Loads of Information!

Since I have recently had LOT'S of friends inquire about homeschooling. I will post the information to my blog. That way, I have the information in one place which makes it easier for future references.

The state of Missouri does not require you to notify them. Families for Home Education is an organization that helps families in the Missouri area deal with Government "authorities". I have spoken to many parent's on the homeschooling message boards and they advised me not to join the FHE unless we are having issues with the school. Joining FHE puts you at risk to be put on the Family Services radar. Since it's not required by Missouri Law for you to report your homeschooling, you don't need that headache. You aren't even required to send a withdrawal letter to the school system. It's completely voluntary. http://www.fhe-mo.org/


This is a good example of a school trying to take advantage of a homeschooling family and sending out false information: http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/mo/201003080.asp


This is the official Missouri homeschooling law:  http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=mo

As you can see, you are not required to report it. However, it is imperative that you keep records of school work and I also kept a daily log (which I won't do next year, I have their school work as proof). If you happen to be put on the radar, you will have proof that you are educating your child. That is all that is required by law. Missouri is a WONDERFUL homeschooling state! It's one of the easiest in the U.S.

At the beginning of the year last year, we used an awesome online school called Time 4 Learning. http://www.time4learning.com/index.htm I loved it because it keeps records of your child's work. They have tests and quizzes and I didn't have to buy all of the books required for pen and paper homeschooling. However, my kids hated it. But, every child is different and this may be right up your child's alley! It's totally worth checking out. It wasn't very expensive either, so it's not like you are going to spend a fortune only to find out that he/she doesn't like it. You can make monthly payments and cancel whenever you want. Just make sure you print the records of his/her work before you cancel. They do give you around 5 days, I think, to print the records after you cancel. I keep the kids work in an expandable file folder from Office Max. They each have their own.

This year we are going to try Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills, Grade 4 and Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills, Grade 6. I have not used it, but it has really good reviews on Amazon. For only $13.00 that's a risk I'm willing to take! If they don't like it, we will go back to the books The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Editition) suggests. I am sticking with Saxon for math. I really liked Saxon and so did the kids. For supplemental worksheets, etc. I joined http://edhelper.com/ and http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html both super cheap websites with great worksheets. The kids really enjoyed the worksheets as well. For my books I usually buy them off of Amazon. You can get used books on Amazon for really cheap. Some books you want brand new though, like the ones with worksheets in them. Just make sure you read the condition the books are in if you are buying used. Some of the books we are using, I don't let the kids write in them and then I resell them on Amazon. There is a teacher's supply store in Old Town St. Charles. Its called the Bookmark Teacher Store: http://shopbookmark.weebly.com/ They have some good material. I also went to Deals and bought the laminated cursive alphabet to put on the wall downstairs and I found a multiplication table there as well that we put on the wall. Also, Office Max has laminated U.S. and World maps that we hung on the wall.

For more information, you can join the Yahoo homeschool groups: http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=homeschool+missouri I think I joined almost every single one of them!