Well, here we are again. Another homeschool year has been successfully wrapped up. My papers have all been filed and approved by the state (thank you, Lord!). We are all set for the next year. Sometimes I really wish we lived in a state that was not as restrictive in their homeschooling laws. It’s pretty ridiculous considering that we are choosing to homeschool our children and WANT them to have a great education. Are there some people out there who would slack in educating their kids? I’m sure there are. However, I also believe that the vast majority of parents who homeschool are doing so to give their kids a better education than is available at public school. Yes, we homeschool because we value what they learn. Yes, we are trying, to a certain extent, to shelter them from the world until they are old enough to discern for themselves. Yes, we do want them to learn certain things that the world doesn’t value. But ultimately, we also want them to know how to read, how to write legibly, and how to use math in real-world situations. I have, in our “official” seven years of homeschooling, switched curriculum THREE times. I am, so far, happy with what we are primarily using now, but I also wouldn’t mind trying out a couple more. (Cue our oldest begging me not to switch it up on her…AGAIN) The point is, as homeschooling parents, we are constantly trying to find the “best” curriculum for our children. We WANT them to learn. We even, dare I say, want them to LOVE to learn. We want learning to be fun and engaging. We want our kids to finish up the year saying, hey, remember when we learned about x, or y, or z? So all I’m trying to say is, can we make it a little easier on parents at the end of the year? Can we maybe not make homeschooling such a process? Well, since we have our own theories on why “they” might not want that to be the case, I won’t ask that question with any sincerity.
Ultimately, it is what it is and we will keep plugging along. I will keep doing our end of the year assessments, we will keep getting each child “evaluated”, and we will keep teaching our children values, morals, and truth. I will keep stressing about whether we are doing enough, whether there is a better curriculum we could be using, and whether or not our children actually understand that we are, ultimately, doing this for their own good! God Bless!
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Roses at Dawn 
I applaud you for teaching your children with such loving passion. The benefits will outweigh the hassle your state puts you through to accomplish this.
I did not homeschool my children, but I have friends who did and still do.
My grandchildren are in a public school. I am buying for them the video series offered by http://www.learnourhistory.com. I learned about the videos through emails from Mike Huckabee.
These videos are faith-based and differ, I am certain, from what the progressives insist our schools teach regarding our country’s history.
You might want to visit their website.
I will even mail you a video or two on loan so you can see for yourself if you like them. If you want me to do this, send me your mailing address at dscales24@yahoo.com.
I do not, of course, receive reimbursement for promoting this series. I’m just one Christian mom/grandma trying to support others who want their children to know the truth about our country’s Christian heritage.
Best wishes for another successful school year!
Debbie
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Thank you for the offer, Debbie. I will definitely let you know! I have heard about this series, but will admit to not researching it too much. I will have to look into it more. God Bless!
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As a fellow homeschooling mom who know has to file my intent to homeschool paperwork again with the state, I am curious what curriculum you are using? We are looking for new English and history curriculum this year.
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I have started using The Good and The Beautiful ( https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/ ). I am using them for English (they offer levels 1-5 for free as pdfs on their site!), Handwriting, Science (they have a free marine biology unit which we completed last year, again as a pdf), and History this year. I am using CTC Math full-time this year. We kind of jumped around last year, but I started using them at the end of the year and am happy so far. I have yet to find a Bible program I am happy with, but am looking into God’s Hand in Our Lives ( http://godshand.clclutheran.org/godshand.htm this is offered for free!). Now, the most appealing part for me here are the prices, lol. Also, The Good and The Beautiful can be bought as pdf’s which for me is again, a HUGE part of the appeal (space is an issue!). A lot of people LOVE their curriculum, some people don’t, because the main author is a Mormon. (I’m not knocking Mormons, just adding a disclaimer.) I haven’t had any issues with any of the content that I have read or taught. But as the teacher, we get to decide what our kids are exposed to 🙂 Phew, that was a LONG winded reply, sorry 🙂 -Also, I am in no way being compensated for the links provided…just a disclaimer 🙂 – I hope that helps a little. Or at least can help you figure out what you want or don’t want to do for the year! God Bless!
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I used a little bit of the Good and The Beautiful last year and may look into it again for this year. I don’t agree with Mormons but I didn’t find anything related to her faith in it so that doesn’t bother me. I used Teaching Textbooks for math and may stay with them. I didn’t go with CTC Math because the guy kept spamming me with offers. It drove me nuts. But you like the program ? I’m not a math person so there is no way I can teach him math.
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I don’t necessarily agree with Mormons either, but like you said, I didn’t find anything related to the Mormon faith, but I just wanted to add the disclaimer 🙂 I have heard lots of good things about Teaching Textbooks. How do you like it? Or, how do your kids like it, lol? So far I am happy with CTC. The lessons and videos are short, but I feel like, so far anyways, it is what we need. I will let you know how I still feel at the end of this year, lol. For me, the price is a huge factor. I have all four of our “official” homeschoolers using it and I don’t have to pay for each individual child. My fingers are crossed!
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My son likes teaching textbooks in some ways but they are behind a year and they repeat some of the lessons too often. I will have to see how the price compares to CtC. I only have one being homeschooled so far but I’m starting kindergarten with my daughter as well this year
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Good to know! I’m pretty sure I paid a bit over $100, but it was for 18 months worth. And I can add everyone to it. Also, you don’t have to follow the lessons…you can jump around if you wanted to. I know that I haven’t figured out how to use it to it’s complete capacity yet, but I will figure it all out eventually 🙂
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In Virginia they aren’t as strict, but they are trying to change all that. Of course everyone is fighting back. It’s ridiculous that they want full control over everything, even in how we as parents teach our own children. Congratulations on finishing another year! I’m planning for next year. 😀
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Good luck with your planning! I’m working on being a bit more pro-active with planning. I am TERRIBLE at it. However, it makes my life easier if I have a plan, so it’s a work in progress 🙂 Good luck with the fight! It is SO ridiculous just the amount of work they want us to put into the whole process. I have to file my intent to homeschool, what we plan to cover (six subject areas worth!) in the year (thankfully I have an exemption for most of the kids, but not all!), and then what we covered in the previous year along with examples of the work. SERIOUSLY!! So absurd. I hope you can keep it the way it is! God Bless!
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There is a lady in my homeschooling group who is working with the Parental Rights Group in Pennsylvania. The control they want to have is getting worse. I guess they are changing the compulsory age for children to go to school to 5 or 6, which I thought it already was, and people are freaking out. So if you decided to hold your child back a little longer you have to file an intent to homeschool. I don’t know of anyone who holds their child back until they are 8 anyhow, but I guess some see it as another way they are trying to tell us how to parent.
The things they want us to put on our applications are a bit ridiculous at this point.
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Wow 😮 I thought NY was the most anti-homeschool state; I had to do the same with both girls and let’s not even talk about when they lose the paperwork and you have to file them all over again 😳 I must admit the best part about completing this journey is not having to do the paperwork and the yearly testing. I do think in hindsight, that perhaps I was more diligent and better organized 😂😂 I suppose that was good. I don’t envy you 😐 but I’ll pray for you
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I appreciate the prayers! 🙂 Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont are the strictest when it comes to homeschooling regulations. It is definitely forcing me to be more organized than I am by nature. I would lose it if they lost my paperwork, lol! I can’t even imagine! UGH! I could go the standardized test route or have someone else do the evaluations for me, but I’m not big on having the kids stress about tests (been there, did that myself!) and evaluations are expensive (rightly so!). I just find the whole process absolutely ridiculous. The things we suffer through for our children 😉 God Bless!
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amen to that 🙂 I remind the kids all the time of my hard work 🙂 🙂 🙂
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