AK homeschoolers-Allotment! - Page 2

[spruce]

A quick note...allotments cannot be used for furniture of any type. Bookcases, desks, chairs, lamps, nothing. Sorry.

love, penelope

[~Megan~]

Allotment? And the oil money?

I'm so jealous!

[spruce]

Now I'm curious. Those of you with other CSchools (I"m with Raven), are you allowed to purchase furniture? I thought the no-furniture rule was statewide, but I'd be very thrilled if it's not. My 15yo (whom we are disenrolling from PS today) wants to join IDEA instead of Raven. If they allow desks, etc., it would be a huge help to us.

love, p

[salmontree]

Here's a list of what IDEA will and will not cover-

What could be covered by IDEA funds?

Your IDEA allotment pays for most things that are educational and complements your student’s educational goals as set forth in the ILP. All expenditures must accurately reflect your child’s ILP, which is reviewed as part of the ordering and reimbursement process.

• Curricular materials may include textbooks, workbooks, educational games, online courses, CD-ROMs, art materials, science kits, school supplies, etc.

• • Educational toys and games will be evaluated for consistency with your educational plan and curriculum and student's age.
  • Software must be Windows–compatible.
  • Used curricular materials may be purchased from our offices at a reduced price (as available). These can come directly from allotment. It is possible for you to be reimbursed for purchases of used materials from other locations, but you must have an itemized receipt, showing amounts for each individual title or item purchased.

• Possible activities may include P.E. (ballet, gymnastics, swimming instruction, etc.), music instruction, community schools activities, field trips, small-group foreign language instruction, art instruction, field trips, etc. Your children’s activities must be included in their ILPs and purchases made must relate to instructional areas on the ILP.

• • Regulations require that any annual passes or memberships must be prorated to include only instructional time for students who are receiving lessons that are included in their ILP.
  • We may reimburse for entrance fees (such as for field trips) only for students and only if instruction tied to the ILP is taking place. An example is entrance to a history or science museum.

What would not be covered by IDEA funds?

Although you may select curricular materials from any vendor of your choosing, there are some things for which IDEA cannot provide funding.

• Regulations prohibit us from paying for the following:

• • family travel expenses, including transportation, food, and lodging,
  • textbooks or other materials that advocate religious, partisan, sectarian, or denominational doctrines
  • services provided by a family member,
  • sports related items (including sports equipment or awards),
  • clothing (such as costumes or uniforms),
  • animals or animal supplies,
  • fixed assets (furniture or fixed assets that adhere or enhance the value of a non-IDEA facility),
  • sales tax,
  • any tests that are not required by the district,
  • parking fees,
  • entertainment,
  • or any items that are considered excessive by the school administration.

• We do not typically pay for:

• • special equipment that will carry a liability with operation,
  • equipment that duplicates what IDEA provides (computers or printers)
  • backpacks,
  • Sergers,
  • greenhouses,
  • dolls,
  • food items or cookwear,
  • household items,
  • any items purchased from your own business,
  • or parts or repair for items that are owned by the family even if usage of the item is included in the ILP, such as in a vocational class (e.g., piano tuning, small engine or vehicle parts, etc.).

What limits are there on allotment expenditures?

There are a few limits on some possible atypical items:

• Camera (digital, film, or camcorder) – student should be in 5th grade or above, limit of $300
• Sewing machine – student should be in 5th grade or above, limit of $300
• VCR or DVD player – limit of $150
• TV/VCR – limit of $250
• Gardening or sewing supplies – limit of $200 for family
• Musical instruments – must be age-appropriate and supported by continuing instruction. Any musical instruments with a cost of $500 or more must be rent-to-own.
• Scrap-booking materials – $100 per child per year

[salmontree]

so it does appear that furniture is not allowed due to state regulations...

[salmontree]

Originally Posted by ~Megan~

Allotment? And the oil money?

I'm so jealous!

Yeah the money is nice and being homeschoolers, it is a big part of what keeps us from moving away (well plus all our family being here) but I must say that I am sooooo jealous of your Oregon climate and winter daylight hours.

[spruce]

Just finished the online enrollment for W. with IDEA. Now I have 3 enrolled w/ Raven, and one w/ IDEA.

Interesting to note that TV/VCR is on the approved list (with a limit) because we do art on DVD (and W's math will also partially be DVD) and we have to replace our TV anyway...



love, p

[salmontree]

Cool! I also just read about this thing called Skills Alaska. It's an online tutorial and assessment tool to get students ready for the standardized testing. I think it identifies gaps in their knowledge and provides tutorials to help fill the gaps. Apparently IDEA is the only homeschool program to offer it. I haven't looked into it much cause my son isn't taking those tests yet but it sounds helpful.

[spruce]

Okay, peoples. Allotments have been out for long enough for most of us to make a dent in them.

How have you spent them?

How are you planning to spend them?

US: Karate and swimming fees.

Curriculum, and too many trips to Gulliver's, B&N, and Enchanted Forest Toys.

Lots of new art and science kits and materials. Waldorfy notebooks, crayons, and many mama-oriented waldorf manuals. I'm really loving the laid back, story-oriented approach. Plus, their square crayons just rock.


Lots of language materials. One doing Latin, one doing German, one Spanish. Oy, vey!

Putting some aside for swim lessons for the 7yo.

So come on, what have you spent your allotments on?

love, penelope

[tallanvor]

Well, so far we've got money into tumbling and tap. We have put in a purchase order at Just Imagine Toys for a kazillion things (well, maybe not quite that many) and I have paperwork I need to get in to get reimbursed for math and handwriting and the books and CDs that were listed as required for Autumn's work. Oh, and we got a laptop and we will be getting a printer. I just need to remember to go get it.

[spruce]

W is getting her own laptop and a printer/fax/scanner combo from IDEA. The $ doesn't come out of our allotment, but it's not much and it's a SUPER nice computer.

Not sure how I feel about her having a computer of her own, and I've let her know it's still under my jurisdiction (and she can't get online with it unless I provide the cable to do so). OTOH, she's stoked so it's something to make homeschooling less of a negative for her.

She wanted to order all her curriculum new, and spent a TON on it. Yipers.

love, penelope

[salmontree]

Well we've spent about 45% of it already. The biggest chunk went to the 2nd grade Enki curriculum. It's massive and quite expensive but it's a TON of information for the $ so I think it's worth it. We also spend a tidy sum on supplies like markers, crayons, paper, etc. I think we're going to sign up for Tang Soo do and indoor soccer as well. It's tricky though because we only have one vehicle and if we want to go anywhere while DH is at work we either need to be up early to drive him or take the bus over to pick up the truck.

I need to figure out what the schedule is for T.S.Do and whenever I stop by they are always closed.. and they have no website that I can find.. I guess I should just call. I stink at calling around places. I have some weird aversion to it.. gotta get over that I guess.

[spruce]

Stephanie, are you thinking of entering your DS, or your DS and DD?

Your son is 7, correct? So he's eligible to start as a white belt, and I believe those classes are 4:30 to 5:30 T, Th. Kids are welcome to come to most friday classes, as well, and Super Saturday is a fun day of karate and games from 1-2:30 most Saturdays.

I am not sure if there is a M, W White Belt class.

Your daughter is just barely 3, and he might not accept her as a Tiny Tiger. They are typically almost or already 4, but it really depends on the kid. (They do have to be potty trained ). Mr. and Mrs. Gephardt teach the little kids, and they're wonderful. They also help with a lot of the other classes.

love, p

[salmontree]

Awesome! Thanks for the info Penelope!

Yeah I was only thinking of entering DS. DD, while potty trained, probably isn't ready to pay attention for an hour.

Do they typically want kids to show up two days a week or can you do just one? I'm worried about getting overwhelmed by too much too fast. One day a week sounds good to start and then go for more if we feel up to it later.

[spruce]

If he only goes one day a week, you might want to get him to Super Saturdays as well...it's a really laid-back, structured but super-fun hour-and-a-half. Master Wick and the other instructors do a wonderful job of paying attention to each kid's needs, and helping them do well.

I'd try two days a week first, because really it's not like boot camp, it's a very fun class for the new white belts.

They only take new students once a year, so get in there! This is the only time to join as a new person. The new family orientation was two weeks ago, so you missed that. But if you h ave any questions, you can always ask any other parent of kids who have been there a while.

We're there T,Th 5:30-7:30, so maybe we'll meet!

love, penelope

[AKchick]

I have spent all of the first semester allotment and it creeped over into the second allotment, but they didn't tell me to stop so I didn't realize I had gone that far.

Pretty much all of our money was spent on curriculum. I'm amazed that it ended up being that expensive, but I pieced things together this year and think I may have gone a little with dd joining the crowd. I got bits and pieces of Sonlight for each of my kids and as much as we have enjoyed using them, their stuff seems kind of spendy. I think that's where most of our money went. It's okay though because the kids have been much more excited this year about what we got than they were last year. If they enjoy it more, than I am all for spending a little more.

[tallanvor]

Originally Posted by AKchick

I have spent all of the first semester allotment and it creeped over into the second allotment, but they didn't tell me to stop so I didn't realize I had gone that far.

Pretty much all of our money was spent on curriculum. I'm amazed that it ended up being that expensive, but I pieced things together this year and think I may have gone a little with dd joining the crowd. I got bits and pieces of Sonlight for each of my kids and as much as we have enjoyed using them, their stuff seems kind of spendy. I think that's where most of our money went. It's okay though because the kids have been much more excited this year about what we got than they were last year. If they enjoy it more, than I am all for spending a little more.

When we do things from Sonlight, such as the readers, I write down the titles and get them used through another site so it doesn't take as much money.

[AKchick]

Originally Posted by tallanvor

When we do things from Sonlight, such as the readers, I write down the titles and get them used through another site so it doesn't take as much money.

I did that for a lot of the titles, but ran out of time to do it for all three kids. I also thought about getting some of the books from the library, but we have such a small one here that the book you need can be out for what seems ever. In the future though if we leave AK, I will be much more careful about spending money on school. I am a bit more extravagant living here than if we lived elsewhere because of the money we get. We can indulge more of our schooling desires than we might do otherwise.

I should add though that now that I have gotten things from Sonlight once, I have a better idea how much time is involved to look for things for each of the kids and would start searching for used books earlier than I did this year. This was our first year using them and I didn't give myself enough time to prepare, research and plan.

[salmontree]

penelope,

I forgot to say thank you for the information about karate. I ended up not signing up this year because we only have one vehicle and 4:30-5:30 on those days of the week just isn't doable with DH's work schedule. I didn't realize that they only take new students once a year.. bummer. We're looking around for cheap second car but haven't had any luck yet. I'd be totally down with taking public transportation but the buses don't go that far west. :

I guess I'll have to figure this car thing out and shoot for next fall. *sigh*

[L&K'smommie]

Can you ladies tell me at what age you can start receiving allotments for HSing? I'm pretty sure I will be HSing my kids...DD will be 4 in Dec but I don't think I can get anything until she is 5, is that correct? Thanks.