Jul. 30, 2008 - Beginning to Homeschool
I've had some people ask me about beginning homeschooling lately, so I put together the following list, which I hope will be useful:
Beginning Homeschooling:
1. www.iche.org (Illinois Christian Home Educators)—request a beginner’s packet from them (only for Illinois residents). There are other useful links on their site (such as to different curriculum vendors). Also have a sample letter for withdrawing a child from public school (in Illinois).
2. www.hslda.org (Home School Legal Defense Assn.)—find out what the homeschool laws are for each state (or country)
3. www.youcanhomeschool.org Gives lots of answers, explains a little about the different methods of homeschooling (traditional textbook approach, classical, unit study, Charlotte Mason, unschooling). Then you can do more searches on each method to learn more.
4. www.homeschoolblogger.com Get encouragement from fellow homeschoolers. My blog is www.homeschoolblogger.com/genamayo
5. My favorite books and resources:
For the Children’s Sake (Susan Schaeffer MacCauley)
Ruth Beechick’s 3 small books (one on reading, one on language, one on math)
Teaching the Trivium (Bluedorn) www.triviumpursuit.com Especially the article on “Ten Things to Do Before Age 10” and the one on the historical teaching of math.
A Charlotte Mason Companion and A Pocketful of Pinecones (Karen Andreola)
Homeschooling With a Meek and Quiet Spirit (Teri Maxwell)
Magazine: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
6. The resources I use for preschool and K-2nd grade are:
Handwriting Without Tears for handwriting, TATRAS for phonics, McGuffey and Rod & Staff Bible readers for read-aloud practice, Egermeier’s Story Bible and Leading Little Ones to God for Bible Time, Family Math (Stenmark) and A Easy Start in Arithmetic (Beechick) for math, Answers in Genesis (answersingenesis.com) for science materials (I love Answers Magazine), Story of the World and Mystery of History for history, and lots of free resources from the internet and library. I am waiting until age 10 to begin formal math and science, grammar, Latin, and logic.
Homeschooling Sites:
For notebooking and lapbooking ideas: www.homeschoolshare.com http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/ www.donnayoung.org http://www.notebookingpages.com/ www.handsofachild.com www.knowledgeboxcentral.com http://www.liveandlearnpress.com/index.php www.currclick.com www.notebookingnook.com
Story of the World correlations www.redshift.com/~bonajo/SOTWmenu.htm
For worksheets/activities/crafts: www.activitiesforkids.com www.dltk-kids.com www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/papercrafts www.buildpaperairplanes.com www.thecoloringspot.com www.homeschooling.about.com www.school4Jesus.com www.montessorimaterials.org
Oceans www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
Free McGuffey readers www.ignitethefire.com/oldfashioned.html
Perla’s site www.theclassicalmommy.com
Math ideas www.livingmath.net
Home With the Kids--free stuff www.hwtk.net
Bible helps/color sheets: www.EBibleTeacher.com/children http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm www.scripture4all.org gives the Greek and Hebrew for all Bible verses http://www.akhlah.com/aleph_bet/aleph-bet.php Hebrew www.inthebeginning.org/ntgreek/lesson1/gl1.htm Greek www.classicalacademicpress.com/FLASH/lfc_intro.html Latin www.reformed.org/documents catechisms
Charlotte Mason’s ideas (includes free curriculum): www.simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys www.tanglewoodeducation.com www.oldfashionededucation.com
Preschool curriculum ideas: www.letteroftheweek.com www.starfall.com www.crayola.com Nursery Rhymes www.smart-central.com
Creation Science www.jonathanpark.com http://www.answersingenesis.org/kids
Sign Language videos of all words www.aslpro.com
Free MP3s of classic books read aloud www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com
Free homeschool freebie everyday www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com
Free stories read aloud www.youneedastory.com
Join this group for great group buys, get a free homeschool ID www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org
Create Handwriting Sheets: www.kidzone.ws/tracers www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/index.htm www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/index.htm www.worksheetworks.com also math www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/handwriting_practice_worksheet_maker.html www.handwritingworksheets.com http://frogacademy.50webs.org/index.htm www.teachinglearning.com/freebie_generator/index.php
Download fonts: www.bvfonts.com/fonts/fonts.php?show=free&by=date (Cursive= Learning Curve, Print= Print Clearly)
Comments
Aug. 3, 2008 - Thanks!
Posted by jabbabean
Hi Gena,
You've put together an awesome list of info and websites! I think I've looked at almost all of them. I love the worksheets and lapbooks. And I was thrilled to find that a lot of the writing sites offer D'Nealian (which is my favorite). Maybe I'll actually get Matthew writing this year. :)
I've learned a lot from you the past few years. I really appreciate what you share.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Dec. 11, 2008 - Another site
Posted by Anonymous
Hi there!
Can you possibly add to your lists, <a href="http://thecolor.com">Thecolor.com</a>. This is one of those sites which my younger siblings loves to use and I wanted to recommend.
