Questions and Answers
Specific titles/publishers please, and your experiences with the curriculum.
Apologia is considered the best high school science curriculum. It is approached from a very strong Christian perspective, so if that's not what you want, avoid it.
You might check Cathy Duffy's website and book (100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum). The book reviews what she considers the best. Her website only mentions these, but doesn't go into detail (for that, of course, you have to buy the book), but does detail programs that DIDN'T make the book – worth a look, anyway.
Do you think its a good idea? Im not a social person..soo.
Homeschooling has come a long way from 20 years ago. I homeschooled my second grader this year and we were not home all day long! The great thing about homeschooling in 2010 is there are many, many different choices on how to do it (it's almost overwhelming how many choices there are) For instance, we attend classes at two different homeschool co-ops so my son had classes two days a week. We also are part of a field trip group so we go on field trips once a month. We are also involved in our church so Sundays my son is in the youth choir and Wednesday nights he is involved in another program called AWANA that he absolutely loves. So for us, frankly, part of why we homeschooled was so we would have more family time together. He went to full time school in 1st grade and was gone from 8 am – 4 pm and then with church activities, swimming, etc I felt we hardly saw each other. I think it is ironic that the main question about home schooling is about socialization when many parents are trying to counteract the socialization their kids are getting at school!
One of our homeschool co-ops even has a graduation and a formal so if your student really wants to be a part of those aspects of public school, they can.
However, I personally do not think homeschooling is for everyone. It has to be an individual decision for each family because it does take commitment. I think these are the steps you would need to take to make an informed decision:
1. Each state has their own homeschooling laws. Therefore, you need to determine the requirements for your state (I am assuming you are in the U.S.) The Home School Legal Defense Assocation has the basic information for each state listed by state here: http://ift.tt/1jZiQ6C
This will also determine the requirements for how you would need to be supervised.
2. Determine what your motivation is for wanting to be homeschooled and your learning style. This will help you determine what path to take in homeschooling. For instance, you are realizing your God given gift is music and your high school has no music program because of recent tax cuts and you really feel you want to major in music in college. You would rather spend three hours a day getting your basic requirements out of the way so you could spend 2 hours practicing your music everyday. You are a visual learner and like computers. Therefore, you might choose an online curriculum because that would suit your learning style and help you complete your requirements.
3. Research what curriculum would suit your learning style, budget, family, etc. There are so many out there it can be overwhelming. I found Cathy Duffy's book "100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum" to be really helpful because she helps you determine your learning style and goes through her top picks for curriculum by category and learning style type. It helped me to have a place to start. http://ift.tt/1iq9Vpe;
She also has a website http://ift.tt/1jZiRaJ
4. Find what support groups and/or homeschool co-ops are in your area. You can type homeschool co-op and your state to narrow down which ones are closer to you. There are also many support groups online as well as ones that provide field trips, parent instruction, assessment tests, etc. In your area. Also, see if there is a state homeschool organization in your state because they will also have a lot of info. (In Washington it's called "WHO" Washington Homeschool Organization)
There are even many public schools that offer homeschool classes as well (here in Washington there is even homeschool "school" but if you take a certain number of classes through them there are more requirements) Also, I know some homeschooles who are high school age who choose to also be in Running Start which is basically free college classes you can complete in high school for free through the state of Washington. The possibilities are endless!
5. Read books about homeschooling. This really opened my eyes to the endless possibilities out there. There are so many different ways of homeschooling. Some books that I've read so far that have helped me are So You're Thinking of Homeschooling by Lisa Welchel (yes, Blair from the Facts of Life!) http://ift.tt/1jZiRqY;
and Things We'd Wish We'd Known by Bill and Diana Waring http://ift.tt/1jZiQ6G; and Homeschooling for Dummies http://ift.tt/1jZiRr2; I know there are many more that I haven't read yet!
6. Attend homeschooling conferences or curriculum fairs. They seem to tend to be in the spring or the summer when everyone is choosing curriculum for the next year. This helped me to be able to see some different curriculums available up close. It can also be overwhelming so I think it's best to have done some research beforehand so you have an idea of what dire.
I want to start homeschooling my child. What would be some fun curriculums? Any suggestions?
My child plays and "tolerates" other children very well. So if you are going to just jump to conclusions and leave rude answers please do not answer my questions. I posted this question to get suggestions about which homeschool curriculum to use, not to listen to rude people. Thank you.
There are some very good preschool curricula out there. What I like are more like guides to activities. I have used the following:
My Father's World Toddler/Preschool packages (www.mfwbooks.com)
Treasured Time with Your Toddler (www.amazon.com)
Before Five-in-a-Row (http://ift.tt/1iq9V8F)
Wee Folk Art Homeschool Companion Guide (www.WeeFolkArt.com) This is a free, printable guide. You just have to buy the children's books or get them from the library.
EVENTS 5-9-14
May 18: Next in the “Discover Cape Cod” series: Mindy Todd, host and producer of The Point on Cape NPR station WCAI, will speak on her work in public radio, 3 p.m.
Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 Homeschool Picks
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