Homeschooling Curriculum for Preschool Through Primary Years

Abeka and Sonlight, are some of the more popular Christian curricula out there.

Time4Learning (www.time4learning.com) is a popular online program (no Christian affiliation at all) that will carry you from Pre-K to upper elementary.

Go to www.Christianbook.com and click on homeschool and you'll get a huge variety of the most widely used boxed homeschool curriculum out there.

www.hslda.org (click on about homeschooling and read through the entire section) will also have some good curriculum suggestions and tips on getting started, and most important finding a co-op or support group.

Next to finding a curriculum, joining a co-op/support group will be very important in helping you really see what homeschooling is like. Homeschooling pre-schoolers and homeschooling older elementary kids, while similar are really apples and oranges. I think meeting other families, especially those with kids in different grades or with differing needs is wise. While no two families homeschool alike, you WILL get a better inside view of what to expect, and how to handle common, inevitable challenges to come.

You will find, personality differences aren't really a challenge. Most kids find they really enjoy homeschooling and the flexibility it provides. Social activities and opportunity to meet other kids are not a problem if you find a good co-op or support group. However, I think most homeschool moms would agree the biggest challenge next to keeping organized is finding ways to accommodate differing learning styles when schooling more than one child. Seeing a veteran in action and hearing the sage advice of moms who have been there is invaluable and good way to ensure success with your own homeschool journey with your own family. Just remember, if you can remain flexible and open to changes as needed, and you avoid trying to make your homeschool like a bricks and mortar school (just won't happen) your family will thrive and be successful.

Another good idea is to attend your regional homeschool conference. They are usually in early Spring. You will get a chance to see the various curriculum vendors out there, meet other families, find a support group/co-op and attend workshops that will make getting started a breeze.

http://www.home-school.com/groups/KY.html
www.hslda.org
www.christianbook.com

Congrats on your decision to homeschool! I hope it's fun and rewarding for you both!

I would recommend reading "What your Preschooler Needs To Know" and there are some great guidelines in there and fun exercises.

I personally have liked the Spectrum brand for good basics. They are aligned with National Standards and the workbooks are cost-efficient, about $10 a piece. We use those for our basics, but then go off and do other fun things as well. They go all the way through 6th grade. I'm not as happy with the math in the higher levels because I don't think they explain things in a way that's understandable, but I understand things well enough to teach them to my child. I love the reading, spelling, phonics and writing curriculum.

I'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions. Good luck!

I am going to home school, my kids are currently almost 2 and 3.5. I have not selected a curriculum, nor am I going to do so anytime soon. I don't believe in formal instruction prior to the age of 5 --one of the reasons why I am home schooling.

In any case, Classical Conversations is big. You could probably find a local group. Pick up the book The Well Trained Mind.

What I do with my kids right now is this: I sing the Abc song a few times a day with my toddler when we wash his hands, and we do an ABC puzzle a few times a week. We are working on his colors and shapes --he keeps bringing me these books to read. With my 3.5 year old, we usually read after I put my toddler down for his nap, and a few times a week we do sometime more activity driven as well. We love Highlight magazines, doing mazes, those sorts of things. She also takes swimming, dance and drama classes, and we are in a preschool co-op once a week with friends, getting the kids together fora book, a craft and a game. And of course we do story time at the library.

When my daughter turns 4 (in March), I will start doing more set work with her. My plan is something like this: Monday: cooking and a drama class, Tuesday: preschool coop, Wed: dance, Thur: painting/art, Friday:Literacy activies (I have a book for preschool teachers that has suggested themed activities around literacy acquisition. So we will play "bank," or play "firemen")

Right now, I am focused on finding lots of home school playmates for us. I started a local group, and am really trying to make sure we do something with them at least once a week, on top of seeing our regular friends. For me, it is still about playing, and playing, and playing, and I have a feeling we will end up unschooling.

But in any case, a few of my friends love the Classical Conversations curriculum. Pick up the Well Trained Mind. It is the best place to start, I think. I highly doubt there is any curriculum for the under 5 crowd. There are some great preschool sites online with suggested activities, but play based learning is proven as the best with kids under 7. So instead of a curriculum, why not just setting aside some time a few times a week to do activities that will provide educational moments? Not more than 15 minutes at a time should be plenty with the under 5 group.

We're using the Well Trained Mind Guide to Classical Education. It has very structured topics compared to other "unschooling" type things. In later grades it will include study of world religions, but it is not Christian based. There are many good Christian curriculums though. No curriculums have much structured learning befroe Kindergarten level that I have seen, but you can get little preschool workbooks if you want along with your "learn by playing and reading" stuff. NO curriculums will make you organized and self disciplined. Thats my hugest challenge, keeping mysefl structured. But the materials we are covering with my daughter (and her two younger sibs join in) for kindergarten are awesome. Pick up "What Your Kindergartener Should Know" to see an idea of the material that should be covered if you teach at home or send your child to school.

Have you heard of Five In a Row? They have another program called Before Five In a Row. http://fiarhq.com/fiveinarow.info/beforefiveinarow.html
It is a curriculum based on literature. I have heard wonderful things about it, but have not personally tried it. FIAR is for elementary aged children, and BFIAR is for ages 2-4. It says you can be ready to teach in as little as 5 minutes of prep time. It looks really neat!

I am homeschooling my kids ages 6 and 4 plus I have an 8 week old. I agree it is sometimes nice to have a set curriculum to follow. I used Little Hearts for His Glory for kindergarten, but switched to A Beka for first grade this year. I think it is much more academic and like how it flows and is structured. Check out www.rainbowresource.com for lots of misc. homeschool stuff. I have used preschool books off of there for both my kids. As you get more into the world of curriculum you will find ones you like and dislike and can pick and choose from different companies. I am currently using Horizons Math, A Beka Phonics & Reading and Bob Jones for History. Good luck figuring it all out and remember to have fun with it.

This is my first year to homeschool (kindergarten).
I am using A Beka and I like it.
I can see that my child is actually learning.
I needed structure too and that is why we are using a curriculum. I don't think I could do it any other way right now.
I also have a DD w/ a very challenging personality.
I've found that for the most part I enjoy teaching her, it provides us one on one time that we never really focused on before. (She is super happy to play by herself all day long.) She has her days though...
We take a decent break between reading/writing and math. That helps.
Preschool level should take a very short amount of time per day.
A good place to start, IMO. :)
GL!