I thought I would find a place where there would be knowledgable people and looks like this might be it. I had always said I would NEVER homeschool. Not that I was or am against it. I was just against it for me. Teaches me to say, Never. We just moved to NE Louisiana from Ohio. I had known LA was ranked 49th in the country as far as education. But I told myself moving here, it was due to the poorness of the state and could not possibly be due to the teachers. I told myself that all teachers must meet the same requirements to teach and if I was just and active parent my children will excel. :roll: Well, I am chewing many of my own words. The school is awful. My daughter pre-k, special needs, has been in public school since the age of two, is TERRIFIED to go to school now. My 4th grader says daily... "I am doing the same things we did last year. It is soo boring." The teachers do not return phone calls. No notes every get answered and none have come home. The principal did not return her phone calls..... And the list goes on.... So, I looked into private schools still telling myself I am not the homeschooling type and found that I am definately not the rich type either This left homeschooling Again, I have never been against it. I just didn't think I had the self discipline to organize lessons plans and actual make my kids learn. But I did a search online and found something that did interest me. It is something I think I would be able to handle. And the boys looked at it and wanted to know when they could get started. They were really interested. It is the K12 program. As it is the only program I have looked at thus far, I don't know if it is the one for us. But at least I know there are programs out there for disorganized and disfunctional people like me A bit about us might be nice too. I am 36, married for 15 years. We have 3 wonderful children. DS 9, DS 7 and DD 4. DH is a project manager for a local telecom company. I am an RN and work weekends at a local nursing home. The boys are in a variety of activities depending on the time of year that include: football, gymnastics, basketball, baseball, soccer and tae kwon do. DD is in gymnastics. She also has a speech delay that we will need to figure out how the school will continue to service her. I look forward to meeting all of you and learning from your experiences.
Aurie, you don't sound "disfunctional" to me! There are all types of homeschoolers & all types of programs from totally computer-based to totally workbook, from hands-on to video, from unit studies to traditional, from both secular and religious-based publishers, and this forum probably has representatives from each. Our youngest students are in high school now, & we've tried 'em all, you might say--depending on the needs of our children. Take your time to ask questions & look around. Welcome to a great spot to help you get started and to encourage you along the way!
Aurie, You have come to the right place for ideas, encouragement, and support. I started homeschooling my 13 and 8 year old daughters this school year and this spot has been my rock through it all. I am very new to homeschooling so I don't have a lot to offer yet but I will say it is the best thing I have ever done for my two daughters short of adopting them. We have five other children and if I could turn back time none of them would ever have been in public school. Welcome, Beth
Welcome!!! Many of us were kind of "pushed" into it, so to speak, like you. I wasn't...I knew homeschooling families when I was in my 20's, and so I was strongly leaning that way before I was married. I'm Jackie, and have three kids (DD12, DD10, and DS6). Where in Ohio are you from? I live in central Ohio.
We lived in Findlay which is south of Toledo about 30 mins. But I grew up in Paulding county. Thanks for the nice welcome!
Oh, I did my student teaching in Findlay. I went to Bowling Green. My area was Deaf Education, and Findlay had a wonderful program.
I really liked that town, overall. My DS went to the school that housed the deaf program. That wasn't why he went there But I really enjoyed him in that school. We had thought that my daughter's speech delay could be due to an auditory processing disorder. This year we were sposed to work with that school to start determining whether or not that was the issue. LA doesn't have anything along those lines... Very sad down here for the options they have for their children. It is no wonder the state ranks so low in education.
Hello and welcome!!! My name is Patty and I have been homeschooling my daughter, Emma, since she started school. She is 8 years old. I hope you like it around here. Patty
Aurie, welcome. My name is Vikki and I live in CO with my dh of 14yrs and our 4 dc. We have hsed, using Sonlight since my oldest was in pre-k. I was one who also thought I wouldn't hs, but I'm loving it and so glad we went this route.
That describes me exactly. It took God putting us in a place were I didn't feel comfortable putting my kids in school to get me to listen to the call to homeschool. Now, I wouldn't want anything else. I LOVE being able to be mom and teacher to my kids. BTW, the school system here had nothing to offer my special needs dd (visual perception disorder). It's one of the factors that played into my decision. I took my dd to a college of optometry for vision therapy. At one time we were considering having her tested for an auditory processing disorder, too. That was going to be done by a medical school. Do you live close enough to a large city to check into someting like that?
We are very close to Louisiana Tech (40 mins). They have some kind of program for speech services. Once I got things settled I was going to check into them to see about having her tested.
Hi Auri! So glad you are here. I'm Valerie, married, have four kids, s23, s21, d18, and s10, and have been hsing for 20 years. I even hsed my last year of high school, and that was 1981. LOL Nearly every parent who looks into homeschooling believes it is not for them. Sort of a brainwashing technique ps systme instills in everybody. lol However, there are very, very few people who cannot do it. Even a lackluster home eduction would be much better than a ps education, it's simply the numbers and the love of the parent. Kids thrive being taught at home and parents find out it is about the most wonderful experience you can ever be priviledged to be given. There are so many ways of teaching, all of them work. Some of them work better with some children/parents than others. You will find out what works best as you move along. And you will likely change as well. I have yet to meet any hs family that has stayed with one curriculum their entire time. It's good to change up, do it differently. You don't have to worry, your kids learn as long as something new is in front of them. Also, if you don't want to organize lesson plans and such, there are plenty of ways to hs that you don't even have to do that. I'll have to check out this K12 think you are mentioning, I haven't heard of that one. You're in a good spot for questions and answers, and a few good laughs, too.
