Homeschooling - Garland,TX

First of all K-only takes about 2-3 fifteen minute sessions each day. That is all. Then you are teaching her 3 things. How to obey or follow directions, how to read and how to have some responsobilities around the house, her share of chores, etc.
You didn't say what she does or where she is while you both work.
It is in workbooks and phonics and I see my 5 year old and 3 year old do a few minutes in each book and they are done. The 3 year old does school because she has others that do and she stops when she wants to. But the 5 year old finishes the page in each book and is done. Good Luck!

So, I went to public school and private school. I was in the gifted programs and still bored out of my mind. I knew at 7 what I wanted to be, so life/school felt like hoops to jump through, rather than anything I wanted to do....until grad school.

We pulled our son out of school after kindergarten and were AMAZED at how EASY it was. Really? Why are they in school for 6 hours each day with 2 hours of busy work, oh, I mean, homework? I was able to get school done with our son in less than 1 hour each day, but to put in the time that the state required, we did 4 hours. He was done with 1st grade in 2 months. I made up projects, reviewed, did lots of field trips, and after 2 months of that, I realized he was done with 1st grade. We started 2nd grade immediately and did 1 hour of work each day. He finished 2nd grade in 6.5 months.

He's now 7 and has started 4th grade. I ask him if he wants to go back to school and his response is, "No way."

We are starting pre-school with our 4 year old and 2 year old - who both know their numbers and alphabet. Our four year old can spell, but not read yet. Our 2 younger kids hear everything we teach Michael and for that, they know more than most kids their ages.

My husbad and I own our own business, so our schedules can be inconsistent and that's the thing we love. Our son still gets his work in AND has learned how to be flexible. we do work everyday, but now that he's not 5, he actually starts his work on his own and if he has questions, he asks us. We don't hover over him.

I've had numerous friends who didn't think they could do it. One was freaked out. She puleld her daughter who was in the nurses office everyday with a sick tummy. Once she pulled her, the stomach has been fine. She was a great student at home and a mediocre one at school. This year, she's pulled all 3 of her kids and can't believe she is homeschooling and everyone is loving it.

Ok, so that aside:

You have options. You can homeschool on your own. You can go through a public charter school, where they give you the curriculum and it goes along with your state's...this one is "free" through the tax money. Or there are schools here that take the kids 2 or 3 days a week and the parents teach them the other 2 days.

Our field trips consist of trips to Oregon, New York, St. Thomas, Northern California, Mexico, Chicago, Denver, etc. We go off season, so the prices are cheaper AND no crowds. Our kids get to learn how to travel and actually get real life experience. Instead of just reading about the Statue of Liberty, we go and see it. AND I get to raise my children and spend time with them. there is NOTHING better than teaching something to your child and watching their eyes light up when they "get" a concept.

Good luck with whatever you choose...and you can always change your mind. We take school year by year.

Google "homeschooling styles," and you'll see that there are different ways to come at it. Here's one site: http://eho.org/homeschool_prep/styles.asp

Some public schools offer good educations, some individual teachers that your daughter would encounter would be terrific, and some will probably be not so great.

You can see the same things happening within families. Whether homeschooling would work well for any particular family would depend on quite a few variables, from the personalities of the participants, the style(s) of homeschooling used, and the motives for keeping your child at home. I've seen wonderful examples. And terrible ones.

It can be a terrific choice if you and your child(ren) are well-matched for the style you choose. Do your homework! I also strongly suggest joining a support group if you decide to go for it.

Best wishes to your family.

Since you work full time and will need child care Why not give her the best of both worlds? if she goes to kindergarten in a decent area she will have lots of time to interact with her peers- learning centers, indoor play, outdoor play, etc
She will have a music teacher, art teacher, physical education teacher, some schools have a world language program, a computer teacher and a science teacher as well. Most students can handle 10 minutes a day of practicing handwriting even if their printing is already perfect, they enjoy quickly writing known sight words and counting by tens with the class even if its easy. Kindergarten in my area involves the children writing stories (at their own level of writing) and reading books(again each child is reading at their own level) so she should be working at her level. Math could be a 15 minutes lesson that is easy for her but she can challenge herself during the practice time or enjoy playing fun math games with her peers.
At home you can challenge her reading with her one on one, studying second language, encouraging HER personal interests whether it's science or S.S. or advanced math, and taking lots of educational trips -museums, planetariums, nature centers etc. experiences that she could write about in kindergarten class!
Unless she is a behavior problem or does not like socializing with children her age she will LOVE kindergarten and you will, of course, continue to spend time with her at home developing her intellect and helping her continue learning!

Honestly, after having two older children go through the public school system(now 20 and 21)we too seriously considered Home School for our youngest (now in the 1st grade). I LOVE my daughter, but when I was honest with myself, it was apparent that she really needed that time away from me and more time with other children. So far it has been great! She was approved for the GT Program. We continue to supplement her education at home whenever the opportunity arrives (cooking, library, computer games,helping daddy in the garage with building projects). I feel that all this has paid off in big ways. Currently she is reading and doing math on a 2nd grade level as a 1st grader. Last year as a Kindergartner, the librarian at her school gave her special permission to check out books from the 2nd grade section (our daughter was so proud).

Homeschooling is a great option if you can make it. However, it is not for every child and every parent.

of course you're not a bad parent for using the public school system! that's ridiculous!
homeschooling is an excellent option for those whose personalities, family philosophies and situations allow it. both parents working full-time IS a situation that can work but it's very challenging. i did it, but i had an excellent community and leaned on 'em heavily. my kids did a lot of field trips, play groups and study groups with friends. which was, of course, a very good thing. i reciprocated by teaching a lot of classes here and in our co-ops.
what i didn't do was spend a set amount of hours each day in 'consistent instruction.' i assigned work on a weekly basis and my kids did it on their own timelines. it worked very well for us. each family is different. some are very structured indeed (school at home), some completely child-led (unschooling.) the consistency comes with what methodology you end up with, not how many hours each day the kid spends on diagramming sentences.
that being said, structure is very helpful when one first starts homeschooling. it takes a little time to figure out what is going to work for one's family. pretty much nobody ends up doing it how they begin!
so, to wrap it up, yes there are homeschooling options for you. it would probably be a bit hinky at first as you set up your lifestyle, research local contacts, co-ops and groups, and get settled into your social and academic routine.
but there is nothing wrong with NOT homeschooling either. it doesn't sound as if it's something you're eager and excited to try, and honestly, without that impetus it's not likely it would be a rousing success for you. i would go with what feels comfortable right now, and know in the back of your mind that homeschooling is always there as a viable, wonderful alternative if public school doesn't work out for you.
khairete
S.

There is nothing wrong with having your child educated in the public school system, the vast majority of children go to public schools. Stay involved, pay attention to how your child is doing, add additional experiences outside of school if your daughter has special interests. If you are intending to have your daughter tested, the results of this may help you decide how the public schools, and other resources, can best fit her needs.

A few parents I know are using online elementary schools' resources. This way, the parent is not the teacher, but the child schools at home. This works if you have a child who is bullied or for some reason does not fit in socially at school to the point where this is interfering with their ability to learn.

Two basic things to consider:

1) Home schooling Kindergarten only takes at most an hour a day. You are focusing on the reading, basic math and the rest of the day is spending fun creative time together. A great kindergarten math you can look at is at www.mathusee.com. Depending on her ability she can start with the Primer which is lots of fun or with Alpha if she is more advanced.

Also, be ware of the gifted and talented. It is a great program, but not for all kids. Many kids do not "pass" the test for it. They are borderline for all categories. These are the kiddos who fall through the cracks in public schools. They aren't your average kid and they aren't gifted. They are out of the box thinkers and they don't fit a type in school and often their needs aren't met.

In Texas, home schooling is legally a "private school". You need not inform any agency of your choice. And, since you're in Garland, there are several support groups and co-ops with resources and advice at your finger tips.

This is such a personal decision for your family, and you shouldn't feel guilty no matter what you choose. We home school for a variety of reasons, and are having a wonderful experience. All the negativity about socialization is simply blather. In this area, you can be as social as you want to be. "The nut doesn't fall far from the tree", so if you meet individuals who behave awkwardly, then it has more to do with their family than with home schooling itself.

I have a daughter who missed the cut-off date for starting kindergarten last year by two weeks. I'm thankful. She has been learning "by default" all along, even before we made the firm decision to home school. She will be six next weekend, and although we are still working on some Kindergarten material, we are moving right along at a pace that I'm sure would be unrealistic for a teacher of 20 other students. We spend about an hour, sometimes two, on reading, spelling, writing, addition and subtraction. We also have lots of field trips. Every Friday, we attend an active co-op that is wonderful. She has an art class, a recorder class, American history, and math. Each class lasts an hour. If I were to go outside the co-op, and sign her up for an art class, for example, I would be spending about $50/month for that one class. In the co-op, for her four classes, plus my preschooler's class, I spent about $180 for this semester. Because this is an active co-op, I also help with three other classes. The demand for this co-op is such that there is a lengthy wait list, and one parent must also participate in some way for every hour that the child is there.

Since you work, I don't know how easy this set-up would be for you, but I'm telling you about it to make you aware of the options available in this area. Part of the "beauty" of home schooling is the flexibility. I know some families who have one child in public school and another at home. Public school is always a choice, and I think the programs appropriate for your daughter will largely depend on the teacher and class size. I wish you the best of luck in making your choice!!

Another option is to hire a nanny teacher. Since you are already paying for daycare, this might be an option that is much less expensive than you think. The nanny can take your child to various outings, even meet you for lunch, etc., all while concentrating on promoting rich learning experiences. I’m a stay at home mom and run the “behind the scenes” of our business. We had many school experiences before finally homeschooling our gifted daughter. I’m happy to share all of that information with you. We hired our nanny teacher, who was amazing. She worked with our daughter 11, and son 3. Also, Hoogies Gifted Education Page http://www.hoagiesgifted.org is an amazing resource. It’s been invaluable to us. I also suggest finding other parents with gifted kiddos in your area or that you can exchange information with via e-mail. I highly suggest making sure to find the right teacher match for your gifted child. That might be a nanny teacher, public school, private school, charter, etc. The teacher will be the difference between a positive experience and negative. It will be the difference between your child feeling supported in her thoughts, ideas, approach, etc., and feeling isolated, different and so on. Our daughter is enrolled in an online public school. This works great for her. We are in our 4th year. Additionally, she takes various classes outside of the home and has a private teacher come to the home for Japanese lessons….all for a fraction of the cost of a good private school. Good luck and e-mail me any questions.

http://www.tjedonline.com/
Check out the book, The Thomas Jefferson Education. I'm reading it now and it explains the drawbacks of public school. It's really a great perspective. I heard a speaker a few months back and I'm going to take a workshop in October. Pretty eye-opening stuff.

The problem with traditional public school is that it was created to provide a certain type of workforce - factory workers. People who can follow orders. Our society is not built like that any more. We need creative, independent thinkers. Public schools do not encourage that.

Anyway, the book (and course) will give me ideas to help supplement my daughter's public school education. My daughter is in 1st and I wrestle with the same thing. I'm a huge fan of public school, but I think I can supplement it so she can feel like she is getting something out of it.

My son was in public school and I pulled him out in 4th grade because the class went from 20 kids/1 teacher to over 30/1 overwhelmed teacher. (Private schools in my area have 15 kids (or less) in a class, 1 teacher and one aide. So they have time to address individual learning styles, instead of using a one-size-fits all formula, which doesn't benefit anyone except the system.) He did a lot better in a private school with a smaller ratio. He got more interesting, hands-on assignments (not boring worksheets) and there was more freedom (discussions, freedom to walk in the class instead of being glued to your seat most of the day, etc...) He's in 5th grade now and enjoying school.

I've been HS'ing my 8yo for 3 years now. Honestly, it only takes about 2 hours a day to get through 2-3 years of curriculum each year. We'll often spend 4, but not because we need to... just because it's fun to repeat experiments/ keep reading/ playing games/ etc.

That said, of COURSE you shouldn't feel like a bad parent for putting your child in PS.

Honestly, even though there's a phrase for it now (afterschooling), while I went to public k-12, the VAST majority of things I learned (80-90%) was at home with my mum.

As far as homeschooling options... here:
http://www.homeschooldiner.com/

We started hs'ing for academic reasons. We did a year of public and were rather horrifed that our kiddo... who LOVED learning and school from preschool... became a kid who hate school. Cried afterschool every single day because he was so frustrated and sooooo bored. And he had a phenom teacher. In our district GATE/Tag/etc didn't start until the 3rd grade (even then for only 1-2 hours a week), and he was already doing "3rd" grade curriculum in preschool. ((Not really, in my not-so-humble opinion... but in our district they don't even introduce numbers until the 3rd grade... doing "qualatative" math instead... and by the end of 1st grade it's *hoped* the kids will know 50 sight words. It's not even a requirement to be able to know the alphabet by the end of kindergarten. Since he was already reading, writing, and doing simple arithmatic before K, the school would catch up to his preschool curriculum until 3rd/4th. Since we didn't need 8 hours of what would only have been babysitting, we yanked him out.)).

You can look at either option and see what is best for you. Both my daughters are very happy in the public school system. I didn't have the older one tested (although the GT teacher strongly recommended it). I have always supplemented their education at home, both naturally (gardening, cooking, nutrition, etc.) and as things have come up that I haven't been happy about with the public schools. When my older daughter was in elementary, they didn't have spelling - "it would just come naturally with reading and writing". I disagreed strongly and told my daughter that spelling was important in our home and we had spelling words and a test or spelling bee (with the neighbor kids) every week. It worked out well, she can spell better than most of her peers. My younger daughter (there is 7 years b/w the 2) is getting rather advanced math and history because she listens to the discussions between my older daughter and me. So even though she is not in the GT program, she is probably getting as much or more information from home as she would in the GT program. Good luck with your decision!

Hello! I just have a comment. I work in Special Education in a public school district. In this position, I am part of discussions and upcoming testing for students. We see a lot of students who have been home schooled and are entering public schools for the first time. The vast majority of these children are really behind or have large learning gaps. We end up testing to find out if there are disabilities, so that we know how to place them. I am not bad mouthing the home school system I am just commenting on what I see in the district I am in. I think that whatever way you choose, you will do so with your child's best interest at heart. Best wishes!

Homeschooling a younger child needs to be consistent. It is also a huge commitment. You are either going ot do it 100% or not.
My advice is to put the child in kinder. Let her make friends and enoy the school experience. Otherwise she will languish at home with a babysiter until you get home, then you're all so frazzled nothing gets accomplished.

I do have a friend who homeschools and works, but she works the 4-midnite shift. The hubby takes on a lot of the resposibilites in the evening and early morning.
I homescool but do not work. I also took my kids out in 3rd and 5th. My two oldest are public school products and are really going to be fine.

Another thing, in most school districts they don't do any testing until 2nd or 3rd grade. Kindergarten teaches the children to sit still, read count ot 100. If she can do all that then maybe have her put in 1st if she is a mature 5 year old.

Two of my kids went to a Christian school for a couple years. In the early years 1st adn 2nd, I really loved it. In the 5th through high school the math was very far behind for my gifted child.

You won't need to spend 4-5 hours on Kindergarten. More like an hour of instruction. But if you're working full time, it will be very difficult to do. Don't feel bad about putting your child in school. If that is what will work for your family, then do it with confidence. If the Lord lays it on your heart to homeschool and opens the door for you to do it, then go for it. Otherwise, do what the Lord would have you do and don't worry about what other people say. I've been homeschooling my kids for about 12 years now. God has opened the door for me to do it, otherwise, I'd put them in school. Good luck!!

Your decision is going to be based on what the public school has to offer: for example, how focused they are on test scores. Kids have to leave kindergarten knowing how to read a book with one line of text and a picture in CT. Many lessons are formulaic and don't encourage exploration and deeper thought. Many public schools have good TAG programs, but students get bored in mainstream classrooms while waiting for their special time in TAG. You have to make sure the teacher will be able to provide appropriate work, not just "busy" work for early finishers. Also consider how you can involve your child in social activities (if you homeschool) so she gets to know kids her age and how to cooperate with others. I went to college with some homeschooled women who were very socially awkward and authoritative. They did not know how to lead or follow, but assumed they were right. They were not very tactful. You should also check to see if you need to have some sort of permission or take a course before you homeschool. Some states want to be sure that you are following the curriculum they set. Most public schools offer an appropriate education and teach kids how our society works. You can also supplement with trips and visits to museums in your family time.

Another option you might want to consider is a charter school. For example, Uplift has excellent schools across the Metroplex, as does Harmony. These schools are academically rigorous. My son is in an Uplift school and he is really enjoying it. He is challenged, learning, and knows that his goal is to go to college one day.

Charter schools are free and usually fill open slots by lottery. The advantage to this type of school is that they have more flexibility in how they teach, the hours they run the school, and the dates they offer classes. Parental involvement is required and critical to the kids' success. My son's school was ranked exemplary in all levels (elementary, middle and high school) and I appreciate that they don't teach to the test but still succeed in these exams.

Just thought I'd throw that option out there if you are looking for an affordable alternative to public schools.

Good luck!

I homeschool. Am in my 9th year. I am single and it is very hard when you work. Plus kids' brains are clearest in the morning. Try kinder for all the reasons stated here and add at home (you will need to do that at all levels)....homeschool is not for everyone for a variety of reasons. I did it for medical reasons and I know my kids would have loved to be in regular school at times .... only you and your hubby can decide but that is hard to do if you have not tried public - you might just love it!