Home Schooling FAQ's (Home Schooling Guide)
(Click on a subject to view that topic in more detail)
Choosing curriculum should be a based on many things. There are many suppliers of great curriculum out there and even more great offers on used curriculum on the internet and in your local paper. When choosing a curriculum for Science (for example) you should ensure that the book you will be teaching from covers the basics and offers extra areas of study to encourage your child to continue learning on subjects of interest. You might find that the book you start teaching from does not cover certain subjects as well as you thought it might. Before running out to purchase another book, try resources from your local library, borrow from another home schooling friend or even search the internet to supplement your studies. There are many outlets for textbooks and you should be open to change, to best fit the needs of your child. Don' t be afraid to use more than one source for teaching a subject. Try to leave the possibilities open to be in a situation to expand on subjects of interest - it is your child that will benefit in the long run.
Internet search key words: Home School Curriculum / used home school curriculum or textbooks.
Try your local used book store for school books, EBay or even your local newspaper for great deals on books and other curriculum kits.
For a list of curriculum publishers: (Publishers)
You may wish to view the following sites for their Typical Course of Study before standardize testing your child to ensure that he/she has received the full content of their subjects during the school year.
Teaching different grades can be an overwhelming concept, but can be done successfully. While your 1st grader is doing his/her handwriting or reading a story you can be explain today's Biology lesson to your high-schooler. You might even try having your older child do his/her more challenging work with you early in the morning and his/her independent studies later in the morning or after lunch, thus freeing you up for time with your younger ones. In home school, you will not have bells to tell you when class is over so you will have to go through a period of trial and error until you find what works best for you and your children. Try seeking input from other home schooling families for advise. You may end up doing something from advise from several families until you find what works for you.
Articles of interest:
Article from Lawrence Williams, Ed.D.
If your toddler is willing, bring them to school too! Invest in a desk just for them or a special table. Give them coloring pages or alphabet letters to play with. Things that are not too noisy and distracting for your other children. They will love the feeling of being included. If your little one has his/her "moments" then try to school around that time. If you know that late morning they get real cranky, then tell everyone to take a break for 15 minutes. Try to do some PE outside if weather permits or another family activity that will get everyone relaxed and regrouped when you come back to class time. Paper kite flying contests are a great outlet for kids of all ages. After your break your little one should be a little calmer and the other children will enjoy the short break from his/her studies. You could get your children to write 'crazy ideas' for break time on a piece of paper and collect them in a jar during the school year. When you call break time, have one your children choose one from your jar. Children often forget what ideas they put in months ago and it is a fun way bring the kids together.
Measuring Academic Achievement
There are many different ways to measure how your child is progressing academically, but to ensure your child is learning all areas needed and there are no surprises at the end of the year should you decide to standardize test, you should seek guidelines from like grades/subjects for your state. In SC, the Dept. of Education publishes detailed guidelines in subject areas on their website. This is a great tool to view and adopt to your curriculum if you are uncertain what needs to be taught when. As well, there are all types of independent testing you can administer to your child. Some are done online by you, the teacher, and others are done by an independent tester from such places like BJU. If you are a member of a support group or co-op, often times they have members that are approved testers and hold dates each year they hold group testing. BJU publishes the criteria to become an approved tester in your area for testing such as the Stanford, Iowa and others. If you choose not to standardize test your child from an outside tester, you can get online and find hundreds of sites that offer testing you can give your child. While they are not compiled into any official state or national scores, they will give you an idea of how your child is learning for his/her age and grade level. If you choose to have your child tested from an approved tester you can expect the fees to be the cost of the test and sometimes a fee for the administer to give it.
When your student is in the upper grades, IOE suggests that you utilize the following grading scale when recording your student's work. This standard scale is used and acknowledged by SC and other state colleges and universities, as well as other schools should your child transfer from home school.
KEY TO GRADING: A = 93-100 B = 85-92 C = 77-84 D = 70-76 F = 0-69
WD = Withdrawn NC = No Credit Issued INC = Incomplete
Sites that offer information and/or test ordering:
www.bjup.com (BJU - testing information)
www.myscschools.com/offices/cso (SC Dept. of Education - curriculum details)
www.baysideschoolservices.com (CAT/5 tests)
To test using the following testing methods - you will need to contact:
Pre-SAT Register through a local school SAT, SAT II (website) Register through SAT company Testing Dates/Fees ACT (website) Register through ACT company Testing Dates/Fees AP High School Tests Register through a local school
Home Schooling during the high school years is much different than the elementary years, but can be just as rewarding. It would be in your best interest to speak to other families that have taught during the high school years and get advise on subjects and issues you might have. If you need, get a tutor to assist in areas you may need help with and seek out other means of help for supplemental curriculum. Biology is easily taught by a book, but hands on labs are key to tying it all together. Many educational centers have labs for your child to work in as do co-ops and science centers. Foreign language and other subjects can be taught from CD ROM w/workbooks. Prices may vary depending on supplier or brand, so do your homework and see what is going to best met your child's educational needs. Co-op's offer a great outlet for your child to get labs and PE when you may not be in a position to offer it from home. Science kits can be purchased from most teacher supply stores or online directly from curriculum suppliers.
Once you have chosen the material from which to teach from, then plan your year carefully. During the summer take time to plan your lessons and familiarize yourself with the content. As you have ideas for a particular section, make a note of it. For example, if you are going to be covering US Constitution this year, you may wish to have your child your child take a tour of the State Senate during session. Pencil that idea in your monthly lesson plan book and start coordinating that trip now. You may wish to get supplemental videos from your local library that cover certain sections. Work on that now so they can be reserved for the time in which you need it. If a support group is planning a trip to Washington D.C., this planning ahead will allow you time to save for your trip and to schedule class time around your outing.
High School courses (classes) are all given grades and credits. 1 credit for a course that is one year long (ex. 9th grade math) and .5 credits are issued for a course that is only 1/2 year long (ex. Government or Economics). Be sure to contact your college of choice to see what is expected of your child so you can better plan your high school years along with your local / state requirements for homeschooling and graduation.
If your child is in middle school and is able to take high school courses for credit, ensure that your record keeping is accurate so credits can be issued. When they get to the 11th and 12th grade year they can take college courses at your local tech school for college credit. Seek more information from your local tech school before starting this process so you will know what they will be able to take and what you will need to teach them early in order to reach the necessary credit limit ahead of schedule. It is not advised that all children get the necessary credits ahead of schedule, but if your child is a position to achieve that, then they have another educational outlet during their high school years. Typically, a middle-schooler would take on high school courses in a addition to their normal school courses. It is not a way to get out of taking required courses in the middle school years - sorry kids!
Please check with your college of choice to ensure that you have taken their necessary pre-requisites. You may wish to do this as early as the 9th grade year by simply requesting a catalog or course description book from various colleges/tech schools. You can then use that information to build your high school curriculum based on what their requirements are. Most colleges are now seeking freshmen that have completed Three (3) lab sciences - physical science is not considered a lab science. (Biology, Chemistry, Physics etc.)
You may wish to view the following sites for their Typical Course of Study before standardize testing your child to ensure that he/she has received the full content of their subjects during the school year.
Student Transcript - High School
Most valid homeschool associations or organizations will furnish your family transcripts for your students during the high school years. If they do not, you may wish to seek other options available to you or create your own transcripts. There are several companies that offer transcript services; however, you if have not kept accurate and complete records you find your self scrambling for data. Organize all of your records for the high school years and locate all final grades, percentages and any SAT/ACT test scores. Generally, colleges are looking for these test scores and not standardized testing during the high school years.
www.HSTranscripts.com offers an offordable transcript to homeschooling families.
There is an instant cloud that covers kids are that home schooled. Many feel that a typical home school child is locked away at home and has no social life. This is very untrue according to many studies. On average, home schooled students are very socialized and have outlets open to them that are ordinarily not open to public schooled children. Many YMCA's and other sporting organizations have daytime classes just for home schooled children. If you are a member of a support group or co-op then you are aware of the many field trips and outings offered. It is not unusual for a child to have something to do or somewhere to go just about every day. Whether it is park or zoo day or trip to the museum, outings are endless. Search your local paper in the community section to see what is available in your area. Below is a link to supports groups for you to get plugged in with. (SC Support Groups)
How much is too much? That is a question for you AND your child to answer. When you decided to home school, you did so for a personal reason. That same compassion will lead you to make the best choices for their social outlets as well.
If your child is into sports, you might try to contact the Recreation Dept. in your local county or local YMCA. Also, many local churches have leagues for kids of all ages in a wide variety of sports and clubs. 4H and scouts also provide a great outlet young boys and girls.
Hear from experts: Dr. Jay L. Wile, PH.D. | HSLDA | Rhonda Galloway BJU English Teacher | Dr. Larry Shylers | Chris Klicka, HSLDA Senior Counsel
Other Research on Home Schooling:
Home Education Across the United States
Study on home schooling, conducted by Dr. Brian D. Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute. (1997)
Home Schooling Works -- Pass it On
Findings of an independent study by Lawrence M. Rudner, Ph.D., Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. (1999)
Homeschooling in the United States:1999
This report, based on data from the Parent Survey of the National Household Education Survey Program, 1999. Published in 2001
Support Groups are designed to bring you together with other home schooling families in your area. Fees may or may not be required to join. A good support group will have field trips and gatherings on a frequent basis. During the gatherings, at a park or someone's house, parents can converse and share ideas or assist you with any questions or concerns you might have. As well, your child will be around children of like age and having a great time playing.
Co-ops are organized gatherings of home schooled children and their parents once or twice a week for three for four consecutive months. The classes are usually taught by other parents or hired tutors. Some classes are designed to be a part of your current curriculum (ex. PE, Biology Lab or Creative Writing) while others are just plain fun (ex. arts and crafts, music). If you find more than one in your local area, get information on each one and visit during sessions or talk with a member of their board to learn more about what they offer and what you can except if you join.
Field trips can be as endless as your imagination! If you are learning about reptiles in science, then take the kids to your local zoo. While there learn about the different types of reptiles and their habitats. You might even what to have your child keep a journal of each visit. They can record when they went and what they went to visit. Draw the animal in their habitat and where the animal comes from (Geography). If you are studying the effects of drought, then take a stroll through a park and observe plants, animal life and water levels.
If you use your imagination when planing your trips you can really bring your text book lessons come to life! Check your local area for parks, hiking trails, zoos and planetariums. Even a walk through an old cemetery can be a great lesson in local history. Many towns in SC have Civil War Museums or displays on the history of your town. You can contact your local newspaper, police and fire departments as well as area bakeries and businesses for tours.
Support from your family and even close friends is important to you and your child. When you have the support of your family, you and your child will be more open to share progress as well seek assistance on problem areas. If you do not have much support, continue to share more of your child's progress and achievements as an assurance to them. Most times, when family and friends don't support home school it is because they have not taken the time to educate themselves on all of the benefits it can offer a child. Don't feel like you must win everyone over to the concept of home schooling, just keep offering their progress and invite them to go with you on a field trip or support group meeting. Sometimes, hearing from others can make the difference. Often times, families/friends think you are all alone and do not realize that you have an network of support at your disposal. Remember, most people assume that a home school child is locked away from the world with no social life. There are many books and articles on the internet you can read to assist you in this area.
(See above section for studies on Social Outlets and links to various studies.)
Home Education Across the United States
Study on home schooling, conducted by Dr. Brian D. Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute. (1997)
Home Schooling Works -- Pass it On
Findings of an independent study by Lawrence M. Rudner, Ph.D., Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. (1999)
Homeschooling in the United States:1999
This report, based on data from the Parent Survey of the National Household Education Survey Program, 1999. Published in 2001