We started home schooling in fall of 2000 when my daughter was having health problems. She was missing a lot of school and we knew that if she continued missing so many days she would fail. She finished out first grade but we were counting the days until school was out!
We used to home school through our county in Tennessee, so that meant that at the end of the school year (180 days) I mailed in an attendance register for each child, which is basically a sheet of paper with a calendar year listed, on which parents check off the days they have schooled. The children are tested at the end of 5th, 7th and 9th grades. There are no other records required in our state for elementary students.
Now we home school through a Christian umbrella school that requires no testing. I have realized how many variables can affect test scores, including too many poor erasures! I don't want our home school judged purely on the score of a test that doesn't measure anything but how well a child takes a test. I now have to turn in grades twice a year and keep a daily log, but I'm sure it will be worth it. My children can graduate from this umbrella school with a diploma.
The most overwhelming part for me was choosing the curriculum. I stumbled upon Mary Hood's book, "The Joyful Home Schooler", and it helped me clarify and re-define some of my goals. Catherine Levison's "Charlotte Mason Education Books" have helped a lot, also. I would like to take a moment to recommend "The Joyful Home Schooler" to other home school families, especially those of you feeling a bit burned out.
This year we are using Math-U-See and Total Language Plus for our curriculum. So far we are enjoying it.
The kids love the manipulatives with Math-U-See and I love that the lessons do not take a huge amount of our day. We appreciate the relaxed feel of our school days. Katrina is even using the Math-U-See manipulatives in Pre-Algebra!
We are using Total Language Plus for our language arts this year. I like that the children are reading classic literature on their grade-level and the workbook activities are all related to the book they are reading. It's a burden off me trying to remember to include all the activities and get them crunched into our day. I highly recommend both Math-U-See and Total Language Plus!
I love unit studies for home school. Our first unit study was on rivers and river life. I made a great leap and researched a lot. I came up with the unit by myself.(With the help of our on-line library catalog!) It takes a bit more planning but it's something I enjoy doing. We did our math, spelling, reading practice and penmanship first in the morning and then dove into our unit. My next venture was a unit on "A Cricket in Times Square". We had fun with that one, also.
Here are some Home Schooling Links. If you find that a link does not work, let me know and I'll check it out a.s.a.p.
Christian Home School Fellowship on the Web
Christian Homeschooling- A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling
National Home Education Network
Home Educator.Com - The Place for Educational Entepreneurs
The Teaching Home, A Christian Magazine for Home Educators
Crosswalk.com
Hewitt Homeschooling Resources
Charlotte Mason Approach
Debi's Twaddle-Free Reading List
Easy Fun School
Enchanted Learning
Home Schooling Information and Resources
Homeschool Helper
Home School World
Jon's Homeschool Resource Page
Redwood Games HomeSchool Information
Sites For Kids
America's Library
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Kids Crafts, Fun and Links
Encyclopedia.Com
Figure This! Math Challenges for Families
Great Backyard Bird Count
Kid Zone - National Wildlife Federation
Knoxville Zoological Gardens
National Geogaphic Kids
Science Sites - Kids' Place - Newark Public Library
Webcam CentralWebcam views from all over the world
Yahooligans!
