It's officially been a year

Phew! We started homeschool last October and have now surpassed the one year mark! We've had so many opportunities to see things we would have never had the chance to do otherwise. What's holding you back?

Rocks

There is a new fad with rock hunting and painting. X has found a few around town and seems to enjoy it. So I decided to have him paint one of his own. And it counts towards art.

Woods walk

We went on a woods walk at the nature center. The guide Joel explained the trees in the area. X said it was the best walk ever and gave it a 10! He is excited to continue going for this weekly event. Science, history, health and PE check.   

Open mic

I found a local gallery that has a monthly open mic night. We checked it out and really enjoyed ourselves. This can be used towards music. We have a field trip Tuesday with other homeschoolers to the Wilder farm.

Negative interactions

The SLP (speech) asked X AGAIN if he thinks he will ever go back to public school... I've told her 3x's now that he will not be going back. Then she proceeds to say to him Why not? I think you would like it. He told her that he was bullied by both students and teachers and that his ears are sensitive and that they have bells in middle school. Her response was that he could use earplugs! He told her that he did use them in the school cafeteria. She changed the subject and got back on task.

I posted our experience in the local homeschool groups and received positive feedback. Some others have also been through this. So far this has been our only overstepping that we've been involved in. Outside of the CSE trying to make us feel guilty for pulling X. Family has been very supportive and notices the better in our decision. I've heard NY is more unfriendly towards the idea though.

Getting back into the routine

We like having a schedule around here. We have an order for our subjects to keep stress low. Our dry erase calendar was the best purchase ever! We've gotten back into our school routine even with car problems. I love seeing X excited to explain what he's learned for the day to C when he comes home. What is your homeschool like?

I went to a homeschool moms night

I had a much needed night out with other homeschool moms. It went great. We also just had a not back to school picnic where I met some more moms. I feel young compared to most of them and a little like the oddball out because I have an only child and we're not religious. Not to mention they're much more seasoned and already know each other. I really really wish I had started sooner. We have another trip planned for the end of the month and I can't wait.

School starts Thursday

This is our first year not having to buy a supply list or back to school clothes. I'm excited to see what this year brings. We already have a homeschool picnic at the park planned for the 12th. I'm always searching and finding new things to get into. Learning doesn't just happen Mon-Fri. I hope everyone has a great 1st day back!

Discounts

Teachers get discounts at a number of businesses. Some are also available to homeschoolers. This is one of the reasons to order an ID card. Of course, you would have to ask at your location to see if they participate but it can't hurt to ask. Save on food, books, crafts, and other supplies. At places like Pizza Hut, Barnes & Noble, and Joann Fabrics. Programs such as book it and read to succeed are open to homeschoolers as well. Happy saving!

I made a Secular instruction facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/Secularinsruction

An idea of a homeschool day

After breakfast, we start health and act out healthy ways of handling stress. Next, we move onto science with a virtual tour of a dairy farm and learn the differences between free stall vs tie stall and pasture vs feed lot. Then we begin history and discuss events during the civil rights movement such as the little rock nine. Along with activists from that time period like James Farmer co-founder of CORE and involved with NAACP. (People, events, and organizations I never heard of) After our lunch break, we dive into music by exploring the woodwind instrument family. By now it is time for ELA where X uses the dictionary to put his spelling list into alphabetical order and finds the definitions. Finishing with math making homemade detergent. Figuring out the unit price, measurements and how long it should last.

Secular curriculum

There are different styles of homeschooling. Unit studies, relaxed, unschooling, eclectic and of course secular. I'm going to list some sites I've come across for the core subjects. (Science, history, ELA and math)

Science: time4learning.com or discoveryk12.com (FREE)

History: khanacademy.org (FREE We've used for math but didn't work for us), discoveryk12.com or time4learning.com

ELA: freereadingprogram.com (FREE K-6 it does glitch sometimes), discoveryk12.com, time4learning.com or allaboutlearningpress.com (haven't used myself)

Math: discoveryk12.com, xtramath.org (FREE it times them for mastery), mobymax.com (FREE), khanacademy.org, prodigygame.com (FREE), time4learning.com

You could always make your own. Don't forget the library, documentaries, Netflix, amazon prime, Hulu even youtube.

Learning style

Three main learning styles are audio, visual and kinesthetic. You can find out your child's learning style here

Some ideas to incorporate into your curriculum for visual learners would be using maps, diagrams, taking notes, watching videos, timelines, graphs, charts, painting, sculptures, flashcards, color coding, demonstrations, lists, highlighters or underlining words because they learn in images.

Kinesthetic learners could role play, use manipulatives, build, puzzles, legos, toss a ball back and forth while reciting spelling words or math problems, cut and paste projects. Get them moving.

Great audio resources are songs, audiobooks, videos, podcasts, oral reports and reading out loud.

These suggestions are to help guide you in the right direction.

Annual assessment

Step 4: Per NY regulations a written narrative must be completed along with the 4th quarter report. Starting in 4th grade every other year a standardized test must be given. Then every year starting in 9th. The most common is the online untimed CAT test. These can be administered at home. You can use coupon code FIRSTCAT for $5 off https://www.academicexcellence.com/complete-online-california-achievement-test-not-timed/ Link is not affiliated

-Sample- Written narrative

6/30/17
                Annual Assessment for X 5th grade
School Year 2016-2017
X has satisfied the requirements for this year. He has made adequate academic progress for his ability in all subjects and has completed 900+ hours of instruction.
Highlights of the year include field trips to the Adirondack research room, Charles Dickert wildlife collection, Alice T. Miner museum along with many others. He also attended an art show, science fair and a planetarium show on ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­the sun's path. Another experience was X volunteering for ALERT, Autism Law Enforcement Response Training. We've even given ourselves a name and mascot for our school pride.
This summer X will attend weekly tutoring to continue improving his reading and math skills. He will also be participating in track and field. We are extremely proud of his achievements and look forward to another year of learning together.
See the previously submitted quarterly reports for more details.
X will begin 6th grade in September 2017.
This concludes X's reporting requirements for the 2016-2017 school year.

N
Address

_______________________________________________________________________________

I myself haven't submitted any test scores since this was our first year. I did hear that you may write the percentile rank and state a copy is available upon request.

The year is now complete. Now you would send a new year letter of intent.

Feel free to ask questions. I've tried to be as thorough as possible.

Link to NY regulations http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html

Quarter reports

Step 3: Based on NYS. These are due roughly every 10 weeks. You may choose your own dates however they have to be spaced in even and logical segments. They suggest November 15th, January 30th, April 15th, and June 30th. Each quarter report will need the number of instructional hours, a description of what was covered in each subject, a grade or narrative for each area and a written explanation if less than 80% of the materials planned for that quarter have been covered in any subject. There are attendance requirements of 180 days with the cumulative hours of instruction for grades 1-6 with 900 hours per year. The cumulative hours of instructions for grades 7-12 with 990 hours per year. You are required to maintain attendance records which must be made available to the school district upon request. They'll let you know if something is wrong. 

I keep a notebook exclusively for homeschool purposes. For what the day covered and when the quarters end. It makes it much more simple when filling out the quarterly. 

-Sample- This was one of our quarter reports (Change yours accordingly) the 3rd quarter report is common to mention how you plan to do your testing.

 4/15/17
                3rd Quarter Report for X 5th grade
School Year 2016-2017        Quarter beginning and ending dates 1/31/17 - 4/15/17
X is progressing at a satisfactory level or above in all subject matter.
He has had instruction in all subjects listed in Section 100.10 of the Regulations of the New York State Commissioner of Education and as outlined in his IHIP.
Some materials covered this quarter have included:

-Arithmetic: Flashcards, budgeting, fractions, and baking
-English/ Language Arts: Read Highlights & Lego Club magazines, learned how to address an envelope in preparation for valentine day card exchange, worked on creative writing skills, printouts in spelling & grammar from treasures along with monthly visits to read to Ranger the therapy dog at the local library.
-Science: Animal facts on cows, rhinos & monkeys, visit to the wildlife refuge in Wilmington, documentary Koko the gorilla who talks and watched episodes of Bill Nye the science guy
-Social Studies: Located states on map in which we sent and received Valentines day cards, attack on pearl harbor, WWII, bill of rights, the civil rights movement and the process of becoming a US citizen where they take oath of allegiance at a naturalization ceremony
-Health & Safety: Attended survival skills workshop, understanding and responding to dementia-related behavior seminar and had a field trip to the fire department for a fire safety class
-Visual arts: Ancient Egyptian gods study, Decorated Valentine's day cards, textured slab mug, and clay pottery wheel classes
-PE: YMCA homeschool gym & swim, practiced good sportsmanship and went for nature walks
-Music: Used beat lab to create his own music, worked on scales, listened to Pandora radio and talked about different genres


He has had no absences from instruction this quarter and has exceeded the required hours of instruction (225).
We have covered at least 80% of the planned material for this quarter.


X's annual assessment will be submitted in a written format composed by N, his primary instructor, for the 2016-2017 school year.


N

Address

___________________________________________________________________________________________


Link to NY regulations http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/10010.html


Coming up Step 4: Annual assessment