Homeschooling?

[Proud2BAMOMMY07]

Just wondering if anyone out there homeschools their kids, especially around Montgomery County, Maryland? My son will be 3 in April and he currently goes to a fantastic Christian preschool that he and I both absolutely LOVE!!! Unfortunately, the preschool only goes up to age 4 so when Kindergarten rolls around I need to look for another school.

I've already looked around my neighborhood and the local public school is out of the question. I am not impressed at all with any of their test scores and their suspension rate is ridiculous considering these are elementary school kids! What on earth are they doing to get suspended? I definitely don't want my son in that kind of environment. Then there's private school. I was considering sending him to Catholic school to follow in my footsteps but we've recently switched to a Presbyterian church and I don't agree enough with the Catholic religion anymore to make him have to learn their methodology. Most of the other Christian schools nearby are waaaay too expensive; I'm talking in the $10,000-$20,000 per year range!!! So my only other option, which I am seriously considering, is homeschool.

I don't exactly know when and where to start though. I want to keep him in his preschool until he finishes the 4-year old class because it is really a play-based preschool; they do not emphasize sitting at a desk and memorizing things. They are very art and music focused and incorporate reading, letter recognition, numbers, shapes, colors, and tracing into all of their teaching methods. Will it harm him at all to stay in a preschool until he's 4 and then begin homeschooling for Kindergarten? Where can I find the best curriculum for Kindergarteners? How can I find out what kind of curriculum to use? Who do I contact to inform the government (?) that my son will be homeschooled and not put into a traditional school? If anyone has any advice, or knows of any good websites I can visit, I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks!

[BlooBird]

Jan. 26, 2010 at 10:00 PM

I tried public school but it was horrible.  Bad kids, bad teachers.  And private school was way too expensive.  So we homeschool and love it.  Check out the homeschool legal defense association HLDA website and you can click on your state to find the laws that apply to you.  Good Luck!

[ejhsmhtmh1027]

Feb. 16, 2010 at 9:18 AM

oh i would LOVE to hear about any good info you find....if you find any good websites/book.....i am very curious about homeschooling too...i don't know much about it...my itty bitty is 2...so i don't feel like i have to make any decisions yet....but time sure does fly so i wanna start researching now...