This is a crisis we'd better get a handle on before it's too late -- if it isn't already!
I know you guys homeschooling enthusiastically.
What programs can you endorse and which need to be avoided like the plague.
Ping.
Google is your friend:
https://www.google.com/search?q=home+schooling+organizations&ie=UTF-8
Why is your brother making the decision and not the parents?
We home-schooled our kids for a couple years. Used K-12 curriculum. Worked out great for our family.
First of all, the parents need to want to. If they insist on their child in a school, Grandpa first has to win them over. I hope some homeschoolers can help with those kinds of arguments. Sometimes a child presents himself and it is so obvious he or she NEEDS homeschooling. All kids are different. A child who is beginning to feel terrible about himself socially will be led into a bad life if not yanked out of that school and built up that he is great just as he is, and follow his unique interests. A child who is completely bored in school and is a great self learner needs better education too. Special needs - the schools want the big bux than come to them from that kid, but a lot of the therapies don’t help (depending on the needs). I’ve homeschooled for unique geniuses, athletes who train 4 hours a day, and special needs.
First win over the parents.
One thing that might help them is that today, besides a million easy programs to follow (though I hate some of the online ones), there are charter “hybrid schools” which might be perfect for new homeschoolers. If the child has 6 subjects, he might go to a school once a week per class for 4 of them (and do any remaining work at home) and do 2 subjects with Grandpa. If Grandpa likes history and math, say, the kid can do those subjects daily at home with Grandpa. His other subjects can be at the hybrid school, and since it is paid for by charter public school funds, there is no $ outlay for those classes, and minimal for Grandpa’s chosen history and math books.
Good luck to your friend.
This is a crisis we'd better get a handle on before it's too late -- if it isn't already!
Bill Clinton?
I pray his granddaughter's parents would, also.
We have homeschooled for nearly 20 years in two different states.
As for curriculum only you can decide what is best for your student and you. For the most part we used the same one for all the kids but used it differently for each one. Some are more structured, while others are more "freestyle". Find a local homeschool group and ask lots of questions.
Homeschooled all 4 of our kids. Hard work, but worth it, IMO.
Having said that, if both parents aren’t 100 percent on board, I do not recommend it. It will not succeed without both parents pulling together - the strain is too great.
Best recommendation is to find out when your state’s homeschool association is having its annual homeschool convention (usually in the spring). Make a point to attend, and you will get all the info you could possibly want.
If the parents are not enthusiastically committed, it will not work out.
Ping
Home Schooling is not easy and in fact it requires a lot of commitment. Having said that, my wife homeschools all 3 of our kids. We are fortunate that we have a church co-op that has about 30 kids who get together twice a week to do the a learning curriculum and my wife does the teaching the other 2 days of the week.
As posted before, there are PLENTY of online resources for home schooling and also a plethora of online curriculula that one can use. In our church community, we have over 100 kids that home school and a majority if not all of them are doing very well.
Also here in Indiana, the state is very favorable towards home schooling and has an online curriculum that a student can take advantage off.
Depending on where your brother lives, there are quite a few home school shows happening currently as people are preparing for the upcoming year starting in the fall. I would check those out first and the support and information there is phenomenal. If you want to PM me which state he is in, I can find links for you to forward to him to check it out.
Our family is going to one that has several shows in our region at the end of this month in Nashville called
teachingthemdiligently.com which is a more Christian based home school convention but there are plenty that are more secular depending on your brother’s requirements.
He can also check out Abeka which is one of the premier online home school curriculula and has very good reviews too among others.
Hope this helps.
As far as study course - my daughter is in a group that uses Classical Conversations. it is AWESOME!! The twelve year old is studying Latin. The whole thing is heavy on history- both ancient and modern - and is Christian based. I am just in awe of what they are doing and how they are learning.
But I agree that the parents need to be on board.
My first response was terse, negative and unhelpful. I have homeschooled my four children (now all adults).
Others have suggested HSLDA and attending a HS Conference which are very both very good ideas. Knowing the laws specific to your state is always the first step. Really bad things can happen in some states with lots of restrictions because the laws are intended to trip you up and keep kids in the public union schools.
There are so many good curricula and there is no one size fits all solution to your needs. One of the reasons for home school is the ability to customize the educational fit for each child and for the parent as well. This is why going to a HS convention is a good idea. Lots of vendors and presentations to take in, plus being able to thumb through the books helps you decided.
It’s an educational buffet in the home school world, but all the advice in the world is useless if the parents are unwilling.
At the Junior High and High School level I preferred having an online component, especially for test taking and record keeping.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/935111/posts
Shanna completed her deck officer’s degree, graduating top of her class. After several assignments she became Chief Mate of R.V. Endeavor at U.R.I: Bob Ballard....Titanic fame?
She is still doing that gig.
Shanna’s younger sister....functionally illiterate when we removed her from the public schools...4th grade?...is now a published author, whose work has crossed Robert Jordans’ publisher’s desk....for which she received a letter asking for more of her work. Busy with homeschooling her children, now.
The only thing truly worthwhile I ever did; and the legacy continues. Work that lasts...and fulfills a life’s mission.
It was great fun, too.
Saxon-Wang math, lots of old musty books written in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries...and daily reading from the editorial pages of WSJ and NYT to which we subscribed. All interactive.
Then Law (Blackstone); Economics (Adam Smith); Grammar U.S. and World History ( Goodrich...1850’s) and so many others...read aloud and digested.
I figured they should know where we’d been, so they might know where we should go.
It was a little scary at first...but became as natural as breathing out and in. It’s what parents are meant to do.
We could feel that. And we got a great educations, too.
When our girls were gone, the missus began a tutoring career, and fostered a couple dozen kids into colleges through the years.
Nuthin’ but net. Just do it!
It’s wide open. My wife homeschooled my two daughters from 2nd and 3rd grade, respectively. Till they were 13 and 14 and were accepted into junior college. Lyrical Learning is a must. She taught grammar out a 1950 college level English book. Taught anatomy using the anatomy coloring book (college level) and Lyrical Science. Stick to the basics for the core, reading writing and arithmetic. Get a good background in history, especially American. Teach how to look at the reference section of a book to identify if it is based on primary sources. Know the world view you want to instill in the child. If a christian world view, do not be afraid of exploring the secular world view at all. The child needs to be grounded in truth, so they always have an answer. Follow the interests of the child. Join homeschool groups and co-ops. Have fun!
If I had a kid, I’d just give the kid books to read when school wasn’t in session.
My father was a businessman. He probably had about 350 people on his payrolls at times. My father felt it was important to send his kids to public school so his children would become good judges of human character.
My wife mostly, but I assisted, too, homeschooled my two children from 4th/6th grade to high school graduation. Each had their own interests and style of learning. We used many different curricula; some we started with and dumped later, some we stuck with (the Bible, Abeka, Saxon Math, etc). Try to get hold of used curricula, because you may not end up liking it.
Also, be sure to join a local homeschool group; you will get access to social opportunities, classes, and curricula you'd otherwise miss out on.
My kids are both in their 20's now, and they're doing fine. My son is now a traveling salesman for a pool supplies company, after a short stint as a mechanic (which he ended up not liking; he's a people person). Daughter is presently studying abroad, getting a degree in Bible in preparation for a career as an overseas Christian missionary. Both of them are viewed by older adults as being more mature and well-spoken than many other kids their age, and I attribute this to homeschooling (well, and their mom).
You can do this. You can teach your own successfully.