Help and Advise on Begining Homeschooling My Children

I pulled my daughter out the beginning of 5th and my son out the beginning of third. THey are now is 7th and 4th.
Go to hslda.org. I have heard that MI is more lenient than other states in regards to homeschooling rules. This is the site to get you started with the state.
In NC and VA you have to show your HS or college diploma. In NC I had to go through the state dept of non traditional schools. IN VA I had to notify the home district.
Keep your kids in sports Find a support group. Get them into the church youth groups, scouts, IWANAs, music lessons. Mine take art lessons through the park district geared towards homeschoolers.
THere are online math tests Singapore and Saxon both offer them.
I started both mine on Shurley Grammar, it is a very good fundamental grammar text.
Mine also do Singapore Math.
The Latin Road to English Grammar
Bob Jones Science
I have reading books they do for school, my 7th does Greek Myths right now and my 4th grader does Mrs Frisby.
There are total curriculums out there that I have heard great things about.
Bob Jones, Christian Light, Veritas Press, Classical Conversations.
You can do it.

There are almost as many styles, and blended styles, of homeschooling as there are families. My husband and I create curriculum popular with homeschoolers, so we see many of the styles afoot these days. They range from "unschooling" (which is unstructured and follows the child's interests, learning in the process of daily life, completing projects and studies that the child initiates), to an imitation of the public school approach, with the same subjects, schedules, and textbooks, but with only one or a few kids at home. Some families have students who need a mix of styles, or siblings who do best from different approaches.

And while homeschooling can be initiated at any age, or dropped at any age, it's not a good fit for all kids, or all parents. When it is a good fit, the children tend to do as well as or better than their public school peers.

How will you know what style you should follow? Here's a great link to help you narrow that down: http://www.homeschool.com/Approaches/

I'd strongly suggest that right from the start you join a support group in your area that fits the style that you think will serve your family best. That will be one of your best places to get all sorts of questions answered, and to provide companionship and social opportunities for your children. You can find these groups online with a quick google search.

Hi! I pulled my son at the end of 8th grade and my daughter in the middle of 5th and it was the best decision I ever made. My son is now in 12th grade and my daughter in 8th(they were not pulled at the same time). i belong to a secular (not religious, strictly about school) group in Macomb County. These grouups are the best places to post and ask your questions(they are Yahoo groups). Here is the link to Macomb Countys: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Michigan-MacombCountyHomesc...
There are also many religious based groups around, most seem to be in Oakland. Many of us belong to a few groups so we can join in different activities. If you would like, I can send you an email I send out to many of our new people that has just a small sample of curriculum(secular) that is out there and an idea of what our school year looked like a couple years ago. Good luck with your decision and feel free to message me whenever with questions!

Strong 2nd for yahoo groups... fantastic homeschool resource. Like Sammie, I'm on several (from local fieldtrip groups to national / international groups).

My next favorite resources are:
http://www.homeschooldiner.com/
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/ (the links are all on the left... the center and right are mostly commercials)

I pulled my son after only a year in PS... but we still had to do quite a bit of "deschooling"... and then it honestly took about 6 months to really lay most of our problems (stemming from that year) to rest, and to get into the groove. 3 years later, we're still figuring things out. :) I bet we always will be.

Yes, one of the GREAT things about HS'ing is being able to tailor the edu to each child. Reading, in our house for example, is something that gets a multiprong approach over a great deal of time.

Hi! I actually work for an online school that operates in Michigan. It is another option to homeschooling. It is also part of some parent's homeschooling. The company I work for is Aventa (middle and high school). However, we were recently bought by K12 which is an online school for K-12. Both Aventa and K12 operate in Michigan. Just another option to put out there. Good luck with your decision.
www.k12.com

Have you contacted the teachers regarding your children's difficulties? I would think that would be better than waiting for them to initiate the conversation.