homeschool

I'm seriously considering homeschooling my daughter now.  She said she just can't handle the stress of school.  I have friends & relatives who've done wonderful jobs at homeschooling so I'm beginning to gather information before I jump in w both feet.  I've heard about a doctor in a city 2 hours from here who is suppose to be a very thorough reumetologist.  I'll have her doc refer her.  She hasn't gone to school this since last Friday & I don't think she's going again.  I have calls in to the homebound people & they haven't returned my calls in 2 days or the doctor to get the note for medical absenses from school.  A lot of the stress would be reduced if I did homeschool her.  We'll see what happens.  She is still having lots of stomach pains.  She is on D-Ribose from naturepathic doc, she says the aches are better.  

I homeschooled my three children, they are now the ages of 24, 22 and 18. I loved having my children home with me during those homeschool years and I never regretted doing it.

I attended a secular homeschool support group and I contributed essays and chapters to several books on the subject. My philosophy was unschooling which is considered unorthodox but it worked for us.

Over that last three years y youngest child has been ill, and continuing to homeschool her has worked.

Donnaeil

Unless I am mistaken, I believe one can go online to get the core curriculum for each grade level. I believe my youngest son's maladaptation to the world and responsibility came of a choice to "join in" with his persecutors, at public school. I went bankrupt trying to pay for a private school for him, but I fear my efforts came too late. School was horrid for me. I believe it contributed to the manifestation of BiPolar illness and Fibromyalgia. I recall being "sick to my stomach" whenever my parents decided a better place for me to spend my days was in an institution where I was terrified most of the time. Even as an adult, I have "school phobia". Attending my children's Christmas concerts and parent teacher meetings caused me tremendous stress.

I homeschool, and I am very unorganized. I cannot use a little of this curriculum, and a little of that. I know some people who do, and they do a good job of it. But if you are like me, and not good at teaching, and making sure they get what they need, you might want to look into Abeka homeschooling material. We use the DVD program, and it is working very very well.
Vickie

I would be leery of the online academys...they are still like public/private schools (in fact most are considered to be private school) in that they have deadlines and take attendance etc... And (this is me personally, but many who homeschool their children agree), I wouldn't be looking to a school of any kind to teach socialization to my kids...that's one of the reasons I homeschool in the first place. There are several outside sources in which your children can learn how to communicate with others and have friends of varying ages ie; Girl Scouts (colleges love seeing girl scouts on transcripts and they have some pretty amazing programs for girls of all ages), Church (if you attend), homeschool support groups (probably the single most important thing you can do as a homeschooler is to join one of these), these are just a few (there are many other resources out there), and you should be able to still participate in your local school's sports and music programs as well.
As for being organized, I'm pretty much the epitomy of what my mom has always called "an organized mess". LOL I try to be (and like to be) organized, but it's just not really who I am and, fortunately being organized is not a requirement to be a successful homeschooler. There is a huge amount of curricula out there to choose from and not everything will work for you and your child, so it might take some patience and perserverance in your hunt to find what works best for both of you, but honestly I wouldn't let anyone's comments (even mine lol) intimidate or discourage you from deciding on what is best for your child...besides God, only you know your child/children best and you alone are capable of making the right choices for them.
Again, I would look into what your state laws are for homeschooling (some states have far and away better laws than others) and see what resources the web site provides and use that as a starting place, continue to talk to others that you know who currently homeschool, and talk with your daughter about what *she* wants to do... Good luck in your decision and keep us posted on what you decide!

Just a real quick word about your comment "times a wastin"... one of the beauties of homeschooling is that you don't have to go at a pre-determined pace.  If you come to a subject she struggles with, you can spend as much time on it as she needs, and if there's something she gets right away, you can move on and spend that time on something more useful.  Don't stress!!  If she misses a math lesson because she's sick or tired, she'll get to it when her body is feeling better. 

As far as you being a morning person and her being a night owl; you might be able to use that to your advantage...if you were to prepare a schedule of all the work you expect to have her finished with (say by the end of the week) and give it to her, she can go at her own pace (teaching her time management, and independence), but she'll have a clear idea of what she needs to be working on and then she's responsible for choosing when her best time is for learning. 

I also incorporate "home ec" into my school day...we call it chores! lol  My kids also cook, sew, bake etc... everything can be used to teach and life skills are important to learn.  In addition to that we get to give our kids school credit for Bible Study!  Now, I don't put that on our "schedule", but I do count it as a part of their education along with all their volunteer time as community service.

Check out this website...it has some very valuable info. in it regardless of the state you live in and can help point you in the right direction to get started.  Fortunately you live in a state that seems to have some decent hs laws (many don't ).  Good luck!

http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

The school could also probably place her on homestudy. That might be a good option so that she can have access to a set of professional teachers. High school requires a little more specialization than elementary, so if you're not a math genius, then she might benefit from being able to call a "math expert" for a particularly tricky equation.
Since she's in 9th grade, the local community college might have a deal where she can take some classes with them for concurrent credit. That way she would only have to deal with being out and about a few days a week. If she's not up to that, they might also offer online classes.
I didn't like the Abeka books .... they were really boring, but that was ages ago. The best thing to do would be to get a set of textbooks and then supplement them with fun stuff. My mom went to the local teaching supplies store to pick up the kits I mentioned earlier for my brother, for me she would get books of puzzles and games for different subjects. She even found this one book where you cut out a page of fake checks, and made a fake checkbook and then the book presented you with scenarios where you would choose what to buy and write a pretend check for it. (I did this in 8th grade.) I also had voice lessons on tape (yeah this was back when tapes were still used).
I also remember learning how to sew in "Home Ec" ... mending my father's pants pockets. My mom would also tape nature shows and we would watch them for science class. The neatest thing she did was teach us to identify peices of art by movement and artist by taking a bunch of post cards and making a matching game. We were quite young when she did this, so she even had us draw up some works of "art" and added them to the game. As a small child it was so cool to see your OWN drawings next to the great artists and it was encouraging too because you KNEW that no matter what you would at least get one right.
I totally agree that the best thing about home school is being able to set your own schedule. Since she is an evening person, and you are a morning person, I would suggest that when she wakes up you give her a list of what lessons she needs to complete. She has until she goes to bed that night to complete all those lessons. She can do the harder ones while you're awake and if she has questions about them after you've gone to bed she can write the questions down for you. She can leave them in a designated place and you can go over them when you wake up, that way when she gets up, you can answer her questions and give her the next day's list of assignments. I took voice lessons on tape.
What foreign languages will she learn, if any? Since she's musically inclined, she might like Italian. I'm unemployed right now, but I used to teach 9th grade French and Spanish, so if she would like those, I can definitely reccomend some materials.
What kind of art and music is she in to? Does she play any instruments?
The most frustrating thing about homeschool is that you can't get away from your teachers/parents. You're stuck with the same people all the time. That's why I said it was important for her to socialize. If she's involved in the youth group that's great.
Am I remembering right that she has Fibro? I feel so sorry for her. I look back on my high school days now and remember how tired I was back then (10 years ago ... gosh I'm getting old) and wonder if I had it back then and just didn't know about it. It would have been so much nicer to be able to do my schoolwork at night. I have always felt the most productive between 10pm and midnight.