I don’t know many of you, although I’m a regular on the parents with LD bb. I have a 13 yr old dyslexic son who will be in the 8th grade next year. If you’ve read my posts on the BB, you know we have a terrible time with modifications and accomodations in subjects such as science and history. So, I’m thinking of part time homeschool for next year. Me doing the science and history and keep him there for language arts and math. He has to attend so much public school (not exactly sure, how much) in order to participate in sports, and he loves sports. Does anyone know the rule for Ohio, how much time does he have to spend in the public school system, to play sports?
Another thing is how do I even start this homeschooling thing? I work full time, but figure since he will be attending school part time, we will just do one subject at a time.like science for a half the year, history the next. Is that ok? I’m sure if I only make him watch an hour of the discovery channel and an hour of the history channel every day, he’ll learn more than they’ve managed to teach him.
I’m open to any suggestions and would appreciate your feedback.
Thanks
There's a listing of Ohio home school organizations at
http://www.home-school.com/Groups/OH.html
You could email one or more of the organizations to get specific information about hours necessary to qualify for sports participation (although it seems to me that if you’re taking him out only for history and science, that shouldn’t be a problem). These would also be your best source of information for exactly what legal requirements (if any) you have to meet. I assume you have already made sure that partial homeschooling is legal in Ohio?
Also, you could just call your school district. They will have an office that oversees homeschoolers, and someone in that office should be able to give you the exact specifications. Ask for a homeschooling packet too. In our state, the packet includes a copy of the laws pertaining to homeschooling, information about things such as hours in school required for sports participation, etc.
There is a lot of good curriculum information on the homeschooling boards at http://www.vegsource.com, and also at http://www.welltrainedmind.com. If you post your son’s specific needs in history and science, you may find that there are some available that make extensive use of video tapes from the library and computer CD’s, as well as documentaries on tv.
Mary
Re: Considering part time homeschooling, where to start?
You might consider contacting Mike Minsky at the Greenwood School. He provides families home schooling dyslexic students with curriculum assistance. He can contacted at the Greenwood School. Their phone number is 802 387 4545.
I direct a summe academic camp in Wyoming for dyslexic students. We focus on reading and language arts instruction with about 4 hrs per day of instruction per day for each student. Our Orton Gillingham tutors work 1:1 with students. Many students improve their reading and spelling skills by 2 grade levels in 6 weeks.
We also have an extensive outdoor skills program featuring horseback riding, rock climbing, hiking, fishing, canoeing, field trips, and more. We are located on a 7,000+ acre ranch near Yellowston National Park. Visit our website at www.shoshonesummer.com.
Write to me for more information
Fran Lunney
Shoshone Summer Camp
617 842 5227
Re: Considering part time homeschooling, where to start?
If reading is a problem there is a free download that should be enough to make CD’s talk. It’s connected with Text Help. (Little talking Genie guy). That’s the problem with higher level CD programs-some of them don’t talk but expect the kid to read. Another program I’ve found that is useful is Read, Write, Type. Ordered it from Amazon.com about $12.00. Singapore Math ( (check website)now has a Science CD set too. The younger one didn’t look useful enoough for me, but check out the higher level ones.
The other solution is to have someone in family record lessons on an audio tape. Be sure tape recorder is one with nos -so he can go back and find what he needs. Have you checked with ReadAnerica to see if there are any Phonographix tutors in area?
Go directly to the source and find the laws for Ohio (there are online sources but they aren’t always reliable and people have found out the hard way!). THey’re online at http://members.aol.com/chrisoco/oac.htm - I couldn’t find anything about part-time homeschooling. (In Illinois it’s pretty straightforward and easy, even in high school, because it started with top-level athletes wanting to get the P.E. credit requirements on their own.)
I would think you could write up your summary (they ask for a curriculum “for information purposes only”, and how you’re going to teach it) and say that X and Y will be taught at school, but A and B will be taught by you at home using This Great Book and That Great BOok and your kitchen for experiments.
The board of ed site at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/ has a few regulations but I didn’t see any policies for sports participation. I’d drop by and ask a secretary (perhaps with flowers & chocolate in appreciation ;)) & find out how to get a hold of the official policy if there is one.
When you’re re-writing the how-to manual, your best bet is to assuage the fears the admins will have that you’ll start some kind of trend or make some other parent complain (like the kiddo that *doesn’t* make the athletic team because of the spot your kiddo has). Or, look for sports outside of the school system.