# Possibly homeschooling and need help!!



## ShaunaRB

Hi everyone,
My husband and I are completely at wits end and I feel like I'm failing as a mother, so I'm hoping everyone can help me with this. 
We have 3 daughters (ages 15,14, and 10). Our 15 and 14 year old is the immediate concern right now. We live in Baltimore, MD, where the city public schools are most definately not the safest (especially high schools)! We started our girls in public school (it was considered the best city public school in the area) until 6th grade. Safety issues arose then and we ended up putting all 3 girls in a Catholic school. This past year the two oldest girls started high school, and again, we put them in a catholic school because the public high school they would have to go to is most definately not safe for 2 girls. The financial strain has been horrendous! It's now the end of the school year and we're being told our girls can't take the exams because we still owe the school 1 1/2 months of tuition, which probably means they won't be going to 10th grade next year, whether it's private school or not. I started looking into homeschooling and how possible / impossible it would be, especially considering their ages. Will they adjust to home schooling, will colleges hold it against them when they see my girls were home schooled the last couple of years, is it even possible to homeschool when their father and I both work full time jobs? There's so much going through my head that I could cry, and I'm in no way the crying type! Anyway, sorry I got off topic...
So I go online and try to find answers on home schooling and that just seemed to make it more confusing, if that's possible. I'm hoping some of you can give me pros/cons of homeschooling, your opinion on my concerns stated above, and the most important question... Where do I begin???
ANY help would be so greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks so very much!!!


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## deaconjim

I will let some of the homeschooling moms give you specifics about how to go about it, but I can tell you that homeschooling your daughters won't be as hard as you think it will be. 

Several years ago, we decided to homeshool our three kids, and we've never regretted it. The kids all love it, they're learning more than they would have in the public schools, and they love learning. They hate taking a summer break.

There are many resources available for you, and plenty of options. Go for it, and I hope it works as well for you as it has for us.


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## renee o'neill

I live in baltimore too,pm me


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## jmtinmi

Quick Answer....check out American School. It is a correspondence course that is used for families that are overseas (diplomats, american companies, etc) 

This correspondence school is very reasonable and the tutition includes the books. They school grades the papers and issues grades. Upon completion a real high school diploma is earned. 

My daughter completed this course after using Alpha Omega to 8th grade. We were very happy with it.


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## jamala

Abeka Academy offers classes on DVD and they grade and keep records and the kids get a real high school diploma not GED.


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## jmtinmi

More Information.......

Abeka Academy is $1095.00 a year. 

American School's tutition is $1399 for FOUR years or $589.00 per year which use to include books although I don't know what is offered now. I think they went up quite a bit in price, I remember paying far less than $589.00 per year.


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## p1gg1e

jmtinmi said:


> American School's tutition is $1399 for FOUR years or $589.00 per year which use to include books although I don't know what is offered now. I think they went up quite a bit in price, I remember paying far less than $589.00 per year.


This is what I did in high school. The only subject that was a joke was the geometry course. Vary badly written. Though I took most of my classes at the local high school and transfer the credits. The full 4 years was $1000 about 12-13 years ago so it hasn't gone up that much.

You kids will transfer fine! Give them this summer to blow off some steam , have them help you look for volunteer opportunities that interest them , hobbies they enjoy , and work and looking at different work books etc. 

My parents mostly got text books from the book sales at the local schools and had me do work out of the books..you can often even find the teachers guide to them online if you look.

HTH


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## halfpint

Since both of you are employed full time, you will have a different situation than most homeschooling families. I do know a few single parents who do it, as well as a few where both parents work, but they either have close family that are willing to help, or are able to set their work schedules so that one parent is home with the students.

I would suggest finding out about the laws and requirements in your area. You can start with HSLDA ( www.hslda.com ) and looking at the information on your state. Some information is on your local schools website here: 
http://www.bcps.k12.md.us/School_Info/home_schooling.asp but I don't know how accurate that information is as schools tend to ask for more than what is legally required. A list of some of the home school covers in your state is here: 
http://www.msde.state.md.us/nonpublic/home_instruction/DisplayLocationsByCounty.asp
I would suggest contacting some of the ones in your area to see what they recommend for you.
Another site with homeschool information on Maryland is:
http://www.homeschoolcentral.com/support/maryland_homeschool.htm

It looks like your state homeschool convention was in April, that would have been a good place to go and talk to people and find out what is available in your area. You also might find out from your local librarian who would be knowledgeable in your area about home schooling and what courses are available.

There may be some options in your area that may provide for a good portion of the education of your children. We have one in Birmingham that is called Excelsior Home school co-op, and it meets either two or three days a week. Students can go for most of the day each of those days and receive their core credits (math, science, history, english and maybe a few others). In upper grades, parents can pick and choose classes but I think up to grade 6 the students must be enrolled in the full program. Parents are then expected to provide the extra classes, like art, music, PE, and electives, although I believe some of them may be available at the co-op. Several of the parents whose students are in that program work on the days that their children are in class, so something like that may be available in Baltimore.

As far as colleges, our experience has been that our sons were sought out by the colleges, as they have found that the home school students do well and I was recently told by an admissions person that they have a lower drop-out rate. My oldest son did well in college and has graduated, our 2nd is now a senior and doing very well. Colleges now rely heavily on the ACT and SAT scores. Also, both our sons were dual enrolled (sometimes called accelerated education) which gave them both college credits while in high school, which may be something you want to look into as your girls get older.

Dawn


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## ShaunaRB

Thanks so much to EVERYONE! This is a great website! 
I feel a little better about the situation, and thanks halfpint for the links. I hope everyone is right and the girls will adjust Ok. 
Thanks again so much everyone!


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## rabbitgal

The Home Educator's Association of Virginia is having a huge conference in Richmond, VA June 11, 12, 13. http://www.heav.org/convention/index.html . It's well worth it. Couple of hours from Baltimore, methinks.

Homeschool grad here. Survived 7 years of homeschooled, 3 years of "unschooling" in high school, 2 years of community college (it was cheaper than doing the first two years at regular college). 

Five accredited colleges in Virginia and Michigan all wanted high school transcripts when I applied to transfer this spring. No one gave me flack about homeschooling. I got into three. It wasn't even an issue. They treated me just like any other sophomore transferring in. You just need to document what you do (that means grading assignments and keeping records) and make them a transcript they know how to read. Or...finding another way to document. Call and ask. Be sincere. Best time to call is mid-semester. You are a perfectly legitimate educator and any admissions officer worth their salt knows it. 

By the way, I've watched several homeschool students get accepted into very prestigious, highly selective colleges, including the US Air Force Academy (Ivy League horrendous -- you need a recommendation from a congressman/VIP just to be considered. They take 14% of applicants.) and other top tier schools. It can be done. 

If I had to do it over, I'd do dual-enrollment and take some community college classes before high school graduation. In a student body of 4,000 at my community college, we had several hundred high school kids taking classes judging by the sheer volume of high school acceptance letters they made us file. Public, private, and homeschool students can do it in my state. They just have to get special permission from the CC admissions people to take classes. Here, it works like Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Not everybody takes pre-grad high school credit, but it looks REALLY good on your applications. A lot of places will even let you take your classes online. You can get info on MD CC's at http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/colcom.html .

Keep records of what you do, but otherwise, don't sweat it. You can do it. Seriously.


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## Danaus29

I agree with rabbitgal on the community college. Most will allow underage children to take one or two courses per quarter. Yes it is expensive but probably not as much as the Catholic school. As for college acceptance, if you go the community college route they would be all set to start real college whenever they feel ready. I saw a tv special on really young kids (10 to 15) attending college full time. I wish there was a program like that when I was a kid. 

My ds had no problem passing college entrance exams. He was in 10th grade when I took him out of ps.


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## Louisiana Mom

It probably won't be nearly as difficult as you think. I would set up some ground rules about the home if you will not actually be there all day. (ex. no company, get up & dressed at a certain time, etc.) 
We are going to use Switched on Schoolhouse by Alpha Omega for my 10 grader this year. I have not actually used it before, but I've gotten the disks in and looked through all of it and it looks great to me. You can basically put in the dates you want to homeschool & it does the rest. Keeps grades, tells what lessons to do, etc. You can pay extra for them to do it online, but we have chosen to just buy the disks and do it on our own. I would bet it's WAY cheaper than the school. We bought just 2 subjects - Algebra & English, as we do history & science all of the children together. It was $130 for both including shipping. If you get the entire 5 subjects it is around $300.00. I have heard from some that it wasn't so good in the past, but they have a 2009 version, which we ordered and it seems to have all the kinks worked out.
A beka is also a good curriculum.
You could make your own curriculum up, but if you are working full time I would think that this would save you alot of time.


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## dezeeuwgoats

I homeschooled my three boys and my oldest will graduate with an associate's degree in math/science next year at 16. There are programs available here that will help pay for community college classes while your child is still in high school - they accept homeschool credit as well. 

I used Abeca english and math curriculum, the Spalding method of spelling/reading, and Apologia science. IOW - I pieced things together! Also, lots and lots of reading the classics, together as a family, and books available. Oh, and we used Wordlywise (?) vocabulary. History and lots of science just in day to day life around here.

Once kids are a bit older - and deprogrammed from being in school - it can be a lot of fun. See if you can't find a homeschooling family with children whom you are impressed with. ie - they turned out well! Socially well adjusted, in college, whatever is important to you. Then, when you get stuck with something - call their mother and ask her opinion! I found three such moms to be my support system when i started and they have really been the backbone of my stamina and success.


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