Mountains Edge Homeschoolers

Welcome to Mountains Edge Homeschoolers

Update: August 2022:

I'm sure if you landed here you are wondering a bit about our group. I'll start by introducing myself and my family. I'm Melissa, and I'm so pleased to meet you. My husband and I have 4 children whom we have always homeschooled here in Nevada. As of this writing two of our children are now adults, soon to be ages 21 and 19. Our two youngest children, soon to be 16 and our youngest is 13. I started the group many years ago, when our oldest children were much younger with the motivation in mind that it would be a wonderful way for my kids to make great connections and form friendships with other homeschooled children of similar personalities and interests. While Mountains Edge Homeschoolers is no longer active. It has been my pleasure to have met so many wonderful folks over the years who are so passionate about homeschooling their children here in Nevada. It has also been my honor to help folks who have sent me emails with their questions through this website, find some footing here in this great state for homeschooling our children. That is why I keep this website up! I don't want a single family who is curious about homeschooling to miss out on such a great experience! I would offer this encouragement to all parents, anyone can homeschool. Your educational background does not matter. A formerly trained teacher has no leg up on you, the parent. 

Something I have heard often over the years is "I'm not smart enough to do it" or "patient enough". Yes, you are smart enough. And as far as patience. That is a skill we as parents should always work to have with the children whom God has blessed us. No parent is perfect, yet we do our very best and keep love at the center. 

IWe will be keep this website up. Please feel free to drop us an email via the contact page if you have any questions about homeschooling here in Nevada, or if there is anything else homeschool related I may help you with, as our emails are always monitored, we will respond.

Thanks for stopping by, blessings to you and yours.

Frequent homeschool questions we receive:

• How do I start homeschooling in NV if my kids are in traditional school?  You can just remove them from school, however you have 10 days to file a notice of intent form with the school district, which just simply says that you intend to homeschool. That form may be found here. You have no legal obligation beyond mailing the intent forms. They usually send something back, but again if they don't, it's okay, you did your due diligence in sending the form in. Just keep a copy of it for your records. You will send this along with an "educational plan" to the superintendent of the school district. The Nevada Homeschool Network website has all the legal information you need to make sure you are in compliance with the local laws. 
  
  
• Where do I get a curriculum plan or how do I develop one for my children? You can do a cut and paste from the world book typical course of study or create your own. And as far as developing what you will use with your kids. That is entirely up to you. There are a lot of different methods for homeschooling, which you can read about here. My advice is to keep it simple. Especially if you are new to homeschooling.., spend some time just enjoying your kids. Many times parents need to learn that homeschooling not only does not need to replicate what school in a traditional classroom looks like, but it is way more fulfilling when it does not. If you are removing your kids from school I highly recommend reading up on "Deschooling" which can be read about on Joyfully Rejoycing.  My humble advice is to enjoy life as a family and not focus on "lessons", they learn so much in engaged loving interactive families. 
  
  
• Does it cost money to homeschool?  It can be as expensive or inexpensive as you make it honestly. That is entirely dependent on you. Do not let cost be a deterrent. Anyone regardless of income level can homeschool with great success! 
  
  
• Is there required testing? No there is not.
  
  
• What curriculum do I use? And where do I get it? There is no one curriculum that suits all.
  
  My family has used various methods over the years but since my oldest daughter was 10 we opted to follow a method called unschooling. In a nutshell that is less about textbooks and workbooks, less about a set school day with time and hour sit down requirements, and more about seeing the learning in all of our life experiences, be that movies, family outings, family games, video games, church, kids pursing things they are passionate about, us introducing things we have been passionate about to our kids, etc. 
  
  To learn about all the types of homeschooling, I would suggest searching the web, Read over all the different methods of homeschooling (Unschooling, waldorf, Traditional school at home, unit studies, online learning, etc.) look at catalogs, talk to others and see what they use and how they like it and why they like it. Some free resources I recommend: 
  
  *http://rosegate.dreamhosters.com/rc-books.html (this is based off well written books used in the curriculum by Dr. Robinson who created a curriculum he could use to homeschool his children full time after his wife passed away.)
  
  *https://oldfashionededucation.com/fullcurriculum.htm (a really nice website that puts a schedule all together for your based on tons of free books available) 
  
  *https://www.gutenberg.org  (tons of free books that are so well written! Can be downloaded to any E-reader or read on the computer or tablet). 
  
  ---Not free yet very cost effective - More traditional workbook based approach: ---
  
  https://christianlight.org/shop-curriculum
  
  ___Non traditional fun way to cover math and language arts:___
  
  http://www.lifeoffred.com  (This is one of my favorite resources! And you get so much more than "just" math and just "language arts" in these books. And they are non consumable which makes them a huge bargain for when you have multiple kids or for resale when you are done using them. 
  
  ****I highly recommend the website: https://getalifemedia.com/video/video.shtml it has excellent resources that can be used in your homeschooling - so many free videos! And also there is a roku app, fire app, and Ipad app. 
  
  
• How do they graduate? You graduate them when they have completed the course of study as you see fit.
  
  
• What about College? So college is not an essential to have a good job. However since folks ask about college concerns, some teens start right into college while still technically in the high school years. Take a look at this website which provides some information on that: www.nocollegedebt.net.  Many do distance college degrees, trade schools, or learn a trade or career path on the job.  So far we have graduated two of our four children. Both our older girls have graduated at age 17. 
  
  
• What about socialization? I believe most people are asking how do they make friends? I would say they make friends just like we adults do out in the world, based on real world interactions with other people in various ways. But no it won't happen from them being in a traditional classroom with 20 - 30 same age peers, and sometimes even then it's hard on kids in that setting. And yes it may take some effort on your part as the parent. My humble suggestion is that the family relationships matter the most and to foster those. Next would be look to folks closest to you.. in your own neighborhood. Be neighborly, be friendly, get to know people around your immediate area. Get plugged into a bible teaching church, Sunrise bible church on East Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson is a fantastic church. 
  
  Also you can take younger kids to your local park.... be friendly... interact with other parents at the park... you would be surprised how many families here homeschool but don't participate in homeschool groups. I have found over the years that the bulk of homeschoolers here do not tend to join homeschool groups per say.  And if you are wondering how they learn social skills such as social norms, values, and behaviors... they learn that from watching you their parents. More is caught then taught, so they will learn from how you live your life in front of them, how you treat others, how you live out your faith and your values. There is a great book called The Socialization Trap by author Rick Boyer. It is written from a Christian perspective... there are great concepts in there about socialization regardless of your religious beliefs. How kids learn and Socialization are two things some parents seem to misunderstand and struggle with the most which prevent them from even exploring homeschooling. I can assure you it's a lot easier than you think it is and so rewarding! 
  
  
• What if I want to read more about homeschooling? Some great authors to look to are John Taylor Gatto (a former school teacher who taught in the classroom for 30 years). Some of his best loved books are Dumbing Us Down and Weapons of Mass Instruction. And then there is John Holt who wrote books such as How Children Learn and How Children Fail, and Teach Your Own.

Additional information on homeschooling in Nevada: http://nevadahomeschoolnetwork.com/

Please do not depend on any advice on this site for legal advice. As homeschool laws do change we encourage you to check the homeschool laws in Nevada to be sure you are in compliance.