Ok...we've started our 1st year of Homeschooling & honestly I feel really lost. (I'm gonna show my inexperienced side here) How do you know where to start? My boys were in PS last year & I'm not sure where to start. What subjects should we do, which subject should we do first, what comes next, how long should we do each subject? What should I do when I don't have everything they need to be learning? I hate to admit this but I feel like quitting & putting them back in PS just because I don't think I can cover everything they need to know as far as subjects. :cry: I guess I'm still in that PS mind set. Maybe I'm just making a big thing out of something simple. :| How do you all do it?
Tell us what you have as far as curriculum goes and we'll help you from there...also what grades they are in because if they are very young you might not need everything, but if they are older you'll want to make sure to cover all the bases.
Oh...my boys are in grades 3 & 6. The only thing we have as far as curriculum for our 3rd grader is : a used Math student & teacher book by Houghton Mifflin, a used Spelling & Vocabulary student & teacher book by Houghton Mifflin & a Reading Comprehension workbook I picked up from a book store. Now for my 6th grader all I have is: a LIFEPAC Level 6 Math Units 1-10, a Complete Grammar workbook by Steck-Vaughn, & a Reading Comprehension workbook also picked up at a book store. I know there's more they need but I can't afford any real curriculum right now. Any help is appreciated!
(((Hugs))):love: You are not lost. You came here and asked your question. That's a step in the right direction! First- make the most of your public library. There are resource books you can use for grade level topics, subjects and activities. Read material for your ds on whatever topic you are studying. Also educational videos and documentaries to watch. You should be able to borrow for free. There are lots of websites that offer free outline, lesson plans, curriculum and activities for different subjects. I think they have a list of free websites on here and some of these dear ladies and gents have sites of their own that could help you. I'm sure some of the folks here have used curriculum and othe items that may be helpful for you. If you picked specific topics/ subjects and let us know what they are, I'm sure someone on here should be able to give you some ideas on exactly what you could do. Marty
I would recommend looking at sites/catalogs for Sonlight, Veritas press, and Beautiful Feet books to get an idea of what you kids can learn at this age - the are also a great source of literature. World Book Encyclopedia has a list online of learning standards for different grades - you can also look there.
Also, my familyd link below has booklists, lesson plans and the like as well, if you want to see what we are doing. I hope this helps.
I haven't looked at every thing on this web site, but it links to a lot of free curriculum for all grade levels and all subjects. The links are on the left hand side of the page. You may be able to use some of it? From the site: Welcome to An Old-Fashioned Education. I'm Miss Maggie, owner and creator of this site. You'll find here a directory of free homeschool curricula, literature and text books organized for the use of homeschooling families. http://oldfashionededucation.com/ HTH, LR
Don't sweat it! We've all been there!! You can also take a look at http://www.amblesideonline.com We used them last year - along with a seperate math book - and both kids did great on their testing (which is required by our state) It shocked me how much language arts they can pick up just by reading it and then comprehension by them telling me about it. There are also free audiobooks (I just downloaded 3 for my kids) at librivox.org Believe it or not - you can also find free math books in PDF format - and language arts at books.google.com - I like the Mcguffey Readers and Ray's Arithmetic (which dd and I did orally) History can come alive and same with science by using the library. Unless your state has a requirement - go and just pick a time period (maybe for 2 weeks or a month?) and get various books out about it. My kids watch Bill Nye the Science Guy videos from the library all the time or the DK Learning ones. It's amazing how much they get out of it.
Part of the problem you actually diagnosed yourself! "I guess I'm still in the PS mindset". And so are your kids. It's been said again and again that the biggest goal that first year is to break the "ps mindset" in both yourself and your kids. Academics takes a back seat to that. I heard a speaker at a conference say that parents would come in to her for portfolio evaluations, and say, "We didn't do a lot of school work, but I got my child back!" And she would tell them, "GREAT! You can work on school next year!" It's refered to as "deschooling".
You should be getting the book I told you about soon. I mailed it book rate so it takes a few days. It will be for your younger son but you could adapt it and do some lessons together with your older child. You will get the hang of this. Don't give up. Keep coming here and asking questions. "We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load."
Thank you all so much for your replies! I've been typing in the sites some of you have mentioned & I know there's a list of sites on here also & I'll be going back over those. I appreciate all the help & encouragement!! :love: Beth, thank you again for sending that book out to me! I'll let you know when I receive it!
Another tip that has helped us is to do the stuff that your children find to be the most challenging in the morning when they are fresh. We always tackle math in the morning because my oldest hates it so much. We get it done before she is tired and then deal with all the writing and etc that she enjoys. I'm sure you will do a wonderful job.
There are some great things on Colorado Moms site for your 6th grader for both history and science and she has great specials! good prices too! That could be a start, but also for what to do to learn etc... for sixth grade, ( my ds was in 6th last year) You need LArts, ( you have that) History ( I have a Life Pak teachbook for 6th grade for sale cheappm me if you want more info, but also check Colorado Moms site, and online sites. ) We actually did Story of the World Last year, we have the text from that still we did the Medical Times basically and this year we are continuing with World History and Mystery of History ( Rennasaince to Reformation or somethign like that?) for Science We did Considering Gods creation Science, you coudl use that for both of your kids -- check homeschool classifieds out and see if you can find a second hand teacher book cause evn that has good lessons and web sites to look up! You could also check out the Science things on a couple of sites out there that do free stuff.. Discovery Kids is one that is awesome! I would nto stress over it though, because You can get books at the library to teach any of the subjects you do not have. To get a list of what yoru 6th grader needs just google 6th grade requirements! OH< I also have a book called what your 6th grader needs to know .. if you can find one at your library or something check through it , cause it has some good stuff in there to study with as well! I have my son talking to me off and on so I may have forgotten to mention something lol, if you have any specific questions ask me, There are tons of places to get free stuff on line too!
I was feeling the same way. then i went into an IEp for my son and said "here's what we've done...." (which to me sounded like not much at all, and FELT like less.) They were all really impressed so....just keep at it. babysteps.
lovemy2boys, Have you found what you need yet? I was looking through some of my old hs books that I used w/ my first child. They are older books and I haven't figured out exactly what grade levels they are for.(Prob. 2-5/6) However, if there are anything in them that you can use, you're welcome to them free of charge. I know I have some history, science, reading, and maybe a math. I also have math flash cards and some wall charts. PM me if you are interested. LR
HI! How are you holding up??? (((HUGS))) I agree with alot that's been posted. Do you live near a good library? They are so good to have too. We have a couple libraries near us (we live kinda on the edge of three counties, so we don't really "belong" to any one...it's fun - note sarcasm!). I'm not sure if anyone posted the links yet - but there's free writing and grammar curriculum from Scott Foresman - I believe the link is http://www.sfreading.com/resources/ghb.html - it goes up to 6th grade so it would work for both. www.worksheetworks.com is another good resource for stuff. Right now it's free - it's been in beta for about two years now. www.donnayoung.org has a lot of neat information, forms, planners, etc. www.edhelper.com - costs $20 a year for the elementary grades and has lots of reading comprehension, math, etc. www.learningpage.com - this will be best for your 3rd grader. Sign up is free and there are 6 units with teacher's lesson plans and worksheets, etc. There are also 6 other units (money, measuring, calendar, time, etc). check out www.jenniferix.com too - she has a lot of links to free stuff there. Hope this helps you. OH...and for reading level books - the Sonlight website lists all the books listed with their core, they are GREAT for reading lists! And most can be gotten out of the library.
Hi Krista, Thank you for the hugs! I'm holding up as best as I can right now. I'm still trying to get my stuff in order. I do live near a Library & have visited it to check out some books already so I am in the process of going through them & seeing what I can use. I appreciate you posting the links below & I'll be sure to look at them & bookmark them! I appreciate your help! I appreciate everyone's help!
There's a site called www.rhlschool.com that has reading comprehension and vocabulary that is appropriate for your older child. At http://www.homeschooling.about.com there is the World Book list of the typical course of study for each grade WITH links to online resources for some of it.
