Moving to Louisiana, thinking about homeschooling my girls...?

Fort Polk there is the middle of NOWHERE! My brother was stationed there (by choice) for 6 years.

As for home schooling in La it's great! All you have to do is submit a letter to the Dept of Education in Baton Rouge. I can send you a copy of mine if you would like or you can look up CHEF of Louisiana. You can find the laws at www.hslda.org. There are 2 options one is basically working with the public school the other is a private school. I personally use the private school option.

There are some great home school groups in my part of the state (unfortunately the other side from where you will be) but I am sure being near or on a military base you will find one.Check out the Library or other places where kids like to hang out (check during school hours and you are more likely to find them).

As for curricula if you use the private school option it's up to you. I believe that if you use the option 1 that it has to be "school approved" I personally love Sonlight, and Math U See. We are using Switched on School house this year and haven't been throughly happy with it.

Sonlight can be expensive but it's almost tax season (when I order next years stuff)! It is worth the price as you can reuse most of the stuff for the second child and you won't have to order anything once you have it. It's not for everyone though. If you dislike reading out loud it is not for you! It is Christian but if you would prefer a secular program you can easily skip the Bible lessons and for the elementary years use the Science but for High School you will have to find a Secular program. You can find them at www.sonlight.com.

Math U See is a visual math program using DVDs to teach. Steve (the teacher/developer) is personable on the DVDs. My kids enjoy the short lessons and I have yet to have to use the teachers manual to help explain a concept. They use blocks a lot and have a student work book and test booklet. The price is reasonable about $60.00 for the DVD, workbook, teachers manual, and test booklet the blocks run another 30 last I checked. You can find them at www.mathusee.com

Switched On School house (SOS) is a good program if you like workbook type formats (which my daughter doesn't). It is very Christian! There is no way around it with SOS! It automatically grades everything except creative writings. I love that feature. You can set lesson plans, days off, and such and assign due dates to the work. You can find them at www.aophomeschooling.com

You have a lot of options to research before you make a decision about what is most appropriate for your family, and best for your children.

Homeschooling is one option. It is where a parent accepts legal, financial and educational responsiblity for their child's education. They design the curriculum and purchase or borrow appropriate learning materials. To find out the homeschooling laws for Louisiana, learn more about homeschooling in general, locate a local support group that can help walk you through the process and find links to some great educational materials for homeschooling, I recommend Ann's A to Z website:

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

and

Homeedmag.com

There are also public virtual (online) schools. Googling 'Louisiana" and "virtual schools" I couldn't quite tell whether the state is the only supplier of online public schools or whether private companies like K12, Insight, Connections, IQ, etc., also provide public school online. I recommend contacting them, ordering a catalog and asking. In states that permit 'distance learning' the schools are paid for by taxpayers and the child is considered a public school student, just at home. As a public school, they have to meet all applicable state laws for public schools. In states that do not permit distance learning, you may still enroll, but you will have to pay tuition.

There are also online/virtual private and religious schools. They are considered private schools and are regulated as such. Most states have minimal regulation of private schools and even less of religious schools. It's a 'buyer beware' situation. Some are excellent private schools run by brick and mortar private schools and provide an excellent staff and instruction. Others are a UPS store address, some old textbooks, storage space in the back of someone's garage and a get-rich-quick-scheme. If you choose this type of virtual educator, please check with the attorney general's offices both in LA and in whatever state they are located.

And not having any pre-conceived notions of what homeschooling is, should be a great asset for you. You are now free to create a curriculum that not only meets your daughter's educational needs but her personal goals and interests, too.

If you are a military family, I also recommend this website:

http://www.militaryhomeschoolers.com/

best wishes.

Be sure to look up the homeschooling laws in your state...each state gets to decide their education laws, so what works for you in Ohio is gonna change once you move to Georgia or for your buddy in Michigan.

The next thing to realize is that there's a whole spectrum of what's called "homeschool." Some people sign up with an online version of public school; that’s really technically not “homeschool,” since you're counted as public school student and you have to have regular contact with teachers, submit work and tests, etc. The dirty little secret here is that the school district gets to keep the federal funds for you, as you’re a public school student this way. (Quite obviously, your school district will like this option best. Often when one queries the school as to the options available for “homeschool,” the school administrators will smile sweetly and mention just such an arrangement, conveniently omitting the rest of your options. This “lie by omission” quietly implies that this is the one and only way “homeschooling is done.” There’s a quite a debate in the homeschooling community about whether or not this constitutes an effort by the educational bureaucracy to redefine the meaning of homeschool, and what effect that would have on legislation and regulation of more traditional homeschool. But I digress.)

Other people may choose to buy materials from companies and enroll with online schools, but they're "independent" of the school districts, and they don't owe anyone a darned thing...their test scores (if any; few homeschoolers in the traditional sense are obligated to take state standardized tests) are their own business, as is the pace, order or depth at which they choose to go through the material.

Other people make up their own curriculum, based on their own personal criteria. Some states want you to keep a portfolio of material to prove you're doing something there at home, other states want you to submit your curriculum for the year for approval, others may require testing that could send you back to public or private school if you fall below a particular percentile...just in case. Again, depends on the state.

Still other people endorse what they call "unschooling," and they throw out all books and tests altogether and simply follow what interests them. (See the writings of John Holt, or Google "unschooling" for more on that theory of education.) A good book for anyone over 12 years old is “The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education,” by Grace Llewellyn. Here’s an excerpt:

"Did your guidance counselor ever tell you to consider quitting school? That you have other choices, quite beyond lifelong hamburger flipping or inner-city crack dealing? That legally you can find a way out of school, that once you're out you'll learn and grow better, faster, and more naturally than you ever did in school, that there are zillions of alternatives, that you can quit school and still go to A Good College and even have a Real Life in the Suburbs if you so desire? Just in case your counselor never told you these things, I'm going to. That's what this book is for."

Even if you don’t hold with what the author has to say, the point of view she has is dramatically different and can be a great springboard to help you get in touch with what you believe school and learning should be like. As with many things, there’s a wide spectrum of “unschoolers,” as well. Many of them have a certain set of concepts they want their kids to get and don’t care HOW they get the information, while others take a much more laid-back approach and allow the student to set the list of concepts themselves...or not set one at all. All of these people will still consider themselves “unschoolers.”

The first thing you need to do is go to this website www.hslda.org ( Homeschool Legal Defense Association). There you will find the info you need in order to homeschool in the state of Louisiana.

Now I am going to forwarn you. Take your time reading the laws and whatnot that they have because if you just glance at it, you are going to get confused and aggravated and maybe declare it ' not worth it'.

Just take you time. They also have an area for first time homeschoolers to help you get started and point you in the right direction.

Remember one thing, you do NOT have to spend a fortune on curriuculm. Check around on the web for things. Put the word FREE in front of searches ( you will go through a LOT of sites, but the stuff is there).

Invest in a magazine called The Old Schoolhouse which also has a web based version and every friday has a listing of FREE resources for homeschoolers. There is also a website called www.HomeschoolFreebieofTheDay.com that you can subscribe to at no cost and download something different every day Mon-Fri for free ( I've gotten tons of old Ebooks from them ).

There is also a site called HomeschoolBuyersCo-Op where you can get ideas, curriculum if you need it and so forth.

Also take advantage of support groups for homeschoolers be it on the web or meeting in real life ( there are lots of groups on yahoo ).

Good Luck, have a safe move and welcome to the world of Homeschooling.

I'm in 9th grade, homeschooled since 3ed. I know how this works.

Buy some books and teacher guides that are appropriate for your kids grade level. Get some lecture dvds. You're good. You just have to get new materials every time they need new ones. When they get older, try online classes like Georgia Virtual School, and activities like science day camps.

Hi there,

If you need to download Letters from Nowhere 2 you can get it here for free: http://j.mp/1pnRvYE

it's completely free and it's very fast to install

Classic arcade style games can be enjoyed by the whole family especially the kids.

i might accept as true with katr!na or something that is totally loopy in case you anticipate the girl to spend for you after which after shag! Dude i might like the girl to come again make the suggestion of a date yet guy you're way off the cut back! attempt to be slightly extra decent and that i'm useful you will get extra girlfriends than all and sundry else.

The easiest way to do this is to find a home schooled in the state of Louisiana. Just Google it. Find one you like, call them and ask about enrollment. I attend Insight, but they're only in certain states. A good website to go to is http://www.k12.com/ I'm pretty sure that's home schooling everywhere.

Hope I helped. :)

Yes please do it it will save you girls a lot of pain and suffering the school sytem is not to good anymore mine are homeschooled two are in college now.

look up HSLDA(Homeschool Legal Defense Agency) they will be able to answer all your questions