BigNutbrownHare

Brandy, I think that is the approach I am looking for. My fear is that I won't have time to put the effort into making my own lesson plans. Maybe my best question would be for the teachers - what things were on their lesson plans that I could replicate at home to reinforce or what things (books, songs, games) didn't they get to that were in their back-up list. Of course, I realize that is going to make me the annoying parent in the class.

grinell

Each friday we receive a worksheet that recaps all they learned the week before (including books, etc.) as well as gives us detailed info on what they'll be learning the next week. Asher's preschool may do something similar. If they do it'll be a natural lead in for some of your questions.

Eleni

So...up until what age is a kid allowed by the system to be homeschooled?
Those of you who homeschool, do you plan to send them to regular school afterwards and at what age?

brandanaleighana

Each state is different on what is allowed. In TN, you have to have a college degree to homeschool your highschooler. But, if you have been homeschooling all along and don't have a degree, then the state will allow a waiver.
We plan to take it year by year. My hope is to homeschool until each child graduates but I don't know what my future holds. Our local colleges offer classes to homeschooled kids during their highschool years that can also be used as college credit. That is our goal.

KeriKadi

Everything Brandy said.
TX is one of the easiest states to homeschool in and the Houston Yahoo group has THOUSANDS of families on it and that doesn't include many people that have their own groups and are not part of the Houston Yahoo group.
I am not sure how long I will HS the girls. I do believe this is the best thing for them and for our family right now. Like Brandy I would like to go all the way through and our community has a LOT to offer homeschool kids. In the Fall the girls will be in a YMCA program, they will go three days a week for 2 hours a day for PE and Art for homeschool kids. There are also all kinds of science programs and the museums, zoos, libraries etc. have special programs for homeschool kids

Eleni

That all sounds great! My question is...does this mean that you guys feel well equiped with the knowledge necessary to school highschoolers? I mean, from my personal experience I sucked at math/physics/chemistry. I excelled in all literature/essay writing/history/ancient greek class but sucked at the former. I don't think I could ever successfully homeschool an older kid.
Also, how many hours do you expect to spend each day with kids that are older? I mean, how do you subsitute 6 hours of regular schooling while having to teach children of different age at the same time?

I guess I'm just curious as to how this works. My SIL was really bummed homeschooling isn't allowed here, she was really into it. But I always thought it's just for younger kids.

KeriKadi

That's the beauty of having a huge homeschooling community. By the time my kids are learning those things they will either be taking classes at community colleges where they can also learn languages, study art, chemistry, higher math etc. OR another option is professors that are in the homeschool community. There are many professionals and a lot of them teachers/professors that have classes & workshops.
A lot of kids learn online as well.
The other thing to keep in mind is you don't start with a high schooler obviously, you start with a kindergartener and you learn as they learn. When the girls and I start working on history I expect to learn a LOT that I have forgotten or missed the first time around Same goes for other subjects. A great deal of parents learn with their kids and sometimes it is the kids teaching the parents which only reinforces what they learn

Our babysitter is 17 and is homeschooled. She will tell you her Mom was her primary teacher through 4th grade then she went mostly independant until she got to places where she needed help and then found it in the community. They hired an algebra tutor and used the community colleges.

What all the speakers that I have seen say is for the early years ages 4-7 you should only be spending about 1.5 hours on school. As they get a bit older, 3rd grade or so you can start spending 2-2.5 hours on school, 3 hours a day for middle school and 4-6 for high school depending on what they are studying.

There was a study done not too long ago and it found the average American high schooler only learns 1 hour 20 minutes in a full day of school. So much time is spent settling the class, reviewing what they went over yesterday, passing in homework, going over homework, talking about the next assignment and then of course there are interruptions and the whole social aspect of kids talking in class.

Most homeschoolers spend more time out of the home than in the home attending classes, workshops, zoos, museums, libraries, etc. There is a saying "If I'm a homeschool kid how come I'm never at home?" LOL

PS I teach the girls together at this time. They each pick up on different things at a different pace. By the time Lilia is HSing I will be able to give KA and Avery busy work after some instruction when I am working with Lilia. Also, the girls will be great teachers for Lilia!

Eleni

You guys are brave!!!
Homeschooling for 4+ hours per day sounds like a lot of work. Do you ever worry it will get in your way of getting other things done? Or that there will be days you won't be able to do it at all (and how will you compensate?)? How about your "me" time? I'm talking about when the kids are older and definitely require more work/time...

KeriKadi

I won't be doing 4 hours for another 10 years so it's not something I worry about today I don't have any 'me' time other than 3 hours every Friday evening so that won't change anything.
I guess I don't understand what you mean by getting other things done?
Do you mean like laundry and vacuuming? Because that stuff can wait. I mean a lot of women on this board work and are gone from their homes for 8-10 hours a day and yet they manage. I think working in the home with my children for 4 hours gives me plenty of time to get everything done - of course that doens't mean it will get done but I will have enough time to get it done

Homeschooling isn't always easy but neither is parenting. I have days that I wish I could get dressed and go to work and I have had days I wish I could drop the girls off somewhere but those days are the minority.
For me the turning point was when I started thinking of putting Kerianne in kindergarten. I got information on our Catholic school, a Montessori school that goes to 3rd grade and already had the information for our public school. For me the public school was not an option. The Catholic school was pricey but do-able however the hours were 7:30am-3:30pm. I could NOT imagine being away from her that many hours in the day, just thinking of it made me cry The Montessori school had better hours 8:30-2:30 but for what they charge we could have a second house
If homeschooling doesn't work out we would probably go to the Catholic school but not until the girls were obviously older.

Eleni

Yeah, that's what I meant...thanks for clarifying . I guess I feel like you're already doing so much and your day seems so full as is, so how do you squeeze in another 4 hours...but I suppose by that time the boys will be gone from home and you'll have more time in your hands too. What I also meant was that often random things happen that take us off schedule (like the urgent need to go to the store to get something or something else time consuming that wasn't planned). It is ok to put off laundry to get those other things done but it's harder to put off schooling, that's why I thought it must make your day much more difficult. But I will say it again, my hat's off to you ladies!