Homeschooling

January 18, 2005

Sandi.. I once thought about it.. but would miss all of her friends and

the socialization of school. She really enjoys the classroom and all of the

activites. As far as my reasons for wanting to do it, I just thought it would be

easier on her.. It's a hard decision to make. Is Hunter having a really hard

time in school??

Hugs,

Emilie and (5 Poly)

Homeschooling

Has anyone decided to homeschool? We are considering and would like anyones

input as to why they are homeschooling or why they decided not to. Sandi Ken

Hunter (6 Systemic)

January 19, 2005

Hi Sandi, and all,

I'm new to the group. I have a 2 1/2 year old dd, nna, with

poly jra.

I wanted to answer Sandi's post on homeschooling, because I am a

homeschool mom of 4. I absolutely love it! I know it's not for

everyone, but I wouldn't trade having my kids here every day for

anything! A main reason we homeschool is to have longer to instill

our values on our children, and help make them strong adults. The

schools today are in many cases pretty rough, as far as peer

pressure, trying to fit in, and even just getting attention in a

troubled academic area. But, the big thing is to really be led to be

home with your children all day, and teach them. It is a very full

time job! But soooo rewarding! Getting what curriculum down to use

takes time, and you have to start slow, and go easy on yourself. You

eventually get it figured out what works for each of your children.

Some use an all-inclusive unit study approach, some used a company

to coordinate it all for them. There are even charter schools in

some states, that are public schools, that you " attend " out of your

home. In that case, they send you all the curriculum, computer, and

assign you a teacher that keeps tabs on your child's progress. There

are lots of choices!

The illnesses my children have (dd with anaphylaxis to food/latex,

dd with lichen sclerosis, and dd with jra) really had nothing to do

with why we chose to homeschool. But, it is an added benefit to have

them here, to deal with in a timely manner, any health issues that

arise.

As far as socialization, you can stay as social as you want! There

are tons of homeschool groups everywhere. We are always going.

Mostly we have to learn to pick and chose what to do so we aren't

running around too much. The kids are close with their friends, and

get to do a lot with them all.

Please feel free to contact me if you want, as you consider

homeschooling.

Blessings,

Jacalyn

> Has anyone decided to homeschool? We are considering and would

like anyones

> input as to why they are homeschooling or why they decided not

to. Sandi Ken

> Hunter (6 Systemic)

>

January 19, 2005

Sandi,

We didn't come to homeschooling because of 's JRA, our kids have

always been homeschooled. My husband and I both did alright in

school (public and private respectively) but both of us were bright

kids who were bored and could have done a whole lot better had we

been in a more individualized settings. Homeschooling was a natural

extension of our experiences combined with our off-the-beaten-path

parenting style.

When first started having trouble with his joints over the

summer and then again this past fall and into winter we have been

especially thankful that we are homeschooling. All this talk on the

list about IEPs and 504s has made me very grateful that I don't have

to deal with any of that. As far as I'm concerned homeschooling is

the ultimate 504 plan!

Some of the pros: You get to spend lots of time with your kid(s),

you can go on vacations whenever you want too, sick days don't

require a doctors note, you can take advantage of nice days by

putting the books aside and doing something fun, the kids get

individualized instruction and help, they have lots of free time for

following their interests and just being kids (which I believe is

extremely important), on bad days they can just lay around and read

or play video games, they're free to get up and move around whenever

they need to, and they don't have to ask permission to go to the

bathroom! Also, they don't get all the " benefits " of socialization,

like teasing, bullying and peer pressure. They don't pick up all the

disrespectful & vulgar language and bad attitudes that so many (and

I'm certainly not saying all!!) public schooled kids seem to have.

They learn to interact with people of all ages which personally I

think is better than being stuffed into a room with 30 of your

peers....

And please all you parents with kids in public schools don't shoot

me! I'm not saying that all public school kids are rude social

misfits, I'm just saying it's a lot easier to keep kids sweet &

polite if their sheltered .

Some of the cons: You get to spend lots of time with your kid(s) ,

self-doubt can become a fact of life, so can burnout, bad days

happen, choosing a curriculum is trial and error, it's not free (but

it can be cheap), people tend to stereotype homeschoolers ( " You

homeschool - what church do you go to? " is my personal favorite...),

it can be hard to find support in some areas, everyone (especially

your extended family) will worry (out loud) if your child is getting

enough " socialization " and sometimes it's hard, especially if you or

your child is introverted, to find good friends.

Long story short, homeschooling is, IMNSHO, definitely worth it if

you're seriously interested. Of course there are other options, like

charter schools, if you're not feeling confident enough to go it

alone....

If you're interested in checking out what we do visit our homeschool

http://www.geocities.com/earthmama2k/ (Cherry Tree

Academy). We have our schedule posted and lots of links to various

resources that we use. Please feel free to email me too!

, Homeschooling mom to (10-poly)

Josh (7) & Caity (3)

January 21, 2005

Sandi,

I have been homeschooling my 3 boys for 4 years and every year I

could give you a different answer for why we continue to homeschool

but the fact is, we love it! Yes, it helps that we're home for our

two youngest when they are flaring (which brings up the whole

siblings with jra issue!) and I won't even go into how convenient it

is to not have to worry about school when it comes to doctor's

appointments! But honestly, we love to homeschool not because they

are sick, but because life goes by so, so quickly and we don't want

to miss any more precious time with them then we have to. We have

huge homeschooling numbers here on Long Island, and we have the

option of getting together every day during the week somewhere if we

want. Socialization, in my opinion, is only an issue to those who

have either never homeschooled or have no experience with other

homeschoolers. It is a non-issue amongst any actual homeschool

families that I've ever met...our in-laws, perhaps, but not us!!!

I don't know what state you live in or what your homeschooling laws

are, but if you need any help or direction to look into this as an

option, please feel free to contact me.

Mom to TJ, Liam and Owen

> Has anyone decided to homeschool? We are considering and would

like anyones

> input as to why they are homeschooling or why they decided not

to. Sandi Ken

> Hunter (6 Systemic)

>

January 21, 2005

We have always homeschooled our kids. Our oldest is 10, and we also

have a 5 year old (poly) and a 4 year old. Deciding to homeschool has

been the best decision for our family in terms of academics,

socialization, and just basic family relationship. The kids can

follow their interests fully, take time on things that don't come

easily to them, move ahead when something does come easily, etc.... We

don't do school-at-home, but have a more relaxed approach (although,

at age 8 we do slowly start to introduce more formal work---ie. math,

writing, language etc...)

With regards to socialization, they have friends (homeschoolers and

traditionally schooled kids) and also opportunities to work in group

situations (ie book clubs, co-ops etc...) We get out as much or as

little as we want. Also, i like the fact that my kids are growing

into the people they were intended to be regardless if it's 'cool' or

not. My kids have little knowledge of current fads. (this could be in

part that we don't have t.v. though) My oldest does know some things

via his schooled friends, but I have enjoyed watching him make

intelligent, well-thought-out decisions about whether or not he wanted

to embrace whatever the 'in' thing of the moment is. They definitely

have their own minds.

Most importantly (i feel) is the benefit of spending a lot of time

with each other, being tolerant of one another's needs and feelings.

hth,

October 23, 2006

First, there is a group called homeschooling and downsyndrome that you may

want to join.

Depending on the state that you live in, you may have specific guidelines for

withdrawing from public school and for setting up your 'home' school. There is

a lot of variety from state to state regarding requirements when homeschooling.

If you are in OK I can give you some specific help....so let me know.

In OK we just needed a letter to our local school telling that we were

withdrawing our son and we intended to actively home school him. The " Home

School Legal Defense Association " at www.hslda.org has a wealth of infomation

including guidelines for specific states.

A favorite website that interactive for children learning to read is

www.starfall.com.

There is a WEALTH of information and learning tools available to homeschoolers.

I would also suggest looking into a local homeschool support group for

information and activities.

Welcome and best wishes to you.

Shirley

Homeschooling

I'm a parent of 2 boys & I'm in the process of beginning

homeschooling. They are currently still enrolled in the public

schools but I would like to start homeschooling the beginning of

November. The youngest is 7(DS) and in the first grade. The other is

11 and in the sixth grade. Could someone recommend any educational

materials or websites that would be beneficial to me? I have no idea

where to start.

Thanks,

,

7(ds), Tyler 11

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October 23, 2006

<HKDS/>

HKDS/

homeschoolinganddownsyndrome/

Are a few of the more active Homschooling & Down Syndrome lists I know

about.. is only 14 months.. LOL.. but I was getting prepared.

LOL. I lurk there for now.

http://www.nathhan.com/ is an excellent place to look for more " law "

oriented stuff..

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/weblinks/specialneeds.htm is a great

place to poke around. Lots of info on " how to " and more hands on.

Articles stuff like that.

Other than that.. its just the standard process depending on your states

regs.. What State are you in ..? and Are you new to homeschooling in

general?

Steph

" Truth is not determined by a majority vote. "

-Cardinal ph Ratzinger

http://360./rnscarlson

Homeschooling

I'm a parent of 2 boys & I'm in the process of beginning

homeschooling. They are currently still enrolled in the public

schools but I would like to start homeschooling the beginning of

November. The youngest is 7(DS) and in the first grade. The other is

11 and in the sixth grade. Could someone recommend any educational

materials or websites that would be beneficial to me? I have no idea

where to start.

Thanks,

,

October 23, 2006

There's a company called Timberdoodle that sells curriculum. That's who my

SIL uses. She HSed both her children, ages 24 and 16

They have a website

Di

Homeschooling

> I'm a parent of 2 boys & I'm in the process of beginning

> homeschooling. They are currently still enrolled in the public

> schools but I would like to start homeschooling the beginning of

> November. The youngest is 7(DS) and in the first grade. The other is

> 11 and in the sixth grade. Could someone recommend any educational

> materials or websites that would be beneficial to me? I have no idea

> where to start.

>

> Thanks,

> ,

> 7(ds), Tyler 11

>

> Click reply to all for messages to go to the list. Just hit reply for

> messages to go to the sender of the message.

>

October 23, 2006

Are you interested in a secular curriculum, Christian, or a combination of both?

Shirley--mom to Josiah, 17yo, DS

October 23, 2006

This is a very helpful article....with good advice way down into it about

homeschooling a child with DS.

http://www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/index.htm?page=ryckman.html

Shirley

September 12, 2008

Oh... how cool! It brought tears to my eyes.

Were you all together in a support group? Did you know each other? Or did you

just use the same program?

What program did you use?

I am also hs my 12 yr old.. oh he HATES it. LOL.

September 12, 2008

A lot of the kids had been in the support group for quite a while. I pulled

Josiah out of public school in the first month of his 10th grade year. He is

involved with a lot of activities with church and the challenger league and

other stuff. I joined the group at the beginning of his senior year. (I did

have to pay dues ($24) for the two previous years to be able to participate in

the graduation.)

I had been a member of CHEF 20 years ago when I started hsing two of my sons

(non-s). CHEF was only in its second year, I think, when I joined. It is a

support group of Christian parents. It has now developed into a very organized

and well developed hs support group.

They had a monthly meeting all starting in September for parents and seniors.

The seniors had 2 more activities each month--one was a 'social' fun activity

and one was a 'service' activity. One month the service activity was working a

Sat. with habitat for humanity, another was helping 'literacy for evangelism'

get out fundraiser packet ready for mailing. The activities were designed for

the seniors to get to know each other. We had a nice Senior Banquet for parents

and the graduate only in a very nice restaurant in the top of a bank building

downtown. Memory books compiled with pictures from the activities, class verse,

and each child got to make one page of their own design to put in the book. We

ordered invitations and senior stuff from the Jostens catalogue.

I'm sure the graduation experience for Josiah was much better than it would have

been in a large public hs.

Were you asking what curriculum did I use? Is Logan your 12yo?

Hope you've had a nice day.

Shirley

Re: Homeschooling

Oh... how cool! It brought tears to my eyes.

Were you all together in a support group? Did you know each other? Or did

you just use the same program?

What program did you use?

I am also hs my 12 yr old.. oh he HATES it. LOL.

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PM

September 14, 2008

I'm glad that homeschooling our kids with Downs has come up.? I'm a high

school?teacher/librarian and I'm not happy with my son, 's (age 15 in Nov

'08), program, which also happens to be at the same school where I teach.? I've

been thinking about homeschooling him for his high school years for a couple of

years now.? I moved him to my school, because I didn't care for the program in

our home district and was happy in middle school, and I'm trying to politely but

strongly push for improving our program but it's not working well for us so

far.? I'd love to hear from any of you who homeschool and have any advice about

that as well as those who might have any advice on the transitioning thing from

" little kid " to big, grown up adult?(snif, snif...my baby!? lol)

Thanks.

September 14, 2008

Hello . I have been homeschooling for about 7 years. I have four

sons... including Ben who is my two year old with DS. We were a

homeschooling family before we were blessed with Ben's arrival. After

much internal struggle and lots of outward pressure to send Ben to

public school... We decided that we would treat him exactly as we have

our other three sons. He is quite a bit younger than your son so I have

no homeschooling related advice, I'm afraid. Just wanted to let you know

that we're out here, we're homeschooling... and for us " inclusion " takes

on a very different meaning.

I left my career over a decade ago. Now I am underpaid, underappreciated

and SUPERBLY rewarded. It has been the best choice for our family.

All the best to you and all wisdom to you in making this decision.

Sheila

>

> I'm glad that homeschooling our kids with Downs has come up.? I'm a

high school?teacher/librarian and I'm not happy with my son, 's (age

15 in Nov '08), program, which also happens to be at the same school

where I teach.? I've been thinking about homeschooling him for his high

school years for a couple of years now.? I moved him to my school,

because I didn't care for the program in our home district and was happy

in middle school, and I'm trying to politely but strongly push for

improving our program but it's not working well for us so far.? I'd love

to hear from any of you who homeschool and have any advice about that as

well as those who might have any advice on the transitioning thing from

" little kid " to big, grown up adult?(snif, snif...my baby!? lol)

>

> Thanks.

>

September 17, 2008

I decided TODAY to take Hannah out of school... I'm still too angry and

frustrated right now to get into it, but suffice it to say that any district

that

won't allow me access to my child isn't getting access to my child.

I've home schooled for 15 now, have 3 in college and one in high school...

one in kindergarten and Hannah will be in 2nd grade. She can not even

reliably write her own name at this point. That's just not aiming high enough

for

me.

Connie

Frustrated mom to many

**************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog,

plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.

(http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)

September 17, 2008

In a message dated 9/17/2008 1:54:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

leslie-kerrigan@... writes:

she was finding

that she was doing most of the teaching at home anyway, and the

frustration she was dealing with daily drove her nuts

I feel like that every day of the week. The problem is that Micah doesn't

get home from school unti after 4:00 and by the time he has had a break, eaten

dinner, done the bath we only have like a half hour to work on homework,

read stories, go over colors and numbers etc. So while he learned like 4 new

words this summer with me in 8 weeks of Edmark I fear he wil lose all 9 that he

knows because now they are starting a NEW reading program and are going to

see if it works for him!!!???~~~~If not they will go back to Edmark. WAT!!!

Is this crazy or what? No continuity on anything. So I hear what she is

saying and sometimes feel like pulling him out also.

Loree

**************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog,

plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.

(http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014)

September 17, 2008

Hi Connie,

I totally understand your frustration and anger, sometimes you just have

to do something drastic. Luckily, it sounds like you are well equipped

to homeschool Hannah. We'll be here when you're ready to tell the story.

has a friend with dyslexia and other learning disabilities,

and her mom just gave up on our local elementary.... she was finding

that she was doing most of the teaching at home anyway, and the

frustration she was dealing with daily drove her nuts. She is sooooo

happy this year! She found an amazing charter school in a neighboring

district.... she homeschools 3 days a week, her daughter attends class 1

day/week and receives any specialized instruction that the mom wants her

to have from either a teacher or a resource specialist (depending on the

area) who will use the reading program the mom has been successful with

at home, AND, they have " Friday specials " where they can sign up for

art, music, drama, science lab, etc. She's loving it, and they are all

so much happier.... I hope you have a similarly good experience.

, mom to (12), (10 DS), and Sammy (9)

kindafunny@... wrote:

> I decided TODAY to take Hannah out of school... I'm still too angry and

> frustrated right now to get into it, but suffice it to say that any

> district that

> won't allow me access to my child isn't getting access to my child.

>

> I've home schooled for 15 now, have 3 in college and one in high

> school...

> one in kindergarten and Hannah will be in 2nd grade. She can not even

> reliably write her own name at this point. That's just not aiming high

> enough for

> me.

>

> Connie

> Frustrated mom to many

>

> **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion

> blog,

> plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com.

> (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014

> <http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014>)

>

September 17, 2008

We had a conversation this morning about " who is teaching what " in

regards to homework. brought home a 7 page language contract

on Monday, due Thursday. 4 pages were spelling, which required the

spelling book (which came home Monday, but not Tuesday :-) 1 page was

" proofreading " where she was supposed to circle and correct misspelled

words, and then 2 photocoped pages, one on " simple vs compound

sentences " and the other " subjects and predicates. " What???????

I guess it's my fault though :-) A couple weeks ago, when I found out

she wasn't doing any spelling this year because she was in resource

during spelling time. I told them I wanted her to have the words and

take the test, as she's really good at this, and why shouldn't be let

her be successful ON HER OWN? They agreed to give her the spelling

words, and we'd study them at home.

The next thing you know, the exact same Language contract as the rest of

the class came home. So, I sent a note in Monday, saying " don't you

think 7 pages in 3 nights in one subject is a lot for ? " And,

I wanted to know where she was getting instruction on " subjects and

predicates and simple and compund sentences " , and was this in the

regular ed classroom, the resource room, and who had assigned this

homework? I guessed that this was NOT being taught in Resource, and

that was in Resource during regular ed language arts, so

actually, she hadn't been taught that material (not that she would have

got it, LOL.), so please don't send home work that she has not received

instruction on without discussing it with me first. So, the aide's

response.... reply yesterday " we'll do the language contract at school. "

with the implication that I couldn't handle it at home.

So, I will meet with the teacher to discuss who assigns what, how much,

modifications, etc. I asked for spelling words, got 7 pages of HW :-)

But, last night school called and informed us that because if changing

numbers, they were able to collapse the two 4/5 combo classes into one

4th and one 5th, which I was thrilled to hear. 's current

teacher will be taking the 5th grade class, so it's wonderful. But, I

think I'll give her a week or so to reogranize everything for all 5th

grade before I start nagging :-)

, mom to (12), (10 DS), and Sammy (9)

Loree5@... wrote:

> In a message dated 9/17/2008 1:54:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

> leslie-kerrigan@... writes:

>

> she was finding

> that she was doing most of the teaching at home anyway, and the

> frustration she was dealing with daily drove her nuts

>

> I feel like that every day of the week. The problem is that Micah

> doesn't get home from school unti after 4:00 and by the time he has

> had a break, eaten dinner, done the bath we only have like a half hour

> to work on homework, read stories, go over colors and numbers etc. So

> while he learned like 4 new words this summer with me in 8 weeks of

> Edmark I fear he wil lose all 9 that he knows because now they are

> starting a NEW reading program and are going to see if it works for

> him!!!???~~~~If not they will go back to Edmark. WAT!!! Is this

> crazy or what? No continuity on anything. So I hear what she is

> saying and sometimes feel like pulling him out also.

>

> Loree

>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the

> latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com

> <http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014>.

September 17, 2008

That reminds me of what happened during Josiah's 9th grade in public high

school.

One night during the first week of school he came home with several worksheets

to do at home. I did them with him, signed them, and sent them back to school.

A week or two later at parent teacher conference his teacher proudly displayed

the work that he had been doing. It was the very same pages with my signature

on them. I don't think she had any work to show me....!!!! The sad thing was

that was the only homework that he brought home all year.

We had major problems that led me to pull him out and I hs'd him his last 3

years of high school.

Shirley

Re: Re: Homeschooling