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POLKADOT*FLOWER
4/7/06 10:09 A
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Just popping in to let you know we did start a homeschool site. It is under parenting and Family, and is called We Love Homeschooling. Hugs, Barbara
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Thanks for the info! Don't know what we will end up doing with schooling but it is nice to be "armed" with as much knowledge as possible!
S
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Remember when it comes to testing, standardized tests are still "grade" or "level" oriented and don't necessarily reflect the child's education but only what other children have done at that same level. As the parent AND teacher, I already know how my son will do on a standardized test just by the material we cover each year. I don't teach to the test so I don't really have much concern in the results. (we don't have to turn in test results but do need to keep records of them.) Some years he migh have a low math score, the next it will be high (For example, we worked longer one year on multiplication facts, another year on fractions, but didn't get to decimals. It showed in the test). In the long term, my son has a better grounding in math, but it may not reflect in nationally normed tests immediately. Language arts scores is consistantly in the 80-90th percentile.
I administer the CAT basic skills test at home each year for my own records. You will need to check with your state homeschool laws as each state has their own requirements. We do the CAT over a couple of days although it is only a few hours of testing. Each section is timed and once finished, we send it back to be independantly scored. The basic skills covers math and language arts.
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MUJERAMARAVILLA
4/2/06 3:35 P
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| have any of you had yuor kids in awesome schools to be faced with a move? we are looking at possibly moving and our kids are in a phenomenal classical school. I am worried to put them into another type of school....
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What exactly does the CAT test have on it? How long is it? What do you think of it?
S
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| Between March and April every year I administer the CAT/5 test to my children.
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Hi Homeschool Moms
I was just wondering if you could tell me more about the testing your kids do. I have an Ele Ed degree and taught for 5 years but am now home with my 22 mo old son. We have not decided what to do about schooling yet but are open to the different options!
Thanks for your help!
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Hi I'm new to this site and have been homeschooling for 3 years now. I have a 13 year old son in 7th and an 8 year old daughter in 2nd.
I personaly made the decision to homeschool when my son was in 4th grade. He was a straight A student through his entire academic career until that year. He was tired of being bullied and called "teacher's pet" so he made the choice to be more "like his friends." Considering that 8 of the 24 students in his class had failed the previous year (3 of them had failed the past 2 years!) this was not a wise decision. Also, his attitude at home had changed from a mild mannered, respectful child to that of a brat!
I can honestly say that homeschooling saved our family. He is a completely different child now. We still keep in touch with his best friend from public school who started out the same way my son did. He is now failing most of his subjects and has been expelled twice this year! I know that if I had left Frank in school he would be following down the same path.
As for socialization or the dreaded "S" word, I think we are over socialized! My kids are very involved with scouts, karate, church, and COOP. Not to mention art classes, canoe classes, guitar and choir. Every day of our week is filled with some activity!
They also spend plenty of time with friends and family. We are fortunate to live close to both grandma's and the kids alternate between the two every friday. I can honestly say they are closer to their grandparents than I ever was!
I truly believe in homeschooling! Not just as an alternative to public school but as a way of life.
KIM
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You sure are lucky!!! I love the fact that you have a quaterly Saturday school for the whole family.That sounds very intrusting. Do you guys get a good respond from the parents? If we were to even suggest that the parents would probably be upset.
When I when to drop Nicole to school this morning I was so upset to see so many kids running up & down, I went and ask one teacher why were the kids not being supervised by any adults and you know what she said....That parents refuse to pay $5.00 a MONTH for someone to keep an eye on them before school starts.
Than God I'm able to drop Nicole 5 minutes before the school bell rings.
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RUNNINGMAMMA
3/23/06 12:05 P
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My oldest son is 7 and is in 2nd grade at a charter school. We love it. The classes are small and he learns so much. They also have elective arts classes there, one quarter he has drama, the next he has art, the next is music, and another is dance. They also have spanish twice a week and p.e. twice a week. We also have a quarterly family Saturday school day where the whole family comes to school to participate in activities. I feel so lucky, it is very much like a private school, but for free.
My youngest son is about to turn 3 and he goes to a preschool. He has been going for about a year now. I will also have him go to the charter school when he is ready for kindergarten.
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Hi Karen, I can understand your point in homeschooling your kids I thing if my child classroom would grow from 20-35 kids I would definitely homeschool too.
Here things are more quated. Parents don't get involved as much. I'm very involved with the teachers and I'm also one of the ClassParent. Which means we get to know most of what goes on with the kids. Sometimes I feel so sorry when the kids go to school and don't have the materials they need. I feel as if the parents don't care at all what's going on in the classroom. Lots of them go to school without even doing their homework.
I also feel that the kids are the living example of their parents. I'm really sorry to say this but you can see which parents care about their school activities by just looking at the kids books and the way they are dress.
My daughter Nicole loves her school and her teachers. At this point Im very haappy with the public school.
The kids get homework on Monday, Wednesday & Friday and they take a book to read on Tuesday & Thursday.
I totally agree with you Becky, Thankfully, we all have a choice.
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I also homeschool my son, 13 and have since 3rd grade. Homeschooling is a good fit for him and he has excelled academically (he was the class clown in traditional school) and socially (no longer a follower but now a leader). I can promise that a degree is not needed to teach your child. Homeschooling includes teaching, but as they get older, you are more of a resource manager.
My son is active in Boy Scouts working on his Eagle rank, plays spring and fall baseball, tennis, drama club, volunteers weekly at the library and participates in more activities than I can list here. Socialization is NOT an issue. He graduates from 8th grade this year. Our homeschool group has a formal ceremony each year for honors and graduates.
Homeschooling isn't for everyone, but neither is public or private school. Thankfully, we all have a choice.
Blessings!
Becky
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Madonna:
While my first two children were in public school, they were in smaller classes. Although my daughter was an A/B honor roll student, sometimes she required additional help understanding some of her work. I would spend 4 to 5 hours doing homework with her. I felt that if I was spending that amount of time with her, I might as well homeschool her. The class sizes were going to go from 20 up to 35 per teacher. She would be lost in a class that big.
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Hi Karen my hat goes off to you. It seems that you're doing a great job with your kids.
I personally only have one daughther and she is only 5. She started Pre-K at a private school when she was 3. I wasn't too happy with what she was doing then. So I move her to another private school where she did Kindergarten she graduated at the age of 4 being the 2nd best out of the whole graduation class. She started year one at a public school before she even turn 5.
On her first exams she came home with a Honor Roll bumper sticker. I was so proud of my little girl. She came 2nd with a 99 percentage. She can now read & write without any problem.
My problem with the private schools were that they pay more attention to other things than learning. And no matter how much a company or someone else donates money for the school they are always looking for more money.
The public school are more advance in the learning than the private schools. My daughter is very happy with the school there are 20 kids in the class room and 2 teachers. They have two pets and each class room have two private batrooms.
I know that each school is vey different in their own way but here in the Cayman Islands the public schools are better than the private schools.
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New to this blog. I, too, homeschool my three children. I have been for the past 8 years and wouldn't have it any other way. Yes, we take a lot of flack from our family that think they know better than we do how to raise our children. I turn a deaf ear to them. They are hypocritical. First, they talk about all the violence, drugs and teachers having sexual relations with students and wonder what the world is coming to. Then they think you're crazy for not wanting your kids to be put in to that kind of enviroment. Don't make sense to me, does it you?
I have a college degree but not in education. I graduated with top honors from the college I attended 20 years ago before I had children.
My children are well socialized with a diverse group of people. They are not "backwards" in any sense of the word. They have friends that are young, old, big, little, various hues and various ethnicities. They have friends that are homeschooled and friends that are in public school. They are active in the scouts, volunteer with the local fire department and the local senior center.
My eldest (a daughter) will be graduating this year and is considering a career in the military. My middle child (a son) is well on his way to Eagle Scout and writing a book. My youngest (also a boy) is also in the scouts and is extremely athletic (if he don't become the next Brett Farve he wants to be the next John Cena). They all enjoy Spongebob Squarepants and other mind-numbing rot like that. Hahaha.
As to the expense of things, my husband and I earn approx $35K a year gross. (Not rich by any stretch of the word). He works full-time during the day and I work PT at night. I buy most of my curriculum used, which helps eleviate the cost of homeschooling. I am also attending college part-time (thanks to Pell grants). I am persuing a degree in Radiography, so that I'll have a career after the kids leave home.
I am also a cancer survivor. I went thru cancer treatments two years ago. Wasn't easy for the kids, but, thanks be to God, we made it.
So, as you can see, we have a full life. I've really enjoyed having my kids with me (most of the time) and wouldn't go back and change a thing.
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| Hi. Just joined sparks today, i homeschool 2 of my kids now, other 4 are too young. can't believe I found other moms in my boat so quickly. My sister told me about this site in passing. just had our baby 3 weeks ago but ready to lose this weight NOW. any advise to a new member who is home all day with 6 kids ? I love to walk, but when? I know I am new but would be interested in a homeschool site as well.
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NETLOCMOMMA
3/20/06 9:21 A
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When choosing a school for your children I think you need to first find out about class size. As long as teachers are excited, the principal and staff are encouraging and class sizes are small any school can be a great experiance. I'm sure that some private schools can offer more simply because they are so expensive that they leave out the majority of the children. (at least here in the USA)
I homeschool my children right now. We are a military family, we have moved a lot. My husband just came home from a long tour overseas. We needed stability. I have a 6th grader and two 1st graders. I've also got a 2yo. I use the K12 program, you can check it out at www.k12.com. It is a great program that is very structured. I like structure, I feel like I need it to keep us on track.
Homeschool is difficult. Free time is suddenly gone. Even though most of my work is done for me, such as planning lessons, I still work very hard to get everything going.
Good luck in your decision.
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| Thanks ladies for all the information I am recieving and helping me decide.
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| I vote for the homeschool site.. that's actually what I was looking for when I found this one!
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MUJERAMARAVILLA
3/18/06 4:29 P
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| Do your kiddos wear uniforms? I LOVE the uniform thing. It is fabulous. I need to buy way less clothes overall except of course in the summer.
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SHUCKYMAMA
3/18/06 2:16 P
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| My kids go to a charter school as well. It is s great alternative to the public school system and it is free. The school is run by its own Board of directors.
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MUJERAMARAVILLA
3/18/06 10:22 A
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Hi all,
My boys actually go to a wonderful charter school. It is run like a private school yet is free to us as a public school. We are very blessed. I had planned on homeschooling our boys if they didn't get into the charter school after a bad experience with our neighborhood school and BAM the oldest got in then the other two after him.
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POLKADOT*FLOWER
3/18/06 6:48 A
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| Hi ladies! So nice to meet some more homeschoolers! Would you be interested in making a homeschool site on here? There have been a few, but they seem to have died out. I just thought it might be better than taking over this site- since there are non-homeschoolers here. I don't want to offend anyone, but would love to answer the socialization question!!!! God bless. Hugs, Barbara
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It's great to see all you who homeschool. It is such a unique way of life, it's hard at times to find those who can relate. I homeschool my 6 and 3 year old and I love that I can share this time with them. I think my favorite aspect is watching them learn so quickly with our one on one setting. They learn and grow at their individual pace, which isn't allowed in public school.
My second favorite is socialization! (little sarcasm here  ) I wonder, what are the thoughts of those homeschooling think about this issue?
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MISSMYFIGURE
3/17/06 10:33 P
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| My family is actually a second generation homeschool group. My husband was homeschooled from 7th grade on. His mom took him out of school because he tested at a 4th grade level and she felt confident enough to help him get back on track. He graduated above average and has went on to become a network engineer. I knew I wanted to homeschool since I was 15. I didn't have a pleasant high school experience and I had friends who homeschooled and enjoyed hanging with them on my school days off. My husband and I met years later and then we both knew we wanted to homeschool. I school 3 children right now. My 4th is too little. It has been a wonderful experience for us all.
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| Thanks for all the information.
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I've been homeschooling for 10 years (2 kids, one's finished schooling now) and my only regret is that my kids ever went to school! :-)
They didn't miss out on anything (except perhaps being bullied) and our family life has been much richer for it.
The kids have been involved with choirs, musicals, bands, writing classes, scouting, gymnastics and many other social events for homeschooled kids and just "regular" kids :-) Life has been as full as they wanted.
I would highly recommend you do some googling on homeschooling - there is SO much on the internet to help. And I would also recommend any book by John Holt.
Lynnette
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| I am a special education teacher, and I know that public schools are required to provide services to ANY child in their district, regardless of whether the child is homeschooled, in private school, or enrolled in public school. Just contact your local school board office. Your child can receive speech services free of charge even if you are homeschooling. I don't know where you are but if you are in the US this applies. Good luck and let me know if I can help you further.
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| As a taxpayer you should be able to have the therapy without him being in school. My dd is in a private school and the school district sends an OT to the school for her.
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MAMAWOLFE3
3/15/06 11:13 A
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| I really want to home school but it looks like my son is going to need speech therapy and our insurance does not pay for it. But the local school has a special needs preschool so I am looking into enrolling him.
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Haven't checked in a while. Hope everyone is well and I appreciate everything you ladies have to say because I wouldn't have thought about some of the things you have said.
Ashley
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