Posts Categorized: homeschooling

Our Favorite Homeschool Curriculum Choices

25 Oct, 2016 by in homeschool, homeschooling Leave a comment

homeschooling

Some of our most used series and books for homeschooling.

Click on the photo for an affiliate link with more information on each title.

What are your most used resources for teaching?

 

Our favorite classroom series:

The Original McGuffeys Eclectic First Reader by William McGuffey
The Life of Fred Elementary Set #1: Apples, Butterflies, Cats, Dogs by Dr Stanley Schmidt
Saxon Math 2 Homeschool: Complete Kit 1st Edition 1st Edition
Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie K. Fulbright, Brooke Ryan
First Steps Pathway Reading Series by Rod and Staff
Phonics Workbook grade 1 unit 1 by Rod and Staff
English from the Roots Up, Vol. 1: Help for Reading, Writing, Spelling, and S.A.T. Scores
by Joegil K Lundquist
ValueTale Set (Multiple Volume Value Tales Book Set) by Ann Donegan Johnson
Childcraft: The How and Why Library by Childcraft Cornerstones of Freedom Series Set
Cornerstones of Freedom Series Set
American Wild Flowers Coloring Book (Dover Nature Coloring Book)by Paul E. Kennedy
Teaching Textbooks: Algebra 1 Textbook with Answer Key, Verson 2.0 by Greg & Shawn Sabouri
Preparing for Usefulness : English 8 Hardcover – 1997
by Rod and Staff
American Geographical Society – Around the World Program by American Geographical Society
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child by Susan Wise Bauer
Young People’s Science Encyclopedia by National College of Education
What Your Third Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch Jr.
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey
Let’s Read and Find our Science Series
Bob Books, Set 1: Beginning Readers by Bobby Lynn Maslen, John R. Maslen
Hooked on Phonics : Learn to Read by Hooked On Phonics.

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Getting Started- Homeschool Schedule

12 Sep, 2016 by in homeschool, homeschooling Leave a comment

We spent our first week getting the routine down. Inspiration for our classroom came from here.

We will be using these sheets to keep track of what we do weekly:

School Week at a Glance
Getting Organized One Day/Week/Month At A Time FREE Printable Planners!
A Typical English Home: Household Binder Printables: School Week at a Glance

Daily

Devotional

Song

Prayer

Pledge

Scripture

General Cinference Talk

Come Follow Me

Church History

Topical Study

 

Chores

Printable Cleaning List From Love to Know

Age Appropriate Chore List from My MomFriday.com

Age Appropriate Chore List from Not2Shabbey

 

Daily To Do List

Math

Science

Copywork

Rod & Staff

Literature

American History

Latin

Duolingo

Grammar

Lunch, outdoors

Art

YM/ YW, Primary

Act of Service

Story of the World

Brain Pop

Church video

Organize assignments in binder

Clean up Desk

Journal

20 minutes independent reading

 

On the First Day of School we…

Filled out an All About Me Worksheet

Took School Pictures in the trees

Geocached and started Forest School

 

What does your daily and weekly school schedule look like?

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Why We Pulled Our Child and Began Dual Enrollment

03 Oct, 2014 by in dual enrollment, homeschooling, public school 9 comments

homeschooling

I was one of those moms who said I would never home school. I have five children, I’m not the most organized, and to be honest,  it always seemed like it was not an option. But this year something changed. My sixth-grader started to complain a couple weeks into school that the book she was reading was giving her nightmares. Her class, a level 2 novels course, was reading The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho aloud.

We began reading the goodreads and Amazon reviews, which mentioned the book was sad and depressing. I could not understand why school children would need to be reading about war-torn Cambodia. There is graphic violence as well as a public bathing scene with a 19 year old girl. Granted some of the hardest lessons are those you read in the pages of a book. Anyone who knows anything about me, knows that I love novels. But, when my daughter started experiencing PTSD-like symptoms from this particular novel, I knew we needed to ask the school for an alternative.

Only there was no alternative.

At first the teacher said she would be able to sit outside the classroom while the class was reading aloud– that only worked for a couple of days. Then her grade dropped from an A to a C as they started giving her zeros for every time she was in the hall. After several emails with administration it was determined that they would not offer an alternative book in school. The curriculum and the book had been Board approved and they saw no reason why the title should be abandoned or another one offered in its place.

So we decided as a family that we would check out my daughter during reading time and bring her home. The administration at our school wanted us to pick an approved book, print out study guide questions, correct them and return them to the school graded. I argued we as parents, under state law, are able to choose her curriculum while we are homeschooling. They argued we need to prove she is proficient. I argued the school give her a no-grade.

We had voiced our concerns as parents and now it was time to safeguard our child.

This began our journey that is called dual enrollment.

After two weeks of checking her out, I noticed she did not have a passion or enthusiasm for reading. She would only read one chapter at a time. I asked for clean, well liked titles for her age group and we went to the library. But still, the spark in her had gone out. She has grown up surrounded by books, with a full library and more coming in the mail every day. We go to the library often.

What causes a child to love or not love reading? Can school or assignments sometimes kill that spark?

I am trying a new approach this week, backing away from Newbery Award winners or the classics and letting her pick her own favorite book from the shelves at Barnes and Noble.

We have seen lots of smiles since beginning home school, and when her class had finished reading The Clay Marble, she did not want to return. She wants to continue homeschooling her novels class, lunch and recess.

So, here we are. This is a new journey. If we as parents won’t advocate for our children, and really dig into ask what they are learning at school, who will? Ask what books your children are reading, and pay attention to how they react.

I am grateful for the opportunity to help her discover books. I worry that this will not be our first run in with content or themes that are not “for our family.” But we will be in this together. Talking and working with them every step of the way.

 

What books did you love as a sixth grader?

How do you help your child truly enjoy reading?

Have you asked your children’s teachers what they will be reading this year?

Do you pre-read books?

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