Homeschooling

Archive for June, 2008

Question: What financial advice would you give to a couple in which the woman planned to stay home and homeschool?

this couple is still engaged and has all the time in the world for financial planning

Answer: Wow, you are really planning ahead. That's good.
Try to purchase your home first as well as any big ticket items like appliances, cars etc. Do not run up any credit card debt.
Arrange your life so you can live on less. (Don't live too far from the workplace to reduce commuting costs, try to get a place with a large enough yard for a garden and orchard, learn to live modestly, within the scope of one income, or have the woman devise some method of earning money at home)
You know, that is how people used to live and they did just fine. We have gone chasing after the consumer laden lifestyle and now require two incomes to support it. What a shame.
You will find that if you home educate your children and you stay home you will have time to plan a more economical life, with home cooked nutritious meals. And your children will not feel compelled to wear expensive designer clothes and have all the latest gadgets so they can blend in with the crowd.

The frugality that your grandmother exercised is not recognized in this age. Few people make their own presents, sew, knit, can or freeze fruits and vegetables, and educate and entertain their own children. Few people even use the library as a place of edification or entertainment anymore.

Good Luck, Good Planning.

How to Homeschool Your Child : How to Plan a Home school Schedule

Question: Can anyone provide a list of online non-sectarian Homeschooling Programs and statistics?

Any information is welcome, however, please state whether or not you have personal experience with this. I can 'google' schools but I am hoping to hear from people who are actually using online Homeschooling Programs.

Regarding statistics, I am looking for test scores as compared with those of public and private schools.
boy this is a tough one.. ALL great answers. I'll put to vote.
Thanks, everyone!

Answer: We use the K12 curriculum that is mostly delivered online. There is a lot of offline work also. It's not an "online HS'ing program" like you said, it's just a curriculum that happens to have an online component. We purchase it ourselves as independent homeschoolers.

Some virtual schools use the K12 curriculum also. They are all public schools and so their students are public school (schooled at home) students. It's not "pure" HS'ing.

The K12 virtual schools, since they are public schools, have state assessments just like other PS's. You can search the 'net for each state's virtual schools and see how they rank with the other schools in a state.

As for my son, who's used K12 for five years, he scores in the 99th (and 99.9 for those that give that precision) percentile on all standardized tests. Last year he took the EXPLORE test from ACT and his composite score was better than 90% of 8th graders, who the test is made for. His science score was 99th percentile when ranked against the 8th graders. He was 8 at the time. So there's a statistic for you.

Online Homeschooling