Homeschooling advice

[masondoggy]

I have felt a call to homeschool for a long time now and I may be ready to dive in next school year with my 3 kids (3rd, 6th, & 8th graders). I may actually start out with the older two just to see how it goes, but I’m not sure yet. Some questions/advice or suggestions needed…

First of all, I’ve been looking at Seton’s cirriculum and really like it but don’t know if I’ll be able to afford the cost. I’ve thought about just buying the materials and doing it on my own without signing up for the full program but don’t know if I’m comfortable jumping in without the lesson plans. Would I be missing much without them? Are the materials pretty much self-explanatory what to do on their own without the plans? I mean, can we just chug along chapter by chapter at our own pause? I guess what I’m worried about is I may be missing something important that I wouldn’t think to do without the lesson plans, kwim? I’d also be open to other suggestions/cirriculums I could use that would be inexpensive or ways to save $$. My husband is seriously under-employed right now so the $$ is a big issue.

Also, my biggest concern about pulling my kids out of school is that the older ones are involved in band and really enjoy it and I’d hate for them to miss out. Would they be allowed to still participate in just that one class during the school day if I drop them off and pick them up after class? I realize I could get them private music lessons, but I just don’t think that’s the same as the benefits they get from band class.

Another issue is that my oldest has not been doing very well in school the last few years. He’s very smart, capable etc. etc., but he’s failing basically due to laziness and poor attitude…which is a major reason why I want to try homeschooling him. I can’t be at school to breath down his neck and make him do what he needs to be doing. Anyways, he may fail this school year, not because he has problems with the material, but because of turning assignments in late or not at all. Where will I start him? Would I have to start him all over with 7th grade materials even if I think he’s ready to move on to 8th grade materials?

Finally, I need suggestions to make some extra $$ to pay on my student loans. I’ll be putting my own education off to do this for my kids but the loans still have to be paid.

I’ll probably think of more questions later, but I think that’s it for now…

 

[kristacecilia]

Well, I don’t know how much help I can be, but…

I would look into several curriculums and read everything you can- blogs, forums, books, articles, etc- about Catholic homeschooling before purchasing anything.

Here are some of my personal recommendations:

Forums:
catholichomechoolers.yuku.com/directory founded by our very own MarthaLP, you’ll just need to apply for membership before you can read anything (for our own safety)

4real.thenetsmith.com/default.asp an older, more populated forum filled with tons of resource compilations and lots of great advice. Many of the moms have blogs linked in their signatures, so it’s a great place to start.

Books:
*Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum *by Laura Berquist

Other curriculum providers to look into (order catalogues from):
Mother of Divine Grace (accredited)
Kolbe Academy (accredited)
Catholic Heritage Curricula (not accredited)

Other websites:
Love2Learn

 

[Mommyof02green]

I have felt a call to homeschool for a long time now and I may be ready to dive in next school year with my 3 kids (3rd, 6th, & 8th graders). I may actually start out with the older two just to see how it goes, but I’m not sure yet. Some questions/advice or suggestions needed…

First of all, I’ve been looking at Seton’s cirriculum and really like it but don’t know if I’ll be able to afford the cost. I’ve thought about just buying the materials and doing it on my own without signing up for the full program but don’t know if I’m comfortable jumping in without the lesson plans. Would I be missing much without them? Are the materials pretty much self-explanatory what to do on their own without the plans? I mean, can we just chug along chapter by chapter at our own pause? I guess what I’m worried about is I may be missing something important that I wouldn’t think to do without the lesson plans, kwim? I’d also be open to other suggestions/cirriculums I could use that would be inexpensive or ways to save $$. My husband is seriously under-employed right now so the $$ is a big issue.

Also, my biggest concern about pulling my kids out of school is that the older ones are involved in band and really enjoy it and I’d hate for them to miss out. Would they be allowed to still participate in just that one class during the school day if I drop them off and pick them up after class? I realize I could get them private music lessons, but I just don’t think that’s the same as the benefits they get from band class.

Another issue is that my oldest has not been doing very well in school the last few years. He’s very smart, capable etc. etc., but he’s failing basically due to laziness and poor attitude…which is a major reason why I want to try homeschooling him. I can’t be at school to breath down his neck and make him do what he needs to be doing. Anyways, he may fail this school year, not because he has problems with the material, but because of turning assignments in late or not at all. Where will I start him? Would I have to start him all over with 7th grade materials even if I think he’s ready to move on to 8th grade materials?

Finally, I need suggestions to make some extra $$ to pay on my student loans. I’ll be putting my own education off to do this for my kids but the loans still have to be paid.

I’ll probably think of more questions later, but I think that’s it for now…

This is my second year of homeschooling. My first year I bought all of my material from Catholic Heritage Curricula. (I bought only the core material and the lesson plans). After the first 3 months of homeschooling I totally abandon the lesson plans and did it on my own.

For this year, the year we are finishing up, I bought curriculum from CHC again and from Seton. I’ve also have used things from currclick and other web-resources. I did all of the lesson plans on my own. I figured that finishing the book is good enough…

My kids did go to public school too. I pulled them out to homeschool. If they would be allow to participate in band, sports, etc. through the public school is totally depended on your state laws. Some states allow it others do not.

 

[purplesunshine]

Remember that when homeschooling you’ll likely be saving money on school clothes, school events and school lunches.

Second, lower grades can be easy to put a curriculm together.

However, curriculums with instructors at the other end can be an invaluable resource for a parent. If you don’t know how to find the area of the tringle you don’t actually need to learn it to teach it to your child. You sit them at the computer (or on the phone) and an actual teacher (or teacher assistant) will answer them.

Also, when you’re talking about highschool grades you want something accredited. Even though attitudes towards homeschoolers varies by state and by school it is still difficult to get into college without a full highschool diploma (unless you take the GED)

 

[dranzal]

There are a lot of sources that recommend “deschooling” a previously schooled child. Here is one. You do not have to be planning to unschool for this to be helpful.

culturekitchen.com/archives/000009.html

Will post more later after our homeschool pe

www.chaasaints.org

**for those in S Florida, this is an excellent Christian homeschool pe program.

 

[dranzal]

Regarding the hs diploma, many homeschoolers dual enroll and/or take courses at a community college to establish a paper trail for getting into college.

 

[leonie]

I have felt a call to homeschool for a long time now and I may be ready to dive in next school year with my 3 kids (3rd, 6th, & 8th graders). I may actually start out with the older two just to see how it goes, but I’m not sure yet. Some questions/advice or suggestions needed…

First of all, I’ve been looking at Seton’s cirriculum and really like it but don’t know if I’ll be able to afford the cost. I’ve thought about just buying the materials and doing it on my own without signing up for the full program but don’t know if I’m comfortable jumping in without the lesson plans. Would I be missing much without them? Are the materials pretty much self-explanatory what to do on their own without the plans? I mean, can we just chug along chapter by chapter at our own pause? I guess what I’m worried about is I may be missing something important that I wouldn’t think to do without the lesson plans, kwim? I’d also be open to other suggestions/cirriculums I could use that would be inexpensive or ways to save $$. My husband is seriously under-employed right now so the $$ is a big issue. …

No, lesson plans aren’t necessary in middle school for Seton. I enrolled my 7th grader this year because I’ve really liked the high school plans/online tests/essay grading. But, I haven’t really used it at all. In fact, I would generally recommend not enrolling for younger grades because I think there’s a lot of nonessential work (that we skip anyway).

Here’s what I would use for a 7/8 grader:

Catholic Heritage Curricula: Lingua Mater for English

forums.catholic-questions.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=6502600

Abeka PreAlgebra or Algebra

Wordly wise vocabulary OR…Roman Roots

History: I would just have them read historical novels and do a 1 page synopsis.

readingyourwaythroughhistory.blogspot.com/ has some suggestions

stfrancisbooks.com/prod_novelstimeline.htm is a little better.

For Geography I’d have them sheppardsoftware.com/ every day. You could also print out blackline Masters and give the quizzes.

For science, I don’t have any great suggestions. I’ve never found a middle school textbook that I’ve liked. Last year, I had my son watch Mythbusters and Nova videos. This year, he’s doing the Seton textbook–he seems to like it alot. I don’t like the 8th grade textbook, though. My other kids didn’t have a lot of formal science in middle school, and they seemed to do fine so far in high school course. Maybe you could subscribe to a a couple of science magazines…

I like the reading comprehension textbooks from CHC because of the saint stories–very, very good! I don’t let write in these because we reuse them.

For religion, St. Joseph’s catechism is very good. Faith and Life is good. I wouldn’t get the workbooks–just read it with them and discuss.

If your child need handwriting or spelling, I’d do Seton texts.

I’d also require one hour of recreational reading a day–of their choice.

My fourth grade list is a little different. One thing I like for fourth grade is the elementary Apologia science. apologia.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

As far as the lazy factor goes, you’ll still be dealing with that. My only recommendation is to not nag. Just give him an assignment and tell him, “if you don’t have this done by 5 o’clock today, you’ll lose…(whatever he loves).” It’s really frustrating dealing with lazy. The good thing is that you have all summer to do it. So, if he’s slow to get done, he’ll lose his summer. I would just look at the books and see where you think he and choose accordingly. Sometimes unmotivated kids need work in their field of interest. If he likes music, choose music topics or musicians for reports, etc.

If he likes to read, you might just build your curriculum on reading and discussion. Do a lot of oral quizzes.

Homeschooling is wonderful. But, it can be draining, so build in lots of resources for mom: a good support group, regular breaks, more time with God.

Can you make a Catholic homeschool conference this year?

catholichomeschool.org/conferences.php

 

[masondoggy]

Can you make a Catholic homeschool conference this year?

catholichomeschool.org/conferences.php

Yes, I’ll be going before I make any final decisions. I think we have one in June.

Another question…If I choose to just go on my own without enrolling in a program, what do I do about testing? I just added up the cost through Seton of just buying the books and materials on my own and it’s MUCH cheaper than enrolling in the full program, but it looks like you get no access to testing materials that way?

Also, are there any good step-by-step guides out there of creating your own lesson plans?

 

[leonie]

Yes, I’ll be going before I make any final decisions. I think we have one in June.

Another question…If I choose to just go on my own without enrolling in a program, what do I do about testing? I just added up the cost through Seton of just buying the books and materials on my own and it’s MUCH cheaper than enrolling in the full program, but it looks like you get no access to testing materials that way?

Also, are there any good step-by-step guides out there of creating your own lesson plans?

Think assessment instead of tests. Classroom teachers use tests because they have a large group of kids to assess. You can do fewer written tests because you will be able to monitor your child’s work more closely. Oral quizzes are nice because they are quicker and less arduous. Oral discussions are nice because you can flesh out what the kid knows. You can also use chapter review questions for a test. There’s lots of discussion guides for literature.

Essays and projects can also assess learning.

I don’t do many written tests with my elementary/middle school kids. I mostly review their work daily and do oral quizzes for drill kind of work. I don’t keep grades for my middle school and elementary kids, though.

In high school, my kids work much more independently, so I do have them do tests. So far, we’ve used Seton because they have lots of online tests and essay grading. I may do something else next year, though. Still thinking about it.

Donna Young has a nice lesson planning section on her website

donnayoung.org/forms/help/index.htm

 

[idrum677]

Another question…If I choose to just go on my own without enrolling in a program, what do I do about testing? I just added up the cost through Seton of just buying the books and materials on my own and it’s MUCH cheaper than enrolling in the full program, but it looks like you get no access to testing materials that way?

Also, are there any good step-by-step guides out there of creating your own lesson plans?

That’s what we did when we started to homeschool. My wife wanted some sort of structure but not be tied into a program. She also does a lot of searching for supplemantal material on the web and elsewhere. You’d be surprised what’s out there. There’s plenty of free stuff out there if you look. Musuems, libraries, and even the USDA have free lesson plans and resources available.

There’s no right or wrong way to write a lesson plan.I think as you get into it, you’ll get the feel for how your child learns and be able to start planning on your own. The books will give material and explainations and you just introduce materials at your own pace. Again, it’s not equivelent to a classroom teacher having to come up with an “on task” lesson plan. He/she has 30 kids to instruct and control.

May God bless your endevor!

 

[masondoggy]

Are there any resources for buying used materials? Particularly Catholic homeschool materials? I need to figure out the most economical way to do this.

 

[HouseArrest]

Are there any resources for buying used materials? Particularly Catholic homeschool materials? I need to figure out the most economical way to do this.

cathswap is a yahoo group where buyers and sellers can post email messages about homeschool and other materials. I haven’t bought anything there yet, but it seems really active, so a lot of people must be happy with the prices.

 

[Truly_Beloved]

Have you looked into the requirements/restrictions your state has for homeschooling? If not, check out Home School Legal Defense Association’s website.

I’m afraid I can’t help you with curricula/assessment suggestions, because I unschool (so I don’t use a curriculum).

And like Dranzal said, accreditation is not necessarily required for college entrance. Even Princeton accepts homeschooled students without diplomas or GEDs, and since most homeschooled high schoolers enroll in community college courses during their studies, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

 

[garyr]

Are there any resources for buying used materials? Particularly Catholic homeschool materials? I need to figure out the most economical way to do this.

ebay, local half-price books, local homeshool-swapmeets and clubs, etc.

Testing - You didn’t mention your state/county; get kids involved in local InterScholastic associations and meets; Texas has www.psiaacademics.org and it’s Great! Kinda cool when your home-schooler takes 1st place (beating out all the other local private schools)!

 

[leonie]

Are there any resources for buying used materials? Particularly Catholic homeschool materials? I need to figure out the most economical way to do this.

your catholic homeschool conference might have a used book sale. The one in Indiana and the one in Dayton does.

 

[purplesunshine]

Masondoggy:

I was actually thinking about your thread while I was at work yesterday.

It sounds like you have a big battle on your hands with your son.

I think the first thing you need to do is have him tested to make sure there’s no chemical or organic reasons that he’s not doing well in school.
Have him checked for depression, learning disabilities, hearing problems and vision problems. All of these can strike no matter the intelligence level.