Homeschooling for Dummies, Sentry18 Edition

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Sentry18

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I am not in charge of curriculum, itineraries, or shaping minds (the wife is getting that up and running). For the time being I am only in charge of the "classroom". I spent most of the weekend converting the South half of our family room into a home school classroom and updating our internet technology. We now have an area with 3 identical student work stations along the same wall (desk, chair, lamp, computer, bulletin board, & supplies) and a 4th set up on another wall that has a little more space but all the same stuff plus more. When our oldest home student "graduates" in 2 years that will become my desk. I also upgraded our 250 Mbps internet to 500 Mbps and our old AC3000 router is now a AX6000 (WiFi 6) router with a gigabit network switch. I am still not done with the Mrs. wanting a lot more changes. The craft closet is moving into the classroom into an old soon-to-be painted armouire, our old dining room table/chairs are moving to a central location in the room, a large US map with capitals and some additional school-like decor are going on the walls, and of course we are going to throw up a couple Wyze cams to keep tabs on things when they are e-learning. At some point when it's all up and running I will snap a picture.

The Superintendent of Home Schooling (what the Mrs. started calling herself after I joking called myself the principal) has also started networking with other homeschooling families from our church & neighborhood and has reached out with our children's public school friends to schedule regular play dates. I got the go ahead from my boss to work a short day Wednesdays so we can have a group outing every week, sometimes for education and sometimes for fun. My parents, who are moving within 30 minutes of us, have asked to help as well. They will be coming down to teach some real world stuff, cover some bible studies, and provide some lessons on US history and similar topics. We still have a lot to get worked out and will of course have to be flexible as we go, but my wife and are feeling very confident in our decision and are very much at peace knowing our children will not be exposed to near as much indoctrination and other crap.
 
You'll also see that "school" doesn't take as long as school. We started at 10 and the kid was usually done with what I gave her by 2:30ish. It worked well with my bus schedule and gave her the time and opportunity to look into other subjects that interested her. Hillsdale college has lots of free courses online. You can get college credit for them if you pay for the course. Liberty university has some to I believe.
 
We are driving ahead with home schooling. We had each child take an assessment then purchased portions of a Christian influenced curriculum focusing mainly on language arts, math, and US history. A friend of my wife provided us some free curriculum she developed for her kids in the areas of science, geography, and local history based heavily on area resources like museums, attractions, etc. We have also developed some of our own curriculum based on life skills and will be making adjustment as time and experience provides us more direction. Our "classroom" is coming along nicely as well.

Due to the sheer number of people in our church who have decided not to send their kids back to public school, the church has decided to help support home schoolers by offering a Wednesday afternoon "Christian studies" course and expanding the Wednesday afternoon and evening youth social events. They are also remodeling the entire youth area as well to create a preteen and teen hang out area and are expanding the outdoor playground area. Both of which will be available to everyone all week long. Which is especially awesome for us as we only live 3 block from the church.

Still have a few pieces of the puzzle to put together, but so far we eager to close the book on public schooling and focus on education. And without having to wear masks all day every day.
 
We are driving ahead with home schooling. We had each child take an assessment then purchased portions of a Christian influenced curriculum focusing mainly on language arts, math, and US history. A friend of my wife provided us some free curriculum she developed for her kids in the areas of science, geography, and local history based heavily on area resources like museums, attractions, etc. We have also developed some of our own curriculum based on life skills and will be making adjustment as time and experience provides us more direction. Our "classroom" is coming along nicely as well.

Due to the sheer number of people in our church who have decided not to send their kids back to public school, the church has decided to help support home schoolers by offering a Wednesday afternoon "Christian studies" course and expanding the Wednesday afternoon and evening youth social events. They are also remodeling the entire youth area as well to create a preteen and teen hang out area and are expanding the outdoor playground area. Both of which will be available to everyone all week long. Which is especially awesome for us as we only live 3 block from the church.

Still have a few pieces of the puzzle to put together, but so far we eager to close the book on public schooling and focus on education. And without having to wear masks all day every day.

We took that route in 94, 3 students, we chose a full curriculum from Bob Jones Academy (We didn't agree with all their religious teachings, and substituted our own religion classes), we found their materials sufficient to meet our needs. Our school had 4 rooms; one for study desks (spaced to avoid the don’t touch me syndrome); one for one on one teaching (the kitchen table); a library w full set of encyclopedia, dictionaries, thesaurus, current and old text books, students were expected to store all their study materials in the library; the final room contained the computer, AV equipment (TV-VCRs), and the piano. It worked well with the resources we had available. We did catch a lot of Flak from busy-bodies who thought we were hurting our kids. Our children are grown now and all are working.

Side note, A few years ago, 2 of our grandchildren were having trouble in school, daughter took them out of class the last week of school and sent them here for the summer, we did assessment tests on each, pulled out the old books and started playing school. It wasn’t easy there were discipline problems that needed adjustment and other trials, but by the end of the summer they were conforming to our lifestyle. When they returned home the school system said they had to be tested before they could be put into class (I guess it was because they missed the last week). After the tests, my daughter got called in by the school. They wanted to know what “happened” to the kids over the summer. Seems, they both jumped a full grade level. Since then they have both done well in school and are doing fine.
 
Can't blame you at all. My oldest grandson just graduated high school after home schooling the last 4 years. Two more grandkids are being home schooled this year, which are called home schooling pods, where the neighborhood kids group together by age and have a teacher watch them all day with good teaching, rather than the rubbish they are pushing at public schools. One other grand child is going to a private Catholic school, thanks to grandma, because we will not have grandkids be taught about oral and anal sex at 11 years of age.

Sex education isn’t just about putting condoms on bananas anymore.


California school districts are teaching more detailed descriptions of body parts, sexual acts and sexual diversity.


That’s brought a dozen parents outside State Senator Connie Leyva’s office one recent afternoon. She leads the Senate Education Committee, which makes decisions about sex ed in public schools.


Many of those parents share an active disdain for California’s sex education.


One of them is Michelle New. She pulled her 12-year-old daughter out of public school after learning about the curriculum there.


She says it’s not the same lessons she learned when she was in school.


“Sex education taught safety, it taught reproductive, it taught puberty, it did teach condoms and birth control and things like that. But it didn’t go over and beyond sexual beliefs, and this curriculum does,” she says. “You don’t see anything that doesn’t have an agenda. It’s all agenda-driven.”

https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/public-school-sex-ed/sex-ed-lausd
 
The new "mesh" router system is up and running and the internet is definitely faster and covers way more area. Better yet I can monitor exactly what anyone connected to my network is doing. I still need one more PC for every desk to have one, so my laptop will serve in it's place until I can get another one ordered. All of the PC's we have up and running already are off-lease i5 desktops that I upgraded with SSD hard drives and Windows 10, so they were not very expensive. We bought a new printer for the home school area this past weekend and I put up a couple Wyze cams so I can keep an eye on things. The wife printed out several work books for the curriculum she bought and has already put numerous events on the school calendar for August and September.

Yesterday we effectively started the new home school routine and the kids did very well. Seems like the two biggest challenges we are going to face is keeping them from working too far ahead and keeping them from killing each other. We had a productive family meeting last night where we talking about regulating our own behavior and working cooperatively to maximize learning. They all took it to heart. Mostly because they know their mother cares little about the carrot and is fast to the stick. She is the superintendent after all.
 
Our kids were always excited to "get" to start a new book, so we had to limit the number of lessons per subject they could do each day. Even with that they were out of the curriculum by the time they were 16. For their senior year we had them attend the community college, Freshman English and stuff that would transfer to the University (you have to be very careful when trying to transfer classes from the community College to the University, check with your preferred University to be sure). Our 2 youngest started the University at 17, having already completed 2 semesters.
 
Homeschooling...first, deschooling. I hated public school so much growing up. Lol
As a young mom I wanted to but it wasn't very popular. By the time oldest sonny boy was in school there were problems. He did 2 years and I had enough!
I homeschooled from 92-18 cuz I had like a hundred kids, like you, Sentry.
Having kids learning at home was not easy. We experimented with several different styles of it over the years. I blended Well Trained Mind with Charlotte Mason, and took pointers from the Highland Academy in Kentucky. I could not deal with using Christian based curricula. The Bible was it's own subject, ya know?
Sounds like you've got a good support system set up and I hope everybody relaxes first. We always started the school year off with pictures, baking, playing outside and laughing about not having to go to school.
Be flexible. Good luck, and God bless.
 
I think sharing pictures of our homeschooling spaces might inspire others (not on the forum) to join or even try when it comes to homeschooling.

I'll post pictures tomorrow when the room is lit up with morning sun.
 
I was home-schooled from 2nd through eighth grade (Calvert School, a a curriculum used for US children overseas), because there were no American schools there. I went to a Jesuit boarding school for the next three years and did my last year in a public high school in the States. By then everything was pretty easy; I'm convinced that not going to public schools was a good thing for me.

My oldest kid is a public school teacher (mathematics) in Arizona, and he has mixed feelings about the public school system. I taught in both public and private schools and wouldn't even consider teaching in public schools again!

Teaching can be a real PITA and blessed be, all of you, for caring enough about your children to give it a try. I don't know much about the importance of "teaching" social interaction; I guess that's up to the parents to determine. I would suggest to be as strong on STEM studies as possible; it'll pay off when your kid is grown.

Also, consider buying, borrowing, or stealing these: My Book House, by Olive Beaupre Miller. It is a set of 12 graded stories for kids from toddler-hood to junior high school, first published in the 1930's and leaning heavily to the best stories and literature around. Dated, yes: but who cares? You can still find them sold used through Amazon or other on-line sources. It will open up the world of classical and epic literature for your kids.

Again, good on all of you for caring for your children and grandchildren!
 
I was home-schooled from 2nd through eighth grade (Calvert School, a a curriculum used for US children overseas), because there were no American schools there. I went to a Jesuit boarding school for the next three years and did my last year in a public high school in the States. By then everything was pretty easy; I'm convinced that not going to public schools was a good thing for me.

My oldest kid is a public school teacher (mathematics) in Arizona, and he has mixed feelings about the public school system. I taught in both public and private schools and wouldn't even consider teaching in public schools again!

Teaching can be a real PITA and blessed be, all of you, for caring enough about your children to give it a try. I don't know much about the importance of "teaching" social interaction; I guess that's up to the parents to determine. I would suggest to be as strong on STEM studies as possible; it'll pay off when your kid is grown.

Also, consider buying, borrowing, or stealing these: My Book House, by Olive Beaupre Miller. It is a set of 12 graded stories for kids from toddler-hood to junior high school, first published in the 1930's and leaning heavily to the best stories and literature around. Dated, yes: but who cares? You can still find them sold used through Amazon or other on-line sources. It will open up the world of classical and epic literature for your kids.

Again, good on all of you for caring for your children and grandchildren!

I use a Charlotte Mason based method that is very book and reading heavy. It is perfect for Roo as she is a big reader and is advanced because of it.

I recommend Ambleside Online if anyone has a reader. Also The Good and the Beautiful has free curriculum that is good for those just starting out or as a guideline. Their science curriculum works well as unit studies and is just open and go.
 
Here is our school room. I don't have my white board in here and my desk still has not arrived (end of the month). Most of the supplies are still in boxes in the rest of the house but this is the set up for now. K buried the white board when we moved. Now I have to wait until he wants to move things in the garage and finds it. I also have more info posters to hang on the walls. Roo's daily folders are on the wall behind the double doors. Those weird things on the bookcase are stepping stones used for balance and sensory play. The girls love setting them up in the den and jumping from stone to stone. They were originally for Juju but Roo enjoys them very much as well. I want a balance beam for the girls as well but I can't find the one I want in stock anywhere.

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Very nice @Grimm. I will post pics of ours once it is finally set up just the way the Superintendent wants it. ;)

This morning was the first official day of home school for our kids. Wife even made them parade outside for a photo after breakfast holding the obligatory "first day of school 2020" sign. At 8:30am they were all expected to be seated at their desks, pencils sharpened, bladders emptied, day clothes on, work books at the ready, mental faculties engaged, behaviors self-regulated, and fully prepared to learn. By 10:39am every child had completed their assignments for the day. A solid 51 minutes faster than anticipated. The wife is working from home this week so she reviewed their work and found no skipped sections, errors, or things needing correction. They kids were already asking if they could work ahead, so I have a feeling we might go through these work books much faster than expected.

Today they are also officially affiliated with a private christian school, through whom they will take their assessment tests. The public school even found a way to screw that up for home schoolers, adding tons of unnecessary red tape, bureaucracy, and pointless hoops to jump through. Including having to take the test at school on a Saturday morning and requiring them to show their work using common core for the math portion of the exam. While we have to pay for the assessment at the private school, they simply mail it to us, we proxy the exam ourselves, then we mail it back to be graded. The private school will also permit our kids to attend events at the school, like dances and sporting events, and even walk for graduation when the day comes. Of course we have to pay for those privileges.
 
Very nice @Grimm. I will post pics of ours once it is finally set up just the way the Superintendent wants it. ;)

This morning was the first official day of home school for our kids. Wife even made them parade outside for a photo after breakfast holding the obligatory "first day of school 2020" sign. At 8:30am they were all expected to be seated at their desks, pencils sharpened, bladders emptied, day clothes on, work books at the ready, mental faculties engaged, behaviors self-regulated, and fully prepared to learn. By 10:39am every child had completed their assignments for the day. A solid 51 minutes faster than anticipated. The wife is working from home this week so she reviewed their work and found no skipped sections, errors, or things needing correction. They kids were already asking if they could work ahead, so I have a feeling we might go through these work books much faster than expected.

Today they are also officially affiliated with a private christian school, through whom they will take their assessment tests. The public school even found a way to screw that up for home schoolers, adding tons of unnecessary red tape, bureaucracy, and pointless hoops to jump through. Including having to take the test at school on a Saturday morning and requiring them to show their work using common core for the math portion of the exam. While we have to pay for the assessment at the private school, they simply mail it to us, we proxy the exam ourselves, then we mail it back to be graded. The private school will also permit our kids to attend events at the school, like dances and sporting events, and even walk for graduation when the day comes. Of course we have to pay for those privileges.

Take advantage of Christianbooks.com homeschooling sale. Workbooks and extra materials on sale with free shipping.

Roo starts the school day at 9am and is done well before lunch. I added activities like story starters and journaling to keep her busy a little longer. How to draw books are good too since the public schools don't do art any more.
 
Take advantage of Christianbooks.com homeschooling sale. Workbooks and extra materials on sale with free shipping.

Roo starts the school day at 9am and is done well before lunch. I added activities like story starters and journaling to keep her busy a little longer. How to draw books are good too since the public schools don't do art any more.

I will check it out. Thanks.

They are journaling based on our "question of the day" which they have to ponder and write about. We actually picked up an art curriculum but it only takes about 12 weeks to complete, so we are saving it for winter time. Will include trips to the art museum and an art studio.
 
You'll also see that "school" doesn't take as long as school. We started at 10 and the kid was usually done with what I gave her by 2:30ish. It worked well with my bus schedule and gave her the time and opportunity to look into other subjects that interested her. Hillsdale college has lots of free courses online. You can get college credit for them if you pay for the course. Liberty university has some to I believe.
Both Hillsdale and Liberty U are leaned over so far they need buttresses.
 
I will check it out. Thanks.

They are journaling based on our "question of the day" which they have to ponder and write about. We actually picked up an art curriculum but it only takes about 12 weeks to complete, so we are saving it for winter time. Will include trips to the art museum and an art studio.

Roo has no artistic ability so I use the how to draw books as a way for her to enjoy drawing because I let her have free choice on what to draw. We also do all kinds of crafts around the holidays.

The Good and the Beautiful has an art curriculum but it is for Pre-K to 2nd grade.

Check out Meet the Masters art program. It is a once a month program but the lessons and projects can be spaced out to last longer.
 
Take advantage of Christianbooks.com homeschooling sale. Workbooks and extra materials on sale with free shipping.

Roo starts the school day at 9am and is done well before lunch. I added activities like story starters and journaling to keep her busy a little longer. How to draw books are good too since the public schools don't do art any more.
The voters in Denver approved an arts tax for schools several years ago. The money from this has to be spent on arts instruction in schools. Many schools have an art, music and sometimes a drama teacher. Some schools have figured out a way to take "arts money" and use the money in other instruction. This is not all bad. P.E. teachers teach a dance unit. I would have thought that upper elementary children, especially boys, would have hated dance, but the P.E. teacher must have done an amazing job teaching it, because the students begged to do dancing at class holiday parties. Several students brought music to dance to. I was blown away to see the passion they had for dancing because of having good instruction. And, they were always so pumped on P.E. days when it was the dance unit.
 
The voters in Denver approved an arts tax for schools several years ago. The money from this has to be spent on arts instruction in schools. Many schools have an art, music and sometimes a drama teacher. Some schools have figured out a way to take "arts money" and use the money in other instruction. This is not all bad. P.E. teachers teach a dance unit. I would have thought that upper elementary children, especially boys, would have hated dance, but the P.E. teacher must have done an amazing job teaching it, because the students begged to do dancing at class holiday parties. Several students brought music to dance to. I was blown away to see the passion they had for dancing because of having good instruction. And, they were always so pumped on P.E. days when it was the dance unit.

Dance teaching balance and cordnation. Thats a good subject. Most boys don't want to learn to dance though,so its good to give lessons.
 
At that age no boy wants to stand out and dancing, whether you're good or bad you stand out!
I am a decent dancer and people always tell me it's so unusual... The key is finding a gal who can dance too!
A woman who is a smooth dancer can make a dork look good and a woman who bounces and pulls on the dance floor will make a good dancer look terrible. Like all mixed sports you are only as good as your partner.
 
Here is a tip for families with multiple children that they plan to homeschool. When buying supplemental materials like workbooks get the teacher editions. Most teacher edition workbooks come with a license to reproduce the materials. They are made to be dissected and photocopied for whole class use. The paper used is thicker than disposable/one use workbooks and are perforated for easy removal. I take the whole workbook apart and store in page protectors in a binder.
 
Another tip is to become a member of HSLDA, Home School Legal Defense Association. It is the best money you could spend knowing your rights are going to be protected should someone try to tell you what you can or can't do with your own children and their education.
 
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