Homeschooling - SUPPORT GROUP

Yes and in our case going this route will far exceed our gov.'s requirements. The fall back to it will be that were on our own because of it. Were willing to except those circumstances. As of yet we don't have to prove our attendance as long as were meeting the expectations of the curriculum.
I was looking up the sites that you sent me. (thanks) I think they will be a lot of help.

You asked about someone's kids still being in school....some do this to kinda tutor their kids. Some just supplement to give them a leg up in life some homeschool to give a better education some do it for religious reasons......everyone has a story of WHY.

Here in Mass, even though I am frustrated on several point, the education is regarded as excellent. We had a better curriculum and did not want to switch to the common core. BUt the state finally did change as this last school year. THere are pros and cons to each. THe old way touched on MANY different topics but for only a few days, and if the child missed those days, well that is hard to make up. THe new common core teaches fewer topics but for a longer time and more indepth. HOnestly I dont know what is better . . . the latter gains massachusett Fed funding . . . .they held out for many years before switching so if money was a big factor I dont know.

SO here I am fighting to give my kids an even chance with kids that have tudors and others that go to summer camps with an educational bent.

What I can say is that bright kids learn at different speeds. My son surprisingly, has turned out to be a decent writer, yet one of his best friends who is very bright and a delight to talk with ( according to his mom) cannot write decently yet. Myfrustration is when I listen to an NPRinterview of a student that dropped out be interviewed by his old Enlish teacher who is now an asst PRof at a univeristy: why did he leave shcool? A: Starting in the 9th grade he did not understand the information and flet like a fool. Most teachers focused on the kids that were capable and he was not. Understand I am paraphrasing. I cried. How can we the public schools be failing our children.

IMO home school skirts thiese issues and can keep the kids felling like their efforts ARE valuable, at what ever their current level of ability and understanding. Brains mature at different speeds. Public school is like a feed lot. I value teachers and we have been over this discussion already . . . .I would like to try a new approach with the teachers this year in hopes to get more help for my oldest and in hopes of keeping my youngest interested. Only 4 weeks of summer left and school starts here.

OK I decided to take a chance and jump in. Hi everyone I homeschool my two school aged daughters aged 10 and 8. I also have a 3 year old son, a 1 year old daughter and a daughter due in November

My 10 year old is very bright and wasn't being challenged in school but was being bullied while my 8 (almost 9) year old has severe dyslexia and was just drowning at school.
I pulled them a couple years ago (battled bogus truancy charges for that) and never looked back.

French Hen said:

OK I decided to take a chance and jump in. Hi everyone I homeschool my two school aged daughters aged 10 and 8. I also have a 3 year old son, a 1 year old daughter and a daughter due in November

My 10 year old is very bright and wasn't being challenged in school but was being bullied while my 8 (almost 9) year old has severe dyslexia and was just drowning at school.
I pulled them a couple years ago (battled bogus truancy charges for that) and never looked back.

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Glad you joined us! The more the better!

I also want to note that I love New Jersey for homeschooling laws. Essentially I am as free as I can possibly be. I am free to educate my children in the very best way possible for them. It's fantastic. It is enough to keep us from wanting to move out of state, despite my husband's plant closing down. We had considered TN but the laws are so restrictive :-( same with the Carolinas. Arizona was good though but oh so hot!!
You ladies that handle your state's freedom crushing laws are awesome. I don't think I would have the patience for it!

French Hen said:

I also want to note that I love New Jersey for homeschooling laws. Essentially I am as free as I can possibly be. I am free to educate my children in the very best way possible for them. It's fantastic. It is enough to keep us from wanting to move out of state, despite my husband's plant closing down. We had considered TN but the laws are so restrictive :-( same with the Carolinas. Arizona was good though but oh so hot!!
You ladies that handle your state's freedom crushing laws are awesome. I don't think I would have the patience for it!

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Not sure what you mean by restrictive.... In TN there are 4 options to homeschool. The easiest option is to enroll in an Umbrella school. Now each umbrella is different but MOST let you do what you want. The only requirement I see is attendance and grades to be reported twice a year. The umbrella schools are under churches and you are basically a teacher for the church and not subject to state requirements of ANY KIND. No testing, no vaccination records noting but attendance and grades.

Here is some info on the laws here. This is also the umbrella school we are going to use. I like that I can let the kids participate in sports, field trips and graduation.

http://www.familychristianacademy.com/homeeducation/laws.html

Tennessee is a GREAT PLACE.

Thanks!! I appreciate the links. We have to move in the next couple years and TN was such a good choice for many other reasons. I did not know about umbrella options.
I guess anything is "more" for me since I literally do nothing regarding the state. No attendance or grades or anything. But I record that stuff anyway (mostly) so it isn't exactly going to kill me.
But we miss out on being able to do sports and other good group stuff. We have to pay a lot for those opportunities to be had privately which restricts how much they can participate in.

Hi French HEn, glad you are joining in!!


At our public school, just for comparisons, we pay sports and after school fees. THe benefit is that with so many children participation fees are less than private instruction. Some times that can make good instruction a good value, though not always. Our town voted down an override and the result is 2 out of 3 tech afterschool programs are gone. THis was a great value because 1 teacher could manage 30 kids in an active learning atmosphere after school for 2 hours once a week. THese wre active learners that WANTEd to be there.

We have town soccer which is a part of a state wide league, completely separate from school. THe only requirement is the child must be a resident of the town he/she plays for. ( No stealing good players. ) My kids play in that league for $70 a season for each child; and we have a fall and spring season. I like soccer because it keeps the kids running!!

My kids are taking swimming lessons-- with a couple friends. I pay a private lesson rate but they get 10x out of the private lesson than in a group lesson of 10-20 students. My oldest just started to learn the crawl in mid Jun and by mid July could pass the Boy Scout Swimmer test in rough water-- he did say it was tough.

We viewed the Respiration video With BIll Ny the Science Guy, ( love him-- boys are giggling thru the show) and they found one question ( study sheets) they could not answer ( the same Q for both of them) and then we watched the program again . . . but did not hear a definiative answer to the question.


Q6. A(n)________ is a test to see how much oxygen is taken in with every heart beat.

THis lead us to an online search and did not find an answer. THere is a test , a VO2 test, but did not see that addressed in the program.

An EKG was used in the program but that measures electical impulses of the heart.

So while the question didn't have an answer, we learned a bunch trying to find the answer.