How does Homeschooling Work??

Question

Whats the cost? How can you do it not linked with another school? What would be the most time a high school student would have to spend on academics?? I don't understand how you start out? You get out of your school and then what do you do from there... how do you get connected and started with homeschooling???
Please let me know ANYTHING... I don't really know anything about homeschooling...
Thanks

Answer 1

Methods are as different as the individual doing the homeschooling.

Some people have set class time and homework; they replicate school at home. Other people have completely rejected the notion of Prussian style schooling and are called unschoolers.

It can cost very little or it can be a huge financial drain. Some people hire tutors for every subject; that's expensive. Other people use the internet and their library card. So that's the cost of a computer, ISP, and late fees.

You can do it not linked with another school by, well, not linking with another school. You either buy a curriculum, make one up yourself -your parents do, whatever- or do the unschooler thing and discard that notion altogether.

Generally a high school student will spend about 2-3 hours on academics. A slower worker or someone with more work could take up to 4.

Some people have a set day that's the beginning of their homeschooling school year. In my case, I've ignored all that so I can't really be helpful. Basically, you leave school and then you start volunteering, being more active in groups like sports teams and community bands and stuff.

To get connected, look online. Even if you're not religious, check with churches, synagogues and mosques to try and find other homeschoolers. Look around and find out. There's no law that says homeschoolers can't have friends in school, and the other way around.

Answer 2

Check out www.hslda.org to find your state's homeschooling requirement. DO NOT ask the school board for it as they may give you things that you DO NOT need to do. The hslda website will also give you links to suppot groups in your area.

The amount of time spent doing schoolwork depends on the subjects needing to be covered and how quickly/slowly the child completes the work required. There are many good curricullums out there. I would contact a local support group for parents of high schoolers and ask what they use.

I'm actually getting started in homeschooling myself (with a 5 year old) but I have been researching it for about 2 years now. The best way to get started is to go thru a period of deschooling with your child. That just means to take it easy for a little while, don't jump right in. Homschooling doesn't have to look like "school", the beauty of homeschooling is that it can be done anywhere. A trip to the park is a learning experience, watching a show on the Discovery channel is science.

There is a lot of information on the web just do a search for "getting started on homeschooling" or "homeschooling high school".

Good luck.

Answer 3

Really, you should continue to stay in close contact with the school. The reason is, they HAVE to give you material that they are covering. Almost like their curriculum to cover. Some schools even will give you the text books to help out.
The average high school aged child should work on actual studies for about 2-4 hours each day. It is really up to you and your child and their attention span.
Homeschooling is difficult though. You don't have the resources that a school has nor the money. However, I have seen many children come to our 11th and 12th grade, better prepared than those who have remained in the system.
The reason is, your time is spent one-on-one and working through the problems until you get the answers. There is no falling behind, no pressure to outperform others and no embarrassment that kids are met with all the time. You can cover material they enjoy a little more in-depth and still have time to cover other material as well. Your day is up to you and how you do it is up to you.
Just be sure to keep some form of schedule. Even if you want to break it up into two, hour long blocks or whatever, just be consistent...just like parenting.
Good luck and I hope it pays off!

Answer 4

We started homeschooling our kids at birth. We gave them what they needed and filled the home with books and games and musical instruments. We spend lots of time with them - and still do - reading to them, talking about news and our interests. When they had interests we couldn't teach them in, we got them lessons.
Today, our 14 year old spends as much time as he wants reading history, creating animation, acting in his theatre troupe, writing, playing with his brother, etc.
Live, Love, Learn. It's easy, tho when you're deep in the school mindset it's very hard to imagine, i know.

here's a video my son recently made. http://youtube.com/watch?v=3vPMHJsgSTI you can see he's learning history, film making, and more. i didn't assign this, i didn't suggest it. he just learns and learns and creates.

As far as legally getting started, google the words 'homeschooling' and your state's name. One of the big state organizations will tell you your state's laws and requirements. In many states, it's incredibly easy. With our college degrees, my dh and I can homeschool our kids with no set curriculum or anything else. We are free to make all decisions about their education.

We don't divide the world into 'academics' and non-academics, so we can't say how much time is spent on academics. We are always learning, all the time. That's human nature. That's the nature of homeschooling - unless you're doing school at home, in which case you oughta just stay in school.

Don't use HSLDA. They are just a right-wing nut job group that uses the numbers and moneys of homeschoolers to give them an air of legitimacy. They are for religious freaks only, and even the freaks don't need them.

Answer 5

These are really good questions .There must be some chatlines or groups for parents who want to homeschool their kids. A support group of other homeschooling parents for homeschooling parents and kids. .If you find these let me know too. I want to homeschool my 5 year olds.
In the meantime I'm going to check out this www.hslda.org site.It looks pretty good,a lot of information here.

Answer 6

To Rusty -- they need to interact to whom?
to the kids that are trouble makers in school
be exposed to those who party their arses off and smoke pot and other worse behaviors..

they need to be exposed to children / teachers that are more concerned with how "Johnny" feels instead of just how far Janey has come with her reading...

the public school system in the United States (and other countries) are dumming down the children instead of educating them

to start home educating a child
you must contact the School system with a letter of intention.

the cost can be as little as 20 per month depending on what your budget is

you can also work with the public school system to borrow academic school books

you also should come up with a plan as to how and where your child will come up with some socialization / physical activities

i.e. church/synogogue groups
youth groups
bowling legues
parks and recreation activities

then what you and your child want to learn about and work on for the school year

there are a ton of groups / home school information on the Internet -- google it


Good Luck

Answer 7

You need to talk to your school district about the requirements for your state. Typically a student spends 6 hours a day, 170 days a year in school.

It works well for some students and awful for others. It depends on how motivated the home school teacher and student are. I have known some that really did well and others that let their children unsupervised and they just played on the internet.

Answer 8

dont deprive you kids from going to school they need the interaction for when they grow up