I love teaching and chose to give a single year of homeschooling to each of my daughters as they passed through middle school. Oh, it was so much work! I always said that I worked harder than they did--especially with my oldest daughter. After that, there was still a lot to do, but at least I had the plan in place.
I used The Well-Trained Mind as a guide to choose our textbooks and strategies. This is not a set program, but rather a resource book with reviews of materials and suggestions.
The time has come for my son's year of homeschool, and I decided to go with the non-profit Calvert Online Public School program run through the district. I think it's a good fit for us. The school will likely have a portion of the tuition returned (any state funding above the cost of tuition and overhead is returned to the public school of enrollment). And he will still be able to participate in flex-time at school as well as assemblies and school events.
This time I am going to enjoy the journey with him instead of spending my time making lesson plans and writing exams.
His books and supplies arrived yesterday, and looking through them, I think it's going to be a very good year, and he will be well-prepared when he returns to Mill Creek for seventh grade.
One big reason I chose to go with the VLAC Calvert program through the district was because I feel that if the district is going to offer the program to homeschoolers, I would like to know if it's a quality program that will offer a solid option for them. No better way than to try it myself!
I will be sharing feedback on our experience on my Patch blog.
The firm deadline for enrolling is August 16th, although signing up by August 1st was preferred. They still have open spots, if any homeschool families would like to give it a try, too. The details for enrolling are in this article.
You would probably still receive your materials before the start of school, but there could be a delay. The August 16th deadline is firm, though.
