Hello,

 I am seriously considering teaching my special medical needs (higher functioning)child at home. He starts out the school year on half days from Aug through Oct only to be homebound the rest of year. We have done this every year since kindergarten. He is currently going into 9th grade. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would be completely new to this so please feel free to give me pointers. 

Thank you and have a great day!

Suzan

HI--

I am a mom of all homeschool graduates, but noticed no one else has answered. My oldest was special needs and teaching him at home was such a blessing for him......we worked on days he felt great and even not so great. Worked at his pace, ability level, and speed. Some days we got a lot done, some days we didn't, some days we did nothing b/c just getting up and dressed was an accomplishment. Take the plunge and homeschool him.  IF your state allows him to take a class at the high school (something hard to teach at home like science or math), then do that.....we used some math programs on CD and then started junior college at 16 for a few classes.  Find out what you state laws are, contact your state homeschooling group ...JOIN HSLDA (I was a member the whole time we homeschooled)  http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/AR/

Thank you very much for the information. I will look into it!

I am homeschooling a High Schooler.  State laws are all different.  I don't know what Arkansas laws are like.  HSLDA would have information on that.  I recommend Cathy Duffee for help on curriculum choices.  Her book op top curriculum picks go through learning styles and rates good curriculum how how well they fit with those learning styles.  She also rates on how much teacher prep time to prepare the curriculum.  She has a website too.  Feel free to ask me questions.

Here are a couple of resources we used (in one case did the paid version for a year & it was worth it)

 Internet4classrooms.com

ixl.com

As mentioned, every state is different.  I highly recommend contacting your state association- they will have lots of people you can talk to & prob all the info on a website for the state requirements.  Often the local school officials don't understand the laws & will try to force things or illegally refuse assistance.  As a coordinator in my state, I've come across many people who tried to do it just through the locals, and it wasn't in the child's best interest.  Heard a lot of "wish I'd known that" after talking to them years down the road.

Homeschooling is both easier & harder than you think.  The very best part of it is gearing to your child & flexibility.  The worst can be limiting...pretty much everything.  For example, being the parent & teacher, means you don't get the respect a teacher would get & child has fewer examples of dealing with different personalities.  (Not same for your case)  Some will disagree, I'm sure.  We got to do a lot more fieldtrips, for example, but I'd still see as less interaction as a whole (esp if you are not near an organized group).  With the state of schools today, if a parent can homeschool, I would say it's the better choice.  All depends on the specific situation, circumstances & people involved.

Best of luck to you & yours!

DEFINITELY join HSLDA! They are there to support you and help you in every way if your local school district would ever give you any trouble for homeschooling! It is $10 per month, but well worth the money! 

Research curriculums before buying. There are many curriculum fairs this time of year. You can also do a quick google search of the different ones and contact them to request information. 

We use Abeka because we love how advanced and Language Arts driven it is, along with the fact that it is Christian based. But there are many curriculums that are for kids that are less advanced, those in the middle? Those with Christian faith, non-Christian faith, exc., so definitely research them.

I think you will really enjoy homeschooling your children. The beginning is honestly the hardest and most daunting part of it because of all the research and paperwork to get started. But once you get past that and into a good flow, it is very enjoyable! I wish you the very best and welcome you to the homeschool journey!