Hello, we are in Ohio and will be doing 6th and K this year. Last year we used an online school and I would really like to move to the traditional method. Could anyone tell me details on how I would go about this? I know I have to notifiy the school every year- do I really have to list out what resources we would be using for each subject? (I dont' know yet what I would be using) I know at the end of the year a cert. teacher must look over that you made progress, correct? I know we have to have a certain number of hours and particular subjects. Are there any other requirements? I would sure appreciate any thoughts or advice, thank you. Sher s19, s11, s5
Have you read, and understand completely, your state laws? I'm not sure what you mean by traditional either... do you mean you want to copy what public school looks like? I would write more but I have the baby on my lap.
Check the state requrements and see what is needed, there are a few people here from Ohio though so you should get some posts here as well. Most likely you will not submit anything for your 5 yr old in K, but the 6th will probably need it. Dont stress though cause from what others have written here its easier than you think to set it up and get it checked by your CT. Both years are fun years to teach! IF you need some ideas I just came out of teaching my 6th. Now he is considered 7th, but I have great ideas for curric! Also do you want christian or non christian view ?
Thank you, I can use all the help I can find. :lol: The few ladies I know locally refer to their way as traditional- meaning they don't use an online school, they make up the cirriculum or purchase parts of it I guess. It may not be the usual terminology. No, don't want to resemble public school at all, my poor son had not so great experiences there. From reading the posts, there seemed to be alot of folks here going their own method, so I was hoping it might be a good place to get thoughts and ideas. Teachermom, I would be most grateful to hear about your cirriculum, thanks!!
okay for 6th grade we used ; English 6 __ BJU it covers everything, reviews it as it goes and teaches things you didn't even know they had to learn in a nice easy format. We did not use the teacher book, it mostly just gave if it was correct or not, there IS a black and white one available from Lampost I believe it is? You do one page of parent/teacher guided work and one page of student independant work. my ds who hated to write things out hated doing anything actually requested that for last years work! that was after doing it for one year. Science-- we finished off Considering God's Creation science, but Apoligia has excelent sciennce books as well, I would choose the Exploring series it has many subjects to choose from. Lyrical Science is great for Biology too very indepth study. we used it with a co op. History- Story of the WORLD the Medival times. IT was great! We got the activity book and text. They go hand in hand, you read the chapter, thenn do map work, creative projects that go with the area of learning as well. There were lots of color pages as well because its geared for cross teaching, so your younger child could use that as well and get a slight bit of the lesson read, or talked about, cause at that age it wont all sink in anyway. Coloring a picture of a Samari will be fun though! Be adviced it does cover several religions historys, which I fould helpful in discussing how the people got thier views. MY ds did it on his own mostly wiht a bit of encouragement here and there by me, he enjoyed looking up both the map sections and the list of projects and questions in the activity book, I tabbed them to make it easy to find. Math -- We chose Horizon Math 6, ds also selected this because he really loved the style of lessons, they are two to three page lessons short sections you can see it on CBD.com I forget what the approach is called but it teaches something new, then repeats what you know, then teaches something one step further in the something new then repeats reminds etc. for about 6-8 sections of short problems. I picked and chose as he mastered different thigns to let him skip occasionally or do every other problem just to keep things flowing along timewise, cause sometimes math takes longer just because its a new thing. oh and we did Bible as well with How to study yoru bible for kids bye Kay Aurther one of my favs!
I'm from Ohio! Every school year I need to fill out a form to have my kids excused from public school for the purpose of homeschooling. They do ask that you provide an outline of your curriculum...however that is not mandated by law. I do provide a very brief curriculum outline. At the end of the year you have three options: 1) have your kids take the standardized test 2) get a teacher evaluation or 3) provide the superintendent of the schools in your area with a written...geesh...umm...like an outline but in more detail account of the school year..LOL..can you tell I don't use that method. Where I live the public school offers free standardized testing for homeschoolers, so I have always gone that route. Look up the state laws on HSLDA. I am not sure who you would contact for forms in your area. Just find the administrative buliding for your local schools or the superintent's office and request a form there. As far as choosing your method and curriculum you may want to consult Cathy Duffy's book on curriculums. Try and do a search on the many styles of homeschooling and see what you think may suit your family best. There are so many options it will make your head spin but eventually you will find what works. You will need to know how your children learn and what suits their needs to pick the proper curriculum. I started out by using what a friend of mine used and then went from there. Do you want a secular curriculum or a christian one? Do you want something more hands on or student directed or a mix of both? What are your children's strongest classes or interests? Do you want a box set or pick and choose your own curriculum? Starting out can be tough but don't worry, provide a nice framework and you will soon have a beautiful picture.
I just had a huge response written out and accidently switched this window when I was looking for a link... now it's all gone I will respond again later, when I quit banging my head against the wall!
Ugg.. I have 4 long paragraphs... and a list of about 15 or so links for her Ok, I will try to put my thoughts together somewhat again... the baby is fussing, he is soooooo spoiled :love: and needs to be held constantly.. and I just can't type with a 2 month old in my arms! Ok.. I think I get what you mean now by traditional.. I was hoping that was where your thoughts were heading, but I wasn't sure. For us, I started out trying to make our education look like school. I was terrified I would miss something or what ever. I used http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum a lot, and honestly I still go back there when I'm clueless and building my own curriculum like I like to do. Sometimes I just read what they say and throw it out the window anyway.. but it's a decent jumping off point. We haven't done 6th grade here yet, we just started our 5th grade year with my oldest.. but I will share my thoughts anyway. I'm not sure if you are looking for religious or secular curriculum, but if you are looking for secular it is slightly more challenging... esp for science! www.pandiapress.com Writes a secular science curriculum, but they are just beginning it so they only have 3 years worth and they are on an elem level. We are using the Chemistry book this year and I really like it.. or well we are using the first few units, they have a great "Try Before You Buy" thing.. and as soon as I have the extra $$ I will be buying this whole book, we really like it. There is also Real Science 4 Kids.. I haven't used it, but you can view all of every one of their books on their website... many like this for science. For the middle school years we have Prentice Hall's Science Explorer set.. I got them cheap on ebay and though they are written for a public school they are easy to be used by homeschoolers and I don't find them dry. For math we are using Teaching Textbooks... it seems about the best, but there are many curriculums out there for math that are loved. For spelling we use a free site, I will list it in a few. For grammar we are using Easy Grammar, Daily Grams and for writing we are using Writing Strands. There is also some free sites for these that I will share, and had I not had a few extra $$ to spend this year, I would have been using them. For social studies this year we are covering the states, mostly using the Which Way USA magazines from Highlights. Next year we will be doing world history using The Complete Book of World History expanded with other books and movies and internet stuff.. that will take us 2 or 3 years at least! We have used The Complete Book of United States History and loved it.. along with many of the other "The Complete Book of" books and also Spectrum books too by the same publisher.. Specialty School Publishing. As far as the Ker... that is lot of fun and games. We are using HOP this year with my 4 1/2 year old, and just starting this week, she read her first story! Science for this age is lots of fun.. nature stuff is great. Social Studies at this age is mostly focused on family, comunity (think "Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood"). Math is fun and you can use anything you have around the house for teaching math concepts. Ok.. I want to list a bunch of links.. lots of places for free things, but the baby is really fussing and hubby just called and asked if I wanted to take the kids into town for a kids safety festival?? So I will share a ton of links tomarrow!
Hi & welcome. I also have one in 6th & in Kindergarten. I would say that you might want to read about the different homeschool methods. That way you can get an idea of which one you might want to use. There's Classical, Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, Eclectic, etc. My site has descriptions of many of the methods. There's also a bunch of links there, and I have more to add. There really are a lot of free resources (printables, games, interactive books, etc.) available if you look. I highly reccomend starfall.com for your Kinder. It's a great site for teaching reading/phonics. RainbowResource is a great place to look for curriculum. A lot of what they carry is Christian, but they carry secualr materials, too. Request a catalog, then plan on spending at least a week with it when it gets there. The catalog is the size of a phone book. In addition to having a plethora of curriculum choices, they also have great prices. I personally love Teaching Textbooks for Math. Though, since 4th grade is the lowest they have, my ds can't use it yet. So, we're using Mastering Mathematics for him. It covers 1st-6th grade, and he'll start TT after that. I also really like Explode the Code for phonics/reading. I have to go deal a sick child, so I'll type more later.
Thank you everyone, I sure appreciate the help! I know it is still summer, but the charter school has already phoned me several times about finishing our K son's registration. It almost felt like they were telemarketing, bothered me a bit. I did not feel that last year. So I feel like I need to decide soon which direction we are going to go. (Also the charter school start up date is Aug. 17- I don't care for this at all) How would one refer to the method of chosing your own cirriculum, would it have a specific term to use? I was excited about last year when we left the PS but I have to say I am feeling even more like a bird let out of a cage, I am quite sure my son will too. We are kind of in a mishmosh for the 6th grader- for his entrance assessment last year for the charter school- he tested in 3rd grade math and 5th grade language arts/reading. He had to take 5th grade history and science. We were able to finish 3rd and 4th grade math last year, so he is still behind. So much for the no child left behind, they were leaving my boy behind in the dust. The crazy thing is- we have discovered that math is what he does best.. that sure speaks to something. My In-laws are strong baptist (my family never attended church) so we would welcome Christian studies. Crazymama, that is definitely the point I am at right now, if we leave the charter school I am already worrying that I will miss something. Thank you for all your help, I know how difficult it is to do daily things, let alone extras with a little one! I feel much better already after reading all your replies, thank you so much. Thank you Ava Rose! That really helps clarify. So far our son seems to need almost constant direction and supervision. He has a great deal of difficulty staying focused/on task or retaining information. At home here, math has been the easiest for him to grasp, even though in school it was his hardest. I would say writing, and then reading gave us the most headaches. Again, thank you.
Thank you Brandi for the links and the descriptions were very, very helpful! After reading your page, I think eclectic would be the style we are considering. All the best!
Glad to help! We're eclectic, too. It seems to work best for us, since neither of my kids are on one grade level across the board. Math is one of my dd's strongest subjects (though she really dislikes it), and Teaching Textbooks has been the best Math curriculum we've tried for her. It's pretty expensive, but is non-consumable. Writing is my dd's weakest area. She's made a lot of improvement since starting Writing Strands last year. Also, letting her do most of her writing assignments on the computer has helped. Also, if you're worried about missing something, check out the book Home Learning Year by Year by Rebecca Rupp. It gives a scope & sequence of every year Pre-K through senior year of High School, so you have an idea of what's generally covered each grade in public school. You don't have to stick to it strictly, but it's a great starting point & nice to have so you don't forget about some really important topic they should cover.
I think you wont miss anything if you choose the right stuff for your children. Once you do look up the 'requirements for grade ______" if your state has them( mine does not, it just says similar to ps) then look up CBD>Com put in your kids ages, or grades, and homeschool, it will bring up a load of books and youc an see in side most of them. Once you have looked at a lot and gotten really confused haha, Have dh or your kids look at them wiht you and point out theones you think they will like, see what thier reactions are... if they seem interested JUMP ON IT! Of course you can also just look and see what looks easy to teach too! We worked with AOP because it was alll set up with a scope and sequence for all the years at a glance. It was wonderful for our first 8 years of homeschool then we started getting a bit more eclectic ourselves! So you may want to look at Aop,com too it has all the grades, and you can take assessment tests to find out where they are and what level to purchase. It is easy to teach, but tends to get boring after a few years. I still recomend it to newbies!
TeacherMom, did you say you would suggest just buying the Student Worktext for the BJU? (am I correct in thinking this is Bob Jones? I am still learning the abbreviations :wink: ) I will need the 5th grade as my son was behind and just finished 4th grade language arts last year. Just the worktext is really reasonable, the whole package is a bit too pricey for us. Is it safe to buy off of HomeSchoolClassifieds? Thanks!
look at christian liberty press.com they sell bju english and it is real reasonable. one of the better prices that i have beable to find, they don't sell the teachers book though, they have their own made up for it and it is cheap like, 5 bucks maybe. hope I could be of help.
Ok.. here are some links, finally.... They are all free, I'm not sure what your budget looks like, but I know ours and many other homeschoolers are broke, which comes with the one parent at home territory. First of all for your K'er: www.starfall.com www.literactive.com www.dltk-kids.com www.learningpage.com www.enchantedlearning.com www.abcteach.com Now for specific subjects... English: spelling grammar grades 1-6 grammar grades 6-12 www.englishgrammar101.com Science: Science Netlinks could be used as a complete science curriculum for grades K-12!! msnucleus another that can be used for a complete elem-high curriculum. I think some of it isn't complete, and they kind of want you to buy their science kits. Life Science is a free elementry level textbook.. we enjoyed this one a lot in 3rd grade! Social Studies: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/matrix.html
Thank you very much I am very happy to say that I have made the decision to pull out of the charter school and give this a whirl! You wonderful folks have given me the courage. I have been studying the links you have listed trying to make choices. This is what I am thinking so far... 6th grader History- Story of the world & something else? English- Bob Jones (not sure if I need more than this) Math - I don't know which way to go with this, he is working at 5th grade level) Kindergartener Starfall & a phonics program (unsure which), Learn to Read in 100 lessons workbooks & activity sets purchased locally Math- can't decide between Math U See, Horizons or Rightstart LOL History & Science - library, online, nature walks, ect. I think I would like to try the Five in A Row It's not much yet, but maybe a start? Thanks!!
For your 6th graders math.. Teaching Textbooks 6 might work. I kind of find them behind.. and (s)he would be "on level" number wise Go to the TT site and do the placement test for 6th grade... you may be surprised! They are expensive but they can be found used.. let us know and we can help you find it if you want to go with that. As far as Math U See... I didn't care for it because it's printed in all black and white. I look for fun and colorful for my kids. We are just going to be using some workbooks and things for math. I like the Comprehensive Curriculum books for the younger kids
yes, I did suggest just buying student worktext or the answer keys alone. I hardly used the answer keys because of the independant and the guided practice being the exact same thing if they got your teaching it showed on the second page. Yes Bob Jones. Very cool curric!
