Might be HomeSchooling Soon

Hi

Due to some circumstances with our son we might be home schooling for a little while. He is having alot of behavior issues at PS because they do not have the resources to deal with his issues.

I was wondering what HS systems you guys like. He is in 1st grade at PS, but only about a late K5 for his language arts, he can't quite read yet, but knows lots of site words. Is there any programs where we could start at a lower level and work up to his grade level? In Math, Social Studies, and Science he is at grade level.

Also, about how long a day do you devote to tablework? Do you do field trips? and if you don't mind what are some of the start up costs for HS, such as books, software etc? Also how do you make sure they are learning what they should? Do you have to do the standardized state testing through a PS or something? If you don't mind could you list a sample school day?

Thanks in advance.

 

First off you need to find out your state laws. By the looks of your little flag that is Wisconsin so here is a starting point on the HSLDA website (they're a legal protection group for homeschoolers). I briefly glanced at the regulations and they didn't seem to bad. You will have to fill out a form each year and teach certain subjects (which are basic) and that looked like it. Do you plan on bringing them both home or just your son?

As for curriculum choices, there are a lot out there. Unfortunately I haven't found that "perfect" stuff yet to make great recommendations. My DD came home half way through 2nd grade so she was already reading, and my boys are just getting to that point. I know a lot of people on one of my homeschooling boards recommend the Explode the Code series. I have the first book and will be trying it with my boys. It is a phonics based program. Good news is while he is at home, you can work with whatever levels you need to. As things click for him, you can progress as quickly or as slowly as you two feel comfortable. I hang out at a website that focuses on a classical method of homeschooling called the Welltrainedmind. Don't tell them I haven't read their book though . I go there because you can ask all sorts of homeschooling questions and they have a great curriculum board where people get advice on different subjects.

As to our typical day... uh... yeah, typical day.... hummm. Well DD is the only one on a "schedule" at the moment. She has assigned math, handwriting, spelling, reading comprehension (for now, we will switch to learning to write reports over the summer, and then grammar in the fall), science readings, history readings, and whatever else I feel like throwing in. If she sits down and does her work it is about 2 hrs in the morning and 1 hr in the afternoon. When she is being a PIA it can take 3 or more hours in the morning and we are lucky to get the afternoon stuff done. She is a little older though. I would expect a child your kids age to probably work for 15-20 minute segments several times a day to total about 2 or 3 hours max. You will have to look at the Wisconsin law though as it looked like one of the requirements was a number of hours a year so you could just divide it out and see how much you will have to do each day. Okay, bedtime here and I feel rambly so good luck on your new adventure, and don't hesitate to ask questions.

 

Hi,

The laws for Wisconsin are pretty good.

Here they are.

Each year you must file a DPI form.

Section 118.165(1), Wis. Stats., requires that a program of at least 875 hours of instruction be provided each school year. In addition, the educational program must provide a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction in six subject areas (reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and health). It is your responsibility to ensure that these requirements are met. The Department recommends that you maintain in the home a school calendar verifying the minimum of 875 hours of instruction and course outlines verifying that there exists a sequentially progressive curriculum of fundamental instruction.

I think it is pretty simple instructions. 875 hours works out to 3-4 hours a day, five days a week.

Do you count field trips as part of your school hours?

We are starting to get excited about this.

We are pulling only Noah out at first as he is the one having the most trouble in the regular school system. Abby is doing well and we are going to try and keep her in the school system, but we figure she will probably end up at home also. Both my twins have ADHD, and my son has PDD-NOS also so the schools rigid structure is not working for either of my two.

 

QUOTE(jenn- @ Apr 25 2009, 10:18 PM) [snapback]1288541[/snapback]
As for curriculum choices, there are a lot out there. Unfortunately I haven't found that "perfect" stuff yet to make great recommendations. My DD came home half way through 2nd grade so she was already reading, and my boys are just getting to that point. I know a lot of people on one of my homeschooling boards recommend the Explode the Code series. I have the first book and will be trying it with my boys. It is a phonics based program. Good news is while he is at home, you can work with whatever levels you need to. As things click for him, you can progress as quickly or as slowly as you two feel comfortable. I hang out at a website that focuses on a classical method of homeschooling called the Welltrainedmind. Don't tell them I haven't read their book though . I go there because you can ask all sorts of homeschooling questions and they have a great curriculum board where people get advice on different subjects.

I haven't read the Well Trained Mind book either, but I have to agree their website is amazing. Great place to buy used curriculum on the Sale/Swap forum find it under Message Boards. I've purchased products from other homeschooling families at a much cheaper price then at eBay. One curriculum I love and have used along side my children attending school (I homeschooled only one year, then the babies just kept coming, LOL) is Math U See. Obviously it's a math program, but my girls have really responded to it. That's all I would feel comfortable recommending since I only homeschooled for that year, but I'm always keeping my eyes opened to new suggestions for when I start up again.

 

QUOTE(Jaimie @ Apr 26 2009, 07:04 AM) [snapback]1288658[/snapback]
I think it is pretty simple instructions. 875 hours works out to 3-4 hours a day, five days a week.

Do you count field trips as part of your school hours?

We are starting to get excited about this.

We are pulling only Noah out at first as he is the one having the most trouble in the regular school system. Abby is doing well and we are going to try and keep her in the school system, but we figure she will probably end up at home also. Both my twins have ADHD, and my son has PDD-NOS also so the schools rigid structure is not working for either of my two.


I don't have to count hours, but if I did I would totally count any field trip you could remotely construe as educational. If the field trip is to the playground, it might be a little harder to justify. We only count our park days when they coincide with our 4H meeting or we go to the zoo. Look into when the district starts and stops their official school year. Ours technically goes from July 1st through June 31st (these are our attendance start and stop days. although we don't have a set days we have to do, we do have to report attendance once a year) and we do school year round. That way you could count all the fun semi educational things you will do during the whole year.

I pulled DD out due to ADD issues. Even though she has never been tested she has all the signs of it. She couldn't handle the distractions in her class. Her teacher actually supported our decision and predicted that she would thrive on some one on one teaching. She has definitely gotten better at doing her school work with a little more focus. She does go through days where she can barely stay focused long enough to do one math problem at a time. :headbang: <-- that's me on those days.

 

I don't homeschool my Asperger's son, but did for a short time and still follow some list serve. This one is dedicated to homeschool kids with Aspergers (should have a lot of advise that applies to PDD-NOS also) and they have a lot of info on curriculums: [email protected].

 

I would recommend starting slow. Many like The Well Trained Mind, it wouldn't work for us. It focuses exclusively on the r's the first four years. Taking that into consideration there are many many programs and variations that work depending on your individual child and the subject material. I tend to use materials from 8-10 different publishers for my crew depending on the child and subject. I homeschool my four oldest children with the exception of my oldest DD, she attend public school for English Language Arts and homeschools all her remaining subjects. I would look for something like this on your states site:

http://www.mi.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-28753_33232---,00.html

try pasting it, it is a list of Michigan Grade Level Curriculum Expectations (GLCE's) by grade level. These can get technical but there is also a parent guide that you can print for the English and Math that are well written. They are a good starting point because that is what the public school expectation in your state is for everyone in that grade.

As for curriculum I could go on and on since just about each child uses something different. What type of learner is your child, audio, visual, tactile? That will help to narrow down curriculum. Also whether you want to teach from a secular veiwpoint or a religious one? Cost can be as much or as little as you wish. Take science and social studies, you be amazed at what little they are expected to learn in the younger grades. Visit www.mhschool.com and click on the science or social studies link and you will get a review of their current textbooks. If you click on the book you will get the Chapters and their interactives that will give you a summary of what they are expected to know. Much of it you can do yourself. You can also click on Correlations at the top and choose a book and get the list of everything that is included in the curriculum by state. I could go on but don't want to overwhelm you anymore.

Math:
Singapore Math is wonderful, the new standard edition is now correlated to California schools and has homeschool guides for teaching the lower levels. I have heard good things about Math U See as well. There are also Kumon workbooks if you want lap style learning. ALEKS is great once you hit third grade.

Language Arts:
We used Hooked on Phonics for one twin who read quickly. For the other we use Explode the Code Online. (Bought it at www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org for a lot less.) We also use www.readinga-z.com for printable books by reading level, much easier than buying each and every early reader. We are moving my oldest twin into Voyages in English this fall for more formal Language Arts.

Science and Social Studies:
Early levels we used www.homeschoolstudiesweekly.com and then added material from the recommended resources from our library and from online publisher sites like I mentioned above. Steck Vaughn workbooks are also an inexpensive option for early social studies, a little light on material though.

Many YMCA's have homeschool Gym and Swim programs for gym credits.

I get such a kick out of the hours and attendance thing. Anything educational can be learning hours, field trips, trips to the grocery store to comparison shop or work with money or quantity, educational videos like DK learning, even time working with the foam numbers in the bath tub can be "educational time" unless your state says otherwise.

Sorry to get so long winded. My oldest DD9 is gifted with Aspergers and my oldest twin is PDD-NOS. Feel free to ask questions. Every day is an adventure.

 

Thanks for the info. My DD has ADHD, a LD, and anxiety. My DS has ADHD, Bipolar, MMR, and PDD-NOS. We are tired of trying to force the child to change to fit the school needs, so we are looking to change the school type to fit his needs.

The curriculum we are looking at is:

Explode the Code for phonics
All about Spelling for spelling
Hand writing with out Tears for handwriting

R.E.A.L. Science

Singapore Math

A few different geography books
The Story of the World

And some workbooks for health.

We are going to be starting slow, and seeing what works and what does not.

I like the WTM website as their forums talk about all the different curriculums not just theirs, so it's a nice site to look for opinions of something you are looking to use.

 

Those looks like great choices.

 

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