This is my first visit to the site, and I'm a bit confused about whether I need to register, and how I register (I cannot find a 'register' link for the life of me...). Now, to what I really need help with: My husband and I have always planned on homeschooling our own children. Our first just turned one. However, we will be taking in my husbands younger brother, a teenager, and homeschooling him for at least one year. The goal is to enable him to test back into the grade he should be in, which is not what grade he would be entering in public school this fall. Of course, if he were to decide that he wants to continue to homeschool rather than going back to public school, he would be able to make that decision. I don't know where I should start when looking for a typical public school curriculum for junior high/high school kids. Because of the fact that we want him to be able to test back in, should he desire to, I would like to refer to this typical curriculum. I am also uncertain if there could be problems caused by us not being his legal guardians. He and the rest of the family live in Florida, and we llive in Massachusetts. In order to legally homeschool him, I have to submit a letter describing my curriculum plans and such in order to get it 'approved'. However, I am a bit worried that someone will throw a fit about us not being his legal guardians, and the fact that his legal guardian is living in a different state. As far as what I have planned already for curriculum, I do intend to reference typical public school curriculm and vaguely shape it after that, for purposes I discussed above. But the curriculum will be flexible, based on his particular needs. It will also be sped up, as I know that he can handle a faster pace, and that is what he wants. Anyway, if someone could give me a bit of guidance, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you.
Hi, Amy! First of all, I want to let you know that NO STATE has the right to "approve" or "disapprove" a homeschool program. We "notify" them, telling them that we ARE homeschooling. As long as we are following the law and they don't have reason to question, they DO NOT have the right to tell us no. Your circumstances are a bit different, however. You might want to contact HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) and ask them what the specifics are for homeschooling a child you don't have custody of. You might need some sort of "guardianship". What would you do in a medical emergency? Do you have the legal go-ahead to approve medical care? If so, whatever "paper" gives you that I would think would also give you the authority to homeschool. What grade "should" this young man be entering? Your only real purpose is to get him "up to grade"? How willing is he to be working at home with you? Considering this is not a long-term commitment and the goal at least for now is to return to the public school, you might want to consider an e-school. I'm sure the local school might be able to suggest one. An e-school differs from homeschooling in that the government determines the curriculum, just as they do in a "real" school. They make the assignment and do the grading. The kid has to log so many hours onto the computer. You are not in control of what is taught. It is more likely to mirror the public school curriculum, because it IS public school done at home.
Amy.... I don't know how much I can help but I think it's best to find out your state's requirements first. I know in GA you must be the parent in order to homeschool unless you have a bachelor's degree (in anything). However, every state is different. You can just do a web search for your state's homeschool laws to check and see. I am sure www.hslda.org would be helpful. I think you would be able to get more info from them on legalities. Good luck and hope it all works out!
He should be entering the 9th grade, but is only going to be entering the 7th grade this year. This is the cause of moves between different states and school districts in the middle of the school term. Another 'purpose' of his coming to live with us will be to help us care for my son (I work and my husband goes to school). And, obviously, I don't think that one typically begins homeschooling without the belief that the public or private school system is not doing a good enough job. He is excited and can't wait to get up here. He is extremely enthusiastic about the possibility that we could get him back on track with his education, and enthusiastic about being homeschooled in general. I do appreciate your comments regarding guardianship. I will talk to my mother-in-law regarding this issue. I may also contact HSLDA.
I live in Massachusetts. I have looked up the laws, and although I have to teach certain subjects, I do not need any degree or certification in order to homeschool (although I do have a BA, so that wouldn't be an issue). Upon looking at the laws a second time, I did discover that in MA, you may be required to be 'approved'. Apparently it is one of the 3 states most unfriendly to homeschooling.
Hi Amy First welcome :wink: ..and it looks like you already registered because your not signed in as a Guest. To be sure your logged in look at the top right. It should say *log out and your name you signed in with*if not, your not logged in and we don't know who posted because your name is not listed.. :wink: To help with a couple more suggestions, yes you are right about your state. That is what I heard and read also, but it doesn't mean it can't be done. What you might have to do is like an umbrella school that is accredited. I have two suggestions..One is Core Curriculum of America.. Here is their website http://core-curriculum.com/index.php Get this they are in Florida! :lol: Their strong points are that they tailor make the curriculum to your child's needs and you do get a diploma and they are accredited for purposes of recognizing your state's requirements. In addition, they are extremely reasonable. Read up on them.. One of the weak points MIGHT be that they are not as rigorous as some of the other umbrella programs.. Another suggestion is Calvert. They are out of Maryland have been around for over 100 yrs and they are considered a secular program. They too are accredited. They have a long history of schooling children like the Osmond children and Von trapp children and even Judge Sandra Day O'conner went to their very elite day school. :lol: That is their strong, the weak is that they are very expensive. In addition, both, or one of them might be offered free or at a considerable discount under a local umbrella school that you might join. The good with these is that they keep up with record keeping for you. The downside (unless you match his skill level to his grade level) is that you have timetables to keep as far as turning in assignments. Here again, this might be good or bad. Bad in the sense you have to move along at a pace that might be too fast, but good in the sense if you pick the right grade level it could give him a sense of accountability and responsibility. Both schools offer counselors for you to talk to and give them the whole history. Calvert is more expensive but then again its more rigorous . However, Core curr. of America is a good fit for the cost and you hand pick each curriculum whereas Calvert comes standard across the board. Although Calvert has another program its offering this year that is not as rigorous as their normal curriculum. Be sure and ask about that too. Your local support group will definitely be in the *KNOW*about who, what, when and where? Another tip: Some of the homeschoolers in these States to make it more enjoyable, do just the assignments that are REQUIRED to be turned in to the school for keeping that transcript. Then they do what they want or AS mUCH as they want on the other assignments. In that way, they slow things down to suit their child's needs. So in otherwords, Calvert does not require ALL lessons to be turned in. For example, like 71, then Lesson No. 82, etc. So in between, the homeschooling parents review, cut back and add some other things in for fun.. Make sense? That way the kid doesn't get burned out... In addition, I think one of my friends on the other board is from Mass, if she is...I will find out exactly from her for you. :wink: Does this help some? Again, welcome to this site!
Ugh....I was in a hurry when I typed my last post. I forgot to put in my user name (I'm not registered as a member, so I have to type in my user-name of choice.), so the post is listed as by 'Guest'. Plus, I meant to type that I have a BS, but I must have hit the 'a' key instead. I think I may contact a local homeschooling group for advice. Apparently the HSLDA does not defend a person homeschooling someone else's child, so, at this point in my life (my child is not old enough to be covered by the compulsory laws), it may not be very beneficial for me to become a member to discuss legalities with them. Is there a resource that lists the skills that public schools deem a student should know at each grade level? This is more of what I was looking for in regards to something to refer to in designing our individual curriculum. I'm hoping to forgo spending money on a previously designed curriculum, as we already have a large number of text books and the ability to obtain more if we need them; we are also confident in our abilities to design and pace curriculum and teach it. For this reason, I'm hoping to avoid needing to go under an 'umbrella school', but I will keep it in mind in case I need to. I really appreciate the responses I'm getting.
You could go to your school system's website and find out what they have posted as benchmarks/outcomes for his grade. You could also try www.worldbook.com. There are links to follow for typical course of study for each grade. If you work and your husband goes to school will someone be around to help him stay on track or help him if he runs into problems? Were you planning to h.s. at night since he'll have the baby during the day? I think it was Jackie who knew someone who h.s.'d in the evenings.
We are planning on schooling mainly in the evenings, after I come home from work, as well as on the weekends. I also expect that he will spend time on lessons during naptimes. There will be some things he will be able to work on at various times during the day, on days when my son is feeling more conten on his own. I will almost always be available via phone or online while I'm at work, and my husband's schedule will vary from day to day, of course. I would be interested in hearing about others' experiences with working and homeschooling. I have seen that the issue is addressed in some books, but I have not read any of them.
I don't mean to sound rude, but isn't that a bit too big of a responsibility for someone that age? To have to watch a child all week, then homeschool at night AND on weekends seems like a lot to put on a kid. Especially with a child that is only a year old?! When will this child have time to be a kid and have time for himself? It really shouldn't be his responsibility to have to take care of your child, IMHO. Again, I don't mean to sound rude, just honest.
Hi Amy... Yes there are tons of good scope and sequences...here are some of my very favorites.. http://www.nycenet.edu/dis/scopesequence/index.html www.commonsensepress.com They produce learning language arts through literature and then Bob Jones University press has an excellent one too.. One thing to keep in mind Amy that as homeschoolers we don't look at where a child is *Suppose* to be :wink: We feel that all kids, no matter how old, are where they are because that is their pace. It would not hurt to do some diagnostic tests to find out where his strengths and weaknesses are. As a homeschooler, my sons are are on different grade levels in each subject simply because it is either a strong or weak area. Scope and sequences give us a good idea of a *starting point* but sometimes we *fast forward or rewind* :lol: from there. In addition, he is old enough that his learning style should be considered. Some prefer a more structured method, others need some soft music in the background, some like more of a computer approach. So after 6th grade, we encourage parents to let the child have a say in it. For example, ask him, what he is interested in. We just had a new homeschooler who took her very bright daughter out in the 8th grade. You would not believe what her daughter wanted to practice on. CURSIVE..Thats right! :shock: She was so rushed in the younger grades she felt she never had time to fine tune it. So her daughter wants time to work on her cursive writing. This is the true meaning and beauty of homeschooling. When children have not been with us all of their lives, its hard to try to *make up* for lost time. But what you CAN do is to NOW develop that love of learning. Talk about each subject with him and see what his thoughts are..for example. Math-does he need to review the basics of math before algebra. grammar-did he get enough or do you need a lower level grammar book to reinforce those rules and go over those with him, or he is past grammar .. composition--Can he write one well written paragraph. Obviously if he can't write one, why worry about 5. Concentrate on one well written paragraph by using Evan Moore, Rod and Staff or Jensen's wonderful program. Literature--what has he read, not read..Does he know how to start analyzing why the author felt this way or not? History--was it called Social Studies.where they cover cultures, geography and some history or did he actually get it. Is he interested in era? The Civil War? Can you do a unit study on the civil war? making weapons, going to reinactments.How about a sword study of the Samurai:the Ancient Japanes knights? Does he want to waller in this some? :wink: Science--is he interested in one particular area. Can you concentrate on that instead of all of it. How about biology? Chemistry? Critical Thinking/Vocabulary...How is it..does he need help with word roots. This helps with writing.. Foreign language..Is he interested or not? My humble advice is to sit down with him and have a *heart to heart*. You know that curriculum just means a *set course*. It includes everything from brochures to films to books.Try to engage his love for learning by using top notch living books. Not water down boring textbooks. Don't get me wrong, sometimes in a pinch we need textbooks. I like them too, but a love for learning comes from a passion for books that ignite fires inside of us. They stir us to want to learn, not be drudgery,kwim? Ask him what subjects he did last year and you can start with a checklist.. HTH
Thank you for the links Tina. Those look like they will be helpful. I also hadn't thought of starting with a checklist of what he feels he knows, although it seemed kind of intuitive to me that I would start at whatever level he was at. I just hadn't actually planned the physical list, yet, anyway. I'm sorry I made it sound like I was planning on being extremely rigid with my plan. I do think that I need to keep public school standards in mind when planning what material he should go over, based on the fact that he plans, as of right now, to go back to a public school. However, his plans could change, and we will definitely discuss all of the possibilities with him. Ideally, my own children, who will not attend a school outside of our home until they are old enough to understand and make a decision about what they would like (i.e. high school, maybe junior high), will not have such a rigid curriculum (barring the fact that I believe they will be learning more material at a faster pace than in typical in schools). I think that text books cannot be replaced in subjects such as math (algebra and up) and science, unless the parent is teaching everything from memory and the child learns best this way. Of course there are practical applications that help some to learn better (I learn this way...) In other subjects, text books are not so essential but are still useful. Much of this will depend on his particular learning style.
Hi Amy.. I think you come across concerned and your young brother in law should be happy to have such a caring adult in his life :wink: That is what I *see* :wink: Yes, the advice given for each age varies. Of course the younger the age, the more mom has to independently decide. The older they are we need to consider what they want to learn. We want willing participants,kwim? Again, its his *attitude* toward learning that you want to cultivate. It should not be a chore, but a delight. I know you are interested in standards, that is normal. But again, with the time lost with moving , it could cause overload on him, He might, just said *might* feel like he is not competent or having overload could dampen his enthusiastic spirit. If you feel like he is *behind* he might start to think there is no way to catch up. A lot of young men that age *give up and say whats the use*.. So I guess what I'm trying to say in a very very nice way is *please strike a balance between what his grade level is vs. what delights him*. :wink: That sounds like you are already trying to do that. Yes, the only subject a textbook is really needed for is math. There are so many good science books that teach science from a living books standpoint that it behooves one to check into this. Because science is taught in school in a spiral fashion (i.e. introducing the same concepts over and over but with more detail and more in depth at each grade level) a lot of children and young adults don't learn this way. Science is about exploring, investigating and questioning those investigations,kwim? So some, including lots of homeschoolers stay on one area of science each year. They don't like small amounts of knowledge.. They want to stay on one area and masticate their *new facts* :wink: A lot of ps, because of time restraints can only stay on one subject for about 2 weeks. They would hit so many subjects and have overload. They come away from science thinking it is an area with lots of *details and formulas, classes, subclasses, kingdoms,etc* . Yes it can be, but it also is an area where learning and respect for God never stops taking place..That type of attitude if cultivated by you will carry him through the rest of his life long past high school,kwim? .If you covered one area of science like Life Science . for example, then you divide that into 3 categories for the year. For example, animals, body and plants. Then you can study EACH animal you selected for 2 weeks, EACH body sytem, i.e. digestive,reproductive,et. for 2 weeks. So many homeschoolers enter college never cracking open a textbook in history or science either one. But they have read tons of living books and biographies . I hope some of this helps :wink: Again, we are glad you are here and let us know if you need additional information..
Thank you so much Tina. Since he has arrived, I have discovered that despite his previous enthusiasm, an older brother has tried to talk him out of staying with us and tried to convince him that living with us and homeschooling won't be fun. From talking with a sister, I have gathered that this older brother has simply been a bad influence in almost every aspect of his behavior (he's not quite as bad as the older brother, thank goodness). So this will be an obstacle, but I think we will overcome it fairly quickly. I have been told by this sister, from her previous experience, that it may take a week or two for him to settle down and settle into proper, mature behavior. In the meantime, this sister is staying with us and helping out. I've been convincing him to read 'fun' books, just to peak his interest in reading. He used to love reading, and still does love reading some book series. I have also been able to sneak in little lessons here and there with history (we walked through Boston this past weekend). I'm going to throw in a science lesson in the next few days to accompany his interest in the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow'. I do think that I got a wakeup call when I discovered that he isn't as willing as he seemed to be when I first talked to him. But between now and then, he had been told many things by the older brother about how horrible things were going to be and all. I'm really saddened, mainly because I look at all of them as my own siblings, not just my husband's siblings. Anyway, I'm babbling, and I should go. Thanks again for the encouraging words.
