Parents Homeschooling

[hunde2]

This is the first time we are homeschooling our daughter.It is early in the schoolyear but she is doing fine so far.Still getting used to a new routine.She loves the fact that she has more time for other things now.Like riding her bike
and being home more.She is up to 20 hrs of gymnastics a week.One good thing is that they will count 2 of her gym hrs as a PE class.I'm also excited to see her more and to be able to do more things with her.No regrets so far.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

congratulations - I think that is great. That is something I would like to do if I didn't have to work full time and I didn't think that one of us would not survive

 

[bogwoppit]

Good for you for being so motivated, I am sure it will be a fun year. I know Mariposamom also is a home schooler.

Did you find a network of parents to help with other subjects, for variety etc. There is a huge group here, they have a great drama/music production every year which fulfills all their curriculum needs and seems to be a lot of fun for all involved.

 

[mariposa]

Welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling. Of course, I only have a 1st grader, so it is very different. We homeschool for other reasons, but now having a DD that is in a sport that is so time consuming, I am even more happy.

If you guys can, I would definitely find a local support type group. More for the socialization and meeting other homeschooling families. We love ours and I can't imagine being without it. You can definitely get lots of help and info from other families.

Here are some links you might find helpful.

A to Z Home's Cool Homeschool Website
Link Removed
Homeschool World Forum - homeschool law, getting started, curriculum, resources, family, news, special needs, homeschool vs public school, and more!
Homeschool World: "The World's Most Visited Homeschool Site"

 

[hunde2]

We actually go through K 12 which is a puplic school program.She also has a "real" teacher that s monitoring her progress.She got tested when we signed her up for the program.The curriculum is designed for her strenght and weaknesses.She does some assignments on the internet and also has books and worksheets.They also sent artsupplies.We opted out of music and substituted it with a foreign language.
They also have social events from time to time.
Meriposama,thanks for the websites.I will check them out.

 

[mariposa]

I think the K12 program is very good for those who actually enjoy public school, but want to do it at home, etc. It also makes things less scary for the parents because you have that assurance that your child is learning what they "should be", etc. I know that here there is a special support group just for K12 homeschoolers, maybe you could find one.

 

[flippymonkeysmom]

Glad to hear it's going well. I give you a lot of credit. My dd has been begging me for the past year to home school her - but I just don't think I could. If I did with her I would hear from the other ones - It's not fair, how come we have to go to school and she doesn't. If I tried to home school all three - well I would probably be in the mental ward of a hospital somewhere.

 

[Billy]

Glad to hear it's going well. I give you a lot of credit. My dd has been begging me for the past year to home school her - but I just don't think I could. If I did with her I would hear from the other ones - It's not fair, how come we have to go to school and she doesn't. If I tried to home school all three - well I would probably be in the mental ward of a hospital somewhere.

I feel the same way. I would be willing to home school my daughter but if I had to do it with either (or both) of my sons, I'm not sure we'd all survive the experience.

 

[flippymonkeysmom]

I feel the same way. I would be willing to home school my daughter but if I had to do it with either (or both) of my sons, I'm not sure we'd all survive the experience.

Maybe we could be roommates in the loony bin

 

[mariposa]

Just to let you know, many of the families in our HS group have 3, 4 or more kids. They somehow make it work. Though I will admit that sometimes even with only 1 doing school, I think I am in a loony bin. LOL. But it really is all worth it. And with programs like K12, those that think they can't do it, really can.

K12: K12 Inc. - Home schooling curriculum, public school options, virtual academy schools, virtual charter, distance learning programs for elementary & high school grades, in Science, Math, History, English, Language Arts and more!

Many states offer K12. Link Removed

My DD has never been in school and we homeschool for different reasons, so right now, K12 isn't for us, but for some families, it is the perfect balance of doing public school at home.

 

[kaenhu]

We are homeschooling our 3 girls and planning to homeschool our 4th child (a boy) as well. He's only 2.5 now so he's not school age yet.

I honestly can't imagine doing it any other way. My kids have always been homeschooled and I never have to worry about a new teacher every year, new kids, new this new that. I can't imagine doing that with one child much less all 4 of mine.

My poor kids get the same mean teacher every year.

One great thing about hsling is that my 9 y/o dd is level 5 in gym and does competitive ballet, tap and jazz. She will also start competing this year in tennis. My 7 y/o who has cerebral palsy takes gym, dance and yoga. My 5 y/o takes gym and dance, and will most likely do both competitively as well. There is no way they'd be able to do all of this if we didn't homeschool. Most likely, my 7 y/o would be teased and made fun of, and her confidence would be destroyed and she'd be timid about doing any sports at all. As it is, she loves both dance and gym and considers herself "good" at both. I don't think that would ever happen if she went to traditional school.

Congrats on your choice to homeschool. I hope it works out well for you! I second the suggestion to get support, whether online or IRL. It can drain you sometimes!

 

[msl529]

We actually go through K 12 which is a puplic school program.She also has a "real" teacher that s monitoring her progress.She got tested when we signed her up for the program.The curriculum is designed for her strenght and weaknesses.She does some assignments on the internet and also has books and worksheets.They also sent artsupplies.We opted out of music and substituted it with a foreign language.
They also have social events from time to time.
Meriposama,thanks for the websites.I will check them out.

My DD has been asking to do this. We have it available here, through Florida Virtual Academy. One gym family we are close w/ changed over to this program after homeschooling their daughter the year prior, and they really like it. Following suit, several of DD's gym-mates are now doing it, and have formed a little study/field trip group together.

Needless to say, DD would LOVE to do it! However, I am afraid that this will get 'old' for her socially---only seeing gym-mates at gym, and then the same gym-mates during the day, several days a week, for study group or field trips.

But I am really tempted, as the schedule is getting really tight now, w/ her at gym 15 hrs/week, plus meets on weekends during season.

Currently, we have her in a really nice private school that is delivering a great quality of education, the teachers love the kids, there are nice kids there...so I ask myself, 'why would I throw that away?' Just to make MY life easier? I know it would make HER life easier too, though...

Like today, she has a mild sore throat, stayed home yesterday to rest, so really needed to go to school today so as not to get too behind, has an intra-squad tonight that she refuses to miss, and a meet this weekend. I am thinking , if we were doing virtual school, she'd have plenty of time to rest up and get better.

I guess I feel like if we change over to virtual school, we are putting gym ahead of school, which seems a little extreme to me...I mean, I probably would not be considering it, if we were NOT doing gym...

All opinions/advice are welcome!

 

[hunde2]

There is also another reason we choose to homeschool which is that she would have to go to a different school for her last year of Elementary School.They build a new school and and we are zoned to go to that one.She would have had the option to stay in the old school her last year but then we would have to drive her there.Also some of her old friends and schoolmates would have been torn apart.Meaning some staying at the old school and some going to the new school.The school only has one access road and I heard it is a nightmare to pick up your children.Trafficwise.We also picked her uo last year 15 min before chool got over so she does not miss warm up.Since she is at a higher Level I want to make shure she gets a good warm up before practice.The principle was also grumpling about us picking her up 15 min early 4 days a week.

 

[coveredinchalk]

We homeschool

too. In fact, I haven't been on site here for a few weeks since we've been trying to get our school year off to a good start! I have five kids with three of a school age (5th, 3rd, and 1st).

Anyway, yes, being able to homechool is a huge relief for my kids and their sport activities. My daughter in gymnastics is there for 11 hours each week at the moment and it is really hard to watch her team mates that get tired from being in school all day and the burden of so much homework to have to get done in addition to so many hours in the gym.

Not everyone is in a position to do it, but it is a great alternative for gymnasts! I'm sure you will have a fun year and enjoy having this extra time with your daughter.