Are there non-fundamentalist homeschoolers?

Laptop, when my oldest was a junior he became rebellious and wanted to quit school. It was a little worse than that, but to make a long story short, I homeschooled him so that he would finish his education.

We did this for 2 years, and were so successful that we continued on with my two youngest until they reached the 4th and 6th grades.

It didn't seem to harm the kids at all. My oldest is an EMT (who delivered his first baby 6 days ago!) and is studying for his Medic. My youngest 2 are always on either the principal's list or honor roll, and my middle one was offered a chance to study in Italy (he turned it down, to my dismay). My youngest is striving to attend an Ivy-League university.

The only real difficulties we had were with socialization, but we just went out and found friends in town. Kids are usually pretty cool with meeting new people if we don't show our concerns or make it an issue.

As for curriculum, what's wrong with asking the school to supply you with copies of their workbooks and texts? That's what we did, and when the kids returned to the classroom they went in with the same knowledge their classmates had. It kept things on an even keel.

There are homeschooling websites out there, but I'm sure you already knew that. Really, just speak with the superintendent of your school, and he'll probably cooperate with you freely. I'm sure there were words between the two of you, but in an instance such as this he'll probably be willing to talk. It's worth a shot (and this would save you a lot of expense).

Good luck to you and your son.

I know there is a huge homeschool podcasting network. You could get onto this from I-tunes (which is free). I'm sure that not all of them are fundies. There's also a movement called un-schooling. Frankly, I don't think unschooling is great, but there must be someone who it works well for. This might be a starting place anyway.

Could I also suggest trying a different school or district? Some schools do not do well with students with special needs or behavioral issues. Finding a school with appropriately trained administrators is just as important as appropriately trained teachers, in my opinion. If the public school is not working, you could try looking for specific charter schools. That seems to be popular in my community.

There is also a series of books out at Barnes and Noble that provide the full curriculum for which ever grade you pick. They're expensive, but they look very convenient to me.

Hope this helps.

I have home schooled all 3 of my kids at various times. My son should have started JK this year but as he has Aspergers we are keeping him home because socially he would be behind and doesn't really like strange kids, definitely not 25 at a time. On the other hand when they try to teach him his ABC's or counting to ten he will be so far ahead he will be bored out of his head.

My oldest daughter was not getting the extra help she needed and we pulled her for about 18 months until she started high school.

We debated pulling my youngest daughter as she is too easily influenced by her peers. I know all teens are but she becomes a different person and not for the better. Her grades as she has become more involved have plummeted from A''s and B's to C's with the odd B, she is way too smart for that.

Here in Ontario there is endless curriculum put out and there is not a single mention of god anywhere unless you are teaching a catholic curriculum but I think god in general just plays a smaller part in our country. I can go to and decent book store and find almost every book I need to do JK to grade 12.

It can be a lot of work but in the end given time and the choice I would home school all of them. I think we can do a better job than most overburdened and often uninterested teachers.

Yes, we homeschool and do not consider ourselves to be Christian.(our beliefs lie a lot closer to Judaism) This has caused a problem finding material because much of what is marketed to homeschoolers has an extreme Christian bias. Probably your best bet will be to look for used school books that weren't intended for homeschoolers to begin with. We have found a lot of books on ebay. You can also try yard sales, flea markets, and places like Goodwill.

The "network for socialization" will probably be more difficult. I'm not sure where you are or what the homescool situation is there but here almost all homeschoolers must operate under a "cover school" and these tend to be Christian organizations. I am aware of one pagan "cover school" in our state so look around and you might find something that suits you. For us there is another family that we are friends with that have similar beliefs and also homeschool. Our kids are able to get together with theirs once a month or so for a field trip or just for a visit.

My family is Pagan, we ran into some of the same issues, What you might try is looking for newer used textbooks for sale on-line. When my son was in the third and fourth grade, we found a book called what every fourth grader should know. And I'm telling you, they never taught me any of the things in this book in the fourth grade. You can get better than the "curriculum" provided, and as long as the child can pass the tests, you're fine. If you wanted to, and you got software versions, you can create your own curriculum based on the other ones that does not have to be religiously slanted. If you live in a state where the curriculum has to be approved, write your state department of education and ask them about it. They may have some very valuable information.

There is another section in Y/A for home schooling issues and questions that may be more helpful for support.

I know of home school children that do not have the fundamentalist base that does indeed appear to be the majority of home school networking here in Arkansas.

It is difficult to find others such as yourself, but they are out there. Issues with public schools and children that qualify under 504 guidelines ( that are often ignored or not followed adequately ) is a common reason that children are pulled out of public schools.

Your local library may be a source of information or help.

Good luck

Why yes indeed. My friend has recently lost her faith and she's going to home school her daughter for the foreseeable future. Her daughter is quite young, first grade (or second, perhaps) and she's purchased simple teaching materials from a local bookstore. I don't know if there's anything like that available for the age range your son is in... and I really couldn't help with the social network thing... but there ya go, ask at a local bookstore if they have any homeschooling materials to peruse.

Yes, there are but they are few and far between. There are also some pagan parents who homeschool. There are also parents who homeschool because they live in the middle of nowhere. There are a lot of online and community resources. I work in a JoAnns Fabric store and we have homeschool kids in for sewing class all the time

Try a internet search for support groups or for specific curricula. Check your state board of education's website for resources as well. Good luck.

Apart from standard curriculum, available from education authorities (and easily studied at home, with coaches if necessary), I'm convinced kids learn most from reading - which also inspires curiosity to learn. Apart from particular skills, we all learn most significantly from our parents and other mentors. So enlist a wide circle of friends with a range of interests, encourage casual conversation, and support your kids in exploration of everything that might interest them. It will enrich their lives, and yours too. Kids can extend their social skills, and knowledge of other people, in play, whether informally with neighbors, or in organized sport. They should grow up capable of critical thought, personal initiative, and of mixing well enough in the world. Good luck. If a kid is having trouble with school (unless it's basic behavioral problems) the school will do little good, and possible harm. I've been there!

I home schooled my daughter until high school when I found myself travelling too much to keep up. I was very pleased with the homeschooling program I chose. There were many options including virtual classrooms.

The program is called Oak Meadow and it is not religion based. We are a Buddhist family and I was attentive in making certain her school curriculum was not influenced in any way by religion.

Their web site is located at http://www.oakmeadow.com/

All my best to you and feel free to message me with questions if you like. (((LTJ)))