Home schooling? (experience, organization)

Booko · #1 01-09-2007, 12:49 PM

Does anyone here home school? Are you/were you home schooled? Know anybody that was home school?

My daughter will start 11th grade this fall, and we've pretty much decided that we're going to try homeschooling for her, and I'd really appreciate any guidance anyone can give to us.

jacquie4000 · #2 01-09-2007, 12:57 PM

I have two neighbors that both homeschool their children. One has her teaching degree. But she has four children and wanted to stay at home. She said it was not an easy task but hers are younger. I can get info from them if you know what you are looking for.

Booko · #3 01-09-2007, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacquie4000

I have two neighbors that both homeschool their children. One has her teaching degree. But she has four children and wanted to stay at home. She said it was not an easy task but hers are younger. I can get info from them if you know what you are looking for.

I am mostly just looking for really good forums for home schoolers, what sorts of curricula are available where, that sort of stuff.

I have a neighbor who home schools, an acquaintance who home schools, and a friend who moved to Florida who home schools, so I will be pumping them for info as well.

The reason we want to homeschool our daughter starting in the fall is we looked at her schedule and it looked like this:

English
Physics
Math
Social Studies
French
2 electives...all performing arts.

The thing is, she already spends 2-3 hours per evening doing dance/voice/theatre. There's NOTHING the school could teach her that she isn't way beyond already.

Keeping her at school just means wasted time that she *could* be spending:

- learning her way around the keyboard (piano)
- accelerating in French (2.5 years and they haven't done future tense yet?????)
- spending more time focusing on writing in English (they really don't do enough)
- focusing more on math (she can do it, but the teacher is marginal and with time pressures she loses basic concepts sometimes)
- taking trombone lessons instead of band would improve her abilities there as well. She has plenty of ensemble experience -- now she needs to get better on her instrument, but where's the time to *practice*?
- her organizational skills and self-motivation need work, but she's so pressed for time she's been juggling too many things, and dropping some of them. Time spent on performing arts at school is time wasted for her.

There really isn't anything she'd be taking next year that my husband and I can't cover. We have all those subjects more than covered, since we're both, well, born eggheads I guess.

Oh,

I'll have to be brushing up on subjects along with her, but that shouldn't be a problem. Heck, I'm looking to a future of tutoring anyway when the kids are gone (I love it, and I'm within walking distance of the best high school in the state? gosh...) and while Chemistry is a no-brainer, frankly I would not have difficulty with Physics or French either, if I have the school's textbooks and info on the curriculum.

And yeah, her social life could only improve by not being in school. She might actually have time to go to a movie with her friends sometime, and there are some influences she could well do without.

Honestly, if I were able to do it, I would've been homeschooling her since middle school at least. Her middle school years were absolutely brutal. Ah yes, my daughter...the terrorist.

jacquie4000 · #4 01-09-2007, 01:27 PM

If it is o.k. The women I am speaking of is Karen I can have her email you sites and forums she has all that info. I can get with her tonight if she is home and not running the kids anywhere...right across the street for me. Yes two of hers are of middle school age. They were having tough time so she decided to home school.

jacquie4000 · #5 01-09-2007, 01:28 PM

Plus our actual school gives that information for those that wish to home school. Does your school have a web site?

Booko · #6 01-09-2007, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacquie4000

If it is o.k. The women I am speaking of is Karen I can have her email you sites and forums she has all that info. I can get with her tonight if she is home and not running the kids anywhere...right across the street for me. Yes two of hers are of middle school age. They were having tough time so she decided to home school.

That would be great if she's willing, Jacquie! I'll PM you the best email address to use.

Feathers in Hair · #7 01-09-2007, 01:33 PM

I home schooled during part of my middle school years and the latter part of my high school days. (Well, I was still technically going to the same school, just doing my work from home.) For me, it was a wonderful experience.

Booko · #8 01-09-2007, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacquie4000

Plus our actual school gives that information for those that wish to home school. Does your school have a web site?

Government institutions in Georgia are not known for having competent websites, with the exception of the Secretary of State.

And our county school board is truely abysmal when it comes to websites, because the people they have working on them are there because of nepotism and not because they have even a rudimentary knowledge of the subject.

I'll look around, though. Maybe the state has something on it.