. I don't really want it either because I don't want anything to do with the state schools.
Your input is needed.
We live in PA and we are, like you, in the decision making phase.
We sent our kids to a very nice Lutheran pre-school but our 5 yr. old is of Kindergarten age right now and the soon-to-be 4 yr. old is only one yr. behind.
We are at the point where we are wondering whether it would be a good idea to let them attend the township's K and start homeschooling with 1st grade or go totally radical.
Do you have any online resources? We are most interested in PA-specific info, especially legal issues, curicullum requirements, etc.
One thing we may be doing soon is attend at least one 'Abeka' meeting.
If you would like to share, please FRemail us. At this point we need info. almost as much as we do support.
Join HSLDA.
HSLDA
Boxsford - Very well said!! I agree - don't start academics at three years old!!
No More Gore Anymore: Just relax and enjoy your little one. The time goes by SO QUICKLY - as I said, I have an 18-year old who is off to college in the fall - and I do not know WHERE the time has gone. (sniff, sniff)
Also - what Boxsford said about writing an essay paper ever day is really good advice.
Of course, remembering to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY is the best advice of all.
I would suggest you don't start formal academics for some years yet, especially with a young boy. There's plenty of time for that later.
But, if you want to go beyond just reading and playing with your child, you might want to look into the "Five in a Row" and "Before Five in a Row" series. This is a very gentle literature-based program that provides learning activities coordinated with daily stories to be read by mom. Freepmail me if you would like more information.
God bless you for making this commitment.
These guys are on-line. Might give you some more ideas.
http://www.k12.com/
Oops, I forgot something.
There are many active homeschool discussion boards here. This has always been a good source of practical information and advice from other families all over the country. It also has lots of used curriculum for sale.
I have decided to homeschool my three year old son. I have done a great deal of research for the past two years on education. I am loooking for advice from homeschoolers on the following. Any help would be greatly appreciated.Congratulations. We have a three year old as well and are kind of sorta starting up with some schooling. Pretty informal stuff at this age, but they really enjoy little activity books and things like that. As he gets a bit older I recommend the Seaton program, recommended above. It is Catholic, but I believe they have some non-Catholic options. All around it is a very experienced and well rounded program.
4)Your best advice, from any homeschooler, on how to prepare for future family life while homeschooling.Support groups are very helpful, I think. Home school families are often treated a bit poorly by others, they think you are a bit odd as they can’t imagine why you wouldn’t send your kids to the same school they send their kids too. After all, they are doing it, so it can’t possibly be harmful to their children can it? You need to prepare for reactions to your homeschooling, and having others to talk with helps. Going it entirely alone is hard.
There are often home schooling conferences in the larger cities. I would see if you can find one somewhere near you, either by a web search or by calling some of the larger organizations and see if anything local is going on. These conferences are great places to make some contacts and learn about local laws.
Finally, many of the Catholic schools, especially at the more conservative parishes, have programs for home-schooled children. You can have the older kids take part in some of the classes, such as the science labs (I assume you can’t afford to set up your own science lab), language classes, etc. Others simply allow the kids to take part in the sports. This is often a great way to (1) get you kids social contact and learn to participate in team activities, and (2) for you to make more contacts. You may have to search a bit for all these things, and of course your community may not have as many resources, depending on its size.
Good luck,
patent +AMDG
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MasonGal, I did not homeschool my oldest but when he finally left home--oh, it was the hardest thing. I was mad for a while that nobody said to me, "Be prepared, this hurts a bit". So, I'm saying it to someone; I'm saying it to you. Be prepared.
The best part of it all, however,my son was well prepared to be out on his own. He went to public school but we did "home teach" him. He learned much from his parents and we protected him as much as we could while in the state school. (looking back of course I would have home schooled him).
Planning and prepare your children to leave home,you will have a lot less trouble letting them go. Sorry I'm getting off topic here. But, actually, that is what homeschooling does: it prepares your child in the best way for their future.
Thank you, too, for confirming my above advice. :)
Find a local home school organization. The library gave me the phone number of our area's leader when we decided to home school 2 years ago. Contact that person, as well as H.S.L.D.A. Know your state laws, and to echo the advice of some others,
PRAY!
The Lord is good, and He'll bless your commitment to raise your child up in the way he/she should go. Welcome aboard!!
My advice? Just stay the course!!!
--lots of good advice here already. I especially liked Boxford's advice.
Don't start academics too early. That is, don't do anything that stresses your child out. Feed the natural desire to learn that small children have, but don't make it a burden for him. I always set a goal to have my children reading by age five, if possible. But, if the child isn't ready, I don't push it. So, while I don't push academics (seatwork) at an early age, I encourage it if the desire is there.
If you're thinking about homeschooling, I'm sure you're teaching your child his colors, numbers, etc. Those thing can be done without any formal schooling. It's amazing what kids learn in the course of casual, but directed conversation.
We've homeschooled for ten years now. I started thinking about it when my oldest was three. It's a lot easier to homeschool when you start from the beginning. You have time to try different methods and curricula and to make mistakes.
The most important factor in your success is your desire to be successful. You don't need to have a PhD. You don't have to be a brain surgeon. You have to love your child and want what's best for him.
May God bless you as you start down this road. I have learned so much about myself and have grown in patience and love for my children. I have also learned a lot academically. I'll tell you, it is such a joy to see my children getting to the point where they know more than I do (academically!).
Candi
Thanks for helping to prepare "me" for my oldest leaving home. I didn't realize that you had been through that already. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway - you are the one who can help me in that area.
So - what would you suggest that I do in these last two months to prepare for his "going away" to college - only one hour away --but still...
Homeschooling has been so rewarding - I am so thankful that we had the privilege to do so.
Patent: We have used Seton off and on for the nine years that we have been homeschooling, especially for my son's 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. In fact - he is still "finishing up" with a couple courses of Seton's before going off to Transylvania University this fall.
Did you receive my private reply to you containing some PA Homeschooling URL's a while back?
Cheers.
Yes, thank you. I meant to reply to you. The links were most helpful. I have learned a great deal from you and the other freepers already! Thanks for taking the time to help me out! I respect the advice given in this forum.
Hi No More
I homeschooled one child 1st through 4th and the other 4th through 7th. They both went to school this year and I'll tell you what I think the most important things they got out of homeschooling were. They got a great sense of who they are and what they can accomplish. They know that they had a great life before school and do not depend on school or what goes on there to define their happiness. I think this is important because going to school, homework and school sports takes up a LOT of time.
They are also very independant in their school work. Parents are always talking about how stressful homework is and how much time they spend with their kids on homework. My kids get their work done and sometimes I don't even know when they have some sort of project going on. They know it is their responsibility.
With a little one, I would make sure he learns to read and comprehend really well - when the time comes - and I would make sure he really understands his math.
There are SO MANY resources out there. Have fun checking them out and have fun with your 3 year old!!!!!!!!
1) Is anyone familiar with k12.com? Or other cyber charther schools in PA. Any thoughts on cyber schools?
I've been reviewing the curriculum. I have a 4 year old that I am thinking of home schooling next year using this program. Seems like the course work outline is very comprehensive, but I have no idea how rigourous the program will actually turn out to be.
Note that PA will pay for the program and the full computer and stuff. Check the link for the PA Virtual Charter School on the K12 web site. There are also various other homeschool alternatives that are less expensive, but are not covered by PA for costs. Note you will have to add your own religious instruction if you are so inclined. I think K-12 is trying to keep it high in moral instruction, but religion neutral to make it appealing for public institutions.
2) Does anyone have advice on what to look out for in PA as far as education law goes?
No! Check the Home School Legal Defense Association and in fact you probably would want to support this organization.
3) Any advice on how to tide the public school propaganda at an early age.
Educate yourself in specific subjects like economics, history, religion and environmentalism. These are the areas where the public schools seem to concentrate their propaganda. Also learn to debunk the sex education myths. The best defense is a good offense. Most problems occur because we are ignorant of the truth!
BTW, the new Tax Bill signed by the President has various education goodies tucked into it. It includes tax breaks for K-12 education for the first time ever. Seems you can use the education IRA monies for K-12 which accumulate tax free and then claim a deduction for the education expenses. Check the final bill provisions. This is the first step made toward vouchers or a specific education tax credit!
Get ready for the liberal "how-are-they-going-to-get-their-socialization?" chorus.
My wife and I homeschool seven children, and they have tons of friends from our Church, not to mention each other. "Socialization" is absolutely not an issue for us, nor is it a real issue for more than about 1 HS family out of 100.
But brace yourself for a never-ending drum beat of questions about "socialization."
You have gotten some excellent advice. I would like to also suggest you check out Five in a Row. For his age it would be Before Five in a Row.
They have an *excellent* web-site that is almost an on-line suppport group. www.fiveinarow.com.
You are doing the best thing for your son...Rest in that knowledge and read,read,read aloud to him. Blessings!
What ages? I would love to see your bibliography of reading material. A return to the classics, interpreted in the traditional manner, would be an asset to the critical thinking development of any student. This, alone, would be a quantum improvement over public school.
LOL
That reminds me of that song that goes to the tune of 12 days of Christmas:
On the first day of homeschooling my neighbor said to me: "Can you homeschooling le-gal-ly?"
On the second day of homeschooling my neighbor said to me: "Are they so-cial-ized?" "Can you homeschool legally?"
On the third day of homeschooling my neighbor said to me: "Do you give them test?" "Are they socialized", "Can you homeschool legally?"
On the forth day of homeschooling my neighbor said to me: "What about P.E.?" "Do you give them test", "Are they socialized?" , "Can you homeschool legally?" and so on. It's so funny.
I have to go, my children's lunch is cooking and it's now ready. ~Boxsford
We use ABeka and love it.
I firmly believe that in the younger grades (K,1st, and 2nd) you need only concentrate on the 3R's and then gradually add on other subjects. ABeka history and science at this age level are also excellent and not over done.
The other day my wife announced that our 9 year old daughter had actually washed the pots and pans along with the other dishes. This is a rare thing and I said "It's easier to teach them to read than it is to teach them to do the dishes".
Then I started thinking of the truth and significance of that casual statement. Have you ever watched a young child do the dishes? It will bring tears to your eyes. They are so slow and their little hands are uncoordinated and unsure. They think about every step. The kitchen doesn't fit them because they are too short. They do absolutely everything wrong and it is amazing that you have any dishes left when they are done. This is only washing dishes. Our 9 year old has been reading for 2 years and teaching her to read was a snap. She is one of 8 kids and the 4th that we have taught to read.
So the significance of this is that the world and the educators of the world have build themselves this empire. They have most people thinking that only they can teach children because they have the money, the college degrees and the blessing of God and Government on their side. All untrue.
My advice is that you enjoy teaching your kids knowing that you are giving them a 1000 times better start than they would get otherwise and DON'T let the world bring worries to your heart that you are not doing well enough.
This reminds me of something!
A woman at our church asked me how my kids are socialized because they are homeschooled. She felt that kids needed to be with other children often as homeschooling keeps them away from others.
Yep, we also hear it from those in the church!!
My wife has homeschooled our kids for years. Contact her at SKILLEN@CHARTER.NET
She is in so many organizations, has written several syllabus', sat on homeschool and church school curriculum committees, and hosted NG's. We litterly live around home-school and we love it. We simply have intergrated learning into everything our kids do. We were scared to death when we started. I actually had my wife start our daughter a "year early" just in case we screwed everything up. Now we have been a year "at least" ahead. Sherry can point you to a lot of groups, organizations and supplies.
We're starting our sixth year homeschooling and have learned much in that time. Rather than using a 'canned' text approach why not give some thought to 'living books' and literature based unit studies? try www.fiveinarow.com (also known as fiar or rowers) for some information and message boards with *great* support for this curriculum.
Well said and Amen!
***One thing we may be doing soon is attend at least one 'Abeka' meeting.*** Abeka is well known and advanced...perhaps you would consider another approach as well? www.fiveinarow.com
A wonderful resource is http://homeschooling.about.com. You might also want to buy or check out (if your library has it) the book Homeschooling Your Child For Free by LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski. There are many wonderful resources.
First, good decision.
Second, I assume both husband and wife are agreed in this, right?
Third, Dan was right, above, when he said you should know WHY you're doing this.
Fourth, do internet searches on "delight directed learning" and learn why this approach works better for many children. I use Copernic to search many search engines at once. If you don't have this app, you might want to get it, or something similar.
With one child (11yod) I sure get the socialization comments as well! Never mind that my daughter is well spoken, has manners, is able to converse with people of all ages, and isn't peer dependent..haha! Since she is an 'only' we do make certain she spends time with other children on a regular basis. I care for a good friend of hers on Fridays (also an 'only' and homeschooled but mother must work part time) and they now have a sister relationship. Our daughter is involved in a girls basketball league, church youth group, convelescent outreach, friends, coop activities w/in our homeschool support group. We have loads of family time and she actually enjoys being *with* her parents! We're blessed. <><
All the above are great ideas--Saxon for math! I had fun with art--getting water colors, charcoal, acrylic--mixing colors (primary) finger paints the kids love and great for making secondary colors. The Latin curriculum is great!!!and easy to follow even if you never had it...I had Latin in high school but didn't remember much. The child could translate the Oddysey and Illiad. Fun!! Latin is the root of a lot of English words and it is easier to learn than Greek. I had Caligraphy and spent a lot of time on diagraming sentences. I loved homeschooling as much as my daughter....She did ice skating for PE and YMCA basketball and clay class at the Parks and Rec. She even took an Oil painting class.
All the above are great ideas--Saxon for math! I had fun with art--getting water colors, charcoal, acrylic--mixing colors (primary) finger paints the kids love and great for making secondary colors. The Latin curriculum is great!!!and easy to follow even if you never had it...I had Latin in high school but didn't remember much. The child could translate the Oddysey and Illiad. Fun!! Latin is the root of a lot of English words and it is easier to learn than Greek. I had Caligraphy and spent a lot of time on diagraming sentences. I loved homeschooling as much as my daughter....She did ice skating for PE and YMCA basketball and clay class at the Parks and Rec. She even took an Oil painting class.
All the above are great ideas--Saxon for math! I had fun with art--getting water colors, charcoal, acrylic--mixing colors (primary) finger paints the kids love and great for making secondary colors. The Latin curriculum is great!!!and easy to follow even if you never had it...I had Latin in high school but didn't remember much. The child could translate the Oddysey and Illiad. Fun!! Latin is the root of a lot of English words and it is easier to learn than Greek. I had Caligraphy and spent a lot of time on diagraming sentences. I loved homeschooling as much as my daughter....She did ice skating for PE and YMCA basketball and clay class at the Parks and Rec. She even took an Oil painting class.
One freeper said it best. When asked about socialization, he told the busybody that he takes his son into the bathroom once a week , beats him up and takes his money.
We looked at homeschooling and decided it didn't fit the youngest right now. If we were to do it, I would concentrate on giving them lessons outside the home. Good places locally for us would be museums, farms, libraries, historical houses, wineries, springs and most of all, college campuses. We live within 25 miles of two large universities. They are a store house of information. For instance, I took my kids to see the rock samples in the Geological Dept. They also have a dinosaur skeleton. The Wilderness Museum at Stanton, Va has several examples of housing from the 1700's. The museum personnel actually live in the houses, cook and grow their own food.
Thanks for all of the great advice. I am confident that I am doing the right thing. I believe that God is leading me through this. My number one reason for homeschooling is that it is my duty to my family, my child and to God. Another reason for homeschooling is that I do not want my child socialized... by socialists. I am certain that I will be a better teacher to my son than any teacher or stranger could be.
I have gotten involved with my local school district.. ( one of the best in PA) and I have discovered first hand that there is an agenda on the part of administrators and teachers alike to "socialize" our children. My question for them is " what about learning and the ability to think for oneself?" Socailization is easy.
I do not plan to offically start "teaching" until my son is ready. Until then I think just offering him the right to have passions of his own is enough. His interests give us many topics to explore. I will never regret not sending my son to a government school. Someday I know he will thank me for not forcing him to become a government zombie. Until then... I have so much work to do to learn about the world of homeschooling. Thank you for all of the advice and effort!
Here's thread #8 on the subject of education. Within these 8 threads are hundreds of links regarding education (corruption, biased, government curriculum AND A number of homeschool links)
Free Republic links to education related articles (thread #8)
Source: Free Republic contributors; Published: 3-20-2001
I do not want my child socialized... by socialists.
Amen. IMHO, "Socialization" = desensitizing children to the cesspool of modern depravity.
"...the ability to think for oneself"
Sister, you just hit the nail on the head! You are going to be just fine! ~Boxsford
Homeschool Flag
BTTT
You know, I think a thread could be started on that topic. "How did you know your child was ready to leave home on their own."
My flip answer would be, as soon as he knew how to recognize and not vote for a liberal.
An hour away!!!! I joke but it will still be difficult. It is not how far they move, it's the reality of their growing up and our job nearly completed.
Seriously, it was quite novel for me the way 'I knew that I knew' he was ready. My son was in his late teens (I already knew he had a personal relationship with our Lord) but he was still dependent on his mom and dad. One day we were out at our little barn construction site and because my husband took quite ill while building that dang thing, my son and I had to sort of take over.
I would go up to the sick room and ask my poor sick husband how to calculate the math to put in the posts--all he would do was groan and turn over...lol.
It finally came time to put the header up. (That's the major board that goes across the top of the entire barn) My husband too ill it was up to myself and my son. I was terrified of going up to the top and doing anything so my son had to figure out how to get that header up--alone.
He went to the neighbor and borrowed their skid loader, put the header in the skid loader and lifted it up to the height he needed. All by himself my son figured out how to get that header board up and then somehow (well, I knew how, we prayed over EVERYTHING we did) he got that header up. I was in awe and told him that from that moment on in our lives I would always see him as a man and as someone that could take care of himself. He knew to pray to ask help and then he knew to move forward and just do it.
Sorry this is so long. I just love that story--ha! It was sort of a rite of passage for my son. Unintended. The Lord will always show us in His timing when our children are ready to finally leave.
3) Any advice on how to tide the public school propaganda at an early age.
4)Your best advice, from any homeschooler, on how to prepare for future family life while homeschooling.
Read and enjoy my MS thesis, Social Maturity of Home Educated Children.
Our 3 sons have had Latin -- my oldest - the 18 year-old going off to college in the fall - has had 6 years in Latin - and has read Julius Caesar in Latin. Another son, having just completed the 8th grade-is in the Henle II - High School Latin Book- and my soon-to-be 4th-grade son just completed his first year of Latin.
We also use Saxon.
Talk about socialization - it wasn't even a word years ago - was it? Anyway - our sons are too busy, I think!!! Baseball, tennis, scouting, Youth Symphony, Youth Groups, on and on.... - and I used to worry if they were getting "out" to be with their friends often enough.. Silly me.. :))
The name sounds so familiar - I subscribe to a state homeschool newsletter (practically a magazine!) - does your wife write articles for it, I wonder?
Thanks... good read.
I do not have any advice for you that you have not already received on this thread. I just wanted to wish you all well!!
In addition to the excellent link that "stand, watch and listen" gave you, I also used these ...
Thanks. How do people handle it if their child has a desire to go to school? Do you have any other resources for that topic? Thanks again!
Well, I only homeschooled a couple of years...so I'm not as experienced in that area. I started when my kids were in highschool and my youngest was in 5th grade.
Contact your state homeschooling association and find out about "group programs" for homeschooled kids. (there would be a link on my webpage I gave you that will help you find your state association. they can offer advice/answer your question too) It really helps their social life.. but honestly, I've not ran into that problem per say... my kids didn't like the experiences they were having at their school, so it was good. It's not because they weren't socializing well enough..they didn't like all of the delinquent activities. My kids weren't considered nerds either. They along with numerous other kids who went to private knew bad when they saw it.
I will freep mail you with some other links provided me by fellow freepers. I also have many good books on the subject. Good luck!
I homeschool my two sons. My advise is to use a program from an accredited school which has the lesson plans, books, and tests. This will really be helpful as all you will have to do is follow the program, and you can add or delete as you feel necessary.
I use Seton which is Catholic and out of Virginia and they are really great.
To be honest I don't know. She is passionately involved but she is in bed while I am reading this (2:11 AM) so I'll broach the question in the morning.
Well did you get any info?
I am going to homeschool my 3rd grader and need to notify the School District here in Virginia by August 15th. I am looking at ABeka. Any homeschool advice re: Virginia would be appreciated.
I'm trying to figure out if I have to enroll him in the Correspondence Course (apx. $700) or if I can just buy all the books (apx. $500) and do it myself (fairly sure I'm capable of that). Could I just send them my receipt for the books, list of titles, etc.?
Not sure if this is approved by Virginia or not because of those crazy SOLs.
HELP!
I am not sure. Have you posted to the general public here at FR? I am sure that there must be someone out there much more qualified to answer those questions than i am. I found out a great deal here from just posting questions under misc.. Good luck. Freep mail if I can help you any further.
homeschool_list
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