About Homeschool

Homeschool.com

Home School Legal Defense Association
(The HSLDA is a legal support organization that specializes in home school issues and offers some free resources. However, please be aware that they may suggest that you become a paid member to receive full service and information. Users should be aware of their model and proceed accordingly.)

The Home School Mom

Homeschool Central (Additional resources for special needs)

Time4Learning

SEA Homeschoolers (Secular, Eclectic, Academic): They hold conferences, workshops, webinars, and have a very helpful website covering most aspects of homeschooling including transitioning out of high school to whatever comes next.

Most states have Facebook groups for homeschoolers; for example Delaware has groups for all homeschoolers (Homeschool Delaware) and for specifically secular homeschoolers (Delaware Secular Homeschoolers) to offer support, organize live, in person classes, arrange meet ups and park days and field trips, organize laboratory classes, discuss scholarships, local laws, swap materials at lower cost, and more.

The Well-Trained Mind: From the author of “Rethinking School” and featuring some really innovative approaches for different types of learners, this site includes sections for children with learning differences (See the section on “Differences, Disorders, and Disabilities”) and giftedness as well as the average kid. The author, Susan Wise Bauer, literally wrote THE major book on homeschooling (“The Well Trained Mind”) and it is popular with both religious and secular families for providing ideas about thinking about education as well as practical, everyday strategies for making a homeschool plan.  The author is a professor at the College of William and Mary, homeschools her own kids, and was homeschooled herself.  Related to this site The Well-Trained Mind Academy, which offers live online classes in most middle and high school subjects for a pricey, but generally worthwhile fee.  In those classes, students receive graded papers, instructor feedback, and classroom interaction online.  The author has written some specific curricula that seems to suit kids with issues such as dysgraphia and writing difficulty, too— I’m a big fan of her elementary program, “Writing With Ease.”

Online G3 is a site for online homeschool courses for gifted kids (because yes, kids with X and Y variations can also be educationally gifted despite their learning differences— this is called being 2E, or “twice-exceptional”).  This site is unique in that it provides good course descriptions for its live, interactive classes taught by experienced teachers, then allows parents to make the decision about whether a particular class is right for their child— no expensive test or proof is required.  It is recommended that parents be realistic, as the classes will appeal more to gifted kids who tend to “drive the bus” than to reluctant learners, but for the right kid, they are fun, encouraging, interactive, varied, and challenging.

Bravewriter offers online classes and curriculum for purchase for teaching by the parent for helping anxious writers or encouraging the aspiring author. Online classes encourage kids to comment (kindly) on one another’s work, even if a particular student is only typing out one or two-sentence responses at first, and the instructors ask questions to help draw out more detailed answers, conversationally, in a message-board format.

CK-12 is a FREE website with high-quality textbooks available online, with many upper-level books including lab manuals and teacher manuals as well (also free). Because the books are online, they include embedded media. Parents can sign up for a teacher account and create a program to assign to their kids and monitor progress, or do it more informally.

There are other resources available, and one of the parents of an XXY child has offered to help other parents looking for more information. You can reach Jen Driscoll at XXYMidAtlantic@gmail.com  with questions.