Should I be Concerned About More State Laws for Homeschooling?

I have two boys in two different grade levels. Would it be okay to teach them at the same grade levels for some of the courses they can both do together?

It is always a good idea to teach two of your children together in a subject they can both handle together. Sometimes a younger one can move up a grade level in math, or an older one should move down a grade level on a subject that would be beneficial for him.

Some subjects at a higher grade level can be learned easily by a younger student, such as history and science, especially when taking lessons with an older sibling. On the other hand, an older student may benefit by taking or reviewing a subject with a younger student, especially in subjects as math, grammar, or reading.

Adjust the program to fit the child is a Seton motto. One of the best features of homeschooling is to be able to adjust the curriculum based on the student’s ability, not on the age or grade level.

Our state is passing more regulations for homeschooling families. Should I be concerned?

Join your state homeschooling association.

The leaders stay informed about any potential legislation, either statewide or otherwise. They stay in contact with state legislators.

Many state homeschool organizations have online newsletters to keep parents informed. Having your children enrolled in an accredited program like Seton helps to keep local school districts satisfied.

However, we encourage you to join your state and local organizations, not only to keep informed, but also to support those who are constantly working to protect parents’ rights, and to work against any unfair local or state regulations.

Also, consider joining the Home School Legal Defense Association. Go to their website for details of their benefits and the resources that they offer.

Families enrolled with Seton receive a discount on their HSLDA membership. Contact us at counselors@setonhome.org for that discount code.

My high school son finds it hard to finish his six subjects in one day. What can we do?

Rather than work on six courses every day, some high school students find it easier to work on only two courses at a time. In this way, they can finish each subject in two or three months. When those are finished, they move on to two more courses for the next two or three months. This works better for some students.

Using this method, students can take the morning to work on one of their subjects, and then after lunch, use the afternoon to work on the other subject. The goal is to do about a week’s worth of one subject in the morning and a week’s worth of the other, in the afternoon.

Math is harder to do like this though and if a student chooses this method, they may want to do one math lesson a day in addition to their other two daily courses.

How can I be sure about which assignments, especially for English, need to be sent to Seton for grading?

The first thing to do as your children begin any course is to look at the Quarterly Report Forms for each subject. While some courses are dependent entirely on the parent grades (music and art, for example), most of the courses (English, religion, and math, for example), have both the parent and the Seton test grades.

Take a close look at the lower half of each quarter report form, and notice which student assignments, tests, or book reports need to be sent to Seton.

I want to go to daily Mass, but how can I do that with so many responsibilities at home?

Many parents take their children with them to daily Mass. If this is not possible, the second-best thing is to attend Mass yourself; you need the many graces from receiving Jesus in Holy Communion. The blessings and spiritual help you receive will make your home-life and teaching responsibilities easier.

If you cannot do that, daily Mass is on EWTN three times during the day which will allow you and your children to join the Church in the daily Mass prayers. In addition, the Rosary with children is on EWTN every afternoon.

What else can we do to strengthen our children in the Catholic Faith?

A great way to help children understand what it means to be a practicing Catholic is to have a conversation each morning about the life of the saint-for-the-day. My boys always looked forward to hearing the latest story, and they especially liked hearing and pronouncing the unusual names of the saints.

At Seton, we say our noon prayers together, and we remember to pray to the saint for the day on behalf of all our Seton families. Please keep Seton in your daily family prayers.