Am I qualified to homeschool?

Laws vary from state to state, of course, so you have to find out what you need to do in your state to homeschool legally.

In our state, the only difference between a parent with a 4-year degree homeschooling and a parent without a 4-year degree homeschooling is that the non-degreed parent must file quarterly report cards with the school district. That’s it!

In some states, even degreed parents have to work under the umbrella of a school that supervises the homeschooling.

A good first step is to join one of your state’s homeschooling organizations. They will provide you with all of the information you need.

Frankly speaking, your son is likely to learn a great deal more working with you one-on-one with curriculum materials you have hand-picked to meet his needs than he ever would in a classroom situation. It isn’t a degree or teacher ed that makes the difference — it’s the one-on-one, and the materials used.

In terms of time, most homeschoolers spend around 1-1/2 hours per day on academic subjects (traditional “seatwork” type of learning), even with LD kids. With that amount of time, most kids will meet or exceed what they would have learned during 8 hours of school. Some families “unschool” — no formal academics — but LD children really need explicit instruction, in my experience. Some families spend as much as 3 hours a day on seatwork. The actual education going on is much more when you take into account time spent reading or being read to, practicing a musical instrument, doing art work, engaging in physical exercise, going on field trips to museums, the zoo, engaging in discussion, nature study, etc.

One of the big advantages of homeschooling is that you can work therapies into the school day. Dyslexics often benefit greatly from a program such as Audiblox, which is an inexpensive home-based cognitive training program that requires about 1/2-hour of one-on-one per day. (http://www.audiblox2000.com)

My advice is to get started now. Join a homeschooling organization and find out what steps you need to take. Even if you end up not homeschooling next year, it helps to know that you *can* do it if you need to.

Mary

Sometimes LD kids do better with home school than other alternatives. Mine has done better at home. I have only 2 years of college and home schooling is working for me. We have turned our garage into a classroom and I am saving up to make it a real room since it is too hard to heat in the winter.

We have joined our local home school association. I have received much helpful advice and they offer Drama, Art, Band and other activies such as field trips. They are going to be in a play next week. Also, our local college offers a music program for kids. They are staying very busy. It gets hectic, but it is worth it. They get a chance to socialize with Christian kids and they learn a lot, too.
Home schooling can be time consuming, but it is also nice to be with my kids all day, most of the time :) Every state has different laws. Then, join your local home school group. Ask for help finding 800 numbers to request catalogs. You can also home school while your child is out of school for the summer to help you decide before school starts in the fall. Good Luck in whatever you decide.

If your son homeschools, you and he can decide how many hours to devote each day to formal schooling. Homeschooling has the opportunity to be more than school. Rather than sitting at desks for long hours and talking about the things outside the classroom, you and your son can visit all the wonderful things your community has to offer. Homeschooling does not need to be rigid as does school.

Any caring parent is qualified to homeschool. If your son is interested in topics and subjects that you don’t feel you know much about, you and your son can learn them together. What could be better than a child seeing that their parent is also a learner and interested in learning?

Good luck to you and your son.

First of all…do you love your child? Of course you do. Do you want to see him succeed? Why yes you do! Do you want more for him than the school? Right again. You don’t have to be “qualified” to homeschool. There are no qualifications and you don’t have to be a certified teacher. All you have to have is a committment to your child (and yourself) to see him succeed and I know that you have that.

You can contact HSLDA (homeschool legal defense association) with any questions you may have. They charge $100 for a yearly membership but it will be the best $100 you will ever spend.

I have never known of homeschooling to fail a child and I know people who have been doing it for many years.

Go for it. Your son needs you more than you will ever know.

Hi. I am very new to the homeschooling front but my two cents would really second what everyone else has said; You know your child best, what interests him, what his strengths are, etc. Who better to teach your child? The 1:1 ratio may be just what he needs. In the short time we have been hs I have found that my child seems more interested in really learning something and following it through. We have our struggles but overall it has been a really wonderful decision and better for our whole family. My son was also in a parochial school and the traditional teaching methods there plus a lot of other factors just set him up to fail. We can really tailor his learing to his style and needs and spend as much time as we need on something. I wish you lots of luck! The people on this list have much more experience than me so keep reading - I’ve learned a lot from reading about others experiences. Take care!

Yes, you are more than qualified to homeschool your son. What makes people think that as parents we taught our children up until kindergarten age and then we can no longer do it. Children do much better learnng on a ne n one than they do in a large classroom with all its distractions. I have recently learned that my son is gifted, dyslexic, dysgraphic and AD. I have been homeschooling him from the very beginning. all the specialists that I have recently been dealing with tell me he would not do well in a public classroom setting. We will continue to homeschool for the above reason. That it is what is best for him. I will be signing up for a class on how to teach dyslexics using the Orton Gilliam method with some modification to make it more interesting for my son. He is also in 3rd grade (by age) but he spans from 1st to 5th grade depending on the subject. I hope this encourages you to try. Remember, if it does not work for you, you can always reenroll him in a standard school setting. The homeschool support groups are terrific. I would strongly suggest you contact one in your area and find out how reqarding it can be!