My hubby and I have decided that our son is definately going to be homeschooled next year when he's in first grade, and we'd like to pull him out of school in a few weeks, if things there improve. They seem to be going well, but it's only been one day so I'm not sure. If it seems to get worse, I'll pull him out before. By improving I mean just not being as bad at it has, it doesn't mean things are actually good at all. Unfortunately, I'm not finding information about what I need to do to take him out. Do I just take the Notice of Intent and a copy of my diploma and that's it? Or is there something special required because it's mid-year? I wrote to the superintendent, but haven't gotten a response, and I want to make sure I have everything ready, because there's some stuff I just blantantly disagree with (like the teacher telling all the kids that whenever someone is mean to you/hits you/etc, you just do it back so they know how it feels), and then the lack of communication about my son, and ALL the bullying. It's all been ridiculous and we're just not doing it anymore. It has been so horrible for our son and we only sent him to school b/c we were told this particular one was so great anyways, and it's in the county I went to school in. Initially I planned to homeschool anyways. Now we know we definately should have. Can anyone help?
Got to hslda.org and look up VA.
I sent my letter of intent to the school with my high school transcripts. In fact I sent the letter to the middle school for both my middle schooler and my elementary schooler.
First, get in touch with your local & state homeschooling groups to find out what is necessary. If you are in VA join the VaHomeschoolers yahoo!grroup for the best information on requirements to homeschool in VA. The yahoo!group has lots of good solid information in the files section about filing your Notice of Intent, proving progress, and dealing with school systems that don't follow the laws regarding homeschooling. The biggest regret I have about homeschooling is that I did not pull my child out of school before the end of the year, but made her finish out the year.
Yes, to looking up the laws at HSLDA. Also, try to find out if there is a homeschool group near you. These are moms who have been homeschooling and can help you figure out all that needs to be done in your area.
My favorite homeschooling message board is at The Well Trained Mind. com. I can't get my links to work right now. Sorry. Go to forums and prepare to find out everything and anything you want to know about homeschooling from a wide range of moms. :)
As far as the homeschooling I pulled my kids out a few weeks before school was over because none of us could handle the stress anymore. I tried to jump in and do everything the very next week and we hit burnout quickly.
My suggestion is to deschool him for the rest of the school year and start fresh in the fall. Deschooling is basically reading, playing outside (nature study), playing, crafts, just hanging out together. When you start in the fall you will both be excited and relaxed. He's still young enough that he won't fall behind if you do that.
I love homeschooling. I hated trying to put up with teachers who did not really have my child's best interest at heart. Not the teacher's fault really, they have over 30 students in a classroom.
Good luck!!
First off girl I want to say GOOD FOR YOU!! I think homescholling is a great thing to do. I have looked into it my self after having a VERY heard year this year (my son in is the 2nd gread). I know different states have different laws...I would google your state laws on homeschooling. Some times different homeschooling groups in your state will pop up and they might be able to help you. Or maybe you could take a little trip down to the cort house and start asking around...Someone there might be able to point you in the right direction. I fear thats all the thoughts I can come up with. Sorry I wasnt more of a help dear, just some of the places I started at when I was looking into it. Hang in there sweetheart!
Blessing
The HARDEST thing about starting midyear is 'deschooling' which is really, really important.
For the legal schtuff go to these websites:
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/extras/Search.htm?cx=...
http://www.hslda.org/laws/analysis/Virginia.pdf
For 'on the ground' support for HS'ing ... check out yahoo groups. If you're secular check out this one, which is super active and very supportive
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/secular_homeschoolers/
if not, (and to find local fieldtrip groups, nationwide special interest HS'ing) just search groups like VA Homeschool, or Montessori Homeschool. The groups are mostly moderated, so there's typically a 24hr delay between when you click join group and fill out the little "i am not a spammer beacause I have to type this junk in the forms"... but they are a PHENOM resource. My absolute fav homeschool resource period. Like mamapedia, but better, because there are conversations and one can search archives very easily.
In the Secular group I linked there are quite a few VA people, but there are thousands of HS'ers on these boards. It's very easy to find active ones with great people.
i pulled mine out in the middle of 5th grade. i just filed the notice of intent with board of ed, gave a copy to the school, and told 'em he wouldn't be back.
khairete
S.
I dont' have an answer for you but I was hoping somebody has reponded to your questions because I am in the same boat. My son has been bullied for the last two years and it has gotten worse. So I refuse to keep my son in the public school system in Denton because the teachers turn a blind eye and do not seem willing to stand up. He has become depressed and I am going to withdraw him ASAP but I need to get him enrolled in home school but I am not sure how to get started. I want to commend you as a parent for protecting your child and not putting up with the school and believe me it only gets worse in middle school and then high school. Good for you!
i dont know anything about home schooling, but i do know that if you want to stop bullying in its tracks and the teacher refuses to do anything, you say "multi million dollar lawsuit" and they will suddenly decide to do something about it.as for homeschooling, i would check the homeschooling websites to make sure you have everything in order before you pull the child out of school, because the superintendent may decide to call social services to make sure you have met all the requirements for homeschooling, especially if you have locked horns with him before you pull your child out of public school.
K. h.
I pulled my son out of a private school a few years ago due to bullying and nothing being done about it for the last three months of the school year. I had my kids in public last year and am now homeschooling them via a correspondence school (A Beka Academy). The public school was supposed to be "one of the best ones in the county",etc. but he encountered bullying, and my daughter was put into a horrible class. I also did not want to play all the "political games" (volunteering for every event with the PTO) to try to get my kid into the "good class"
I don't know the laws for you part of VA but you will need to file a notice of intent to homeschool form to the county/city you reside in and also check with them about standardized testing. I don't know if your child was tested yet but if not and you plan on homeschooling next year you may need to do so. If you join a homeschool group you can get links to tests that you can order. You will probably not need to test if your child is going into a school next year or if you use a correspondence program (I still need to check just to make sure my don't need to test). Use this time left to get your child into a home school routine so that things will be easier in the fall when you start the new school year.
Good Luck!
Well, unfortunately I am not in your state so I can't say specifically what you need to do. When we were in Washington State, I just called the school right before Christmas break and let them know that my daughter would not be returning because we decided to homeschool her. There is also a letter of intent that we had to send before the schoolyear started in the fall.
Every state is different, so when we moved to California, I had to do research all over again. I would definitely recommend finding a homeschool group in your area; it helps to ask advice from families in your area on what you should do (and it might be likely that many of them have had your same experience). There also might be an e-mail group or message forum somewhere on the Internet specifically for homeschooling families where the members could give you more specific advice for your state. For us, it was nice to connect with other homeschoolers in the area, not only for advice but also to find other homeschoolers for my kids to play with. Good luck!
