My sons are 13 and 15. One is already a Freshman in High School the other is on his way. I live on the Northwest Side of Chicago and I want to know if there are any Homeschool groups in our area.
Home Schooling - 7 Answers
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1
Illinois is a great state in which to home school. The laws are fairly easy with which to comply. That frees you up to focus energy on helping the boys. There are some great home school support groups out your way, too. I used to live in Downer's Grove. To get a good idea of the general home school laws, get links on how to start, and even possibly find some loval support groups, you can start with one site. www.hslda.org You do not need to join them to get information from them to help you start.
2
Well, you should also consider what they want to do. Homeschooling can be very lonely, despite what groups you get involved with, it just isn't the same as you might think. It's slightly complicated to understand if you have never experienced it, but people seem to treat you differently once they find out you homeschool. =/ So I say you discuss this with them before your mind is made up. Although some children are less social, maybe it is good for them and they won't mind. I have no idea, that is your choice. I am just dropping by to say, it isn't as fun as it seems/looks. It becomes progressively difficult as the years go by. I wouldn't particularly advise such a thing for a 13 year old, that is when I personally switched from real school to homeschool. I miss the difference, and I notice I have less of a social outter life than I am used to. I would say you never actually adjust, but for a 15 year old, it is only a few years. I would say that is enough freedom to explore other area's for himself by himself. Isolation can be a great thing, but also a very lonely experience.
3
hey yea there are some home school programs ..like in Lansing ,Illinois there's the American School of Correspondence which is accredited .....http://americanschoolofcorr.com.....go there to get more info......its only 16 or 18 credits .....and really worth it...got any questions feel free to IM me
4
You are so lucky to live in Chicago! IL has virtually no homeschool regulation, tons of programs and projects and plenty of other families that homeschool. You have so many resources for yourself and your children that the most difficult thing you will have to do is decide which ones you won't use. Congratulations!
5
I'm in downstate IL. The Chicago school district has a virtual academy for K-10 (they may have more grades this fall): http://www.k12.com/cvcs/ There are some great HS'ing groups on Yahoo Groups for IL HS'ers. This one is my favorite. It has TONS of HS'ers in Chicagoland: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homeschool-Illinois/ Here is a great place to start when HS'ing in IL: http://www.illinoishouse.org/
6
There are dozens upon dozens of homeschoolers in that area. Goodness. Just search this list for some near you. http://www.home-school.com/groups/IL.html
7
phone ur local education department and they will help u.
