Homeschooling for older children--is it too late?

[turalura]

My daughter-in-law is considering homeschooling for her three children, 14, 13 and 10. Is this too late to start? This would be new to everyone and almost scary! I read a lot of this thread and followed the links to various curriculums and passed them along to her. She is afraid they will not get what they need with her as the teacher!! Suggestions, please.

[Wally]

It's never too late.

It does take some orginazation and good curriculim.

AND Prayer and Both Parents committment.


Read through the Homeschool stickies. We used a blend of Bob Jones, Abeka, and others.

You do need to plan involvement with the kids. Maybe join a local homeschool group.
Some Christian schools open up programs to homeschoolers - sports, science fairs, etc.

Also get them into personal activities - Boy Scouts, karate, fencing, 4H. See what their interests are.

Hopefully you have access to a good strong church youth group.

And remember, when they argue about socialization, that is often the very reason for homeschooling.

All that bad influence, amorality, Godlessness.

Remember: Clean doesn't wipe off. Dirt transfers.

[CircleSlide]

Oh No, that is a good time to start!!!! Plus it might even be easier, at this age; they are able to teach themselves in some subjects (depending on the child of course). The homeschooling curriculum out there is so good that it has become very easy to teach and for the child to learn.

You do have to be disciplined and organized, and expect to not be perfect and for hiccups to happen just fix them and move on. I also know many families that send their kids to school in the younger grades and once 6th grade/middle school hits they begin homeschooling.

My dd, who is off to college in three weeks won a large ($52,000) scholarship, I think in no small part to homeschooling, and well she is self motivated! We have two more kids at home all in high school, and we absolutely love it! Is life perfect....... of course not but it is certainly a whole lot calmer.

Like Wally said PRAY and find the right curriculum; their is a lot out there, but finding the right one for the kids and the teacher is key! (We use Sonlight and it is a tad expensive but reusable!)

We are having a blast with it!!!


**we even started our own homeschooling group and today is our field trip planning day at Chick-fil-a!!!

[Wally]

Chick-Fil-A !


Good Show!

[UntilHeComes]

With Abeka, they have dvd's with teachers teaching the various subjects for each grade level. The teachers integrate God's Word into every subject! It is a wonderful program.

[eyeonthesky]

With Abeka, they have dvd's with teachers teaching the various subjects for each grade level. The teachers integrate God's Word into every subject! It is a wonderful program.

that is how i homeschooled my kids all the way through high school and they loved it! their indian friends used to come and ask if they could watch the DVDs with them because they were so interesting. without the dvd program, i would not have been able to manage it all the way through on our own living in india without any homeschooling support like we have in the USA.

if the kids are really committed to it that helps too!

[Reason&Hope]

Circleslide, CONGRATULATIONS on your daughter's scholarship! Wow.

Turalura, I have one in college, and two in high school - a senior and a sophomore. We homeschooled all the way through, but we've also used a couple of homeschool co-ops. There are so many materials. A good place to start is the Rainbow Resource catalog, a hugely thick catalog that offers great reviews. You can also go to www.rainbowresource.com.

The big question I have for you and your dil is, Are the kids on board with homeschooling? If they are being pulled out of public school against their will, then it's obviously going to be more difficult.

If, on the other hand, they want to be homeschooled (like my niece, who begged for years), there will still need to be a bit of re-training. Classes don't have to happen in 50-minute chunks. Work does not have to take place at a desk. However, one does need a bit more self-discipline as a homeschooler - which is one of the reasons my son's university said they wanted him.

[Sea Shelly]

Christian Light Education is an amazing pre-package curriculum that we use and I highly recommend it! You can download samples online or request a catologue from them.

[eyeonthesky]

great comments, reason&hope! it makes all the difference if the kids are on board with the idea and eager to make it work.

our daughter LOVED the whole "sit at the desk and do paperwork" (writing stuff, reading, etc). she would be found in our classroom area way after school was finished just becuz she enjoyed being there. DS was the opposite. by the time he was in jr. high / high school, there were evenings he would come ask me exactly what he needed to have done the following day, becuz he knew once he had (honestly) done everything and left his work on my desk, he was a free bird. there would be mornings he would be at his desk by 5:30 and have all his work done and on my desk by 9:30 so he could have that day free to do something else. he made dean's list his first year of college and has been an honor student all the way through...i agree that it was the self-discipline that helped him understand how to work school and a social life together when he got to college.

this thread almost makes me wish i still had two students in my house thanks for stimulating the memories!

[J.Lynn]

Christian Light Education is an amazing pre-package curriculum that we use and I highly recommend it! You can download samples online or request a catologue from them.

I'll second the recommendation for Christian Light Education. You have the option to sign up for their 'Home School Plus' program where they keep records and provide you with official transcripts at graduation. You are assigned a counselor and if your child gets 'stuck' at any time, you call CLE and the counselor talks them through the lesson. This was an invaluable service for us as there is not a bigger math dummy than me.

We started home schooling when the youngest was in the 2nd grade and the oldest was half way through the 11th grade. She was making B's and C's and some A's in public school and when we did her placement testing for CLE she tested at a 9th grade level in her core subjects. I was appalled.

So in answer to your question; is it too late? Heck no! It may even be just in time.

We used CLE exclusively with the oldest because she was interested in joining the military and the Navy Education Specialist said they would accept CLE's transcripts and Diploma.

With the youngest, we used a mixture of CLE, SoS and and other things.

If you can, find a local home school co-op to attend one day a week. The moms in our group pooled their talents to teach art, music, home economics, quilting, agriculture and a variety of other things making it easy to fill in credits for electives. The children went on field trips and participated in numerous community activities.

I can sincerely say home schooling was one of the best things we ever did for them.

[Chaya]

The only problem in starting at this age is the kids need to be willing to work independently, without the carrot and stick of school programs. The children may have picked up bad habits both related to academics and behavior that will take time to deal with. The mother probably is not used to being with the children all day and the kids are not used to being together for so much time. She should expect to work through conflicts. Kids this age should be able to select some areas of study they are interested in.

[timf5]

The only problem in starting at this age is the kids need to be willing to work independently, without the carrot and stick of school programs. The children may have picked up bad habits both related to academics and behavior that will take time to deal with. The mother probably is not used to being with the children all day and the kids are not used to being together for so much time. She should expect to work through conflicts. Kids this age should be able to select some areas of study they are interested in.

This is very good advice.

People criticize homeschool because they say that it does not provide adequate "socialization". What we have observed is that public school creates a peer dependence such that children are crippled in their ability to relate to others who are younger or older.

In addition to academic habits, one should be mindful of social habits. You may want to suggest to your friend that taking her children with her once a week to read to someone in a nursing home might be a good opportunity for them to learn how to relate to those outside their peer group.

The transition might have difficulties, but they would be difficulties that can be overcome. The key is to find something in which the child has if not zeal then at least an interest and build on that.

Things like geography can seem a bit abstract. You can find missionaries in the countries you are interested in and send an email to them asking about their experiences.

There are also a lot of educational Utube videos. Sometimes they are short and targeted at just one aspect of a subject such as polynomials, but they can be useful.