PLEASE WAIT FOR THE ALL-CLEAR BEFORE POSTING COMMENTS. THANK YOU!
INFORMATION INCLUDING THE LIST OF RESOURCES WILL BE PASTED IN THE NEXT TWO POSTS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.
bfltr
STEP ONE: Check the laws in your state.
Visit the Home School Legal Defense Association’s website. Click on your state for a summary of the laws regulating homeschooling there. Some states have stricter regulations than others. Be prepared to abide by the laws in your state. Joining HSLDA is highly recommended.
STEP TWO: Find a homeschool support group in your area.
The homeschooling community is well-organized. There are support groups suitable for almost every family. Homeschool organizations offer activities such as band, cooperative classes, field trips, graduation ceremonies, honor societies, socials (i.e. dances, the prom), sports, youth groups, and much more.
Many homeschool organizations are affiliated with churches, and you may be required to sign a Statement of Faith in order to join. Other groups merely rent space at churches. Still, other groups meet at libraries, museums, etc., and most communicate online via email. You may find homeschool support groups online by searching for your state name and the word “homeschool”. Or check the HSLDA website for state-level organizations listed there. Another option is to communicate with a homeschool parent in your state here on Free Republic.
STEP THREE: Choose a curriculum plan.
Scroll down to see the list of educational resources recommended by homeschoolers on Free Republic and posted below right here on this thread. The most appropriate curriculum for your child(ren) will depend upon age level, the method of learning that best suits each child, and the student’s interests.
You will find that homeschool parents on Free Republic are always willing to share advice and support. If you have questions, feel free to ask. If you start a new thread to ask for advice, remember to ping Metmom so that she can send a ping to the list of homeschoolers here.
Remember to contact Metmom to add your name to the Homeschool Ping List. Also ask for your name to be added to the Another Reason to Homeschool ping list for other articles about the state of education today.
Started out in probably 1988 or so.....in SoCal.
Moved to OK....in '97.
The girls are now in College....and doing pretty well.
All clear to post comments.
Just curious here. Approx how many freepers on that ping list?
Great links too — thanks for the ping!
Yeah for FLVS aka the Florida virtual school. Helps the single dad still home school the two teens even though some of the purists say that virtual school does not count as it is a government program. We do lots of extra stuff as well.
This school year will likely be our last one homeschooling. The older guy went off to the local Catholic high school last year, and the younger guy will likely follow him next year.
Ten years has flown by quickly.
What kills me about this is that my kids cannot participate in extra-curricular activities as home-schoolers.
Ping
Did you add *frhf* as a keyword? What does it mean?
I like having distinct keywords, as it can be a big help in searching for specific articles. Some keywords are just too common to be useful.
WOW!! Thank you so much for compiling all of this. I see a lot of resources I already use and some I can’t wait to check out.
We’re trying a new system this year that works with any curriculum. It’s an organizational thing for me. It started here http://www.workboxsystem.com/ but if you google workboxes you’ll find a million different versions, free printables, etc. I modified ours and use small stackable drawers instead because I was able to fit them into our cabinets so the little ones couldn’t get into them. It’s working quite well! My kids (11, 9, and 4 are on the system) know exactly what is expected of them each day and can visibly see what they’ve accomplished and what’s left. Hope someone else finds this useful! It’s sure helped me stay on track!
With that said, I am trying to get a book that I used way back several years ago to teach music theory to little ones. I cannot remember the name, but it was a yellow book, with comb binding.
It taught kids musical note values by first getting them to associate note values with colors:
quarter notes: pink
eighth notes: purple
half notes: blue-oo
whole notes: red-ed-ed-ed
LOL. If any of this makes sense, you might know the book I'm talking about. Please FRmail me if you have any idea what I'm talking about.
It is so encouraging to see so many more resources available to homeschoolers. When we first did homeschooling back in the 1980's A Beka would not even sell to home schoolers. We had to hide our kids in the house all during school hours, and make all sorts of explanations if we took them for a field trip during school hours. By the time we finished in 2001, homeschooling was an acceptable way of life. I miss it, I'll be honest. But I am heartened by the number of families choosing this route, and know that our country will be strengthened by the children raised through homeschooling. Blessings to you all.
Bump for later reading
Ping
Still undecided about whether homeschooling is a good idea? Why parents should consider homeschooling(and keep homeschooling if they are getting weak knees):
Underground History of American Education: http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/
Stupid in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw
We also liked Saxon Math and Apologia Science.
I curious if any of you have tried the new Rosetta Stone Latin for homeschooling yet. We are working with a Classical Conversations group and just learning the declensions and conjugations this year but I'm interested in moving a bit faster on our own. Since it's so expensive I'd like to see some feedback from anyone that has tried it first.
For those of you who are interested in praying, here is a prayer request for Chris Klicka.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrisklicka
Chris has been battling MS for many years and is not doing well at the moment.