??? for homeschooling parents

[TJJJ]

One of the things you might want to do is write down your objectives in home schooling. I have six children we have homeschooled the older ones. Each one is different and as you get more used to it you will change to fit your style. The biggest mistake we found was to think we had to duplicate public school at home. Bad mistake. Try a few different angles, find which one works for you. I will tell you that once you find your niche you will never go back to public school.

[HappyTown]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

She was saying that by law, the school district has to provide testing for learning disabilities if requested by the parent. Which has been true in every single state I have lived in. They have to provide that testing even for homeschooled students.

Thanks for saying it a lot clearer then I. Same here we have lived in CA, NM,NV, UT and ID we have never had problems with the local schools. I must say UT was the best by far, the parents/ school was very involved in working as a unit,making sure the kids got what they needed.

I'm sorry Marg is having such a time with this, maybe you need to contact a lawyer. Yes I been beside myself as well if I was going through the hassle they are giving you.

[Kae]

Originally Posted by Margies3

Unfortunately, it seems that in our school district, you are not, as a parent, ENTITLED to have your child tested. That is my big argument with the school counselor right now. I have begged, pleaded, theatened, bent over backwards, stood on my head and done everything else possible just trying to convince them that I want our FIRST step in this process to be testing Keith. But they absolutely refuse!

It doesn't make sense to me to try to all the other tricks to help him get on track (leaving a set of books at home, having me sign his agenda book every day saying that I saw his finished homework, etc., etc.) if there is a valid reason why he has not been able to get the grades. If we test him and find out that he is just goofing off and that there is nothing keeping him from being able to learn, then fine. I'll come down on him like a ton of bricks! but I don't think it's fair to a child to beat them into the ground over grades and then find out years into this that they've been dyslexic or learning disabled in another way all this time. That is the reason I want him to tested. To rule everything else out!

Unfortunately, our school system seems to be useless when it comes to this! They flat out REFUSE to do it. I even asked, "What about the letter that his pediatrician sent to you telling you that she wanted to have it done?" They said that her field is not education it is medicine. So they don't have to do the testing even tho she has requested it!

Unbelievable!!! Do I sound as frustrated as I feel???????

You have got to wonder what was going through that counselor's mind at that point.

All humor aside as TJJJ said once you find your niche you will never go back to public school. This is very true you have to find what works for you.
I found the Robinson curriculum and I love it. It focuses on math, reading and writing. It was written by a scientist who had 6 children his wife was homeschooling them. She passed away and they had a whole filing cabinet of curriculum for K-12, but no teacher. They offer the curriculum for $200 and it has every book you need (accept math) on the 22 cd's you just print them out. It even has the 1611 bible, an encyclopedia, a dictionary and so on. They have plenty of info online that explains how it works and why it works. They use the Saxon math books and you have to buy those, but you get a discount on them because you use the Robinson curriculum. This curriculum really frees up my time.

[Tina]

Originally Posted by Margies3

Unfortunately, it seems that in our school district, you are not, as a parent, ENTITLED to have your child tested. That is my big argument with the school counselor right now. I have begged, pleaded, theatened, bent over backwards, stood on my head and done everything else possible just trying to convince them that I want our FIRST step in this process to be testing Keith. But they absolutely refuse!

It doesn't make sense to me to try to all the other tricks to help him get on track (leaving a set of books at home, having me sign his agenda book every day saying that I saw his finished homework, etc., etc.) if there is a valid reason why he has not been able to get the grades. If we test him and find out that he is just goofing off and that there is nothing keeping him from being able to learn, then fine. I'll come down on him like a ton of bricks! but I don't think it's fair to a child to beat them into the ground over grades and then find out years into this that they've been dyslexic or learning disabled in another way all this time. That is the reason I want him to tested. To rule everything else out!

Unfortunately, our school system seems to be useless when it comes to this! They flat out REFUSE to do it. I even asked, "What about the letter that his pediatrician sent to you telling you that she wanted to have it done?" They said that her field is not education it is medicine. So they don't have to do the testing even tho she has requested it!

Unbelievable!!! Do I sound as frustrated as I feel???????

http://www.literacydirectory.org/?op...earch&state=OH

Pick the one closest to your area and call. Tell them you are concerned your son may have learning disabilities and the school he attends refuses to get him tested for learning disabilities. They should be able to help, or at the very least point you to where you can get help.

[Maximilia]

You might consider the American School based out of Lansing, Illinois. Although it is not Christian based, per se, it's just basic curriculum. It is a fully accredited high school program.

My oldest daughter graduated (I only had to help her once or twice) and my other daughter is currently in her first year. Check it out. It is a High School Program. They score and grade everything, and keep all the records. They mail the tests back. They have a "General Education" Program as well as a "College Prep Program."

It's around $900 for all four years. It's been around forever. It's books and handwritten tests primarily. However, I think the best part is that it is accredited and you don't have to worry about the recordkeeping yourself.

Other than that, we used ABeka, ACE and Switched on Schoolhouse for their early years. Homeschool has always worked well for us.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Margies3

Thanks, guys! I appreciate your answers.

Any other thoughts from anyone else?

Keith is REALLY objecting to this. What would you do in that case?

This is all pretty overwhelming right now. I appreciate your help!

How assertive have you gotten with the school? I think you should demand attention for this! Explain the whole thing and demand some help. If that doesn't work, then yes, I think homeschooling him is a good option. I homeschooled both my kids briefly through Accelerated Christian Education. I enrolled them in the umbrella program which I think is VERY important because they keep the records for you and you are "watched over". That way, if you decide to enroll him in school again it is a transfer.....which is really important. Otherwise they will test him and place him and who knows where he might be placed.

[Margies3]

Originally Posted by ILG

How assertive have you gotten with the school? I think you should demand attention for this! Explain the whole thing and demand some help. If that doesn't work, then yes, I think homeschooling him is a good option. I homeschooled both my kids briefly through Accelerated Christian Education. I enrolled them in the umbrella program which I think is VERY important because they keep the records for you and you are "watched over". That way, if you decide to enroll him in school again it is a transfer.....which is really important. Otherwise they will test him and place him and who knows where he might be placed.

That's just the problem. I HAVE been extremely assertive! Many, many times! Our doctor wrote letters to the school demanding that they test Keith to see if there is a reason he is not succeeding. I even went to the school superintendent! I got more action from her than from anyone else. But still no testing. She, at least, organized a meeting with the school psychologist, the counselor and all of his teachers. We brainstormed and came up with a few things we could do to "help him" do better. But that was back in NOVEMBER. And it only happened after four years of banging my head up against a wall. No one even considered scheduling a follow-up meeting to see if any of these things have helped until I called on Thursday and fought with the counselor AGAIN. She then told me she would schedule a meeting and that I would hear from her on Friday morning with a time and date. On Friday the only email I got from her said that she had contacted everyone involved and would get back with me regarding the time and date.

See what I'm up against??? I swear to you that we've hired idiots to work in our school system. Do I have any other choices? Can you give me ideas? The only thing I have come up with the homeschooling idea. I am leaning more and more that direction. But this is a HUGE decision! Pray for us that we will handle this the way that GOD wants us to.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Margies3

That's just the problem. I HAVE been extremely assertive! Many, many times! Our doctor wrote letters to the school demanding that they test Keith to see if there is a reason he is not succeeding. I even went to the school superintendent! I got more action from her than from anyone else. But still no testing. She, at least, organized a meeting with the school psychologist, the counselor and all of his teachers. We brainstormed and came up with a few things we could do to "help him" do better. But that was back in NOVEMBER. And it only happened after four years of banging my head up against a wall. No one even considered scheduling a follow-up meeting to see if any of these things have helped until I called on Thursday and fought with the counselor AGAIN. She then told me she would schedule a meeting and that I would hear from her on Friday morning with a time and date. On Friday the only email I got from her said that she had contacted everyone involved and would get back with me regarding the time and date.

See what I'm up against??? I swear to you that we've hired idiots to work in our school system. Do I have any other choices? Can you give me ideas? The only thing I have come up with the homeschooling idea. I am leaning more and more that direction. But this is a HUGE decision! Pray for us that we will handle this the way that GOD wants us to.

I guess you can either homeschool or contact a lawyer. I would probably homeschool because I don't have the energy to fight that battle. But, seriously, it sounds like they have let him fall through the cracks and they sound negligent.

[TJJJ]

Some of the problems that we are seeing is the no child left behind fiasco. It sounds good, but it doesn't work because now you can't fail a child if he is not producing. Another program that does not work.