Home school resources and where to start ?

[AJ Bodine]

Not only does it vary by state, but it varies by school district as well. We just moved from Wisconsin, (which is VERY relaxed in their laws), to North Carolina, (which is a bit more strict, they do have mandatory testing). I've been told that our local principal does not like homeschoolers and to expect that I might run into some issues with him. My son is currently 6, and in this state, we must register him as a homeschooler after he turns 7.

MBF, yes, at times I have been scared. In all honesty, I was really smart in school, but I hated it. I got very bored in school, which caused me to either be talking or daydreaming all the time. So needless to say, I was always in trouble! I wasn't sure that I started homeschooling for all the right reasons you could say. I wasn't sure if I was projecting my dislike for the public education system on my very outgoing, happy, smart child comparing him to myself at his age. How am I to know how he will respond to that kind of education?

For one thing, we've moved 6 times in his 6 years. Can you imagine if I would have put him in 2 different school systems already and he's only in 1st grade? That was the main reason I started homeschooling.

Not long ago, I posted somewhere here on this site about my fears about him not learning fast enough. He's really smart in math and science. But as for reading, at the age of 6, he could barely spell, read or write anything. The advice I received here, was to stop pushing and let him go at his own pace. One day, maybe a month ago, he looked up at a sign in a store, pointed and said, "hot pizza". My jaw dropped! I made such a fuss over him, I almost started jumping up and down. Since then, just within the last few weeks, he's added 100's of words to his spelling vocabulary. He's just taken off like a rocket. I hear him in his room sounding out words and spelling them, it's almost like an obsession now! Yesterday, he made a birthday card for his Dad and wrote a few lines about how much he loved him. He spelled everything correctly. I listened to him sounding out the words and sometimes he'd say, "is this a B?" and I'd say yes or no.

He had been shutting down in his reading, because I'd been pushing him so hard. I'd actually stopped reading to him, because deep down I was feeling like he should be reading already. I was getting frustrated and so was he.

Today we went to the library and checked out a Captain Underpants book. We had so much fun reading it together! Some pages he'd point to words and sound them out.

And, lastly...there are times I'm blown away at how well adjusted this boy is. His self esteem is so incredibly high. Today, something that somebody did hurt my feelings. I told my son about how I was feeling. His response was..."Mom, that's their choice. That's how they want to live their life, it's not at all about you, it's them". I said, "son, there are many adults that could learn some important life lessons from you, including me today".

So to sum it all up, yes, I'm scared at times. But as we go, it becomes clearer and clearer that what we are doing is a good thing. I don't know how many years we will do this, we plan to take it a year at a time. My son knows that the choice is always there for him to go to school if he desires.

Oh, one last thing. I hear over and over again. Almost every time we go out in public, how incredibly well behaved my son is. They ask if he's homeschooled and I say yes, and they say, "I can tell". (That speaks volumes doesn't it?)

[Lay-Lay]

AJ I'm pretty sure connection academy is availble in the carolinas (but check and see). School districts to my understanding are much more willing to work with this. Worth checking out at least.

[Rawmommie]

Unschoolers here! Unschooling is funny though, we have evolved with it over time and my older boys (11&12) are doing more structured stuff now b/c they want to prepare for college. It's on their terms though and it's very laid back. We LOVE it. I can't tell you how my relationship with my children has grown from homeschooling.

The boys were in school thru 1st & 2nd grade. They are a true testament to unschooling b/c they are not behind and they know things that many of their schooled friends haven't even learned yet because we just spend lots of time talking and discussing things and they have been free to learn outside of whatever grade they were supposed to be in.

Socialization is not an issue. My children are more socialized than school kids usually. How do you learn to be social sitting at a desk all day and not being allowed to speak to anyone? My children are surrounded by children of all ages in our homeschool group, which meets weekly and for birthdays, holiday's, etc. They are also out in the real world meeting people in stores, extracurricular activities, real social situations, not just interacting with children only their age. I have found that their social skills have grown leaps and bounds since taking them out of school. :)

Some great websites:
unschooling.info
enchantedlearning.com (great resource for worksheets, fun crafts, etc)
http://home.earthlink.net/~fetteroll/rejoycing/
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/...l/Missouri.htm

If you are looking for a curriculum, I have heard wonderful things about oakmeadow.com I'm thinking about getting it for my 6 year old daughter b/c I think she would love it!

[AJ Bodine]

Rawmommie~ You live in a fabulous state to homeschool! My FIL's farm is in MO and we'd considered living there for a while.

I like what you say about, how do kids learn socialization when they are taught to sit behind a desk and be quiet? My son is extremely social. And he has no problem talking to kids or adults of any age. We do need to find a homeschoolers group nearby. Due to being way out in the country, there aren't many here from what I've learned so far. Your group sounds wonderful!

[Rawmommie]

AJ, I moved out to the country from St. Louis and there wasn't a group out here that suited our needs(I wanted a secular group), so I started my own! I made a single page website and made an email list on yahoo and 2 years later we have a perfect size (about 10-12 regular families) group! It worked out really well.

Missouri is really easy, I've heard Illinois is even better. No requirements at all. In Missouri you have to log 1000 hours a year (which isn't a problem when you see all that the kids do each day) but there is no one to enforce the logging and no one that checks it. In fact, I only have to show my logging in a court of law to a judge if for some reason I wound up in court! ack! Anyway, no testing, no school interference, etc. It's wonderful!! :)

[Moisa]

AJ, I am in NC and you have nothing to fear from any principal or other schooling official for that matter! Only the people from the DNPE can knock on your door to request a copy of your end year testing, attendance or shot record. That is all they can look at. So it doesn't matter what your local teachers think personally about homeschooling because they have no say in what you do in your home. So take heart, there is nothing to fear.

I love this discussion and would like to write more, but my 4yo just asked me to read to her.

Kerri

[AJ Bodine]

Thank you for that advice Moisa! I'm not overly concerned, but wasn't sure how involved the local school district would or could get. I'm glad to hear that I have nothing to fear.

Rawmommie, IL is great, my parents live there. And WI is great too, all you have to do is send in 1 form per year and you are done. That's a great idea about starting your own hs group. I too, am looking for a secular group. I'll start one myself!