Homeschool- Teaching Textbooks

[OnTheHorizon]

Can you select your own curriculum outside of their list and still be under their umbrella?

Yes, thankfully. Although they won't pay for any Christian published materials. I just buy it myself if I think it's best for us.

[topekaclark]

Hello, we are the parent of 4 children, two who will be home schooled this year and I'm telling you it's hard work but very rewarding. Our youngest daughter fell behind in public school (way behind to the point of retention), I pulled her out last year and she has blossomed. I do worry about not keeping up with public school but all my research and other homeschoolers are usually a grade level or higher.
As far as the charter school, I checked into that because of $$, homeschooling two children with text books and workbooks can get costly. My homeschooler did well on the placement test, my older girl did awful and they wouldn't accept her. This is the child that has been on honor roll in public school this year.
I know of individual who use the charter school, it sounds stricter and they have to make the mark for funding reasons just as much as regular public schools.

[funmudder]

Do you use ACE for everything?? I will be using some of it for each of the kids and also using Christian Light....

Their English and science rocks. We have 8th, 7th and 3rd grade going right now. Our History we'll be buying in September (I revolve the subjects throughout the year) but just to keep on track we are cracking open Pilgrims Progress for vocabulary and cadence.

We have a smorsgasboard of study tools, but keep/use the ACE workbooks as a rudder to our learning ;)

[OnTheHorizon]

Hello, we are the parent of 4 children, two who will be home schooled this year and I'm telling you it's hard work but very rewarding. Our youngest daughter fell behind in public school (way behind to the point of retention), I pulled her out last year and she has blossomed. I do worry about not keeping up with public school but all my research and other homeschoolers are usually a grade level or higher.
As far as the charter school, I checked into that because of $$, homeschooling two children with text books and workbooks can get costly. My homeschooler did well on the placement test, my older girl did awful and they wouldn't accept her. This is the child that has been on honor roll in public school this year.
I know of individual who use the charter school, it sounds stricter and they have to make the mark for funding reasons just as much as regular public schools.
Yes, it's true. Your child can be above grade level in any given subject but if you are not covering the specific guidelines the state hands out you can get in trouble.

It's great to hear about how your child blossomed after coming out of the school system to home school. :)

[topekaclark]

The state we live in, I don't know of specific guidelines but as a parent it is important to meet educational standards. I plan on them going to college one day so I used current grade level curriculum and they will be tested to make sure we are on track.:)

[wife]

The state we live in, I don't know of specific guidelines but as a parent it is important to meet educational standards. I plan on them going to college one day so I used current grade level curriculum and they will be tested to make sure we are on track.:)

Do they plan on going to college????

My hubby is a teacher (taught PS for 15 years going private now).. So I have the state guidelines book..hehehe.. I like having a guide but hubby doesn't want me stressing if they don't meet that guide...so I don't.

[topekaclark]

Yes, two are planning on going to college. I just want to make sure they are prepared. My children know college is up to them, if they chose a different route, I don't care along as they are following God's will.

[funmudder]

A 15 year old in our home school group already has 15+ college credits. He is taking classes at Uni of Michigan in Dearborn.
My 13 year old is asking to go to a college class in Mobile on computer programming......I'm still looking into their requirements.

There is going to college, and then there is getting college under your belt. Why wait? If they have the maturity to do what they need to do, and all the requirements of the school you are looking to take a class at, what is the problem?

My 13 and 12 year old have decided they want to learn all they can about computers. So over the summer we got them some basic programming books from a college course book list. They've already mastered things I did not know were even possible :yay Their dad and I see no reason they can't start working on getting that paper degree.
It's this kind of flexibility I love about homeschooling. The kids can really dig into what interests them instead of spending 40 hours in a classroom on subjects that hold no interest (and therefor they likely wont care to use when older in whatever career they choose). They still have to maintain grade level in the boring subjects, but as long as they learn them we don't care that they spend more time on their interesting subjects.

I think 13 is still too young, but then we will see what the school says. I'm pretty sure they will have to at least take the SAT's. So if they really REALLY want this, then they know what they need to do to get it. :D

[Leialoha]

The state we live in, I don't know of specific guidelines but as a parent it is important to meet educational standards. I plan on them going to college one day so I used current grade level curriculum and they will be tested to make sure we are on track.:)

I guess I'm not sure I'm understanding the concern (not addressed to you...but your post made me think of this...) of state standards.

Does it matter if a 4th grader is learning the same history and science and math as the public school kids when looking at the larger picture? Part of my reason for not sending my kids to school anymore is the desire to teach them to love learning and how to aquire knowledge and specifically design the curriculum to meet those individual needs of each child. I truly want to understand the concern people have of teaching the same topics as gov. schools so that I can understand that perspective better. I think I have a blind spot in understanding the concerns and I often am in a situation in my homeschool group of "advising" new homeschoolers and I want to hear and address concerns from more than my perspective.

As far as standardized tests, our states requires kids to take them every year. I find them less than useful personally because I already know what my kids are strong at and what they are weak at. Also, they often show results that are rediculous, like when my 3rd grader tested in reading at college level when I know that she could not read and comprehend college level literature material.

[topekaclark]

I want my children to learn and enjoy learning at the same time. We may learn at the kitchen table or as I found my youngest learns best while active. I have had very bad experiences with the ps, I personally believe they are falling children, at least in our district. As for individual needs of teaching the child, true because my 2nd grade has a learning disability that the school wouldn't deal with. I found with her she has a different learning style and when taught in a non-traditional way, she learned and grew so much.
I know the schools have state standards that the child must be able to do, that was one of the reasons they wanted to retained my child.
As far as the children learning what the ps children are learning in school, I'm not going to stress on that. If I do the best job I can do and they are growing and interested in learning, then I'm meeting my standards.
Our state doesn't require the kids to be tested but we have homeschooling groups that offer the test. I think it's a tool to help gauge on what the curriculum needs to be next year.

My only concern is what is best for the children.