For parents that home school there children.?

Question

how do you become certified

how long do you think you will be homeschooling your child

so you have any regrets example. graduation, being around other kids and school activities and can you do any of these things whilebeing home schooled

Answer 1

The certification thing is such a load of junk.  My dad has his master's in elementary education, and my mom has high school diploma and a few credits from an art institute.  Mom did the majority of schooling though, and we (my brother and I) turned out just fine.  Except my little sister.  She is still in 'middle school'.  And she's not that little.  Anywho, when things got to advanced for my mom and/or dad, we had quite a few options.  Hire a tutor, take classes taught by another homeschool parent, classes at the commity college, or classes at the local high school, but that was never really an option for my family from a personal standpoint.

I homeschooled K-12.  It was mostly my decision, but obvioulsy my parents had to agree to it.  My brother homeschooled K-9 and then attended a private school.  That was his decision.  My little sister has homeschooled K-7, and that's as far along as she is.  I see her homeschooling through 12th grade like me because she is involved in so many things and she would have to give up most of them to have the time to be in a school.

I have one regret.  My mother made me graduate in a huge homeschool ceremony with 120 other kids and I did not enjoy it.  But she wanted a ceremony where she could cry and take pictures.  I think it was a waste of money, but it's not something I will become bitter about.  I just wish I would have told my parents I wanted a small, private ceremony with friends and family only.  Oh, well.  It doesn't even matter now.

Yes, you can be in graduation ceremonies, homeschool proms, field trips, science/book fairs, camps, workshops, and various other things.  My family kinda did our own things and never really joined a homeschool group but we found plenty of other ways to interact with people.  Mostly through the arts.  We all play instruments, dance, paint, and sing so taking classes was mandatory in our house.  And there is no way you could take all those classes and not get some interaction!

Answer 2

You do not have to be a certified teacher to homeschool.

I have homeschooled my son since his 1st grade year, and he is now in 2nd grade.  He is a gifted child with some challenges, and he has already talked about what his future career will be, and has also expressed the desire to graduate high school and college early which I'm sure he will do.  

I will probably homeschool him through high school with the help of tutors, homeschool coop classes, etc.  We will have no regrets about graduations, as our homeschool support group has graduation ceremonies.  Socialization is also not not a problem as there is church, park district programs, homeschool support group meetings, and various clubs.

The person who made the comment about your English/grammar should not have done so.  I completed two years of college and one year of vocational school, and my English/grammar is better than many college graduates.  Being a college graduate does not make one all knowing, nor does it make one an expert in English or a grammarian.  One thing that parents learn while homeschooling (if they don't already know it) is that one can always learn more.

I hope this is helpful.

Answer 3

I don't want to be critical but by looking at your English I don't think you are a candidate for teaching.

If you are asking for someone else then:

In most states and provinces you do not need certification but check for your geographic to be certain.   There are many resources available to the home schooler and home schooled.  Physical education, social activities, curriculum help.  Again check with your local school system and your Yellow Pages.  

In my experience I have found most children from a home schooled environment to be lacking in the scope of education.  While generally well balanced, polite, and social the range of skills and knowledge is quite narrow.  But as a people we are quite resilient and by the time these children are in their mid twenties there is little to differentiate one from the other.

Answer 4

I became certified when I gave birth to them.  Seriously, to answer your first question the laws vary from state to state but very few require you to be certified.  In my state, you have to hold a GED or high school diploma or higher, enroll in an association for homeschools, and keep records (lesson plans/diary, portfolio and semi annual progress reports).  No certification is required, nor is it necessary.

My children are currently in 4th and 2nd grades.  I have an infant as well.  They have always been homeschooled, and our intent is to homeschool them through high school.  However, if ever something is not working then we will find a way to fix it.  

Regrets?  No.  Homeschooled children still have the opportunity for events such as prom and graduation.  Homeschooled children still have friends and participate in extracurricular activities.  That they do not is just a stereotype or plain ignorance.

Answer 5

Don't listen to Muzz, he or she has no idea what homeschooling or homeschool law is about.  The only time you would go to your school board or Public School district office for books and such is if you are on a Public School at home program, such as homebound instruction for kids with medical conditions.

I don't know of any states that actually require a parent to be a certified teacher in order to homeschool, though some do require that you be under the supervision of a certified teacher who you check in with periodically to review what you are doing.

The laws for your state can be found at:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

As for how long I plan to homeschool my children, the answer is until they all graduate.

No, no regrets.  I've had moments of doubt, but in the end always come back to the realization that homeschooling is the best option for my family.

My kids will have a graduation with other homeschoolers, either at our local co-op or our State Wide homeschool organization.  They do have social activities, sometimes we have to be creative to make them happen, but they do happen.  We do co-op twice month with other homeschoolers, we go to Church every Sunday and usually on Wednesday night, in the past we have been involved in boys and girls clubs, scouting organizations, Awana's, swim lessons, library programs, and dance classes at the community center.  Next year my oldest will be involved with 4H, and I am thinking of putting the younger two in Scouts if it doesn't interfere with our other social activities.  I would like to get my son into some kind of sport, but he has a slight case of dyspraxia (a movement / coordination disorder) so I am weighing the options carefully according to what he is capable of experiencing some success in.

Answer 6

You don't have to be "certified" to homeschool your child.  You are the parent.  The state doesn't own the child.

My youngest never went to public school.  The older ones went a few years.  The middle went 2 years.

Coops are where your children can have graduations and activities.

Answer 7

1. You don't.

2. I started in the third grade. I plan to continue on through graduation.

3. I only regret that I did not start homeschooling earlier. But, I lacked the confidence and did not realize it was our best option until she’s been in public school for several years..

4. Yes, you can do all of those things and homeschool.

Answer 8

You do not need to be certified to teach your own child.

Neither do private school teachers, for that matter.

We will be homeschooling through high school, but we anticipate our child, like many homeschool children, will begin taking community college courses around the age of sixteen.

We have no regrets regarding graduation...there are homeschool graduations locally.  As for our child being around other kids..there are so many many opportunities for socialization that we've recently had to cut back on activities.  There are no meaningful school activities that she misses out on.  Not one.

Our real regret is that we waited until fourth grade to begin homeschooling.

Answer 9

I'm not certified.

I'll homeschool until we're done. I don't know if that will be until they are through high school or what, we're pretty flexible.

Um, we can have a graduation if we want. We even have a home-school prom here every year. They are around other kids every day. They do 'school-like' activities weekly, like sports, band, orchestra, art and shop classes.

Answer 10

I did not have to become certified in order to homeschool in my state.  Here's an explanation of the requirements that make up homeschool laws:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Here's where you can find laws for your state:

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

I hope to homeschool my children until they graduate from high school.  So far we have no regrets.  My children have friends who are homeschooled and friends who go to public school that we see on a regular basis.  

They are involved in different activities - my daughter is in ballet, my son plays sports, they both take swim lessons and are involved in church, etc.  We also go on many outings and field trips.

The opportunities for homeschoolers are limitless in terms of activities.  Here's some info on the types of programs available:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Here's some general info on socialization:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

A great place to start, in terms of finding activities, is to join a local support group.

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

At this point, my children have no interest in going to school.

Hope this helps!

Answer 11

There is no homeschool certification, a birth certificate will do ;)

I think I'll continue until my kids leave home... but, after 18 it's not really called homeschool.

No regrets, thus far.  There are more than enough othe kids around, we do live in the world.  There are many homeschool activitities too, more than in public school.  There are more opportunities because we have all the time we want to do what we want, when we want.

There are proms and graduation ceremonies, etc.  Plus any other sports, social groups in which we want to participate.  

The only thing missing is all the classroom time.  We don't spend as much time with that... some, but not 8-3 or whatever.  

It's a great lifestyle :D

Answer 12

OK..so I'm not a parent, but I am home schooled!  Name's Nikki and I'm in 10th grade...I have been home schooled since I was in like 1st or 2nd grade.  I love being home schooled!  My brother (who is fixin' to graduate college) was home schooled and he graduated and got a diploma and everything, I have a sister too, she's graduating this year.  Next year Me and my cousin, Lindsey (who is also home schooled) are taking the CPT and hopefully gonna take classes at NFCC (North Florida Community College), but as far as being around other kids, no problem there. for me!

My friend, Emily (home schooled) plays on the varsity softball team at SHS (Suwannee High School) and you can do anything that basically a high school student can do.  We took Spanish 1 and 2 our freshman year and we took a typing class..unless you live in one of the 4 or so states that do not allow home schoolers to play sports and do anything else with the high school then you should be fine!

Take Tim Tebow for example (if you don't know about him, then your crazy! lol!) he was home schooled his whole life and now he is the starting QB for the Florida Gators...but then of course you have people who think Home schoolers are freaks and are socially awkward and stuff like that..but I have enough friends and most of the time they say home schoolers are smarter..not saying that people who go to regular high school are dumb!  Just sometimes our work is harder than theres, even my friends who go to the high school say that!  This is sooo long, but hope it helps!

Answer 13

I was homeschooled up to the 8th grade.  We went to ballet class with a bunch of other girls our age and a coop where we'd learn how to play a musical instrument with a bunch of kids and we'd play basket ball with them.  So we had a good comunication with other kids

Answer 14

You don't have to become certified; few states even have an option for a parent to have to be certified, and I believe everyone of them has another option (like "be a certified teacher, option A; or have a high school diploma and let us know you're homeschooling, option B").

I'll be homeschooling my child through graduation, he's 10 right now and 6th-7th grade in most subjects, 9th in a couple.  He's highly gifted and dyslexic, and while I don't think that public schools are bad, the ones in our area simply have nothing to offer him.  The only private school that could handle his needs is well over $15,000 a year and a 45-minute drive one way, every day.  We cannot handle the tuition or the drive, and he is motivated to learn in an independent manner, so homeschooling works well for him.

He has no regrets, he chose to be homeschooled.  Most of his public and private school friends are actually jealous of both his schedule and his coursework, to the point that they've asked their parents to homeschool.  He'll have a graduation with many other kids in the area; he goes to field trips, participates in sports and co op classes, has lessons (sports, art, music), volunteers at places like the library and animal shelter, and gets together with his friends to play during the day, while other kids are in school.  (Because there aren't 30 kids to handle, he gets done with more work in less time.)

He can do all of this and more while being homeschooled.  He actually feels bad for kids that have to be in a classroom all day!  He knows that everyone learns differently, and that some kids really do learn better in a classroom, but he loves being homeschooled.  To quote him, he "wouldn't trade it for anything".

Answer 15

I used k12 it was free in my state.  They are now in public school and love it.   They have made a ton of friends and they have more opportunities.  

There are issues that we encountered in the beginning but once it was clarified that I am their mother not the school and I made decisions that I felt were in my childrens best interest everything was good.   I volunteer in the class so I see what goes on and to date I am pleased.    If I have an issue I voice my opinion right away.   They have picked up some raunchy things from other kids but they know right from wrong.

Answer 16

well, homeschooling is a topic that can equally be defended or debated against. With homeschool tho, you have to go to your board of education building and get the required curriculum, i.e text books and such. If you're a parent, then the child wud feel more secure in the environment. However obviously, the child might regret never going to the grad, or proms, or having a gf/bf (if u allow that)

Answer 17

I was homeschooled because my parents didnt want us being influenced by the world lol and plus we lived in the middle of the country and there were hardly a school within walking distance. We didnt even have all the resources to do experiments etc. My mom had seven kids which she homeschooled and none of us graduated. Controlling parents usually choose this option.

The only time I got to socialize was on sundays when we went to church and that odd time we had someone over. I will always resent my parents for not allowing me to properly socialize, because trust me it became a problem as soon as I hit my teens. I felt awkward in groups and was very nervous around other strangers.

If someone is going to homeschool their kids they have to be motivated and make sure that the kid gets just as much socialization as he would in a regular school. Otherwise not worth it.

Answer 18

You don't get certified.

We're going to homeschool for another year because in a year I'll be graduating.

We don't have any regrets because I will still have a graduation ceremony/party, I still play in a band and take instrument lessons, I still play sports like soccer and fencing, go to holidar parties, social parties, hang out with friends, participate in clubs, go on feild trips, and do everything public schoolers are able to do and more. I still see plenty of other kids and I'm actually answering this from my boyfriend's house right now. I'm not missing anything and we regret nothing.

Answer 19

Certified for what? There is no certification involved here. There's no regrets here. Our boys could care less about "school activities" and "other kids". The group of parents locally have activities that aren't very educational. So we take our kids out to farms, ranches, coal fired power plants, and such. The one kid that our oldest son knew is public schooled and he's serving time in a juvenile rehab facility now.

We do have outdoor activities here and they do make contact with other kids but it is not of any vital importance to our kids.