BUY CURRICULUM? (OR MAKE YOUR OWN?)

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Unless you run on batteries and don't need any sleep, its going to be just about impossible to create a  full curriculum from scratch every year (I mean creating all your own worksheets and hand-making every visual aid...) Nobody has that kind of free time, so I don't even try! I just use as many resources as I can (especially the free ones) and modify them to work for us. Most of the resources I use are free. As my daughter has gotten older (especially this year, with high school!) I've had to transition to using some purchased materials (ie, French class & Algebra). Even then, its very easy to find used materials online (Ebay!).

A lot of homeschooling parents use a set of pre-packaged curriculum. There are many ready-made curriculum packages (or stand-alone textbooks and/or workbooks) that you can buy online, from catalogs, etc. I'm a big cheapskate though, so my first thought is "I can do it for cheaper!" It takes a little more work because I'm responsible for making sure I cover everything, instead of relying on a specific set of text/workbooks to automatically cover what the local schools are teaching. 

I do use some workbooks and also worksheets that I've printed off of the internet, but I've never needed to spend a lot of money on that sort of thing. Sometimes I find an unused (or barely used) workbooks at a garage sale or thrift store and I buy those if they look like they aren't too "dumbed down". The best ones are usually topic-specific, instead of all-in-one workbooks (which are usually mostly fluff). Its good to have worksheets for some subjects (like multiplication, handwriting, grammar) because the more practice, the better. I like to keep things like that on hand, too, in case I get stuck on the phone or something and Kendall needs something to do while she's waiting for me. I just don't want to rely on workbooks to do the teaching.

I have actually broken down and bought new workbooks a few times (online or at the Learning Palace), like last year, when Kendall was learning about the 50 states we bought a workbook with a page or two for each state that had trivia and little activities. It was a lot easier to buy that workbook than try to make up my own lesson for all 50 states! I guess I just "pick my battles".

As for textbooks, I've never purchased them (until recently when I had to because the subject matter was out of my 'wheelhouse'). I almost always find whatever I need online for free, or if I really need a book (or video) I find something appropriate at the library or online. 

Strangely, a LOT of info covered in grade school can be easily explained in only a few minutes. For example, when Kendall was in 4th grade, I explained to her what the difference is between rural, suburban, and urban areas. It isn't that complicated, but she was expected to know that concept for 4th grade (and it WAS on the CAT5 test that year!). Simply explaining the concept took me less than 5 minutes, including giving her examples, and asking her questions to make sure she understood. No textbook needed! :)

One of my "things" (quirks?) is that I have a prejudice against pre-packaged curriculum. I'm probably over-paranoid about it, but I don't like unnecessary busy- work and the curriculum sets I've seen are full of it! I remember being bored to death in school because the students who were behind got most of the instruction and the rest of us got a lot of pointless busy work. Silly, pointless things (like connect-the-dots coloring pages, which are great for younger kids, but not exactly appropriate schoolwork for 5th graders!). One of the reasons I wanted to homeschool was that I could cut out that sort of thing and stick to the topics that matter. That way I can supplement additional info if I want, or move ahead to new material as soon as the student is ready

DECLARATION OF INTENT TO PROVIDE HOME-BASED INSTRUCTION

I think I've heard too many horror stories about potential homeschooling parents being berated by public  school administrators, because I feel like I'm paranoid every single year when I have to spend HOURS searching every link in the School District website trying to find their 'declaration of intent to provide home-based instruction' form. I've felt for years that they are deliberately putting it in ridiculous places just to make it difficult to find, and I am starting to think they are purposefully moving it from year to year to throw me off :) because whenever I do manage to find it, its never in the same place on the website twice. Go ahead and try to find it! http://www.longview.k12.wa.us/ The parent section? No! Records? No! Adminstration? No! :) Oh, I should have known, its only available if you search for it by name in the website's ARCHIVE! Silly me, why didn't I think to look there?!?!!?!?!?

Paranoid rant aside, this is a form that you will have to fill out and send in every single year (within 2 weeks of school starting in the fall). You have to send this specific form in - no hand-written notes or generic forms that you found online -it has to be this one (their words) and it has to be the original, not a photocopy (I learned this the hard way!)

This form protects the school district from liability (for not teaching the child) and protects you from legal action for truancy. PS- your child is not truant (ie, skipping school), he is receiving home-based instruction. And you will have the documentation to prove it right in your school records file (right?)

If you are in Longview School District, this is the form you need. Different school districts will have a different form. If you can't find it on the website, you can call the office and have them send one to you, but be prepared for attitude (I wish I were joking).

This is the link to the official form (for now, anyway!)  http://wayback.archive-it.org/2713/20121024164001/http://www.longview.k12.wa.us/student%20learning/pdf/Home-Based%20Registration%20Form-%20Online%20Fill-in%20Form.pdf

After you fill it out, MAKE A COPY and keep the copy in your school records, just in case. This will prove that you submitted it, if there is ever a question.

REPRODUCING SCHOOL HOURS AT HOME?

A common issue for new homeschooling parents (especially those with students who have been taken out of public school) is burning themselves out the first few weeks because they are trying to re-create the whole classroom experience at home. Just because a child may spend 6+ hours in public school classroom, does not mean that they aren't "keeping up" if they don't spend that much time  doing formal "school" at home... Does your child need to sit at the table with his face in a book for 6 hours every weekday? NO! You will need to spend much less time than you think with actual teaching/study time.

A major difference between public school and homeschool is that your child doesn't have to wait for the teacher to address the concerns/issues of all of the other children in the class. If she has mastered her multiplication tables, she can move on to something else (or call it a day!). A lot of public school is busy-work and/or waiting for other kids to catch up (or waiting to get help when you're stuck). And then there are recess breaks, lunch, assemblies, etc. So how do you know how much time to spend on "school"?

When we lived in Portland about 5 years ago, I knew a woman who had gone back to school to be a teacher. At the time she was working as an elementary-level student-teacher as part of her schooling. She told me that she had been instructed by the school district that if they could get 1 hour of actual teaching accomplished in the classroom PER DAY, they could consider that a successful day. I am not joking, she was told this by the school district.

In another example, a friend's son was in public school (also in Portland) and had to be taken out for an extended period because of a planned surgery. She was told by the adminstrators that her son could do his schoolwork at home under her supervision, which would mean that he could return to school later in the year without being behind his classmates. When she asked how many hours per day she should work with him on his studies, she was told that their policy is that 1 hour of parent-teaching time is equal to 4 hours of classroom-teaching time. So basically, she could accomplish in one hour what it would take 4 hours in the classroom.

These aren't folktales, these are actual examples that have happened (recently) to people I know in our area of the country.

I don't share these examples to demean the public school system. Its just a reality - one on one is much more effective and faster. And who knows your child's learning style better than you?

How much time you spend on school each day will depend on your child's learning style, your teaching/organization style, your family schedule, etc. The student's age will be a factor also - play is a major part of education for a preschooler, elementary school kids need a lot of hands-on, and high school kids will largely be able to work on their own for most subjects/projects.

You may choose to start 'school' at 6am and end at 10am, then spend the rest of the day working in your garden together (which also counts as 'school', by the way!). Or you may want to break your school day up into smaller chunks (english from 8-9, math from 10-11, etc). You may choose to take a whole day off just to have fun. You can do that, you're homeschooling!

Reassess your child's progress from time to time to see if you need to spend more time in certain areas to stay on track for the year (or maybe you'll discover that you're way ahead, and you can spend less time in formal school activities for the rest of the year).

STANDARDIZED TESTING (WA STATE)

This standardized testing stuff seems really complicated and difficult at first, but it can be really easy. There is no required testing in OR, so when I first moved to WA I was really freaking out. Especially about hiring a proctor and having Kendall be tested in a strange house with someone we don't even know staring at her while she takes an important test. No thank you! Another homeschool family told me how they do their testing - through a company called FLO. We've been doing testing through FLO ever since, and it is really simple. I will walk you through it!

The first thing you need to know is, the standardized tests (no matter how/where you do it) are not turned in - to anyone! I am not kidding. You do not turn your scores in to the State or the School District. You do not turn them in to anyone. I am serious! Nobody keeps them, not even the proctor (if you use one). They do not need them and they will not ask for them. The scores are primarily kept for your personal records. You are required to keep these records in case you ever need to prove that you’ve been doing the tests (and therefore providing education), but unless something like that actually comes up (like, say you had a custody dispute and had to prove in court that you were providing education) nobody ever wants to know about these scores except you. I am not joking about this - it seem outrageous, but really, you do not turn them in to anyone!

WHEN DO YOU TEST? In Washington state you are required to do annual testing. There isn't a set date it needs to be completed. We usually do ours in June when public school is out, just because it represents the end of the school year (even though our family continues to homeschool through summer).

HOW DO YOU GET THE TEST (AND WHERE DO YOU TAKE IT?) WA state requires testing to be done through an approved test administrator who assigns a proctor. And only certain types of tests ‘count’. There are proctors that you can hire, but I never liked the idea of paying a stranger to watch my kid take a test. FLO is who we go through. They are a homeschool organization that is based in WA – this is their website: www.familylearning.org

The way FLO has it set up is that they act as the test administrator and assign the parent as the proctor. You sign a form saying you’re administrating the test to your own homeschooled child and that you’re not going to cheat, etc. and then you’re a proctor. Its that simple. And its legit. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HIRE A PROCTOR - IT IS LEGAL TO GO THROUGH FLO AND PROCTOR THE TEST YOURSELF. I PROMISE!!!!

If you order your test through FLO, you pick the date you want test and they mail it to you then (or as close as they can). They send you a test book and answer sheet. Then you have 2 weeks to complete and return the test in the mail (or there is an additional fee). Its kind of nice to have 2 weeks to work on the test because you don’t have to do it all in one day.  They don’t send you the answers to the test, just the questions and a sheet for the student to mark their answers. After you mail the test back, you get the results in the mail in about 2 weeks. They do not keep the results, it is your responsbility to keep the test results in your own records.

So basically they’ve gotten around the need to hire an outside proctor by assigning the parent as a proctor. It sounds like its kind of a loophole in the system, and maybe it is, but its totally approved by the State. They’ve been administering tests like this for 20 years. You can read more about it at the website. Everyone I know who homeschools in WA does their testing through FLO. I have done it 5 times now, I think. It is the easiest and cheapest way to go. And its the easiest on your student, too.

WHAT TEST DO THEY TAKE?  CAT-5 (California Achievement Test, 5th Edition – Complete Battery) is the test we always use – its one of the approved tests that WA State accepts and its one of the few that FLO administers. Every homeschool student I know of uses this test. They have the CAT-5 test available in editions for all grades, K-12.


As far as cost goes, the CAT-5 is $37. I don’t know how much of a profit FLO is making off administrating the test, but I’m pretty sure its still cheaper than ordering a test through a proctor and then paying the proctor to, well, proctor. If I remember right, I think proctors charge about $50 for proctoring and I don’t think that includes the cost of the test itself. I’d rather just skip the middle-man and do the proctoring myself!

Lesson plans / schedule

I've tried to be more organized this year, and since Kendall is doing more work independantly I've started using this scheduling method to list her assignments for the day/week:


Please excuse the wrinkled up page, this page has already survived a whole school day in a room with a 6th grader, her 18 month old sister, and a dog...

The subjects we're currently using are:
Seminary
Math
English/Writing
Reading Comprehension
Anatomy
Science
History
(There is also a Misc. section)

You can see that I don't have the whole week of assignments filled in for every subject, because I may need to adjust depending on how she does on quizzes, etc (may have to spend more time on certain chapters, that sort of thing). So, for subjects that might need to be adjusted I sometimes fill them in as I go...I find that easier than trying to erase and start over.

This is really nice because she can get started on something herself while I'm changing a diaper or something, and I have an easy reference (for what pages I'm supposed to be looking at!) when I go back to check her work.

Toddler school / Your baby can read

Have you seen those commercials for the "Your Baby Can Read" program? I was highly skeptical when I heard of it, and I still am, but I watched the whole info-mercial one day and it was pretty convincing. My main objection was that the kids are just memorizing the picture and/or word on the card, but then parents were shown introducing new words to the children, they could "read" the new words also, based on the phonics they had memorized from the previous words.

My husband also saw the commercial and suggested that we buy the program. I scoffed (like I always do when he wants to buy something from an info-mercial), and proceeded to tell him how - if I even wanted to do the program- I wouldn't buy it anyhow because it is fairly spendy and would be much cheaper just to make it myself. Its just cards, pictures, and a video (showing words and pictures of things). The program is based on the concept that kids learn best through a multi-media/multi-sensory approach.

Now, I don't think its necessary for a child to learn to "read" as a baby. But I do like the idea of multi-media/multi-sensory learning. It occurred to me that I could do something similar at home, without even buying anything new at all. I already had word cards (with removable pictures). I've already been teaching her sign-language with a Baby Signing Time dvd (not shown) and sign-language flash-cards. So, I figured I could be just as successful teaching her through a multi-media approach using my word cards (written word and picture), video (including her participation with the sign-language), and flash-cards (which show the word and the picture on one side and how to do the sign on the other side).

The thing is, 18 month old WakeLee loves playing "school" and I don't have any expectation of her learning to "read" at this stage, but extra learning doesn't hurt, and I really think the multi-media approach is really helping her learn the signs better. I can show her the picture and ask her to show me the sign. I can show her the sign and ask her to tell me what it means. I can show her the word (with picture) and ask her to tell me the name or sign (and I demonstrate sounding out the word).

Brag Alert

Its time for my annual bragging - if you don't like bragging, please avert your eyes!

We got Kendall's 5th grade standardized test scores today...she did really well. Something that is really nice is that they give a grade level equivalent in each category so you can tell what grade level they are actually working at at the time of the test:

Vocabulary- post-high school level
Reading Comprehension - halfway through 6th grade level
Spelling- halfway through 11th grade level
Language Mechanics- halfway through 12th grade level
Language Expression- post-high school level
Mathematics Computation- 9th grade level
Math Concepts- post-high school level
Study Skills- halfway through 6th grade level
Science- post-high school level
Social Studies- post-high school level

So, John and I were talking about how to improve her skill her "weaker" subjects and I realized that its a pretty bizarre to have when the scores for her "weak subjects" are still above grade level... I'm really lucky to have a student that picks things up easily - it really makes things easier for me!