You need not be concerned about accreditation unless your son is at the high school level. If he is, you need to check with your local school to see which homeschool programs they will accept credits from.
You should also find out how to legally homeschool in your state. The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has a site which includes this information along with lots of information on how to get started in homeschooling. The link is below:
http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1
The cost of homschooling varies depending upon the homeschooling curriculum you choose to use. There are expensive and inexpensive homeschool curricula; there are “school in a box” type of curriculum, complete with books and teacher’s manuals. Some people choose to create their own curriculum. Others use books from the library or purchase used curriculum off the internet or from homeschool groups. Still others choose to use an online home education program.
Depending upon which state your child is in, your child can get a “real” high school diploma even if he does not attend an accredited school. For example, in the state of Illinois, home schools are considered to be legal private schools. Therefore, when my child graduates, I can create or buy a diploma for him, complete with our home school name on it.
Do some research on homeschooling via the internet. You will find much available to you and your son.
Hi I am personally using Time4Learning.com as of yesterday along with School of Tomorrow. Time4Learning is 19.95 a month and School of Tomorrow ranges from 300-500 a year. School of Tomorrow is a Christian based program that uses paces, they will send you brochures.
When my daughter reaches the ninth grade I will be using Zion Academy It is very expensive I think but it is on-line and accredited so she will get a “real diploma”. I wish you all the best in your choice to home school your child email if I can help you any further.
I have searched many many websites and other resources you may want to do the same, but after much searching these are the best and most cost efficient choices in my opinion.
I have used several over the years for my children. Last we decided to use an online charter school. They will help you get all the things you need for FREE. The computer, printer, the supplies and books. There are teachers there to help you as well.
http://www2.k12.com/getk12/index.html
My son graduated an online charter school and now attends a private university with scholarships. These schools are accredited the same as any public school. You get a regular diploma and they will help you with getting your children all the state required testing (proficiencies ) that is needed to be done as well. There are other online charter schools all over depending on where you live but k12 seems the best to me at this point. If you need anything else please feel free to email me
What you want is a program they like and that works. You want something they can’t put down.
First, you only need to worry about the accreditation if you’re thinking of putting him back in school, part-way through high school. Colleges don’t require accreditation, and anything lower than 9th grade doesn’t require it. Oddly enough though, high schools often won’t accept credits from a non-accredited source. Harvard will, but your local high school won’t. Wierd.
If this is a possibility (entering high school after homeschooling part way through), you’ll need to coordinate with your son’s school to see what they will require and accept. That decision is made partly on a state level, and partly on a district or even school level. They may even have a program that they recommend, but these programs differ from state to state.
You didn’t mention how old your son is, but if going back part-way through isn’t on the horizon, you can use whatever you like – whatever meets his needs and allows him to prepare for his goals – for his curriculum. There are online schools, boxed curriculum sets, scopes and sequences galore, and individual books on the various subjects. (The last option is what I have found works best for my son.)
If you need the accreditation, it will really depend on what your school will accept; if not, my advice is to google “homeschool curriculum” to see what all is out there, and what would work well for your son. You can also get a (huge) free catalog here that will offer you tons of options, most at a discount: http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php
Hope that helps!