new to homeschooling

[Unregistered]

my daughter and I are interest in homeschooling, I've never done homeschooling before a little lost in the process I've lots of question. do I need to register for homeschooling how? Are they still accepting new student when school already started? Can i homeschool my daughter currently in the 9th grade?

[katshu2]

Hi there! Here are the Massachusetts homeschool laws. They can explain in more detail about what you have to do. You can also contact your local school board and ask them exactly what they expect of you.

Time4Learning has some excellent high school courses. My 10th grader loves them! You can also check out the site Let's Homeschool High School...they have parent and student forums (so you can talk to other high schoolers), informative articles, and more.

Good luck!

[melanie N]

I am also new to home schooling and am pulling my 6th grader out of public school this week. He is moderately to severely dyslexic and the school has had him on an IEP since 2nd grade (which we held him back a year), and he is reading at a 3rd grade level right now. Over the summer I got my initial certification in the Wilson Reading Program and began tutoring him. He LOVED it! He has begged my husband and I, everyday since Sept. 3rd to home school him....and for his own sanity, and ours, we finally are doing it! He used to be such a happy, gregarious, silly little boy....and over the past year he has become a sullen, depressed, and withdrawn pre-pubescent one! The last straw was when the school told me that he needs psychiatric counseling to discuss his anxiety about going to school! How about using the 45 minutes of counseling time to teach him how to read, and then maybe he won't be so anxious during class to begin with???!!!! I am an ICU RN that works 3 nights a week, my husband works 4 day shifts a week as a police officer, and we have 4 children (3 of whom have dyslexia and are on IEP's). There is NO WAY I am medicating my son, so he can try to feel better about the real anxiety he feels when he is called upon to read something that he can not!!! (END OF RANT)
Sooooo.....my question to everyone and or anyone.....since I will be using the WRS, do I just supplement some of the LA and LA ext that is on time4learning? I am really confused about how much freedom I have with the curriculum without feeling like I am short changing his education?! Is anyone else in a similar situation? I know i can go down to 4th grade level in the LA and LA ext curriculum, but do I? The goal is to get Jacob to the point where he can get into the local vocational school in 9th grade to study mechanical engineering (which he is amazing at!!!!) I don't know many 12 yr olds that could rebuild an engine?! I will take anyone's advice, non-advice, co-advice, etc..... I will be using saxon math and plan on really breezing through most of that since he is mathmatically gifted (thank God dad is teaching that one!!!) Please help!

[katshu2]

Hello and welcome! The great thing about Time4Learning, is that there is really no wrong way to use. Many people use it as a core, or complete program. Many others just use to supplement. However works best with you and your kiddo(s).

I would say that using T4L in tandem with WRS would be wonderful for your son. Let him do the 4th grade language arts for a little while. If you see that he's breezing through, bump him up to 5th. Make sure he understands there is NO pressure or time frame for him to get to his current grade level. Once he starts building confidence in himself, you may be surprised at how quickly he picks up from that point on.

Good luck, and always feel free to ask any questions or share advice. Please check back in and keep us posted as to how things are going for you guys.

[DrSuzi]

Melanie, so glad you have the courage to remove your son from public school and try homeschooling. It was the best decision I made for my children. I don't generally give unsolicited advice unless I'm working directly with a parent & child, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt: your son has been thru a lot of stuff at school. It may be a good idea to let him decompress and "de-school" for awhile before jumping into anything else or even homeschooling right away. It would be similar to a adult changing jobs...having time to get settled and in the mindset is easier than ending job #1 on Friday and starting job #2 the following Monday...just a thought.

I understand that you are a Nurse & have much medical knowledge. Plus, I know nothing of your son or his thoughts/feelings. Could it be possible that he has been feeling great stress and/or anxiety? I'm all too aware of schools "diagnosing" & recommending "meds" for students. I disagree with this form of "help" from all schools. Has the school given you any observational, factual data of your son displaying anxiety?

If you choose to homeschool, know that you do not have to explain your choices to anyone. You know what is best for your son! I highly recommend joining HSLDA if you homeschool. They are a legal entity for homeschooling families.

Best!

[Unregistered]

There are two public homeschooling options in Massachusetts. Tecca and K12. K12 is full but Tecca is still accepting students. I am currently using Tecca to homeschool my 9th grader. It is completely free.

[Unregistered]

I am wondering how things are turning out for you Melanie. I am considering home schooling for the exact reasons above . I have 4 kids and the two oldest have had IEPs for Years and they still show minimal progress. They are pressuring me at school to get them diagnosed as having ADHD and "possibly needing medication" . Both these children can remember my exact words from six months ago in a casual conversation but are labeled at school as being BAD at reading. They have low confidence and few friends if any. I'm no genius and I hope I'm not being to full of myself but my instincts are telling me that the pressure and environment are the problem. Am I crazy for hopeing that my kids could learn more from home? Is this possible to do if I work part time too? Hope your having good luck. Thanks for any response.

[Mommy monster]

We will be starting home schooling for our 15 year old daughter. We previewed the trigonometry. The lesson looked good. My daughter commented that the presenter talks very fast....can you slow down the speech rate?

[katshu2]

We will be starting home schooling for our 15 year old daughter. We previewed the trigonometry. The lesson looked good. My daughter commented that the presenter talks very fast....can you slow down the speech rate?

Hi there! I don't think that you can slow down their speech, but your daughter should be able to rewind and rewatch any part of the video that she needs.