I really want to home school my 6 year old son. We have tried the private school and public school routes and neither seems to work. He is spirited and wonderful and he and I work great together. I think that homeschooling would be the best learning environment for him but am totally confused as how to start, go about doing home schooling, anything. We live in North Dakota and it isn't common here as far as I know ( I have never heard of anyone out here doing it) but my brother lives in Vashon Washington and brought it up to me. He's a college professor and after spending time with my son, he also believes that homeschooling would be wonderful for him. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I should look or what to read or do in order to do this?
Thank you all so much
Lisa
Mom to Aaron (6)

Hey mama,

That's great that you are considering homeschooling. There are TONS of homeschool resources on the internet, but I think that sometimes it's just too much info!!! I would recommend that for just getting your feet wet, go to your local library and check out a basic book on homeschooling. In some of these books you will find different styles of teaching and learning. You will read about the pros and cons of hs'ing. In some books there are even resources in the back that will give you info about laws and support groups in your area. You could also go to yahoogroups.com and search for groups in your area or state. Once you become familiar with the different styles of hs'ing and see what feels best for you and your son, you can then find more specific resources. And hey, Amitymama's is a great resource as well.

We are entereing our 2nd year of hs'ing and it's working out great. Best of luck to you!!!
Christy

I'd suggest you check out HSLDA.org You can check out hsing laws pertaining to your state.

I also recommend going to the library and seeing what books they have. I'm connected via internet to the libraries database and i found that most of the books i wanted to read were from other libraries (LOL) I'd also recommend going back through all the old posts b/c i know that i posted many questions when i was first thinking about it.
good luck

Check out The Well Trained Mind from your library. It gives a general idea of what classical homeschooling is (keep in mind that very few people follow it to the letter), get the Rainbow Resource Catalogue and go by instinct. If you see a mathematics program that you like, try it and don't worry about other opinions on the curriculum unless you need to know how it affects your son's learning style. Then you can post a "anyone with a blank learning style do well with math ____? question here.

Number one thing is get catalogues, read about curriculums and choose what you want to start with. Want the books from all the same publisher? Many here have mentioned Calvert, Abeka and I know there are others.

Want all textbooks? Than use The Well Train Mind as a guide of where he should be and ditch the whole classic approach to history and science.

Figure out one subject at a time.

Want repetition in math? Try Saxon or Abeka. Want manipulatives? Try Saxon or Math-U-See. Want math for an accelerated learner? Try Horizon, Saxon (two grades ahead I think has been the general suggestion) or Abeka. There is also Developmental math, Modern Curriculum math, Singapore math (which seems to work more with those who don't want a lot of repetition and more boys than girls).

The Well Trained Mind can give you a general idea of what subjects are needed for each grade and than you can fill in the blanks however you wish. Tanglewood may be one you like because they have the whole year planned out for you.

HTH, and welcome to such an exciting world of learning.

:) Jenn