School Help-moms with Elementary Kids and Up

I have homeschooled for the past 13 years. My oldest 2 children have graduated from our homeschool high school and are now honor students in college. One of my daughters was dual enrolled (earning college credit while still in high school) and graduated with 34 credits.

One thing that I can say about curriculums is that those written for homeschoolers are excellent. There are so many out there to choose from and you get to decide what works for your teaching style and your child's learning style. That is what makes it successful. You would be amazed at how much you learn yourself as you are educating your children. The reason I had the confidence to homeschool all the way through high school is because my children already knew so much more before high school than what I had when I walked out of my high school with a diploma. You don't just cram facts and statistics into your child, you educate them and teach them how to learn. You clearly know how to learn because you have already done some research on studies and have the desire to learn more about various options. You also have a strong desire for the best for your children (another strong attribute). You don't pour what you currently know into your children. You teach them how to discover and learn. The homeschool curriculums are the tools you use in the process (along with a lot of teachable moments that come along in life in the world around them). By the time my older children were in high school, they were more self-taught. My oldest taught herself HTML and I know nothing about that. She's majoring in Arts and Technology and that certainly isn't because that's what I knew. It is because she discovered a passion for that field and learned a lot on her own. I provided material or outside resources when needed.

Also, be sure to check the laws in your state. Here is a brief summary of PA laws: http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Pennsylvania.pdf

If you get a chance, go to a convention and look through the various curriculums out there and ask questions. That's how I got started years ago. There's one in May in Harrisburg, PA (http://convention.chaponline.com/). It can get overwhelming at times because there is so much to choose from, but you will get a great idea of what a variety there is to choose from. Many conventions also have speakers and workshops you can attend.

Best of luck in your decision process.

I know what you mean. My kids are in 1st and 3rd grades, and this is our first year in public school. The schools in our area are supposedly pretty good, but I'm here to tell you, if this is a "good" public school, we're in serious trouble. Public education in America is sadly lacking. In my opinion, you're WAY better off with a private school or home schooling. Check out Carden School - there may be one near you, or if not, they do offer a home school curriculum. It is a very traditional education, with phonics and the language arts being the strongest subjects. The only subject where I felt my kids were lacking was math, and that's an easy one to supplement on your own. (Or if you home school, check out the Saxon math curriculum - it's great.)

Don't be shy about asking any schools you tour about their test scores. No, it's not the only measure of what the school is doing, but it gives you a great idea about how well they're teaching the core subjects (and if they can't teach reading and math, then what are they teaching, anyway?!). In my experience, the higher the test scores, the better the school. It may not be PC, but it's true.

As for us, next year we will resume paying through the nose for a private school. It's worth every penny, even if I have to keep driving a 10 year old car to afford it!

We had a foreign exchange student from Germany. She was a straight A student. But coming here we found that she was behind my daughter who was two years younger in math and science. The same for the other students. 8 of them in NC were having severe issues in preCalculus and Algebra II.
In Germany they do teach Latin, and another languages. They also teach math and science as integrated subjects. So they are taught some of the easy Calculus subjects while still not having a full Algebra education. They start in 4th and by 13th have the same education our AP kids do. That is only the top students though.
If you are deemed not educable enough, you do not go to the higher level schools. You go to a trade school. My student was amazed that all 14-18 year olds in the district were in the high school. She had never had contact with the ones who didn't care about getting ahead. She had had no contact with children with any disabilities. They are all weeded out before 5th.

That being said she was ahead in the languages. Her knowledge of English Grammar was superior, we do not teach our children pluperfect and perfect. Why? UNless we are going to be English teachers there is no reason to learn fancy words for past, present and future tenses.

They have no music in school. No art, no sports. The kids join after school clubs for anything extra curricular.

I have one in the public high school, two that I homeschool. My junior is in 4 AP classes. She has had violin for 6 years. She has had oppurtunities to go to camps that are geared towards academics. She is looking at Duke, VMI, Northwestern, U of Chicago. She has been in 5 different school district in 4 different states since kinder and still in the top 10% of her class.
To make the best of education for your child you need to be involved. Be the mom helper in K-5. Be at the school and join the pto. Be the orchestra mom and the swim team mom. Be involved.
Homeschooing is a discipline. It is not impossible. Even in math. By the time your child gets to middle school you will have relearned everything they have learned and Algebra will not be that huge a leap. Plus they have so many resources you can't go wrong.
I am big on Grammar, my mom is an English teacher, so my kids diagram complements and skeletons in their Englih program. I also teach Latin, and a fourth grade science curriculum from a homeschool internet sight. We just finished PreAlgebra with my 7th grader. I use Story of the World and Mystery of HIstroy.
In Germany it is illegal to homeschool and they teach Evolution. Having my student here opened my eyes. There are some problems in American education, one of them is the "no child gets ahead act". That's another story altogether though.

We homeschool and my SD is in fourth grade. It's amazing how fast she moves through things! With the one-on-one that homeschooling offers, we can take as long as she needs on something or move ahead if she's understanding quickly.

We are members of a homeschooling group. We go on field trips together and have been to the museums, aquariums, planetariums, aboretums, gardens, parks, science museums, zoos, farms, etc. She is in a literary group where they explore books. She's done stand-up reports in front of her group, we do a literary magazine, a talent show all sorts of things! Once we talked to a real-live beekeeper and saw his bees, another we met an astronaut! And I love how she's with kids of all different ages. We tend to meet up for something about once a week or so--every Friday is social day and we meet at the forest preserve for hiking, outdoor fun and imaginative play.

The bonus over public school is the number of field trips and the hands-on learning she gets from that. I also love the attitude of the families in our group, they are all focused on family (many are Christian but not all) and giving our kids the best education we can. We all use different curriculums. I use an online school that's based in California. They set her lesson plans and I give them to her and give monthly reports. I love having a certified teacher guiding us and she will graduate with a diploma from that school, not just a "homeschooling certificate" (which isn't a bad thing!)

We typically spend about 3-4 hours homeschooling a day, about two hours are sit-down seatwork, and the rest is life experience. Cooking, counting money, arts, organization etc.

It is a totally commitment though; if you're the type of person to really get involved and you LIKE being involved then homeschooling might be for you. Our public schooled friends spend six hours a day in school, and to come home and do enrichment activities on top of homework--I think that is asking too much!! My SD's friend gets at least two hours of homework. I can't imagine making a child do extra work on top of that! I would either trust in the school you're sending your child to and just stay on top of their work with them or choose a different route. Some kids do wonderful in public school, as evidenced by some of my SD's friends. They are very smart and I can see bright futures ahead for them too.

Good luck!

in my home town if it was available to have 2 high schools or to get a diffrent grade school with my oldest I could have used my mom or dads address instead of mine. the systems dont check addresses. who will know other than you :)