Guest lahmeh Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Hi all! A friend of mine is fed up with the public school system and is interested in learning all she can about homeschooling her young child. She knows nothing at this point and since I'm still new I was hoping some of you could provide a few of your favorite links to sites that will help her become familiar with it and help her believe she CAN do it. Thank you in advance for any advice you can pass along! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aletheia Academy Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 I have a bunch listed on the right side of my blog-see address in siggy. In addition, I highly recommend reading Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for the information on various approaches and curricula and visiting the HSLDA website, especially since she will be pulling her kids from ps. Blessings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 www.amblesideonline.com http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/ www.homeschoolreviews.com www.oldfashionededucation.com www.enchantedlearning.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lahmeh Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Just tell her to join us here! She'll get an earful of advice from all the wisdom on this board. This board, and reading the WTM, has been the singlemost source of homeschool wisdom, advice, support, etc. for me. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and I have to take a break from the curriculum board (I can get rather crazy!), but I can always find answers to my questions here. Have her read the WTM, Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks. If she has a young child, Five In A Row is a terrific curriculum (I'm finding) and they have a wonderful support forum as well at http://www.fiveinarow.com. But, my advice would be to not overwhelm her by throwing to much at her at once. Give her a few places to visit (here, FIAR, perhaps ambleside or another Charlotte Mason type site) some curriculum recommendations (not a lot!) and then give her time to think it all through! Just my 2 cents...from someone who overwhelmed herself by reading and visiting TONS of books and websites in the first few weeks before homeschooling and wanted to give up before I even started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 (edited) Just tell her to join us here! She'll get an earful of advice from all the wisdom on this board. This board, and reading the WTM, has been the singlemost source of homeschool wisdom, advice, support, etc. for me. Sometimes it gets overwhelming and I have to take a break from the curriculum board (I can get rather crazy!), but I can always find answers to my questions here. Have her read the WTM, Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks. If she has a young child, Five In A Row is a terrific curriculum (I'm finding) and they have a wonderful support forum as well at www.fiveinarow.com. But, my advice would be to not overwhelm her by throwing to much at her at once. Give her a few places to visit (here, FIAR, perhaps ambleside or another Charlotte Mason type site) some curriculum recommendations (not a lot!) and then give her time to think it all through! Just my 2 cents...from someone who overwhelmed herself by reading and visiting TONS of books and websites in the first few weeks before homeschooling and wanted to give up before I even started! ITA! This board has been my biggest source of information and wisdom. BUT, it takes a lot of time reading. I am very glad I had the entire summer to research and think things through. I am hs for the first time - officially starting on Tuesday. Someone asked if I feel prepared. After an entire summer on this board, I said without hesitating, I feel very prepared (well, as much as a first timer can)! Lisa ETA: Getting over the fear that she CAN'T do it is the biggest hurdle. Once she is armed with all the information plus the support of the board, she will just know that she can! Edited September 6, 2009 by lisabees Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lahmeh Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 I definitely gave her this link! (my true fav.) :) I also gave her some that were VERY helpful to me in the beginning which are HSLDA and homeschoolreviews.com. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 For us (first-time hsers) the toughest part was stepping away from the crowd and acting on what we knew; the system is locked in a sharp decline. Even so, and knowing what we should do it was tough to actually take the leap. You can read and read and I did. But you know you're reading the opinion of folks that have already taken the step. So you wonder whether they are just offering an opinion to make themselves feel better. A month into this adventure and we still wonder. But we knew, knew that the system was failing you son, telling us he was one of the smartest in his grade and not to worry. But they didn't challenge him. His teacher did not believe in homework, any homework. We strongly disagree with that belief and his classmates from last year are struggling this year since their new teacher does believe in homework. Learning/reading became boring to him. We discovered gapping holes in foundational work. In the end, if we truly loved him and cared about his future we had no choice. We kept him home over the objections of both our families. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibaker103 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 For us (first-time hsers) the toughest part was stepping away from the crowd and acting on what we knew; the system is locked in a sharp decline. Even so, and knowing what we should do it was tough to actually take the leap. You can read and read and I did. But you know you're reading the opinion of folks that have already taken the step. So you wonder whether they are just offering an opinion to make themselves feel better. A month into this adventure and we still wonder. But we knew, knew that the system was failing you son, telling us he was one of the smartest in his grade and not to worry. But they didn't challenge him. His teacher did not believe in homework, any homework. We strongly disagree with that belief and his classmates from last year are struggling this year since their new teacher does believe in homework. Learning/reading became boring to him. We discovered gapping holes in foundational work. In the end, if we truly loved him and cared about his future we had no choice. We kept him home over the objections of both our families. Wow Jim I think you may be my twin!!! :tongue_smilie: I don't know how old your son is but it definitely gets worse not better if children stay in ps. Last year my ds was 7th grade all Pre-AP classes, reading at the 11th grade level, bored out of his mind with no homework yet he was on the verge of flunking math!! I pulled him out at winter break and never looked back!! When I tested him for math it was at 4th grade level and he only got 1 problem write on the grammar test. :001_huh: I'm still figuring things out myself but realized I could do no worse than what the ps was already doing to him. This took a load off of my shoulders along with discovering this fabulous site. Just keep reading and experimenting. I have found that even when I make a mistake we are still both learning so no harm no foul!! I'm also happy to report that in the semester we have worked on math Noah has gone from 4th to 6th grade and as for grammar...in the 2 weeks we have been working on it his response has been "Ohhhhh that's what this is called!! I asked the teacher but her response was always don't worry about it your a great writer." I rest my case!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in the Country Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I don't really have any website recommendations since back when I decided to homeschool I mostly trolled message boards. I would recommend you (with her permission of course) get her on the mailing lists of every homeschooling catalog you can think of. Once I decided to look into homeschooling I found the catalogs helpful for being able to piece together in my head what homeschooling would "look like". Catalogs like Rainbow Resource, Rod and Staff, Christian Book Distributors, Sonlight, Timberdoodle, Veritas Press etc. would give her a feel for what is out there. She could see there are textbooks, but homeschooling isn't all textbooks....different philosophies come across in many of these catalogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starwarsmomma Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I didn't see it, but what about homeschoolreviews.com for reviews on curriculum, and homeschoolclassifieds.com for used curriculum??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirch Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Something else you might do is point her toward some good homeschooling blogs where she can "see" it in action. Many members here have incredibly helpful blogs with pictures, links, lists, what's working well for them, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starwarsmomma Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Oh, what about joining (or at least contacting) her local Homeschool Group?? Ask parents questions, see what other's are using, see what they do??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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