Home Schooling Support

We travel and homeschool even though my youngest us still not 4. I have found support from online groups via yahoo and meetup, so I would suggest trying to search for some groups near you and get connected! Good luck!

Hi N.
Not sure where you are located, but if you are in Brooklyn, there is an awesome afrocentric private school. The classes are small and they incorporate academics with TONS of creativity (african dance, drumming, guitar, visual art) and nurturing. There's even meditation! It's less than the cost of day care. Email me and I can send you the info as I know they are still accepting for fall. Note, my child does not go there, and I am not affiliated. I'm just getting the jumpstart for my own little one.

As far as homeschooling, there are some homeschooling circles and collectives. There are also yahoo groups where you can network. I know this is vague, but I am also in the research phase of the this option. Online resources have been a great support.

all the best
S.

You can visit www.leah.org for info on homeschooling. They hold conferences in NY as well. If you can I would encourage you to go to the convention this year. There are great speakers with lots of good homeschooling advice, leah gives a NY legislative talk, and there are tons of vendors. You can spend hours talking to other moms, vendors, and perusing all the wonderful resources available to you. Hope this helps. Good luck!!!!

Dear Michelle,

I have 4 children. I homeschool my 6-y-o and my 4-y-o. I did homeschool my older kids, but they are in the public highschool now. I commend you for taking on this task. It must seem overwhelming. You will be able to do a fine job, I'm sure. Most homeschooling moms continuously feel like their not doing enough or that their child is lacking in some way. Have homeschooled my older kids and having them in the public school now, I can tell you that it was completely beneficial to homeschool and it only helped them in every possible way. It was not detrimental in anyway.

I am in NJ, so I can't tell you of the law, but you can check the HSLDA for your laws and requirents. No matter what state you are in, I give the advice of "easy does it." You will be tempted to make sure your child has the best of the best and everything he needs, but there is time for everything, now is the time for an adjustment for him, since he was probably in the public school for 2 years. I have more advice and would be glad to be a support to you, but that is all the time I have to write this morning. Feel free to reply and keep in touch and ask any questions.
God bless you in this endeavor.
T. www.LiveWellShopSmart.com

I passed along your message to a friend that has been interested in homeschooling her children for a few years. She is incredibly dynamic and resourceful and I'm sure she'll want to contact you.
I am currently a SAHM. I have a 2 year old son and a baby coming in October. I am a teacher with nys certification in elementary ed and literacy and Montessori certification as well. As a teacher, when I experienced public school( I was a Montessori directress first) I myself was turned off and figured out a way to create my own niche. I used to own a learning center and worked with a number of families that homeschooled their children. I provided additional support in certain subjects and allowed the children to experience a small group learning experience a few times a week. After working with these families, I have a great respect for the amount of time, energy, effort and patience it takes to homeschool. I'm not up on the current requirements (I did this 3 years ago). I know that the state had requirements and the parents had to write a plan of how they were going to meet these requirements and it had to be approved. The parents had access to school material/books/etc. I'm not sure exactly how that worked. I'd be happy to chat more with you about it.
Also I'm curious about your daycare. I'd love to hear more about it.
Peacefully,
C.

Hi Michelle
I loved homeschooling, I did day care too, as well as sub in public school, which is why I pulled my out. In fact, I homeschooled my twin girls from 3 grade through High School. They are now in college for fine arts & journalism with 3.7 on campus & 3.8 GPA commuting respectively.
Homeschooling works!! Do you have a CBD homeschooling catalog? Go on line to www.christianbooks.com and have them send it. Go to the library and get the core curriculum books --- "what your first grader needs to know"
second grader etc.
I can talk for hours. Email me at ____@____.com and I will answer specific questions. Lots of experience.
You are a creative active person and won't have trouble.
Get the regulations from Albany, or your LEAH group.
All it takes is a letter of intent to homeschool, and of course then you have to get a plan together. Not difficult. Work with your district but remember ultimately they can only require you to do what is in the state mandate. HSLD(Homeschool Legal Defense) is also something to look into. They will stand behind you if necessary, and is especially necessary if your school district is not traditionally homeschool friendly. Sounds like you have a bright young one there and have trained him well, don't loose that by the public school peer modeling. That is the biggest difference between homeschoolers and public school kids is they model each other rather than adults.
Of course most of my friends that we homeschooled with are also Christians which means we have a different moral system as well as a relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord.
I had tried private school, which we would have continued but we moved where that was not available. I tried public school --- and I too when it didn't work for us, and as soon as I could I pulled them out and began homeschooling year round 4 days a week. It was perfect for us.
God bless you and give you wisdom
K. --- SAHM married 38 years -- adult children --- 37, coach; 33, lawyer, married with 9 mo; and twins 18 in college.

Check out www.leah.org - this site has a lot of support help. LEAH is a great resource for NY home schoolers. I ordered a packet of all of the regulations from them (which has been VERY helpful) and they also sponsor a few home school conventions that are coming up. Lots of curriculum vendors are there, so you can look through the textbooks before you commit to buying anything.

The first thing you need to have in is a letter to the local school district saying that you intend to home school your son - that needs to be in by July 1.

Enjoy education your own son. I never thought I'd love home schooling as much as I do. Sure, we have rough days, but what a full experience!

Look into your local Holistic Mother's group (http://www.holisticmoms.org/) I know the Syracuse chapter has quite a few homeschoolers. Also, the Soule Branch (by LeMoyne) has a great section for homeschoolers and they do have program geared to families (http://www.onlib.org/web/locations_hours/branches/soule.htm).

We aren't even to potty training yet :)

Good luck!

someone else mentioned "HSLDA" (Home School Legal Defense Association)...their actual website is: "hslda.org" They are GREAT, have so many resources and help out a lot with rules and such for your state!!

:)