High School Homeschool Help!

[Oregonicmama]

Hi there,

Ok where to begin. My sister in law lives in this awful little podunk town in Indiana, and the entire school system HATES her and her kids because she actually stands up for them and doesn't let them be abused or neglected. Needless to say, she pulled both her kids (a 12yr old boy and a 14yr old girl) out of school this year. The boy is already involved in an online curriculm and is doing great! He completeled all of 7th grade in 6 monthes and is starting on eighth now.

But the girl hasn't started yet. The mother think they can just go to the local Borders and buy some text books and all will be taken care of. I don't know what degree of research they have put into it, but from the sound of it i think very little. Do they even sell text books at borders?

Her daughter in law and i have been on the internet trying to come up with something. Books that are good, lesson plans, anything.

This family is very low income, so a lot of the programs we have found they can't even afford.

I need some advice for her. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't know if she realizes what she's getting into. Are there any good affordable online high schools or correspondence courses?


I am interested in homeschooling so i offered to try to help find some books or a program or something, but my interest is in younger kids (mine is 2!) so i am kind of at a loss. there's so much out there.

I know whatever it is we find can not be a Christian program. And she will deffinitely need a strong math program or book.

Any advice is helpful... maybe one of you homeschools you high schooler off the shelves of Borders too...

I just want to help this girl so she doesn't end up wasting her time and energy, or worse having to go back to the dreaded public school! Most of the people around here are not interested in helping her learn , so i want to find her something she can do pretty much on her own with minimal parental involvment.

Sorry that was so long and disorganized!


Thanks, Deirdre
:

[SagMom]

Here are two sites with lots of homeschooling info that you might find of help.

http://www.homeschoolzone.com/start.htm

http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/

It's certainly possible to hs without a prepackaged curriculum --in fact, many people don't use a program at all.

I don't know if Borders sells textbooks, but again, they're not necessary--many people find that textbooks are inferior to other books/ways of learning.

If your sil wants to design an individual curriculum, then Rebecca Rupp's book, "Home Learning Year by Year" may be helpful. Two others I'd recommend for hsing with older kids are, "Guerrilla Learning--How to Give Your Kids a Real Education with or without School," and "The Teenage Liberation Handbook." both by Grace Llewellyn.

[hydrangea]

She doesn't need textbooks. Many homeschoolers learn from life, whether that be total unschooling (no curriculum or teaching at all), or eclectically picking books out of libraries and bookstores -- either way, field trips, cooking, gardening, sports, hobbies, etc. etc., all provide learning in their own ways. Some homeschoolers design their own curriculums using books. Even some bought curriculums, such as The Well-Trained Mind, make use of real books, not text books.

I would personally pick up the book The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn, read it, and then send it on to your SIL.

Oh, I just wanted to add that that book and many other books on homeschooling or that parents have used for homeschooling can be found at http://www.fun-books.com/.

[phathui5]

I wanted to recommend that your SIL have the 14 year old read the Teenage Liberation Handbook herself. I read it in middle school and ended up mostly handling my high schooling education myself. Between the library and older friends, I got a better education than my public school friends. I ended up starting in community college when I was 17.

I don't think there's much you need to homeschool a high schooler aside from a library card. There are also a lot of non-textbook math books that you can find for a high schooler. I'm pretty sure Borders can order textbooks if they want one that isn't in the store.

Added: This page has a lot of information and links about homeschooling during high school: http://www.nhen.org/nhen/pov/teens/default.asp?id=2

[cottonwood]

I am reading The Teenage Liberation Handbook (after years of hearing it recommended) and it is wonderful.

I agree that using textbooks is an extremely inferior approach to learning *anything*. I myself love math, and have found the library a much better resource for learning about it. I honestly have learned more or worth just piddling around the library than I have in 13 years of textbook math.