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Hi, I wanted to introduce myself since I have a bad habit of randomly posting. I'm always concerned about internet safety so I'm a bit cautious about giving out names right now.
Our girls are ages 11, 10 and 6. Our oldest (5th grade) has autism and is non-verbal with some other medical complications. She is currently in public school, though I have always worked with her at home as well. I have no plans to pull her from PS at the moment. We use Edmark and Reading Milestones for her reading program as well as creating parts of it ourselves. We've always used Handwriting Without Tears for writing. TouchMath mostly but occasionally MathUSee for math (the school currently uses MathUSee and we are going to purchase the program for home use).
Our middle child (4th grade) has Celiac Disease and is in the gifted program. She is also very low weight which has caused a diagnosis of failure to thrive. In spite of that, she is thriving and active in many school academic programs along with physical ones (cheer and soccer mostly). She also loves Children's Theatre and has participated for the past few years. Her current interests include space, extreme weather phenomena, mythology, Egyptian times (what kid doesn't lol), robotics, spiders and painting. She inhales books faster than we can get them to her. Her questions seem to be several hundred a day and usually cause me to go running to the computer or the bookstore. lol
Our youngest is in 1st grade and seems to be heading towards a diagnosis of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Several people in my family have it but it was still unexpected (I guess we thought that since our other two had medical conditions we would luck out with our third ). She has chronic stomach aches and diarrhea although the past two weeks have been great after our gastro ordered a medication change. She also has some aspiration issues when she drinks which we think are causing asthma type symptoms when she is ill. She is a worrier (which doesn't help her tummy). She loves to read, write stories and draw. Whereas my middle daughter is a bundle of hyper energy, she's more of a dreamer.
I decided to after-school this year and will be using MathUSee. Both girls love to read. We attend school in an under-staffed, under-funded, over-worked area. Students who are at grade level or above are usually left alone for more attention to be focused on those who lag. Or, (with my middle child) they are asked to work with groups of kids (including special ed) to help them out (for over an hour a day). My hope is to take the younger two out of public school next year and homeschool completely. Our area has a very active homeschool group (rather they are very visible in the community). We live in Alabama and honestly, they can barely manage public schools, I can't imagine they do much to regulate homeschooling. (That's not meant as a swipe against PS, they have my full support as they do the best they can).
I hope to gain information, support and ideas from this board. I'm slightly intimidated by our middle child. My husband is from a highly talented and intellectually gifted family and sometimes I freeze during some of their conversations. (Not that I consider myself to be 'un-intelligent' it's just not my experience to have such in-depth family conversations). She has been very much against the idea of home-schooling until I showed her some of the hands-on activities that we could do in history, science and math. Now she's excited. I plan to use after-school to make sure we will be successful at this.
Grade and/or age of your children: Addi is 3 and we are doing pre-k
What do you hope to get out of this board? Support/Info? Support, info, friends, people who tell me I'm not crazy
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? I am still learning and figuring this out.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? Well in Tx, where we are from no they don't. But here in California they do, luckily they do not require you to report until your child turns 6 (I think) and Addi is only 3, we will be gone from here before she is the age we would need to report.
I have been here for a little while, but never posted in this thread so I figured I'd catch up ....
Name: Jill
Grade and/or age of your children: Twin girls, 3 years old
What do you hope to get out of this board? support, ideas
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? eclectic? I have taught in a public school for 10 years and have collected books, worksheets, games, etc... for most of the elementary school grades. So it is safe to say I will pull ideas from here there and everywhere LOL
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? no
Grade and/or age of your children: Boys, ages 12 and 7
What do you hope to get out of this board? support, ideas, information, etc
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? We are very relaxed and pretty much live on our computers and gadgets, lol. Our curriculum is online, as are all of our additional resources.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? I have to turn in monthly attendance records, but that's about the extent.
Grade and/or age of your children: Seamus (01/24/07- I guess grade K); Rhiannon (01/20/10- no grade yet); Baby #3 (EDD- 07/31/12)
What do you hope to get out of this board? hmm... I guess just support, and friends, and ideas.
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? Right now, we are mostly just worksheet-style. No specific curriculum. We buy various at-home learning worksheets. Seamus does anywhere between 0-3 worksheets a day. Lately it's just been one worksheet (sight words and/or handwriting).
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? Actually, we live in a pretty great town that is VERY homeschool-oriented. Seamus is in Taekwondo and several of the students there are also homeschooled. There's a homeschooling center in the town (called "Iowa Street School") and they function as both a public school and a homeschooling center. If a student is registered there (and they'd technically be registered as a public school student), they can either go path A, which is 3 days a week of in-class, and the rest is home-education; or path B, which is all home-education (and they help provide the materials). We're thinking of enrolling him in Iowa Street next year and doing path B. It's kind of like getting the best of both worlds. If we don't like it, then he won't be enrolled the following year.
Anything else? Well I guess I can list my reasons for choosing homeschooling here... we are non-religious, so that wasn't our main reason (though we are spiritual, and I do like that I can focus on spiritual aspects more with my children being home than if they were at school all day)... the main reason for our choosing to homeschool is because I don't like the overcrowded public school systems, the politics in public schools, and we live in California (which is one of the lowest rated states when it comes to public education). I also grew up HATING school. I didn't like to be confined in how I learned certain subjects, and when/what I learned. I didn't like that if a certain subject fascinated me, I had to stop studying it at school and move on to something else, even though I wasn't done with the previous subject. I like the freedom of homeschooling... but I also like some structure.
Grade and/or age of your children: Davy 3rd, Isaac 1st, Simon Pre-K, Jubilee some PS, Phillip 1yo
What do you hope to get out of this board? Support and lots of ideas.
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? My oldest is trying SOS this year and loving it. I'd prefer something with less screen time but it helps me help the littles. My 1st grader is using mostly Bob Jones, my Pre-K'er is Weaver Interlock and my DD enjoys following along with the WI.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? Yes, I have to keep lots of paperwork.
Anything else?
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My name is Lena.
Helpmeet to my teacher hubby David since 6/03. Mommy to
Woops! Maybe I should have replied here instead of making a new thread down below!
Name: Krissandra
Grade and/or age of your children: Caleb (just turned 2) and Lucas (a little over six months)
What do you hope to get out of this board? I'm hoping to find some inspiring ideas that I will be able to incorporate into my own children's future curriculum. Also, it's just nice to have support from others who are leading similar lives!
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? Not yet. I'm still very new to this, since my children aren't old enough to really start any structured curriculum yet.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? My mom homeschooled my older brother and sister once they hit high school, and she said the people looking into their education definitely wanted to see that the curriculum was through a homeschooling organization, rather than a homemade curriculum. I'm not sure whether or not that's a LAW, because I still need to read into all that. Regardless, I'll be going through an organization because I need the structure for myself as a guideline.
Grade and/or age of your children:My son is 6 and finishing 1st grade in the public school in less than 2 weeks. My daughter Desiree is in headstart and is 3 1/2. We haven't decided about homeschooling her yet( once she is ready for school) but my husband is leaning towards it since I'm going to start doing it with Bradleigh.
What do you hope to get out of this board? support, ideas, like mothers who i can talk to
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? well we have been deciding on this for months and months now and now that we have finally decided to do it I think we are going to go with A.C.E. to start with. Then we can decide wether to use a curriculum or make up our own or whatnot
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? I only have to notify the school in writing that I am homeschooling, MI is pretty lax apparently
Anything else? I'm just so excited about this adventure. I know it's going to be hard and it's going to take time to adjust but I really think it's the best thing for Bradleigh at this point. The school really has tried their best with him and to accomodate his autistic behavior and needs but it's just not working for him. And i think in the long run it can really help me also and bring us closer together
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I talk so much they gave me an award!!!
(daisy0408 thank you for making)
Thank you Niamh for my awesome blinkies!! And Vicki... for my fantastic siggy
I just found and joined this site today. Who doesn't need another site to check in on? LOL
Name: Lyn
Grade and/or age of your children: oldest son is 9.5, finishing up 3rd grade; middle son is 6.5 and finishing 1st grade; youngest son is 4.5, we do pre-k type stuff on demand, maybe K in the fall; my girls are 2yo and 7.5 mo
It's busy around here!
What do you hope to get out of this board? meet new ppl, support, advice
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? we are very eclectic, a little of this, a little of that, some workbook/textbook material, some internet based
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? oh yeah, we are in one of the more stringent states (PA), and our school district is forever requesting things not required by law
I guess I should introduce myself- since I've been lurking for a couple of years on this board! I wasn't planning on starting homeschooling until January for DD but we joined a local homeschool group (just restarting) and all the kids have told her how much fun school is and she wants to start now!
Name: Marjorie
Grade and/or age of your children: Allison is 2.5 and will be starting pre-k in August and JR is 2 months.
What do you hope to get out of this board? Friendship, support, and feedback.
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? For Pre-K I'm just putting together a curriculum from free resources around the internet. But I plan on using LLATL and Horizons Math when we start K-1.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? Nope- got to love Arizona!
Anything else? I'm a former public school elementary/middle school teacher. After seeing the local classrooms from both sides of the desk, I decided that my children would never be in a public school classroom!
Grade and/or age of your children: Big(8)-Gr3. Middle(6)-Gr.1. Little(almost5)-SK
What do you hope to get out of this board? just love chatting with other homeschoolers!
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? Completely eclectic randomness.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? Nope. Ontario has no homeschool involvement at all.
Anything else? We live in Canada. We've always homeschooled. And I often feel like I'm a super lazy mom. Wondering lately if we should be running our school "year" from March - Dec to follow DH's work schedule. Going to have to think of that more!
Nice to meet you all!
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Mom to BigKid(2004), Middle (2006), & Little (2007) Expecting Jr. - April 2013
Grade and/or age of your children: 4th (Private School), 6th (Homeschool)
What do you hope to get out of this board? Information
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? I've used Seton Home study for 3 years, but I put together my own curriculum this year.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? We have to file an Intent form in August and turn in a standardized test at the end of the school year.
Anything else? I plan to homeschool both of my kids again in the 2013/2014 school year.
Hi everyone, I am not only new to this discussion but brand new to this forum as well.
Name: My name is Amanda, but I prefer to go by Antares here, no one else ever has Antares for a name, lol.
Grade and/or age of your children: My children all have birthday's coming up in the next few weeks, so I will give you their "almost" ages. My daughter is 11 and going into 6th grade. My middle child is a son, he will be 8 on Saturday and is going into 3rd grade. My youngest son is turning 6 and is going into 1st grade.
What do you hope to get out of this board? Support, ideas, inspiration!
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? We are secular homeschoolers so much of the available curriculum is not something we use. We are also low-income, so everything we use has to be super-affordable. For these reasons we use Spectrum workbooks (until high school when we will use Connections Academy) for the bulk of our work and fill in the blanks with other things we find here and there including online resources, computer games, youtube, television, real life hands-on learning and more. Our style is a mix of traditional and unschooling which sounds weird but works for us. I used to think unschooling was an excuse to be lazy, but now I see that it is a valid method and words wonderfully (for us) when combined with more traditional methods. Sometimes we may go a week or more without cracking a book, other times we may whip out tons of worksheets in a day...it just depends on our mood. My children are happy, healthy, and learning and that is all I ask for.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? The state of Nevada is pretty relaxed on regulations. Here the mandatory school age is 7-17, so all I have to do is file an "Intent to Homeschool" form with our local school district by the time each of my children turns 7. Its a single page, takes about 30 seconds to complete. In addition I have to include an education plan with it, but that can be as simple as one sentence describing what curriculum we will use. Other than that we are supposed to have 180 days of school, but no records or transcripts are required and no one checks in to it so its more of an honor system thing.
Anything else? Well, we started homeschooling 3 years ago so my oldest went to public school until grade 3 and my middle son did 2 weeks of grade K before I pulled him out. We live in a very rural area and just going to a doctors appointment is an all day event, so it made sense to homeschool my other two children rather than try to rush back home to meet the bus or whatever. We are secular and belong to a local Liberal Homeschoolers group more for their inviting attitude than for any political reasons. The group actually is trying to change its name to reflect that since we have members from all walks of life, religious and non. Its just a very welcoming group.
Hi, I am kind of new, it's been years since I've been to the boards.
I am looking forward to getting to know everyone.
Name: Emily
Grade and/or age of your children: my son is 3 and a half and my daughter is 5 and a half. I don't really fuss too much about 'grades'.
What do you hope to get out of this board? Support, encouragement, ideas, friends!
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? I'm very interested in Charlotte Mason approach and also Montessori. I consider our lifestyle very similar to that of 'unschoolers' at the moment. I know that word scares a lot of people, even those who home-school. There is structure to our days but our curriculum and lessons are relaxed and take place throughout the day in a more natural way. I leave room for spontaneous learning or lessons. I am happy to abandon the days lesson if they kids wake up suddenly fascinated and passionate about a different subject entirely. I am not stuck on one style or approach I assume things will change as my children grow and change naturally.
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? I think our state requires we mail in paperwork that says we intend to home-school but it's not required until the child reaches 7 years of age.
Anything else?
We have started year round schooling because it simply fits our lifestyle right now and we have been loving it!
I grew up being home-schooled and was the only child out of 5 that remained schooled at home all the way through high-school and I LOVED it.
I am now very thankful to have the freedom to home-school my own children and am very blessed to have a supportive family and husband.
I've done this before but I've been gone so long, I'll do it again..
Name: Rochelle
Grade and/or age of your children: 4th(DD1), Kindergarten (DS), 2 y/o today (DD2)
What do you hope to get out of this board? Focus and comradery.
Do you have a style or curriculum you prefer? I do like Spectrum but I don't think it's aimed as much at HS'ers as it is for Public school. But it is up the National standards at least. But we're eclectic and we use a lot of freebies (old textbooks).
Does your local government regulate homeschooling in any way? Yearly Evaluation by accredited teacher and 3 yrs of records in case of audit. This county is not known to audit which suits me fine.
Anything else? This is my third yr of HSing and I'm still working out the kinks. My toddler is a factor I'm trying to figure out as well.
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DD1 (10) - DS (5) - DD2 (2) - DS2 or DD3 (6 weeks or less)
Thanks for the cute siggy, Jaidynsmum
I'm always concerned about internet safety so I'm a bit cautious about giving out names right now. 
so I figured I'd catch up ....
Thank you Niamh for my awesome blinkies!! And Vicki... for my fantastic siggy
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