I am Seriously considering homeschooling my son next year, he will be in the 3rd grade, (and then I suppose our other children, too (3 and 18 months)) By seriously considering I mean that I have basically decided to do it, ;) and just need to jump in! Aaah, but where to start?
Let me tell you about me/us..... I have pretty much narrowed my HS philosophy to unit studies, literature based, Charlotte Mason, and Textbook. Did I say narrow? I went to public school, so the textbook philo appeals to me because I can monitor if and what my kids are learning, because I can have a lesson plan to pull from, and practice work. But I believe Highly in learning through reading. So I already plan on incorporating classic literature, biographies, science and social studies books. We already read those, so I'm just going to add a little bit of a lesson plan. And I want to go out and do stuff, so we are all hands on. Whatever philosophy that boils down to, that's me. Now us.... we live on a farm and raise animals, have a huge garden, live approx 1 1/2 hours from Washington DC, my husband is a woodworker, who dabbles in timber framing, blacksmithing, and anything else that is hard work and makes him feel good about being a man. :) Lucky for me. We are Christians so I Love, Love the idea if getting all the secular stuff out of our kids brains and filling them up with understanding of Christ and His gift, and the world that God gave to us.
What I need to know now is about Curriculums. Aah. There are so many to choose from, I feel like I couldn't go wrong, but still want to make an educated (ha ha) decision. I have heard that sticking with one curriculum is easiest and mainstreamed, but also that dabbling is better. Well if you dabble, how do you narrow that down!?! Some are better in math, some in science, etc etc.
I need help. If you could keep your answers sort of short and to the point, that would help me actually get through them easily. :) Name your curriculum and it's strong subjects and anything else that could help me narrow down the choices that would work well for us.
I must say that I am completely perplexed as to how HS can be so easy, and that your kids learn so much. I have to admit that I'm worried that I will suck as a HS mom, or that my kids will fall behind. Can it really be so easy?
THANKS SO MUCH!
K.
I home school my 3rd and 5th grader through A Beka Academy. The program is fully accredited and I send in their grades and they receive report cards. They watch DVDs of a teacher in a classroom made for home schooling. I like all the subjects A Beka offers but I do feel the spelling program is a little intensive. They words are on the difficult side. Hope this helps.
Hi Katie,
I am so, so excited for you! Oh, I wish we could sit down with a cup of tea and chat! You might want to look at Veritas Press (veritaspress.com) I know, not unit study based, but they have a great catalog with lots of wonderful literature selections for each age/grade level. And, they have comprehension guides for so many books. The comprehension guides include questions as well as crafts and stuff to do with the book (like for one book, my son built a little treasure chest and had stuff in it--so fun). I believe Robinson Curriculum is a unit study approach, maybe? Konos is a good one by Jessica Hulcy http://www.konos.com/www/index.html I've heard great things about this one. But, we use Veritas and love it. Remember that curriculum is merely a tool. Contact HEAV http://www.heav.org/ , which is your state Christian homeschooling organization. We are friends with the board president and the exec. director. Wonderful people! They have a fantastic conference every year. I highly recommend that you go if you can. It is scheduled for June 9-11, 2011 • Greater Richmond Convention Center You can find more info on their website. They will have a vendor hall with tons of curriculum that you can see and touch and ask questions about. And, they have a huge used curriculum sale that you can find things at. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have. We've been homeschooling for 13 years now, and wouldn't dream of doing anything else. Have fun!
I do a hodge podge. I have a 7th and 4th grader
My Grammar for 3rd was Shurley Grammar, it's the series the Christian school uses in town and I really like it. By 7th though, I changed to Rod and Staff, there;s more meat. Shurley is EXCELLENT for the basics.
My Math is Singapore until 6B then a Prentice Hall Pre ALgebra and LIal's Algebra
Spelling Workout Book C in 3rd. We are now almost through with book D in 4th
Science Bob Jones Science 4th grade, my 7th grader also took an online Chem class geared for middle school
American History The Story of Us DVD and reading books, I have a history book from Williamsburg and he Little HOuse series, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Helen Keller, Mary Jemison, We go to the library and get historical fiction books every other week
World History Story of the World Susan Wiess Bauer, History Pockets by Evan More and Mistory of History
Latin The Latin Road to English Grammar, my 4th grader does this along with my 7th grader.
There are so many curricula to choose from.
Veritas Press
Tapestry of Grace
My Father's World
Apologia
Bob Jones
Andn many many more.
Good luck and congratulations!!
Go to heav.org
Sign up for the newsletters, and you can go to the conference for FREE as a NEW homeschool family.
They are the best to answer many of your questions- and it is Christian based!
I am in the same boat as you. I have almost decided to do it.
What is helping me is taking it one subject at a time. My oldest seems a natural at math but I love Horizons so bright and pretty and breaks things down to one thing at a time. The story of the world for history that way I can teach about time lines and jump back and forth as sometimes you kinda have to with history. Plus I like how the tests gives good practice for end of year testing that way the kids will have an idea on how to take a test.
learningthings.com is really good at running down each curriculum
you will find probably find no one curriculum goes all the way you might want. So keeping an open mind and using unit studies for aiding is a good way to think- there are plenty of free online sites for additional practice ideas and worksheet.
English (ie grammar, writing, and reading) you might end up more than one type of curriculum there are the daily grams and handwriting without tears - it really depends on where your child is now and where you would like them to be for their age.
The one thing I fear is buying something that is below thier level but most companies will allow you to return and exchange if you get it and see you won't need it. Just make sure read the return policy before purchasing.
Good luck!!!
Katie,
I know this is so last minute but I thought I would give you the info anyway. I saw you are in Berryville. There is a homeschool conference in Shepherdstown, WV (roughly 1/2 hour from you) this Saturday from 9-6. This is much smaller than the one sponsored by HEAV in June (I have been to both). It is still very worthwhile and actually not quite so overwhelming as the HEAV one. I personally like to see what is out there and actually hold it and look through it. The website is www.ephsc.org. I did have some problems with the site but it could be my computer. If you need/want more info please let me know.
Also, I am part of a group that is based in Winchester (a lot of people are from Berryville though) that I highly recommend. www.theapplepeel.org
I hope this helps,
S.
Katie,
Hey. I'm in the same boat as you. I agree with the other mom, www.heave.org There is tis BIG homeshcooling convention with a few free workshops on how to get started in homeschooling. Its in Richmond in June. If its possible for you to go, i recommend it. I am trying to organize with my hubby right now and see if I can go.
Also a new homeschooling mom(her son's in kindergarten this year) said the bext you can do is go to your local library and get books on different curriculum etc. I picked up some today: Homeschooling Methods, Seasoned Advice on Learning Styles by Paul & Gena Suarez.
So You're Thinking of Homeschooling by Lisa Whelchel.
The Homeschooling Book of Answers, Linda Dobson.
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell.
There were SO many books and several on different curriculum too, but these 4 are a start for me...
A few friends of mine have certain curriculum but also dabble. Its great you dont live tooo far from DC, you could drive there for various museums!
Pammy
good luck and dont forget to pray, God can guide you.
Perhaps contact the county's board of ed to make certain that your efforts will culminate in a diploma.
Katie, This weekend in Richmond there is a homeschooling conference with a free (I think) session for new homeschoolers on the first evening (Friday night) and a lots of curriculum dealers available, too.
Contact Virginia Homeschoolers (____@____.com or call 866-513-6173) for more information. Not only that, but if you go, you will be able to meet and talk to a lot of people who are already homeschooling. I have found that homeschooling is no more difficult than parenting, AND it has made parenting during the teen years a lot easier in some ways.
Today is my son's last day in K! I'm pulling him out of school b/c we've had a horrible experience. I was really nervous about what curriculum to use and how do I know what to pick and choose? Most of my friends and women at my church do a hodgepodge, but the thought of that was overwhelming for me b/c I had no idea what to compare it to. So I really prayed about it and I really feel comfortable with going with the Alpha Omega Lifepac curriculum for next year. That at least gives me a starting point that I can compare to. It also helps b/c it's a whole package, and like you, I wanted to make sure I covered everything. A lot of the women at my church use at least something from this curriculum, and one couple uses exactly the set I'm getting. (I've been saying women, but they're all couples. It's just that I've talked to the wives mostly and they do all the homeschooling, but for the other couple I've been more in touch with the husband-the wife doesn't have FB, lol- and he told me he teaches one subject as well to give his wife a break and so that his son can see that he's also very invested in the education.) As far as what I've heard, I have a lot of friends who use the A Beka curriculum and that's what my son's preschool used. I have some who love A Beka, but for math use something else b/c they found something else worked better. Alpha Omega Publications also does Switched on Schoolhouse, which involves some stuff online. They have several different curriculums you can look at on their website. Hope you find something you like!
God bless!
J.
My son just turned three so our homeschooling is very informal and without a set curriculum. But I do enjoy these blogs and find they have helpful information regarding curriculum if you'd be interested:
http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2010/06/monday-qa-homeschool...
http://raisingolives.com/homeschool/
http://bakersdozen.typepad.com/a_bakerss_dozen_daily_lif/...
I find them encouraging and hope you will as well!
Welcome to Home Schooling!
I currently HS 3 of my 4 using Sonlight curriculum. We love their literature based program. my favorite part of the day is reading to my kids. If you want you can follow their written out day to day Instructors guide (how we started out) or you can go at whatever pace works for you(what we do now). We also take Science classes at a Nature Center, and a kid sports class at the local Gym. I think homeschooling evolves as you and your children learn what works for you and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to try something out and then admit that it isn't a good fit for your family and move on! God Bless your home schooling adventure.
