Our daughter is in kindergarden right now. She attends Montessori school. We consider keeping her in Elementary there and them moving to a local public school when she is 10 or 13 y.o. What should we expect?\n\n   1. What will be the social impact?\n   2. Will the education level be significanly different?\n   3. Will it be too much of a stress for the kid?\n   4. Is it better to move now or wait and move later?\n   5. Any other considerations?\n\nThank you, \nYan
121010
I have had several students from private and homeschool.\nThey have a very difficult time adjusting to a much larger group of students in class.Some have no social skills.One of my students was homeschooled all the way thru 6th grade and could not adjust at all.He did not like to share things and was always cutting in line for everything.I spoke to the class and they all made an effort to help him adjust.\nTry to get your child back into regular school ASAP
199025
I think this is WONDERFUL!!! You are homeschooling what age are they? I have Crystal 8 yr 2gr, Jeffy 6yr 1 gr, and Robin 5yr kgr.  I have taught my self and know how to read music and that's what I did is went to a few different stores started with my fav. home school store and they told me of their fav. music stores and found a few begg. song books 1 I got was How to teach Keyboard.  But if cost is the problem check out your library (really good if you live in a city!)  You can make copies and recheck out many times!  Or Check ebay they have lots of good cheap stuff!  and you don't have to use a credit card ( I thought this was the only way but learned many people will take money orders!)  Good luck and keep up the good work!  if you need another home school support mom to bounce around ideas always can email me tishniaeq069696@yahoo.com! Have fun!
481987
I am not sure the child's age you are thinking about.\nBut I recommend the New School in Fayetteville for preschool (ref. 1).\nYou can also try First School.\nGood luck.
444483
I think that you and your mother have made a wonderful decision and someday your nephew will thank you! Don't get discouraged too easily and ignore the remarks made by those who don't know what they are talking. The beauty of home education is that you work at his pace and that his teacher loves him and has more to gain than a paycheck. Don't spend 3 hours on something, put it down and come back to it later. He probably started to feel frustrated (and dumb) because he wasn't "getting it" and it was so simple for you. Be patient with him and give him lots of praise for a job well done (no matter how small it seems to you). Your praise and love are what he needs more than any schooling right now. Spend some time at first with some hands on educational stuff like going to the museum or walking in the woods. Make learning an adventure and relationship building time. Remember that since you are working one on one with him, you have plenty of time to make up for what some would call lost time. Good Luck and God Bless your homeschool! P~
581905
I love it. I get to help advance my child's education to his full potential. We don't have to follow the "appropriate" guideline for what grade level to follow. He will be entering the 7th grade (homeschooling) this fall, and he will be using mostly 7th grade curriculum. Though in some subjects, specifically literature and health, he will be at a 9th grade level. It's a nice change. He can go at his own pace, ask for help when he needs it. Eat when he is hungry, drink when he is thirsty, and use the bathroom without permission. \n\nI wouldn't trade homeschooling him for anything...and neither would he.
566112
Rules are different everywhere so you really need to ask those questions of someone in your area.  Possibly visit a preschool and ask the teachers there.  They should be able to point you in the right direction.
607738
education in its ideal form would be tailored to each indivdual so that each students needs are being met.  It sounds like your child has special needs in that he/she is so far advanced that he/she may get bored by staying home.  My son is pretty close to the same criteria as your son and I know I am sending him to kindergarten because of his social interation, cognitive and problem solving skills.  Some kids mature physically faster than others as I sure you know, but I think they can do so mentally as well.  Send your child to school, he/she will benefit from the interaction with others and reinforcing what you have already taught him/her.
395678
I've had issues with a preschool my kids went to for a few months about a year ago.  \n\nThe school was basically two large rooms, separated by age using partitions, instead of actual walls and doors.  What made this LOTS of fun is that my oldest (who was 3 1/2 at the time) and my youngest (who had just turned two) were in different classes, but could often see each other running around their individual classes.  Every time Colin (the little one) saw Cameron (the older one) in passing, he'd start up crying again.  Apparently, he was in a perpetual state of separation anxiety.\n\nThis same school, in Colin's class, did virtually nothing "learning".  They would play, nap, etc., but there was no circle time, no active learning experiences.  Basically, his "class" was just supervised play, or babysitting.  \n\nCameron's class, however, I think was TOO advanced.  At 3 1/2 years old, his class had journals.  They would have reading time (which I normally would have no problem with, but no one seemed to notice that he was just glancing through one book after another, instead of someone working with him).\n\nThe final thing, though, was when Cameron's teacher called Child Protective Services because he had a scrape on his face.  She had not been there in the morning, when we told his morning teacher we had taken him to a park and he fell down, so she called in this "unexplained injury".  The total communication breakdown this evidenced kind of sealed our decision to change schools.  After the change, both of the kids just started learning A LOT, and we noticed major changes in them.\n\nI think there are some major things to look for to decide if your child is in a "good" school.\n\n1. Does the school encourage you to visit, call or ask questions?  My kids' current school has one woman working in the office, and she knows us all by name.  We were encouraged to visit before enrolling the kids, and we can visit or come up there at any time.  They were also very understanding when I called every morning about an hour after drop off for about a month, just to make sure the kids were okay.\n\n2.  Are the classrooms spacious?  Are there potties closeby (for potty-training kids, having bathrooms for 1-2 classes is GREAT)?  Does each child have his or her own storage space (cubbies or lockers)?  Is there natural light (I like that there are big picture windows in my kids' classrooms)?  Is there a playground with safe, fun equipment?  Is there a covered area outside for play on lightly rainy days (this isn't always there, but there's a big back porch where the kids play, and is covered with chalk drawings, on rainy, but not storming, days).\n\n3.  Are the children there clean, and do they seem to be comfortable and happy?  Do the teachers interact with them on a child-friendly level?\n\n4.  After you enroll your child, does he seem happy in the evenings?  If asked, will he tell you things he learned, and what he did that day?  Does he seem to like his teachers?  After a while, does drop off get easier?\n\nIt's important to remember that, even for a child who LOVES his school, his teachers, his friends, drop-off is NOT a foolproof way to find out if he is happy.  My 3-year-old plays happily throughout the day, and he's just crazy about Miss Paula, but when I drop him off, he cries and cries.  I've asked occasionally, and been told that I'm probably not even out of the parking lot before he's happily playing with his friends, listening to a story, or telling Miss Paula about what he did the night before.  This is VERY normal for young kids, and for slightly older kids who are naturally shy, VERY attached, or who are going through some major changes (for example, if your child is being put in daycare/preschool because the parents split up, he moves out of the house with Momma, and Momma, who has always been home with him, has to go to work, all parts of
537578
Ask about the student to teacher ratio, the types of classes they teach. For example, will your son spend 2 hours a day on reading, 2 hours on writing/spelling and just 15 minutes in art, library or a p.e class? Make sure they have a well balanced curriculum. Also, I'd find out the schools policy on parents volunteering in the classroom. Some schools make it easy for parents where some schools make it difficult. I'd also check out their test scores, but just out of curiosity. I wouldn't base my entire decision on standardized test scores as they are pretty biased. Another good thing to do is to talk to current parents to get a good feel of the school atmosphere and the attitude of the staff and administrators.
420606
While I am not a teacher at present I will tell you the experience of our sons.  In a transfer that took our family from the States to France our sons struggled with the strict atmosphere and lack of help for the students in the international school we put them in (hoping it would be better suited to them. . . . .wrong).  Time was not given to do any work at school, that was to be done at home and turned in promptly,  they had no problem holding students back a year until the school believed they could pass the exams that were given every couple of years which tested on ALL aspects of learning within those years (the Bacculaureate covered all years in school and if you did not score high enough on just one portion (math, language,etc.) you were made to repeat the entire year again.\n\nAfter 1 1/2 years of this and the school wanting to put our sons back 2 years because they didn't think their French was good enough to pass the tests, we found an American school in Switzerland and they finished their high school there.  \n\nHomework is the key.  In the States it was never cool to be at home doing your homework.  However, in Europe you will not survive school without doing homework.  At their school in Switzerland there was mandatory study hall 3 hours EVERY night.  In France the teenagers had little time to do anything because they were always at home or the library doing their homework.  \n\nThe students were prepared the minute they entered the classroom to learn.  They were respectful to the teachers as well as to each other and quiet when the teacher was talking.  This provided a reason for the teachers to be respectful of them as well and willing to listen to their ideas and suggestions.\n\nThey also had field trips to learn about the country they were living in and to show their gratitude to the city where they went to school, they did continutal service projects for the city in many ways, i.e. beautification of town square, mentoring younger towns children, helping on the ski slopes when needed.  Because of this the town loved them, trusted them and at graduation would hang out windows and doorways to wave and shout congratulations to them.\n\nI can't think of a better way to learn.  Not just from books, but to learn first hand about a culture.  Oh, and by the way - out of the 250 students, there were 47 countries represented.  The school was very dilegent in making sure everyone had several countries represented in their dorms which held 4 students.  This gave them one on one contact in both learning and dealing with other cultures and customs.  Not all of them were stellar roommates, but the students did learn tolerance.  How great is that.
584596
I actually work at a Kumon center and participated it in myself and i think its worth it. It shouldn't take too long for your daughter to progress to the appropriate level if she is advanced. It's important to start at a level that is lower because often times the child doesn't have the strongest foundation possible and reviewing the "easy" stuff is helpful. Since Kumon is done at each child's own pace, it can be useful for kids who are behind, ahead, or somewhere in the middle. \nhope this helps!
648638
I was homeschooled from 2nd to 9th grade and went to a Catholic high school in 10th grade til graduation. We tried to get me in for 9th grade but there wasn't room, so they guaranteed me a space the next year.  There were two of us who were homeschooled and entered at the same time/year and both of us did very well academically and socially.  There were no issues related to homeschooling at all. The real issues are about parents and their perspectives about education and relationships, and that affects kids no matter where they go to school.\n\nI did go to the first semester of 8th grade in a public school, and it was so irrelevant and frustrating (because home schoolers are with adults so much that they don't get into a lot of typical middle school stuff) that I asked my parents if I could come home again.  I recommend a higher-performing school or a more nurturing community school if you decide to put your kids in junior high. Everything people are saying here about the crud of middle school was my experience and I didn't need it.  \n\nHowever, the one thing I realized after I entered the corporate workforce in my late 20's, was that I hadn't learned what I call "playground politics" in school (they weren't kidding when they said that "all I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten"), and so I had to be a quick study of how petty politics of personality work (Ironic, huh? I didn't need this in high school but I did need it in the San Francisco workforce!). I'll never be an expert at playing the game but I think it's also because I'm a more straightforward and optimistic personality and had not really experienced the brunt of passive-aggressive tactics before.  \n\nAlso I think it's very important to know the social players in your environment and your kid's environment, and talk about it with them. Make them aware of what's going on around them and teach them to network and have lots of different kinds of friendships, from the loose aquaintances to the tight-knit. My parents didn't teach me that and I graduated from a high school full of the kids of Silicon Valley millionaires with no clue of what was going on around me.  Also have them do a skills/career options inventory early on so they know what they might be good at or interested in doing with college/career and can be thinking about it before they have to make choices in college.  That doesn't have much to do with homeschooling but sometimes more relaxed families don't think about it. \n\nBottom line: homeschooling spared me a lot of grief, allowed my personality to fully develop, and allowed me to read more than my peers, so I have better reading breadth and comprehension, and my mom taught me phonics and grammar so I can spell and write better than a lot of the teachers I had! I had time to enjoy competitive horseback riding and I had to give that up when I went to school. Homeschooling is great when you have friends to do it with and plenty of interaction with the community.  High school is great for getting ready to go to college and it's at the developmental stage where a child is discovering and defining their individuality. It's a good time to go.
219474
I just went through a similar move a year ago... We have 3 children  all elementary school aged. Try to scope out some of the local parks and hang outs before you go and tell them how cool they sound, try to take them there within the first week of the move. I don't know if you know anyone in that area or not, but we did so, I had her give out invitations to a welcome new friends party....talk to your kids and listen to them... our "big" adjustment period was over within a month. Good Luck.
334938
OK, I am hesitant to enter this frey, however; since I contacted you and now have a better handle on the situation, I figure in for a penny, in for a pound.\n   Your brother-in-law and sister are already paying out the big bucks for parochial school as it is. It seems that you have a good relationship with the girl and though you have a better than average education yourself, you are still between jobs. Why don't you talk to the girls parents and see if they would be willing to pay you to home school the girl through 5th snd 6th grades?\n   Since you tell me that she is doing well in her studies all you have to do is keep her love of learning alive and encourage that. If you can do that and reenforce the work ethic in her for the next two years you will have given her something no school I am aware of public or private will give her.\n   I hear so much about building a child's self image and I see nothing wrong with that as long it is done properly.\n   Removing competition and telling kids that they are not failures simply because they did not attempt to meet a challange I concider this not a mistake but an out and out lie.\n   Let the girl acomplish things that she is justifyably proud of and if she does well let her know she succeeded \nbecause of her own efforts.\n   The drawing is not something I would be overly concerned about. As you said the books were her's, her parents had paid for them so she was not defacing school property, the clothes are old clothes that are basically play clothes so what is the problem? The girl has an artistic leaning and it is probably not addressed at her school.\n   When the girl is ready for the 7th grade there may be a place where she can be accepted and if she qualifies could go until graduation on a full scholarship if her artistic talents show enough potential and her parents are willing to comit her to an artistic apprenticeship. If then aplicant is accepted everything will be paid for from her transportation to the school, her uniforms, tuition, books, materials, room and board, plus full coverage dental, medical and vision care insurance. That plus four yearly trips home. If the student completes the program she will likely be offered a position with the sponsor's studio but even if she is not the successful completion of the program releaves, the family of any financial obligation. Failure to complete for reasons other than catastrophic illness, injury or death of the trainee, will result in the family of said trainee being obligated to re emburse all money expended on the trainee's behalf including the fare home. The former facility was beyond repair andthey are currently in the process of locating a new site the hope to be ready to start accepting students by 2009. They will be accepting only 24 applicants per year. If interested contact me and I will put you in touch with somebody who can provide more detail.
482877
I am homeschooling my kindergartner...although I feel that we have  been since birth.  My dd also was talking well under a year.  I got a kit for baby sign language and started that with her at 7 months she started signing 2 weeks later. She was speaking clear sentences at about 12 months. It finally dawned on me to video her saying her alphabet @ 18 months (she started much earlier).  I have the baby Einstein videos, books various flash cards, etc.  When she was under 2 I started getting her preschool workbooks that she loved.  Basically I always got her educational materials that were advanced for her and let her play with them.  Some things were to difficult to grasp right away but I was always amazed that there was so much that she knew or learned very quickly.  We make everything a game and when she's done playing that game we/she does something else.  We also never talked baby talk. We never dumbed it down for her either...just like a foreign language they will pick it up and understand if spoken to them.  I have recently discovered the Waldorf method and although I am not sure about some of it other parts are speaking to me.  Playing is very important to a child's  development.  Here is some things you could check into...  There are several homeschooling chat groups that would be of benefit to you.  I understand that she is young but you would be able to reap the benefits from those that have lots of experience homeschooling.  There are also gifted homeschooling yahoo groups that can help with advanced children and the difficulties that can arise.  You can also find a local homeschool group and join up with them.  (even though your daughter is young  many people have babies as well as school aged children)
505845
Check out Montessori Education for this. The answer is: it depends. Every child is different. Thats why montessori educations focuses on so-called sensible phases in the life-cylcle of a child.
588194
~~Technically if you home school your children you could bounce between the two places any time you wanted to, however it is very hard on children to be uprooted often like that.  Staying in one place will give your children more of a secure feeling.  The other thing you need to consider when living in two places, can you afford upkeep on two places?  Good luck to you and your family making this decission.~~