Homeschool Programs.

This is just an observation. You know your life and child best, but this is what I observed about our child who has always been way above the curve on learning. No judgement, just things to consider.

Some children really are amazing students naturally. They thrive on schedules, stability, Expectations and Companionship. What you may see as busy work, is in kindergarten the training for the rest of your child's school life. Sitting, keeping their hands to themselves, completing their work quietly. Following the class rules, meeting expectations. Getting along with others, and all types of people. Listening to the instructor..Leaning to eat lunch in the lunch room and follow those rules. Taking turns with others. Dealing with others feelings. Helping others. It is kindergarten. That is the main focus.

You are saying right now your child is flourishing in school? Why mess with that? We had children in our daughters kindergarten reading on a 5th grade level at the beginning of the school year and 8th grade by the end,. But who wants a child that is 5, reading at an eighth grade level? Thank goodness they had an amazing librarian and reading specialist to assist with this. But they were still 5 years old emotioally and needed to learn how to be a part of a class.. how to do everything else..

You will be living in Clear Lake? They have one of the best school districts in the Nation.. Why not take advantage of this? For your child? They have great facilities, fun school traditions and events.

One part of public school is that Parent involvement is encouraged, it is a great way to build friendships and a community for your family, especially since your husband will be working so much. This means companionship for you too. Some of my very best friends are the parents, teachers and administration from all of our daughters schools. I was also on the city wide PTA and sat on our districts Bond committee. Again met so many people from around the area.

We also got to know so many people that live in this area.. We go to the grocery store, local restaurants, w are always running into these families.

Just really think about not messing with what is working for your child. You can always do enrichment at home in the evenings, the weekends and the summers with her.

N., there are several different online programs in TX it looks like. Do they all have the same restriction of having to get on line every day?
http://distancelearn.about.com/od/onlinepublicschools/a/T...

Why do an online program? You can easily do your own program with free websites. We don't pay much for our curriculum, there are so many free resources!

Check out the book "What your Kindergartener Needs to Know" and "What your First Grader Needs to Know." You can use those both as resources, and they are inexpensive books.

In the past we used free sites like Starfall etc. to teach reading. There are some great free math sites. I don't know what the laws are in TX, you'll need to know those as well.

Message me if you want a list of all the free sites we use!

I'm in NY where there is no state funded option to public school. Ugh - the teachers unions are so strong here. But we are using Liberty online for my daughter (high school) becuase they do the testing, grading and eventually will issue the diploma. The cost is about $200 - $300 monthly depending on ho wmany classes, etc. It works well for us since I work full time and my child is 16. It is a Christian curriculum but that's fine with us. It does require that you log in to the lessons each day - but you can skip days, move ahead, take a vacation, etc. We lost power for 9 days after superstorm Sandy here in NY and my daughter worked to get caught back up and eventually they just moved back her completion date to July 1st. So they are flexible. But our situation is very different from yours in terms of student age & mom's availability to teach.

Regardless - all the home-schooled kids I know are the nicest kids so I am a big fan. Good luck mama in finding the right one for your child.

Here is a website for the home school legal defense alliance. It is a really helpful resource because it answers lots of questions and gives a page with links to different home school programs based on what the family is looking for.

http://www.hslda.org/

There are quite a few different ways to homeschool. I will be homeschooling next year and I am looking in to Alpha Omega Publications. You can purchase a curriculum or create your own.

http://www.aophomeschooling.com/home

Check your area for a teachers supply store, the store here gave me all kinds of info for homeschooling along with local groups. I can also order what I need through her store. You can also check Yahoo groups. I did a Google search and found a homeschooling website for parents here in Florida, it has links to the state and local counties with all the info I needed.

It is important to find other parents in your area for support and meet ups (play dates, fieldtrips, etc.).