My wife and I would like to home school our children, but honestly, I don't know jack about where to even begin. Do any of you experienced home schoolers feel like parting with some info? Resources? Also, I have heard so many discussions about the "good and bad" of homeschooling, but usually it's uneducated people just trying to argue with me. What are you opinions, either for or against. Oh, and for those of you who are against, I'd appreciate something other than "They won't get the social interaction that need", with all they activities that they are involved in, the get plenty of social time.
It depends on what you want your children to learn. What you as a parent would like your child to know about life. If you would like to teach them about current curriculum then an institution might be a better choice.
I honestly think it depends on the child, as they are all so different, when it comes to whether homeschooling works. I have a friend with 3 children, all homeschooled. They all love it and are very happy with their schooling. She does scheduled school time every day and also has her school aged kids in many activities, like boy scouts, chess club, sports, etc. She also hired an art and science teacher to do weekly classes in her home for her and other homeschooled children in the town. My son's best friend was also homeschooled last year. She used more of an unschooling approach and just followed the child's interest with no set curriculum. Her mother had every intention of always homeschooling her. But this year when all the kids went back to school, she asked to go too. Her mother kept asking her day after day if she was sure and explained that school is something she would need to stick too and not decide the next day that she wasn't going to go. I have never seen a happier student! She started in 1st grade (homeschooled for kinder) and just genuinely loves school. She brags every day about her teacher, her new friends and how much she is learning for 6-1/2 hours a day. I really feel that she felt like she was missing something, even though her mom kept her very socialized and in many activities, including the classes at my other friend's house. I guess I just wanted to point out that not one form of schooling may fit every child. You may find that your children love being homeschooled, or they may feel they are missing out and want to go to traditional school. I think my friend did the right thing by allowing her the chance to experience school and make the judgement for herself, even though she felt crushed that her daughter was leaving to go to school. Good luck!
Some links for you to check out - I don't have much time but I'll be back with more! Whole Curriculum: Ambleside Online Ambleside Online Old Fashioned Education An Old-Fashioned Education (Preschool and some elementary) Brightly Beaming Resources Math: First Lessons in Arithmetic Math NC Public Schools DPI Instructional Services: Mathematics: Grades K-2 Resources (2003 SCS) Centre for Innovation (UK) Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching - Mathematics Enhancement Programme Living Math History (Lesson Plans on Right side of Page) C1 Outline and Booklists Math Drill: *NEW* Printable Math Sheets Free Math Worksheets (online) Math U See Math·U·See Drill Page Math Worksheets to create and print http://themathworksheetsite.com/ Phonics: (online) Starfall Learn to Read at Starfall - teaching comprehension and phonics Blend Phonics Blend Phonics Spelling: Splashes from the River Free Spelling Course Webster’s Spelling http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Webster...ook%201824.pdf (online) Spelling City Online Spelling Program*-*SpellingCity.com Handwriting: Writing Wizard Make Handwriting Worksheets - ESL Writing Wizard *NEW*Custom Tracer Pages Custom Tracer Pages *NEW* Nice Writing Paper printables Patterned Paper Index Page@2Learn.ca Grammar: *NEW* English Banana Elementary Workbook. For individual pages go to: englishbanana.com - Print Your Own: Big Grammar Book > Free Worksheets for English, EFL and ESL Lessons For complete download go to: English Banana.com's Big Grammar Book - Reviews and free English Banana.com's Big Grammar Book downloads at Download.com Scott Foresman Scott Foresman Reading: Teacher Resources Kiss Grammar The KISS Grammar Site -- Main Page Daily Grammar Daily Grammar Lessons Archive - Comprehensive archive of grammar lessons History: *NEW* American Heritage. Uses teacher jargon, but is complete. Curriculum Mosaic Introduction to World History Free Lesson Plans: Mosaic Introduction to World History Part 1: Myths, Maps, and Marvels American History American History Curriculum Geography: *NEW*Sheppard Software Geography (Online) World Maps - geography online games *NEW*Discover America State by State. Uses the C is for...... book series. Gale . Discover America Series . Find Out More . Student Activities Science: *NEW* Earth Awareness Curriculum for Middle Schoolers NSTA Source Reduction Curriculum Life Science Curriculum http://www.eequalsmcq.com/Thank%20yo...0Science.h tm Otter’s Science Homeschool Science Curriculum K-12 Science Curriculum MSNucleus *NEW*Computer Science: Computer Programming Course Alice.org Computer Training Courses Free Computer Training at GCFLearnFree.org Computer Animating and Design Scratch | Home | imagine, program, share Art: *NEW* Dick Blick Lessons Search ALL Blick Lesson Plans by... - BLICK art materials Meet the Masters http://www.getinvolvedineducation.co...ram-Manual.pdf A Lifetime of Color A Lifetime of Color - Lesson Plans By Grade Typing *NEW*Touch Typing (Online) http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/ *NEW* Kiran's Typing Tutor. Free Typing Tutor Foreign Language: FSI Language Courses FSI Language Courses Virtual Field Trips: Meet Me at the Corner Meet Me At the Corner, Virtual Field Trips for Kids ________________________________________________ High School and College age-ish (Online): *NEW* Printable Courses in all subject areas. Not sure who funds this one, but I like how the curriculum is laid out. http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/Speci...t%20Areas.aspx *NEW* University of Berkley Courses. Tons of Free Courses available here. webcast.berkeley | UC Berkeley Video and Podcasts for Courses & Events *NEW* Yale University Open Courses. Nicely done and easy to access IMO. Online Video Lectures and Course Materials — Open Yale Courses *NEW* University of Washington free courses. OpenUW Free Courses *NEW*M.I.T. open Courseware. Tons of completely free courses in many subjects. Free Online Course Materials | Courses | MIT OpenCourseWare Unit Studies/Notebooking: Various Unit Studies Free Homeschooling Unit Studies Oceanography CurrClick - Christian Cottage - Oceanography - try me for FREE! Various Subjects: S.C.O.R.E. Language Arts CyberGuides 3 Curriculums about Eyes Ophthalmic Heritage & Museum of Vision Take a Cloud Walk http://www.nostudentleftindoors.com/...alkMar31LO.pdf Birds Notebooking pages CurrClick - Notebooking Nook.com - Nature Study ~ Birds ~ Notebooking Pages Canada Unit Study Canada Unit Study Planning/Forms and Papers: Donna Young DonnaYoung.org: Printables and Resources for Home, Homeschooling, and Classrooms Free Forms Free Homeschool Forms & Worksheets by Cindy Downes Free Forms CHASE SC Homeschool Association Free Forms For Home Schools Notebooking Homeschool Notebooking Printables Highland Heritage Forms http://highland.hitcho.com.au/Forms.htm *NEW*My Favorite Freebie Sites: Homeschool Freebie of the day. If you Sign-up for the weekly emai;, you will receive additional free resources. Freebie of the Day Currclick. They feature a free product once a week to download. It usually changes Monday afternoons. CurrClick - Curriculum in a click! Affordable curriculum, lapbooks, and homeschooling resources Freely educate. Lots of great links here. Freely Educate HOMESCHOOLING RESOURCES & SUPPORT Almost 500 Homeschooling links WITH descriptions http://home.dejazzd.com/brew/index.html http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/ A FABULOUS site for anyone looking for online or offline support. Tons of site listings for local support groups Plus they have message boards, chats, etc. A great place to start if you are considering homeschooling (lots of detailed explanations in laymen's terms). Unschoolers Unlimited http://borntoexplore.org/unschool/ This is a local CT support group but the site has a really nice resource page, articles and more. Ultimate Homeschool Directory http://www.rubyimage.com/cgi-bin/odp/index.cgi TONS of links to all sorts of homeschooling resources Preschool and Kindgarten homeschooling links http://www.homeschoolcentral.com/presch.htm Easy Fun School-Educate & Homeschool with fun and joy http://www.easyfunschool.com/index.html Another great site with tons of homeschooling articles, a newsletter, book reviews and fabulous ideas for homemade art supplies and much more. Abecadarian Academy - Resources for homeschooling http://www.geocities.com/heartland/forest/2468/ Resources for ideas, lesson plans, etc. categorized by age. Great suggestions on which curriculum might be right for you. Homeschool your child for free http://www.writerspost.com/hs4free/ Links and reviews of free homeschooling resources The Homeschool Planbook http://www.homeschoolplanbook.com/ Plan books to help keep track of lessons, attendance, etc. HomeEducator.com http://www.homeeducator.com/HSN/ Great site with an online newsletter, listing of resources, support group listing, as well as online store for curriculum. Homeschooling Legal Defense Assoc. http://www.hslda.org/default.asp This site is a must for ANY homeschool parent. Current legal information about laws and actions that affect homeschooling families. Kid's Freeware site http://www.kidsfreeware.com/school/study_lang.html EDUCATIONAL/TEACHING SITES How the body works http://kidshealth.org/parent/healthy/bodyworks.html The Human Body: Student Activities http://www.solutions.ibm.com/k12/teacher/1998/46bodys.html Early Childhood: Activities http://www.kidsource.com/education/math/activities1.html A list of categories with songs/poems to sing to teach lessons http://www.track0.com/canteach/elementary/songspoems.html >From days of the week to seasons to weather and more. Meet Professor Tobbs- Educational Activities http://www.kidsource.com/tobbs/ This give specific activities for each age group... Just pull up a number and you'll get an activity. This is for ages 3 and up! Alphabet coloring http://www.alphabet-soup.net/dir6/alphacolor.html A page with each letter and multiple items to color that start with that letter. ABC Teach http://www.abcteach.com Themes, worksheets, forums and much more Learning Page.com http://www.learningpage.com An AMAZING site with more printables than you can imagine to teach your child everything from ABCs and left to right on up to elementary ages. Great theme units too. http://brainfluff.com/FreeLinks/browse.asp?it=4 A great site to gather info on subject matter to teach. Pro-Teacher - A directory of links and lesson plans http://www.proteacher.com/ A fabulous directory where you can search for lesson plans in all subjects and much much more. About.com's typical course study - preschoolers and beyond http://homeschooling.about.com/library/blcsp.htm?once=true& Homeschool Haven http://www.homeschoolhaven.com/ What to teach your homeschooler - grades preschool - 12 Free Homeschooling unit studies done by a homeschooling mom http://members.truepath.com/momcaroe/Archives.htm Worksheets Unlimited http://www.worksheetsunlimited.com/ More worksheets than you can possibly imagine ranging from making your own calendar to the outline of all 50 states, as well as a directory of homeschool curriculum. Free Charts and Worksheets http://www.tipztime.com/minicharts/freeminichartsandworksheets.ht ml Covering everything from the weather to holidays School Express http://www.freeworksheets.com/ Great site! Free worksheets and learning in all categories; math, reading, science, etc, plus workbooks, thematic units you can buy online activities, etc. Free Worksheets for ages 3 to 6 http://schoolexpress.com/fws/sub_cat1Ages3to6.asp?cat=Ages3to6 Counting, letters, shapes, sorting and more.. Free Worksheets and links http://diemwebdesigns.com/preschool/printout.htm Links to coloring and activity sites as well as a slew of free worksheets to print Personal Educational Press http://www.educationalpress.org/educationalpress/index.asp?FormSt ate=ChangeNavLevel&NavLevel=General An excellent site where you can make customized worksheets, flashcards and other games and methods of learning, such as quizzes, matching, etc. Fun School http://www.funschool.com A fun online activity site with entertaining games for kids that help them learn their ABCs, how to count, matching, etc...and more. http://www.factmonster.com/ http://www.homeschoolernetwork.fen.com/ http://www.starfall.com Deschooling http://www.sitesforteachers.com http://www.abcteach.com http://www.atozteacherstuff.com http://www.perpetualpreschool.com http://www.preschoolrainbow.com http://www.teachersfirst.com/matrix.htm http://www.preschooleducation.com http://www.homeschoollinks.com http://bookadventure.com http://www.createdbyteachers.com http://kkafe.net/menu.html#1997 - Kindergarden Cafe http://www.preschoolcoloringbook.com http://www.teachingheart.net http://www.funmaths.com/worksheets/ws06.htm - Worksheet Swap - High School Math http://worksheets.teach-nology.com/math/measure http://lessonplancentral.com http://www.proteacher.com http://www.awesomelibrary.org http://www.123child.com/act http://akidsheart.com/bible/bible.htm http://allgodskids.com http://tlsbooks.com/kidspagearchive.htm http://www.brobstsystems.com/kids http://www.greenwichschools.org/Curr...e4_5_Math.html http://www.learning.caliberinc.com/index.html - 4th and 5th Grade Student Resources http://www.homeworkspot.com http://www.homeschoolingadventures.com/worksheets.html http://www.rhlschool.com/computation - Mathematics Computation http://www.dositey.com/index.htm - Free interactive lessons, exercises and worksheets, educational games http://www.learningpage.com http://www.opticsforkids.org/teach/teach.cfm http://www.neufeldmath.com/worksheets/fractions http://www.wesleyan.org/ssd/bkex/BSCframes.htm - Bible Story Cards http://Kidsdomain.com http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite http://www.theteacherscorner.net http://50states.com http://www.ilovethatteachingidea.com...r/langarts.htm http://www.schoolhousetech.com - free math worksheet generator http://www.scottbryce.com/mathwork - Another free math worksheet generator http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/discount.html - A list of stores offering homeschool discounts http://www.microsoft.com/education/d...ble#homeschool - Microsoft Homeschool discounts http://www.apple.com/education/k12/homeschool - Apple Homeschool discounts http://www.wartoft.nu/software/seterra/ - Learn Geography http://www.knowledgequestmaps.com/globalmania.htm - Accompanying ebook www.janbrett.com www.enchantedlearning.com http://science.pppst.com/5kingdoms.html - the 5 kingdoms Free English Grammar Lessons and Tests Animal Studies Hope that helps some!!
Hi HL: I homeschooled my 2 children and I'm now helping my daughter homeschool my grandson. I'm a big fan of "following your excitement" to keep the frequency up to stay happy and healthy. So I basically always kept tabs with them on what excited them in the moment. My daughter was big into art - so we let her experience whatever medium she was interested in at the moment. Instead of studying droll grammar - we read like mad. We're always interested in learning new things. From all that reading together, they learned grammar in a practical way. For instance, I'd explain what the comma meant and then give the pause example while reading.. We really love Victor Borge's punctuation sounds - that always brought a laugh and taught in a fun way. Get his video if you haven't seen him. My daughter hated math early on, so I didn't push it. When she turned 10, it turned on and she was very interested in learning it. The school board here in West Virginia informed us that they no longer use worksheets, just computers. I, personally, don't want to see my grandchild sitting in front of a monitor for hours at such a young age (7). Worksheets are colorful with cartoons and fun games that kids like to play with. We have to homeschool in West Virginia because of mandatory vaccinations. Both the kids wanted to experience school, so I let them, of course. It was nice for them to have balanced perspectives. They opted for homeschool. We are big nature freaks, so studied a lot about nature and still do. My daughter got her GED for a job she was applying for and scored very high. Both the kids are brilliant but they can't fit in to "normal" society because they are too hip. I believe these new kids are here to rewrite our culture, not immerse themselves in the same old BS. Anywho, feel free to write if I can be of service. Blessings, Ellie
I am against it in most cases. Honestly, many of the home schooling parents I know just aren't knowledgeable enough to present their kids with any real challenges. If you don't know what you are doing, send your kids to a real school and teach them everything you know that they will not learn there. I know many kids who do not even know what evolution is, because their parents didn't want them to know it existed. (Creationism is the only way XD) It makes me sad to see all of these kids with no friends, social life, or ambition to go to college.
YouFreeMe, he asked for resources, not negativity. Frankly, I think public school isn't a great medium for 2/3 of the kids there. If they aren't challenged enough by the pace of learning and the subject matter, they become bored. And if the pace is a bit beyond them, they fall behind and can never really catch up without adding more schooling hours to their day. And if you look at how children learn in the first 5 years of their lives, it's safe to assume that if you surround them with the opportunities to learn, they will learn with minimal input. Not to say that you shouldn't guide them and be a part of their educational lives, but they have the capabilities all on their own to learn many, many things. One last thing... If evolution is the be-all, end-all...Where did that first cell come from? And can you source it?
Actually, he also asked for our opinions, for or against Obviously, science has not reached the point of answering all of our questions. I am not saying I believe entirely in evolution, however, I do not think you should hide it from your children.
