I want to home school my 5 year old for kindergarten so he will not be behind other kids, how can ?

Question

He is 5 years old, but he has a couple developmental delays. He is not potty trained, and he doesn't talk much. He may have an ASD (Autism spectrum disorder); he will be evaluated Oct. 1st, and then we will know for sure. He was evaluated by the local school system, and since he isn't potty trained (trust me, we're trying!!) he can't go to kindergarten. He is going to preschool through the city schools. We can't use any state operated home school programs because it doubles tax money, and we’re not allowed to be in both. I don't want him to be behind other kids his age so I want to home school him for kindergarten. He has to have an accredited kindergarten program to start 1st grade though. How can I do this? He already knows most of what he has to know for kindergarten, so I'm not worried about it being too much for him. Any help is appreciated!!

Answer 1

First, which state do you live in?  I'm not aware of any state that would require a kindergarten student to go through an accredited program; many states don't even require a student to GO to kindergarten.

Second, if it turns out that he is ASD, whether he will keep up with the other kids in all subjects will really depend on where he is on the spectrum and how he is taught.  If you live in a school district that has an excellent program for ASD kids, then public school might be the best place.  However, not all schools have this.  Some ASD kids are mainstreamed with marginal results (as many teachers don't have experience or training working with the kids) and others are put in Special Ed with equally marginal results.

ASD kids tend to be extremely smart, but they often need to be taught in ways that don't work well in a standard classroom.  I would check with your local homeschool group on the accredited kindergarten thing - in five years of homeschooling I've never heard of it, and I'm a public school teacher's kid - and then I'd find a local ASD advocacy group and get their help.  If he is on the spectrum, you will need their services to advocate for him.

If it turns out that you do need an accredited K program, K12 is available in many states for free; it's available as a paid program in all states.

Edit - Ohio does have "tweaky" homeschool laws; they are among the most stringent nationwide.  I would definitely recommend both the help of a homeschool support group (they will know how to navigate the waters when working with schools) and an ASD advocacy.  You may also really want to consider membership in an organization like HSLDA, as they will help you when working with any restrictions the schools put on you.  Here's a link to OH homeschooling laws: http://hslda.org/laws/analysis/Ohio.pdf

I don't see anything on the site about the accredited K requirement, but I might just be overlooking it.   As far as I'm aware, the only program that offers an accredited K program in Ohio is OHDELA; most programs don't really advertise accreditation for grades below high school, as it's not generally required.

Did you talk with the school administration about the accreditation requirement?  Especially for a student that has developmental delays, and this early on, I can't imagine that they would require it.

Answer 2

Well the best part is you live in Ohio. That's wonderful if you want to homeschool. We have a large Amish community and even though they don't want to be in our heathen culture, God Bless them for also making sure they don't break any laws. They have worked dilegently to give us some of the most open laws in the country if you want to homeschool.

1. you need a home education notification form. Its online-just type that in and Ohio

.2. you need to think up a curricullum and write an outline that includes: Language, reading, spelling, writing, geography and U.S. history,Math, science,health,PE, Art,Music,and firstAid,safety,and fire prevention. This is for informational purposes only. You don't have to follow this but you need to look like you got a plan and its on paper.

3.List your textbooks, commercial curricula, or basic teaching masterials. Again for informational purposes only.

4.Assurance child will recieve 900 hrs instruction.5. Have a high school diploma or G.E.D.Submit all this to Superintendent of Schools. You will get back a letter. Its only three sentences. You applied for home instruction. your kids name. you are granted permission. Nothing more required of you until the next school year. You reapply, but you need to turn in standardized test scores as well. These scores give you a transcript with the state.

We hired a private teacher to give it to our kids. If they fail all is not lost. you have two years to bring them up. So if they fail Kindergarten test, you have 2 years to get them to pass 2nd grade test. My son passed K test in 50th percentile and couldn't even read or work scissors at the end of that year. If your son is special needs he may not even have the same guideline about the testing results.My son just needed to mature and by the time he was in 3rd grade testing wasn't even an issue we worried about because he was ahead of all the kids we knew. Why worry about keeping up with othe rkids. So what if they can read by 4 and yours can't at 7. There is only one goal and thats to learn to read. Will it really matter when your son is a man and has his own family that he needed a few more years to potty train? As parents our goal is really to help our kids become the best adult they can be, is it not? Widen your timetable to 18 yrs down the road, not tommorrow.

If you don't want to send your son then don't. But why use city schools? Enroll him in Ohio Virtual Academy. It's free in Ohio and the same as public school. They take special needs kids. Have to or state won't fund it. If you can just believe in yourself and know deep down you can do this for your son. OHVA will give him a good basic education and has all the lessons packaged up in a way that you can follow along.  Who will really be there for him?--you or a paid teacher.  

Go to the library and get some homeschool books. Mull it over. Let him skip pre-school one day and try out a Co-op in your area. You will find other people are in the same boat as you.

I know people say your crazy for thinking homeschool. But it seems as though alot of people have an opinion about but no real answers on how to solve whatever is going on with your son. I know. Many people tried to fill my head with negative things about my son's abilities when he was young. You know, only to be helpful and they would never say anything, BUT....(my mother--lol). But I saw something in him, I knew he was really a genius stuck in a little body. I could see that spark in his eyes. He had this unbelievable imagination, I just had to figure out how to reach him. Get in there so he could learn to write it down and share it with other people.

I got in his head alright, I must say. He and I are best friends. He was a slow talker too, but now OMG. He never stops. I truly learned more homeschooling him than I ever learned in getting all the way to my master's degree in Enviromental Science. Thank god my husband looked at me the day of Kindergarten registration and said "He can't wipe his butt yet, what do you think about homeschool?"

And so began my life's work.---To make a man outta that boy.

Answer 3

To add to hsmom's great answer....also take a look at http://www.Sonlight.com  Curriculum. They have great programs that  you could use at home with him.

Best of Luck!

Jana

http://www.purehomeschooling.com/