I think I want to home school??

Question

I think I want to home school my kids. I have a 9yr old who is going in to the 4th and a 5yr old who is going to K. and 2 little ones that dont go to school yet. were is a good place to start. I dont have a clue about this but one of my boys may have Tourette syndrome and the other is haveing some other probs with his syco dad,And is haveing to get counceling. I dont even know if I would Qualifi to teach My kids at home. Were do I start. what are the Requierments?

OK my kids play 4 diffrent sports and they also interact with LOTS of kids. I am not worryed or asking about that!!! and I am also not asking "WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY SPELLING, SINCE MY SPELL CHECK IS NOT WORKING." I hate it when ppl dont just answer the Q. Thay want to give oppinions that were not asked for.

Answer 1

You will need to start out by finding what the regulations are in the area you live. Some areas are very friendly to homeschooling and others are not. Chances are you will have to send written notification to the school that you are withdrawing the 9 year old. You may also have to notify them that you don't intend to enroll your 5 year old at all.

Once that's done you will need to decide on a curriculum/method/philosophy for homeschooling that works for you and your children. There are lots of different ones available. A good place to do some research is homeschoolreviews.com (link below) and check out as many books as you can get your hands on from your library. If you hear about one you think you'll like that they don't have, request it. They might be able to get it from another library or be willing to add it to their collection.

And don't worry about being qualified to teach your kids. You are their parent and have instincts to help you along the way. Just make sure you're willing to learn right along with them. With a little bit of searching you can probably find a few homeschool groups in your area and online to help you out as well.

Good luck!

P.S. - Did you notice that most of the answers that contained spelling and gramatical errors came from the people who are anti-homeschool and not the people who are giving you support?

P.P.S. - If you're worried about socialization and want to make it more like the public school experience, feel free to put them at a desk first thing in the morning and tell them not to talk, send them out for recess and make sure they know that you get the cool toys and they have to find something else to do because you are the popular kid and they are not, steal their lunch, have them spend more time sitting silently in a desk, and then make them do their homework at the end of the day before they can spend any time with friends.

Answer 2

It appears that many of the previous posters have not done their homework, in spite of the fact that they will readily point out your spelling errors. (There are many books out there that can help you learn to spell better, and you can even do them along with your children so that you can help eachother through the learning process.) Homeschooling is a wonderful experience for many people around the world. I have been homeschooling my four sons for the past nine years, and I run a cover school for homeschoolers. My children are not behind in academics, they have friends and attend activities and social gatherings. They are not socially abnormal, except that they are actually polite and respectful, which seems to be abnormal these days! If you are willing to put the effort into doing it right, homeschooling might be a great option for your family. Be aware, though, it is a HUGE committment and it is nothing to be taken lightly.

The first thing you need to do is to visit www.hslda.org and find out what the laws are in your state. They also have links to other sites that will give you information about homeschooling in your state and supportive organizations that can help you. Some other good resources are www.homeschoolcentral.com and http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com (A to Z Home's Cool).

To all of the other posters who feel the need to knock down anyone thinking of homeschooling, you might want to do some research. Homeschoolers tend to score higher on standardized tests than their public school counterparts, do well in college and the work force, and most are active in their communities, including community service. Also, please realize that school is not a great experience for all children- especially for kids with challenges like Tourette's. School is a living hell for many kids. Look at our 30% drop-out rates and try to say kids are having a great time and want to be there. Finally, if homeschooling is so terrible and wrong, why are so many public and charter schools now offering homeschooling programs? It can work, it does work, and it is a very valuable option for those of us who still believe in freedom.

Answer 3

You are perfectly qualified to teach your children at home. Further, you have a Constitutional right to do so.

First, check with the legal requirements in your state; i.e., where I live, you must teach your child for a minimum of three hours a day for 180 days a year. In other states in may be different.

There are also affiliations/association that will help you to fill in the blanks, if you will, and there are some excellent curricula to choose from.

Second, here are some links to get you started. I haven't researched these links fully, but it will give you a good start.

There will be a lot of idiots out there who will try to tell you that you are doing a terrible thing to your children, not "socializing" them properly, blah, blah, blah, but those people have obviously not done their research, and obviously don't know that even Sandra Day O'Connor -- Supreme Court Justice -- was home schooled, and they have not read the statistics and research comparing the scholastic achievements of homeschooled kids versus public schooled kids.

http://www.thejubileeacademy.org
http://www.progressacademy.org
http://www.homeschooltoday.com
http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

Good luck, and you are doing the right thing!

Rebecca

Answer 4

You will go crazy and take your kids with you. Plus, unless you were in a really big hurry, you yourself have big issues with spelling and grammer and this would be passed on to your kids.
Public schools are only as good as the parents. Since it appears you do not work outside the home, you would have the time to monitor the quality of education your kids will get in public school. Children need the interaction with other children. As long as you stay on top of it, there is a very good systme in place for special needs children. You just have to put the time and energy into fighting for that help. If one of your sons TRUELY has Tourettes and isn't just using bad language learned at home or through unsupervised TV, then the school would have recognized this and already informed you of the testing needed to confirm this.

Answer 5

Start at the HSLDA website (listed below). They'll give you an overview of the requirements for your state. HS'ing is legal in all 50 states, but each state sets their own requirements, so check there first - the legal red tape may be more than you want to tackle.

Next, you'll need to decide on a philosophy and curriculum (your philosophy will generally dictate your curriculum choices). Some of the bigger ones are classical (read "The Well-Trained Mind" for a great overview and plan), Charlotte Mason (similar to classical - most of the books she wrote are out of print, but look for anything by or about her at the library), and unschooling (letting the child follow his/her passions). There's also eclectic, which is a mix of all or none of these. You should also check the library for books ABOUT homeschooling as well as joining a support group/co-op.

Once you decide how formal or informal you want to go, you'll be able to sift pretty easily through the curriculum choices. You can go with one company for everything (Bob Jones, A Beka, Alpha Omega) or you can mix and match what strikes you (we loosely follow the classical model, and this is how we do it). Ordering is pretty simple - there are a handful of big retailers (Rainbow Resource, Timberdoodles, Homeschool Supercenter, and Children's Books). If you need reviews before you buy, Cathy Duffy, Mary Pride, and Rebecca Rupp all have good books out that offer reviews of LOTS of materials (from books to complete curriculum sets to science kits).

Hope this helps you get started. If you have further questions, email me.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Sonlight. If you're a Christian, this is a GREAT way to start your homeschooling adventure as all the work has been done for you - choosing literature, setting up lesson plans. It's not cheap, but well worth the investment (I'm using their Language Arts and Science programs this year with my boys). You don't have to buy all the books - see what's available from your local library first. Even before we started using Sonlight, we would check out 20-30 books each week per child to cover history, reading/literature, and science.

Answer 6

I personally believe that education is not just reading, writing etc, but is a combination of social skills, basic education and learning to have respect for adults other than ones parents all at the same time. I believe that homeschooling only addresses some of these very important skills that kids need to learn, and that the other skills are never addressed because of the "home" situation. Please don't just make this decision lightly, do some serious research with a local chapter, talk to your Dr. about the kids medical and psychological problems, and try spell check next time.

Answer 7

I have read the responses to your question and I urge you to ignore anyone who is either a teacher, a spouse of a teacher or under the age of 20.
It is clear that these people are answering questions about issues in which they have neither knowledge nor true experience.
My children are well past their public school counter parts in both maturity and academics. The children who go back are more often from families that could not handle the responsibility and commitment of homeschooling. The majority of us never send our children back.
You can do it but it is a huge commitment.
Just Google Home school and you will find a plethora of information to get you started. I have two special needs children and they failed in public schools and thrived at home.
Best of luck

Answer 8

If you don't even know where to start you probably shouldn't do it. My wife is a teacher and she tells me all kinds of stories about parents who have done the home schooling and decided that it was too hard so they brought their kid back in to the school after a couple of years. When they come back to school they are usually 2 YEARS behind the other kids!!! Not only that but they have many Social Skill problems from not being around the other kids all day, they may even have anxiety problems about leaving your side due to the fact that they are around you, literally, 24-7. You may want to talk with your local school counselor or even the teachers at the school about their experience with this issue. Please think seriously about your children before doing something this drastic. Best of luck to you, and if you need anyone to talk to more about this please feel free to email me.

Answer 9

You should think long and hard about it.I have three great kids who I love very much.About 4 years ago I started homeschooling.My children were at different grade levels also.Now my youngest has no problems.She does great,but my other two didn't get the full attention they needed.This year I am putting them back in school,and yes they WANT to go.I am not against homeschooling,we have learned a lot.But I know from hard experience you cannot teach 3 different children at 3 different grade levels and all of them get exactly what they need.It is very hard and very stressful.It is a huge sacrifice.Please think long and hard before making the decision.

Answer 10

Home schooling is GREAT! I have home schooled my three children from the beginning. My oldest is now 10 going into 5Th grade. For those who have answered with a closed mind to home schooling, please consider the source. Each State has its own laws for home schooling. To find the requirements in you state go to www.hslda.org. One of the easiest literature's to teach in my opinion is made by Alpha Omega Publishing(AOP). AOP have many choices but I have personally used Switched on Schoolhouse, a CD-ROM program for 3-12 grades; and Lifepac, a workbook 10 unit study to last one year. If you do chose to home school have fun and learn as you teach. I know I have learned with each lesson. Also keep in mind if the children need special classes or speech therapy from the public school, most the time they can still get this from the school. Enjoy and have a great day!