Hey all-

I did a search and read JAllen's old thread but didn't discover what I was looking for.

For those of you that homeschool: How do you do it? Where do you find a curriculum?
What's the cost like? Do you have a group or is it just your family learning?

I figure, if we have to do "distance learning", we should take advantage and get the boy taught the Right things and not have him indoctrinated into the cult of the Left.

Bruce

We have done it all- depending on where my wife (the educator) has worked.

Depending on your inclinations (or your partners) and your kid's learning styles there are TONS of options. Many vary by state. We had some success doing our own thing with forums and social media and even local groups of like-minded individuals.
We had success with online supplementing what my wife did on her own. We also had success with Florida Virtual schools- in fact, we used them a-lot even when our kids attended a private Christian school when we were down a teacher for a particular subject...

I have heard (second hand) good things about "classical Conversations" as a curriculum. Some REALLY smart kids from a few families locally used them and I tell you, I was LOST trying to discuss certain topics with their preteen and early teen kids- I am no dummy but was out of my depth quickly.

And the last thing that we ALMOST tried (but my wife started working at a good private school) was to roll under a private or charter school (or sometimes a public school) and use the "umbrella" model.

I can get my wife to give lots more info if you want as she has a side business of signing off on homeschool students progress and their annual check-in for the state of Florida (I know VERY little of the lingo but I think you get it lol) as a Certified teacher.

You can email me if you'd like. I'm sure she has more resources that I never heard of.

I'm not bragging at all but I feel like it was both more and less challenging for us with relatively smart kids. The boys both got 32+ on their ACT and 1300+ on their SAT. The daughter is going in to 9th grade and a better student than either of them. Largely self directed.

Have you researched Charter Schools ? Mark Levin and Thomas Sowell were discussing this subject last night.

quote:

For those of you that homeschool: How do you do it? Where do you find a curriculum?
What's the cost like? Do you have a group or is it just your family learning?

My sister-in-law did it until 6th grade.
They had a tight knit Catholic community group in Gainsville and Nokesville, VA that supported them and they did field trips and stuff together.
They then went to Seton Catholic school in Manassas for middle and high school.
It can work well, but it takes time. One stay-at-home parent required.

My son was homeschooled through 7th grade and daughter is getting ready to start 8th, still at home. My wife is the educator and would be more than happy to discuss. My email is in my profile if you want and I’ll share her contact.

quote:

Originally posted by olfuzzy:
Have you researched Charter Schools ? Mark Levin and Thomas Sowell were discussing this subject last night.

Charter schools in this area are less than stellar. He was in a STEM Magnet school until the lockdown. They are proposing either 2 or 3 days of online at-home learning this year. I figure we can do better with a complete homeschooling curriculum.

Bruce

I recommend taking a look at the resources found on hslda.org

They offer legal advice on home schooling but more importantly they provide a bunch of resources to help you get started.

Best wishes,
Silent

I feel for you and understand your situation. Our daughter is going into her 4th year at Fort Worth Christian, she’ll be in 4th grade. It’s an incredible place without liberal indoctrination. Without the assistance of family we could not afford for her to attend there, it’s not cheap.

I would suggest that if your child is a decent student and fairly self motivated to send them to a local community college in lieu of 9th grade high school. I did that with my daughter but for her junior year of high school but looking back she could have done that as a freshman and had her bachelor’s degree at 18.

This only works if your child can handle it and only if you live close to a community college. One other thing to consider, although my daughter got straight A’s in junior college it was hard getting scholarships for a university. Most academic we looked at were for freshman.

https://www.k12.com

We used this system for a few years.

Two of our children are alums of Hillsdale College's K-12 private school. It's pretty hard to not know about Hillsdale, their position to not accept any government money and how they have set out on a mission to educate the world on our Constitution and America's founding.

You can download for free Hillsdale Academy's curriculum. If nothing else, it's a great supplement to any program

Following for ideas. Thank you!

Not sure where in NV you are, but Hillsdale College has a charter school program and one of their K-12 schools is in Vegas.

https://www.foundersacademylv.com/

Just another possible alternative to government indoctrination centers.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:
Not sure where in NV you are, but Hillsdale College has a charter school program and one of their K-12 schools is in Vegas.

https://www.foundersacademylv.com/

Just another possible alternative to government indoctrination centers.

-Rob

I didn't know about that! It is worth looking into, for sure.
Lots of good info, here.
Thanks, everyone.

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by Silent:
I recommend taking a look at the resources found on hslda.org

They offer legal advice on home schooling but more importantly they provide a bunch of resources to help you get started.

I second this. HSLDA is a great resource both for planning a homeschooling odyssey and for keeping the ship off the rocks when the sirens come calling.

There are as many ways to homeschool as there are types of children. That's one of the beauties of it, you can tailor it to the child's particular learning style and advance at their pace. From complete structure to educational anarchy, there's a method and associate curriculum for you. Be flexible and willing to adapt as the process goes along. Most of the homeschool families I know have not stuck with the same approach all the way through.

If possible, find out if anyone in your area is doing a homeschool seminar. That's a quick way to learn about the major methods. My family is sold on the classical approach to education and that's what we focus on. We do Classical Conversations and add additional math, phonics, and reading to it. I teach college engineering and geology, so we tend to add a lot of STEM learning. However, my wife and I are also both avid readers and love classic literature, so my kids do a LOT of reading as well.

On that subject, let me encourage you, whatever path you take, to get your kids into books as early and often as possible. I and my colleagues have seen a major dropoff in the writing abilities of students coming out of high school. Some of this may be attributed to a lack of proper training, but I think most of it is due to a lack of reading. Prolific readers make good writers, and good writers, believe me, stand out noticeably at the college level.

Update:

Our school district decided, a week before opening, to go with all "distanced learning". No planning and no coordination, with predictable results.
The quick ones with money pulled their kids and grabbed the last few slots in private schools. The rest of us have been suffering through bad internet connectivity, bad software, and lack of coordination. A total disaster.
A majority of our acquaintances are in the process of quitting and purchasing home schooling curricula. We will be doing the same, this week.
Options for next year include the Hillsdale charter school and a Montessori.

Bruce

We have used Seton for many years and are very happy with it. They are accredited and a home school, so you have a transcript and graduation, etc. Totally flexible and customizable - and we are not Catholic, BTW.

https://www.setonhome.org/

our grandsons attend a nearby Christian school.

no left-wing diatribe

LOTS of Jesus.

Lots of love.

I am the Administrator for our Church's Christian School and we have been using Abeka for over ten years. You can do traditional home school or video blended lesson both are excellent.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me, I have helped may parents and other churches setup a school.

I would also echo starting out by looking at HSLDA, as they have a ton of great resources regarding your local homeschooling laws.

We have used many of curriculum's that others have mentioned in this thread to homeschool all of our kids. We have also used The Potters School online school to supplement our kids education, particularly when they got into the more advanced high school classes. It is a christian based curriculum with top notch teachers. Our college kid said that he felt that the potters school courses he took as a high school student really prepared him to excel in college, whereas his public schooled peers really struggled. Here is a link the potters school website: https://at-tps.org/