Homeschoolers - Do any of you use "free lesson plans" on line?

[cathyz]

I hate to keep starting new threads, but there's just so much to learn.

There is so much "free" on-line...worksheets, lesson plans, unit studies, etc. Do any of you actually use these instead of purchasing a 'program' or 'curriculum'? For example, the 'discovery school' website is full of lesson plans for all subject, really a neat site. Can I really just go with these ideas and not purchase a true Science Program such as Apologia, History of Science, etc. I realize putting all of this stuff together requires a lot of time and effort, but is it really just as good?

Thanks for your input!

 

[graygables]

I tried that one year when my oldest were in 5th and 3rd grades. I used to joke that I am a "trained professional" (used to teach high school English), but after that year, I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. I spent several months pulling everything together (in my county, we have to detail the curriculum) and then several months realizing that I hadn't done such a great job.

I would never try it again, but that could be just me. I have a LOT on my plate ALL the time and it was truly overwhelming. I've used Abeka and the K12 curriculum and my little DDs are currently enrolled in a virtual charter school that uses Compass (online curr) or Calvert...we chose Comapss.

Good luck making your decision...it's a tough one!

 

[staci]

I am sure you will get a lot of info from people more experienced that I, but I thought I would let you know what I do.

I just graduated with my teaching degree in May. At the U of Iowa we were taught to definitely CONSIDER using the ideas on these types of sites, but to be selective, as not all lessons are really great. This, of course, is true with set 'curriculums' as well. During my student teaching experience, I used those types of sites occasionally to suppliment a lesson from our curriculum that I felt was lacking in some way. There are some REALLY creative ideas on there that curriculums do NOT usually include.

In the days before set curriculums, many teachers (and I assume homeschool teachers), had to create all original units for everything. It is VERY timeconsuming. The internet sites are a great resource with many of these teacher created units posted for all to use. The best thing about creating your own (or borrowing from the internet) is that you really are invested in everything when you created it yourself. The negative part is that it is hard to GET to everything without the curriculum as a guide.

I would probably use the internet lessons as supplimental material, but I am very interested to see what experienced homeschoolers have to say about this!

I hope I helped you some!

 

[cathyz]

Staci and Greygables,

Thanks for your advice!

I really thought I had my mind made up on what I wanted to buy, even though it will be quite expensive. But, now I'm kind of second guessing myself. My initial reaction is that these 'freebies' wouldn't be as good. But, spending a lot of $ doesn't necessarily guarantee the best quality either.

Well, I've got to make a decision soon. Labor Day and the start of school is right around the corner!


THANKS AGAIN!

 

[JMSMommy]

I used internet stuff exclusively for preschool, we made great use of the library, and had a great year. Lots of fun (but he was doing Kindergarten work mostly).

Kindergarten, I looked at what the public schools were doing (scope and sequence), and I bought Sonlight Core 1 because I liked it best. To help save money, I didn't purchase science (it's not really taught in our public school until 2nd/3rd grade). I also didn't buy handwriting because I was going to use all the stuff online for "practice printing" and it seems silly to purchase books.

1st grade, I bought the handwriting program. It's easier for my son to do something that is "workbook" style rather than something Mom made up. Science we're still doing "unschooling" approach mixed with unit studies (basically anything that strikes DS6's fancy we study until he's done). I believe we've hit all the major things in science for early years, and he's on to detailed information in other areas like space and whales/dolphins/sharks. Dinosaurs are the next level down (knows the meaning of the root words that make up the names for about 25 dinosaurs and why they are called that, knows skeleton structures for the main groups, understands the difference between meat and plant eaters, the body adaptions for each....and a good study on archaeology). Space, well, he knows more than most college students know about space and our solar system. We're currently learning about solar energy (he really enjoyed burning things with the magnifying glass).

One set of books you might like is "What your X Grader Needs to Know" (put grade in for the X). That is where I'm making sure DS6 knows what is considered "average" for his grade level, and then I double check with the public school scope and sequence (availalbe online).

But to fully answer your question, yes, you *could* do it all from online lesson plans. However, you would really need to watch the quality of various ones (some are much better than others). We use them for supplementation mostly. It is also MORE work than purchasing a curriculum (and no I'm not using all that Core 1 has to offer either). I know that some of the more experienced parents in our cover school use less set curriculum, but almost all of the "newbies" are encouraged to go with a complete package deal.

 

[cathyz]

Carla,

Thanks for taking the time to give me such detailed info! I'm still a newbie and I really was thinking along the lines of trying to make it easier on myself. It's just that I see all of these people who homeschool for such a little amount of $. I know I tend to go overboard and I was afraid of spending ridiculous amounts of $ (more than I really needed to) in order to get the same results.

I really appreciate the details!

Cathy