As the Director of our Homeschool Umbrella, I have been contacted by two mothers wanting to pull their children out of public school during the middle of the school year.  Both children have learning differences and are struggling with reading and math. I came up with some ideas to get them started and wanted to share the links.

Math

• Math-U-See
  
• Teaching Textbooks
  
• Making Math Meaningful
  
• Math Mammoth

Reading

• Sonlight Remedial Reading Program
• AVKO
• Orton-Gillingham

Handwriting

• Handwriting Without Tears

I recommended that this far into the school year they  put together unit studies to cover history and science. It isn’t difficult to choose a subject the student is interested in, go to the library and check out resources on the subject. To document the work, they should keep a journal and write down the books and videos used each day. Lapbooking is something that could easily be utilized for unit studies.

• Knowledge Box Central
• Hands of a Child

This is only enough to help them get started, but it’s a way to cover the main subjects and give them time to do some research, go to curriculum fairs, etc., and get a feel for teaching their child.

This year, I have somehow become the director of the Umbrella School run by my church. I was just speaking to a mother who has a lot of questions about how to homeschool legally in MD. It can be very confusing and overwhelming so I thought I would try to simplify it and provide the appropriate links.

Steps (with clickable links):

1. Familiarize yourself with MD homeschooling laws.
2. Choose an Umbrella school.� (Our umbrella is the Oak Grove Umbrella.)
3. Find out who your Pupil Personnel Worker is for your school district. I’m providing the link for Harford County. If you live in a different county, call your local school for this information.
4. Fill out the Homeschooling Notification Form and mail it to your Pupil Personnel Worker. Make 2 copies. One for your own records and one to submit to your umbrella.
5. Fill out and submit the enrollment forms to your Umbrella of choice, a copy of your signed Homeschooling Notification form and a check for the yearly fee. (If you want to join the Oak Grove Umbrella here’s a link to our enrollment form.)

After following these steps, you’re all set to choose your own curriculum and homeschool your children. The Umbrella will take care of keeping track of your records and reviewing your work once or twice a year. Make sure you re-enroll EVERY year prior to the new school year. Your Pupil Personnel Worker WILL contact the umbrella at the beginning of each year to make sure you have re-enrolled. You do NOT have to contact your PPW again unless you switch to a different umbrella.

Here’s what my counters looked like before I started.

Using Giani Counter top paint I started with the black base coat. I found this first step to be somewhat nerve-wrecking, but I just DID it.

The next step is to sponge on mineral paints using a sea sponge.

Last, I rolled on two coats of clear paint and removed the blue painter’s tape.

This will be Ashton’s first year of high school. I feel confident that what I’ve chosen is high school level but a little bit nervous about the new record keeping, grading, giving credits, etc. involved with high school. Oak Grove Academy (our umbrella school) will help me with this. I also have  The Well-Planned High School which will help me keep track of all 4 of his high school years.  The Well Planned Day keeps me organized. I’ve ordered Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+U+La by Barbara Shelton which was recommended to me by a cyber-friend at The Homeschool Library.

Zachary will be easy. He’s going to be a 7th Grader. We’ll just continue what we’ve been doing.

Here’s the plan (links are included, they just do not show up, you have to hover your mouse over the items):

• The Mystery of History, Vol II We will add in literature selections we check out from the library. Ashton will be required to type a paragraph about what he has learned each day. He will have to study (gasp) and take the quizzes and tests. I plan to add Folderbooks for both of the boys.
• Switched On Schoolhouse Language Arts I’m hoping doing language arts on the computer will work better for both of the boys. Ashton will do Grade 9, Zachary Grade 7.
• Apologia Physical Science Ashton only. It includes labs, quizzes and tests. We’re going to add in the lapbook kit from Knowledge Box Central.
• Switched On Schoolhouse Science, Grade 7 Zachary only. He is VERY relieved to not continue Apologia with Ashton this year. We will save Ashton’s Science and use it again when Zachary is in 9th Grade.
• Making Math Meaningful Level 6 Level 6 does not mean 6th Grade. This is a Pre-Algebra course. Next year we’ll be ready to move into Algebra I. Both boys are working at the same level in math.  My older brother and I (who were both in public school) did the same thing.
• Balancing the Sword This is a 2-volume set. Each volume covers the entire Bible. It is loaded with scripture references to help answer the questions. It includes art and maps. I plan to let Ashton use one volume to get his 4 credits of Bible required by our umbrella. I’ll save the other volume for Zachary to use once he is in high school. My plan is for them to cover the entire Bible during their 4 years of high school.
• PE. We will be logging in 120 hours of physical activity (swimming, hiking, frisbee, walking, etc) for 1 credit hour of PE. I found out this week that 120 hrs equals one credit hour of high school work.
• Music. My husband (who is trained in music) will be teaching himself and both boys how to play the guitar this year. This should give Ashton his credit for Fine Arts.

At this point, Ashton is starting to have some career goals. He loves photography and is thinking he would like to major in photography. He has his own photography page (scroll down and click on “browse gallery”. I will let him continue this on his own. If he is still leaning towards photography after this year, I will have to start adding in art technique instruction (drawing, painting, sculpture). I am REALLY glad I took a Basic Art class my senior year of college. The Photography major is an Art major and he will be required to take basic art technique courses.

Zachary has career goals also. At this point he would like to go into the demolition of buildings. He wants to be the man who uses the wrecking ball.

Yesterday, Steve and I went to the local public middle school to attend meetings to dismiss the boys from speech/language therapy. While we were there, our advocate let us know that when the boys turn 18 it shouldn’t be any problem to get them on SSI (they both have Aspergers and it has been well-documented). That was exciting enough but it gets better. Anybody in MD who is on SSI can go to the MD public colleges TUITION FREE!!

My kids are going to college…my kids are going to college…my kids are going to college…

I’ve been wondering how in the WORLD we were going to pay for it. Steve said they would just have to work their way through. I just can’ t imagine with their difficulties that they would be able to work the hours they would need to work to pay their way AND study.

The local community college is well-known for being a good place for kids with special needs to attend. Our advocate knows the contact people for disabilities well and will be able to help us with getting the accommodations the boys will need. What kind of accommodations will they need? Simple things like a little more time to take tests, typing on laptops  for essay questions instead of having to write paragraphs by hand, etc.

My kids are going to college…my kids are going  to college…my kids ARE going to college!!