Home schooling

[slawson123]

I have recently started home schooling my youngest daughter due to the school not taking care of bullies the way they should. Does anyone else home school? Any advice or opinions on it. We hope to move out of our current school district so that she can be around kids her age again.

[bschumacher]

I'm sure that there are online home-schooling support communities as our schools have deteriorated so much that more parents are educating their kids at home. Do some web searches to find resources for teaching materials; you don't want to rely on boring packaged materials, or re-invent the wheel by creating all your own materials!!

[tammypete]

I have always homeschooled my kids!  The oldest is in the 10th grade!   I love it and my kids love it also!  There are so many different groups today that you can get advice and help from!    A support group is great and most are online now!  They offer many different things from socialization to  yearly testing!    I would be glad to answer any questions that you may have!  

[slawson123]

I have been looking for support groups in my area, somewhere that you can meet talk, share ideas, haven't found any local though.

Tammypete- do you grade your children or test them regularly? I have started trying to grade but not real sure what I should be gradeing..... My daughter and I work together on assignments. Most of the time I just answer any questions that she has. I have purchased books in each subject and we just go through those. I was thinking about buying the testing book when it gets closer to May to make sure she is where she needs to be.

This is all new to us so any advice or ideas would be helpful. Thank you!

[tammypete]

We do test once a year and the requirements depend upon what state you live in.   I also test weekly on each subject they have!  The curriculum I use has it set up that way.   Email me at TPeterson002@carolina.rr.com and I can go in more detail for you.

[mattymatt79]

My wife and I are going to homeschool after reading more and more about it. Our next door neighbor homeschools her two sons after both having special needs and in her opinion not being met by public school system.

There are countless groups and she was telling me that they even now have like major symposiums for it. It used to be mostly religious families doing it but apparently it's even expanded to a point where you can have a completely secular education if you so choose.

Around my parts theres a group called the Seton group. How it works is you have a group of families and the moms (well it's usually the moms) teach one subject matter and have the kids for the day. Like example, my wife has her degree in US History and her masters in Political Science, so she'd teach history and government to the kids of all grade levels. Our next door neighbor is a chemical engineer so she'd teach math and science on her day. It's tough because you have multiple grade levels you teach on a day since obviously some kids might be older or younger, but it works because the kids now have a social aspect involved and the parents all agree on a ciriculum prior to the school year starting.

In Virginia, the public schools must allow for kids to try out for public school sports teams and all other organized activities like marching band and cheerleading. So you can give your kids the education that you want to give them, they usually shine because school isn't taught at the lowest common denominator, and they can still participate in every other activity.

[Cuppycake]

I home-schooled all 3 of my children while still allowing them to continue in public school. Children that are completely home-schooled will not be fully prepared for real life situations.   

[mattymatt79]

I disagree, I think it depends on the enviroment they're put into and will learn accordingly. Most of the "socialization" that's acquired from public school is the "I need to look cool so I'm not the nerd and I need to desperatly fit into some strange grouping of predetermined cool kids"

[tammypete]

I completely disagree with "cuppycake"!   I have always homeschooled my kids with the oldest being in high school and he is more than ready for "REAL LIFE" situations!   Probably more so than most adults.   If a child is sheltered and never exposed to the real world then yes, I could seen them having a problem.  So many people have the assumption that because your child is homeschooled he/she has no socialization skills or will never be able to make it in the "Real" world!    My kids are involved in several different activities!   Civil Air Patrol and Karate are just to name a few!  Most of the kids in those groups are public schooled so they do interact with others and not just homeschoolers.

[tdsantiago1]

I was home schooled has a child and for the most part was great, but I missed interaction with other kids and I choose not to do that for my kids because they need to defend themselves against bullies and make themselve known. On the other side of the token, I always advice my kids not to start a fight but if you get hit to hit twice as hard back.

[bud1]

I think that Home schooling is the best way to go.   You can teach your values to your children and  not the secular views .  The public school system has been broken for several decades.

[mattymatt79]

I wouldn't be opposed to private Catholic schooling either. I will however, never send a child of mine to a broken public union teacher ran school system. Where things like tenure determine teaching quality as opposed to how the children are actually doing.

[sdecaro558]

I have no experience with home schooling, but based on what I went through in the public school system I favor homeschooling.

[floridababe32766]

I have recently started home schooling my youngest daughter due to the school not taking care of bullies the way they should. Does anyone else home school? Any advice or opinions on it. We hope to move out of our current school district so that she can be around kids her age again.

Just make sure she stay up to date with her age/grade an that she has other kids to play with after her schooling to keep her social skills...

[lynnell20]

I have been home schooled for six years. Now that I want to attend a normal high school the broad requires that I must take State testing in order to enroll in my correct grade and if i do not pass i will be demoted.