Kindergarten Disaster

I am not anti homeschooling, however if you are planning on putting into public school in Elementary then I say put him in public for Kindergarten. Kindergarten is a great place to start. It gives them very positive social skills, learning to listen to another adult and is a great foundation for them later in school. If you are going to home school him for good then that is another matter. I just firmly believe that going from doing it to not doing it is huge adjustment for them and I think Kindergarten is such a great way for kids to learn about peers, playing with others and need that time away from mom. Just my two cents.

I am a mother who have homeschooled for 7 years. My oldest from Kindergarten until 6th grade and my youngest from Kindergarten until 1st grade. This year we have been trying the kids in a charter school and with both good and bad experiences (not enough of good), we have decided to go back to homeschooling, but like you through a Virtual Online School. Previously I used the A Beka curriculum and really enjoyed that with exception for the Math. My children prefer Saxon Math. With you getting into the homeschooling in the middle of the school year I suggest using curriculum books that you can find at Barnes&Nobel, Mardel and some other bookstores and sometimes a little cheaper at Sam's Club, Costco, even at Wal-Mart. On top of my head I cannot remember the names, but I doubt that you will have a hard time finding them. Many of the manuals have "learning" in the name and most of them has "curriculum" somewhere on the cover. They are broken up in different grades. I have only found them to go up to 6th grade, which is frustrating since middle school finish with 8th grade. Hope this help you. Anyone interested, I do have A Beka books for grades 1-6th (I don't know which ones, but I have most manuals I believe) for a reasonable price if you rather save some money instead of buying new ones direct from A Beka. All manuals are in excellent condition. Good Luck and you know where to find me if you need more info or are interested in the books/manuals.

I am home schooling my daughters and they are in kindergarten and second grade. I am using the online program at a local charter school and with the curriculum that they are using, which is core knowledge, you could get on the core knowledge web site and print out a lot of the information your self for free.

http://coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/index.htm

Hope this helps. :)

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I have never known a well rounded and socially adapted homeschooled person. And I'm referring to the children who are homeschooled for their entire grade school experience. I'm not sure why you want to homeschool, but if you do it for a long period of time, I highly recommend enrolling your son in some other social environment. I'm not totally against home schooling if it's done consistently and with careful attention to social an psychological development, but I haven't met very many people who can do that. Even the best, most educated and consistent moms that homeschool their children (and I have met MANY) can run into problems with their children's social development. So, as far as your question, I really don't have any suggestions for you. I just wanted you to hear the opposite side of the home school opinion. You probably have already heard both sides and have thought it through yourself. So if my comment comes as an imposition, I apologize. Good luck finding what you want for your son.

I am not sure what they offer as far as timing of thier school year but the Calvert school is an excellent choice. My parents used this when I was in school and I have personally known other parents who use it as well. Certainly worth looking into.
D. Marie

Hi there, how much research have you done on the online program? Some of them are pretty intense (which is good of course) and that will perhaps help you with next year. I would do a search to find some homeschool groups in your area and talk to some Moms that are already doing it. http://www.home-school.com/groups/ You can click on your area to see what is available and to see if your interested (christian groups/non christian groups) and get in touch with them. There are some great books out there. Of course, there's the Homeschooling for Dummies. You can easily overwhelm your self with the amount of resources out there, that's why I recommend you find a local group and talk to Mom's. : )

Hi,

I am homeschooling two of my children one in 1st and one in 3rd. I am using an online program.

I found for Kindergarten it is important that they begin to read on their own. I am using a book called Teach your child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for my preschooler. I would pick up that book and then find some workbooks for math and other skills. There are a lot of workbooks out there. I'd go for the colorful ones and the ones that say they meet standards. I would also later look at the 1st grade workbooks because those actually may better prepare your child for 1st grade. Pick up some beginning reading books also. The kids like to feel like they are actually reading a book. There are the Bob books and I have used the Now I'm Reading series - Good for sight words, too.

I hope this helps.

J.

My supervisor's wife home schools and she gave me some information to pass along to you:

Excellent book about curriculum choices and ways of teaching:

http://www.amazon.com/100-Top-Picks-Homeschool-Curriculum...

Curriculum Reviews:

http://cathyduffyreviews.com/

http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/default.aspx

Excellent curriculum and forum for lots of good information:

http://www.fiarhq.com/

Good curriculum and a guide for what should be taught:

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Rod_and_Staff_Curric...

http://www.bjupress.com/nav/category/Textbooks+&+Supp...

http://ebiz.netopia.com/clpress/

A good source for legal information and other studies, etc.

http://www.hslda.org/

A source for Idaho specifically

http://www.chois.org/

http://www.iche-idaho.org/

I hope this helps. Good Luck!

E.,

Did you know that you can home school without being online? Go to your local school district and ask them what resources they can provide you to do this. Stick to your guns. Don't let them try to tell you that you are not capable. Make it fun do great outings like go to the local museum or to a gym, check out the community calendars and find out what you can do in the area. Maybe check out the charter schools in your area to see another alternative.

T.

You can order curriculum to complete on your own through Oak Meadow School, I believe the website is oakmeadow.com. They're solid, self-directed and Waldorf based.

There are so many choices out there and you don't have to wait you can start now. Kindergarten is fun and easy! You could actually do most of the teaching with Library books.

But if you want more structure just go online and do a search for "Kindergarten Curriculum" You can also go to Mardels books store there is one in littleton and they have a great selection of books/curriculum to choose from.

Hope that helps- there are also alot of homeschool communities that you can connect with too.

Here are a few I am apart of:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Christian_Homeschoolers/
http://faithhsg.org/

Email for another: ____@____.com Her name is robin - I havn't actually met with this one yet but will be on Friday.

You can go onto yahoo and find others too!

Hope that helps!

Hi E.. I homeschool my 2nd grade son (since kindergarten) and have taught my preschooler to read (at a 2nd -3rd grade level) and give most of the credit to a wonderful book available at Borders or Barnes called "how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" . It takes about 20 minutes a day. It also covers writing all their letters. If you add making sure he knows his numbers 1-100 and teaching him the pledge to the flag, you don't need to pay for a program and he'll be ahead of any kindergarten "graduating" class I've ever come across. Good luck.

Ask the school district for a copy of the kindergarten "report card" because this will list all the skills he needs to have if you choose to put him in first grade next year. It's important that he is up-to-date with peers in your area. Maybe you can find some fun learning books at Barnes and Noble or the grocery store. Good luck!

I'm biased, but, unless you are trained as an educator, I don't think you should homeschool. I'm a mother of 2 and a public school teacher with a Masters degree. Typically, the children I see who are homeschooled and who re-enter the public education system are behind their peers both socially and academically. Of course, there are exceptions. And I'm not saying the public education system isn't without its problems. I think a balance is good. Kids should attend public school and then parents should offer enrichment at home. Also, be involved in your child's school. I'm interested to see what other advice you are given.

My name is H., When my little brother turned 5 in the summer time my mom held him back from doing Kindergarten and it has done him a world of good. We have found him to be more mature and scalastically mature. If your son is only 5 it will not hurt him to be held back until he is 6. It will do him a world of good.

Idaho Virtual Academy is a very rigorous program. If you are a busy person it may not be for you anyway. They expect that you will spend a lot of time and stay on track online and offline with the social programs that they offer. They have the advantage of having tutors and special education but not flexibility. Idaho Distance Education Academy is a lot more flexible, offer special education testing and support and gives all of the timelines but allow you to choose from your own curriculum from an approved list. We used this program for 2 years until we got into another charter school. I didn't find them as supportive as I wanted but the reimbursement program provided us with the finances to be involved in classical arts that we couldn't afford on our own. I think before you start homeschooling, check out what the Idaho Standards are, they are available online, think carefully about why you are unhappy with public school and be realistic with what your schedule will support. If you really don't have time it might be better to look for a scholarship for private school, get tutoring after public school or homeschooling might be a good fit. Not all curriculum is right for your family, so read some books and find out what your educational fit is. I love "The well-trained mind" by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer.

We use Bob Jones. http://www.bjupress.com/distance_learning/homeschool.html

I use the videos. The only deciding factor for us between A Beka and Bab Jones was the hard drive. I love it! Math is the main complaint either way. We're using it for now, but will probably switch to Saxon in by 2nd or 3rd grade. Right now we just need simplicity, thus the videos. The curriculum is intense. It would be hard to finish by next school year, although many days our son does two of each subject since he loves it so much. When we're all done, we'll have done school in about 6-7 months. GL It's a lot of fun, but a lot of work even with the videos.