Overwhelmed with homeschooling

[dcar]

I have been homeschooling my children for a little over a year, grades 10, 7, and 5. The decision to home school them was sudden, so I did not have the time to thoroughly check out every home school option. We have been using Time4Learning as the main curriculum with a little added on the side. I have found that I am not happy with the program at all, and while it was good to have a fairly all-inclusive program to get started, it just isn't enough to use as the main curriculum. 

 

So I have started once again to find something that works for us. We are on a budget, so many of the all-inclusive programs are out of the questions. I look at the stickies here and on other sites, and I don't know where to start. One of my main hurdles is that I am also in college, so my time to actually be involved with the daily lessons (as in actually teaching every lesson) is limited. We are also very strict with our time and stick to schedules (we have the entire semester schedule printed out so we are never behind), and it works for us. However, I have yet to find another program that can allow me to create schedules to tell the kids what to do each day.

 

Also, I feel like every program has a review similar to "This is a great supplement, but it's not enough for curriculum." Then what is? I have to have 5 different sources of information for each child? How can I be sure that I am teaching my high school student everything she needs to know to be successful in college? Why isn't there a site that she can log into, do scheduled lessons, take a quiz/test, and I can see progress?!

 

I may just be asking for too much: a more hands-off type of home school that records actual grades that doesn't cost a fortune.

Can anyone help me please?

[Ellie]

 

I have been homeschooling my children for a little over a year, grades 10, 7, and 5. The decision to home school them was sudden, so I did not have the time to thoroughly check out every home school option. We have been using Time4Learning as the main curriculum with a little added on the side. I have found that I am not happy with the program at all, and while it was good to have a fairly all-inclusive program to get started, it just isn't enough to use as the main curriculum. 

 

So I have started once again to find something that works for us. We are on a budget, so many of the all-inclusive programs are out of the questions. I look at the stickies here and on other sites, and I don't know where to start. One of my main hurdles is that I am also in college, so my time to actually be involved with the daily lessons (as in actually teaching every lesson) is limited. We are also very strict with our time and stick to schedules (we have the entire semester schedule printed out so we are never behind), and it works for us. However, I have yet to find another program that can allow me to create schedules to tell the kids what to do each day.

 

Also, I feel like every program has a review similar to "This is a great supplement, but it's not enough for curriculum." Then what is? I have to have 5 different sources of information for each child? How can I be sure that I am teaching my high school student everything she needs to know to be successful in college? Why isn't there a site that she can log into, do scheduled lessons, take a quiz/test, and I can see progress?!

 

I may just be asking for too much: a more hands-off type of home school that records actual grades that doesn't cost a fortune.

Can anyone help me please?

 

 

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

Many of us were instant homeschoolers, as well, so we feel your pain. :-)

 

Did you want secular or Christian/other religious?

[Haiku]

I have never used it because it is not secular, but have you looked at Easy Peasy? The name is a turn-off, but the classes do look comprehensive. The main problem that I see with it is that everything is on the computer. I wouldn't want that much computer time for my kids, but I have heard several people comment on it very favorably. Easy Peasy is free.

 

Your other option may be a public, online charter school, if those are available in your state. These are also free, but your child is a public-school student and has to take all the state tests, etc.

 

You could look at what Shmoop has to offer. They have a subscription service. 

 

I think you will be hard-pressed to find something appropriate if you don't have much time to teach your kids.

[Garga]

Does your state offer cyber school for free?  I'm in PA and my state does.  They provide the curriculum and computer and everything you need.  I think they also do the grading as well. 

 

Why did you decide to homeschool?  If you don't mind using the state's curriculum and they offer a free cyberschool, then that could be the way to go.

 

For me, when I'm getting curriculum, I read the state guidelines on what I'm expected to teach that year, then (for my upcoming high schooler) I've spent a bunch of time figuring out what colleges want from high school students (certain number of math credits, English credits, etc).  Once I know what the state wants and what colleges want, I have a list of all the subjects I need to teach for each student.

 

After I have my list of subjects, I find a curriculum for each individual subject that matches each child's needs.  So in that case, I would certainly have 5 different sources of information for each child.  :)  (Or well more than 5.)

 

If your state doesn't have a free option, or if you don't like the free option, and you can't afford another program that has the entire curric in one box, then you'll have to break down what you plan on teaching for each child at their grade level and collect curric for each child for each subject.  Before high school a number of subjects can span many grades, so you might be able to use the same curric with a couple of kids.  But that probably wouldn't work for a 5th grader and a 10 grader.  Well...maybe.  Some currics do provide easier vs harder activities so you can span the years, but 5th - 10th is a really big span so it might be tricky.

 

Unfortunately, a good many of us have to piece it all together and create our own schedules for our students.  If you buy something that does it for you, it costs $$$$ and might not have the flexibility your want or might not be a good match.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Garga

[OneStepAtATime]

If you don't want to share, I understand, but I think we might be able to help more if we knew why you decided to homeschool in the first place and if you need secular materials or not.

 

What you are facing as I understand it:

 

1. Limited budget

2. Limited time

3. 3 kids in different grade levels covering Elementary, Middle School and High School.

4. Needing all inclusive programs they can do pretty independently that don't cost much and require little from the parent.

 

That's a tough one.  

 

What are the requirements in your state for each grade level and for graduation, if any?  What are your goals for your kids (this year and long term)?  What are your kids hoping to do?  Do they have any outside interests that they wish to pursue?  Have you checked around to see if there are any Homeschool co-ops with academically based classes you could outsource?

 

 

[Ravin]

Dcar, does your state offer any online charter school options? That can be a good alternative in some situations, especially for the high school student. Another approach you can use for your high school student is use your college textbooks. Teach them to write the same way you've learned in college, etc.

 

I totally understand wanting a straightforward open-and-go approach--but it doesn't always fit the kids.

 

Have you read The Well Trained Mind?

[shinyhappypeople]

Seconding Easy Peasy.  It's free, written to the student, is designed to be done independently, and is already divided into daily lessons.

 

 

ETA: other companies worth considering (though non are secular, not sure if that's an issue for you) are CLE, Alpha Omega's Lifepacs, or ACE Paces  For any of these options you can buy just a few workbooks at a time to cut down on the initial expense. 

Edited April 6, 2016 by shinyhappypeople

[KrissiK]

I, too, was going to suggest an on-line public charter. At least until you got your feet under you. Last year my neighbor pulled her boys out of school in October, rather quickly. She came over and talked to me about what to do. I told her to get them into an on-line charter for the rest of the school year and handed her one of my copies of The Well Trained Mind. She did just that and seems to be very happy. I don't know what they are doing this year. Actually, I think they still may be with that charter. Anyhow, it gave her a chance to breathe a bit and get used to homeschooling and figure out what she was doing without having the full responsibility of choosing curriculum, etc.

[dcar]

Thanks so much for the responses! We are in TX, so the rules here are very lenient. 

 

We lived in a great school district with high ranking schools. We were completely satisfied until my youngest began 4th grade. I felt that his wonderful grades and stellar comments at parent-teacher conferences were not really matching the struggle that I saw when he was doing homework or projects. My older kids were natural learners and did not really struggle at all, so it was new to me. I quickly realized that they weren't telling me that he was struggling, and when their defense was basically "He does ok on the standardized tests, so we don't see a concern," it sparked my dissatisfaction with public schools. We then moved to the next town over with schools that ranked half of what the previous schools did, and my thought process was if a "great" school won't help my child, then the new school likely won't either. We pulled them out of public school in the middle of the year when we moved because I really couldn't imagine them even attending a public school that ranked so low with so many poor reviews. 

 

Our school district does offer cyber school, but I have shied away completely from public schools at this point. I have tasted the joys of not being tied down to school (needing to log in a certain amount of hours, standardized tests, we can take a week off if we need to, etc.) that I do not want to go that route.

I am searching for secular curriculum.

 

I am not completely opposed to teaching them myself. I am just worried that there is not enough time in the day to teach at least 12 lessons (4 lessons for 3 kids) each day and still do my own college work. I am also not opposed to piecing together programs or materials for the kids, but I am not sure where to start. I understand that many people do not keep up with grades at all, and they are more focused on their child learning the material and moving on to the next lesson. I am too, but I don't know how that applies to my high school child who needs grades for her transcript. 

 

Easy Peasy: I did look into it earlier today, but I saw that it was basically set up so a child could work through everything, but again, there were no actual quizzes or tests to grade, so I put it aside. I liked how it was set out work for specific days though.

 

As for our goals, we are the first homeschoolers in our family, so trying to keep up with where they would be if they were in public school has been our goal so far. Not sure if it's appropriate, but it really is the only way for me to gauge how they are doing.

 

I hope I answered all of your questions, and I cannot explain how thankful I am for the help!

 

[dcar]

Also, I just received The Well Trained Mind but have not read it yet. I am looking forward to it!

[hornblower]

You know how you posted on the high school board too? I think that was actually a good plan. I think you should separate out the thinking/planning for your high schooler & the youngers. 

The youngers you can tinker with, you can allow a lot more organic learning & frankly, you can just go back to the joy of learning & not worry tons about what is 'on level'. 

If your highschooler is aiming at college though, I think you'll want a more precise and focused approach there, esp depending on where & what field your child is aiming for. 

 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

You know how you posted on the high school board too? I think that was actually a good plan. I think you should separate out the thinking/planning for your high schooler & the youngers. 

 

The youngers you can tinker with, you can allow a lot more organic learning & frankly, you can just go back to the joy of learning & not worry tons about what is 'on level'. 

 

If your highschooler is aiming at college though, I think you'll want a more precise and focused approach there, esp depending on where & what field your child is aiming for. 

 

 

 

I was actually just typing something similar. :)

 

The high schooler's day is probably going to have to look a little more like your day than like her younger sibling's. She'll need college prep courses and some accountability, which really does take time and organization...if you don't want to use the public school online option (totally understandable) there are some other ways to do it, but as usual, you have to choose between time and money.

 

The "time" way -- you choose the coursework, lay it all out, let her work mostly independently, but grade and discuss very regularly so you know she's keeping up and receiving necessary support. You could schedule the discussion and grading times into your week, to make sure she doesn't fall through the cracks. If you are able to do a sort of "study hall" time of day together, that can be encouraging. We have a lot of parents and kids who are in college concurrently, on these forums.

 

You choose the courses based on what she's already studied, and what her college/career goals might be, and where she might want to go to college. We can help with all of that; just continue the conversation over on the high school board.

 

The "money" way --  Indiana University has a full high school online program. It has a good reputation, is college prep, and is cheaper than dual enrollment. Teaching, grading, all of it, is done for you. You have no public school strings. But it's not free, and it's more costly than homeschool curriculum. There are also homeschool online academies like Laurel Springs and Oak Meadow, but they are more costly than IU's online high school. Well-Trained Mind Academy is new, Memoria Press has online classes, etc.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Tibbie Dunbar

[8filltheheart]

Oops, I read your post as ages 5,7, and 10, not grades. That completely changes things. Ignore.

Edited April 7, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[Lanny]

Since you are in Texas, Lanny can give you info about TTUISD. I'll alert him to respond to this thread.

 

OP: Kinsa sent me a PM about your thread.  My DD is in her 4th school year in TTUISD. She is enrolled in 9th grade now.  I quickly read (scanned) your post and some of the responses. My first thought is that it is really difficult to move a High School student, from Home Schooling to Public School. I've seen a bunch of references to that in WTM threads. Although TTUISD charges (they receive no funding from the State of Texas or any other source), they operate under the same rules applicable to a Public School in Texas, with regard to graduation requirements. The bottom line there is that your 10th grader might need to take a bunch of "CBE" (Credit by Examination) tests, to get credit for courses taken as a Home School student.  TTUISD courses for High School are currently $185 per semester per course.  TTUISD students are in "Online" courses, but they are Asynchronous.  The students *Must* pass the Final Examinations, which are 25% of the grade for the semester.  The Final Examinations are taken under the supervision of an "Approved Proctor" (that could be someone in your school district, possibly a Librarian, an Educator with a TX license, etc.).   The TTUISD courses, up to now, have used traditional textbooks (I buy from Amazon Marketplace sellers or on eBay) but I understand they are developing courses that will use eBooks at this time. We live overseas, so that will eliminate Shipping costs for us, but  DD likes traditional textbooks, so I'm not sure how that will work. Bottom line is I see your High Schooler as the most critical of the 3 children.  Depending on how many High School courses have been completed in Home School, there may be a need for passing the CBEs from TTUISD or repeating courses. I would not enjoy repeating courses if it were me.  The courses are very thorough and cover the entire textbooks, which I believe would be impossible in a Brick and Mortar school in TX using the same textbooks.

 

TTUISD also has an Elementary School and Middle School.  The 5th grader would probably need the most help, to become accustomed with the "Moodle" server and how things are done. My DD began with 6th grade courses.  The 7th grader, once accustomed to the "Moodle" and how things are done should be able to work independently the vast majority of the time. The Elementary and Middle School courses may be slightly lower in cost than the High School courses are. 

 

I'm not sure what your budget is and if TTUISD would be within your budget for 3 kids.  I believe when DD was in the Middle School she took 4 courses most of the time. Possibly 5.  Now, in High School, she is taking 7 courses which is a tough workload and we are going to reduce that to 6 courses.

 

Another thing I would look at, especially for the 5th grader and possibly for the 7th grader if they offer 7th grade, is the Texarkana ISD program.  We do not live in TX (We live in South America) so DD was not eligible, when I checked about her enrolling in 6th grade there. That's free, so would be a lot less than TTUISD.  

 

TTUISD courses require a lot of Time Management Skills from the students. I believe probably that would apply to any Distance Learning courses.

[LMD]

Also, I just received The Well Trained Mind but have not read it yet. I am looking forward to it!

Enjoy! I found it thoroughly inspiring!

 

You will find your feet and gain confidence in time, we were all confused and nervous beginners once!

Edited April 7, 2016 by LMD

[OneStepAtATime]

Since you are in Texas, Lanny can give you info about TTUISD. I'll alert him to respond to this thread.

This might work for the younger two (and would definitely take the workload off your shoulders for planning but you would absolutely have to help your kids stay on top of assignments and develop great organizational skills if they don't already have them), but I agree with Lanny that your high schooler might have to retake courses or take tests to prove knowledge for TTUISD. 

 

OP, I agree with others, you will probably need to separate out your High Schooler in your plans and thought processes.  I would work on that first.  Transcripts are pretty important at this stage and yes you need to be tracking her work and her grades and making sure if she intends to go on to college that she is meeting the requirements of whatever schools she is interested in.   High School is a different ball game and can drive the most experienced homeschooler crazy at times.  There are other options besides TTUISD, as mentioned up thread, and hopefully someone on the High School board will also chime in.

 

As for the youngers, I know you want secular so that limits things a tad but it depends on how secular.  There are actually some really good programs out there that have some mild religious references but not denomination specific or really in your face.  Either way, being able to combine the two youngers for as much as possible will definitely help with planning.  How well do they get along?

 

You say your younger was struggling.  Is it possible they have dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, an auditory processing issue, dyscalculia, etc?  Finding out exactly what was causing the struggle might be the most productive thing you could do for your youngest right now.  Are they still struggling?  Do you know of any specific areas that are difficult?  You might post on the Learning Challenges forum for more info there.

 

 

Things I would consider for  the two younger ones if you don't find an on-line option you like:

 

• IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) SWI-B (Student Writing Intensive Level B which is Middle School level).  The students would watch the DVDs (possibly with you, too) and do the required work and you would just facilitate.  The DVDs teach the student.  You would just monitor their work.  Use the same program for both students.  100% money back guarantee if you don't like it.
• Fix-It Grammar.  :15 minutes a day, 4 days a week and you could use the same program for both students.  Or if you want to cover more ground then do two lessons a day (:30 minutes) including Fridays and cover two books in one year.  There are 6 books.  It starts out very gently and ramps up.  Book 6 is pretty heavy duty and not everyone even does that one.  Pretty independent, but I would recommend that the three of you do the first lesson of each week together, then they could do the others on their own.  You would still need to be checking on their work weekly, but it wouldn't take much time.  Initial set up for Fix-It is maybe :45 minutes the first day for printing out the workbook (electronic so you will print a copy for both students from the same source) and the flash cards (print them on cardstock) and setting up their notebook.  After that, prep and planning is less than 2 minutes a day.
• Interest led Science - Have them pick a topic they are interested in, get books from the library, assign some youtube videos and documentaries and plan on maybe doing one science project or experiment every couple of weeks.  See if you can squeeze in a few field trips during the year.  Are there any homeschooling groups in your area?  Maybe a co-op?  They might offer some great hands-on science classes.
• Interest led History or do Story of the World - Listen to the SOTW audio books with the kids while you are in the car or while doing housework or art work or something.  Add in a few projects during the year and some novels based in that time period, and maybe some biographies.
• Math - This one is trickier.  Whatever you use, if it isn't on-line, you should give a placement test and don't panic if they place lower than you expected.  Different programs have different scopes and sequences.  Most programs can be accelerated if the student is solidly grasping concepts.  How do your kids do with math?  Do they need a lot of help?  Just to get you through this next year and find your homeschooling legs you might look at Teaching Textbooks.  Absolutely give the placement tests.  The DVD program teaches the student and keeps track of the grades but I would encourage you to check in on their work weekly and maybe have them do a few problems with you on a dry erase board every week just to make certain they are grasping concepts and retaining material.  Some people love TT and some people hate TT and a lot are in the middle but it might be a really good fit for your situation and your kids would still be moving forward in math without needing daily input from you.

Good luck and best wishes.

Edited April 7, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[Ellie]

Thanks so much for the responses! We are in TX, so the rules here are very lenient. 

 

We lived in a great school district with high ranking schools. We were completely satisfied until my youngest began 4th grade. I felt that his wonderful grades and stellar comments at parent-teacher conferences were not really matching the struggle that I saw when he was doing homework or projects. My older kids were natural learners and did not really struggle at all, so it was new to me. I quickly realized that they weren't telling me that he was struggling, and when their defense was basically "He does ok on the standardized tests, so we don't see a concern," it sparked my dissatisfaction with public schools. We then moved to the next town over with schools that ranked half of what the previous schools did, and my thought process was if a "great" school won't help my child, then the new school likely won't either. We pulled them out of public school in the middle of the year when we moved because I really couldn't imagine them even attending a public school that ranked so low with so many poor reviews. 

 

Our school district does offer cyber school, but I have shied away completely from public schools at this point. I have tasted the joys of not being tied down to school (needing to log in a certain amount of hours, standardized tests, we can take a week off if we need to, etc.) that I do not want to go that route.

I am searching for secular curriculum.

 

I am not completely opposed to teaching them myself. I am just worried that there is not enough time in the day to teach at least 12 lessons (4 lessons for 3 kids) each day and still do my own college work. I am also not opposed to piecing together programs or materials for the kids, but I am not sure where to start. I understand that many people do not keep up with grades at all, and they are more focused on their child learning the material and moving on to the next lesson. I am too, but I don't know how that applies to my high school child who needs grades for her transcript. 

 

Easy Peasy: I did look into it earlier today, but I saw that it was basically set up so a child could work through everything, but again, there were no actual quizzes or tests to grade, so I put it aside. I liked how it was set out work for specific days though.

 

As for our goals, we are the first homeschoolers in our family, so trying to keep up with where they would be if they were in public school has been our goal so far. Not sure if it's appropriate, but it really is the only way for me to gauge how they are doing.

 

I hope I answered all of your questions, and I cannot explain how thankful I am for the help!

 

I applaud your determination to avoid public schools. :thumbup1:

 

Regardless of what you do, it will not be necessary for you to teach 12 lessons a day. Seriously. Your children are old enough to read their lessons and do their assignments, with a little warm fuzzy face time with you.

 

We still don't know what your budget is, and that's ok. :-) Have you seen Book Shark? It is a literature-based secular program, with instructor guides and everything. It might be more than your budget can handle, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

 

Also, your oldest might be able to take dual-enrollment classes at your community college.

 

[JessieC]

Build Your Library might be worth a look! Secular, affordable, daily plan...

[Susan in TX]

I think Christian Light might be just what you need. It is an open and go workbook based curriculum. It is designed for the student to be as independent as possible. It is also very affordable.

 

Susan in TX

[OneStepAtATime]

I think Christian Light might be just what you need. It is an open and go workbook based curriculum. It is designed for the student to be as independent as possible. It is also very affordable.

 

Susan in TX

Christian Light Education might work, OP.   It isn't secular but the religious references in the math curriculum at least are pretty light and generic and don't affect the content.  You would need to give placement tests, though.  They are free on-line to download and print.  The program has a bit different scope and sequence than many math programs.  Not sure about the other subjects.  The math part is great but I haven't used much of the rest so I can't speak to those.

[HS Mom in NC]

Our local community college allows students as young as 13 to enroll.  They're very friendly to homeschoolers.  Everyone, regardless of age or graduation status, takes the same placement test. Some classes require teacher permission for minors (13-16 year olds) to take them but we had no problem at all getting permission.

My middle started at 15 and my oldest at 17.  It was a good experience for them.

 

[HeatherL]

Our local community college allows students as young as 13 to enroll.  They're very friendly to homeschoolers.  Everyone, regardless of age or graduation status, takes the same placement test. Some classes require teacher permission for minors (13-16 year olds) to take them but we had no problem at all getting permission.

 

My middle started at 15 and my oldest at 17.  It was a good experience for them.

 

Could you PM me with which community college your children have gone to?  We are still a few years off, but I just started looking into those classes for my son.  We are in the East Valley.

[HS Mom in NC]

Sure

[Ravin]

I would seriously consider lumping them together (all 3 of them) for science and whatever history/social studies/civics type class, and/or consider taking a unit studies approach. You would then tailor their learning output expectations (and, to an extent, input, but all tied around the same topic/subject) to their grade level. 

[Amy in NH]

I'd combine a lot of the teaching of the 5th & 7th graders.  For instance, mine are doing two different levels of GUM, but learning the same grammar concept each day.  Or, I read Hakim's History of the US aloud, and they read chapter captions and sidebars; I assign supplemental reading and writing according to grade/ability.

 

For the high schooler, take a look at college admissions requirements and pick those off - math, language (English & foreign), history, science, and one elective each "semester".  You can get used textbooks cheap on Amazon, look them over and assign a particular amount of reading per day (time or pages), and then have her give you a verbal update each day and a written assignment each chapter.  IMO, high school students should really be directing a large portion of their own education, with the parent/teacher acting in a mentoring role.

 

If they are all studying the same foreign language, history, and science topics you can include them all in field trips and other relevant enrichment which becomes richer due to the shared experience.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

Could you track down some public school textbooks from a library or used sale? An older version is often easy to score...also on eBay. That would be a start.

 

For grammar, you can get a used copy of Warriners grammar complete course that would be enough for all of your kids to share. Other options are grammar, usage and mechanics (GUM) from Zaner Bloser or Easy Grammar. Write Source now has an online component for writing you could check out.

 

For history, a used textbook or living books from the library with book reports would be good. Then that gives you money to spend on good math and science resources. You could outsource to an online or co-op class even.

 

Teaching Textbooks is an online math course. For that, placement is key so they are challenged enough. Math u see has DVDs, and I think there are supplemental DVDs for Saxon too.

 

For your fifth grader, check out Mystery Science. It is online and free with experiments that you would need to gather some materials for. Science Fusion also has an online component with a workbook. Exploration Education science is a bit pricey but has all the lessons on video with materials for physics experiments.

 

Just some ideas. Hope you find what works for you.