The Wonderful World of Pagan Home-Schooling

So, you’re thinking about home-schooling your little, or not so little, witch. But, you aren’t sure where to start. Well, I’m here to help you through those first confusing steps.
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Pagan Home-Schooling.

Preparation: Before you sign any forms or get carried away informing your local school district that you are going to home school your little darling. There are some things to consider.
 Why do you want to home-school? Are you doing it because you are angry with the school? Or, do you want to spend the best part of your child’s life with them?
Can you devote enough time to home-schooling? Do you work outside of the home? Do you rely on your income to support you and your family? Can you devote the hours between 8am and 3pm to home-schooling, Monday through Friday for the entire school year?
What are the laws regarding home-schooling? What are your legal responsibilities under the Arkansas Home-Schooling Law? How and who do you register your child with when you home school? And when?
What are the curriculum standards? Where do you find curriculum? Does the state provide curriculum for you?
What resources are available to you online? Statewide? Locally?
Do home-schooler’s get a diploma? If so, how, when, and where?
What about distance learning? Online academies? Other school options?
Are there any standardized tests for home-schooler’s? If so, where, how, and when?

So let’s look at these questions one at a time.
1) The reasons for home-schooling are many. The most prevalent reason is freedom of, or from, religion. Closely followed by the desire to see you child get a well rounded education without the restrictions of the public school system. And, yes, some people pull their kids out of public school because of a disagreement with the school system. Just make sure that you are not acting out of anger because your child is the one who will pay for your decision.
2) You must be your child’s teacher. You cannot hire someone or have a friend or family member do the teaching. So, if you rely on working outside the home to survive in today’s economy, home-schooling is probably not for you.
     Home-schooling can be the most rewarding time you spend with your child. But, it is a LOT of work. Not only must you spend most of the day teaching your child his/her lessons, you then have to correct the lessons and ready the lessons for the next day. Be prepared to spend anywhere from four to ten hours a day just actively teaching your child. And then there will be anywhere from one to four hours of correcting and planning.
3) One way to check out the laws concerning home-schooling is with your local school district. Or at the website for the Arkansas Department of Education: Home School Office: http://arkedu.state.ar.us/schools/schools_home.html
4) http://arkedu.state.ar.us/schools/schools_home.html
5) http://arkedu.state.ar.us/schools/schools_home.html
    http://arkedu.state.ar.us/curriculum/resources.html
    http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/
    http://directory.google.com/Top/Kids_and_Teens/School_Time/
    http://www.metacrawler.com/
6) Home-schooler’s do not earn an Arkansas high school diploma. Unless you register your child with a distance school or correspondence course they must take a test and earn a GED (General Equivalency Diploma). In most cases this will not effect whether or not your child will be accepted into a college. However, the military does not accept the GED.
7) Most distance learning schools are Christian and will require your child to take courses in the Christian religion and the Bible to pass each grade level. Distance learning is also quite expensive!
8) The state requires that your home schooled child take a standardized test, at specified sites, in grades 3-9. You should be notified when and where testing takes place.
Just one last thing: Unlike public school where you only need to register your child once in Kindergarten, Home-School students must be registered EVERY YEAR.

Hope this answered some of your questions. Please email me at: annie@arkansaspagans.com with your questions and comments.

Blessed Be!
Annie

*Thematic or Unit Studies*

These study units are another form of curriculum (although I would not
list them as your main curriculum on your ‘Letter of Intent to Home
School’). Unit Studies differ from ‘lesson plans’ in that a unit study
ties many subjects together around a central topic. Each Unit study can
take as little as a week to complete or as long as an entire semester or
school year. The time taken to complete the unit is determined by the
depth to which you wish to study a given topic.

Okay, have I confused you enough? Let’s go over some questions you can
ask yourself as you plan a Unit Study for you Little Witch.

*1. *Topic: This you need to discuss with your child. What is he/she
interested in? What are his or her hobbies? Favorite authors? Animals?
The topic can be whatever your child’s interests are. This is always
your starting place.

*2. *Brainstorm: Sit with your child and think of every sub-topic that
might relate to your chosen topic. For example, if you choose Ancient
Greece as your main topic, then here are some ideas for sub-topics:
Archeology Daily Life Government Philosophy
Architecture Foods Mythology Religion
Culture Geography The Olympics

*3. *Time and Depth: Decide how long you wish to spend on this topic.
Or, decide how in depth you wish to go. By deciding this you will be
able to narrow down which sub-topics and how many you will be able to
cover in the time you choose.

*4. *Subjects: Which subjects will you use? History? Science? English?
Mathematics? Art? Physical education? Which of the sub-topics is best
suited to which subject?

*5.* Resources: What resources are available in your area for you to use
in this Unit Study?
Books Museum
Experts Television
Internet Sites Videos
Library
Make a list of each and every resource, placing them in the most
appropriate subject.

*6. *Schedule: Your schedule can be as detailed as you wish. Some people
just go with the flow and work through each sub-topic as they come up.
Others schedule each and every hour of every school day. Whatever works
best with your child is the way to go.

*Tips: *
Include an art project whenever possible.
Try to take a field trip at least once a month, more if possible.
End each Unit Study with a special event. A play, an art show, a special
theme oriented dinner, etc.
Online you will find many sites where Unit Studies may be purchased.
With a little determination you can find just as many for FREE. Here are
some sites I have found:

*Core Knowledge Foundation*
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/index.htm

*Mr Donn's Lesson Plans & Activities *
http://members.aol.com/DonnAncient/AncientGreece.html#Top

*TheHomeSchoolMom.com*
http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/

*Mrs. Seagraves' QUEST Class and Thematic Units*
http://www.geocities.com/sseagraves/

*Home School Learning Network*
http://www.homeschoollearning.com/

*Lesson Tutor*
http://www.lessontutor.com/

*Harlan Community School District*
http://www.harlan.k12.ia.us/mrsc/manatee_unit_main%20activities.htm

*"The Only Flying Mammal!"*
http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/

*Grades K - 5 Thematic Units*
http://www.okaloosa.k12.fl.us/technology/training/tools/elem/index.htm

*Thematic Units*
http://www.lincoln.k12.ky.us/trt/thematic_units.htm

)O( )O( )O(

Please send me any links you may have found so that they may be included
on this page.
pagan_kids_of_arkansas@yahoo.com
Blessings…Annie