Attention homeschoolers ...

[Kara]

So I'm about to become a full-time SAHM again, and my oldest will enter kindergarten in the fall. He's enrolled in a great elementary school near our home, but I really would like to look into homeschooling at some point. Probably not for next year, but for the year after, when he's in 1st grade and our middle child would be in pre-K.

What curriculum do you recommend and use? Have any of you ever enrolled your kids in distance learning academies sponsored by public charter schools? There are a couple here in Minnesota, and they look very interesting, but I don't know anyone who has used them.

Kara

[Darcy Baldwin]

Leila would be a good one to ask about the charter school curriculum

We use an eclectic mix of curriculum geared toward each subject for our oldest. Curriculum is really personal, depending on your faith, lack thereof, goal for school, etc.

If you tend to like having a Christian outlook, I'd highly recommend My Father's World for those early years - it's an excellent curriculum!

[MamaBee]

I'm interested in this too... I've been exploring our charter school system for the last two years (ds is three )... and if I can't get kiddo in the school of my choice (based on a lottery system)... then homeschooling is something we want to look into.

Kara... there is a Yahoo group that I subscribe to... wi-TAGhomeschooling with information for Wisconsin and often talk about Minnesota (mostly twin cities area)...

[Leila]

I'm running up to Target for a few, but I'll be back with some of the information I have.

[Kara]

Thanks, Rebecca! I'll check it out!

[sarahbhb]

I totally do an eclectic mix of stuff but try to follow the Core Knowledge scope and sequence at least as a basic outline. We add a bunch to it though depending on DDs interest. I'm really a big believer of self led education but am not totally believing of my ability to totally do homeschool that way.

[heathergw]

I was told it's wise to attend conventions... just to look at the curriculum. We're attending our in less than 2 weeks and I'm sooooo excited. We did the preschool program of My Father's World this year with Moriah and she LOVED it... although, she's way advanced, lol. There are usually local groups you can join to chat about curriculum too and just for general support.

[Sheana]

I know Kay (KayM) uses the K12 cirruculum for distance learning. We've looked into it and really think it would fit our lifestyle. However we're not 100% sure we're homeschooling next year, but we most likely will the following year as well.

[Kara]

Yes, the K12 curriculum is one of those offered through a local charter school.

[Leila]

My boys will both be attending a virtual charter school for next year. In Wisconsin, as Rebecca said, it's done on a lottery system of sorts. We have an open enrollment period (2-3 weeks) in February. You can apply to up to three school districts (for either brick/mortar schools or virtual programs). In WI, only 5,250 children can attend virtual programs, so every child is conditionally approved, then they do the random selection and place the children in one of the virtual programs they applied to in February. There can be outright denials--IEPs will cause them (D was denied both last and this year for his IEP--we revoked it to get him in this year), racial make-up of the districts (for B/M schools mostly), etc.

The school the boys are attending uses several different curriculums to build the core. Each child is tested and placed in classes according to ability, not age. (Hallelujah!!) Their school uses Little Lincoln (K-2), Calvert (K-8), and K12 (K-5). You can choose to have your child attend daily classes online or do it on their own--or a combo of both. We plan to do the former with JP, the latter with Devin, simply based on their learning styles.

One thing to keep in mind: these virtual schools are still PUBLIC SCHOOLS. State tested is still required. JP will be doing his this coming year as if he were in the public school building around the corner. D will do his come 3rd grade.

The boys had to sign these. So you can see that a virtual program isn't just a cakewalk for school.

A word about K12. You might have noticed that the school the boys will be attending, they only use the K12 program through 5th grade. They found that the curriculum wasn't broad enough (specifically in math); this was causing students to fall behind in the higher grades and therefore not meeting the requirements of graduation. There were basic concepts that the students who had used K12 throughout school just hadn't learned. WVL chose to add in Calvert (and they're planning to expand the Little Lincoln through 4th grade) to help fill in the gaps that K12 was creating.

Homeschooling in WI is as simple as filling out a form from the Department of Public Instruction notifying them that you will be homeschooling. Just select the gender and grade of the child in question and send it back. There's no other accountability involved. You could sit and twiddle your thumbs all year long. We didn't of course, but we are taking our time going through the curriculum was chose (Calvert) to use with D. We've found that most of it is too easy for him, but he enjoys the actual curriculum, so we've stuck with it. I think that if we hadn't managed to get him into WVL for next year, we'd do more of a grab bag assortment of things. Calvert was limiting for us.

[Sharon Kay]

Curriculum fairs are a good way to look at different curriculum first hand and make up your mind.

We chose Switched on Schoolhouse because it is computer based ... and has mini movies, games, and all is done on the computer ... nice thing is you can't lose any papers ... and it grades all but the subjective questions and it gives you guidelines on what to look for in grading those.

I really liked it when I met with the IEP team (my middle son goes to tech school for Small Engine Repair) ... I was able to print out a grade summary that showed all the chapters of what math he was working on and his grades ... we were trying to decide together how much math he would need for certain colleges.... it was so simple to do.

My boys really like Switched on Schoolhouse and don't want to go back to bookwork ... plus it's portable since it is on laptops.

[Emmy]

Not to step on the toes of anyone that is into the online school thing - but with your oldest getting ready for kindergarten I can't help but comment on this. School in the younger years does not need to be sitting at a table doing workbooks. Kids learn so naturally and easily - you do not need to have some official "so-and-so computer first grade" to cover first grade. First grade is all about learning to read and playing with numbers and listening to a bunch of amazing stories that introduce you to everything from the moon to catterpillars to Little House on the prairie. I have never used a computer curric for my kids (an all in one curriculum - we have used various computer programs) so I can't really speak to that. But I just can't imagine it would produce the same love of learning and excitement that reading together can do - particularly at the early elementary age. I would really really encourage you to check out sonlight.com and winterpromise.com and maybe read some books about Charlotte Mason style learning.

Again - I don't want to step on toes or offend anyone that feels differently but this is something I'm really passionate about so - I had to share. That being said - homeschooling style is very personal and tailored to the family that uses it. As they say - the best curriculum is the one that gets used.

[KayM]

Yes we use K12 and are really happy with it. We are not in a charter school. We use it as independents with the online school. It's real easy to teach and keep up with everything. I wasn't aware of gaps after fifth grade but we are only in 2nd and 3rd right now. I do know they are coming out with a whole new math this year so maybe it will address some of those issues. I used Calvert with my little boy for first grade and found it a bit confusing and harder to teach than K12.

[Leila]

Originally Posted by KayM

Yes we use K12 and are really happy with it. We are not in a charter school. We use it as independents with the online school. It's real easy to teach and keep up with everything. I wasn't aware of gaps after fifth grade but we are only in 2nd and 3rd right now. I do know they are coming out with a whole new math this year so maybe it will address some of those issues. I used Calvert with my little boy for first grade and found it a bit confusing and harder to teach than K12.

Kay, I strongly suspect the gaps relate to standardized tests. The principal did mention that actual classroom grades dropped, but since this is still a public school those tests are still the bottom line, yk?

As for Calvert--I don't find it confusing, but I do feel that the work is a little 'dumbed down'. Nearly the first half of the first grade reading was phonics. While I can see some 1st graders needing that, IMO, most first graders know that M says MMMMM and A says "aaah" or "ay". To waste half a year on it was ridiculous to me.

[AmyM]

I use Abeka. It can be a bit intense and a lot of work, but so far so good. It's what she had been taught with since Kindy in private school. In 2nd grade she went to public through October and I pulled her outta there, just figured Abeka would be the easiest choice since it has teacher manuals, lesson plans and such. But we do mix it up with other books from different vendors. Lots of science project material, that sort of thing. We have a Teacher Store nearby and visit there quite often. Personally, I could care less about the school's standardized tests. I hold my child to a higher standard than what the school around here require on a piece of paper to keep their bonuses and stars. Not like that everywhere, I'm just saying. You can't rely on only the tests to determine what they've learned. But yes I do the end of the year state required test

[MamaBee]

Originally Posted by Leila

Kay, I strongly suspect the gaps relate to standardized tests. The principal did mention that actual classroom grades dropped, but since this is still a public school those tests are still the bottom line, yk?

As for Calvert--I don't find it confusing, but I do feel that the work is a little 'dumbed down'. Nearly the first half of the first grade reading was phonics. While I can see some 1st graders needing that, IMO, most first graders know that M says MMMMM and A says "aaah" or "ay". To waste half a year on it was ridiculous to me.

I just looked up Calvert... wow, impressive. LOL... from someone who did not have phonics when I was in grade school... I'm totally all over spending that much time. But I do agree, it all depends on the child.

Kay - do you know what the new math is? My aunt was talking the other day how her granddaughter (3rd grade - public school)... won't be learning multiplication tables because they don't teach them anymore. Instead of memorizing 3*3 is 9... they will learn to figure it out by 3+3+3. My hubby (engineer and took almost every math class in college) is annoyed at this and one of the reasons he is pushing that I home school. Is that really the new way to "teach" math?? Also, the way they teach subtraction... hubby not a fan. ha, ha!

[Kara]

Emmy, from what I understand, students in these online schools don't actually do all of their learning online - here's what I found on the K12 website:

We expect that students will spend no more than 20 to 25 percent of their time on the computer in the early grades. We believe in a balanced approach toward education. Computers help us provide you with effective assessment, planning, and time-management tools. Computers also act as powerful tools that can motivate, stimulate, and inform children about the world around them. Computers do not, however, replace a solid education; rather, they help facilitate one. That's why we use a unique multimedia approach that also includes a great deal of well-written and designed textbooks, workbooks, and hands-on instructional materials.

But your point is a very valid one and one of the things that excites me about homeschooling is that I would be able to do all kinds of hands-on stuff with them.

Another question: anyone familiar with Connections Academy?

[jannylynn]

We've had a big ride on for our first year of homeschooling. We started out doing a charter program through the state. It was an online school through Connections Academy and Little Lincoln. I thought both programs were good and meeting our academic needs. I had the hand-holding I needed to get started. BUT the governor cut the program MID YEAR! So I had to pay a lot of money for school that I didn't feel was worth the cost or find some other curriculum. I bought curriculum and we love homeschooling now more than ever!

So, make sure that your state has a high buy-in to these programs. To cut us midyear was a stupid move on behalf of the governor but the program just didn't have the support of the people in the state. And it had to do with our state's laws to always have a balanced budget.

I'm intrigued by K12. But I don't think I could swing the cost for 3 children.

I suggest reading "The Well Trained Mind" to find the best curriculum suggestions. I don't take a 100% classical approach so I have deviated from what they suggest quite a bit to meet my children's needs. But it is a great book that I refer back to often!

Right now I'm really liking Christian Light Education. We are using it for DS's 2nd grade math. But I'm seriously thinking about switching over to them for Language Arts for both children. We are traveling a lot between now and January and I think this might be the solution to keep things simple.

[jannylynn]

Originally Posted by Kara

Another question: anyone familiar with Connections Academy?

Yes, we used it in the fall last year for grade 4. Very MUCH online public school. We had similar textbooks to that which she had in public school and the material was very similar. The teacher guides where fairly helpful. Although DD was able to do most of the work without much assistance.

The math and science were great! The language arts and social studies . My DD HATED the social studies. It skipped around by region. Touched on a few things in history but was too light for her. MY DD liked the reading in the LA class. But the videos in the class repeated on writing and reading techniques. It wasn't that great.

Both of my children didn't spend too much time in front of the computer learning. They had textbooks to read and written assignments. Some were graded by me and some by a teacher that was assigned to us. Most of the lessons (except math for DD) could be completed without even using the online teaching. The online math instruction was really good! So much so that when MO dumped the program, I chose Teaching Textbooks for math for DD. The instruction is similar.

[KayM]

Originally Posted by MamaBee

I just looked up Calvert... wow, impressive. LOL... from someone who did not have phonics when I was in grade school... I'm totally all over spending that much time. But I do agree, it all depends on the child.

Kay - do you know what the new math is? My aunt was talking the other day how her granddaughter (3rd grade - public school)... won't be learning multiplication tables because they don't teach them anymore. Instead of memorizing 3*3 is 9... they will learn to figure it out by 3+3+3. My hubby (engineer and took almost every math class in college) is annoyed at this and one of the reasons he is pushing that I home school. Is that really the new way to "teach" math?? Also, the way they teach subtraction... hubby not a fan. ha, ha!

Rebecca I don't think the "new math" is actually a different way of doing it. I think it's just presented in a better way as in more interactive games and better explanations. That's what I have gathered from the K12 group that I'm in. We haven't gotten it yet so I don't know exactly what the differences will be. There are definitely a lot of differences in the way they teach math today though than when I learned it. I'm having to relearn everything along with my kids! LOL It took me two weeks to catch on to regrouping instead of borrowing and carrying. So far my kids are doing multiplying the same old way that I did, thank goodness!