Question posted by: Elise on November 06, 2003

I don't know where to start. What is the best home school program? I just know we have to do something, my son has home work from the time he walks in until 9:00 pm. He is in the 6th grade. What are they doing in school that he has that much homework? Please help. Elise

 

Answer:  Homework until 9pm is too much, imo. What ever happened to family life?

First off, find out the laws of your state so that you make sure you go about it right. You know, number of days a year or hours per day, etc. Also some states require a certified teacher to be over you or require a portfolio review, etc., etc. All states are different and have their own homeschooling laws. Some just require that you send a letter of intent and keep immunization records. It all depends. You can probably find your state homeschooling laws online by using search terms like "your state" and "homeschooling law" (of course) or your library will likely have a copy of the state law books if you want to read the actual law rather than a synopsis. Also, in some states the homeschooling option is available only if you become a private school.

Beware of any company that promises to send you all the forms you need for your state. There are no quick fixes. There is work involved in setting up your homeschool; it isn't a walk in the park. But once you get over the hump, things will settle into a new groove and even out. It is a lifestyle change, though.

You know, if you ask five homeschool parents what the "best" curriculum is and you'll get at least 15 answers. ;-) So, it's more a matter of will the curriculum cover what it should and will it mesh with the way my student learns, the way I teach, and our homeschooling style and schedule?

We haven't used a "complete" curriculum in its entirety (Alpha Omega, BJUP, Calvert, A Beka) in our home, choosing instead to find the best (or what seems to be the best for us) curricula item for each subject.

So, I figure that out each year by writing down all the subjects that should be covered and figure out what our goals are and then buying a product that seems like it will help us attain the goal.

Writing (Lang Arts-LA)
Vocabulary (LA)
Literature (LA)
Grammar/Usage (LA)
Spelling (LA)

Math
Drill

Phys Ed.
Health

History
Government
Geography

Home-Ec
etc.
etc.
whatever else you deem important or your state's laws dictate (some states tell you what subjects must be covered)

Once you know which subjects you're going to cover for the year, then you can go shopping. I think that cbd.com (easy to shop online) sends out catalogs as soon as you ask, but Rainbow Resource catalog doesn't. And it's not easy to shop online with Rainbow Resource. Request the Rainbow Resource catalog now for next year. Timberdoodle also has a good catalog available. These catalogs have a myriad of choices of stand alone curricula items. While buying complete curricula (where one company publishes all subjects: math, language arts, science, etc.) can seem easy, small publishers that specialize (for instance in Language Arts) can have excellent products. Great Source books comes to mind. Wanda Phillips also comes to mind. Educators Publishers Service (of Wordly Wise fame) comes to mind.

You'll find that many catalogs are religious. I can't think of any comprehensive catalogs that are non-religious in nature--these Christian catalogs, though, do carry a lot of non-religious curricula. You didn't mention religion, but if you're wanting non-religious curricula, it is out there. But quite a few catalogs won't make a distinction between Christian and non-religious in their descriptions, though many are switching their format to help make it clear which products are religious and which aren't.

You need to be careful not to overdo it, you know, by requiring too much in one year. Spelling is usually done every year until 8th. Grammar isn't always done in high school.

Some elementary classes will do grammar one semester and then writing the next semester, with literature, vocabulary and spelling all year long. But you'd think that about an hour a day on this subject might be enough or have an extra 1/2 hour of reading in the afternoon/evening that your student completes.

Anyway, if you take one subject at a time and research the available choices, it doesn't seem like a large job. For me it's easier because I get easily upset at busywork for students. Maybe I'm way off, but a lot of the complete curricula publishers seem to have a little trouble with too much busywork at times--especially since they've been written for the classroom where they need to make sure that speedy students have plenty of work to keep them busy and in their seats. I like the choice of being able to cut out work that is unnecessary without feeling like I've wasted my money. Maybe I'm a little delusional ... but I'm happier in the long run.

Let's take Math as a subject to start with in your planning. 6th grade math. Placement will be an issue. Placement into Singapore at 6th grade is difficult because its system of learning math is very different from the US system, so Singapore Math can be crossed off the list of possibilities. Horizons Math only goes to 6th grade and then you have to switch to something else, so you can toss that out also. You'll want a program that at least takes your student past pre-algebra. Religion isn't usually too much of an issue with math unless you just don't want to support a religious company, so we can keep our options open in that respect. It's pretty difficult to put too much religion into a bunch of numbers.

Anyway, you can expect a little trouble with placement. Saxon Math (used by public schools) curriculum is for grades K-12 and has an online placement test. At least you can get close to the right grade level that way.

Or you can just order a 6th grade math book from a publisher that provides math through high school, and if your son happens to be a little behind, then you can do some intensive or light catch-up work to get him up to speed. And then he can continue on in the book. If he's ahead, skip him through the book by just doing the chapter tests until he hits a spot where he starts to miss a lot and then put him a couple of chapters back and have him start there. Believe me, you'll be thankful he's a little ahead when it comes to vacation time or moving time when you have to stop schooling for a short time.

Math drills, if necessary, can be found at aaamath.com.

For Language Arts you have a number of choices: Reading. Let him read classics/modern classics of his choice. I think a post below explains how we and others have approached reading.

For vocabulary, you can start with a Latin/Greek roots program or use Wordly Wise or another.

For writing you can use one of the Wordsmith books or journaling or Write with the Best or Imitation in Writing. All reasonable programs.

Anyway, make your best choices, order them, use them, and expect to find a few duds (stuff that others like, but doesn't work well for you or your son).

To help avoid curriculum-buying errors, you can take your son's opinion into consideration. And if the program is appealing to you as the teacher, you'll be more apt to enjoy teaching/working with the products. If there's a program I don't like, it doesn't excite me to think about even correcting the pages, so I try to find programs that appeal to me, too.

A few books that cover just about every homeschooling issue there is are:

The Everything Homeschooling Book
Homeschooling Methods: Seasoned Advice on Learning Styles
Homeschooling for Dummies

And there's also one for homeschooling the middle years called Homeschooling: The Middle Years.

Just for the record, I replaced an out of print book that I had originally recommended with Homeschooling Methods.

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