Sunday, September 29, 2013

Homeschooling

I am still a little ambivalent about homeschooling. I really do enjoy it, I love spending the time with my kids, but I am afraid I am the only one. At least one time a day, either my son or my daughter ends up crying. I have heard one homeschool mom say if someone is crying, whatever your doing is not working and change it. Unfortunately I am so new to homeschooling I have no idea how to change it. I am not seasoned enough to know what my kids need, nor am that creative to come up with new and exciting ways to teach them that I tend to lean more on the books and the laid out plans. I love the order and the check lists.

I have been, however,  really looking into the "unschooling" approach. I don't think I will go full throttle in that direction as again, I am so new to this that I don't feel comfortable nor competent enough to approach the homeschooling this way, but with my kids being more hands on, this might be the way to go.

I do have to say though, there are numerous, and numerous, I mean hundreds (if not thousands) of resources on the web. I have listed a few of my favorites. Some are free, some cost a minimal fee, but all worth it.

Khan Academy:  Love this one. Sometimes it just takes a different perspective on things to get through to the kids.

All In One Homeschooling:   - this one is really great as it has all levels, all subjects, and every day planning laid out for you. A little old school, but my mom knows how to read

First School Preschool activities and crafts:   - this one is great for alphabet printouts and craft ideas.

Knowledge Quest -  Homeschooling ABCs - a resource for new homeschool moms (or dads). Great first step. Learn all the ins and outs of homeschooling. Great resource.

Word Play and Learning Fun - this is a great resource for word play and learning fun. Worksheets, activities.

Printable Reading Games and Phonics - this is printable reading games and phonics worksheets. Card games, domino games, bingo, and board games. Learning games are great in my book.

The above websites are more to supplement an already in place curriculum, extra help for those in need or just for fun, something to do differently from the every day stuff. The All In One Homeschooling is however a full curriculum that you can follow - and the best thing is - it is FREE!!!!!!. There are parts of this I follow. For instance, I do the bible curriculum and I started doing the science curriculum as I did not like the one I bought.

It is trial and error when you first start homeschooling, but the good thing is, if it isn't working, change it. You don't have to be stuck in a rut with one curriculum that isn't working. I bought the BJU Language arts curriculum - hated it. My kids just aren't into school that much and there were just too many facets to it, it was making my head spin. For others though, this would be great and I know a lot of people who use it and love it. I turned to Learning Language Arts through Literature and it is more laid back, easier, and for my child that just isn't interested in reading, I didn't want a huge comprehensive program. LLATL seems to be working though and a better fit for us.

Since my kids were in school before, and hated it, I really need to desensitize them to this atmosphere. I unfortunately have to take what school has provided them and exchange that for a love for learning, which I am not finding easy. But, it is a slow process, and I am determined to instill at least a little bit of love and interest for learning new things by the end of the year. That is really my goal - not so much the reading history, science, and how many buses could you fit inside a school if the school was a football field long..... etc.

I do have to say that there is a lot of information out there, and a lot of curriculum to pick from. I would be happy with 2-3 to choose from, and it gets very overwhelming when there are 100s of them, but I guess one is more apt to find a program or system that fits into one's own child's learning style.

More to come as the school year goes on, but did want to share some resources that I have tried and used and found informative and helpful.

Happy schooling. Peace out - YO

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