Homeschooling in Texas

Hi, my name is Alison and I homeschool in Texas. I am Texas born and raised, never lived anywhere else.  I am mom to three kids, two boys and a girl.  I’m also mom to five very spoiled cats.  I work from home. I live with my great-grandfather and we (my kids and I) take care of him.  I’m also working on finishing my degree, which is slow going...half-time at best.

If you have questions about homeschooling in Texas you can find me in the Texas State Forum.

Texas Homeschooling Resources

 My Favorite Homeschooling Resources

Until just very recently I was a member of HSLDA, mainly because of my own paranoia that the school district would challenge our homeschooling. I don’t use a lot of sites that are Texas-only, since we really have no requirements to maintain, but I do use the homeschooling forums at workplacelikehome.com and have several online buddies who I’ve known for many years at villageplace.net – we have a homeschooling forum there too. It was with very much thanks to a Village Place homeschooler that I finally got up the courage to withdraw my middle child from public school and "take the plunge."

We also use FreeWorldU’s flashcard system and hang out in the library quite a bit. I have looked into joining THSC (Texas Home School Coalition). Right now I receive their magazine, but I’m waiting until we get back on our feet to look into membership. I have also joined several really wonderful Yahoo groups of other homeschoolers and have picked up a lot of good resources there.

Texas Provides Freedom in Homeschooling

Texas provides one of the best opportunities for freedom in homeschooling. I like being able to follow our own path without having to get “permission” from anyone for the subjects/studies we choose to do.

Texas basically has no real requirements for homeschooling. We are not required to make any notification, have our curriculum approved, submit to standardized testing, or make any reports to the authorities. The only notification we’ve ever made was when I formally withdrew my kids from the public schools, I showed up with a letter (which I received the template from HSLDA) and indicated I wished to withdraw them. In the case of my daughter I requested to meet with her teacher and the administrator of the school, which I was probably not required to do but I did it anyway.

Time4Learning Provides The Flexibility We Need

The way each family homeschools is always unique; I use the mix and match program. :-) My daughter (11 years old) is currently enrolled in T4L again. I started them all off in T4L in the very beginning, supplementing very little. Now we use a mix of units I've compiled from around the Internet for the older two and primarily T4L for my daughter. We also spend a lot of time in the library, and have found a wealth of information there to supplement what we get from the units. I also use television programs to supplement as well.

My job is very flexible – I just have to put in 8 hours between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. We usually start somewhere around 7:00 a.m. The back bedroom in our house is set up for the computers, since I won’t allow computers in the kids’ bedrooms. My daughter loves Time4Learning since it is so entertaining. She’s constantly grabbing me to show me something (and it’s good that she sits right next to me). We’d tried an online public school but it didn’t provide the flexibility we needed. I like the fact that we can school anywhere with a computer and Internet, even in a hotel room. My boys have both moved on to high school level work now. In addition, we also use the Advantage Software for Elementary, Middle School, and High School, and the OpenCourseWare options from various universities (such as MIT).

Time4Learning appeals to a wide range of learning styles. Our online learning materials are especially well-suited to children who are visual or kinesthetic learners. These children can take advantage of Time4Learning's interactive, multi-media materials.

Children like using the computer to learn. It's a convenient, interactive homeschool resource that provides a welcome change each day to paper-and-pencil workbooks and textbook-based lessons. Parents like that it tracks progress and helps children advance by clearly presenting and reinforcing each lesson.

Time4Learning's self-paced, modularized lesson plans allow you to move forward and back through the materials whenever you want. You can skip lessons that teach concepts your child has already mastered and repeat those he or she has not. The choice is yours. With Time4Learning, you are always in control. Time4Learning is proven effective with homeschoolers, has a low monthly price, is easy-to-use, and provides a money-back guarantee so you can make sure that it works for your children, <a href="http://www.time4learning.com/program/faq.html#guarantee">satisfaction guaranteed</a>! Sign up for Time4Learning as part of your overall homeschool program.


If you have any questions or comments about homeschooling in Texas, why not contact me on the TX forum at: ah1220.