I am curious too know about homeschooling?

Question

How does that work? Do anyone here get they children homeschooled? Would I be entitled to have my children homeschooled? Do you have to pay? Please let me know... Thanks and advance...

Answer 1

If you are in the US, the laws governing homeschooling vary by state. You can pretty quickly find state homeschooling organizations by searching google. Also search yahoo groups.

Some states are very accomodating - we submit a curriculum description like this: We will continue living, loving, and learning with all the resources at our disposal, submit test results once a year, and we're left alone.

There is no cost to homeschool. Some people buy curriculums, but I feel this is unnecessary for virtually every child. Unschooling is a wonderful lifestyle, as long as the parents love learning or creating - have something that they can do to model enthusiasm for learning and accomplishment. (You don't have to be perfect - most homeschooling parents develop a lot along with their children.)

You can learn more about unschooling online, too. The Natural Child Project is a great resource for articles about good parenting, including homeschooling. naturalchild.org

We've been unschooling for 13.5 years and are thrilled beyond measure at how our children have developed - interests we'd never have thought of for them and many we did. They are polite, mature, optimistic, fun-loving, hard-working, curious, self-motivated.

We've unschooled since birth - many parents whose kids have already attended institutionalized schooling or day care find it necessary for their child to 'deschool' - to overcome the regimentation that says learning happens in a certain place and time, one learns what one is told to learn, one forgets what one learns after the test.

During deschooling, I'd allow just a little computer gaming and tv, except maybe good quality things, especially that a child could argue is part of her learning explorations. I'd require a certain amount of chores, and I'd include time to read to them and take them to museums or whatever cultural/historical/etc venues you have nearby. And then, I'd just let them unwind and discover their passions.

Answer 2

Homeschooling is good in a lot of ways but it costs a lot of money. I pay $1100 a month for one child. Anyone can do homeschooling as long as you have a high school diploma. The bad part about this is they do not get to figure out how to interact with the public.

Answer 3

Mary Pride has a couple of books that give overviews of homeschooling that are really good intros. See if your library has them.

As far as laws are concerned, if you're in the US, check out the HSLDA website where you can see an overview of the laws of each state individually. It is legal in all 50 states and many foreign countries (if you're not in the US, you'll have to specify which country you're in).

In the US, you don't have to pay anything, unless you buy curriculum from someone. You can do much of the work from library books (we typically have 40 books checked out per child at any given time). Of course, we do buy math textbooks, especially starting in junior high. The most popular homeschooling books are readily available used either from Ebay, VegSource, or CraigsList.

Answer 4

Some kids really benefit from being homeschooled...particularly if they're smarter than most of their classmates and bored in the traditional classroom. If you're going to homeschool though, make sure you provide plenty of opportunities for your kid(s) to interact within the community. Volunteering, going to libraries and museums, even the grocery store. Get them out in the community.

I've seen both good and bad come out of homeschooling though. One family I know of...I was going to Bible Study in their home back in the early 90s. They had just had their 6th child, and they were homeschooling all of them (until highschool). Now, being the youngest of 6 (not sure if she was the last though) you'd think she had plenty of siblings to socialize with. She turned up in a couple of classes that I substitute taught in last year, and she was so shy and reserved that it was scary!

On the otherhand, some of the brightest and best adjusted kids are homeschooled. They belong to homeschool clubs, are active in church and community sports, and get out of the house!

I believe the only requirement in most states is that you have a high school diploma and enough time on your hands to effectively homeschool.

Answer 5

It really depends on where you live. Here, we don't really have any state requirements for it but where you live you might have some requirements that have to be met every month. The only thing you have to pay for is the books. I was homeschooled for awhile so if you have any other questions feel free to contact me.

Answer 6

Homeschooling works if you are knowledgable enough to teach the kids. I don't think there is anything special you have to do in order to do it. Just be able to have enough time on your hands to do it!

Answer 7

You have to pay for the supplies. The best thing to do is to get a program. The best one out there is probably "School of tomorrow" or "ACE" but thats christian based so I dont know if you would be intrested.

https://aceweb.schooloftomorrow.com/store/dept.asp

Answer 8

Go to www.oakmeadow.com and look all through the site. I am using it for home schooling and find it to be excellent.

Answer 9

Plenty of good advice here.

Answer 10

I'm sorry but I think home-schooling is a bad idea. Your child(ren) don't get the same benefits of public or private school. Way less interaction with other kids.