<p>We are considering homeschooling our DC for 9th grade. How does one set up homeschooling? Do we just hire tutors for homeschooling and/or parents tutoring at home? Do we need to register with the local school district? Do we need to sign up with any online homeschool? DC will apply to Boarding School(BS) for 10th grade the following year. For the BS applications, who writes the recommendations for homeschooled kids, parents?</p>
<p>These are probably not questions that are best addressed here on these boards. </p>
<br>
<br>
<p>It totally depends on what you are looking for. It can be “set up” in a dozen or more different ways.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I don’t know anyone who has done this, and it really doesn’t sound like “home” schooling.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Depends on your state law. States vary widely in their requirements.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>No, you do not need to.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>You’d have to ask each of the boarding schools their preference.</p>
<p>Why are you considering homeschooling at this time, for just one year? What if your student does not get into a boarding school?</p>
<p>To find out basic information, I would encourage you to find your state’s homeschool organization online. (Google.) So much information really depends on your state. Remember too that what works for another family may be a terrible fit for yours. You’ll want to plan with your student’s specific strengths/weaknesses/goals in mind, and consider what will be required of you, as a parent. </p>
<p>It would also help you greatly to read a few books. You might check your library for titles. I liked two of Cafi Cohen’s books, titled something like How to Homeschool High School, and How to Homeschool and Get Into College.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Google search yielded quite a few pages. While I review these pages, does anyone have info on MA Homeschooling rules like having to register with local school district etc.?</p>
<p>I sent you a private message…</p>
<p>Marbling’s reply is a good one. </p>
<p>I also recommend you thoroughly search the Home School Legal Defense Association website. You’ll find lots of legal information there as well as some practical.</p>
<p>[HSLDA:</a> Homeschooling Advocates since 1983](<a href=“http://www.hslda.org/default.aspx]HSLDA:”>HSLDA - Making homeschooling possible)</p>
<p>For example, the link to their page on MA: [Homeschooling</a> in Massachusetts](<a href=“http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/MA/default.asp]Homeschooling”>http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/MA/default.asp) See side links to Laws, Organizations, Cases, & Legislation.</p>
<p>I agree with other posters, this is not the best board to be asking these questions. This is a college board, and you need to be seeking out Homeschool information and organizations. The information I am about to type should be viewed as general background, and you should seek more exact answers from local sources that know your state and local laws. I am not an expert, just a homeschool parent, and I may or may not be giving you good advice. </p>
<p>Homeschooling was not something our family planned to do, but an illness with our son prompted us to leave our private christian school and teach him at home. Our older daughter “graduated” from 8th grade at the same school, and then attended a one day a week homeschool school throughout her high school years. She also dual enrolled senior year at a nearby college. </p>
<p>Homeschooling can be a great thing, but it can also be a disaster. For me, knowledge gathered helped strengthen my resolve and drove away the fears and misconceptions I harbored. State and local laws vary, and you must know and follow them to the letter. Homeschool support groups are vital, and I highly suggest you find your way to a homeschool convention, even if you have to travel to another state. Google to find a state group that might have listings of local support groups. Some groups are faith-based, others are secular. </p>
<p>Some states allow you to teach your child one one one, other states require you to be registered through an “umbrella school” ( like Alabama). Some states are more homeschool friendly than others. Here in Georgia, we enjoy a greater freedom, have more opportunities for outside classes, field trips, hybrid schools, and no fear of taking our kids out during school hours to the stores or parks. More opportunities give you more choices, which can be good or can overwhelm you. There are online schools or individual “live” classes you can drive your child to attend. Is your child a self-starter? Is a parent capable of carving out time to teach one-on-one? What does your child need most? If there is a bullying situation or too much drama, take the child out of that situation!! Even if you homeschool poorly, the love you can pour into your child in this middle school year full of raging hormones and so much physical change in their bodies could be just what they need. And in light of the possibility of sending them away for boarding school, this could be the most precious time for all of your family. Don’t let fear of the unknown or non-supportive family members criticize your choices. Figure out what the child needs and ask for help from local, experienced homeschoolers. Homeschoolers are, in general, willing to share and encourage others. </p>
<p>For the purpose of high school graduation, you want to make sure your homeschool choices for 9th grade are in line with your state’s graduation requirements. And if you know where your child will be attending 10th-12th grades, you can line up your teaching with their scope and sequence also.</p>
<p>For teacher recommendations, I would suggest you look back to previous teachers that were particularly connected with your child. Also, a team coach in a sport, or a youth group leader at church, people who know your child and have first hand knowledge of their good character and abilities could write recommendations. (Assuming all is well with child’s grades and no disciplinary actions at school or trouble with the law.) You will also need to document what your child does in 9th grade. This is called a portfolio, and you can use it as a tool to help the boarding school understand how hard your child has worked during their homeschooled 9th grade. Document textbooks, table of contents, amount of book actually covered. Document how you arrived at grades, number of hours student studied the material (estimates of weekly involvement with material) since Carnegie units for high school graduation are determined by hours of study. </p>
<p>My child did not want to homeschool, so I needed to find ways to get him “on board” with our decision. He chose the Middle Ages to study, and we found ways to engage him using that as our starting point. I chose a more all-inclusive curriculum that “told” me what to do each day. I could follow that schedule, or make up my own. I had to add in my own math and science, and my older daughter ended up becoming his math tutor. It was great for my husband and I to see our children drawn closer together through homeschooling. Because he had health issues, we chose not to do any outside classes for the first 2 years, til we had a better handle on his health.</p>
<p>In 6th grade, we signed him up for a homeschool school that met one day a week offering a la carte classes. For 7th grade, we enrolled him in a different homeschool school that taught a whole curriculum, so he is there all day, one day a week. (It is the same school my daughter is graduating from this year.) Our hybrid school is accredited by the state of Georgia, so my daughter has been able to apply to colleges in the same way that a public or private school student would apply. No extra forms needed.</p>
<p>What both my kids have learned through homeschooling is time management. They are learning critical thinking skills and problem solving. How life-changing will one year of homeschooling be for a 9th grader? So many variables to consider. Does the child want to leave their current situation, or will you be dragging them away from their only friends? Are there team sports or church groups to give them physical activity and interaction with some friends? Homeschool opportunities for every sport, plus P.E. classes that meet at local gyms, archery, air soft, laser tag, homeschool prom dances, so many ways to connect with others (at least in our area there is.)</p>
<p>Okay, I have rambled enough. I hope my random thoughts have encouraged you to seek out more solid information from reliable, local sources. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>PM me, and I’ll be happy to talk to you. This is a topic that may not be discussed in detail here, but some aspects are relevant, such as transcripts and references. </p>
<p>For general readers, just let me say that HSLDA is the most important organization to belong to if you homeschool in the United States. Although they have a Christian tone, you don’t have to be Christian to be a member. They are attorneys and educators who know the laws in every state and defend your rights to homeschool. Because some government organizations including educational agencies, law enforcement, child protective services, and so on unfortunately do not know or respect their own laws, it’s important for you to know your legal rights and know what to say and do if they are challenged. In general, if you are asked for information or access to your children or home, a standard response is to pleasantly say, “I’ll be happy to comply with your request so far as the law requires, but I’ll have to get your request in writing.” Then, you call HSLDA. If they persist and don’t leave, you call HSLDA immediately. Most homeschoolers do not encounter this, but over the years it is possible. A nosy and ignorant neighbor reports that your kids aren’t in school because they are playing outdoors on a sunny day. That neighbor doesn’t know the law or that you spend many weekend and summer days homeschooling and that your kids are two years ahead. Or, a school district tries to round up as many homeschoolers as possible and put them in public school to increase funding, sending out a threatening letter with misleading or false information. So, you just need to know what to do and you’ll be fine. This is not as likely with older kids, but some kids in California have been repeatedly stopped by police even though they have shown their homeschool card repeatedly to the same officers as they walked to university classes. So, just be aware and you are very unlikely to have any issues. On a more pleasant note, HSLDA can give you excellent advice about how to manage things like transcripts, recommendations, record keeping if required by the state, etc. They can seem daunting, but they are not really that big of a deal in retrospect. Doing it for one year will go by fast and you can probably get some good support from your local or state homeschool association. I used a very educationally rich but freeform method, phasing into more of a hybrid approach before my son entered public school in mid-middle school. When he ran of math and science, I homeschooled again mostly to give him enough time to make up for what the school did not teach or did not teach well and to take local college and online AP courses for homeschool credit. Homeschooling older kids can be challenging, so pick your battles and put your plan in writing so that everyone knows what must happen and when and signs onto the responsibilities. </p>
<p>While this is not a thoroughly college based topic, it’s related because you need to know that you can import all previous grades into a transcript created by hour homeschool and then submit that to the boarding school. I had a very detailed legend and coding system so that every course my son took anywhere, including at home, summer programs, taught by me, self-study, and even work that provided professional skills such as tutoring, was traceable to a specific source, setting or whatever was appropriate, dated, graded, and so on. This was particularly important for my son because the former public school was very angry that they might not get credit for his National Merit Scholarship he was expected to be awarded and they literally threatened to insert zeros onto his official record as they had illegally refused to disenroll him after I submitted the correct paperwork according to the state and it was date stamped and copies returned to me by hand. So, I had printouts of every assignment grade he ever made in that school system to back up the grades earned there and imported into my transcript for him. I also included test scores in a special section, including the dates taken. This was quite impressive and even though my son objected to their inclusion I received some positive comments about everything being in one place and easy to find. Of course, I also paid to have all his test scores sent to schools. This included AP, IB, SAT, ACT, and SAT II scores, with 7th and 8th grade Duke TIP scores included for reference since they showed how far alone he was at those ages versus what he got when he took them during high school. If nothing else, this gives you an awesome record. Just keep as many documents as you can on hand to support what is there, but don’t worry if there are no additional documents available for homeschool work. For homeschool work, keep records of the textbooks used and it wouldn’t hurt to keep completed assignments and projects together just in case. I didn’t have all that but I only homeschooled during high school for one year. The rest of it was before high school. Forgot to mention that it helps if you put credentials on the transcript at the top with addresses and dates of attendance but don’t worry if you’re not a degreed teacher. Include majors, minors, certificates, etc. to show the diversity and depth of your trainer. Some people have no idea that a high percentage of homeschoolers are well educated and a disproportionate percentage is composed of degreed teachers. So highlight your credentials including extra courses and training after graduation to some extent. </p>
<p>As for references, you can be one but during the year, it would be helpful to have your son involved with at least two other adults such as coaches, a teacher in a community college course, a private tutor, a professional he did community service with, etc.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the entire last post because the paragraphs were so long, but I wanted to respond to this:</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I’m a conservative, Christian homeschooling mom who has been doing this for 11 years. I cannot disagree enough with above statement. I have never, nor will ever, be a part of HSLDA, nor would I ever suggest anyone else do so, unless they expect trouble for some reason. HSLDA has delved too far into politics that have nothing to do with homeschooling, and I have no interest in supporting their endeavors. </p>
<p>The stuff that the previous poster is claiming really doesn’t happen to regular people, as long as they are following the law. </p>
<p>And to the OP: I am sure Creekland offered great advice privately. I know her from somewhere else; she’s very helpful and knowledgeable.</p>
<p>
We did a combination of community (rec center, one-day-a-week homeschool program at local public school), community college classes (DUAL-enrolled with homeschool highschool), Teaching Company videos, and online programs (Aleks, eIMACS, AoPS). We live in a fairly lenient state.
Depends on the state and maybe even the school district within the state. I believe I heard a few years ago that MA was a pain.
Do you think there will be a better chance of boarding school admission from homeschool than from the local public?
I never found any need to do this, but again, I live in a homeschool-friendly state.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Now I’m curious… though I suspect WHERE you know me from. I’m just not recognizing your name. Off to send another pm… ;)</p>
<p>Oh, we never had anything to do with HSLDA either - no need. I’ve never even been on their website. Since I’m not really “up” on what they do I’m neither condemning nor supporting them. I’m just saying there’s no “absolute” need to belong to them.</p>
<p>^Probbably from the WTM board?</p>
<p>^^^ That’s my guess too.</p>
<p>I lurk the college board on well trained mind and you post allot. Plus wtm is more popular for home schools than here</p>
<p>True. WTM was priceless when it came to getting info for homeschooling my older two so I always recommend it to those in that situation. I still wish my youngest had stayed home rather than choosing public school, but, such is life. Unfortunately, his colleges options will likely be more limited (compared to his brothers). Hopefully the couple he likes will be affordable, but I felt a lot more comfortable going into the process with higher scores. One year from now we’ll know how it all worked out - for better or worse.</p>
<p>I agree with creekland</p>