Facebook curriculum groups, and my local homeschool bookstore.

I don’t compare, even with my own previous education or what I would have wanted for myself at this point. I started with super high standards and strict beliefs about what subjects and methods were correct and 12 years later that has all changed. I hold our plans loosely and work on the next thing. I also don’t try to forecast on such a strict timeline anymore and have come to the opinion that the pursuit of rigor has led to cramming material best left for adults into younger and younger kids who don’t have the maturity to understand it and burning them out by college.

I mostly do consignment/buyback at two local homeschool stores and donate the rest to goodwill. With FB groups I have better luck selling in specific curriculum groups than general ones.

I would use it to refer to someone using programs like WAVA or an ALE/PPP. Legally in Washington they are public school students doing their school work at home and have different legal requirements than homeschoolers who are completely independent educationally. Most of the time it’s not hugely relevant, but sometimes it’s very important when dealing with things like testing, ancillary services, and part-time enrollments.

Kinda. Having 45 college credits is one possible way to qualify, but you can also take a Parent Qualifying Course (no diploma or college required), elect to be overseen by a licensed teacher, or get approval by your district superintendent. Interesting note: there is no specification as to what kind of college classes you must use to qualify and you’re not required to disclose how you qualify unless you’re being overseen by a teacher.

Given the new info from OPs replies, I’d definitely no especially if it’s going to be something that happens more than one year. Not only because of the difficulty with the child getting attached or dealing with being dropped into the classroom late in the year, but the superintendent sounds like he already has a bad view of homeschoolers and this would probably make it worse. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have you looked into what your state requires as far as ancillary services? Some states have laws that require homeschoolers to be allowed to participate in things like music and sports without requiring them to enroll at all. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you sure it’s allergy related? DH gets occasional bouts of iritis and has to take steroid drops when it flares up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I love MP materials for Latin, Composition, and History/Geography, but I use the sequence set out by Kolbe for those subjects and leave the rest. You have to really love workbooks to mesh with MP’s whole curriculum and it would be way too much for my kid so we do a lot of what MP materials we do like orally. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We only do afternoon activities if I can at all help it, my toddler is a morning napper and the day is shot if we don’t do school before lunch and/or she doesn’t nap. I agree with no parents/siblings, although having one day where they can come and see/share what the kids are learning would be pretty cool. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It really depends on the state ad the district. In WA you bring your yearly test results or portfolio review from the last year you homeschooled when you enroll (and they mostly ignore it if the child is below high school age and just place them in whatever grade level their age-peers are in). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

WA is required to allow all homeschoolers access to ancillary services in the district they reside in. If they option into another district they only get to participate if there's room after in-district kids are served. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We loved Rod and Staff preschool workbooks and Kumon for handwriting (manuscript and cursive). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DS hated OPGTR with a burning passion. Sounding out nonsense syllables just made him angry because it didn't mean anything so he didn't retain any of it. I looked next at AAR but it seemed really expensive and full of pieces to keep track of so we ended up using Rod and Staff. It starts out with sight words and then does phonics. They've also recently released a new edition that does phonics right from the beginning. It is VERY religious though in case that wouldn't work for you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same. Also I'd feel way less overwhelmed if I stuck to just a few resources I actually use rather than hoarding curriculum/encyclopedias/etc in my house. I've gotten to the point where I regularly see a book at a store and honestly can't remember if I want it because I already have it or because I don't. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Every time I look at Singapore it seems to me that the child has to be already able to read to use it or the parent would have to read the directions to them while doing the workbook. Since my DS was a late and resistant reader and the Singapore method was not one I was familiar with I wanted something I could teach more easily and not feel like I wasn't explaining it correctly. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Absolutely. It can change the whole meaning of a sentence. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Even some of the homeschool package programs use multiple publishers for their sets. Kolbe uses Harcourt science, Memoria Press/TAN/Catholic Textbook Project for history, Saxon/Singapore math. Being able to pick and choose what works for your family is one of the best parts of homeschooling. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You know your kiddos readiness better than we do, are you're just wanting to put off reading those stories for a little later that's exactly what I did. Not specifically because I didn't like those stories but because I wanted my son to have a firm foundation in biblical history first, then in 2nd-3rd grade we started ancient mythology and history. I think this allowed us to talk about how the ancients (mis)perceived God in their lives as well as what they got right. D'aulaire's Norse myths was especially good for this as the book slowly shows the change in the gods from being virtuous in their own way to increasingly dishonest and chaotic on the way to Ragnarok. One Egyptian pharaoh tried to institute monotheism to the sun god Aten but it didn't last, which was a pretty good lesson on how one might have revelation and still fall away. Other people might disagree that this is the right way to go about it, framing history and mythology through a Christian lens, but that's what my family chooses to do and it works for us. I felt the same way as a child, the desire to worship but no real guidance from non-religious family, so once I found God it felt right to share that with my kids as truth before any other truths (all religions and belief systems that I've encountered have some) because it's that important. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I fully intended to do history almost verbatim from TWTM, but it didn't end up working out that way (lol like everything else, even the book says no one uses the book exactly). We spent way longer just doing the 3Rs, and once DS took off reading I tried to incorporate history books on his level as well as read-alouds, but we mostly focused on literature over an actual history curriculum. As far as time period, we've been doing "Ancients" for about three years but mostly focusing on Biblical history up until this year when we started including more of Greece/Egypt/Rome and getting some actual retention. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We loved Spelling by Sound and Structure because it reinforced the rules DS was learning in the R&S reading/phonics program rather than just being lists with little real explanation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, we had already done BOB books so he could sound out cvc words in the beginning. I would explain the rule the phonics lesson was teaching (a_e, blending, etc) and then have him read the edge list out of the teachers manual and used the reader and reading workbook/worksheets. At 6 he wasn't really into worksheets so skipping the phonics workbook worked for us until grade 2. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

R&S just brought out a new edition of their reading program that is more phonics based from the beginning. We used the phonics lessons in the Teachers Manual but not the workbooks with DS but he started getting frustrated with not reading anything "real" so we added in the reading section and he really took off. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We school all year and take breaks based on family needs and activities (holidays, new baby, etc.) rather than when we finish a book. WA doesn't require you to assign a grade, just to declare intent to homeschool during that academic year, so we don't change grades or have a vacation or ceremony at the end of a year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DS can do math any time of day. Reading/Phonics however *must* be done first thing or it becomes a huge fight the longer we put it off.