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There is a pretty good chance I may be moving to Raleigh before Fall. I was planning on homeschooling, but if we move there, does anyone have any suggestions of "umbrella schools". Also, I this will be my first year homeschooling (1st grade), so I really need all the info I can get about registering and well, everything!!! Thanks for any help in advance.
I homeschool my two first graders In North Carolina. I moved here last summer from Michigan. You have to register as a homeschool for kids 7 and older. If they are under 7 you can just do it. This was also my first year but I had worked in schools. I can help you or try
We have lived in North Carolina for nine years, have four kids, and have homeschooled for seven. I have found this to be a good state to homeschool in. Here are some contacts and book recommendations:
Books: The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer-A must have
William Bennetts big blue book on education (can't remember the name) a very valuable resource.
Rainbow Resources catalog which is more like a huge book of free curriculum info since they review most of what they sell. It is over 1000 pages.
How to Homeschool by Gayle Graham. Helpful practical book.
North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE) or "Nee Chee"-this is the official organization for homeschoolers in our state. They have a conference annually in May. Very helpful.
A good way to get connected is through the homeschooling store, the one the previous poster mentioned. They've been doing this for years and they'll help to get you grounded. Also, inside the store are boards with loads of info for what is available out there as far as homeschooling in our area. Hope that helps!
There is still a stigma in the Raleigh area about homeschooling. I homeschooled my daughter for 1st grade because I hated our local public school. She was learning very little. I can't tell you how many people put their noses down to us. Even people who would call themselves our friends. It was a big joke. It didn't matter that our child was 1.5 grade level higher than their peers, it was still inappropriate to those people. I ended up putting our daughter in a private school, it was wonderful compared to public school! We cannot afford it any more. Now she is in 3rd grade at a different public school. Although this one is not as bad as the 1st public school, I would say academically it is a joke compared to private school or to homeschooling. Anyone who makes fun of homeschoolers and that have children should do a little test and see how the kid compare academically. You can't beat quality homeschooling. My child flourished both in homeschool and in private school; I am thinking of homeschooling again because the public school is lacking in both resources and academics. They don't pay teachers enough money to care anymore either. They put 24-30 kids in a class with one teacher, with multiple levels of experience and intelligence and expect it to be a good combination???? My one child is in 1st grade now at the public school re-learing everything she learned at the private school kindergarten! It is kind of a joke. But don't be surprised when you do homeschool, the negative reactions with flood like a hurricane!
My parents were teacher & principal years ago. Both gone now. Mom retired about 1981, Dad had retired in 1975. They both worried about the future of education, with good reason. They saw discipline eroding each year, lack of parental support, social promotions being forced on teachers, politics increasing each year, etc. Mom told me many times if her 1st 10 years of teaching had been as bad as her last 10, she would not have done it. To be honest too, I was their headache. I strayed a lot in middle & high school, but still had more knowledge gained in grades 1-5 than many people later had by grade 12.
In the early 80's, I managed a mall video arcade. HS grads applied for minimum wage jobs, but many of their applications hit the trash can because they were illegible. I gave a simple 10 question math test that about half could not pass. Questions were, how many quarters in a $10 roll, nickels in a $2 roll, dimes in a $5 roll & pennies in a 50c roll. Plus a few questions on dollar value of different bags of mixed change, etc. 4th grade math that HS grads couldn't do.
Do as much home school, private school as you can. Most public schools are doing worse now, not better. The idea now is to throw every form of math at kids every year in some helter skelter kind of order. For example, my girls both got volume calculations presented long before multiplication was well learned. We would do private or home school if we could afford it.
There is still a stigma in the Raleigh area about homeschooling. I homeschooled my daughter for 1st grade because I hated our local public school. She was learning very little. I can't tell you how many people put their noses down to us. Even people who would call themselves our friends. It was a big joke. It didn't matter that our child was 1.5 grade level higher than their peers, it was still inappropriate to those people. I ended up putting our daughter in a private school, it was wonderful compared to public school! We cannot afford it any more. Now she is in 3rd grade at a different public school. Although this one is not as bad as the 1st public school, I would say academically it is a joke compared to private school or to homeschooling. Anyone who makes fun of homeschoolers and that have children should do a little test and see how the kid compare academically. You can't beat quality homeschooling. My child flourished both in homeschool and in private school; I am thinking of homeschooling again because the public school is lacking in both resources and academics. They don't pay teachers enough money to care anymore either. They put 24-30 kids in a class with one teacher, with multiple levels of experience and intelligence and expect it to be a good combination???? My one child is in 1st grade now at the public school re-learing everything she learned at the private school kindergarten! It is kind of a joke. But don't be surprised when you do homeschool, the negative reactions with flood like a hurricane!
If I were you, I'd make new friends. People that don't support you while you are doing what's best for your family are not friends. I've met a few Homeschool Moms and have never gotten than impression. Of course, I'm sure I didn't see the whole picture, but they seemed really happy. I hate to see a parent experience something like that.
It might be that some homeschoolers are quick to point out how they are doing it so much better than public schools and "You aren't as good a parent as I am"
Also here in the South, homeschooling has the reputations of being for fundamentalist religious zealots who try to convert or act as if their way is the only way. I make no judgments either way until somebody opens up their mouth.
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