Considering Homeschooling-whats the Process?

Updated on August 23, 2018
B.D. asks from Lincoln, NE
12 answers

Hello, I am considering homeschooling my oldest daughter (and eventually the younger 2 girls). However, we are new to Nebraska and I have NO idea what the process would be to begin homeschooling! Please help me!

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So What Happened?

I received several wonderful responses from some great ladies who gave me some helpful info. i was disapointed (sp) tho to receive a couple of responses of people discouraging me from homeschooling my children based simply on their past experiences. i never asked for anyone's personal opinion about homeschooling, simply if anyone had any info that would help me start the process. so, THANK YOU to all of you supportive ladies who gave me info instead of your personal opinion on homeschooling!

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T.M.

answers from Sioux Falls on

Hi B.,
I work for Alpha Omega Academy which is a Homeschool curriculum. We are located in Iowa. You have a couple choices when going through us. You can purchase curriculum on your own and home school your students on your own, or you can register with the Academy. In the Academy you will get assign an Academy Service Rep. We will get the curriculum sent out that you need, the plus side is that we do all the grading and record keeping for you. When your student is ready to graduate they can graduate through us. They have a graduation ceremony and they will receive a diploma as well. We do have other students that go to the Academy that are from Nebraska. I know i haven't given you a whole lot to go off of but if it sounds at all interesting you may call and speak to one of our enrollment specialist. Call 1-800-682-7396 and just ask to speak to an enrollment specialist, they will give you all the answers you need.
T.

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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

I would start by contacting the Nebraska Department of Education. Each state has different requirements, but most I believe have paperwork that will need to be submitted by a certain date to indicate that you are educating at home, a required number of hours of instruction, and certain tests that the children will need to take at different times. You may need to prove a required level of education to qualify to be their teacher. Again, states have different rules (Minnesota is quite stringent, Illinois has almost no requirements, for example).

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A.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

I live in MN, so I can't completely help with the process that Nebraska requires, but look for a group in your state/area that can guide you. In MN we have an organization called MACHE (MN Assoc of Christian Home Educators.) If you can't find a large organization like this, look for a homeschool co-op, a group of parents who are already doing this that can help you work through the process. I would start by doing a web search. IF that doesn't help, call local churches and see if they have/know of a homeschool co-op. If you want to talk more, feel free to email me. I am by no means an expert, but would love to help you on your journey. Good luck!

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E.E.

answers from Omaha on

Here is a website that I think would be helpful for you!

http://www.omahahen.org/.

I am not sure if you are in the Omaha area or not but they are having a New Homeschooler Orientation Meeting. Here is the information on it...

Monday, March 8th 6:30-8:30pm
Gretna City Hall
204 N. McKenna Ave.
Gretna, NE 68028

Hope that helps! Good for you for considering homeschooling!

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S.H.

answers from Green Bay on

Hi,
I have been homeschooling my son his whole life, he is currently in tenth grade. I also lead a homeschool group. I live in Michigan. check into this homeschool e-mail list, it's one of the best out there and ask them. The Home Education Mailing List <____@____.com> I don't know the current regulations for Nebraska.
Best of luck,
S.
feel free to contact me at ____@____.com if you like for more tips.

Updated

Hi again,
Just to add a bit after the last post about not homeschooling. Many children do not homeschool highschool and you can get scholarships even if you homeschool. It's pretty early in the game yet to worry about it at this point. More and more colleges are accepting homeschool transcripts. I'm sorry for the gal that missed out but I'm glad it's better now for us homeschoolers.
S.

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J.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

'

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S.M.

answers from Waterloo on

i started homeschooling my daughter this year (7th grade) and am very glad i did. check with the local school system to see if they have a home school assistance program. mine does and they have a resource room of various homeschool curriculum items that i can check out. saves a bunch of money. there are also a million websites to order from. it depends if you're looking for christian-based material. schools can't carry that but there's alot to be found! i would suggest using course selections from different sources til you find what you like. each child learns different also. try www.learningthings.com. they carry many programs and you just order what you want from each instead of all abeka or saxon or whatever. i am in iowa and each state is different so definitely check your local laws. also, consider dual-enrolling with the school so they have the option of joining sports, music, etc. i could even put my daughter in a class i don't want to teach if i want to, like math or whatever. i could go on and on so if you need more info just let me know. good luck!

S. m

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M.M.

answers from Jacksonville on

Go to your states education website. IN NC we have to let the state know we are homeschooling by filling out some official paperwork.
I use the book The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. It outlines everything to do and which days to do it and times from pre-K to senior year. It also gives suggestions on curriulums to use.
This website gives legal advice by state.
http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1
Hoeschooling is a huge commitment. Mine are in 3rd and 6th. I have my 6th grader taking an online science course right now.
Good Luck!!

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

every state has different rules and requirements in regard to home-schooling so I would look for a nebraska based parent organization and also a list of applicable laws. Your local library or a web search may be able to help you. Also look for a local home school network so that you can find others in your area. Are you unhappy with the public school system in your area or have you always wanted to home school? Perhaps if the transition for your daughter is not going smoothly and she is unhappy, you should talk to the teacher or the counselor and try to uncover or solve the problem.

S.B.

answers from Jackson on

Oh please don't do that! Leave them in school, unless there is something endangering them there, of course. Take it from me... I was homeschooled. I attended public school until high school. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life! I thought it would be fun. Some of my friends were doing it to graduate early, etc. So I begged my parents to let me. What a mistake. I could have been Valedictorian. I could have gotten a scholarship to any university I'd have wanted to go to. But what actually happened? Afterward, come to find out, homeschooling was not accredited in the state I live in, though I think it may be now. So I ended up having to get my GED after all was said and done. It's something that embarrasses me to this day. (I'm 26 now.) And no scholarships, meant I went to community college. Don't deprive your children of the opportunity to have a better future.

K.Y.

answers from Washington DC on

Hello,

Probably by now you've already made your decision. However other people could find this as well and might be wondering the same thing.

First, look at Facebook groups. There are a ton of other people just like you. Some are directly in your shoes. Others were there 5 years before you. I'm sure it's the same there as here in Michigan, the homeschool community is strong and eager to help. You'll find tons of local parents like you.

Then look for help on things you can't teach. Common ones are Karate, Music, and in my case I teach Robotics / Coding etc.

Sometimes you'll find small co-ops. Sometimes you'll find larger established groups like mine.

If you can't find help on Robotics let me know. We have a contact page and also a lot of information on our website about how you can get started. You don't have to be an Engineer like me. You can help your kids learn Coding with Scratch if they're young. Or get them started on stuff like in our website.

https://www.kinvert.com/

I want to put this in again because I think it's the most important. More important than my site or any professional educator. Find other parents like yourself. They'll so happily help you. They can't help you like I can with Coding, but they can help you in 100 ways that I can't. In my experience you'll most likely find them in Facebook groups.

Hope this helps :)

K.

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