Seeking Moms' Advice for Homeschooling

For the math part of homeschooling, Moving with Math is an excellent program!! You can find it online and it comes with instruction books for the parent, workbooks for the kids, and manipulatives. It is a very hands-on approach to math, includes daily review, and it is a developmentally appropriate way to teach math to kids. I was introduced to the program by a tutoring company I once worked for that had huge success with it, and I later used it with 2 children that I homeschooled (not my own) with much success. They went from not understanding or knowing any math to being very competent in many areas of math in just a few months. Good luck!!

Abeka video school is very good, they have master teachers and the kids relate with the classes on TV.

I've taught 5th grade Reading, Writing and Social Studies in Texas public schools for the last 4 years (taking off at least this year to be with my baby). I don't know where you live but Live 2 Learn(?) in Tomball on 2920 has homeschool stuff (at least the last time I was there. Also, if you're close and interested I have a bunch of stuff you can borrow (textbook, regular chapter books w/ worksheets and activities to go with some of them, etc.) and SS is easy because it's American History (I have some things for that too). Again, I would need these back eventually but they are just collecting dust for the time being. And if you have any questions, let me know. The only thing I really can't help with is math :). Not my strong suit! Good luck. I think homeschooling is a wonderful idea!

I homeschooled using Clonlara school out of Michigan. They are accredited and give you great support when getting started. They also have lots of courses online if that's something your child would be interested in.

I homeschooled my son fro 10 years, he graduated in my back yard with all our family and friends there. It was awesome. I used Alpha Omega, they are out of Florida. It is a computer cirriculum, there a 5 subjcts in the package and plenty of electives to choose from, and grades 90% of the work. It is a awesome study and so nice. usually if you buy the set in march you get a 25% discount. Good luck and I hope your daughter heals quickly. God bless.

We consider ourselves to be eclectic homeschoolers. I've been using Saxon (math) and Apologia (physical Science) for my oldest child. She does co-ops for electives like Spanish, Critical thinking & study skills and art. Our oldest DD also plays on the volleyball team through our homeschooling community and is involved with our local 4H club. I'm using studentsfriend.com as a guide for World History & Geography and tie in Literature with History. She's doing reports, research, etc. with science and history, so we don't feel the need for a formal English class; but she does do various writing workshops throughout the year (poetry, creative writing, etc.). We REALLY enjoy the flexibility in curriculum, activities, and experiences we have with homeschooling.

I have other friends that use K12 and really seem to like it. The key is to take your time looking into what works best for your family. Don't rush into purchasing any curriculum. There's so many FREE resources online that are wonderful.

Sycamore Tree Academy

We have homeschooled for 12 yrs - my 3 teenagers have NEVER been in public school and they are productive, caring, nurturing, selfless young adults. We have so much fun together as a family. I encourage you to take your 15 yr old out of school as well....but if you want to just start w/the 11yr old, contact other homeschoolers in your area and get w/a co-op so you can have some support while you transition to this next phase of home education. We use an assortment of curriculum and have phased out alot of garbage that isn't necessary. Use the library for your liturature sources, read from Classical sources. Use the internet for history documents & comprehension - a good all around curriculum is on Ed-helper.com. We use singapore math - you'll be able to find this on the internet. Science is easy and you can get used books all over the place. If you talk to other homeschoolers, you'll find a homeschool book store in your area. Homeschooling a 5th grader will take about 2hrs/day and then you can focus on developing talents (piano, singing, etc).
You've made the right decision for your child's health and for your family - there's lots of support out there.

personally, i haven't tried this, but my aunt homeschooled my 3 cousins for the first 4 years. this is what she recommends:
A good place to look at would be K12.com. They offer their curriculum for sale for use as an independent home schooler, they sell their curriculum to public and private schools and they have Virtual Academies that use their curriculum. When I was strictly home schooling I used "The Weaver" curriculum. The Weaver Curriculum is a unit-based, Biblically integrated curriculum by Alpha Omega Publications. This curriculum uses the approach that all subjects are connected with one another. Each course (English, History, Art, etc.) are built around a common Scripture. It has lessons for multi level students to work on the same theme at the same time. You need to supplement math. I used Rod & Staff math then. The kids in the charter school now are using Saxon math. Towards the end of my strictly home school days, I found a curriculum called "Five in a Row." I really liked it for the younger kids. This curriculum is based around children's literature. Much simpler than the Weaver curriculum to use but the same approach where everything is related. If I would have had "Five in a Row" when my son was younger I might have kept home schooling him the entire time. I also used "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" for all the kids and my son worked through "Hooked on Phonics." The Core Knowlegde Series has books out of every grade level: "What your Kindergardner Should Know," "What Your First Grader Should Know," ect...

good luck!

Hi B.,

I home school my boys and this is are first year. There are so many things you can choose from and it can become overwhelming so I hope I can help you know its okay to feel that way. I went to a website www.homeschoolcentral.com and this really helped me. The one thing I learned is I needed to do something I could do and understand what I was doing, so I could help my children. They are 14 and 11 both boys. There are many styles of education programs and some are expensive and I didn't want to pay a whole lot of money and I need curriculum that fit us. I went with the text book style for now. So far its been pretty good. There is a lot time on my part so you have to think how much time do you want to spend because you become the full time teacher and mom at the same time. There is a program called switched on school house which does everything for you, keeps a record,the grades, it is a simple program but it is a little pricy, but you can also find it on ebay for half the price you would find in the store. There are many options, research is your best thing, you need to find out what will work for you and your family and how much time you want to put into it. There are many websites out there with lots of information to help you on your journey. It really depends on you. Homeschooling is beneficial in many ways. I wish the best to you and to let you know your not alone if you decide to do this.

One of the main reasons I withdrew my son from public school was that he had 1)January--ear infection and strep throat 2)February--strep throat 3)March--mono and 4)April--strep throat! So, I understand withdrawing for health reasons. My son, then 6 years old, was on 4 different anti-biotics in four months.

I had already heard of Sycamore Academy based out of California and so I went with them. They have an awesome curriculum and are accredited. You can look them up online and view their school and bookstore. They offer both online and traditional home teaching.

Best wishes!

Hi B.,

Homeschooling is a great option, but as you may have noticed, there are all kinds of options for curriculum and it is hard to know where to start, even with the replies that you have already received.

There is a resource in various cities around Texas called Smoothing the Way, www.smoothingtheway.com, which is specifically designed to support people new to homeschooling.

I would also recommend Diane Broadway - she has a business called Curriculum Finders and she provides you, as the teacher, with a tool to analyze both your own and your child's learning style. And she then gives you a listing of the curriculums that would fit you both. You can contact her @ ____@____.com google her and you will find out about Curriculum Finders.

As for me, I homeschooled exclusively for k - 5 with my 3, and put them all into a university model school this past fall - Sterling Classical School. Grades 5 - 12 will attend traditional classroom school 3 days a week and are home for the other 2 doing work at home.

During my exclusive homeschool days, we used Switched on Schoolhouse for the later years when I was trying to teach my youngest to read, etc. It is a computer based program - each subject on a separate CD - I have been amazed at how much they learned with it.

Hope this is helpful.

God bless,
A.

I'm assuming you're from Texas, but I may be wrong. I have never homeschooled, but if you want to know what objectives she must reach by the time she goes to 6th grade, you can go to tea.tx.org. (I believe that's the site). You can also look up SBEC (or state board of education). If I am forgetting exactly what website to go to, you can always google for Texas Education Agency, and then look for the objectives there. (It's been a couple years since I decided to stay home from teaching full-time, so my mind's a little fuzzy on exactly what the websites are called). If you're not in Texas, you can google for your state's education objectives.

you can duscuss this wqith her school for the easiest route, they will give you the curriculum shed be working on in class, and have her attend the chools for semester exams.
or you can go to barnes and nobles and in the parent/teacher resource section there are tons of books on these subjects, that cover curriculum for grade specific.
and theres the homeschooling for dummies book, which i absolutely love, that gives you all the scoop on homeschooling and other options you have other than curriculims.
good luck and hope you have fun.

Hi B.,

We have been homeschooling from the beginning, but from my friends that have pulled their kids out of school to start homeschooling, the best advice is not to jump into a curriculum yet. Your daughter and you will need time to 'deschool.' That is to say to get out of the rhthym and expectations of going to a school. They say a rule of thumb for deschooling is one month per year of school. That may seem long to you and other family members, but there will be a need for a transition time.

In the meantime, I would check out other homeschoolers in your area. There are plenty of us out there. The main one would be the Austin Area Homeschoolers. They have two Yahoo groups, one for announcements and another for discussions. You can look at them at groups.yahoo.com/group/aah-announce and groups.yahoo.com/group/aah-discuss. The Greater Austin Area Homeschoolers 0-9 group organizes a lot of field trips around town. So I would check out a group that suits your needs and gives you a network to ask questions and support you in your new efforts. Many of the groups get together for park days, so your daughter can establish a routine of other kids that she knows that are also homeschooling.

For curriculum advice, I would start with the local library and work off her interests. Read a lot and get supplementary material (i.e. videos, other work sheets, field trips) based on what subjects interest her for the time being. You will be discovering what her best learning style is, so some curriculums will be more in tune with her than others. Homeschooling is about tailoring learning to what best fits the child. Some kids do well learning off of worksheets, others need more hands on work. Once you get in touch with other homeschool networks, they will be able to guide you with recommendations. Some people want a religious base for their learning, others are more secular. Some need more structure, others are 'unschoolers' who have no formal program. Take the transition time to discover what works for your daughter and you before you spend any money on a curriculum. One thing that I find great about the homeschool message boards, is that I can always ask if someone has a copy of such and such, could they bring it to park day for me to look at and usually someone has it. So you can see a lot of material before you make a financial commitment to it.

Good luck with your journey.

As a classroom teacher I understand your frustration. The last thing you need to worry about is her being behind in school. I would talk to the school and see if you can stay with their curriculum-if you are planning to having her go back to that particular school. Most schools curriculum is driven by state mandated tests, and home school curriculum is not. You can do a far better job of making things personal and on her level based on her interests. Start with the school counselor and see if your district has a homebound program. If they have one you could be the classroom teacher and the school will provide the materials. Good luck! I read you earlier question I wanted to respond that I had a friend who had the exact same situation and it turned out her daughter has Lupus. It was a rough road for a while but now everyhting is undere control. However, sending you that seemed very scary and negative and I didn't want to do that. Trust your instincts and your mom voice. Ask the doctors a lot of questions and do your (internet) homework. To the doctors she's just a patient, to you she's the world. Stay strong and focused! Have faith!

I don't know what part of texas you are in, but if you are in the Houston area (harris county) or in the dallas area, you might want to try the K12 program. It is a pilot program right now, for grades 3-8, in those areas. They will provide you with everything you need, from the laptop, to the books and everything, and its all FREE.
We are using the Calvert School for our kindergartner, which is a complete box curriculum. We are VERY pleased, and its very reasonably priced.
Good luck with everything!
~J.

I have homeschooled my son for all of his 15 years and my daughter on and off and she is busy now writing college essays. We are usuing K12 curriculum and now RRISD pays for it and we have a teacher that my son is accountable to. There are other area school districts that pay for the cost of the curriculum as well. Have a look at k12.com. Good luck

If your daughter likes working on the computer I would
check out www.Time4Learning.com.
I believe they have demos that you can check out and its
a pay by the month, just in case you start and its not
working then you could cancel. I would not spend alot of
money upfront, sometimes it takes awhile to know your childs
learning style, take time and explore different options.
I have heard good things about Time4Learning & also the
Alpha Omega - Switched on Schoolhouse.
For a Spelling & Vocabulary program I would try out
www.BigIQkids.com. Also BigIQkids has some math
and geography programs too.
Homeschooling has many challengings, but it can be extremely
rewarding. Your childs health comes first and you as her
mother knows whats best. If you feel homeschooling is
right for you then go for it and don't let anyone tell
you differently. You do what you feel is best for her.
I hope some of the programs I have listed might be of
help to you. I wish you & your daughter the best. Goodluck!

Hi B.,

The other mom's responses have great advice, as usual. It makes a lot of sense to check out many resources and to see how you and your daughter do before investing a lot in any one curriculum. Home schooling is a wonderful alternative to public and private schools for many people.

I want to add a caution to try not to be overly concerned about your daughter's health issues. Become informed and make good decisions, but don't allow yourself or your daughter to get in a "poor little girl" mindset. She can and will move past a lot of this as she matures. If anything occurs that is ongoing, you will both learn how to best handle it. My son and many other people in this world have irregular heartbeats and other minor heart abnormalities yet live totally normal or nearly normal lives. Let the doctors guide you, seek out a sympathetic ear if needed and get out there and live a great life!

Good luck,
Parent Coach J. B

I have been home schooling my daughter for 3 years now,and it has been one of the best decisions I have made. When she was in the public school system,we practically lived in the dr's office. It was continually strep throat,upper respiratory infections,stomach flu,pink eye,flu,and 3 cases of pneumonia. Since we've been in home school she has only been sick twice. Her behavior has improved greatly,too. With the one-on-one lessons,she is learning much more than she did in public school...and she is ahead of schedule. She is 10,and is in 6th grade,except Reading,in which she is in 7th grade. I use Core Curriculum. They have Secular and Christian curriculum. I prefer to use Secular,because it is more on the same level as public school curriculum. Core Curriculum has a website,so you can read about it.If you have any questions,feel free to ask me. Good luck. I hope your daughter's heath improves.

We are homeschooling, but our son in only in Kinder; so, I don't know the upper grades yet. But I just wanted to offer some encouragement to you. I think it's great that you are concerned about her education. It is so wonderful! I know how horrible the h.hernia can be- the meds are the worst for side-effects. :P They made me sleep for 2 weeks straight! I lost my job, because I didn't go for the entire time I was on them, even with a doctor's notice and calling in each day. I also lost so much weight, because I didn't want to get up to eat. Blah! So, I totally feel for her. I hope she's better soon. Take care, dear!

I have no experience about homeschooling but I wish I did. I was sick like your daughter and was always missing school. My parents constantly had to battle with the state about how many absences I had and I was constantly behind. After awhile my teachers treated me like a kid who was delinquent and trying to skip school because I was lazy. It wasn't until I had an official diagnosis and was able to get my teachers to let me work from home when I had rough stretches that I realized my full potential. When I wasn't trying to play catch up I could do quite well teaching myself and got excellent grades. Just make sure if you choose homeschooling that you involve your daughter in the social programs when she is well enough to participate because that is one aspect of school you just can't replicate at home. good luck!

I home-schooled our daughter one year and she also has attended a private school. The curriculum used for both of those was Abeka and I was very pleased with it.

Good luck and our prayers are for healing for your precious child.

I am very sorry to hear about how sick your daughter is. We have had a couple of huge health issues with our kids and it is very difficult emotionally. I homeschooled for 1 1/2 years. We really just piecemealed our curriculum together so my advice there is really no good. But, while we were going to continue my husband was researching online for curriculum alternatives. We talked about one that was developed by some doctors and lawyers who were dissatisfied with the available choices for their own kids. I wish I knew the name. I know that it was just a few hundred dollars. This was not per year but for the whole thing. All the years and all the subjects put together. Their philosophy was to not have grade levels in anything but rather just subjects that continue on. The kid just continues in each subject at his own pace in that subject. They are not dependent upon one another. We really liked the idea and would have gotten it but it was not going to be possible to continue homeschooling no matter. I am sure you can find the one I am talking about. My husband was not real internet literate at the time and he is the one who found it.
God Bless

Edit: after reading other responses I realize how much I miss homeschooling and having all that time with my kids. The school system is so impersonal and they are treated like they should be robots. Thank goodness my girls don't complain too much about it. I really try to talk up school but my girls aren't stupid. They see the truth.

Check with your school district. They may have a home school program they can assist you with. I haven't personally dealt with this but a friend's daughter was having emotinoal issues at school so they went through the district which provided them with a curriculum, computer and occasional help from a teacher. She did have to take her to the standardized testing on certain days (Iowa skills, TAKS) but otherwise the child did all of her work at home. This might be the ticket for a child that you may want to reintroduce into the same school system in the future. (And it was total news to me that the district had something like that- but it is specifically for ill children...)

Christian Liberty Academy, they test the kids and decide what is the best curriculum for them. You submit the test papers and they recieve report cards.

We home school and I'm involved in helping with Smoothing the Way (smoothingtheway.org) South Austin which is a support group for 1st year home schoolers. Your question on curriculum is a favorite topic so you should get many responses.

One thing we recommend at Smoothing is to ease into this journey, especially with the health issues you cited, keeping it simple and not being overwhelmed is going to help you enjoy your time together the most.

Hope I can give you some resources. Texas Home School Coalition (I'm going to try to give you websites but if they don't work please google I tried to look the exact sites up while working on this and lost all I'd already typed :( so I'll try to give you key words to go by) www.thsc.org is an excellent legal source on how to go about withdrawing and they can tell you all you need to know about requirements. I read someone's advice about looking up the texas essential elements. Please don't feel obligated to do this. Be aware that home schoolers are private schools and not bound by them and do not have to take the TAKS. We are basically required to teach in bona fide manner courses in: Spelling, Writing, Reading, Math, and Good Citizenship. Every family I know exceeds this, we care for our kids, so we do our best for them. Anyway, this is a good source for legal information.

We primarily use Sonlight curriculum for reading and history, because of its excellent literature. It has a lot of wonderful fiction and nonfiction picks. Level five is eastern hemisphere, which balances the reading with some computer research. www.sonlight.com Dad loves reading to the kids in the evening and always asks what the next sonlight book is. This would be a wonderful gentle approach to schooling for someone in your daughter's situation: getting healthy while easing into full time at home schooling. (I thought it was expensive at first so I just took the book lists to the library...then my husband started enjoying the experience and knew how little time I had for hunting down books so we went ahead and bought a "Core" package. I couldn't buy the books seperately for what I paid for the package and it came with the teacher notes and a schedule for reading the books) Sorry, like I said favorite topic...get carried away :)

Another method for schooling can be found at ambleside.org or com. Charlotte Mason approach has wonderful literature suggestions.

Look in Rainbow Resource Catalog (about the size of a phonebook) for all sorts of reviews of curriculum and the rates they list for new materials are usually cheaper than found elsewhere (I think the next used curriculum book fair I know of is in May) (this is where things could get overwhelming, just breath and remember you don't need all the stuff to teach you have what you need, namely love and a brain: (and a good dose of the Holy Spirit helps too!)

Spelling: Spelling Power
Writing: We do family writing projects of all sorts; the girls do a writing club once a month; younger kids do Happy Handwriting and Cheerful Cursive. Writing Power is a good source. Grammar: I like A Beka (don't know that the kids do :) and Write Source. Vocabulary development Wordly Wise
Math: Making Math Meaningful (scripted...great on concepts), Mastering Mathmatics (straight forward, learning math facts), Singapore Math great for visual learners...inexpensive... Suggestion: since you're leaving at 5th is to see what text you're using at the school and if its successful continue in the series...if not go ahead and switch.
Good citizenship: History-Sonlight and Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts (we have some of each) Keepers of the Faith or Keepers at Home (be careful finding their website there is some rock group that has a similar name when you google)is something like GS that has projects you can do to earn badges and you can do it independently at home. Bible reading can also go under here too.

We add music lessons, a once a week PE class at Dick Nichols Park. We have a field trip co op.
We do Apologia Science, but have also done sonlight.

If this looks like a lot, remember I'm schooling 4 children right now (one who's in 5th gr) one child wouldn't use all the suggestions I've given

My biggest suggestion is to wait awhile before you choose a curriculum. You do not have to lock all these elements in right away, take your time before buying anything. Get to know what you like first and how your daughter learns best before starting to invest. This should be stepping into the slow life. (I'm listening to myself...I am listening to myself...I will slow down...I will slow down :) Anyway, it IS possible to simplify, heal and educate at the same time. Hope all goes well for you!

I have been really happy with the A-Beka curriculum. My kids are in pre-school but were reading by four. I know they have the same curriculum for older children. It is a christian-based program but you can use as many or as few of the Bible Books that you want. Go to ABEKA.com and put in your zipcode (you may want to call them since i just tried all zipcodes down to and including Houston and nothing came up). That will pull up a curriculum fair in your area. Good luck and I will keep your little one in my prayers.

Hi, B.!

I don't blame you for not wanting to put your daughter back in school.

I've been home schooling my kids since my oldest (now 14) was in kindergarten, and I've used all sorts of curriculum. I would google home school curriculum and start surfing! Personally, I've used Abeka, School of Tomorrow, Alpha Omega and Time4Learning.com (a computer/internet program). I would just have her take a diagnostic test for whatever curriculum you choose and go from there. Have fun!

Blessings,
S.
SAHM of Seven (2 to 14)

There are literally hundreds of currica to choose from. I recommend starting at FEAST the regional homeschool office/support service for the South Texas area located on Burwood just off of San Pedro. They will help get you started with familarizing you with Texas homeschool laws, was is required to withdraw your kdsi from public school, suggest curriculum based upon your teaching method and offer a list of homeschool support groups in your area.

I spent hundreds, maybe more, on curriculum after pulling my children out of school. Big mistake!!! I would suggest that you take your time and get to know your daughter and see where she is at (strengths and weaknesses) before spending money on curriculum. I know a lot of homeschoolers and own a homeschool group in New Braunfels and I can say that I do not know a family that is still using the same curriculum they started with. Take your time. Include your daughter in the decision. Find out what her goals and needs are. It is for her after all.
You may want to start at Worldbook.com where you can find a typical scope and sequence for each grade level. Then hit the library. You can create your own curriculum with this information that will cost little or nothing.
You should also check out Texas homeschool laws. I feel this is very important to do BEFORE you pull her out. I found that my daughter's school did not know the laws (or did but thought I didn't). They tried to tell me what curriculum to use and bullied me a little by telling me that my daughter would have to take standardized tests and had to be in "school" for 180 days a year. Know your rights under Texas law.
I hope this helps.