Starting Kindergarten This Year

I don't know much about homeschooling curriculum, but have you considered finding out if any of the private schools offer scholarships? I would think that with a 4 yo, 2 yo, 11 mo and soon to be newborn that finding time to do justice to homeschooling would be difficult.

Also, have you considered allowing your child to go to Kindergarten at a public school and talking about your concerns with the teacher and principal? I know a lot of teachers who are Christians and people of faith who are able to "answer" questions if asked but they aren't allowed to openly teach issues of faith... this could be a teaching moment for your daughter to witness to others. Also a teaching moment for you to say and explain to your daughter that not everyone believes the things that you do but that it is important for her to remember the love of Jesus? As someone else previously said, Kindergarten is about numbers, colors, etc. but it is also about social learning and it is important for your daughter to be around other kids her own age and development level instead of always being the "big sister".

Also there are groups for home schoolers who do field trips together, are involved in sporting events, and other things like play groups, etc. I don't know how you find them but my cousin home schooled and went to things like that pretty often.

Good luck with whatever direction God leads you - there are many options.
blessings,
stacy

Hi!

I would try Five In a Row. You can buy one or two "curriculum" books for the year and be done. They do have a website (fiveinarow.com) where you can order, but many of them can be purshcased used very cheaply.

Five In a Row is literature based and all lesons are derived from a book you read to your children. Almost all the books are found in public libraries. Ferdinand the Bull, How to Bake and Apple Pie and See the World, etc. After you read the book, history, geopgraphy, science, art and some math is taken from the story so you have a complete unit study from the one book you checked out of the library. Some books you may already own- Make Way for Ducklings, Ping, Harold and the Purple Crayon are some that come to mind.

The only other thing I would purchase is a book called How to teach your child to read in 100 Easy Lessons. It's 15 dollars on Amazon, but again check used book stores, Homeschool bookstores or ebay and you may find it cheaper. It is a very simple approach that works wonders. Your child will be reading at a second grade level when finished with the lessons. You don't need sight words, flash cards or fancy programs. It's all in the book.

Good luck. And don't get discouraged about being on a tight budget. It will just make you more creative! Children don't need cubes, and colored blocks or units to count (although they are fun and it's great if you have them) when you can used dried beans, rasins or anything else you have around the house- legos, stuffed animals, dolls also make good math tools. You can teach same and different, sorting, odd and even, greater than and less than, many principles kids will need to build on in their math.

You might also want to join a co-op as suggested so you can learn from others and your kids can learn with different teaching styles.

Good luck you can do it!!!

Most libraries have computers available to the partons, free.
Some of the computers are set up just for children to use.
starfall.com is an excellent site.
Go to the TEA website and you can get a kindergarten overview & curriculum.
Don't hesitate, DO include the younger ones in the lessons.
Good luck :)

In Houston you can go to THE Homeschool Store where they have a large area of used book at very reasonable prices and some are even FREE! It is at 1355 Judiway, off the North loop of 610, ###-###-####. You should also get connected with a homeschool support group in your area of town. Many of these can be found through the SETHSA (south east texas home school association) website.

Hi, Our church in Denison, Tx. St. Patricks Catholic church has a home schooling program, I don't know anything about it or how much it costs but am sure you could get information about it if you would call the office. Hopefully that will help you. W.

i cant think of many free curriculums, but there are plenty of free resources online, but without internet you are limited. ambleside online is free, and there will be lots of books at the library. you dont need a curriculum for kindergarten, its just learning letters colors and numbers, and starting to write, you could easily put that together yourself from workbooks you can buy at the dollar store. plus science and nature walks etc.
with all you have going on, keep it simple lol

The Kindergarten year is by far the easiest and I would not recommend spending alot of money anyway. It's really all the basics, letters, numbers, colors, shapes and so on. You can do this yourself without a curriculum. If you want something to follow as a guide, check any teacher supply store for a kindergarten super-workbook. Since you have several other little ones, the key is to keep it simple and fun. The other kids will probably want to feel included and that's a great head start for them. Also, check out the local homeschool support groups, there are several great ones in Houston. Many times, they have members who want to sell (or even give) their used materials.

Hi J.
bless you and thank your for homeschooling your child. all your children are blessed.
I would suggest you get some information from Mardell's Book store if there is one in your area. If not- try another christian book store-
There may even be something available from yur church- check that out......
good luck and blessings

There is a really great home school store in Houston. Their web site is http://www.thehomeschoolstore.com/index.html
They sell new and used curriculums. Most of the used stuff is very inexpensive. I am homeschooling my daughter this year who will also be starting Kindergarten. I bought most of her materials there and saved so much by buying used. If you have any other questions or just want to bounce ideas around feel free to contact me. My email is ____@____.com luck and God Bless! L.

Look into AmblesideOnline.org it is wonderful curriculum and though many of the books are available for free online, they have to be printed out. Since you are in Houston you should have access to some wonderful libraries and could actually use the AO curriculum with just a library card. If it is too difficult to get the specific books though, check out SimplyCharlotteMason.com for a lot of great ideas. With the Charlotte Mason homeschooling philosophy you could actually homeschool quite well will nothing but a library card!
If you feel you need workbooks etc, join a freecycle yahoo group, there are usually lots of homeschoolers on the group and you may be able to find just what you are looking for.
Blessings in your homeschool journey!
A. :~D

Try The Homeschooling Store on Judiway Street. Do not have the number handy but I sure they are in the phone book.

there are stores that the teachers use, find one and go you are able to buy them also.

Congrats on the new baby! I have a 6 YO, 5 YO, 4 YO and 2 YO (we had a baby boy stillborn in March.) I homeschool. Don't worry about homeschooling with a new baby. In Kindergarten you don't have so much written work and it's best for the child to school in short spurts anyway. You can school during naptime!

My favorite time to school- the van!! We have science review questions and spelling words while driving when they start getting noisy. I have books at each seat (easy read books they can read themselves or science books with photographs- check out Dollar Tree for their Planet Earth books.)

Walmart has some good workbooks cheap (as well as Mardells) and the library is a good place to check (as the librarian for help, she will be happy to.)

Please feel free to PM me. I can give you my phone # if that's easier for you then emailing.

30 YO mama of four girls on Earth ages 2-6, and to 5 Heavenly treasures!