Posted on 03/15/2024 7:43:19 AM PDT by Heartlander
If you’re feeling unqualified to homeschool, you’re not alone. The question of what and how to teach stressed me out early on in my homeschooling journey.
I found that having a good curriculum did a great deal to reduce my fears of not being qualified to teach. I wanted to strike a balance between bookwork, memorization, and fun interactive activities. I wanted to make sure to impart to my kids the basic body of knowledge necessary for a good education, yet I didn’t want to burn them out with endless worksheets.
Still, the world of homeschooling curriculum can be overwhelming, and the choices for teaching material are endless. Which ones are simply trends or fads to be avoided? Which ones best fit specific family and children’s learning styles?
If you’re struggling with the “what” and “how” of teaching at home, I’d love to share a short list of curricula that ended up being my absolute favorites for elementary education—all of which took the stress out of teaching.
About 10 years ago, a friend suggested Spell to Write and Read as her go-to spelling curriculum. We bought it, began to use it, and have never changed. Spell to Write and Read spans elementary through high school, covering phonics, reading, writing (including cursive), and grammar.
At first, Spell to Write might seem overwhelming to teach. It is very thorough. It deals with all spelling rules in the English language and gives step-by-step instruction for how to take your child from phonics to a detailed understanding of all spelling rules.
Spell to Write is designed to be used with the accompanying WISE Guide for Spelling, which includes each spelling list given, along with “Enrichment” lessons that cover grammar, word etymology, and more. Once I got the hang of teaching this curriculum, I never looked back. I love that it teaches skills such as alphabetizing, synonyms and antonyms, and Greek and Latin roots. This has been a one-and-done curriculum for us.
Apologia is a company that produces faith-based curricula. We have used this resource for the sciences, and to date, we’ve studied zoology, earth sciences, chemistry, physics, and human anatomy.
Each subject comes with a teacher’s book and an accompanying student journal. Beyond this, each lesson is very clear and easy to teach, with the journals containing engaging activities that often overlap with other subjects. There is copy work, vocabulary, and even building projects and experiments that get you outside and away from the desk.
I often use Apologia as an opportunity to schedule field trips that relate to our topic, which is enriching for my kids and me.
We started using Story of the World when our oldest kids were in elementary school. In four volumes, it covers earliest recorded history all the way into the 21st century. There are accompanying workbooks as well as printable coloring sheets for younger children. I usually read a chapter over breakfast, and if the subject is of particular interest, I will look up a video online as a supplement.
Alongside this, I check out books from the library to pair with our reading for the week. We have included complementary trips to history and art museums, too. What I like most about this curriculum is that it really does make history like reading a story. It’s engaging and fun, and I like that I am learning right along with my kids.
Probably the subject I felt most intimidated by was math. It was not my best subject in school, and I didn’t want to hold my kids back. What I have liked about Math-U-See is that is comes with videos for each lesson and many practice pages to help master the concepts being taught.
In particular, I like how this curriculum caters to the younger grades: It comes with math manipulatives, in the form of blocks, to help visualize the math concepts being taught. The curriculum gives younger children a good foundation and preparation for upper-level math.
For grammar, my primary go-to has been the First Language Lessons series. These books use classical techniques such as poetry memorization and narration to develop your child’s language abilities. It’s inexpensive and only requires lined paper for your child to complete the lessons, although in the beginning many of the lessons are oral.
What I’ve liked about First Language Lessons is that each lesson is brief and only takes about 10 minutes. All parts of speech are covered, and as your child progresses, writing becomes more of a focus.
The downside is that the lessons tend to be repetitive; however, I just use the curriculum in the way that works best for us, skipping ahead when needed. Poetry memorization is a highlight of this curriculum: I love how my children have taken to this and seem to enjoy it.
I’m a firm believer in pen-to-paper learning. Even so, there are many online resources we have taken advantage of from time to time.
Starfall at starfall.com is a very fun introduction to phonics. There are games and songs to help reinforce the learning. There are printable and coloring sheets as well.
Khan Academy at khanacademy.org is truly amazing for math and science. If one of my kids is struggling with understanding a certain concept, we can simply look up a video and get a thorough explanation.
Education.com has a plethora of worksheets for those days when what’s needed most is reinforcement of a concept. It’s free to join, and with a click and a printer, you are ready to go.
There are so many online resources, but these are truly my favorites.
I hope this helps make choosing a curriculum a bit less overwhelming. And remember, if it’s not working for your child, then move on and find something that does!
Happy homeschooling!
Feeling unqualified is the first qualification.
If you don’t homeschool your children will be groomed by Sodomites. That is the state of our public (and even private) education system.
EVERY parent should be homeschooling ...
If you are Catholic I recommend Seton Home Study School. They have the whole package curriculum, and teacher support. Many classes have quarterly tests you send in and essays too. They do the grading and will issue a real diploma, curriculum approved in Virginia.
https://www.setonhome.org/
“Feeling unqualified is the first qualification.”
Well said.
Hiisdale College has a K-12 curriculum that is supposed to be good.
Self ping
Math-U-See seemed very good for earlier grades but my kids excelled with Saxon Math, and I learned as I went too.
Saxon Math is the best.
We used Rod and Staff for English and phonics. Very solid stuff, definitely Mennonite oriented, very big on grammar and phonics, and very reasonably priced.
If you're smart about it you can teach them a foreign language before you teach them to read English. The brain is amazing for language learning during ages 3 and 6.
Getting started with older students will be more challenging. But the recommendation for khanacademy.org is right on, especially for math. HS kids can enroll in AP classes for whatever you need to test out of for college credit. This saves a lot of money and time, like two years worth ($40,000?).
Based on high school equivalency tests public school teachers bomb every year, most *teachers* are also unqualified to teach..
A good place to start if by reading to your kids from the get go.
Instill in them a love for reading and once they can read, they can learn anything by looking it up and reading up on it.
Another thing I did to encourage my kids to read was to buy books about things they were interested in. Horses and astronomy for one kid. Cats for another. Firetrucks for the third.
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I am a retired teacher and have earned the wrath of other "educators" by advocating home schooling for parents who want to take on the task.
First of all, I was a military dependent up through the 11th grade.
We were assigned to various locations in Europe where I attended DoD schools. In general, they were very good. However due to constant moves I had gaps in my education. My parents basically home schooled me by tutoring and assisting with my homework. They were 100% involved in helping me through rough spots where I didn't understand an assignment or had to catch up at a new school. That is passive home schooling.
Later, as a teacher I worked in a community with a strong military presence. So, I had empathy for the students that were transferred in and out of my classes. I advised the students and parents on subject matter they could pursue while moving to a new assignment. I also gave them material, a textbook and a syllabus to cover their transition period That was semi-active home schooling.
On a final note, in the classroom I could readily identify a student that has been home schooled. They were generally well adapted to dealing with adults socially, much more than the local peer group, had a better vocabulary and had a better understanding of STEM materials. This I surmised was because one or both of their parents were involved with a career that was based on math and science. Frequently a parent had a technical college degree, usually in the engineering field. IMO the parent has as much or more knowledge of a subject that any teacher had in the same subject area.
Amen to that. Same for preaching.
Just remember, dear hearts, that an hour’s attention from Mom is ten times the individual attention your scholar would get at the government values transformation camps.
Let Deuteronomy chapter 6 be your guide. God Almighty will bless you in your efforts.
Six homeschooled. Six thoughtful, knowledgeable, wise adults. The three with children are homeschooling their bairns.
Remember , “Long days and short years!”
My wife homeschooled our kids and it was the best decision we ever made.
I would make a couple recommendations.
Join a good homeschooling group if there are any availalble in your area. The one we joined handled the paperwork that the state/county required and also offered legal protection just in case the state or county ever went rogue. It was great having people to get sound advice from.
Joining HSLDA is also an option if you want to have someone that can give legal assistance if needed.
One day a week the homeschool “academy” we joined offered a few classes that most parents would not be able to provide themselves. They also issued a diploma and had a graduation ceremony for the students. The cost was very low for the benefits we received.
Some states/localities have homeschooling curriculm fairs annually, often in the spring. Try to find them. They are a great place to shop for books, curricula and other teaching aids. You can buy used materials at great prices there. It’s a great place to see what’s available, talk to vendors and other homeschool parents. It’s also just plain inspiring to be in a large gathering of “bitter clinger” patriot parents with their children in tow! It was what radical was meant to be.
Public schools are state-sanctioned child abuse in MANY cases. Private and/or “Christian” schools frequently fall short by a lot.
Parents - do your duty!
Why trust the most precious thing (the soul and mind of each child) the LORD has entrusted to you to the care of pagans and idolaters.
You don’t have to be perfect. Just do your duty!
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