Home schooling in Texas?

Question

Okay I am lost! My school really has no clue and is no help to get me started or more information about home schooling.

I want to do the program called "unschooling"

Where do I start?

How much will it cost?

What does it entail?

Please help me!

Answer 1

Homeschooling in Texas is what my daughter would call easy peasy. Please look at the actual law at www.hslda.org, but you have no requirements for ongoing homeschooling.

Unschooling is not a program, it's a method of learning. It is sometimes called child-directed learning, but in essence it trusts that children are capable of learning and will learn everything IF THEIR WORLD is made accessible enough.

Start on the internet and at the public library.

Cost depends on you.

What it entails is varied from person to person. Please visit www.unschooling.com for more info.

Answer 2

Unschooling is free form.

That would be your kids (not you, but your kids) doing your state and federal income taxes as math

Going to a court room or city hall and watching deabates live as History or Civics

Doing creative writing and submitting it to magazines and collecting rejection slips until ONE DAY they sell something

That's called English

It's getting a copy of Excell, Access and Visual BASIC and learning to use these from the manuals and creating spreadsheets to do your taxes, keep your books and records, keep address and make stand alone programs.

Unschooling is HOBBIES and PASTTIMES that qualify as education.

Amateur Astronomy

Meterology

Splunking

Mountain Climbing

Gardening (Botony or horticulture)

Upgrading computers (installing cards, memory, CPUs)

Homeschooling is NOT watching Cartoon shows or playing Xbox 360 ALL day long

A part of homeschooling IS watching PBS, Science, Discovery, Nature, History on cable, taht counts.  It's lectures.

And Texas can't stop you

So long as you can prove they are learning numbers, history, science and English in SOME MANOR you are in compliance with Texas law!

And I just told you how to do it.

ASK THE DARN TEACHER or TRUanT OFFICER to do your taxes

Set the form down, tell them YOUR KIDS already did them but you want to see how smart THEY ARE

They'll leave you alone at that point becuase NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DO THEM, that's why God created H&R Block!

Answer 3

Yep, most schools don't :-)

In TX, you are considered a private school, so there is very little government oversight.  You basically just inform the district that you're there and you're homeschooling, and go for it.

Unschooling isn't so much a program as a method of learning.  With unschooling, you don't have to follow a prescribed set of studies - you sit down with your parents, figure out what you want to learn and the resources you'll use, and then you go ahead and do it.  If you want to learn about robotics, you might find some classes at a local community college, land an internship with a local electronics/robotics company, and read up on it at the library and on the internet.  Your real life experience counts as school.

Or if you want to go into medicine, you would find out what the pre-med program at the schools you want to apply to require, and then locate the resources to learn that material.  You might study Latin and Greek, anatomy, bio and chem, and advanced math.  This can be done through a local concurrent enrollment program, homeschool curriculum, online classes, and a shadow program at a local hospital.

If you want to do something involving animals, you can work with a local humane society shelter, vet's office, or pet store.  You can take classes in zoology, etc.

You get the idea.  Unschooling, basically, is building your own coursework schedule based on your interests and future plans, and then working through whatever resources are available to you to accomplish your coursework.  It does require you to keep yourself accountable, but can be very rewarding and successful.  There are literally tons of resources available to homeschoolers - everything from discounted curriculum to free online classes through MIT.  The sky is really the limit.

You can do this for free, or you can spend tuition for college classes - it really depends on what you want to do.  I would suggest getting in touch with a couple of homeschooling groups in the DFW area and picking their brains - they are there to help :-)

Answer 4

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is the place to start; their site has information on how to legally homeschool in your state.  Following is the link:

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

Also, unschooling is not a program; it is a method of homeschooling that people sometimes refer to child-led learning.  You are free to pursue your interests, study subjects more in depth, etc.   There are many methods of homeschooling.  A link is below that gives you more information on the unschooling and other methods of homeschooling:

http://www.homeschool.com/Approaches/def...

The cost of homeschooling depends upon the method used.  It can be anywhere from almost free to thousands of dollars a year.

I hope this is helpful.

Answer 5

Try visiting http://www.unschooling.com/.

Unschooling is a philosophy, a style. You choose the materials that help you acquire the knowledge that you are seeking.

For example, my oldest son wanted to learn more computer networking hardware. He checked out every book at our local library and read them. He collected old computers and dissected them. Finally, he enrolled in networking classes at the college.

My other son is a theater buff. He has participated in community theater for six years. Over the past two years he decided to learn how to run the lights and the sound for productions. He researched online how these components of a show are done. Then he volunteered at a local theater for four or five shows to learn in person. Now, he gets paid to do something he enjoys!

Cost will depend on what your end goal is. You might decide to take courses or buy some books. You might utilize other free sources, such as the internet and local library system.

Answer 6

Here is some info on homeschooling in Texas:

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

It is a great state to homeschool in.

Like the others have said, unschooling is a form of homeschooling in which you learn through the course of daily life instead of following a standard textbook or workbook program. Here is some additional information about unschooling:

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

It does not mean you get to sit around and do nothing all day, lol!  :)  You pursue projects, activities and coursework that will move you in the direction of your longterm goals.  The activities you choose determine how much it will cost and the amount of effort you will have to expend.

Here are some support groups in your area:

http://www.nthen.org

http://www.cheaonline.org/

http://www.thea-online.org/

Here's a statewide organization:

http://www.thsc.org

Good luck!