Way to go! You have made the decision to home school! Now
what?? The first thing you need to do is join an umbrella group. This group is
who you will report your attendance to in the younger years and who will
calculate your child’s transcripts and diploma in high school. They will keep
you informed to the laws of your state. As well as, provide you with a
membership card. This card can provide you with discounts to most museums,
zoos, and aquariums. This card is also great to have if you happen to be
questioned about your child being home schooled.
There are a few choices. The attached link lists the most
common groups in South Carolina .
https://www.home-school.com/groups/SC.html
However, the group we use is not listed there. Grace Homeschool Association has
been a great group to be apart of. http://gracehomeschools.org/
Once you have joined your group, now the big decisions
start. There are many paths to choose from. Those paths can vary for each child
and family. They often depend on the age of the child and the goals of the
parent. Remember, it is important to begin with the end in mind. Then make the
daily decisions that will slowly bring you to your desired location.
Now you must decide on how you want to home school. There
are MANY ways to home school. Thehomeschooldiner.com does a great job
explaining each choice here: http://www.homeschooldiner.com/guide/intro/main.html
The most popular here are Eclectic (REACH), Online
schools (K12)
and Classical (Classical
Conversations).
These three groups vary greatly. K12 is public school
online. It is very convenient for a lot of parents because they send you
everything you need for free! All of your books and supplies are mailed to you
and all you need is a computer. With all those free things comes mandatory time
spent on the computer. There is not as much freedom in this type of program.
REACH is a homeschool group in Florence . They offer a co-op which meets once
a week for 20 weeks (ten weeks in the fall and ten weeks in the spring). The
parents decide on the curriculum to teach at home and you come together once a
week to take classes. These classes are taught by parents and vary from week to
week. You must teach or help in at least
2 of the three classes offered. REACH is very affordable. Classes tend to be less
than $40. This is a wonderful group. I love the community I found here.
Classical Conversations is a group that is world wide. They
meet for 24 weeks (12 in the fall and 12 in the spring). Parents are required
to attend class with the child. The tutor (teacher) is introducing the material
to the parent, as well as, the child. CC would be your foundation curriculum
and you would add math and language to the memory work. CC provides the memory
work, art project, and science project every week. CC is more expensive than
the other options. However, CC pays their tutors. Paying the tutors raises the
bar and provides more accountability. It also pays for all training for the
parents, tutors, and directors. CC is a wonderful community. They encourage the
parents to pack a picnic lunch and eat together each week. It is wonderful that
everyone is working on the same work from week to week. The 4k and 6th
graders are doing the same material, but on different levels. There are three
levels: 1. Foundations (4K-3rd grade) 2. Foundations + Essentials (4th
grade – 6th grade) 3. Challenge (7th -12th grades).
We absolutely LOVE Classical Conversations!!
Choosing the day-to-day curricula can be very overwhelming. The
most helpful thing is to first decide your approach and then search for the
curriculum to fit that style.
Kindergarten
I used Singapore Earlybird Math, Horizons math, Horizons
Language Arts, Before the Code, My Father’s World, and Sonlight. I did not do
these all at the same time. This list is for both girls over 3 years.
Elementary School
http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2014/01/looking-for-elementary-school-curriculum-recommendations/
check the comments
I am planning on using My Father’s World this year with
Horizons math this year.
High School
As of now, I am planning on doing Classical Conversations
for high school.
**Cathy Duffy does a great job reviewing the most popular
curricula.** http://cathyduffyreviews.com/
I hope this helps!!
With Love,
Kenan
