Homeschool Curriculum? - Honolulu,HI

First, congratulations on a very hard decision, but it's worth it. :) Sonlight is really good but I don't have experience with His Fathers World. One of my favorite Christian based academies is Christian Liberty Academy. I love their stuff. You can find some of their stuff as inexpensive digital downloads at currclick.com. You should introduce your daughter to starfall.com. It starts with letter recognition and go all the way up through early reading. It's free, and a lot of fun. My kids have been going for several years. Something else you need to do is find other homeschool families or a homeschool group. It really helps to have the support of veteran mommas behind you and it gives a base of children of varying ages for your daughter to play with. The group will also be able to tell you of local programs homeschools can do, or classes that the group does. For instance right now, my girls are in an art class, dance class, gymnastics and we're currently looking at musical instruments. Oh, and one of our mom's is also doing a nature thing for the kids. I'm only peripherally involved with my local group since my older kids are in public school now, but we still do some of the classes and as many field trips as possible.

Another curriculum that you might like to look into is Five in a Row. It's a lot of fun and my kiddos really enjoyed it. Until we sent my kids to a local charter school, we based our curriculum on a more classical education, so you M. enjoy looking up Thomas Jefferson Education or Charlotte Mason. I didn't use just one curriculum period. I chose what I like best from several and tied it all together. As you become more experienced, you'll be able to do that as well. Oh, I almost forgot. An AWESOME art program is Artistic Pursuits. It's so much fun. The books are a bit expensive, so try to find them used. But if you can get your hands on one, it's almost worth it's weight in gold because it's not just a drawing or painting book. It incorporates history and geography in as well. And you could use this program all the way up to highschool for her since each book is more advanced. Unfortunately, I only have the one book and my daughter didn't feel like doing it again which is why she takes an art class once a week. My husband was a big stick in the mud and wouldn't let me buy the next book since we don't homeschool anymore.

Also, start looking up homeschool blog. I got so many great ideas from them and I'm still in touch with many of the friends I made through them. Start with homeschoolblogger.com

I have ordered some things from MFW and they are very customer friendly. They will even help with higher level math issues when you get to that level.
I use a hodgepodge of different curriculums.

And congratulations. It took us 5 years to realize homeschool was the way to go.

I've heard good things about the K12 program. I don't know much about it, but it was recommended by a friend. You can check it out online. www.k12.com

Here's a blurb from the site:

At K¹², we believe that all children should be able to reach their “xPotential”—their innate, personal possibility. To reach that goal, you’ll be served by the efforts of teachers and customer support representatives in grades K-8, plus advisors, counselors, and coordinators in high school, who will focus on your child’s potential with an individualized plan that evolves as your child grows.

Students enrolled in these public schools also enjoy:

* A tuition-free education
* State-certified teachers, with a parent or other responsible adult in the role of “Learning Coach”
* Learning at home, on the road, or wherever an Internet connection can be found
* Flexible pacing and an Individualized Learning Plan
* A combination of online and offline coursework—including a wide array of textbooks, CDs, videos, and hands-on materials—as part of a comprehensive K-8 or high school program
* The excitement of joining a community of connected learners with a wide range of extracurricular clubs and programs
* A loaner computer and subsidized Internet access where needed*

I belong to CFS Poway (Christian Family Schools) and I have heard awesome things about Sonlight and Abeka curriculums. This was my first year homeschooling, so we chose to get our feet wet by going through a Charter School. So we use their curriculum. But I have flipped through both Abeka and Sonlight curriculums that our friends use and I personally prefer Abeka for my son. It seems to be a little more interactive and less repetitive which works best for my active son. But I don't think you can go wrong with using either of the curriculums or a mixture of both. One family who has been homeschooling for years now uses a mixture of both. You might want to check your library to see if they have copies of homeschooling curriculums to borrow. That way you can actually test run it at home for a few weeks before purchasing.

A few weeks ago I googled homeschooling in Hawaii for another Mamapedia Mom. There were several homeschooling support groups and at least one Christian homeschooling group that is similar to CFS Poway.

Good Luck on your new journey!

FYI: I never in a million years thought I would be a homeschooling Mom. But I am finding that everyday I enjoy it more and more. There are days where I am pulling my hair out in frustration, but over all I am soooo glad that we chose to homeschool our son.

S.

Hi there!
What a privelege to be able to homeschool, and don't let "the enemy" use your mom's words to discourage you. I just re-started homeschooling 2 of my 3 kids just a couple weeks ago, and I am SO happy! It is going better than I could have ever expected. You will be so blessed!
I homeschooled my oldest two for 3 years, but had to take a couple years off due to family illness. But we were finally able to at least pull my 2nd grader out of public school a few weeks ago, and I also have a 19 month old at home. It is the BIGGEST blessing to have them both home with me, and SO much easier than having the 2nd grader in public school. (Now if I could just get to the point where we are also homeschooling the 7th grader as well, but I am being patient and letting it happen in God's time).
I want to encourage you that it might be a little confusing at first just to kind of figure out a routine and what works for you, but after you kind of get your feet wet, it will be a total joy. And NO AFTERSCHOOL HOMEWORK! With 3 kids, I can't tell you how nice that one is. We get to go surfing more, cook more together, get out to the park a lot more, see friends more, etc.

Anyway..........sadly, I can't get to Oahu anytime soon to discuss in person, (wink), but would be more than happy to talk to you over the phone if you want to email me. I can give it to you then.

I am not familiar with MFW, but I have used Sonlight curriculum almost exclusively. It just works very well for us, because it's very well rounded, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and keeps the kids interested. And thankfully you are starting it with a younger curriculum. I have to say the first time I used it was when my oldest was 3rd grade, and I bought EVERYTHING, and it was too much, and too overwhelming. The younger grade curriculums are much easier to kind of get a feel for the whole homeschooling thing and not be overwhelmed.

Also, if you email me, I would like to give you the information for our homeschool academy principal. She is wonderful, such a great lady, and so resourceful. I know she would be more than happy to help you out with some words of wisdom on curriculum, local homeschool groups for you, etc. It is her ministry to help others in their homeschooling journey.

Peace to you,
Tara in Los Angeles

If you wanted you can save money and not have any curriculm...just work with her hard on the basics and use free downloads ect. online. Then they might have to test once a year, or just take a placement test when/if they go to public school, or they can just get their GED when they are ready. But at this early stage of the game you can do it all yourself anyway you want...you can even opt to do "interactive" learning only and not do any "curriclm" (ie. more hands on; less sitting, worksheets, learning by lecture /reading only...ect). This is good because then you can "school" her while doing errands, household chores, ect. :)

P.S. I homeschool. I'm fromm Hawaii. And I am a Christian. So, good for you to realise the poor academic level there...if it weren't for my mom's homeschool-summer-school I would have been in the same boat as a lot of my classmates (ie. learning "what is a nown" in 9th grade) and to take advantage of our freedoms in america to teach our kids Christian matterial. :)

People who say YOU will fail are the people who think THEY would fail doing it. It's called projection. Don't listen.

We started homeschooling our oldest after Kindergarten and the others have never set foot on school property....and they ALL love it. My oldest is 8 and in 4th grade (at home). We were nervous, at best, when we started, but found it was easier and LESS time-consuming that driving them to school, picking them up, etc.

After trying MANY of the curriculums, we decided to design it ourselves AND it was cheaper. I just print off the state's requirements to what they need to know and then we make sure we hit all (ok, most) of those points.

This book, actually helps more and gives ideas for books in each section:

Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School [Paperback]
ISBN-10: ###-###-####
ISBN-13: 978-###-###-####

That being said, I have used some of the Sonlight books that I bought at the CHEA convention, because I really need to look through the books and see if it's for my kids. We bought an online curriculum that my son HATED...and spent about $500 on it and he refuses to use it....and I have to admit, I wouldn't like it if I was his age as well.

Good luck! Everyone is different, so Sonlight and MFW M. or M. not work for your family....and each grade level is different. I have friends who swear by both. Neither was 100% for us.

More than 2 million kids are homechooled in the United States according to recent statistics, so it can't be THAT hard! you might want to consider joining the www.HSLDA.org - worth EVERY penny.

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/HI/default.asp - for Hawaii specifically.

You'll do well...and more inportantly, HAVE FUN! :)

I did not use Christian based homeschooling books or programs. I did science projects, reading, composition. I enlisted the help of friends who had skills I did not. It was a great project. And when we moved to a school district that was more acceptable in its programs the kids went to public school.
I also sent them to private schools some years and taught at the schools as well.
You won't fail MamaMay but you will be exhausted and have to put some projects of your own on hold. A garden is a science project and you can grow one in Hawaii even on a balcony. Cooking uses math. Fractions, measuring, mixing, how to keep food from sticking, how much heat to use to cook something.
Yoga, or gymnastics or dance are exercise classes. You can take them to lessons like that as it gives you some down time and they are with a peer group.

Congratulations on your decision to homeschool. It is fabulous!

I used the K12 program with my girls and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I know you said you already chose Sonlight, but K12 offers a fantastically varied curriculum, lots of learning based games and a certified teacher to guide you if you need it.

They also provide you with everything you will need including books, workbooks, art supplies, science experiment supplies, even a computer and a printer - all for free!

They make it SO EASY for the teaching parent to track progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, and teach the material in a way that is easiest for the child to grasp.

I had to call their help line a couple of times and the reps could not have been more friendly or helpful. Bonus: my girls absolutely loved it.

Best of luck to you on this new adventure!

good for you! homeschooling is a great decision.
i wonder what your mom thinks 'failure' will look like? that your daughter won't know how to read? will 'fall behind' in math? will be weird?
pfffft.
the 'failure' rates at public schools are far higher than those of homeschooler by those measures.
it does help to start out with a curriculum, although it's certainly not necessary. you'll probably find as you go along that use them as a template but don't really rely on them whole cloth.
take a gander at waldorf-based ones. if you specifically want christian curricula they M. not suit you, but a lot of us find them very child-friendly as well as challenging enough to be interesting.
good luck!
khairete
S.