Homeschooling has lots of advantages, especially if the children can be networked with others who are pursuing the same path. Take, with a grain of salt, the comments which lump all homeschoolers together. As mentioned elsewhere, there are many reasons to homeschool, but expect to pay much more than you would for a "public" education... this is an investment in the children. I have three children who have never attended "real" school (eldest is 14).
One of the neat things about homeschooling, if you have a technical bent, is that you can really work together *with* your child to solve a tricky problem. You are much more engaged in the whole process. And they get to share a dynamic and passionate side of your personality. There are plenty of engineering, space, biology, programming, and math puzzles/contest/investigations available for free.
My only meaningful contribution to this thread is the following: the "good stuff" is more plentiful as your children become more advanced.
o Online biology text book. Neat. http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/ BioBookTOC.html
o Look at the recently discontinued QX3+ USB
microscope on EBay. This is billed as a toy,
but actually is a really sophisticated
microscope camera that directly attaches
to your computer. Lots of neat material
about it are to be found at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/intelplay/livev iew/index.html
Slashdot Mirror
Homeschooling has lots of advantages, especially ... this is an investment in the
/ BioBookTOC.html
v iew/index.html
if the children can be networked with others
who are pursuing the same path. Take, with a
grain of salt, the comments which lump all
homeschoolers together. As mentioned elsewhere,
there are many reasons to homeschool, but expect
to pay much more than you would for a "public"
education
children. I have three children who have never
attended "real" school (eldest is 14).
One of the neat things about homeschooling, if
you have a technical bent, is that you can
really work together *with* your child to solve
a tricky problem. You are much more engaged in
the whole process. And they get to share a
dynamic and passionate side of your personality.
There are plenty of engineering, space, biology,
programming, and math puzzles/contest/investigations available
for free.
My only meaningful contribution to this thread
is the following: the "good stuff" is more
plentiful as your children become more advanced.
o Online biology text book. Neat. http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK
o Look at the recently discontinued QX3+ USB
microscope on EBay. This is billed as a toy,
but actually is a really sophisticated
microscope camera that directly attaches
to your computer. Lots of neat material
about it are to be found at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/intelplay/live
Good luck with things.
Ken