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.
“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).
There are ton's!!
We are not members of a church, either. (Long story.) As others here have suggested, you’ll have no problem finding books and resources to use. There are many resources on the list we put together that you will find useful.
However, you might have a challenge finding a homeschool group because, like me, you don’t subscribe to a particular church doctrine but you’re conservative (I’m assuming because you’re here). If you’re considering homeschooling, try looking for a group now while your child is young. Some groups require you to sign a Statement of Faith, for example. OTOH, we came up against the left in a Christian group that didn’t require a statement. There are all-inclusive, secular groups with a mixture of political left and right and people of all faiths as well as nonreligious; we did find one where everyone got along well. Next we’re trying another Christian group. But... whatever you do, make sure your child will have enough to do with other children and that your child will know some other children who are homeschooled.
Thank you all for the useful advice.
Still undecided about whether homeschooling is a good idea? Why parents should consider homeschooling(and keep homeschooling if they are getting weak knees):
Underground History of American Education: http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/
Stupid in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw
Another couple of groups that do the same thing are Clonlara and Royal Academy. These two schools are good for families whose kids are into sports, since they are approved by the NCAA. At one time NARHS wasn't, but that didn't affect us because our kids were not into sports.
Of course, if you've already DONE your homework before you go to the Fair, you might be able to take advantage of some special pricing on the curricula that you already know will work for your family.
We also liked Saxon Math and Apologia Science.
BFLR
I can honestly say...HS'ing was one of the BEST things I ever did for my kids.
I just started homeschooling my 12 year old son for the first time this year too. Glad to see others just getting started like me.
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