School Starts Monday!

[Elf Mommy]

Things are crazy crazy crazy! My classroom looks neat, but it sure doesn't look ready yet! I have lesson planning to do this weekend and so many nifty things to make to make my classroom look more homey.

Any other teachers out there gearing up for the new school year?

Any students out there about to go back?

WHEW! What a week!

 

[pamnock]

I'll be wearing both hats this fall. I'm homeschooling Matthew, 9, so I'll be teaching as well as going to school myself. (anatomy/physiology 3x a week and an online English class).



Pam

 

[SOOOSKA]

Minda what grade do you teach?

Susan

 

[Haley]

I start my student teaching September 2nd! Im so nervous. Im doing 7th grade SS though so it should be fun

 

[SOOOSKA]

Is that for the whole school year Haley?

Susan

 

[Haley]

Nope, just 14 weeks. Then I have to start looking for a job though

 

[LadyBug]

i started high school this monday. we home school like Pam does, so we started a week early. normaly we don't get the summer off, too hat, but winter break lasts forever:biggrin2:. and i got this week and next weeks worth of english lit done this week, so next week i because i didn't feel good today. so next week i'll be knocking the socks off biology and health. i like bio, but health is:grumpy:. and i just love reading the text book deffianition of diabetes...........real cheery:X. any way, on to happier things! most of my friends are going back to school monday. lucky them. lucky me, for that matter

 

[SOOOSKA]

I'm very curious about this home schooling. Do your parents have teachers degrees? Do you have to follow a certain curriculum (sp?). Are you tested by your State to make sure you are getting the correct education? I don't know anyone who has been home schooled or who home schools their own kids.

Thanks

Susan

 

[TinysMom]

SOOOSKA wrote:

I'm very curious about this home schooling. Do your parents have teachers degrees? Do you have to follow a certain curriculum (sp?). Are you tested by your State to make sure you are getting the correct education? I don't know anyone who has been home schooled or who home schools their own kids.

Thanks

Susan

Susan,

Homeschooling laws vary state to state here in the US (or they used to when we homeschooled). We homeschooled our kids all 13 years (K-12) and it worked well for our family. The kids also had church, etc. that they were involved in (for the whole "socialization" issue- but tell me - do you hang out now only with people your age? I bet not...neither did our kids).

During our last few years of homeschooling, we were under an umbrella school in Alaska - it was a new program they were starting (we lived in Anchorage). When we moved to Maryland for the military- the kids were allowed to stay in the program. So for high school, we met certain basic criteria for classes - and we used approved materials for teaching (along with lots of other things too). Every year I would put together my list of materials and submit it for approval first and then purchase.

Many colleges now not only accept home schooled students but also go out of their way to recruit homeschooled students for full-ride scholarships.

I'm not one of those folks who is going to get on a soapbox and say, "Homeschooling is for everyone" or "Schools are evil".

Homeschooling works well for some folks - not so great for others. For us...it worked.

Now that the kids are 24, we're still close to them and I attribute a lot of that to the years we spent together with homeschooling.

Any regrets? A few. But if I were to get pregnant again and have more children - we would homeschool them too. Its just something that works well for our family.

I want to wish all those who are teaching school, going back to school - or homeschooling this year - a WONDERFUL year - full of lots of education...and FUN!

 

[Brandy456]

I start Sept. 2nd. It's a week earlier then last year so i'm probably getting off a week erlier next year :biggrin2:.

 

[LadyBug]

SOOOSKA wrote:

I'm very curious about this home schooling. Do your parents have teachers degrees? Do you have to follow a certain curriculum (sp?). Are you tested by your State to make sure you are getting the correct education? I don't know anyone who has been home schooled or who home schools their own kids.

Thanks

Susan

Peg pretty much covered it. some times it stinks to be around my sister so much, if we're having a off day there's no relief. but we're really close, and for the most part it works well. some times i wonder about going out to school, but with my diabetes, going out to school would be hard. lots of kids do it, but it ain't easy:?

 

[Evey]

I'll be teaching and attending classes starting on the 25th! I'm excited

-Kathy

 

[JadeIcing]

I have a friend who home schooled her daughter. She and other parents in the area would get together and take the children on Field trips. They even rented a club so the kids could have homecoming, proms, etc.

 

[BSAR]

I start school on Aug. 27th. I wish we didn't start until after Labor Day. Either that or I wish I was homeschooled. Well my sister actually wants to do school on the internet so that would be fine too, anything where I don't have to get up early in the morning and go do boring stuff all day. haha.

 

[Elf Mommy]

Minda what grade do you teach?

Susan

This will be my second year in a row teaching third grade. I taught a 3rd/4th grade class about 10 years ago. I'm looking forward to a good year!

Peg pretty much covered it. some times it stinks to be around my sister so much, if we're having a off day there's no relief. but we're really close, and for the most part it works well. some times i wonder about going out to school, but with my diabetes, going out to school would be hard. lots of kids do it, but it ain't easy:?

I'll have a diabetic student in my class this year for the first time. Luckily, I confiscated a large refrigerator from the hall this year from another teacher (she didn't want it anymore and OHMYGOSH she didn't clean it at the end of last year. My daughter had to clean MOLD from inside the drawers...ew!), so I can store orange juice or snacks or anything else he needs. I think I'll get an education about diabetes this year. Any tips you can give me are welcome!

Minda

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I too start school August 27th. I was going to do an online homeschooling program this year (free, based in Washington state) but decided against it. I'd love to do the whole homeschooling thing, but I only have two years left of school, and I'd like to be able to do the out of school classes in preparation for my career; if i did homeschooling, I wouldn't be able to do that.

Basically, our school also has this program that's like a free college thing for highschool students. You go for 3 hours and do any program they offer that interests you and you get credits. I would like to do the EMT/Paramedic course as well as the Veterinarian course. So, if I were homeschooled, I wouldn't be able to do that, because it's only offered through the school. You do it during school too, like in the morning/afternoon (It's like those are your morning/afternoon classes).

Anyway, I'm not looking forward to going back....well somewhat I am, but somewhat I'm not.

Emily

 

[gwhoosh]

I don't start until next monday, the 25th My brother was SUPPOSED to start high school tomorrow, but Fay made them cancel!! I don't even think it will really hit us, and if it does it'll be very weak. *shrug* But the decision's been made.

 

[pamnock]

SOOOSKA wrote:

I'm very curious about this home schooling. Do your parents have teachers degrees? Do you have to follow a certain curriculum (sp?). Are you tested by your State to make sure you are getting the correct education? I don't know anyone who has been home schooled or who home schools their own kids.

Thanks

Susan

Pennsylvania is one of the states with the most strict homeschool requirements.
Parents are not required to have a degree, but must have a high school diploma of GED. However, students must be evaluated at the end of the year by a certified teacher. Assessment tests are required by law in grades 3, 5 and 8.

A notarized affidavit must be turned in to the school district with a list of text books being used. When the year is over, an hours log and portfolio of school workmust be presented to the school superintendent for evaluation.

I use the Abeka Curriculum, which isvery comprehensive. I expand quite a bit on the science and history studies. I do everything the kids would do at school, plus more : ) In our district, students can participate in extracurricular activities including sportsand can also take college classes. I chose to graduate my son Ryan a year early and enroll him into college. My daughter, Stephanie, homeschooled and is in her 2nd year of college. I also homeschool Matthew, who is entering 4th grade.

I enjoy the flexibility of homeschooling and the time that I get to spend with my kids. It is a lot of work and takes excellent organizational skills, but it's a wonderful opportunity for many families.

Pam

 

[myLoki]

I'm a fourth grade teacher and I just finished up my classroom last week. Work starts tomorrow, but the kids don't start till the 25th. I've been really sick this weekend so I hope I'll be over it by the time the kids come in.


t.

 

[missyscove]

I'm leaving for Ithaca wednesday night/thursday morning on a red eye. I move into my Cornell dorm on Friday then we have a week of orientation before classes start.

For the record, I went to Catholic, private schools for k-8 and loved every minute of it.