Search Results for: blog am i qualified for this homeschooling your children

In a Rush to Graduate Your Kids from Homeschool?

My family had a conversation last night about when we would graduate the kids from homeschool. We started talking about SAT scores for my son that we should receive on Tuesday and the fact that we couldn’t graduate him next year if he took the PSAT and qualified for the National Merit Program (he took the SAT first as a practice for the PSAT). Because the PSAT had to be taken in your Jr. year to qualify for the National Merit program, we were trying to figure out if he had to wait another year to graduate even though he … Continue reading →

Your Gifted Child Needs Support

If your child has been identified as gifted or is currently being evaluated, you might feel a little lost about navigating through the whole thing. How do you determine what is best for your child, where are the resources and support? One thing you will quickly find if you google “gifted resources” or “navigating gifted resources” is that there are a lot of websites to help parents. Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, most of those websites are by and for citizens of other countries. The few ones centered on the Unites States tend to be commercial … Continue reading →

I’m Still Sort of Really Qualified to Homeschool a Gifted Child. . .I Think

This is part of a series. . .if you missed the first two blogs you may want to go back and read part one and part two. Realizing My Skill as THE Homeschool Teacher I’m not a math dummy. I actually feel pretty confident that with the right curriculum I can get my kids through Calculus. I never anticipated having to think about what to do after Calculus. But here I am, teaching a 7 year old, and wondering where to go after Calculus in a few years. I’m not THE ultimate homeschool teacher. . .but I’ve realized that I … Continue reading →

Homeschooling in Washington State: Option 2 and Standardized Testing

This is not legal advice. As someone who lives in a state that is highly regulated, I cannot emphasize enough the need for you to advocate for yourself and make a point to know your state laws. While the school district will most likely provide you with a printed copy of the laws and regulations for home schooling, a local home schooling group can be a valuable asset when it comes to navigating your way through the system. In Washington State, there are two options under which a parent is legally allowed to homeschool a child. For information on homeschooling … Continue reading →

Homeschooling in Washington State: Option 1

This is not legal advice. As someone who lives in a state that is highly regulated, I cannot emphasize enough the need for you to advocate for yourself and make a point to know your state laws. While the school district will most likely provide you with a printed copy of the laws and regulations for home schooling, a local home schooling group can be a valuable asset when it comes to navigating your way through the system. Compulsory Attendance: You are under compulsory attendance law from when your child turns 8 years old to when he turns 18. Required … Continue reading →

Extreme Homeschool Objections: Homeschooling Harms Public Schools

I just read a very interesting diatribe entitled Homeschooling Is the Death of Education on the Wat Da Wat? Blog. In this blog, the writer insisted that pulling good kids out of public schools to homeschool damages public schools. While she acknowledged that homeschooling was definitely good for the individual child, she felt that it was bad for public schools because homeschool flight will have a similar effect of white flight (not her words, but this was inferred). Only children whose parents had no other choice but to have their kids in public schools would be left, and there would … Continue reading →

Extreme Homeschool Objections: Severely Unqualified Parents

In a desperate attempt to find a conversation online regarding homeschooling that did not have to do with the plight of California Homeschoolers, I came across a certain video log. This vlogger’s name is Stephen Downes and he works for the National Research Council, Institute for Information Technology in New Brunswick, Canada. His specialty is online learning. In short, he is no dummy and knows a few things about education. When it came to homeschooling however, he was off base. He had many objections to homeschooling. I am addressing his concerns on homeschooling not because I was so bored that … Continue reading →

The Real Problem with Homeschooling

I’ve only been homeschooling for a few years. . .my oldest is in third grade. But like all homeschoolers, I’ve heard my fair share of objections. I’m either unqualified (because you know, colors, numbers and shapes are so hard to master) or my children will be behind socially. I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that we’re misfits and I’m okay with that on a personal level. However, it has always bothered me on a more philosophical level. I mean, we live in a society that is pretty much “live and let live.” No one wants to be told how to … Continue reading →

Ask a Homeschooling Blogger: Why Are You So Against Government Involvement?

To all of my readers, On occasion I receive letters either by e-mail or private message telling me how dumb we are for home schooling and how unsocial zed my children will be. I generally ignore them because they are so inflammatory they’re not worth responding to. I am always up for a good debate with well thought out arguments. I’m not interested in name calling. I have finally received a letter that at least to me, seems to be genuinely questioning the home schooling lifestyle as opposed to just writing meaningless dribble to spout off. In fairness, I need … Continue reading →

The Newest Genre of Homeschooling Parent

I have to say that I really respect my pastors and their decision to home school. They were doing it in the 70’s and early 80’s when educating your child wasn’t considered a parental ‘right’ but rather a social and legal taboo. They both have stories about being visited by truancy officers and one of the pastors wives jokes about the days when their kids were told to hide under the bed in case someone came in. Homeschooling was akin to educational neglect back then, and they really needed to forge their way through. There were no curriculums or helpful … Continue reading →