Readers Forum:
Well my daughter goes to public school but lately she has been missing school do to her asthma she has always had this problem but it never occur to me that maybe we should do home school but How do you start to home school ?I really don't even know where to start
You have several options.
Homeschooling is regulated differently in each state (I’m assuming you are in the US?). To find your state’s laws and regulations and learn more about homeschooling visithttp://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com
You might also like the articles at homeedmag.com
Another alternative is public school at home. Your child is enrolled in a public school in your state but learns at home receiving their lessons on the computer. It is free to you if you live in a state that permits ‘distance learning’. To find out if your state permits distance learning google ‘your state’ and ‘virtual schools’. This type of school has to meet the same legal requirements as every other public school in your state.
There are also private and religious schools online. They are not paid for by the taxpayer and are subject to very little regulation. Some are excellent private schools, others are get-rich-quick-schemes. If you choose this alternative, do your consumer homework before sending them any money or giving them your credit card.
best wishes to you and your daughter.
How to homeschool relies on which state you live in and what regulations you’ll need to follow. Here in Maryland we need to write a letter of intention to the school and inform them of our intention of homeschooling our child. We then select one of two choices- homeschool with a portfolio review twice a year, or go with an Umbrella school. We opt for the first.
Some states have more rigid regulations than that.
As for homeschooling your child, you can find curriculum sent to your home, or online learning, or what we do is just follow textbooks, workbooks, and various lesson plans we find on the Internet for his grade level.
Well first where do you live? That is your main thing. Second is you go to the website for your state and do a notice of intent form. You fill it out and send it in and as long as you hold a high school diploma or a g.e.d. you should be approved. Now once you get your license you are ready to withdraw your child from public to homeschooling. Depending on your child’s age you may not need to do a notice of intent form until age 7 to 16. Google home school laws in your state. Like this home school laws in nc. I home school in nc so my website is http://www.ncdnpe.org. But search get the info get the notice of intent and go from there. Then depending on the grade you can use this web site to order books. http://www.schoolspecitalpublishing.com. Good luck. Need any other info let me know.
you can just google home schooling and get the supplies and get the little license thing. its not really all that hard. you can home school up to two families at a time, too, so your daughter doesnt have to be lonely.
Be sure to look up the homeschooling laws in your state…each state gets to decide their education laws, so what works for you in Ohio is gonna change once you move to Georgia or for your buddy in Michigan.
The next thing to realize is that there’s a whole spectrum of what’s called “homeschool.” Some people sign up with an online version of public school; that’s really technically not “homeschool,” since you’re counted as public school student and you have to have regular contact with teachers, submit work and tests, etc. The dirty little secret here is that the school district gets to keep the federal funds for you, as you’re a public school student this way. (Quite obviously, your school district will like this option best. Often when one queries the school as to the options available for “homeschool,” the school administrators will smile sweetly and mention just such an arrangement, conveniently omitting the rest of your options. This “lie by omission” quietly implies that this is the one and only way “homeschooling is done.” There’s a quite a debate in the homeschooling community about whether or not this constitutes an effort by the educational bureaucracy to redefine the meaning of homeschool, and what effect that would have on legislation and regulation of more traditional homeschool. But I digress.)
Other people may choose to buy materials from companies and enroll with online schools, but they’re “independent” of the school districts, and they don’t owe anyone a darned thing…their test scores (if any; few homeschoolers in the traditional sense are obligated to take state standardized tests) are their own business, as is the pace, order or depth at which they choose to go through the material.
Other people make up their own curriculum, based on their own personal criteria. Some states want you to keep a portfolio of material to prove you’re doing something there at home, other states want you to submit your curriculum for the year for approval, others may require testing that could send you back to public or private school if you fall below a particular percentile…just in case. Again, depends on the state.
Still other people endorse what they call “unschooling,” and they throw out all books and tests altogether and simply follow what interests them. (See the writings of John Holt, or Google “unschooling” for more on that theory of education.) A good book for anyone over 12 years old is “The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education,” by Grace Llewellyn. Here’s an excerpt:
“Did your guidance counselor ever tell you to consider quitting school? That you have other choices, quite beyond lifelong hamburger flipping or inner-city crack dealing? That legally you can find a way out of school, that once you’re out you’ll learn and grow better, faster, and more naturally than you ever did in school, that there are zillions of alternatives, that you can quit school and still go to A Good College and even have a Real Life in the Suburbs if you so desire? Just in case your counselor never told you these things, I’m going to. That’s what this book is for.”
Even if you don’t hold with what the author has to say, the point of view she has is dramatically different and can be a great springboard to help you get in touch with what you believe school and learning should be like. As with many things, there’s a wide spectrum of “unschoolers,” as well. Many of them have a certain set of concepts they want their kids to get and don’t care HOW they get the information, while others take a much more laid-back approach and allow the student to set the list of concepts themselves…or not set one at all. All of these people will still consider themselves “unschoolers.”
It’s really a great and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you found it helpful. I will keep posting as the subjects come along!