My current plan is to send DD to public school (first grade) until we move, then HS. Problem is we are moving end of September/first of October and I don't even know what cirr. I want to order! I have had several online friends recommend Math-U-See and Explode the Code so I think we're going that route, but not 100% certain yet. Am I crazy to think I have time to move, order books, and set up a nice plan for school all within the next 2 months? Also, the law for LA (as far as I can understand) states children do not have to attend school until age 7. So do I need to get the approval from the board sometime before her 7th birthday (2/09) or do I need to do that as soon as I pull her out of her current school here in TX? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Sorry, I needed to get that out, LOL. Too many things running through my head at once!
Nope. You aren't crazy. I've been exactly where you are except we were near the end of the kids' school year. My best recommendation might be to NOT start her in school in Sept but keep her at home and do the 3 R's......or send her .....esp. if you need her out of the house while you're prepping to move (I know that doesn't sound very nice but you know what I mean :lol....but really start her 1st grade year once you move. First grade is NOT that hard to do unless you want to pull out all the stops (while that's nice with 3 kids, its hard for me to do that with everything). The minimums for a first grader would be reading, handwriting, basic grammar (capitals, punctuation,etc), math.....add a smidge of science/history as you want mostly thru discussion/books/field trips. Most ps 1st grades do space for science and that seems to be about it (from my girls ps experience). As for filing the paperwork in LA, I'd get there and get settled and then worry about when to file. If she's not 7 and the compulsory age, you have time. As for curriculum, just get the basics before you move. You can always add later. As long as she does some reading skills and math, she'll be fine and NOT "behind" where you want her to be.
Oh yeah, Explode the Code is good. We use it with Hooked on Phonics. We have the books but I'm pondering getting the new online version through the homeschool buyers co-op (which is free to join btw). I think my son would like ETC more if he didn't have to write so much We use Horizons for math so I'm only vaguely familiar with MUS (although I just wanted the demo because my oldest needs a pre-alg program after Horizons 6). Rhonda
Up until a week ago we were going to send our DD (7) to PS this year and HS her next year. She'd be going to a new school. However, after being on this board we are going to HS her THIS year. I don't have any curriculum yet, but we're working on it. I don't think she's going to be "behind" and I don't see a point in sending her for another year if she's not going to learn anything. You could totally HS your child now! Why not???
You can do it! No, I don't think it is crazy. In fact I don't think it will hurt if she has some time off from school during the move as you get settled. That is a major "real Life" learning experience. I have heard many people suggest a time of "deschooling" when moving from a traditional school expperience to a homeschool experience. Another option would be to homeschool the entire year so that she doesn't have to deal with the schooling change in addition to everything else that will be changing. I haven't used Math-U-See so have no first hand advice with that. I am using Horizons Math and my son is doing well with that. He is using Explode the Code and we like it so far, but haven't gotten very far yet. Good luck with whatever you decide
There's a lot of free stuff online for 1st grade, I taught my daughter with Webster's Speller free online--Blend Phonics is also free online and has better instructions, but doesn't cover as much phonics. You can do free online math worksheets or Ray's Arithmetic is available free online. You could start doing a bit from these to get used to homeschooling and buy your curriculum later if you decide that you need more or something different.
