# What is available for Homeschool curriculum?



## Farm 36 (Mar 21, 2009)

Hello: we have been Virtual Schooling for 5 years. My son has a great short term memory but we have to work hard to get things to stay in the long term memory. This causes us to use alot of time. At first the virtual school was great. But now I have to say it is to much trouble. We have been yelled at bullied and bad reports have been written by about my son by the school. We are now required to school Mon-Fri, 8-5, must do 5 hours a day. If I mark attendence for a subject but have not gone through that days work, I'm bad, if I mark only the subjects I have gone through, I am bad due to the time. I have had enough, These schools tell you they are not brick and morter, they lie straight to you during their open house and or meetings. I have to agree with what has been said. This is the government in your house!
I wish to home school and need advice.
I know where and how to file the paperwork. I live in Wisconsin. 
Where and how do I get and pay for a 5th grade ciriculum?
Where does the tax/government money go when my son does not attend public school?
Is there a grant to help pay for books and accessories?
Thank you!


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Farm 36 said:


> Hello: we have been Virtual Schooling for 5 years. My son has a great short term memory but we have to work hard to get things to stay in the long term memory. This causes us to use alot of time. At first the virtual school was great. But now I have to say it is to much trouble. We have been yelled at bullied and bad reports have been written by about my son by the school. We are now required to school Mon-Fri, 8-5, must do 5 hours a day. If I mark attendence for a subject but have not gone through that days work, I'm bad, if I mark only the subjects I have gone through, I am bad due to the time. I have had enough, These schools tell you they are not brick and morter, they lie straight to you during their open house and or meetings. I have to agree with what has been said. This is the government in your house!
> I wish to home school and need advice.
> I know where and how to file the paperwork. I live in Wisconsin.
> Where and how do I get and pay for a 5th grade ciriculum?
> ...



www.hslda.com
Click on your state, it will answer your every question.

Abeka, Christian Liberty Academy (CLASS), Apologia, Bob Jones University, and many others. You can google for their websites. Also on Home School Legal Defense's website, they will tell you what home school groups are close to you, and when your state's annual convention is. I highly recommend that. Lots of workshops, lots of folks willing to help and LOTS of books and accessories.

Your tax money goes to the school like it or not. You get no tax breaks, refunds or incentives to home educate.
What you do get is control over how and what your child is taught, and the relationship you build, is priceless!!


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Get a copy of the Rainbow Resources catalog. It is about 2 inches thick and contains descriptions of hundreds of different curriculum offerings. You can order it online from www.rainbowresource.com.

You would have to check with your state government to see where the tax money you pay toward education goes if you homeschool. In my state, the government only forwards the money to the schools for the actual numbers of students who are present on two "counting days" per year. I have no idea of where my tax money goes. That is between the local district and the state DOE. I do know that I do not get any tax break even if we do not have a student in their system and that we have to pay for our own curriculum above and beyond our taxes - which is not a tax deductible expense.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no grants to pay for homeschool materials. We all pay for it ourselves, and therefore have full control over what we buy and how we use it. There is a great market for used homeschool materials. Check this forum for other threads about used curriculum sources.

Before you start to homeschool, be sure you know the rules that govern it in your state. That HSLDA site will have the details. Then, when you know what you will be responsible for doing at the end of the year (testing, portfolio review, whatever), you can make better choices of the curriculum you will need to get you there. Good luck.


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## Jeni (Mar 24, 2010)

Have you tried virtual school, but independent? We are using K12 with no teacher oversight and have had a lot of success. We all love it. If you are paying for virtual school, the cost could actually be lower then what you are paying now. 

Otherwise, you will most likely have to buy online. There are so many options out there. Are you part of a homeschool community online that can help answer your questions? 

Are you looking for religious or secular? 

What subjects are you trying to cover? 

How much responsibility do you want (meaning - do you want all the work done for you or do you want to plan, organize, and keep track of everything yourself)? 

What type of learner is your child? 

How much time do you want to spend on lessons (some curriculum require a great deal of reading, others are more workbook based)


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2011)

i live in Wisconsin and there is no truly formal set of regulations for what you teach your son. we started homeschooling this year and you can purchase anything you want, i buy and research online. your tax money is kept by the state, and there are no funds that i know of for helping to pay for curriculum.
there are families in our area that say you can get most of your curriculum from the library. i purchased books for all three of my kids, many off of amazon after researching them... If you have the time i would recommend the Wisconsin Parents Association conference in May. They are the biggest homeschooling group in WI, and they have many great sessions at the conference and a vendor mall.


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

I have found ebay to be a great place to buy used books. Especially a month or so before the school year is ending. I have used Abeka the last four years, although I am changing this next school year, but have only paid an average of $30 for the whole curriculum for the entire year. (That is including shipping!) 
There are lots of options. I agree with what someone said before, find a group of home schooler's in your area. Don't be shy to ask questions because most are usually very willing to help! We have a very small community of home schooler's here and everyone knows each other, so it is good to know the people in your area in case you have questions or need advice on something.
I am also a member of HSLDA and they will answer questions for you anytime you need to talk to them. It's Home School Legal Defense Association, which if you are a member of, for $100/year (and they have a $10/mo plan), they will give you any legal advice you may need regarding home schooling. If DCFS or the school shows up at your door because of home schooling, you can call them and they will tell you what to do. If you start getting letters in the mail from the school, they will tell you if they are legal and what to do about them. If you get taken to court for some stupid reason for home schooling, they will come and defend you at no extra cost. I have had great experience with them. We are all members in this neck of the woods. Home schooling is not well thought of here because the sports programs are so important and the schools want the money for our children. Superintendent has tried to cause problems before, so we all became members of HSLDA for this reason.
The Rainbow catalog is a great resource as well. BUT, don't feel like you have to buy the moon to home school! You can start with virtually nothing. You don't have to have a bunch of books to teach. It all depends on the style of home schooling that you are wanting to do.
Good luck!!!


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## my3boys (Jan 18, 2011)

One of the decisions you need to make is what kind of curriculum you want to use. Do you want secular or religious? Workbook (for younger grades), literature-based, classical?

You need to do some research on the many different styles of learning, then you need to decide what fits your educational philosophy and your child's learning style. Then look for curriculums that fit those choices. The Rainbow Resource catalog someone else suggested is an excellent resource.

Here are 2 good websites that should help answer your questions and provide support:

www.thehomeschoollibrary.com
www.welltrainedmind.com

The second one is geared toward classical education, but there are many there who use a variety/mixture of methods/combinations of methods. It's a very active board representing years of experience and wisdom. It's also one of the oldest homeschooling forums in existence. 

I'm sure there will be others here with more suggestions as well.

We just put our son in a classical Christian school for high school after 7 years of part-time homeschooling, mostly with schools on a university schedule (3 days at school, 2 at home), and 2 years in an excellent online school that does the same curriculum as the school he is in now.

Relax and enjoy the process. You have plenty of time before next year.


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