From Our Forum a Reader Asks:
I've been trying to get my son in school and its too many requirements and this that and the next, but I know and others know he's too intelligent to be in day care. So I thought maybe I could home school him. Where do I start? Do I need to be certified to do so?
every state is different. here, u just do some paper work and they tell u what books u need, ect, good luck. i think its great.
go to http://www.abeka.com or just http://www.abeka.com idk if the first one will work but you can go there and buy your books and no there isnt anything legal you have to do
Go to http://www.HSLDA.org and click on your state in the pull down menu under the map. There, you will find the laws for your state as well as some associations and organizations in your state that may offer assistance.
The laws vary greatly from state to state, but in most states you do not need any sort of certification.
After you become familiar with the laws in your state, it is a good idea to find a group of homeschoolers local to you. They will be able to offer a tremendous amount of guidance and support, which will help you be more successful! And you will need support for dealing with the people that are ignorant about what homeschooling is and what it is not, and have stereotypical beliefs about homeschoolers being locked in their homes all day and anti-social.
I am assuming he is still pre-Kindergarten age since you are having a hard time getting him into school and mentioned daycare. If that is the case, he is not yet under compulsary attendance laws so it is a great time to spend learning about the laws and different methods, and “practicing”.
One of the things that I am most greatful for is that we made the decision to homeschool while my children were still quite young. We started well before they were of compulsary attendance age, but had several years to find what worked best for us before it was “official”.
If you happen to be in SC, feel free to contact me because I am quite familiar with homeschooling in this state.
I wish you the best!
It would help answer if you said where you live.
Another thing is that in the longer term it might be a bad idea, because he will need to take exams, and even if he takes them as an external candidate, many schools especially prestigious/selective schools accepting students over, say, 11, will want a copy of their school record.
It depends on the state you live in. you need to find out the laws in your areas. a good place to start is hslda.org they have all the laws for your state. You need to look into curriculums and there are a ton of them. I like sonlight (sonlight.com) and ACE (schooloftomorrow.com) if you have any specific questions besides these feel free to email me