homeschooling question

[beautifulsoul]

Any homeschoolers here? I am seriously thinking about homeschooling my 9 yr old son, with ADHD. I was wondering if anybody could share their experience, any tips, typical routine, how to get started. Seems like so much, I am worried I can't handle it. Thanks.

 

[horseshowmom]

I'm a former home schooler. I home schooled 4 kids from pre-school until the oldest was in high school, youngest in 6 th grade. I felt inadequate to tackle high school, so they all did a trial run of 4th quarter freshman year for my son, 8th,7th,and 6th for girls. We were all happpy with the test run and they went full time the following year. The 3rd graduates Sunday and all are in college,so I guess I didn't mess them up too badly!
My biggest issue was picking a curriculum! There are so many excellent programs out there...which is also awesome, but can be overwhelming. But, you can tailor make a program which best meets your son's needs.
It is totally doable and can be terrific for your relationship, but it isn't all roses! There are thorns!
You need to be honest with yourself if you can make the time commitment, which is actually much shorter than a typical school day. When you are working with just one student, you can get a lot done in a short amount of time!
Feel free to PM or e-mail me @ [email protected]!

Becky

 

[My2girls]

Hi!

We homeschool our two DDs. This is really our first year (DD7 1st grade and DD5 Kinder), so I don't have any great advice, other than to say, I Love it and would encourage anyone to give it a try!!!!!! I think anyone could handle it; you are the one that knows your child the best, how they learn and you know what are the most important subjects and character issues to teach them!

There is probably a homeschool group that meets in your area and an online support group you could get connected with. You can get to know other homeschoolers near you and they will be able to help you soooo much!!!

I would also encourage you Not to get too stressed out about what other families use for curriculum, but find the one that suits you and your son. This is the time of year that a lot of Homeschool Conferences are held and you can go to one and gleam ideas from seasoned homeschoolers as well as browse the curriculum sales.

Best of luck to you and your son!!!!

 

[Buttercup67k]

Virtual school?

I live in Florida and my 3 children do a virtual school called Connections Academy. It is a program that was offered through the state but now is offered by my county (same program).

For me, it puts together all the flexibility and parental control of homeschooling, but the support of a curriculum already mapped out, teacher support and an organized way to keep track of what my kids are doing and it is free to Florida residents.

They gave us a computer, printer, lesson plans, books, art supplies and science lab supplies. They also offer electives. The kids have regular teachers who do "live lessons" every 1-2 weeks and are available for help, but they are not intruding on your day to day school work.

I don't know where you live, but you might try and see if some sort of virtual schooling is available to your state. I know Connections is offered in California and several other states, so they may be in your state.

Virtual schooling isn't for everyone, it is a commitment from me because I am the "Learning Coach," also known as the person who makes sure it all gets done on time. That means I am doing it with them on a day by day basis instead of a teacher. But, it works very well for my family!

 

[beautifulsoul]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and info. I am currently looking at all the different curriculums and trying not to feel overwhelmed. : )

 

[stacieb]

k12

Hi, I just finished with my first year home-schooling my daughter. She started with kindergarten with a curriculum called k12. I can't say enough good things about it. You can purchase the curriculum yourself or (if your state offers it) you might be able to get into their virtual academy. If you go this route you have a teacher assigned to work with you and an online schedule which you can modify to fit your own circumstances. They supply everything including a computer. I live in arkansas and the website for my virtual academy is arva.org (arkansas virtual academy). I loved it! Hope this helps. Oh, btw, it's considered public school so it saves you from having to fill out a bunch of intent to home school papers.

 

[sparrow13]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and info. I am currently looking at all the different curriculums and trying not to feel overwhelmed. : )

My sis has been home-schooling for about 4 years now with great success. The kids are thriving. But she too was overwhelmed when she started; the first year can be up and down. I think her advice to you would be "stick with it! It gets easier."

 

[EricaH]

Hi, I just finished with my first year home-schooling my daughter. She started with kindergarten with a curriculum called k12. I can't say enough good things about it. You can purchase the curriculum yourself or (if your state offers it) you might be able to get into their virtual academy. If you go this route you have a teacher assigned to work with you and an online schedule which you can modify to fit your own circumstances. They supply everything including a computer. I live in arkansas and the website for my virtual academy is arva.org (arkansas virtual academy). I loved it! Hope this helps. Oh, btw, it's considered public school so it saves you from having to fill out a bunch of intent to home school papers.

We have used k12 also and got everything for free through the Ohio Virtual Academy. It worked out great - the entire curriculum is provided and you just make sure the work gets done. For some homeschoolers (like myself), this is great because it doesn't involve much planning. For others, it's too structured and rigid.

Erica

 

[Peaceful Rainbow]

There's so much available for homeschoolers now that I'm not even going to try to cover it, but there are a couple things I highly recommend. 1) definitely look for a homeschool group in your area. Most larger cities have multiple groups so if the first one doesn't fit keep looking. 2) check out all the museums, nature centers, zoos, planetariums etc in your area. Many of them now have at least once a month homeschooling classes and they are usually quite affordable.