Your Homeschooling Questions Answered: Part 6

More answers to your questions! (Please continue to ask away!)

Questions answered in other posts:
• Why do you homeschool?
• We’re thinking about home-schooling, but the idea of it is completely overwhelming. Where do
    I even start? What are the rules and laws? How do I know what my child needs to learn and when?
• What does your school day look like?
• How smart do you have to be to homeschool? What if I screw my kids up?
• What would you say are the biggest pros and cons of homeschooling?
• Are you afraid your subjects of dislike will rub off on your kids?
• Any suggestions for keeping little ones busy during school time?
• Are you super patient?
• How do you know if you're homeschooling for the right reasons, and not selfish reasons?
• Will you homeschool through high school? If so, what about sports? Prom? Graduation? Diploma?
• What is your take on homeschooled kids enjoying the 'fun stuff' at public school but not the academic stuff (dual-enrollment)? And if you dual-enroll, how do you combat negative attitudes from public-school parents?
• Do you follow the local school calendar? When do you start and stop your school year? What do you do for breaks?
• If both parents are homebodies, how do you make sure you get your kids involved socially?
• When you already struggle with feeling not "good enough" as a mom/wife, how do you add in homeschooling without being crushed under the pressure to also be "good enough" as a teacher?

"Are you held accountable to the state for your kid’s education?"

Yes. Every state is different, but in our state there are three options.

The supervising teacher option (approved by the local school district’s superintendent) requires multiple (can’t remember exactly how many) meetings with that teacher throughout the school year. These meetings are a way to guage whether the child is making adequate progress. The supervising teacher submits an evaluation report at the end of the year, stating whether the child is making adequate progress.

The portfolio option requires the parent to keep records of the student’s work, projects, lesson plans, etc. and then the portfolio is evaluated by an approved supervising teacher at the end of the year, and the results are submitted to the state.

With the testing option, the child takes a state-approved test (SAT, ITED, ITBS, etc.) and the results are submitted to the state.

Our first year, we did the portfolio. This year we’re doing the testing option. Next year we might try the supervising teacher option. We’re still learning what works best for us. :) 

"How you do try to make sure your kids end up 'normal' and aren't socially-ignorant (or just plain weird) when they go out in public?"

I don’t want my kids to be “normal”. I want them to be rare gems in this dark world.

:)

But I know what you’re saying.

We work on teaching our kids about certain social situations at home, but mostly they learn a lot of that simply by being out and about. We frequently discuss differences in the way other people live, and I do think that’s important for EVERY family. I think too many parents are speaking negatively about homeschooling, public schooling, etc. in front of their kids, and this is not a healthy thing to do because it’s creating in our children prejudices against other children who are schooled differently than they are.

And regarding the term “weird”… I know a lot of people think that homeschoolers end up weird. I’ve seen proof that is very contrary to that; in fact, most people I personally know who have been homeschooled are anything but weird. I also know a lot of people who went to public school that would be considered weird by the general population. Is that because they went to public school? No! It’s probably because of their upbringing and their family.

(And really, I cringe that I just called others weird. Who am I to say such a thing? Ack!)

And here's a quote from a Focus on the Family article:

"Progressive home school practices have all but debunked the socialization objection."

Now that I’ve said that, we do make an effort to get our children involved outside the home. We’ve done sports, Awana, church, and homeschool Activity Day (which is organized much like school). I have no idea if people think our children are weird or unsocialized, but I see how well our kids make friends.

I think I could have just stuck with that last paragraph and done well enough, but I had to capitalize on the opportunity to share my thoughts. Thanks for putting up with me. :)

"If you are financially-strained and/or stingy, how do you know how much you really, truly NEED to spend on materials for homeschooling?"

I’ve heard of families who homeschool for basically free. With all the resources on the internet, it’s totally possible. Homeschooling for free does take much more time since you have to find all your resources and plan it all from scratch, but it’s possible.

A couple of books that I’ve heard good things about:

Homeschool Your Child for Free by Gold and Zielinski

The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas by Linda Dobson

We have a budget amount that we try to stay close to: $1400. This includes books, curricula, supplies, field trips (including a yearly pass to three great educational places nearby), memberships (HSLDA, NICHE, homeschool coop), homeschool conference, and testing/supervising teacher, etc.. To some, that probably seems like a lot. To others, it’s a drop in the bucket.

Some ways we try to save money: we use the library a lot, I buy used books from Half.com and eBay, use the internet, make our own things (sometimes), etc.

I hope that helps a little! More later...I'm out of time!

{Have a question you’d like to ask? Use the form below to answer as many questions as you like. It’s completely anonymous…so fire away!}