This is the first in a series of homeschooling articles as we officially begin when school starts in September 2007. Some families just know they are going to homeschool their child. This could be based on their religious beliefs or own personal experience with the school system. Others come upon homeschooling half way through their public school education, as is the case with my family. There was never any need for me to form an opinion on homeschooling as it never applied to me and I did not come across any families who were using this method to teach their child, whether they be on the Autism Spectrum or not.

I have found that many people, professional acquaintances and other parents have rather rigid views of homeschooling, without ever having experienced it themselves. It was a surprise to me to find so many people wanting to express their opinion on my decision to homeschool my son for at least the sixth grade, which is the first year of Middle School.

I have also come to find many families with children on the Autism Spectrum homeschool their children. I have belonged to dozens of online support groups for seven years now. There are parents that mention they homeschool their children, but since I never made note of these I was not aware of just how many are out there in the United States and other countries. I have since joined many groups with the focus on homeschooling and curriculum.

This is just the beginning as the school year has not yet started, so follow along and learn about homeschooling as I share this experience and the terminology that goes along with this method of educating our children. This is all based on my research online and what I have enrolled my son in. In the coming weeks and months I will share how my son feels about the experience and how challenging the curriculum is, what the community outings are like and how we blend into the homeschooling life.

My nonverbal son Matthew will be entering the fifth grade at the same school he has attended for the past three years within Los Angeles Unified School District. This is with the same teacher, aide and students with all new therapists this year.

During the year Nicholas and I will visit some Middle School campuses to find a fit for Matthew and determine whether Nicholas will attend or continue with homeschooling. Nicholas has wanted to attend the Los Angeles Zoo High School Magnet for several years now. We will visit that campus this year to find out what we can do to help secure a placement there in the coming years.

Even though I was going through the enrollment process with California Virtual Academy, I went on a book buying frenzy for me to learn about homeschooling and then curriculum books for Nicholas to practice with over the summer.

Books on Homeschooling

The Homeschooler's Guide to ...
Teaching at home - A new approach to tutoring children with autism and asperger syndrome

Home Educating our Autistic Children - paths are made by walking
The Homeschooling Handbook - from Preschool to High School
Choosing Home - Deciding to Homeschool with Asperger's Syndrome

Curriculum Books for Student

Reading Skills - Grade 6 - www.flashkidsbooks.com
Making the Grade - Everything your 6th grader needs to know - www.barronseduc.com
Spelling Skills - Grade 6 - www.flashkidsbooks.com
Nonfiction Reading Practice - Grade 6 - www.evan-moor.com
Everything you need to know about World History - www.scholastic.com
World Geography - Middle Grades - www.incentivepublications.com
Problem Solving - Middle Grades - www.incentivepublications.com

Essays and Term Papers - www.quickstudy.com

Magazines

Home Education Magazine - one year consists of six issues for $26.00, you can read free content from the current issue online.

Practical Homeschooling $19.95 for one year subscription. Articles have included - the rules of high school are changing, third grade on a shoestring and how to put a little more exercise into your day.

Curriculum

k12

Curriculum Associates

Robinson Self-Teaching Curriculum

HomeSchool Reviews families review various curriculums. An extensive listing of curriculum available.

Time 4 Learning - I get their informative newsletters.

The Teaching Company

Language Learning software for homeschoolers


Free Supplies

Free Homeschool yahoo group - share what you have to give to other parents and find books of interest for your own homeschooling needs.

Book Samaritan - they accept used books, workbooks,flash cards, kits, DVDs, CD-ROMS and school supplies. If you are a homeschooler and are having difficulties obtaining
curruculum due to financial constraints contact them for supplies from their ministry.

Lesson Plans

Free Online Books

School Express - free reading ebooks, free software, free puzzlemaker, make awards plus free worksheets.

WOWIO - free books to download, five per day. Available to US residents only. Membership is free.


Support Groups

Los Angeles Area HomeSchool Directory

Local Homeschool

SoCalHomeschooling - yahoo group

AS you like it yahoo group - AS You Like It is a secular list for parents who homeschool, or who are thinking about homeschooling, children with Aspergers Syndrome, HFA, or PDD.

Aut-home-fam yahoo group - We are a group of diverse families who have chosen to homeschool their child(ren) with autism.

Autism Homeschool yahoo group - We are parents who homeschool and have children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

California Homeschool - this does not pertain to autism, only homeschooling.

CAVA-K-12 - this yahoo group is for anyone using k12 or Virtual Academy.

CAVA-Parenting teacher group - another yahoo group I belong to.

HomeSchool Advice and Support Yahoo Group

HS-Plus Yahoo group - This list is for families who are Home-Educating special needs children.

k12 users yahoo group this has been the most beneficial in learning about the k12 curriculum and when it arrives and the online school information.

SoCal Homeschool Enrichment yahoo group - This group is for homeschooling families in Greater Los Angeles and surrounding Southern California communities, who are interested in getting together for specialized classes and other interesting activites.

Websites

Homeschooling Children who AUT to be home - A wealth of information from Tammy Glaser who has been homeschooling her daughter Pamela who has autism. This is one of the first pages I started at for reading about homeschool a child on the spectrum.

The Autism Life

The Home School Zone

Methods & Styles Directory

Homeschooling Aspergers Blogspot

Homeschool.com

How to homeschool

Discovery Education, United Streaming - Video and Online Teaching Resources

Disneyland Youth Education Series

Grade Level Skills Help Page - Internet 4 classrooms

The Math Forum at Drexel University - having fun with math while learning.

Homeschool Buyer's Co-Op - 16,030 families and growing. Membership is free, get discounts and deals.

The Homeschool Shop - free downloads, ideas and monthly specials

The Parent Teacher - Empowering Parents who educate their own children.

HIS Place for Help in School - Resources for the parents and teachers of special needs students.

Teaching Children with autism - helping you put the pieces together, services are available nationwide and internationally via phone and/or email consultations. Quarterly educational assessments for homeschooling families. Parent coaching in ABA with step-by-step teaching, RDI,verbal behavior and social skills training.

Life without school blog

Edutopia - The George Lucas Educational Foundation. They also have a magazine.


Organizations

Home School Association of California

National Home Education Network

The Mentor Network

Home School Legal Defense Association - HSLDA

California Homeschool.net

Legal Information

Teaching Standards - a free service

HomeSchool Copyright - help fight copyright ignorance

Standardized Testing and Reporting Program


Supplies

Scientifics Online - weather kits, microscopes and more

Spelling Worksheets

Access Science

Lapbooking

What is Lapbooking

Hands of a child for all your lapbooking supplies.

Yahoo group

Making Homemade books

Mini-books for fifth grade

Homeschool Share Lapbooks

Lapbooking resources - there are directions on doing flip flaps and folds in pdf format.

Notebooking Pages - free & affordable notebooking pages for any activity, subject or style of homeschooling.

Lapbooking vs Notebooking - explains the differences with visuals and samples.


Unschooling

What is unschooling?

Christian Based

Christian Homeschooling Aspies this is a yahoo group

National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network - NATTHAN Christian Families Homeschooling Special Needs Children

Sonlight - Christian Homeschool Curriculum

Activities

FairKids Discovery Club Field Trips - Los Angeles County Fair, Sep 7-30, 2007. Reservations can be made online.

Homeschool Day at the Long Beach Aquarium September 12 and 13. Group rate of $6 per participant.

Southwest Home Educators Network Southwest Home Educators Network Announces First Annual Not Back to
School Days at Disneyland for September 24 and 25, 2007. SHEA is a brand new organization, and will offer services to six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

September 29th, Free Museum Day - Museum Day is a nationwide event taking place on Saturday, September 29, 2007 where participating museums and cultural institutions across the country offer free admission to Smithsonian readers and Smithsonian.com visitors, allowing for one day only, the free-admission policy of Smithsonian's Washington, D.C.-based facilities to be emulated across the country.

Home School Days at Legoland - $17 admission (limit 6 people) per person on Mondays. This offer is available exclusively to eligible Home School families on the following Mondays: Sept. 10, 17, 24; Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29; Nov. 5, 12, 19, 26; Dec. 3, 10; Jan. 7; Feb. 4; Mar. 10; Apr. 14; May 12 and May 19 during the 2007-2008 school year. You need to register 2 weeks in advance and print out the e-coupon.

Home School Days application for Monterey Bay Aquarium Home School Days: Sept. 10 (SOLD OUT), Oct. 1 (SOLD OUT), Oct. 15 (SOLD OUT), Nov. 5 (SOLD OUT),
Dec. 17, 2007 (AVAILABLE)

My home-schoolers won't miss any socializing - Gainesville Times article of 8/31/07







Educational Autism Tips for Families 71 page resourceful ebook for families entering the school system with a recent autism diagnosis. Find out what issues take place over the course of a school day and meet these challenges head on.