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 Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 5:52 pm
My family is moving to Pennsylvania in the next few months, but not in time to be able to start school in PA.
We hate it here in Utah. There are SO many kids (everyone has about 5) and the schools are completely full. They hire anyone off the street to be a teacher, we never do anything but sit around and socialize in class, and the place is overrun with Mormons, who aren't very kind to you if you aren't one of them (which we're not).
My little sister and I are considering homeschooling, and my parents don't mind, but I don't know anything about homeschooling!
I've been looking up resources on the internet, but there are some things I don't understand.
1. Curriculum: I've looked all around, and all that I see is people talking about different homeschooling styles and how to pick the best one. Don't you have to follow a curriculum? How does the state know you're learning the proper things?
I've heard of people "making up" their curriculum, which confuses me. All I want to know is what should I be learning that year? We'll probably be going back to public school in PA, so I would like to be caught up to them. This means that interest-based learning is not an option, and pre-set homeschooling curriculum won't work either.
Since I'm in Utah right now, would I need to follow Utah curriculum? Or is it possible for my sister and I to go ahead and start on Pennsylvania curriculum? IS there Pennsylvania curriculum for home schools?
2. School Credit: Public schools have credit points. You must pass 1.5 Fine Arts classes, 4 English classes, 3 Math Classes, ect. to graduate high school. How will I get that credit while homeschooling? I know that there is such thing as online high school, but I'm not sure how to do it or even if that's the way I want to learn.
3. When I sign up for school again, it should be a normal registration, right? There won't be complications because I was home schooled for the last few months?
I figure that homeschooling is a great opportunity for me to study on my own...but I'm not exactly sure what to do.
Thanks for any help you may offer!
(I'm not a member of this guild, but I'll probably request to join if I take up home schooling).
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:05 pm
what grades are you supposed to be in? I can sympathize with the situation, but note that Mormons outside of Utah tend to have crazy academic abilities. (at my highschool it was a mormon who went to harvard, at my friend's grad ceremony, a mormon turned down valedictorian because he felt he had skirted the foreign language requirement) on to useful stuff Curriculum is 90% decided by parents, 10% decided by the standards set by the government. http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article60601.htmlhttp://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/states/utah.phphttp://www.letshomeschool.com/curriculum links.htmhttp://www.uen.org/core/"The Utah State Law [Section 53-A-11-102 (b) (ii)] states that a home educator is to hold school for a certain number of days and hours, teach the subjects prescribed by law, and request an exemption from compulsory attendance from your local school district. There are no other statutory requirements." from what I read elsewhere this averages 180 days 5 hours a day, or to say, 900 hours. In university we often spend 12-15 weeks in a class with 1 hour per credit per week, plus twice that for homework, so a quarter system of 5 credits would be 5 hours a week for 10-12 weeks (50-60 hours), while a 3 credit 15 week semester is actually 45 hours. A standard quarter system is usually 15 credits (150-180 hours) and people participate in 3, sometimes four quarters (450-600 hours). A Semester is usually four classes for 180 hours, and typically two semesters are taken, sometimes with a summer (360-540 hours). What seems like less than 900 hours in college is actually more, because they expect you to do the actual learning outside the classroom lectures and labs (some college students only show up for exams). The Semester system for example requires about 10 hours a week of homework per class, or about 40 hours total. The Quarter system tends to teach a little more intensively and have greater exposure to the instructor, and uses more second-source text books, which means you need less hours of study/homework but spend more time in class. All together it works out to about 30 weeks at 40 hours = 1200 hours/year of homework, something a home school plan can avoid.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:40 pm
Thanks for replying!
I recently learned that the government has almost no control over a homeschooling education. How, then, do they count "credits"?
For instance, I took a full year of English last year, so I get 1 English credit for that. I took a half year of Web Development, so I get half of a credit for technology.
If I'm home schooled, then how is it possible to count my credits for graduation? Do they send home tests? Do I have to request tests at a certain time?
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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:19 pm
Rusty Conscience Thanks for replying! I recently learned that the government has almost no control over a homeschooling education. How, then, do they count "credits"? For instance, I took a full year of English last year, so I get 1 English credit for that. I took a half year of Web Development, so I get half of a credit for technology. If I'm home schooled, then how is it possible to count my credits for graduation? Do they send home tests? Do I have to request tests at a certain time? this is only speculation based on what I read about while trying to do a K-12 home school math compilation, but a lot of home school students attend high school either during their last two years or they go to a community college and transfer that way. Be aware that you cannot go to some schools (like Princeton) from a community college. What's really important is how you do on your SAT/ACT and whether your parents have signed the paper work and update it regularly. If I could advise someone studying years prior to college, I would suggest they master a foreign language, get through Calculus and Linear Algebra, learn calculus based physics and chemistry, and get a strong grasp on the molecular aspects of biology. These subjects tend to come up in a lot of majors (econ & political science both require solid calculus skills, and the stuff above is good for premed, biochem, bio, physics, astronomy, engineering, and math majors). Best advice is go to a book store and get one of those SAT guidebooks and try to get through the material before your 17th birthday.
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Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:48 pm
Thanks for replying again!
I'll be sure to work hard for my SAT, and I shouldn't be homeschooling for too long.
I've already done high school for two years, but it wasn't nearly enough time to finish with all of my credits...well, I'm not sure about the whole thing. There are always online classes, I suppose.
I'm starting to get my textbooks, now. biggrin I'm sure I'll enjoy homeschooling.
Thank you for your help!
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:19 pm
If you are only going to homeschool for a couple of months, I'm not sure how to get credits. Are you talking about for just the summer months or more? My kids have never been in a public school and I plan for them never to be there. The A.C.E. program is accrediated and makes a transcript for college entrance. So I would say look for a curriculm or program that is accrediated. and call and ask them these questions and most are very willing to help.
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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:42 pm
as for the Curriculum you dont really need one i think it is just the type of schoolbooks you use (omega, etc) i dont use one though i just buy books from wal-mart, sams, and the school store (or whatever its called) so yeah and im pretty sure that once you sign up for school again it should be the same...also in some places (alot) they have a once a week homeschool group it is like school except its only once a week and everyone homeschools (sometimes its in a church, um...park, etc) so im not sure if they do that in Pennsylvania though but they might
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