I did homeschooling but it was a tad too far back to help you now. The programs change with new editions. There used to be a homeschool book sales fare every year in my area of Massachusetts. That is how I picked my programs along with talking to parents at the book fare.
We loved it. The son I pulled out of public schools told me in college that I saved him by doing that. He really enjoyed it and he’s close to his dad and me.
You want to get legal protection from the Homeschool Legal Defense (Fund or Aid) group (not sure I am remembering that name correctly.) If you ever need legal assistance in your community, i.e. are being harassed by local or state officials, they are proactive of protecting your rights. It does not cost that much and you need it. There are also certain requirements for your reporting about your intent to homeschool that vary from state to state. I found my State’s requirements and just parroted what they wanted to hear.
So glad you decided to do this. I can give you moral support. For us there was an adjustment time as my son had to get used to facing the immediate truth of his performance rather than the p.s’s self esteem nonsense and long periods of time that passed between taking tests and getting the feedback of correction. Also, he was responsible for doing his day of work no matter how long he dragged it out. He had to learn to buckle down and focus so he could complete his work correctly. If it was wrong, he had to do it over again before his school day was finished.
In no time, he was done with a full day’s work before noon. (it’s not that much and twice as much as a public school covers.) Then he could go to drama, music, swimming, karate lessons, read, or we would go out to lunch, on field trips or run errands. No television or video games - we were too busy for that.
I cut out all pc lessons and suggestions. He was taught that our family does not believe in the meaning of skin color like racists do and that racists can be any color or ethnic tribe who hate and blame others for no real reason. I did a start up small businesses in pet sitting while homeschooling him so he got experience in creating, building and running a business. Then, when he was older and more independent in schooling - was using tutors from Harvard for math and science - I went back to rebuilding my contract and grant business. We sold the pet sitting business so he saw that it was really worth his while to work hard and build his own business.
The fun thing about home school is you can be creative and do whatever works for you and your children.
Happy to help if you need. I homeschooled, now tutor kids 1:1. Just think of the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic, geography. Let your child lead - what does he love? He can read, do math, research, write, do geography — all in that field, whether it is cooking, science, sports, etc.
Drop me a private query if you have questions. You know more than he does, and you know what he needs to become a successful adult. Travel, read, play games, cook, go on field trips. It is a WONDERFUL adventure.
Six years ago, we homeschoolers put together information to help other parents here get started...
Here's that old thread. Click on the link, and scroll to the 3rd post:
FREE REPUBLIC HOMESCHOOLERS' FORUM 2009-2010
After the 4th post, there is a list of homeschool resources with links. Yes, it's an old thread (that I never had time to update in later years), but it's a start.
I know many families who removed their children from junior high school to start homeschooling.
Personally, I'd recommend that, first, before taking your son out of school, look into your local homeschool cooperatives and organizations. You could check for support groups on HSLDA's Support Group Search, or just google "homeschool support" or "homeschool co-op" for your state.
Then contact the people in charge and arrange to visit those cooperatives. Find one that you like. Then, if your son does start homeschooling, you'll both have a support network, and he can meet new friends, and there will be classes and extracurricular activities for your son to enjoy right away.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck!
My main recommendation is to understand you are homeschooling, not public schooling. You taught your child a lot of things before he ever stepped foot into a PS. You can do this! The first year, I'd chill and figure things out. I am going to give you some inexpensive recommendations that I hope help until you figure out what you are going to do, and how you will do it. As important as curriculum, is learning your style, and your child's style.
HSLDA Several people have recommended HSLDA, they are giving you great advise.
When one of my grandsons was in 8th grade, we read a lot of unabridged classic literature appealing to boys.
AMBLESIDE has free online books and curriculum. Kindle has a lot of free books, including Ambleside books.
Easy Peasy See Cathy Duffy's review on this curriculum.
Natural Speller This is also available online at places like Amazon and Ebay.
Some of the Mastering Essential Math Skills books come with very short lessons on DVD. This will be an inexpensive way to get started without breaking the bank. They make good drill books.
This is too expensive for us, but we use it to get ideas! SONLIGHT
We have used Rainbow Science and really liked it. The experiments are easily done with things around the house. This program never really took off, I'm not sure why. We thought it was a sound program.
BASIC COZY GRAMMAR This is a to the point, not time consuming grammar program. The lady is a bit ditzy, but she gets the point across. We watch a DVD lesson on Monday, it's about 10 minutes long. The rest of the week consists of daily worksheets for the lesson of the week. If a child struggles with a topic, we re-watch the DVD lesson. This isn't an insanely time consuming program. We like the basic, to the point method. It frees our time to write and use this stuff where it matters. It can be used for more than one year, and there are other leveled lesson programs. If you get Basic Cozy Grammar, make sure to have a plate of cookies for Day 1!!
The all-one-curriculums are popular among some homeschoolers. We have used the Little House series, Learning at Home series, and the A World of Adventure series. We frequently utilize lapbooks, notebooks, and unit study techniques.
Enjoy your child!
FRegards
em
We used Rod and Staff curricula up to 8th grade then switched to Abeka. The problem with Abeka is the math. It spends way too much time with the wrong kinds of things for kids to get proper exposure to math. I got through a year and a half of college calculus in pursuit of a Math major and didn't do half as much algebra as the Abeka book had. The Geometry book is even worse.
Abeka is wonderful on History and social studies and science because it is such a strong Christian perspective. My 18 year old has 10 times more knowledge of history than I do at this point after going through that book.
We learned that it is very literally easier to teach your child to read than to teach him/her to do the dishes.