Homeschooling for Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Heading to Homeschooling
	Chapter 1 Answering the Big Questions
		Getting to This Point
		Knowing Not to Know It All
		Affording It
		Hanging in There
			Signing up for the long haul
			Staying at home forever
		Breaking the News to Mom
		Addressing Socialization, the Hot Homeschooling Buzzword
			Social outlets
			Socialization
		Presenting the Issue of the Year
	Chapter 2 Taking the Leap
		Realizing That Anger Is Not Enough
			Ensuring educational excellence
			Meeting your child’s special needs
			Retaining religious convictions
			Accommodating family lifestyle
		Determining What’s Best for Your Family
		Creating Solutions for Special Situations
			Working around your job
			Dealing with special learners
		Beginning the Journey
			Choosing the perfect time of year
			Deciding at what age to begin
			Assigning homework
			Making homeschooling more than school at home
			Using the extra time
	Chapter 3 Complying with Uncle Sam
		Conducting Yourself (Yes, Ma’am) in Accordance with State Law
		Locating Your State’s Law
		Counting Out the School Days
		Calling a Truce: Interacting with Your Local School
			First: Know your law
			Second: Make sure your ducks are in a row
			Third: Know your law
	Chapter 4 Pulling Them Out and Starting from Scratch
		Making Those First Days Count
			De-stressing the children
			Easing into coursework
		Rebuilding Your Family Unit
			Setting your schedule
			Working together
			Dad’s or Mom’s role in your homeschool
		Starting from the Very Beginning
			Teaching in small blocks
			Using the objects you own
		Drawing on Your Strengths and Filling in the Gaps
			Speaking to your strengths
			Teaching them what you don’t know
Part 2 Tackling Kids of Any Age
	Chapter 5 Teaching Your Toddler While You Change Your Baby
		Juggling Primers, Preschoolers, and Diapers
		Surviving Life with a Toddler
			Teaching with a toddler
			Teaching your toddler
		Covering the Preschool Basics
			Teaching with a preschooler
			Teaching your preschooler
	Chapter 6 Covering the Elementary Years
		Setting Out with Elementary Students
		Learning through Language Arts: Reading and Grammar
			It’s as easy as A, B, C
			Beyond the basics
			Going on to the heavy hitters
		Eating Your Way through Math
		Going beyond “Our Community Helpers”
		Firing Up the Bunson Burner
		Timing Is Everything
			When timing is off
			While you wait
	Chapter 7 Handling Junior High
		Beginning in the Middle
		Keeping Track of It All
		Putting Grades to the Test
	Chapter 8 Help! I Have a High Schooler
		Starting at the Eleventh Hour (or Eleventh Grade)
		Switching before the Last Bell
			Deciding your academic approach
			Changing courses midstream (or at winter break)
		Dancing the High School Subject Tango
			Language arts
			Math
			Science
			History and social studies
			Languages
			Driver education
			Electives
		Planning for the Tidy Transcript
			Check your state’s requirements
			Start at the end and work backwards
			Choosing courses that count
		Prepping for College
		ACTing on Your InSATiable Desire for Standardized Tests
			SAT
			ACT
	Chapter 9 Completing Twelfth Grade Doesn’t Mean It’s Over
		Spreading Their Wings and Earning Their Keep
			Continuing to college
			Marching in the military
			Studying at a trade/vocational school
			Entering the workforce
		Strapping on the Tool Belt
		Continuing Homeschool through College
			Staying at home
			Finding a suitable program
Part 3 Choosing Your Cornerstone: Basic Curriculum Options
	Chapter 10 Orbiting as a Satellite School under the Umbrella
		Riding the Satellite
		Opting for a Complete Curriculum across the Distance
		Pinpointing a Program
			Elementary through junior high and beyond
			High schools
		Matching Your Needs with Their Offerings
	Chapter 11 Does Classical Education Mean Teaching Vivaldi?
		Classifying It Classical
			Trying the trivium
			Forming the foundation with literature
		Assembling Your Classical Curriculum Components
			Language arts
			Math
			Science
			History
			Geography
			Art
			Music
			Latin
			Foreign language
		Gathering More Information
	Chapter 12 Reading Real Living Books with Charlotte
		Calling Charlotte Mason
			Leaping through living books
			Nuzzling up to nature studies
		Putting Together Your Package
			Language arts
			Math
			Nature science
			History
			Geography
			Art
			Music
			Foreign language
	Chapter 13 Mining the Montessori Method
		Exploring at Their Own Pace
			Guiding your children
			Combining academics and life
		Setting Up Your Space
		Walking through the Day
			Mathematics
			Language arts
			Practical Life
			Sensorial
			Culture
	Chapter 14 Wandering through Nature with Waldorf
		Working Together with Head, Hands, and Heart
			Enjoying the outdoors
			Making things by hand
			Flowing with the day
		Locating a Waldorf-Style Curriculum
			Picking favorites
			Opting for similar goals
	Chapter 15 Teaching Them What They Want to Learn
		Unveiling the Integrated Unit Study
			All unit studies, all the time
			Locating unit studies
			Making them last
		Changing Pace with Unit Studies
		Focusing on Project-Based Learning
			Short- and long-term projects
			Designing a project to suit the learner
		Designing Unit Studies
			Subject-ing yourself to this?
			Digging for topics
			Calling all units . . .
	Chapter 16 Unschooling: A Walk on the Relaxed Side
		Raising Eyebrows and Suspicions
		Fitting the Bill
		Learning through the Course of a Day
		Filling Your Home with Unschooling Tools
			Books
			Games
			Software
			Technological and building toys
			Videos
		Recording Their Progress
	Chapter 17 Hitting the Road with Worldschooling
		Roadschooling versus Worldschooling
			Engaging the environmentally curious
			Following your dreams full or part time
			Planning is everything
		Choosing Your Academic Approach
			Ditching the books . . . or not?
			Living on and off the ’net
	Chapter 18 Charting Your Own Academic Course Eclectically
		Knowing Whether Your Kid’s Kinesthetic
		Pulling from Different Publishers
			Starting with what you know
			Pulling from the stacks
		Writing a Curriculum from Scratch: The Diehard Approach
	Chapter 19 Special Concerns for Special Students
		Considering Yourself Capable
		Guiding the Gifted
			Taking different paths
			Rounding up gifted education resources
		Teaching the Medically Fragile
		Getting the Goods You Need
			Special equipment and services
			Individualized Education Program
			Information
Part 4 Nailing Down the Details
	Chapter 20 Defining Your School Space
		Making Room for Chalk
			Setting aside the optimal amount of space
			Buying too far in advance increases storage needs
		Deciding between the Den, the Dining Room, or the Whole Darn Place
			Gathering around the kitchen table
			Setting aside a special room
			LEGO bricks in the living room and homework in the hall
	Chapter 21 Cutting the Costs and Searching for Stuff
		Slashing Curriculum Prices
			Choosing an inexpensive curriculum
			Finding free, the least expensive of all
			Locating used curriculum
			Writing your own curriculum
		Sourcing Your Curriculum
			Looking at your local store
			Avoiding the malls: Ordering via Internet or mailbox
		Attending a Homeschool Conference
		Hearing It from the Horse’s Mouth
		Tapping the Fountain of Fellow Homeschoolers
			Borrowing books long term
			Buying as a group
		Asking for the Discount
		Breaking Out the Library Card
		Understanding Copyright: What Is Fair Educational Use?
	Chapter 22 Teaching Your Traditions
		Christian Curriculum
			Publishing all-in-one, Protestant style
			Science and other individual courses
			Adding Bible to the day
			LDS curriculum choices
			Roman Catholic curriculum options
		Jewish Resources
		Islamic Resources
		Pagan Resources
		African American Resources
		Native American Resources
	Chapter 23 Turning Chaos into Organization
		Tracking Your Week with a Planner
		Seeking the Paperless Society
		Thirty Days Hath September . . .
		Scheduling for Sanity
		Keeping Your School Spotless
		Feeling the Burnout
	Chapter 24 Making the Grade
		Deciding Whether to Keep Grades
			Writing the tests to make the grades that you record in the house that Jack built
			Figuring the grade
		Tracking Those Unit Studies
		Keeping a State-Required Portfolio
		Testing Standardized’s Validity
	Chapter 25 Plugging in Your Schoolroom
		Schooling at Home . . . But Online
		Coursing through the Internet
		’Net-ting Resources
		Touring the World without Leaving Your Desk
		Enhancing Your Subjects with Electronic Errata
	Chapter 26 Connecting with Like-Minded Souls
		Finding Homeschoolers Online Who Share Your Passions
			Facebooking your way to friends
			Finding the best blogs
			Pointing toward podcasts
		Networking Isn’t Just for Computer Geeks
		Associating and Consorting
		Praying for Guidance
		Getting Together for Socialization
		TEAM: Together, Everyone Achieves More
			Gathering informally
			Formalizing your group
Part 5 Making Your Year Sing with Extras
	Chapter 27 Adding Spice with Special Classes
		Making Time for the Extras
		Bringing Out Their Inner Artists
			Music
			Art
		Go Ahead — Be Dramatic
			Speech and debate
			Drama
			Homeschool groups
		Taking Some Laps
		Cooking Up a Storm
		Bantering about Birds and Bees
		Parlez-vous Greek?
		Cleaning the House and Calling It Schoolwork
	Chapter 28 Making It Adventurous with Activities and Groups
		Dirtying Your Hands with a Project
			Dissecting an owl pellet
			Playing amateur archaeologist
			Creating a garden
			Building a train layout
			Burying yourself in papier-mâché
			Assembling a model
		Pretending It’s Le Louvre
		Getting Past Bugs Bunny
		Volunteering Builds Compassion
		Packing Up the Minivan
		Seeing the Sights or Staying at Home
		Finding an Organization That Helps You Grow
		Thinking about Playing or Playing to Think?
		Ante Up
		Thrilling the Engineer’s Heart
Part 6 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 29 Ten Educational Games That Enhance Your School Day
		Anti-Monopoly
		Evolution
		Forbidden Island/Desert
		The Garden Game
		How Do You See the World?
		Into the Forest
		Krypto
		Periodic
		Spell Smashers
		Wingspan
	Chapter 30 Ten Common Homeschool Fears
		My child will never make friends if I homeschool.
		I don’t know enough to teach my child.
		My child will miss out on socialization.
		I will buy the wrong curriculum.
		My child will learn less at home than he does at school.
		I’ll never have free time again.
		My child may not be learning at the right pace.
		I won’t be able to do it all.
		After I start, I have to do this forever.
		I’m not keeping the right (or enough) records on my child’s progress.
Part 7 Appendixes
	Appendix A Homeschooling Curriculum and Resources
		Abeka
		Artes Latinae
		Behrman House
		Brave Writer
		California Homeschool Network Records and Resource Guide
		Christian Book Distributors
		Cricket Media Magazines
		The Critical Thinking Co.
		Great Books Academy
		Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
		Mary Frances Books
		MindWare
		MisterArt
		National Black Home Educators
		Pandia Press
		S&S Worldwide
		Studies Weekly
		Scotch Thermal Laminator
		SEA Books and More
		Teachers Pay Teachers
	Appendix B State-by-State Homeschool Associations
	Appendix C Speaking the Language: Educational and Homeschooling Terms
		2E
		accelerated learning
		advanced placement (AP) course
		auditory learner
		CLEP exam
		consumable
		correlated to state standards
		distance learning
		dual credit
		educational game
		elective
		fine arts
		grade level
		inclusive
		intent to homeschool
		kinesthetic learner
		lesson plan
		living books
		low for grade level
		neutral science
		online education
		PSP (Private School Satellite Program)
		real books
		reproducible black line masters
		standardized test
		teacher’s guide/teacher edition
		transcript
		visual learner
Index
EULA