Hello all... my name is Dawn and I am the proud mother of 4.5 yo quadruplets. My husband and I are considering homeschooling... although many tell me I am crazy!!!! LOL Anyway, the question I have today is actually for my brother. His son is 14 yo and he has now failed his second grade. My brother has decided to pull him out of school and home school. Here is the problem for him.... he has done absolutely no research, and now he has to figure out a curriculm for his son who is in the 7th grade. Can anyone give me a link or multiple links to where I can find different links?? Thank you so much for reading this... sorry it got a little long.
Hi, Dawn! Welcome to Homeschool Spot!! If you can manage to keep up with 4 toddlers and stay sane, homeschooling will be a breeze. Here are a couple of books that helped us a LOT when we started thinking about homeschooling... Mary Pride's Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling: http://www.home-school.com/catalog/pages/mpguide.php3 We checked this out of the library and it was fantastic! It starts at the very beginning - why people homeschool, what homeschooling "looks" like, which kinds of kids (and moms!) do best with which kinds of curriculum, etc etc.. If you can't find it at your library with this title, look for The Big Book of Home Learning, Volume 1. It's the older edition of the same book. Mary Pride also has a website: http://www.home-school.com/ I haven't hung out a lot on the website, so I don't know if it is as helpful as her book. Cathy Duffy wrote 100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing The Right Curriculum And Approach For Your Child's Learning Style. We bought it at a Half-Price Books, but you could check at your library for it, too. It goes through a long list of curricula and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. There are SO many curricula out there, and sorting them out gets very confusing and overwhelming! She talks about whole "box" curriculum programs, which include practically everything you need for the whole year; as well as individual products (different math curricula, or language arts, or whatever), so it's helpful whether you want to go with just one company's stuff or mix and match. I think most people mix and match to some degree. Cathy Duffy also has a website: http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/ I hope that helps!!
1. Find out your state laws and requirements, if any. (My state, Texas has no requirements, not even registration) Check here..... http://www.youcanhomeschool.org/starthere/info.asp 2. Depending on that information you will either: A. Follow the requirements. They may have things you HAVE to do regardless of your child's needs or learning style, or family beliefs. B. Do your own thing. Begin to explore the vast options in Privately Directing the Education of your Children! Yea! 3. Stick around here and read read read. There is a ton of info here. There are as many options to homeschooling and curriculum, as there are learning styles of children. So if you can imagine, there are too many choices to list, here. We can help with direct questions, but you need to determine what your options are, first. So please go check your state laws.
There's always the online schools such as K-12 that give you the curriculum for free. It's not exactly homeschooling because it's set up like a ps system, but it would give him time to research and maybe change over for next year.
Talk your brother into coming here and visiting us. He really needs to be getting this info himself. Homeschooling is really a LIFESTYLE in many ways. Why has your nephew flunked? Is he trying but meeting resistance of some kind at school? Or is he hanging out with the wrong crowd and not bothering to come to class and do the work? If it's a discipline issue, is your brother willing to hang tough and see he does his work? If it's discipline, I would second a Cyber School. But if there are non-discipline issues, he might want to research what's out there and do his own thing. Believe me, there's LOTS to chose from!!!
Hi and welcome. Stick around here and read a lot. That is what helped me through the first year. Tell your brother to get on here too. It helped me so much when we started homeschooling our daughter in 8th grade.
There was just a thread on 7th grade! It may have some great info in them for your brother. http://www.homeschoolspot.com/showthread.php?t=13436 He needs to make sure he knows and understands the state laws, that is the most important thing. As far as curriculum, there are more options available to us than there are ice cream flavors in the world! My favorite book when I started.. and going into year 3 I still often pick it up and read from it.. The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. And kudos to you on wrangling quads.. if you can manage them as preschoolers, you can so manage them as homeschoolers! (And to think I feel like I'm going to go insane with a set of Irish Twins..lol) This place is an endless fountain of support and ideas, invite your brother to find us, and stick around!
I can't even imagine how nice it would be to only have to teach one grade at a time...lol. Welcome to the spot. I have no advice for your brother other than to join us
Welcome! I agree that your brother should be getting the info himself. Have him come here (or another board) and ask lots of questions. The first thing he needs to do is find out the laws for his state. Each state has different requirements for hsing. When it comes to curriculum, there's so many choices out there & without knowing anything about him, his son, or his reasons for hsing, we can't really offer a lot of suggestions on what might work.
Thank you Thank you all for the information. I do intend to have my brother check this site out. He is a Long Haul Trucker, and is on the road right now, so he asked me to look into it for him. They live in Mississppi, and as far as I can tell, the only requirement is to register as a homeschooler. Anyone know if there is more? Thanks Dawn
What about his wife? Assuming she's the one who will be doing the majority of the teaching, tell her to come by and visit us!
From the description at hslda.org, that sounds about right. It doesn't appear that he'll have to do anything other than send in a certificate of enrollment each year. That means that he should have plenty of freedom in curriculum, method, etc. Maybe, if you can give us some info about your nephew & the situation, we can offer some more help. Why has he failed twice? Is he having trouble understanding the work? Is he just not doing the work? Is he hanging out with the wrong kids & skipping class or getting in trouble a lot? Does he have ADHD or an LD? Is he gifted & bored with the work? Does your brother want to use a prepackaged program or does he want to piece something together on his own? Does he want Christian or secular materials? This kind of info will help us to make suggestions on curriculum choices or specific websites or books that may be helpful. There are many different methods of hsing, and tons of curriculum choices. There's also the issue of learning styles, how independant the child will be in his work (will he be expected to do most or all without parental supervision, or willsomeone be there working with him, supervising all of his work), and what level work he's actually capable of doing. There's generally a lot of factors that go into choosing materials, and without knowing anything it's hard to make recommendations.
Welcome!!! I think homeschooling your quads could be easier than some folks think (because like Amie mentioned, its one grade with 4 students rather than my 3 kids all at different grade levels)....anyway, your nephew sounds like a good candidate for homeschooling and if he's motivated could easily catchup. It doesn't actually take as long to learn a subject if you aren't being harrassed at school, changing classes, etc.....and it is definitely easier to decide what "socialization" you want your children to have.....let's face it, 30 other kids from families you do not know is not generally the best versus 30 kids (of all ages) from parents that you know If your brother is interested, maybe he could take his son on a run with him.....carschooling a bit could help him focus and get some bonding with his dad.....plus seeing a bit of the country at the same time. Rhonda
Not Sure What To DO????? Hello all I am Quadmommys Brother the one the thread is about. To give all some info Let me give some background. My son has gotten into trouble with the Law, He failed the 7th grade simply because he didn't do the work. His mother and I have been divorced for 12 years and she doesn't force him to do anything. I would like to take him on the road with me and home school him myself. This will remove him from the bad element that he is around and ensure he does the work. I have to come up with info to convince his mother to let me do this. My son is actually excited about school because of this possibility and I am afraid that if I can't convince her then he will do even worse this year. Thanks for any information you can and have given. David
Hello, David! That really gives us a much better idea of what to work with. Could you possibly do cyber school if you're on the road, or is that out? If it could be done, that might be the easiest route for you. How would custody work out? How long are you on the road? Think of all the "practical" math he could do in relationship to that! I think it's great you're trying to get hold of this young man NOW before he gets into any more trouble! Hope it really works out for you.
I think it's great that your wanting to take him on the road with you. Prepackaged curriculums might be the easiest for you since its allready put together. Much less work on your part that way. He's old enough that he would be able to do most of the school work by himself while your driving.
Welcome David! There are so many great books available on homeschooling. You can probably find one or two at a local library or bookstore. Several are short enough to read in a sitting or two. Almost any of these will give you a feel for why homeschooling makes sense esp. in your son's case. If he's excited that's even better! Some ladies have mentioned cyber school. Honestly, I don't know if that's the best route on the road. Maybe a computer based program like Switched on Schoolhouse if you have a laptop and can charge as you drive....but an actual internet school would be hard unless you have satellite internet service. There are so many "packaged" options that would work on the road. If he likes to read real books, you might contemplate Sonlight. It is pricey because you can buy all the books directly from them BUT you wouldn't have to worry about library books because you'd have them all right there and I don't know anyone who has trouble selling a Sonlight Core when they're done if they want too. Or any religious or secular publisher has the textbook/workbook approach if he likes that. Most don't require a great deal of library research either unless you just want him too. Getting him on the road, meeting new people along the way, some male bonding time......sounds awesome!! Rhonda
This is a fairly delicate situation. Tread gently with your ex-wife. I am sure she is feeling like a failure, because whenever your kids mess up, as a mom, it feels like it is all your fault. It might be helpful to have your son come up with an apology/contract sort of thing... about his failure, and what he thinks happened and a contract on how, if he is given this chance he will apply himself. So, go softly, you might go from the angle that at this age a boy needs the push of a Father, more than the comfort of his mother... but, I don't envy you, trying to convince her. I have just barely convinced dh, and we are kind of "on trial" this year too.
Perhaps you can seek her permission to go with a one year commitment. 9 times out of 10 the results will speak for themselves and things can continue from there. But then you wouldn't be asking for a major permanent life change. Just one school year. 9 months, really. I think you're on the right track with him and I will be praying that his mom agrees.
I'm not sure what advice I could offer.. but I do think that taking him on the road with you sounds like an awesome opportunity for both of you! I would check on cyberschool also, it would make it easier on you.. you wouldn't have to plan anything really.
