Posted on 09/23/2009 11:08:25 AM PDT by Tired of Taxes
The Free Republic Homeschoolers’ Forum is an annual thread where homeschoolers share tips and talk about curriculum.
Included on this year’s forum:
GET STARTED HOMESCHOOLING
This year, in response to requests from other parents, we have put together a guide for anyone interested in homeschooling. (See below.)
HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES (in alphabetical order)
Scroll down for the latest list of educational resources recommended by homeschoolers on Free Republic. Corrections and updates were made to the previous list. Links to any product or website no longer available were deleted. Then the recommendations made last year were added. Also, a list of links to resources right here on Free Republic has been expanded under Free Republic Library. As always, feel free to share advice with other homeschoolers in the comments following on this thread.
This will be the final list. Thank you to all who have contributed! If you would like to add more recommendations, please add them in the comments section.
CONGRATULATIONS to all homeschooled students who have graduated this year! Many blessings to you and your families! May you enjoy continued success.
A big THANK YOU to Jim Robinson and to all who make Free Republic work.
PLEASE WAIT FOR THE ALL-CLEAR BEFORE POSTING COMMENTS. THANK YOU!
INFORMATION INCLUDING THE LIST OF RESOURCES WILL BE PASTED IN THE NEXT TWO POSTS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.
bfltr
STEP ONE: Check the laws in your state.
Visit the Home School Legal Defense Association’s website. Click on your state for a summary of the laws regulating homeschooling there. Some states have stricter regulations than others. Be prepared to abide by the laws in your state. Joining HSLDA is highly recommended.
STEP TWO: Find a homeschool support group in your area.
The homeschooling community is well-organized. There are support groups suitable for almost every family. Homeschool organizations offer activities such as band, cooperative classes, field trips, graduation ceremonies, honor societies, socials (i.e. dances, the prom), sports, youth groups, and much more.
Many homeschool organizations are affiliated with churches, and you may be required to sign a Statement of Faith in order to join. Other groups merely rent space at churches. Still, other groups meet at libraries, museums, etc., and most communicate online via email. You may find homeschool support groups online by searching for your state name and the word “homeschool”. Or check the HSLDA website for state-level organizations listed there. Another option is to communicate with a homeschool parent in your state here on Free Republic.
STEP THREE: Choose a curriculum plan.
Scroll down to see the list of educational resources recommended by homeschoolers on Free Republic and posted below right here on this thread. The most appropriate curriculum for your child(ren) will depend upon age level, the method of learning that best suits each child, and the student’s interests.
You will find that homeschool parents on Free Republic are always willing to share advice and support. If you have questions, feel free to ask. If you start a new thread to ask for advice, remember to ping Metmom so that she can send a ping to the list of homeschoolers here.
Remember to contact Metmom to add your name to the Homeschool Ping List. Also ask for your name to be added to the Another Reason to Homeschool ping list for other articles about the state of education today.
Started out in probably 1988 or so.....in SoCal.
Moved to OK....in '97.
The girls are now in College....and doing pretty well.
Please note: This list is not intended to include every homeschool curriculum available on the market. Rather, it is a list of resources recommended specifically by homeschoolers and others interested in educational topics here on Free Republic. The colleges and universities also were suggested by participants here on FR.
Disclaimer: The Free Republic website and its owners do NOT officially endorse any of these products. This list was compiled for informational purposes only by participants on Free Republic. The website links below are provided only to give more information on each item. They are not intended as solicitations. Free Republic cannot be held responsible for these websites, their content, nor any sales transactions made. Sometimes links, websites, and/or products are altered, so please remember to use your own discretion.
You’ve been pinged because you either contributed to this list at some point or expressed an interest. (My apologies if I missed anyone.) Or, your ping list and contact name might have been added.
The educational resources many of you recommended on the last forum have been added to this newly updated list. Thank you!
All clear to post comments.
Looks like I’ll have to ping you for a ping, after all! I forget how to make the Homeschool Ping List graphic work. It won’t look right if I send it.
Just curious here. Approx how many freepers on that ping list?
Great links too — thanks for the ping!
Please put me on your ping list, I have started homeschooling my youngest this year, 12 yrs. old, and need all the help I can get!!!!
Thank you for doing this. BTW, www.khanacademy.edu (org?) offers terrific help for free in math, science, and some economics topics...
Hi, you can add me to your ping list.
Homeschooling for 15 years; still have three kids “in class.”
Happy to help anyone with questions. (I’m in California).
Recommended curriculum that I see listed above: Spelling Power (I start that in 2nd grade and use regular Phonics before that), Apologia Science (ALL their Science - start after your kid has about 7th grade math skills). Saxon Math I start at 4th or 5th grade (Saxon 54).
Recommended curriculum I didn’t see listed above:
The Learnables for any foreign language.
Daily Grams for Grammar.
The Winston Grammar program, especially for kids who learn “kinesthetically.”
Modern Curriculum Press’ “Adventures In Phonics” to teach reading.
Modern Curriculum Press’ Math for grades K-3.
A Beka British and American Literature for the jr. high and high schoolers.
“Economics In One Lesson” and “Whatever Happened to Penny Candy” for high school economics.
I like to teach high school history by having my kids read biographies of great men and women from history. This gives them some proper if imperfect heroes, and teaches history in context.
I like to supplement a basic world history course in jr. high with Henty’s historical fiction.
Yeah for FLVS aka the Florida virtual school. Helps the single dad still home school the two teens even though some of the purists say that virtual school does not count as it is a government program. We do lots of extra stuff as well.
Awesome collection of resources!
Also for lapbooking, we like to use http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ .
This school year will likely be our last one homeschooling. The older guy went off to the local Catholic high school last year, and the younger guy will likely follow him next year.
Ten years has flown by quickly.
I may have missed it, but I did not see www.homeschoolbuyers-coop.org. It is a free subscription service that offers deep discounts to homeschoolers for various educational programs like CyberEd (which goes by a new name now), Rosetta Stone, and many others.
you forgot me. *pout*
Hmm, I guess it’ll be time to start with educational things before I know it! Sure babygirl is only 5 months old right now but she’ll need to learn to read one of these years...
It’s very exciting to think about homeschooling, having been homeschooled myself (and so was my husband). It gives us a slightly different perspective on things, I think.
You have to replace the quotation marks with new ones and get rid of the semi-colons in between the arrow keys. When I FReepmail you them, somehow it gets added or changed. Some glitch in the program, I guess, but the HTML won’t work right if it doesn’t like the way the quotation marks look and if the semi-colons are left in at the end of the image code. The semi-colons have to be deleted, not spaced out. HTML doesn’t like spaces either.
What kills me about this is that my kids cannot participate in extra-curricular activities as home-schoolers.
Ping
I haven’t counted yet to see how many are on.
When I get done adding all the new requests, I’ll do a head count and let you know.
Of course, if you don’t hear from me in a couple days, remind me.
Did you add *frhf* as a keyword? What does it mean?
I like having distinct keywords, as it can be a big help in searching for specific articles. Some keywords are just too common to be useful.
For the life of me, I was sure you were on the lists. I don’t know why you weren’t but I WILL add you.
FRHF - Free Republic Homeschoolers’ Forum
It should take you to all of the past forums beginning in 2005. I just added the keyword recently.
Duh!
I’ll put it in my homeschool notice thing that I put up when I ping the list so people can use it.
Correction:
Under Puzzle-Makers & Worksheet Generators, here’s the link for
HOME SCHOOL PLANET:
http://www.homeschoolplanet.com/
Hmmm... I double-checked, and your name is on the list. Are you sure you didn’t receive a ping? If you didn’t, I’m afraid now I might’ve cut off a whole bunch of people. Sorry, I’m going cross-eyed after all the typing.
Thanks for the massive amount of work that looks like it took.
I was just wondering because it might give some indication how many freepers do homeschooling. Don’t know if there’s ever been a poll. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a FR poll in quite a while.
It’s just a once-a-year ping. :-) I will ping your name and everyone’s name here next year when we do this again. In the meantime, if you’re on the Homeschool Ping List run by Metmom, then you’re covered.
WOW!! Thank you so much for compiling all of this. I see a lot of resources I already use and some I can’t wait to check out.
We’re trying a new system this year that works with any curriculum. It’s an organizational thing for me. It started here http://www.workboxsystem.com/ but if you google workboxes you’ll find a million different versions, free printables, etc. I modified ours and use small stackable drawers instead because I was able to fit them into our cabinets so the little ones couldn’t get into them. It’s working quite well! My kids (11, 9, and 4 are on the system) know exactly what is expected of them each day and can visibly see what they’ve accomplished and what’s left. Hope someone else finds this useful! It’s sure helped me stay on track!
It’s far more text than work, really. I just started it the weekend when you reminded me, and then I worked on it a bit at a time, now and then. But it was enough work that my hand is hurting from using the mouse. I’m glad to have it, though, because there were interesting suggestions homeschoolers here gave that I never knew about. I have to go now. I’ll try to check back later tonight.
With that said, I am trying to get a book that I used way back several years ago to teach music theory to little ones. I cannot remember the name, but it was a yellow book, with comb binding.
It taught kids musical note values by first getting them to associate note values with colors:
quarter notes: pink
eighth notes: purple
half notes: blue-oo
whole notes: red-ed-ed-ed
LOL. If any of this makes sense, you might know the book I'm talking about. Please FRmail me if you have any idea what I'm talking about.
It is so encouraging to see so many more resources available to homeschoolers. When we first did homeschooling back in the 1980's A Beka would not even sell to home schoolers. We had to hide our kids in the house all during school hours, and make all sorts of explanations if we took them for a field trip during school hours. By the time we finished in 2001, homeschooling was an acceptable way of life. I miss it, I'll be honest. But I am heartened by the number of families choosing this route, and know that our country will be strengthened by the children raised through homeschooling. Blessings to you all.
Bump for later reading
High five to second generation homeschoolers!
Homeschooled all my life, graduated college and now homeschooling my own ones.....
You’re a couple years ahead of me then but we’re on the same course. Funny how when we were being homeschooled, it was weird and people thought it might be illegal (and was in some places) and now it’s so common people start making excuses for why they don’t homeschool!
Great list. My first go to website when buying anything homeschool is www.libraryanded.com then rainbowresource.com. Things listed that I recommend:
Spell to Write and Read, Mystery of History.
Things I recommend but didn’t see:
Right Start Math www.alabacus.com
God’s Design for Science www.answersingenesis.com
Ancient Civilizations and the Bible www.answersingenis.com
“www.answersingenis.com”
That should be www.answersingenesis.com
This ping list is for articles of interest to homeschoolers. Metmom holds both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping List. Please freepmail Metmom to let her know if you would like to be added or removed from either list, or both.Ping
OK. Try this one.
I'm an atheist. But I'm not rabidly against all religion. I sent my son to a church-related preschool last year. It was wonderful and I was happy with the level of moral instruction and even the exposure to the Bible that he received. But I couldn't in good conscience teach him from a religious home-school curriculum. So my question is, are there good HS curricula out there that are not tied to religious instruction?
For math there is Saxon Math. The vast majority of homeschoolers love it. You will find some who don’t.
But it’s not worth investing in the grades 1-3 curriculum, IMO. I think it is priced way too high.
For spelling, you can use flash cards and work on word families.
One resource for some English is English from the Roots Up. It covers the Latin and Greek roots that make up a lot of the words in English. Another for teaching writing is Writing Strands. I don’t recall any particular religious influence in that but you’d have to check for sure.
One resource we used that we found worked well for just having a curriculum to put down on our reports to the schools, was workbooks that we picked up at Sam’s club. They have different subjects at the earlier grade levels that essentially covered what the pricier homeschool curriculum covered.
Teaching kids the basics of math is not difficult. Reading kind of comes mostly from doing it with them. Read them a lot of books. I thought that these workbooks for science and social studies were actually better than what I got from Abeka, for the first few grades.
The real big plus was that they are very inexpensive.
This can at least buy you time to find other sources for curricula for the later grades.
A friend of ours who’s not particularly religious, used Switched On Schoolhouse by Alpha-Omega Publications for her 14 year old and they both loved it.
I don’t know how you feel about using the computer for a child as young as yours.
My opinion, and it’s got nothing to do with religion, is that the less exposure they have to TV and computers at that age, and the more to books, the better.
You might want to read *Better Late Than Early* by Drs. Moore and Moore about early childhood development. It’s a fascinating book.
Switched on Schoolhouse doesn’t start until 3rd grade
ping
Where do you live?
The best thing for you to do would be to go to a homeschool convention and wander the curriculum fair - go around to booths and look at what people are offering for curriculumn. There are a lot of secular/non religious options out there. My family was very Christian but Mom used a lot of secular materials for us - especially for things like math and grammar where the “Christian” stuff was just injected in on top and seemed stupid. Check your area for secular/non-religious homeschool associations (there are often these around though they can be sort of liberal).
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