It�s looking more and more like I�ll be quitting my job and homeschooling DS7 and DS9 next year.

We asked for what we thought were some pretty reasonable assurances about next year from DC�s current private school, and they declined to provide them, so we�ve elected to be �possibly returning� for next year pending acceptable info.

Frankly, I'm vascillating between excited and terrified at the thought of homeschooling, and have about a zillion questions. I plan to check out local homeschooling requirements and homeschool groups. I recall some advice here about either getting one of the �What every Xth grader needs to know� books, or else a list from our county of the public school curriculum for each grade to ensure we don�t fall behind in anything. And another thing that sticks out was to try to avoid spending a bundle on any curriculum when you get started, because you won�t know yet what will/won�t work for DC. I've also bookmarked the curriculum review website that Grinity recently posted.

Does anyone who's BTDT have any advice that they wish they�d known when they started homeschooling, or that has been helpful to them?

Also, I couldn�t find an �Ultimate Curriculum thread� or "Ultimate Homeschool Thread" (for resources/curriculum/ideas) when I searched this forum. If I started one, would anyone would be willing to participate in it? Or if there is something similar that I missed, could someone post a link here?

Can't wait to feel a little more in control about all this.

I would go to your library and see if they have The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. It's a neo-classical method which may or may not strike your fancy but you'd either rule it out or in. If you rule it in, it's a good roadmap. You then decide where you want your focus to be and trim and expand where it suits you and your kids.

You can also check out Charlotte mason materials, there are many websites.

I think Rebecca Rupp has a Homeschooling the gifted Child book??????

I concur on not buying a lot of things. I would go to Singapore Math.com or Saxonmath.com (not sure if that's the correct url) or mathmammoth.com and download a placement test for whatever grade level you think they are at and give to your kids to get an idea of where they are in math and if they have any holes which can be quickly filled.

Then if you like history, I'd think about how you'd like to do history....interest led? Topic led? Chronologically? Then ask for advice about books and just get some good non-fiction history books. I'd do the same with science....although most do science at this age via interest. Ask them what they want to learn about. Human Body? Go to the library and start looking what they offer.

I'm HSing a 10yr (almost 11) old DS and a 7yr old (almost 8) DS along w/ a 4yr DD so I kids are close in age.

Ask any questions you may have!
Dazey

I second the Well-Trained Mind book and Singapore Math. There is a forum for homeschoolers who follow classical curriculum:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/index.php
You can get good advice from parents who have been there and done that

Also, check out the Veritas Press website: http://www.veritaspress.com/
They provide Christian classical curriculum. Even if you don't want to follow the religious parts (Biblical based science or religion), you can get good information on curriculum for other subjects (literature, grammar, etc).

We don't homeschool, but we have used Bauer's book and Veritas Press website to have a better idea on supplementing our kids. We are also using Singapore Math at home.

This can be a great resource to see comments and feedback on many, many different curriculum. I don't consider us classical homeschoolers by any stretch, but I do consult the search function on that board regularly. Many people there are eclectic in style.

Discussions quickly can get heated there, so don't take anything personally!

I'm homeschooling a 6 and a 10 year old right now. This is our 3rd year. It's ever evolving, but it's been a great fit for both our kids.

It not quite an "ultimate" thread, butthere are good resources listed here.

The Well-Trained Mind is a must have. Just buy it. You won't regret it. It's valuable for the reading lists alone. Also, please come over to the Welltrained mind boards.

I'm not homeschooling now, but I have in the past and feel it might really be the best option for us.

May I ask where you are located? I am in southern RI and now on the lookout for compatriots.

Oooh! Mamma, you gonna have your hands full. How exciting!

We're not homeschooling but we're very much enjoying Kahn Academy

I would love to have "The Ultimate Home School Thread"!

As you are thinking of getting started:

I found Creative Home Schooling by Lisa Rivero (http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Home...mp;s=books&qid=1302386243&sr=8-1) to be the most useful book for me when I started home schooling. It methodically walks you through the choices you need to make, provides clear information, and has quotes from kids who have been home schooled. People have some many specific suggestions, and that is great and I use a lot of the resources folks have mentioned here (Khan Academy, Well-Trained Mind, Singapore Math). But this book helped me get started so I had a priorities and more confidence.

Also, there can be great local or state homeschooling groups--they can help you understand your state's law, contacts with local groups, provide support for you, etc.

Good luck and best wishes!

I want an ultimate Home school thread too!

I would definitely second the recommendation of Creative Home Schooling by Lisa Rivero. I found the review of the pros and cons of all the different home school methods really useful. I also found the general chapters about home education, and giftedness useful.

I really want to like the classical method, I really do, but I just can't!

Anyway, what I found the most useful when I was starting out was just to talk to as many home educators as possible about what they were doing and why and how, and it all just seemed so normal, that it stopped seeming so scary. BUT, just as a warning, some home school groups are a bit anti-gifted, so I would use the g word with caution.

I have found that there were lots of advantages to home education that were not apparent at the beginning. You may find you like it more than you thought!

Forgot to mention A-Z Home's Cool, which has tons of articles and links to get you started, and Hoagie's Gifted which has great information on giftedness, including homeschooling gifted students.

I definitely recommend The Well Trained Mind and its forums.
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/stor...nd-updated-10th-anniversary-edition.html
1. I would consider copywork, narration, and dictation. Writing With Ease by Susan Wise Bauer is a good resource for this. I would also use these methods with science and history as well by keeping notebooks and doing the above with science and history as well.

2. I would do a meaty grammar program such as First Langauge Lessons by SWB. I also like Voyages in English by Loyala Press, Rod and Staff English, and K12 Langauge Arts Program.

3. I would do history with Story of the World by SWB with the activity guides with an emphasis on narration, dictation, copywork, and summaries as well as mapping. I would supplement with KIngfisher and Usbourne World History books and some living history novels/books. K12 history is also good.
http://www.k12.com/courses/


3. I would do science with Kingfisher Science of DK Visual Science and notebooking. I also like Joy Hakim Story of Science series as well as K12 science and Singapore Science.

4. For math I would consider Singapore US Standards edition with supplements and guides as well as Math Mammoth.

https://www.singaporemath.com/Homeschool_s/60.htm

5. For spelling I would consider Megawords or Webster's Elementary Spelling 1908 edition with a whiteboard. I have also heard good things about Sequential Spelling. K12 has a good spelling program incorporated with its Language Arts.
http://www.rainbowresource.com/searchspring.php?sid=1302481756-1519252&q=megaword

6. For art, I would consider K12 art or one of many good art history books for kids. The National Gallery of Art has free videos for loan for just the expense of return mail.

7. For foreign language I would consider K12 powerspeak for immersion style learning. I would look at Memoria Press Prima Latina or Latina Christian or Classical Academic Press Latin for Children. There is also Elementary Spanish on Discovery Education United Streaming.
http://www.memoriapress.com/
http://www.classicalacademicpress.com/

8. For handwriting I would consider Pentime Cursive or any other good cursive program.
http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Pentime+Cursive+Grade+3/031227/1270669447-1022949

I didn't read all, so forgive me if someone suggested this already. What about an Eschool? In Novemeber we decided that K wasn't working for our ds in the public school. I had never given homeschooling a thought until we realized how miserable he was and what a poor fit the ps was for him. We enrolled him in an online charter school and he was immediately moved to 1st grade,where he has since just about finished the entire 1st grade year in just 5months and is able to work the rest of the year on whatever his heart desires. It's great b/c and all the materials and curriculum are provided at no cost and he's able to work at his own pace. They offer plenty of enrichment opporturnities as well.
good luck.

Classicsmom really outlined and entire curriculum for you there Mamma22Gs!

Anyway, I highly recommend ALEKS math. It is an excellent online math curriculum, grades 3 to college, with upper level science courses. They have a one month free trial which you can use to see if you like it. First, the child is given an assessment test, and then they have a 'pie' the pie will contain topics the student needs to learn, and the student can choose which topics he/she wants to work with. Only one question is presented at a time, which works great for kids who get overwhelmed with too much material at once, or get distracted. ALEKS does teach every topic, but if your kids don't get the material, they can supplement with Khan Academy or Hotmath.com

We also use THINKWELL, it is the math program that is used by John Hopkins CTY, but we buy directly from the company. This has a series of video lessons taught by Edward Burger, who's excellent, silly and funny (my kids love him). Thinkwell is grades 6 to college. Two week free trial there, for as many subjects/grades as you'd like.

Finally, Hotmath.com is a goldmine of math lessons (videos) they have a video membership for $29 per year.

Another incredibly great resource is BrainPop. Educational cartoon videos for grades 3-12, or brainpop jr. for grades k-4. Some videos are free, and they have a one week free trial.

I recommend that you take a few weeks in the summer to speed test various curriculum choices to see what works for you, and hopefully have settled when the school year starts. Try as much as you can get with free trials and library books, otherwise you may end up with dozens of different textbooks and workbooks that you won't be able to use (I don't have a linen closet-its full of the 'perfect' book, curriculum, workbook, which my kids have hated with a passion, or was too easy, or is still to hard, lol).

Wish you the best of luck! I've been homeschooling for four years, and with the exception of a few rough patches, wouldn't trade it for the world.

Hoagies and A to Z, definitely.

When we homeschooled, we did not do any traditional boxed curricula. I wrote my own language arts work, based on my experiences as a writer, my frustrations and points of pride with the kids' abilities thus far, and a consultation with a family member who teaches incoming freshmen at Large Land-Grant University. We learned marine biology (because we live near the Gulf) and a lot of environmental science (because they wanted to), a little basic chemistry, and would have started biology this year had they not gone back to school. American history got incorportated into genealogy, or maybe it was the other way around. And they attended a co-op, where they learned how to play frisbee golf, make claymation movies, Norse mythology, and a lot of other artsy and not entirely academic stuff. Occasionally, we veered into unschooling, apparently more than I recognized at the time. And one of the kids did do online math, because he wanted to go faster and further than I was prepared to do with his sister.
The point being that homeschooling at its best is when you make it suit your family and your needs. So yes, investigate everything that's out there, but don't get sucked into buying any one comprehensive curriculum because it's highly recommended. And if something doesn't work for you, don't feel obliged to continue on because you've started with it. Haunt your local educational supply shop. Have frequent school meetings, Talk to the kids about what's working and what isn't. My best advice is to give them a little of the power to decide what you do, and when (though not Ultimate Power Over Everything), because they get much more invested in what they're doing if they're helping to steer the course. Talk to them about what they want to be when they grow up, and let them investigate the steps in getting there. And if it's an option, you can also check out what the local public and private schools offer homeschoolers (in our case, and at varying times, music and gifted programs).
Oh yeah: and my favorite homeschooling motto:
"Give a child a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a child to fish and he'll eat forever. Teach a child to think and he won't have to eat fish."

Oh I love that!

Quote of the week!

I do think I will be homeschooling one or both of my kids next year. The oldest will be a sixth grader. My plan is to have him do virtual school for Math, Science and Spanish. Those classes are free through the state. Also under consideration is another virtual school class called World Cultures but it is basically World History starting from the Ancient Period. I think he would enjoy it because he is Greek Mythology obsessed.

For Reading and Language Arts I thought the two of us could design our own curriculum with reading mythology the first half the year in prep for the National Mythology Exam and then novels typical for middle school students and novels of his own choice. I am a firm believer in just giving a kid time to read, holding a book discussion, letting him keep a reading response journal (to document the reading but nothing huge) and moving on to the next book.

And language arts mainly giving him time and space to write, teaching him to keep a writers notebook, write every day, and since he loves to write giving him the ability to without pressure (I have some ideas on what we would do and resources from children's authors who have written how to write books for kids) and maybe a vocabulary program that covers greek and latin roots (kinda keeping with the theme) that he could work on off and on throughout the year.

My youngest (will be in first grade) we are still waiting to hear if he got into the Spanish Immersion Program. If he doesn't get picked in the lottery then we will approach the school for subject acceleration...if they won't then it is just easier to homeschool him and do 4th grade reading with him and accelerate the rate of his math. The rest of his schooling I would probably let him help me design. Maybe Story of the World with him because his older brother would be studying the same time period.

Haha~~
Beestar is also a great choice for homeschool. We have been using it. The exercises are full of all real life world problems, challenging stuff to help kids thinking. Plus, the math program is free all year long.
Lisa

I am starting to gather info on home schooling for us - as a just in case. Honestly, although DS(4) is in a gifted pre school we are just not 100% convinced that it's going to always be a good fit. Right now we are about 90% sure that he is not encouraged to work at his own personal ability level and I am in a mental mess about everything right now. He starts back on Wednesday this week after a month's break and I am waiting to see what will happen. He and I had a great chat about him telling the teacher what he wants to do and work on, so we will see how that goes.

There is also the financial aspect. Next year we will have two kids in the school, and then a third to join them a few years later. Right now I am doing more teaching at home after school in the afternoons anyways so the only difference would be that I would be saving a whole boatload of cash if I did it at home - and this would free up cash for trips, outings, extra murals etc.

So yes please I'd love the Ultimate thread - all online resources can be used here too and I can share the ones I have found locally as well