first ,we live in Alabama..
I want to homeschoole my 13 year old DD,who wants to be homeschooled.
so here are my questions for those who are homeschooling,or did homechooled

how do you keep your kids interestied in learning?
what did you do to keep them socialized?
was it easy ,hard?
what not to do?
what to absolutely do

my 9 year old doesn't want ot be homeschooled yet,he wants to go to 5th grade,because there is a camping trip at the end of teh year(he is in 4th grade).he is also in a gifted program ,and only likes to go to school on fridays (gifted class).there are 29 kids in his class,and it is a complete zoo with the behaviors from soem ofteh kids..

I also have a 4 year old,I want her to go to at least Kindergarten and 1st grade,then we will se..
Am I realistic?

I have been homeschooling at least one of my kids for the last 8 years. I believe in child led learning, which means that I have always asked my kids what they wanted to study, and that is what we studied. I found that they were able to stay focused more easily. I also found that our public school system has a virtul school that homeschool kids can take, my oldest loved it.

Homeschooling can be as easy or as hard as you want it too be. The internet is a wonderful thing for us. My kids have taken online classes, read books, visited foreign countries online, etc... As far as what to do or what not to do, I believe anything goes. Whatever you feel like teaching is great, everything they learn can only make them better in the end. Be sure to check out what your State's laws concerning homeschooling are, some states are more strict than others.

As far as socializing, your kids probably already have friends, let them play together. My kids participated in little league, martial arts, dance, etc... all their life, so they always had plenty of friends. There are probably some homeschool groups in your area, contact them and they can give you a rundown on their activities. Also here in Florida, homeschool students can participate in public school activities, such as cheerleading, football, clubs, marching band. Call your board of education and ask, maybe they will have the same available.

I hope that this is understandable, no coffee this morning. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.

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Melissa
Mom of Kiefer, Kaitlan, Korrey, and my very special Heavenly Angel, Kieran^i^

thank you for your answer.
i have looked over the laws of homeschooling for my state,asn it is pretty fuzzy.ther ear eonly 2 ways 2 not have your kids in public school/
having a private tutor qualified by the state or
a church school

so now i have to "make"a church school(kinda funny for definition: congregation of people,so a family can be church....)

I might have more questions down the line for you.

I like the way of the child leading teh learning.that would be more fun ,than to impose a lesson that they would be bored with.
do you have a set hours for them to study?
my dd can't stand math ,but I still want her to learn the basic math..
but stupid question of the day.
how do they graduate?(understnd me,I have graduated in France ,and the school system over there is totaly different)

I found this page

http://www.homeschoolinginalabama.com/

hope it helps.

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One of the best things about homeschooling, is the fact that you can have school at any time or any place.
As far as graduation, if you join an organiztion, they may provide certificates for you, or you can make your own. Getting into college is really no more difficult, just make sure you can provide a list of couses you have taught or they have taken online or off. They will still have to take the same tests to get into college. Keep a record book of some type for assignments and grades, and even a sampling of work that your child may do.

__________________
Melissa
Mom of Kiefer, Kaitlan, Korrey, and my very special Heavenly Angel, Kieran^i^