Tips for New Homeschoolers

[NvrBnToWDW]

I've been homeschooling my boys (ages 9 & 11) for 6 years now. My oldest son has dyslexia and my youngest is colorblind. The greatest source of curriculum is the library. You can find everything for every subject there. We make up our own curriculum from there. One year we used Saxon Curriculum and it was the worst year ever! The teacher's manual was 3 inches thick and that was just for math! We never used a pre-packaged curriculum again. We go to the library every Monday and check out our books for the week. We also get videos about oceonography, dinosaurs and other interesting subjects. I also buy a lot of workbooks from Wal-mart & Sam's Club (they're cheaper) from the school supplies area. I found some great Math & Science software at Sam's. Wednesday is our Computer Day. We bought a keyboard for music class and a microscope for science. While waiting for our first WDW fieldtrip we are studying about the countries in the World Showcase. We are learning about the costumes, cuisine and how to say "Hello" and "Goodbye" in their language. Today I labelled all the groceries with price tags and my sons took turns buying the groceries and being the cashier. They had to buy only what they had enough money for and the cashier had to give exact change. And in Science we made dioramas from old shoe boxes and grass and twigs from outside. We used beans for rocks and small dinosaur figures from their toybox. Then for lunch we made homemade pizza and observed the yeast mixture and measured the ingredients. Then we learned about subtracting fractions as we each ate another slice. My son made me smile when he said, "I love homeschool!"

 

[beautybelle]

My son currently goes to PS but we are going to HS next year. We are looking in the Calvert School. Im looking forward to getting him out of PS. Although everyone around me is freaking out over it.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Thanks for the tips! We're looking into home schooling my DS, who is in Kindergarten.

 

[gothmommie]

Thank you!

We too are huge fans of the public library. Right now it's for afterschooling and feeding my DD's (6) curiosity but if the PS slips up again.... We are outta there.

It was nice to see a reminder that I don't need to over complicate things (which I tend to do). The library is replete with material we could use.

 

[ptrbryant]

check out their Education Resource Library (or whatever it's called locally). Our's is a resource for students pursuing teaching degrees and, of course, is packed with teacher's manuals, interesting teaching approaches and is a treasure trove of children's literature. It also has curriculums in nearly every subject. Since my husband is on staff, we use it for free. But, for a small fee, anyone who lives in the area can have equal access to it. (There's even a room where you can make diecuts...you know, the construction paper shapes that decorate every American classroom's bulletin boards!)

Karla B.