I am from Northern California and I would like to homeschool my son. I prefer not to use our school district.

Question

I would like to know how and where to go about doing independent studies. I heard awhile ago about a place out of Sacramento that will come for free to help set up your classroom and that the curriculum is free as well. Sounded great lost the number but dont get me wrong I am willing to pay for his material. Suggestions please.... Thanx

Answer 1

Were you thinking of a charter school?  CAVA is one virtual charter sehool in CA:

http://www.caliva.org

Answer 2

I love NorCal.  Glad you want to homeschool so I'm going to tell you a bit about what I know.

First of all, you can take your child out of school today and give the school district a letter letting them know that you are going to homeschool your child.  Then go to this website if you are going to do it without a charter school, etc... and be your own private school: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/rq/ap/form.a...

You'll need to document his daily attendance and have about 180 days of school.  Keep immunization records current or have a letter of explanation as to why you choose not to immunize (a whole different issue).

As for curriculum, there are so many ways to learn that you'll have to find out what is best your family.  I use several, from the video school Abeka which is somewhat expensive at $1000 per grade to Making the Grade series books, being the cheapest.  But this is what works for us.

Or instead of going it alone at first, you might also be interested in using a charter school, there is a good one out there now called Sky Mountain Charter School which allows you about $1800 per student in grades K-8, more for high schoolers, to spend on their approved vendors.  The list is massive and you can ask to use a vendor that you find, which I did for music lessons and martial arts, now they pay for those!  The only drawback is having to show in a monthly summary that you are still adhering to state standards by way of samples and short explanations of what and how things were assessed, and then there will be the yearly STAR tests that they will arrange.   And once a month face to face.  

Remember that homeschooling is your right but if you want to send your child back to state education again, you need to keep good records and document everything.  You could also be visited, although this doesn't happen much anymore since people are getting better informed about their choices and are complying with state laws by doing these few things.  GOOD LUCK and I know you'll be rewarded.

Answer 3

try these sites:

www.homeedmag.com

www.classicalhomeschooling.com

you can sign up w/ the home ed magazine to get a couple of free issues to check it out.  plus they send you an email newsletter once a month if you want.  

your state most likely also has its own home schooling organization.  just google "california home schooling" and a bunch of stuff pops up.  good luck to you!

Answer 4

You can call up a school in your district and they can give you information.

Answer 5

www.caliva.org

Answer 6

You really need to decide what homeschooling method you want to use:

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

Then choose a curriculum. Some good providers are:

http://www.abeka.com

http://www.bjupress.com

http://www.aop.com

http://www.aceministries.com

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com

Some good literature based or unit study methods are:

http://www.sonlight.com

http://www.winterpromise.com

http://www.fiarhq.com/

http://www.mfwbooks.com/