Homeschool World Forum

Hi, we just moved to India and I am seriously considering homeschooling my rising 9th grader. I am a novice to homeschooling. How do I go about this? How do I find a curriculum (advanced math); how are the tests administered and how does a student move through grades? Please help.

I don't know your situation so as long as you are in compliance with any laws that you may be required to abide by the rest is easy. That is of course there aren't any odd restrictions you will have to follow.

You need to pick your curriculum. Do you want Christian based or secular based? Do you want book fashion like you would find in school, DVD's, or a mix of different styles?

I personally have a child getting ready to go into ninth grade and I am going to put him on DVD courses next year. Up till this point I have used books.

Once you get your curriculum you just work through the books. You would give the tests at the end of the chapters just like if he were in public schools. The biggest difference is you can move as fast or slow as your child needs. As far as moving through the grades...when the school year is up if they gave progressed and passed the course then they will move to the next grade. One of the nice parts of homeschooling is that your child can be in different grades in different subjects. For example they could be in 9th grade for science but doing 11th grade math and English.

For advanced math, many homeschoolers love Teaching Textbooks and Chalkdust:

www.teachingtextbooks.com
www.chalkdust.com

Hope this helps!

Hello!
I feel that one of the BEST homeschool math programs for highschool is Saxon Math. Students who do Saxon math score very well on the SATs and ACTs. It is great for review, reinforcement, introducing new concepts, and testing. It is not great on graphics. It is a simple straightforward math text that is not cluttered with colorful cartoons that some educators feel is necessary for making math more appealing to children. Another plus for the advance maths in Saxon, is you can buy the text, the answers, and a key- a book that shows each problem and the steps to solve it.

Good luck, and what a fascinating year your son could be facing! I hope there will time/finances to allow him to do a little traveling there, and experience India. What a great opportunity for your family.

Lorelei

The curriculum you choose to follow also depends on whether you are intending to homeschool for now on, or only homeschool temporarily while you are in another country. If you are planning to go back to public school on your return, you might want to include similar curriculum within your studies.

Here are some of our favorite curriculums....We have tried a bunch over the years and settled on these. Be patiend with yourself, it will take some time to find what is a good fit for your daughter.

Sonlight- Lots of great books-History through Literature
Excellence in Writing-Excellent program
ALEKS Math (i have a link for a one month free trial if you want to try it)
Sequential Spelling (she's probably too old for spelling