Hello all, I'm new here and would like some advice, if anyone can offer any. At the end of October, my family and I will be moving from FL to CA. This has been somewhat of a tentative plan until now and we weren't really planning on moving until next summer. However, my wife was offered a travelling nurse job and that allowed us to push our agenda forward. It's a three month contract, November through January, but the location in CA is unknown at this time. Our goal is to use the money offered by this position to set ourselves up in Ventura County after the three months are up. So here is the problem: I have three children ages 11, 4, and 1. Obviously, I don't have to worry about the one year old. The 4 year old is not eligible to start K this year because her birthday is in November and FL's cutoff is the end of September, so I figure she will just start next year at 5, almost 6. So that leaves the oldest. Because we don't know where we will be for that three months yet, I wanted to look into homeschooling him for that duration and then get him registered into Ventura County schools when that time comes (unless, of course, he responds well to the homeschooling, but that's a different matter). So I guess my questions are: where do I find the required curriculum for CA 6th grade? What do I need to do to get set up for homeschooling in CA? Would it be better to just put him in a regular school for the three months and then switch him again at the end, rather than homeschool for that time? Is there anything else I need to be aware of? I know this is alot, but I can't seem to find anything online except for if you're already in certain states. There doesn't seem to be any help for moving and homeschooling, unless I've overlooked something. Any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated...the clock is ticking down! Thanks in advance.
You can buy accredited curriculum online. There are several popular choices, Abeka, Calvert, Sonlight. California is a great state for homeschooling. You will need to file an affidavit and that's pretty much it. Here is a great site regarding ca and homeschool. http://californiahomeschool.net/default.htm If you do not plan to homeschool your child longer than 3 months it might be in your best interest to ask the current school for the months you will be in limbo. I forget what it is called, but you're child is basically still enrolled with his current school, and they provide the necessary curriculum he would need.
Welcome to the spot! And to homeschooling! My first step-if my plan was to most likely re-enroll in PS-is find out the state standards for his grade-you should be able to find this on the state's DOE website. And I would try to teach him to the standards. Secondly-I wouldn't buy a full expensive curriculum if I was looking at just 3 months (but I don't buy a full expensive curriculum and I plan to homeschool until they graduate LOL so take that for what it's worth) I would just use my library card and the internet-tons of free stuff out there to offer a great education without plunking down a ton of money with a tentative plan to return to PS in such a short time. I'd maybe find a workbook for math and do living books for everything else... http://apps.simplycharlottemason.com/ http://www.hslda.org is full of info on laws and such. I'd also contact the district you plan to enroll him in and ask what their practice is for placing homeschoolers back in PS-this varies widely not only state to state but district to district within states. Some just automatically place them in a grade based on their age alone, others will test the child and they will be place in the grade they test in on a probationary period...
Thanks for the quick responses! I will get to work on these suggestions and hopefully something will pan out.
The one thing I didnt see yet is that here we only file in October. So we start school before we offically file as a home private school. Which is what you want to do, Emma's #1 fan will tell you this is the best way to hs in CA. Then you can choose whatever you want to teach , and it says that we only need to keep attnedance, we do keep roll but it does not say how many days a year to do school some years and other years they change the wording slightly. We have homeschooled here for 14 years this year! wee hoo! Each year we file afidavit and I believe that is with the County. My dh does the filing I just take the afid. to the library and stores to get my teacher discount cards etc. if you have any questions let us know. When do you move and to what area?
http://www.cheaofca.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=592&nodeID=1&parentID=508 n This has a better list of what to do in CA.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/mugrade6.asp state requirements for 6th grade We did English, ( bju 6 is the best!) Math Horizon 6! Awesome once AGAIN, For science we did a mix of co op and other stuff. PE ( though we do not have to keep tabs on that was team sports and tennis and Swimming) History and Geography we used Story of the World that year. We dabbled in Spanish here an there, and other languages.
