Help! my homeschooling has become a disaster?

Question

basically I am in ninth grade, I actually started homeschooling in early october so I went to high school for one month, my parents took me out of school because my baby sister kept on getting sick from daycare and there were wierd emo people and people that smoked cigarttes at my school. So they removed me from school because they were afraid that I would be influenced by them, and made me babysit my sister all day while staying at home. My parents are too busy with their work to teach me any thing that they did in school and they somehow expect me to read all my books myself and do all the work without any teaching or help from them. So I have had no education except for what I can read from my school books. And they are going to make me do my tenth grade exam in india, which is supposed to be super hard. What do you think I should do. I cant study anything during the day because I have to babysit my sister.

Answer 1

Read those books!  You can learn a lot from reading.  Read them out-loud to your sister.  Teach the material to her.

Be resourceful.  You CAN teach yourself. To learn how go to www.robinsoncurriculum.com  You don't have to buy the program to figure out how to study the basics.

The three basic foundation blocks to all academic study is this:

1. Math -- master facts and concepts

2.  Write -- be able to write a persuasive essay every day.

3.  Read -- read the very best books for at least 2 hours every day.

Your sister should be able to sit and play while you read, write, and do math.  Try to fit it all in to your day.  It will work.

Answer 2

This situation is so wrong. I know you are only a young woman, but you must stand up to your parents. Many of these answers are good answers. Glurpy and HSmomlov.. are both correct in their assessment of the best solution. I am just so sorry for you that you have to awaken your parents to this reality. HS is meant to be guided by the parent and that baby is meant to be parented by the parent. But not one of us gets to pick our family situation and your parents are trying to do their best for you. They must love you both so much and have a great deal of faith in you. Please, tell them this isn't working and keep telling them until they listen. Then, focus on your basics. Read those books. Just because something is very difficult, does not mean it cannot or should not be done. While I do not want to down play the difficulty of your situation, I have to tell you that people have done more with less. If they could do it, so can you. It is an awesome burden, but you can do this, if you must.

Bless your heart, baby girl.

&

Good luck.

Answer 3

We use the Charlotte Mason Curriculum for our kids. It might be easier for you to use this curriculum because it is divided up into subjects and use "living books", not text books or paraphrased digests.  Look at this sight:

http://amblesideonline.org/

A lot of the books are available online or in a library (Charlotte Mason was British, so many of the books she used might be there in a library in India). Ambleside is more modern, but the principle will guide you to what you really need to study.  The idea is that there are great people in our past who were highly educated. How? They studied at home. They did not have public school available to them. Many were self taught. You do not need a bunch of DVDs or CDs to get a good homeschool education. You just need good books written by good authors.

As for the babysitting, take your parent s aside and tell them to choose what they want, a free baby sitter who wont graduate from high school or a well educated and successful child. Do not do it disrespectfully, but help them realize, caring for your sister is interfering with your education and you will fail if they do not help. I am sure they will choose your success or their convenience.  If not, go to a city or school official and take matters in your own hands. Find out your options.

Answer 4

Are you a missionary family?  Why do you have to take a test in India?

Homeschooling is a wonderful adventure that can be suited to each child.  You should be reading, doing math, and learning anything that catches your interest.  Reading is reading whether it's the Bible, novels, newspapers, etc.  

Math is best learned by running a business of some sort. Each child should have their own little entrepreneur business to run.  Some sell eggs, some give piano lessons, some code new programs to sell on the web, some create curriculum to sell on the web or on Ebay, etc.  But every kid should learn to  run their own little business to learn about profit, costs, loss, money management, etc.

Unfortunately your parents seem to be in favor of "school in a box" type stuff.  I'm sorry for that because it is not the best option for any child.  Perhaps you could talk to them about a better curriculum.

Answer 5

I understand that your parents are trying to keep you safe, but they need to also understand that homeschooling takes commitment from them.  I'm not saying that they don't want the best for you - I'm sure they do - but it's difficult, especially the first year, for parents to figure out how to "get it right".

What they're asking you to do - school yourself and watch your sister - isn't fair.  You're a kid, and shouldn't have to take on that amount of adult responsibility yet.

Have you talked with them about this, and told them how helpless you feel?  If not, I would really encourage you to do so.  Don't do so in a disrespectful or angry manner - I know that you're frustrated, but it won't help anything - but be honest with them.  Let them know that while some kids are able to teach themselves, you need some sort of instruction to be able to learn what you need to.  There's nothing wrong with that, everyone has different learning styles, but if they choose to homeschool you, they are responsible for finding you the resources that you need.

They may be able to find you a tutor for the remainder of the year, to work with you and help you figure out the concepts that are in your book.  (I know there are some subjects that I can read a book and pick up just fine, while others seem like a foreign language until someone explains them to me.)  Otherwise, see if they would be willing to get you a DVD, CD, or online-based course for the subjects that you're struggling with.  With a course like this, a teacher *does* teach you the information, and you can go back over it as many times as you need to in order to learn and retain it.

At this late date, going back to public high school isn't going to help you; you'd just be sitting year-end exams without having received the instruction.  However, a tutor or interactive (DVD/CD/Online) curriculum could help you a lot - you'd be surprised at how quickly you will likely pick up the info.

I'm assuming that they'll have you in school next year in India, and that's why you'll be sitting that exam?  If you were going to be homeschooling long term, I'd say to get involved in local co op courses; however, for the short term (and to prep for that test) an interactive curriculum would be your best bet.  

Like I said, just be honest with them - you're not trying to slack or rebel, you really are trying your best, but just having the books isn't making sense to you.  It sounds like they really are concerned for your well-being and future, so it may be likely that they'd be on board for something like this.

If you need any help finding different curriculum choice to show them, let us know and we'll be happy to help.

Good luck!

Answer 6

It's a shame that you are in the situation you are in (which is, to be honest, not a typical homeschool situation). Have you talked to your parents about this? Told them you're not getting any work done? Told them you won't pass the exam in India since you aren't able to get enough time to do your work? Told them that you are unhappy with the situation and you need help?

If you can't change the situation (being at home and babysitting your sister), then try to make the most of it. How old is your sister? You know, parents are able to look after kids and do other things--you're old enough to be able to manage this. Does your sister nap? Is she old enough to do a colouring or other activity next to you? Ask your parents for help in how to keep your sister occupied so you can get your work done if they won't allow you to go back to school.

What you can read from your school books is actually quite a bit of an education. People in the past were often self-educated by just that way--learning things such as navigation and languages and history and science and more. One thing that would help you in your situation is to get rid of that faulty thought that somehow you aren't learning things if you're just reading books. Literature-based learning is VERY popular and VERY effective for lots and lots of people. Once you're out of school, if you are going to be someone who keeps learning, you have to be someone who reads a lot. It works, if you let it.

Answer 7

Well, the situation you describe certainly isn't fair on you. Your parents shouldn't be using you as free daycare, that's simply not acceptable, and probably not legal either. I guess you could just muddle through and then fail the exams in spectacular style, but would they get the message or just blame you? Is there anyone else in your family you can talk to since your parents seem to be totally not getting it?

Answer 8

First of all, take a deep breath. Okay? Now I have some ideas. While you are baby sitting  turn a movie on(sorry if she is to little to watch movies)  or something your sister likes. And while she is doing that read what you can. And I would recommend getting a notebook so you can write things down about your school assignments. And if you have some friends that could come over and help babysit that would be good to. It is sometimes hard to homeschool. I understand what you are talking about. But talk to your parents about what your have trouble with and explain to them that you are worried about your education. And the most important thing  to do is do your best. I hope this helped.

Answer 9

I assume you're talking about your ICSE.  The best thing for you to do, is just cram for your test.  Hopefully, your books are the right ones.  Ask you parents to get you a copy of syllabuses for each of the topics you're intending to take, as well as example/past exam papers/ questions.  The Wikipedia link has some good resources for you, if you scroll down to the bottom of the page.  Good luck!