Advice and Info About Homeschooling.

You do need to register for home schooling as that includes you reading a book so you can do so. If you are going to keep her home schooled. If you are just getting her ready for preschool and kindergarten, teach her how to write her name.
Along with that, have her learn the letters of the alphabet by reading them. As she learns...have her point as you both say
the letter. After she has her name down, have her trace other letters, numbers and shapes.

I'm not sure about homeschooling older kids, but check out www.letteroftheweek.com for a great, FREE preschool curriculum. Also, www.starfall.com is wonderful for pre-reading and reading skills. As soon as my daughter could operate a computer mouse, I was able to work this site in as part of our daily "school" routine.

Go to homeeducatorsresource.com-- there is a wealth of info and if you click on the left side where it says New Homeschooler, you will find lots of links to help you get started.

Luckily, Texas is one of the easiest states to homeschool. You do not have to notify anyone of your intention to homeschool and your daughter can work at whatever grade level her abilities allow. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is that she can move ahead in those areas that come easier to her, and take more time to work on those things that are more difficult for her.

For preschool, I recommend Letter of the Week ( www.letteroftheweek.com ) and Before Five in a Row ( www.fiveinarow.com ). LOTW is a free cirriculum and BFIAR is a gentle, fun cirriculum using childrens books as its base. There is a ton of info on homeschooling on the internet. Search and read everything you can. Also, look for a homeschool support group to join. You can get a lot of support and info from them.

I am just starting to research homeschooling myself so I don't have much experience, but I can tell you what I have found most helpful. I would check with your library first because they probably have a few books on how to homeschool, choosing curriculum, etc. For my 2 year old, we are just doing Letter of the Week and using a book called Slow and Steady Get Me Ready. I thought Lisa Welchel's book "So You're Thinking About Homeschooling" was a good overview on the many different ways you can homeschool. I thought "The Well Trained Mind" was also an excellent book. I am not sure where you are located, but several private schools have homeschool programs as well for school age children. Faith Christian Scool in Grapevine has a one day a week program for enrichment activities (music, art, etc), and there is a private school Coram Deo Academy that is sometimes referred to as a "homeschool academy". Coram Deo has 2 or 3 day a week programs with the remainder of the work done at home. They select curriculum and do all grading and record keeping. They have locations in Flower Mound, Dallas, and Carrolton.

you need to do a search for home preschooling on the internet, there are HUNDREDS of sites out there with curriculums that are from the very planned to the very ..well more not planned (more flexible). One source of homeschooling that has received rave reviews is www.k12.com I have a TON of links because I home preschool my 2 year old son... I used www.handsonhomeschooling.com as they provided a day by day breakdown and fun activities and we're having a ball so far but there are hundreds out there... seriously. It can get QUITE overwhelming.

My mom homeschooled my brother and I. She used A Beka and other types of homeschool curriculum. http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/ Texas starts with state mandated skills in Kindergarten. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/teks/ Here is a link for your questions too http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=... . You can also google!

J.,
I know exactly where you’re coming from! I started homeschooling my daughter 3 years ago (She was 3 yrs old).
We decided to do it because private school is just too expensive; and after working for public schools for many years I just didn't want to expose my daughter to it.
It's actually easier to start while she is young than to do it after she has been introduced to public school.
Texas has absolutely no regulation for homeschooling. Whatever you do don't ever fill out anything from the public schools or even talk to them about attending school publicly. Join the HSLDA for legal support if necessary. Texas has a nasty record of unjust harassment of homeschooling families ( http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1 ). The HSLDA is a legal organization that protects homeschoolers rights and lobbies congress for the benefit of homeschoolers.
If you plan on letting your other two children attend public school while your youngest daughter homeschools be aware that the public schools may get wind of it and try to convince you need to change your mind.
Though such a situation is not uncommon (families that are split between homeschooling and attending regular school). Many families with special needs children Homeschool their children while their siblings attend some sort of school.
As for Homeschool groups. It is NOT essential to join a group! I haven't yet and we still find plenty of socialization and activities with other homeschoolers without being part of one. The more metropolitan area you live in the easier it is to function without a group. I haven’t joined a group because too many are religious or very unorganized. I don't like the idea of signing a statement of faith because I want my daughter to be exposed to a wide variety of cultures and beliefs. The non-religious groups I have sampled have all been unlearning or natural learners which is not necessarily my philosophy (I'm relaxed but we do curriculum for core subjects and follow a schedule for them). It seems that in the DFW area there are very few non-religious Homeschool groups that are not unlearners or natural learners (If you know of any let me know!). Though a friend of mine is currently in the early stages of trying to make her own group for non-religious, non-unlearners/ natural learners homeschoolers. If you are interested in it I can refer you to her.
As for curriculum. You really don't need to worry about that until she is 5 or 6. At her age the best thing you can do is let her play and read to her a lot. Join play groups to give her social time and help her develop friends. It wouldn't hurt to find a good daycare to send her to for an hour a day so she can play with other children.
When you read to her be sure to discuss what you read and bring it up through out the day. It will help improve her memory and you can use it as a base for pretend games.
You can also teach her letters and numbers but I would refrain from doing it in any way that she finds uninteresting.
You can also join yahoo groups. That is predominantly where I get most of my information and join up for field trips, play groups, and co-op classes ect. Liberal/FTC and DFWSHSC are good ones to join.
You can e-mail me if you have any questions.
RPocai

____@____.com

J.,
Hello! I'm a home school mom to 5. I've got a 19, 16, 14, 14, and 3 yr old. The oldest has graduated from home schooling and the second will in about 6 months. The twins are in high school and my 3 yr old daughter of course, hasn't started formal education yet. She is doing some preschool type stuff though. She knows a lot of sign language, almost all of her alphabet and the sounds, and can count to 10. The best thing for a 3 yr old is to read to them a LOT, include them in your daily routines, teach them how to write their name if their motor skills are ready for that, and in a fun way...teach them their letters and numbers. Let them spend time outdoors and talk to them about everything you are doing.
In Texas you have it very easy. The only thing you are required to do is to teach Good Citizenship, Math,Reading, Spelling and Grammar and they must be in a visual form. You can get a copy of the law for texas home schoolers on www.hslda.org
If you have any questions feel free to write if you'd like.

Several of my friends homeschool. I do not but if I were going to, I would definately join this homeschool network. you do not have to be a member to join:
http://www.fellowshipchurch.com/homeschool?FCW=tll0feask6...
Good luck,
T.

I saw that you were asking about funding for homeschool materials. I don't know that you can get funding, but I do know of a group where you can get homeschooling materials for only postage. It is a group of homeschoolers offering or requesting homeschooling items free (plus postage). I was able to get almost everything I needed from the group our first year for less than $20 postage. Plus there are lots of links for free curriculum and such on there as well. The link is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeHomeschoolTools/
Hopefully it will help you (and other homeschoolers in your group) get items you need.

I second the library and internet suggestions. You may want to read all you can, because you will find that everyone has a different way of doing things and running their "school".

I would recommend that you do a search for homeschool groups (yahoo has a ton of them) for a group in your area. It's nearly essential that you join a homeschool group to get the support of other homeschoolers in your area, to get together for park days, to collaborate ideas, etc. I don't know what area you are in, but there are a ton of homeschool support groups in the DFW metroplex.

You can look up Texas homeschooling "laws" at http://www.hslda.org The laws in Texas are very homeschool friendly, which really does make it easier for us homeschoolers.

If you want a list of sites that have free lesson plans, curriculum, etc, feel free to email me - ____@____.com (w/o the spaces of course) , it's a long list so I don't want to post it here :)

As you start to read and research you'll find that there are a lot of curriculum options, and you'll find it they can be quite expensive, but they aren't "absolutely neccessary" , homeschooling can be done for "free" using your library and the internet!

Anyhow, good luck on your journey!

-S.

www.aceministries.com or the direct link to the home school section is http://www.aceministries.com/homeschool/Default.aspx
My husbands grandparents founded this world-wide home school/private school program. Basiclly is at your childs "pace"....if your child learns faster in one and slower in the other, its okay, you can go as fast as you need or as slow as you need! Good luck, i hope this helps in aiding your decision!
S.

You don't say where you live, but there are homeschool groups all over the metroplex that provide just the kind of support you are talking about. Most provide seminars and information; some also provide co-op enrichment or other classes (like foreign language or lab science) that are a bit harder to handle at home. I live in McKinney, so I belong to MArCH (www.marchgroup.org), but I am also aware of two groups in Plano (one co-op and one support group), one in Friso, and one in Richardson. I would suggest Googling your city and homeschool and seeing what comes up. Or if you want to post where you live, I'm sure someone here can point you in the right direction.

As for curriculum, there are lots out there, but my almost-5-year-old son and I really enjoyed the Sonlight pre-K curriculum last year...it's mostly reading children's literature. He has learned to love being read to, and then he wanted to learn to read so I'm teaching him with the Sonlight K level readers. But, again, there are LOTS of great curricula out there.