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"What can I use for homeschooling that is free and all online and requires no parent interaction and reads outloud becaus the child can't read"


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20 hours ago, StellaM said:

 

Wow!

Mind you, I've had this same convo in various iterations over the years - many people who will agree that a teacher should be (adequately) paid often don't see why the author (of a curriculum) should be paid.....

I am pretty strict when recommending curriculum to others; I allow them to borrow for a short period to look at the resource, or I provide a sample of the resource. If they like it, I tell them where they can PURCHASE it for themselves. 

So many people say 'Can't I just use yours ?' OMG NO! (Unless your house just burned down or all your materials got washed away in a flood, then yes). Otherwise...pay the author for the work they put in to creating the resource by buying your own copy! 

 

 

I had a homeschool mom steal curriculum from me once. I said she could take the books and pay me later. She kept "forgetting" then she actually quit our co-op to avoid me. It wasn't even expensive stuff!

Now I'll get payment in advance for anything I don't want to just flat out give away. But my goodness, who does that?? And no, I won't lend things out.

1 hour ago, LMD said:

I agree, and I consider it my duty to tell new homeschoolers the truth. I remember one particularly memorable park day when I quite bluntly told some new homeschoolers that Yes, they should expect to teach algebra! I followed it up with honest encouragement but I certainly didn't hold back.

There is a lot of infighting in home ed groups I find. ? too many strong, uncompromising and odd personalities clashing!

People always worry about high school math. I tell them that if they don't feel comfortable with it, they can outsource those classes. But I'm honest about how much that might cost.

I'm kind of surprised at how much "shop talk" happens in other people's homeschool groups. In every group I've been involved in, I wanted to have educational discussions (or do I?) but no one talks about that kind of thing. Out of all the homeschoolers I know, I couldn't tell you what the vast majority of them are using for curriculum or how homeschooling is going for them in general. They don't about how they're having a rough February, or they found the perfect writing program, or their kid simply isn't understanding multiplication and does anyone have a suggestion, or they haven't touched their science curriculum in six months, or anything. Nothing good or bad. You'd think homeschooling moms would talk about this big huge thing we all have in common.

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4 hours ago, StellaM said:

 

Ha, last time I got together with homeschool moms we talked chemistry for 5 min, and sour dough bread baking and life after death and politics the rest of the time! After 16 years, there's not much I want to talk about homeschooling anymore, lol.

 

I’m only in my 6th year (though I was homeschooled for 7 years), but I love education, educational pedagogy, and all things curriculum and techniques. I also really enjoy trouble-shooting with people (about their issues or my own), so I’m definitely the weird mom at homeschool meet-ups who is trying to talk about homeschooling. ? 

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4 hours ago, StellaM said:

 

Ha, last time I got together with homeschool moms we talked chemistry for 5 min, and sour dough bread baking and life after death and politics the rest of the time! After 16 years, there's not much I want to talk about homeschooling anymore, lol.

 

37 minutes ago, BooksandBoys said:

 

I’m only in my 6th year (though I was homeschooled for 7 years), but I love education, educational pedagogy, and all things curriculum and techniques. I also really enjoy trouble-shooting with people (about their issues or my own), so I’m definitely the weird mom at homeschool meet-ups who is trying to talk about homeschooling. ? 

At 8–10 years I still had some enthusiasm about discussing curriculum. At 17? I just can’t anymore. There’s nothing that I haven’t discussed hundreds of times. I’ve hit complete saturation and have senioritis worse than my child. This year is our last push and we’re finished for good. I value our friendships, but we’re in another phase now and the conversations have moved on. 

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I just realized that the fact almost all of my children's paid activities now require you to fill out an authorization form so they can automatically withdrawl from your account weekly or monthly. Then they don't have to fight with parents to get paid. I don't blame them.

Edited by frogger
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8 hours ago, BooksandBoys said:

 

I’m only in my 6th year (though I was homeschooled for 7 years), but I love education, educational pedagogy, and all things curriculum and techniques. I also really enjoy trouble-shooting with people (about their issues or my own), so I’m definitely the weird mom at homeschool meet-ups who is trying to talk about homeschooling. ? 

 

Well, you and I would get along great!  Lol.

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I’ve only talked curric a few times lately.

For one friend I told her about the online class we had for my son for Chemistry last year that was $260 for the year and her mouth literally gaped open and she said, “That is SO expensive!”  So...I didn’t even bother telling her that I spent about $650 for Spanish and $450 for Algebra in the same year.  I was telling her about the $260 class because I thought she’d be relieved to know of an online option that was so cheap.  I didn’t know that she hadn’t priced anything yet.  Online classes are usually in the $500-$750 range.  I thought I was doing great with my $260 Chem and $450 Algebra (not counting books and supplies.)  But the $260 was already well out of her price range, so we changed the subject because talking about money gets awkward.

The next conversation with some homeschoolers had them asking me what we use and I mentioned what math my son is in, and the mom whose son is in the same grade as mine looked worried because her son is 2 years behind mine in math (and mine isn’t particularly advanced.  In some homeschool circles, my son is lagging behind.). It was awkward.  The other mom’s son is in 8th grade and she just looked terrified at what I said I use, though they’re pretty normal and standard things.  I think she’s just scared of high school in general.  It might be nice to get her alone and talk, because I think she’d like to know how it all works, but doesn’t know where to start.  I need to send her to this forum. 

So, while I was ready to jump right in to the conversations, they were both awkward and kind of ground to a halt because I startled the other homeschoolers so much with what I’m using.  And when I read what other homeschoolers are using, I know I’m middle of the road. Not the easiest stuff, not the hardest.  Very, very middle of the road.  

Oh, and I have another friend who uses a cyberschool and she loves it, but gets a bit defensive about it when she talks to me about it.  And I absolutely don’t care one whit what she uses for school, but I think she thinks I do.  So, I can’t really talk to her about what I use just in chit-chat, because they she starts defending what she’s using.  Like if I say, “Oh, we read a fun thing in history the other day...blah blah...” she won’t talk about the fun thing we read but will say, “Oh, we learn fun things in our history, too!”  And she’s normally a very sweet and caring person and not competitive AT ALL, but somehow talking curric brings out a weirdness in her.

Edit:  There’s a hiver that I know IRL and we can talk curric.  I think it’s because she’s on this board, too, and knows how to talk curric without being shocked or comparing.  We can talk about why something works for us without being upset if it doesn’t work for the other one.  She’s the only person I talk to about curric IRL, but I think it’s because from being on these forums we understand how to give and take and keep our emotions out of it.

 

Edited by Garga
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On 8/17/2018 at 8:42 AM, happysmileylady said:

I actually JUST posted a little mini rant about this very sort of thing in the Accountability thread earlier in the week.

The state of Ohio says I have to provide assurance that I will provide 900 hours of instruction.  Our elementary school here has a 6 hr and 15 minute day.  Take off half an hour for lunch, half an hour for recess after lunch and then another 15 minutes for the morning recess I have found typical of elementary schools and that works out to 5 hours a day, and multiplied by 180 days, that's where the 900 hours comes from.  But I know there's no way that all 5 hours, every day, spent in school are spent on academic instruction.  Now, I do consider things like art, music, and the other "specials" part of the academic instruction.  But really, once you factor in all the time spent taking attendance, doing indivdual standardized assessments, walking to art class, walking back, time lost to 2 hour delays, even though those still count as school days, etc etc etc....public school kids really are getting far less than 900 hours of actual instruction per year, and I think it kind of holds homeschoolers to a higher standard than the public school.

But, having said that, I don't think 900 hours will be a problem for us, it's not like I have to track it anyway, and most importantly, I would never intentionally do LESS work than I plan just because the public school is not providing as many hours of instruction as homeschoolers are supposed to.  

 

Precisely.    I think a good way to see how much work is down in a school is to look at how much time it takes to get the same education at home when home-sick from school for an extended time.   Like chicken pox or pink eye.   When I was in school it was 3 hours at home equaled one week of Junior High public school, and that was reputed to be a 'good school'.  That was probably reason #3 that I wanted to homeschool my child.  
 

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2 hours ago, Garga said:

I’ve only talked curric a few times lately.

For one friend I told her about the online class we had for my son for Chemistry last year that was $260 for the year and her mouth literally gaped open and she said, “That is SO expensive!”  So...I didn’t even bother telling her that I spent about $650 for Spanish and $450 for Algebra in the same year.  I was telling her about the $260 class because I thought she’d be relieved to know of an online option that was so cheap.  I didn’t know that she hadn’t priced anything yet.  Online classes are usually in the $500-$750 range.  I thought I was doing great with my $260 Chem and $450 Algebra (not counting books and supplies.)  But the $260 was already well out of her price range, so we changed the subject because talking about money gets awkward.

$260 annually is $25/mo. If that were private school tuition for eight classes (normal high school with arts), paid monthly over a year, it would be $200/mo, which is a ridiculously low number. That is like, Catholic scholarship student prices from 1990. Which were of course highly subsidized by the church.

What are these people smoking?

I pay more than $2,000 on educational expenses annually in addition to donations to the classroom, the PTA, and of course the tax dollars that support the school.

I feel awful for those that cannot afford it but it seems to me that people should consider that maybe they should invest in the public option for themselves... Thats what it is for.

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21 minutes ago, Tsuga said:

$260 annually is $25/mo. If that were private school tuition for eight classes (normal high school with arts), paid monthly over a year, it would be $200/mo, which is a ridiculously low number. That is like, Catholic scholarship student prices from 1990. Which were of course highly subsidized by the church.

What are these people smoking?

I pay more than $2,000 on educational expenses annually in addition to donations to the classroom, the PTA, and of course the tax dollars that support the school.

I feel awful for those that cannot afford it but it seems to me that people should consider that maybe they should invest in the public option for themselves... Thats what it is for.

I think that if you’ve been shoe-stringing along through elem and middle this is a huge shock.  We gradually worked up to online $$ classes (ie we did seminars or single classes shorter than a semester, a leadership class that was 30 min M-Th that was all about that developing soft skills, etc that also had smaller price tags).  But I told my kids early on that I can teach them just about anything but they could choose the high school, dual enrollment, the tech center, or online classes for different experiences. I feel pretty confident about my ability to teach, to create courses, and to provide experiences but I also know that there are others out there who have a different style, expertise, group structure, or physical resources I don’t and there can be an advantage to that well worth my $$.  Perhaps if your standards are lower for what a well done course is you have a very different view on price tags?

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3 hours ago, shawthorne44 said:

 

Precisely.    I think a good way to see how much work is down in a school is to look at how much time it takes to get the same education at home when home-sick from school for an extended time.   Like chicken pox or pink eye.   When I was in school it was 3 hours at home equaled one week of Junior High public school, and that was reputed to be a 'good school'.  That was probably reason #3 that I wanted to homeschool my child.  
 

That would not be the case even for elementary school in my district. Whether I’d agree with their curriculum choices or not doesn’t negate the fact that they implement rigorous programs here. Also, make-up work at home doesn’t replace classroom discussions or lectures. It’s a bandaid so you don’t slip TOO far behind while you’re ill. 

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22 minutes ago, Targhee said:

I think that if you’ve been shoe-stringing along through elem and middle this is a huge shock.  

Thats fair enough, but the origin of this thread was about primary education. I guess it just seems obvious to me that if you can't do it yourself it will cost more and that teaching high school subject would be out of my realm and I have a graduate degree and two years of college math and applied math.

I know that lots of folks have neither the cash nor the expertise and I don't either which is why we send our children to public school and say thank you for it.

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54 minutes ago, Tsuga said:

$260 annually is $25/mo. If that were private school tuition for eight classes (normal high school with arts), paid monthly over a year, it would be $200/mo, which is a ridiculously low number. That is like, Catholic scholarship student prices from 1990. Which were of course highly subsidized by the church.

What are these people smoking?

I pay more than $2,000 on educational expenses annually in addition to donations to the classroom, the PTA, and of course the tax dollars that support the school.

I feel awful for those that cannot afford it but it seems to me that people should consider that maybe they should invest in the public option for themselves... Thats what it is for.

This is what I was thinking.  The $260 sounded like a lot but if you break it down, it's really not that much.

We aren't to the out-sourcing point yet.  Ds is doing a slow first run through Algebra since he thought pre-algebra was "too easy and boring".   I think we are going to most likely go through online options from our local CC when we do get to that point.   That will cost us $157 a credit.

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31 minutes ago, Targhee said:

I think that if you’ve been shoe-stringing along through elem and middle this is a huge shock.  We gradually worked up to online $$ classes (ie we did seminars or single classes shorter than a semester, a leadership class that was 30 min M-Th that was all about that developing soft skills, etc that also had smaller price tags).  But I told my kids early on that I can teach them just about anything but they could choose the high school, dual enrollment, the tech center, or online classes for different experiences. I feel pretty confident about my ability to teach, to create courses, and to provide experiences but I also know that there are others out there who have a different style, expertise, group structure, or physical resources I don’t and there can be an advantage to that well worth my $$.  Perhaps if your standards are lower for what a well done course is you have a very different view on price tags?

I think you’re right. High school isn’t just a little bit more expensive. It’s a huge leap. MAYBE if you are so well-rounded that you can teach every high school subject without a curriculum AND you happen to already own a lot of lab equipment AND you can find inexpensive books you can make it cheap. It would take so much work to truly do it all justice by yourself. 

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1 hour ago, Tsuga said:

$260 annually is $25/mo. If that were private school tuition for eight classes (normal high school with arts), paid monthly over a year, it would be $200/mo, which is a ridiculously low number. That is like, Catholic scholarship student prices from 1990. Which were of course highly subsidized by the church. 

What are these people smoking?

I pay more than $2,000 on educational expenses annually in addition to donations to the classroom, the PTA, and of course the tax dollars that support the school. 

I feel awful for those that cannot afford it but it seems to me that people should consider that maybe they should invest in the public option for themselves... Thats what it is for.

Exactly this! I wish people would just do the math!

I get it, if it's not in your budget, then it doesn't matter how good a deal it is. But it not being in your budget doesn't make it a bad deal. Or elitist!

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4 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

 

Ya know, this is expensive. It's a lot of money. BUT when you're considering whether to home school to avoid public school, this is a bargain compared to an elite private school. (And I know that even good private schools are not always the best environment). Just considering that, though, makes a good video program like Chalk Dust and others seem like a bargain. At least to me. ? ? 

Oh yeah, it is expensive, especially if you’re used to getting a single book and teaching from it the way you can pre-high school. Though, it is half or less the cost of other online classes, and is less than $10 per class.  But if you don’t even have the $260, then you just don’t have it. She asked me about live online science classes with a teacher that could be contacted, so I told her about the cheapest one I knew about.  But even the cheapest one I knew about had her jaw dropping, so I just stopped there because I don’t know of any live online chemistry classes with a teacher for less than that.

But my post wasn’t really wasn’t about the money.  It was about how I can’t seem to talk about curric with homeschoolers IRL because it quickly becomes awkward for a variety of reasons, particularly money, comparison, and competition.  

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On 8/25/2018 at 7:18 AM, Carrie12345 said:

That breaks my heart.

I pass on a lot of options because I can't fit them in the budget.  I have taught for the equivalent of very few dollars as a way to support my community and reduce my costs.  I think labors of love are great, and I appreciate everyone who performs them.  

That said, no one's product, skill, or time and effort becomes less valuable by virtue of my status as a homeschooler.  When I go to the grocery store, I can't ask them to reduce my bill because I live on one income, or ask for a sibling discount because I chose to have 5 kids.  Well, I could, but they'd discover I'm insane. 

My current point of view is that you MUST HAVE some combination of 3 things in order to homeschool; money, skill, and time/effort.  You can probably do without one of those things if you have the other two.  You may even be able to manage with a ton of just one thing and a splash of a second.  If you can't spend money, can't use skills, and can't put in the work... well, there are people available to provide those things for you at the local public school.  Most of them don't get paid well enough either, but you get a hefty discount off the already low price tag!

 

 

This is gold! I want regentrude or somebody to write up ratios or some sort of Venn diagram that idicates this. I totally think you are right. Some people have lots of money to throw at homeschooling and so, they can afford more automated things like top-notch online academies, in which case they may not need so much time and effort or so much skill themselves. and so on. You are right. 

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6 hours ago, Quill said:

This is gold! I want regentrude or somebody to write up ratios or some sort of Venn diagram that idicates this. I totally think you are right. Some people have lots of money to throw at homeschooling and so, they can afford more automated things like top-notch online academies, in which case they may not need so much time and effort or so much skill themselves. and so on. You are right. 

Well, if anyone does, I'd love to be given the right to include it in the book I tell myself I'm writing!  And I'm saying this "out loud" because I don't really care if anyone is motivated enough to steal my idea and get it done first; I happen to be an incredibly lazy writer and most of my ideas pitter out while I'm still outlining.

I do think the homeschool book genre needs an honest, accessible book.  I'm not saying the current works are DIShonest, but I think they're either written as encouragement or they fall into the how-to category that's read by people who are already eagerly rolling up their sleeves and ready to work. Admittedly, I haven't purchased any new homeschooling books in at least 5 years, but I don't believe there's one out there that comes right out and asks "Do you have the tools?"

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Though I absolutely agree that not everyone should homeschool and public school is many times a better option, I would also say be careful to judge whether someone else should do it or not. The only thing that matters is the child gets the best option they can. I also think we should try to figure out more of this as a society so there are options for those who just can't swing it on their own.

Currently, our school district is dealing with another abuse investagation. The teacher slammed the child against the wall hard enough to bruise the child's back and head. This isn't a first for our district.  We as a society expect ridiculous things from our teachers. They are supposed to be therapists, parents, teachers, coachs, and administrators of 30 children at once and then we wonder why they lose their mind.  

I know parents that weren't great homeschoolers who never wanted to homeschool in the first place but felt driven to it. I think this is more true for those with special needs. My step mom was trying to figure out why my little brother was regressing one year (after having a fabulous teacher and making a lot of progress the previous year) and  discovered that my little brother was spending most of his day playing Oregon Trail while the teacher and aid dealt with more severe behaivor issues in other students in his class. She was a good homeschool teacher but what if she wasn't or she didn't have the resources or you are a single parent and don't have the options she did? Sometimes a barely adequate or even inadequate education is better than their alternative. I do think there are also places with great options but a lot depends on the money and resources of the community you are in which typically correlates with your parents income also. 

There are also people who just want the best of everything and want it for free and contribute nothing.  I'm not trying to conflate the two. 

Edited by frogger
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Don't anybody go copyrighting the time/money/skills equation. (Or people frequently say "talent" instead of "skill.") It's been used around these boards for years. The oldest usage I could find here was one of my posts, but I probably heard it somewhere, too, but I can't remember whether or where. It's right up there with "Teach the child in front of you," as a Hive mind maxim.

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15 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

I think you’re right. High school isn’t just a little bit more expensive. It’s a huge leap. MAYBE if you are so well-rounded that you can teach every high school subject without a curriculum AND you happen to already own a lot of lab equipment AND you can find inexpensive books you can make it cheap. It would take so much work to truly do it all justice by yourself. 

 

Three of mine are teens and one is almost finished with high school.  We're actually doing a college tour this week.  High school hasn't been as bad as people make it out to be.  9th grade was just another year.  If your'e working with them consistently, their skills build on themselves.  Mine didn't suddenly make some huge leap in ability.  I don't spend thousands on curriculum and outsourced classes.  

Lab equipment -we've probably spent about $60-80 per year on science equipment.  I already owned a microscope, though.  And the things I bought are reusable when my younger kids take those courses.  We have done an incredible amount of science, so we may spend more than some people.  My oldest will have 7 science credits when she graduates.  That really is a lot of science.  

My biggest struggles have been with record-keeping.  I'm good at working with my kids, but not at keeping records.  Also, juggling all the extracurriculars and sports that they seem to want to do...  High school sports are a ridiculous time and money commitment.  It feels like I am constantly driving them somewhere.  I spend so much more money on sports than I do on curriculum.    

I just don't want people to read this thread and completely freak out (like I would've done a few years ago).  Lol.   

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4 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Well, if anyone does, I'd love to be given the right to include it in the book I tell myself I'm writing!  And I'm saying this "out loud" because I don't really care if anyone is motivated enough to steal my idea and get it done first; I happen to be an incredibly lazy writer and most of my ideas pitter out while I'm still outlining.

I do think the homeschool book genre needs an honest, accessible book.  I'm not saying the current works are DIShonest, but I think they're either written as encouragement or they fall into the how-to category that's read by people who are already eagerly rolling up their sleeves and ready to work. Admittedly, I haven't purchased any new homeschooling books in at least 5 years, but I don't believe there's one out there that comes right out and asks "Do you have the tools?"

Absolutely legitimate question to ask. And I like what you are saying about having those balance of tools. Then you run into the "will it sell books" issue with publishing.

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6 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Well, if anyone does, I'd love to be given the right to include it in the book I tell myself I'm writing!  And I'm saying this "out loud" because I don't really care if anyone is motivated enough to steal my idea and get it done first; I happen to be an incredibly lazy writer and most of my ideas pitter out while I'm still outlining.

I do think the homeschool book genre needs an honest, accessible book.  I'm not saying the current works are DIShonest, but I think they're either written as encouragement or they fall into the how-to category that's read by people who are already eagerly rolling up their sleeves and ready to work. Admittedly, I haven't purchased any new homeschooling books in at least 5 years, but I don't believe there's one out there that comes right out and asks "Do you have the tools?"

I’m working on this book. It’s quite a balance to encourage people while still giving them the accurate idea that it’s actual work and takes time.

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11 hours ago, Evanthe said:

 

Three of mine are teens and one is almost finished with high school.  We're actually doing a college tour this week.  High school hasn't been as bad as people make it out to be.  9th grade was just another year.  If your'e working with them consistently, their skills build on themselves.  Mine didn't suddenly make some huge leap in ability.  I don't spend thousands on curriculum and outsourced classes.  

Lab equipment -we've probably spent about $60-80 per year on science equipment.  I already owned a microscope, though.  And the things I bought are reusable when my younger kids take those courses.  We have done an incredible amount of science, so we may spend more than some people.  My oldest will have 7 science credits when she graduates.  That really is a lot of science.  

My biggest struggles have been with record-keeping.  I'm good at working with my kids, but not at keeping records.  Also, juggling all the extracurriculars and sports that they seem to want to do...  High school sports are a ridiculous time and money commitment.  It feels like I am constantly driving them somewhere.  I spend so much more money on sports than I do on curriculum.    

I just don't want people to read this thread and completely freak out (like I would've done a few years ago).  Lol.   

Well--I think the point is that if you can't keep it in house it costs a lot to outsource. The same goes for any parenting--daycare is expensive! So are haircuts, even the cheap one. It pays to be well-educated and organized. But certainly if you can do it yourself, you can save a lot. Not everyone has the skills or willingness.

 

Some kids also do spurt in ability or motivation. Some parents didn't have access to a decent HS education and are not equipped to teach algebra or geometry or chemistry. So it can really fall apart quickly.

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15 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Well, if anyone does, I'd love to be given the right to include it in the book I tell myself I'm writing!  And I'm saying this "out loud" because I don't really care if anyone is motivated enough to steal my idea and get it done first; I happen to be an incredibly lazy writer and most of my ideas pitter out while I'm still outlining.

I do think the homeschool book genre needs an honest, accessible book.  I'm not saying the current works are DIShonest, but I think they're either written as encouragement or they fall into the how-to category that's read by people who are already eagerly rolling up their sleeves and ready to work. Admittedly, I haven't purchased any new homeschooling books in at least 5 years, but I don't believe there's one out there that comes right out and asks "Do you have the tools?"

And also, do you have the TIME? When a lot of those books were written, I don’t think anyone could imagine someone WITHOUT the time and tools would even ATTEMPT this. It was also widely assumed that you had more than a passing interest in education. Back then I’d never even heard of a non-religious homeschooling parent who didn’t like to read and wasn’t interested in curriculum.  

Edited by KungFuPanda
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15 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I do think the homeschool book genre needs an honest, accessible book.  I'm not saying the current works are DIShonest, but I think they're either written as encouragement or they fall into the how-to category that's read by people who are already eagerly rolling up their sleeves and ready to work.

 

The book I want is the one Erma Bombeck would have written had she homeschooled.

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1 hour ago, idnib said:

 

The book I want is the one Erma Bombeck would have written had she homeschooled.

 

I have thought of her often, over the years, and wished for the same thing! She came to mind once, when I really felt like I was fooling myself and trying too hard, to introduce my blue collar family to the Great Conversation:

My son bragged to a lady at church that we were all reading The Count of Monty Crisco, by Alexander Dumbass.

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21 hours ago, Evanthe said:

 

Three of mine are teens and one is almost finished with high school.  We're actually doing a college tour this week.  High school hasn't been as bad as people make it out to be.  9th grade was just another year.  If your'e working with them consistently, their skills build on themselves.  Mine didn't suddenly make some huge leap in ability.  I don't spend thousands on curriculum and outsourced classes.  

Lab equipment -we've probably spent about $60-80 per year on science equipment.  I already owned a microscope, though.  And the things I bought are reusable when my younger kids take those courses.  We have done an incredible amount of science, so we may spend more than some people.  My oldest will have 7 science credits when she graduates.  That really is a lot of science.  

My biggest struggles have been with record-keeping.  I'm good at working with my kids, but not at keeping records.  Also, juggling all the extracurriculars and sports that they seem to want to do...  High school sports are a ridiculous time and money commitment.  It feels like I am constantly driving them somewhere.  I spend so much more money on sports than I do on curriculum.    

I just don't want people to read this thread and completely freak out (like I would've done a few years ago).  Lol.   

What's inexpensive to one person is still expensive to some others. In my area, we do have people who would not be able to keep their kids home without being enrolled in public cyber schools. The extra dollars just aren't there. I always justify my spending with "handing it down", but not everyone has multiple kids, either.

I spend a good bit on science (and have since before high school grades) because I'm not comfortable with my skills in that area.  I'm really good at following instructions, so I've paid a good deal for open-and-go as well as outsourcing. I do believe that, given enough available time, I could have improved my science skills to teach them directly, but it's been easier for me to manage 3 to 5 students by putting my time elsewhere and just paying for easier to implement sciences!

Ironically, I consider math before Alg II, and even some of Alg II, to be my strong suit. Except math has been a disaster with 2 of my kids. I never saw that one coming. (My first kid and I exist on the same wavelength.)  Putting dd in DE, even in a non-math class, now gives her access to unlimited, free math skills tutoring. ? So we found a possible solution that technically doesn't cost more, but we wouldn't have it without the cost of DE.  Creative problem solving is another helpful tool when other tools are limited!

 

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On 8/25/2018 at 6:16 PM, LMD said:

I agree, and I consider it my duty to tell new homeschoolers the truth. I remember one particularly memorable park day when I quite bluntly told some new homeschoolers that Yes, they should expect to teach algebra! I followed it up with honest encouragement but I certainly didn't hold back.

There is a lot of infighting in home ed groups I find. ? too many strong, uncompromising and odd personalities clashing!

I have sadly found that a lot of homeschoolers around here don't feel the "need" for their kids to learn any mathematics above arithmetic.  I know a lot of this stems from our area being full of poverty and they only see their kids going into factories ( I would say 60 percent or more people in this town work in factories). 

I personally feel that I am educating the future.....who knows what God has in store for them...and I want them to be prepared spiritually, behaviorly, educationally, and socially.  I want my kids to show love, intellect, and diligence to the world.

 

Brenda

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11 hours ago, Tsuga said:

Well--I think the point is that if you can't keep it in house it costs a lot to outsource. The same goes for any parenting--daycare is expensive! So are haircuts, even the cheap one. It pays to be well-educated and organized. But certainly if you can do it yourself, you can save a lot. Not everyone has the skills or willingness.

 

Some kids also do spurt in ability or motivation. Some parents didn't have access to a decent HS education and are not equipped to teach algebra or geometry or chemistry. So it can really fall apart quickly.

This is so true...

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There was a funny exchange yesterday on a Facebook group for a local cyber charter. A mom asked for curriculum recommendations for a particular situation, a couple of moms suggested a religiously based curriculum noting that because it was religious the school wouldn't pay for it but it was inexpensive, and a fourth mom jumped in to ask "so what do we have to do to get this curriculum paid for?"

Um, you pay out of pocket. As already stated.

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2 hours ago, maize said:

There was a funny exchange yesterday on a Facebook group for a local cyber charter. A mom asked for curriculum recommendations for a particular situation, a couple of moms suggested a religiously based curriculum noting that because it was religious the school wouldn't pay for it but it was inexpensive, and a fourth mom jumped in to ask "so what do we have to do to get this curriculum paid for?"

Um, you pay out of pocket. As already stated.

To be fair I think that question may have been more, "As a taxpayer I believe that public funds should allow people to buy religious curricula on an individual choice basis so what can I do to change that rule," rather than, "who is going to buy this for me". Still up for debate but not the same as passing off responsibility.

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Here's another one:

Guy wants to know where to find a cheap or free Latin curriculum because the cheapest he can find the LfC consumable book is $15 and he refuses to spend more than $10 on curriculum. Not can't afford it, just refuses to spend it.

When people encourage him to pay the extra $5 if LfC is working well for his kid, he responds that he googled and found something for free that he likes better and he's so glad because now he can sell his LfC for $20 to suckers like those posting on the thread. ?

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37 minutes ago, PeachyDoodle said:

Here's another one:

Guy wants to know where to find a cheap or free Latin curriculum because the cheapest he can find the LfC consumable book is $15 and he refuses to spend more than $10 on curriculum. Not can't afford it, just refuses to spend it.

When people encourage him to pay the extra $5 if LfC is working well for his kid, he responds that he googled and found something for free that he likes better and he's so glad because now he can sell his LfC for $20 to suckers like those posting on the thread. ?

I want to be in the room when he prices high school biology books. ?

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1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I want to be in the room when he prices high school biology books. ?

 

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I want to be in the room when he prices high school biology books. ?

 

1 hour ago, Meriwether said:

High school chemistry lab equipment....

 

54 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

Latin TEACHER when your past the DIY level and need qualified instruction to progress at a decent pace . . .

and in states like Maryland there’s driving school that’s non-public, non-optional, and expensive. 

I know right! Several people said as much. Out of curiosity I had a look at his profile... and he's an AP teacher!

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2 minutes ago, PeachyDoodle said:

 

 

 

I know right! Several people said as much. Out of curiosity I had a look at his profile... and he's an AP teacher!

Uh, what??? 

ETA why would you not have curriculum from your school, and why would you have used LfC for AP or even high school??

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11 minutes ago, Targhee said:

Uh, what??? 

ETA why would you not have curriculum from your school, and why would you have used LfC for AP or even high school??

I'm assuming the children for whom was looking are elementary age. Apparently he teaches at a school as well as homeschooling?

ETA: It wasn't AP Latin. I forget -- AP World History maybe?

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3 hours ago, PeachyDoodle said:

Here's another one:

Guy wants to know where to find a cheap or free Latin curriculum because the cheapest he can find the LfC consumable book is $15 and he refuses to spend more than $10 on curriculum. Not can't afford it, just refuses to spend it.

When people encourage him to pay the extra $5 if LfC is working well for his kid, he responds that he googled and found something for free that he likes better and he's so glad because now he can sell his LfC for $20 to suckers like those posting on the thread. ?

I saw that one too, and it bugged me.  $5.  I love a good deal, but part of getting a good deal is knowing what is worth the extra few dollars and what isn't.  (And for the record, that guy isn't my father, but my dad was an AP teacher at a public school while also homeschooling his own children, my younger siblings.  Well, Mom did most of the homeschooling, but Dad helped, and he would have been the one looking for the deal.)

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5 minutes ago, happypamama said:

I saw that one too, and it bugged me.  $5.  I love a good deal, but part of getting a good deal is knowing what is worth the extra few dollars and what isn't.  (And for the record, that guy isn't my father, but my dad was an AP teacher at a public school while also homeschooling his own children, my younger siblings.  Well, Mom did most of the homeschooling, but Dad helped, and he would have been the one looking for the deal.)

I only mentioned that because I was shocked that a teacher wouldn't place more value on his kids' education.

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On 8/22/2018 at 10:31 AM, Tsuga said:

I have never heard anyone with educated children suggest that homeschooling could be done in a fraction of the time you can do public school. The kid spends less time in transition but the parent will ALWAYS spend more because of prep time. I think the rule is 2:1 prep to instruction right?

I would tell people to plan for that. So for a kindergartener with 30 minutes of reading and 30 minutes of math,. You have two hours of prep (choosing books, understanding literacy, creating the environment, learning to cope with opposition). You're already exceeding 95% of public school time expectations.

I don't think I spend that much time planning kindergarten, unless you count browsing curriculum sales over the summer. But, I pick open and go stuff wherever possible. 

But now with a dyslexic student I have put in MANY hours of research, etc. But on a regular basis? No way. 

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4 hours ago, PeachyDoodle said:

I'm assuming the children for whom was looking are elementary age. Apparently he teaches at a school as well as homeschooling?

ETA: It wasn't AP Latin. I forget -- AP World History maybe?

Sounds almost incredible. Possibly a troll or someone who works as a grader or something for the College Board, but maybe is not a teacher. Someone with a bit of "inside" knowledge but not enough to make solid decisions. Also may be AP online and he sees the bulk cost of distributing online materials to thousands, without realizing that individual pricing for real books is a whole different ballgame?

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2 minutes ago, Tsuga said:

Sounds almost incredible. Possibly a troll or someone who works as a grader or something for the College Board, but maybe is not a teacher. Someone with a bit of "inside" knowledge but not enough to make solid decisions. Also may be AP online and he sees the bulk cost of distributing online materials to thousands, without realizing that individual pricing for real books is a whole different ballgame?

Possible. All I know is what's on his public Facebook page, which says he's an AP teacher employed by a school that also has a Facebook page and appears to have a physical location. But I will admit that I didn't spend more than about 20 seconds glancing at it. I think he was definitely stirring the pot, especially when he came back and berated the posters who'd tried to help. Maybe he was just unprepared for people to think that his arbitrary $10 rule was unhelpful.

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9 hours ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I saw the $10 Latin book guy too and immediately thought of this thread. 

Tonight, on one of our state groups - “I’m new to homeschooling and need to find a free or cheap curriculum for my 9th grader.”

Even public school isn't free here...the kids spend more money on school supplies, uniforms for the 90 percent public funded private schools, school books run over a hundred to rent and most of the textbooks are actually online now, and they rent an IPAD yearly for a hundred dollars (although when they pushed them on the parents they said that they would be free...they did the same with HS computers).  I would bet 300 is low per student to send your child to the public school and it would be 1000 to send them to the public funded private school (I know that seems messed up, but in Indiana Christian school can apply and get up to 90 percent of each child's schooling covered through scholarship....low income....and 90 percent of our town is low income?)

It actually would cost me more to send my children to public school than it does for me to research, work hard, buy nonconsumable and awesome textbooks/ curriculum, purchase my choice of school supplies.....but I still spend some money, loads of time, and even more energy teaching my children.  So...I guess what I am getting at is that unless they were accepting state help for their books before (and here the IPADs and Computers that they require don't get subsidized...even those with free and reduced lunches pay for these now) they were paying for their children's education before so what makes them think it will be free now.  

When someone takes on full desire of educating their children they are also taking on the financial requirements.  

I have gotten this question many times and my answer is the following:

1. Are you asking this because you are temporarily low financially or because you really think that the state runs free education outside of the public sphere.....in Indiana they do not.

2. Why are you homeschooling?  

3. Find out what his/her philosophy of education is and direct them to a few places under their umbrella of structure.

Charlotte Mason....Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online.

Classical...Here ( everything here is so affordable even for low income families) and MFW to look and see if their investment of time is worth her investment of money.

Literature based....Sonlight...Robinson Curriculum

Textbooks...Rod and Staff...BJU.....Old Fashioned Education

Workbooks....Horizons....Abeka....Christian Light Education

 

Then let them go and research...this is very valuable to every home educator.

Brenda

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1 hour ago, homemommy83 said:

Even public school isn't free here...the kids spend more money on school supplies, uniforms for the 90 percent public funded private schools, school books run over a hundred to rent and most of the textbooks are actually online now, and they rent an IPAD yearly for a hundred dollars (although when they pushed them on the parents they said that they would be free...they did the same with HS computers).  I would bet 300 is low per student to send your child to the public school and it would be 1000 to send them to the public funded private school (I know that seems messed up, but in Indiana Christian school can apply and get up to 90 percent of each child's schooling covered through scholarship....low income....and 90 percent of our town is low income?)

It actually would cost me more to send my children to public school than it does for me to research, work hard, buy nonconsumable and awesome textbooks/ curriculum, purchase my choice of school supplies.....but I still spend some money, loads of time, and even more energy teaching my children.  So...I guess what I am getting at is that unless they were accepting state help for their books before (and here the IPADs and Computers that they require don't get subsidized...even those with free and reduced lunches pay for these now) they were paying for their children's education before so what makes them think it will be free now.  

When someone takes on full desire of educating their children they are also taking on the financial requirements.  

I have gotten this question many times and my answer is the following:

1. Are you asking this because you are temporarily low financially or because you really think that the state runs free education outside of the public sphere.....in Indiana they do not.

2. Why are you homeschooling?  

3. Find out what his/her philosophy of education is and direct them to a few places under their umbrella of structure.

Charlotte Mason....Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online.

Classical...Here ( everything here is so affordable even for low income families) and MFW to look and see if their investment of time is worth her investment of money.

Literature based....Sonlight...Robinson Curriculum

Textbooks...Rod and Staff...BJU.....Old Fashioned Education

Workbooks....Horizons....Abeka....Christian Light Education

 

Then let them go and research...this is very valuable to every home educator.

Brenda

I didn’t even bother responding. Too many other responses already suggesting Easy Peasy and Khan academy. I’m in a no regulation state so unschooling and extremely relaxed homeschooling are very popular. Most people who comment on these things push the quick/easy/cheap/free viewpoint, regardless of the age of the child.

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1 hour ago, 2ndGenHomeschooler said:

I didn’t even bother responding. Too many other responses already suggesting Easy Peasy and Khan academy. I’m in a no regulation state so unschooling and extremely relaxed homeschooling are very popular. Most people who comment on these things push the quick/easy/cheap/free viewpoint, regardless of the age of the child.

We have some regulation here but it's very light, and I see the same thing. Easy Peasy is THE answer to everything it seems.

I'm constantly seeing questions about high school science and people suggesting that labs aren't necessary, it's fine to just watch them online, etc. I sure hope none of these kids is planning a science career. I am not a science person, but we are just beginning our foray into high school-level science this year and I'm already fastidious about lab journals, reports, etc. because I know that dd will have to have these skills in place in order to pursue her desired degree. (BTW, if anyone is looking, Novare's lab report handbook is an EXCELLENT resource!) We will most likely outsource at least one or two classes to the community college just so she can have experience in an actual lab before college. 

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