we're thinking of home schooling the kids until 3rd grade....?

Question

just to get the kids a little ahead of the game and to spend more time with them while they're still in their very young and easily influenced stages. the question is WHERE DO YOU GET EDUCATIONAL LEARNING TOOLS? say if we wanted to test drive it first and not nessesarily commit to the idea. the kids are 4 and 3. any info would be great.

Answer 1

I said I was only going to home school for a year or two, but after reading up on the subject and checking out what I would be putting my kids in to, I decided the best thing was to keep Home Schooling. I didn't like them being "socialized" by a group of kids their own age with no experience and I didn't like the idea of the public school pushing its agenda down my kids throat thanks to special interest groups.

Check out Saxon or Math U See for math, Alpha Omega Life Pacs' for Language Arts, and Apologia for Science. I only suggest them because it is what works for me! There are many out there to chose from.

There are many curriculum out there and it really isn't to expensive especially in the early years. Look for a Home school convention in your area, just type it in with your state name in the search box on the net. Also, check out www.hslda.com, they can be very helpful!

Blessings

Answer 2

We had the same idea ... get the kids off to a good start, get them reading well, then send them to school .... 13 years later we're still homeschooling. Once we got started we found there was simply no reason to change what we were doing.

Check out "Five in a Row" - it is an inexpensive "study guide" for parents, guiding you through reading a picture book and then follow up activities. The main books are library books (free). It is a type of unit study for preschool/early elem.

For example, the study guide might have you read aloud a book about the little French girl, Madeline. The book highlights the Eiffel Tower. Your child then gets to make the tower out of toothpicks and mini-marshmallows (art), you learn about how it was built (science), you look for other structures that are similar (observation), you can read about the designer/builder (history), you start looking for other places where the tower is used (paintings, other books, magazines, ads for tourism in France, etc). Add phonics and math and you're all set.


Just use your library: if you read one book a day about volcanoes, snakes, the desert, weather, etc, you are already teaching your child more science than he/she will ever get in school. Just add projects (there are TONS of activity books at the library) and you practically have a full "curriculum".

Spend time reading aloud every day. Read books that are far above your child's reading level. Stop every so often and ask him/her to tell you back what you just read. That takes the place of the horrid comprehension questions and he/she will be far advanced in vocabulary.

Keep in mind, by the time the teacher is done calling roll, handing out papers, dealing with discipline, lining kids up, collecting papers, handing out pencils to those who forgot theirs, helping those who just don't get it, etc, the actual teaching time is actually a FRACTION of the time your child is gone from home. You can accomplish the same amount of actual teaching in mere minutes at home.

What it takes a school 7 hours to accomplish, you can do in an hour and a half. Then you have the rest of the day for projects, time outside playing, going to museums, inviting friends over for a tea party, dressing up and acting out the latest read-aloud, collecting rocks, making clothes for Beanie Babies ... all those things are essential for a child's education and in school, there simply is no time to do those things.

One word of caution: don't go out and buy a bunch of expensive stuff, you just don't need it. Get a phonics workbook and research some math choices. For everyting else, use the library. Don't make your kid fill out a ton of workbooks. That is all we know since that is how we were educated, but it is not the best way to educate (IMO).

Read aloud each day, don't worry about whether or not you have "gaps", everybody has gaps, even public schools. If you read a short picture book about George Washington, you will cover history, clothing, occupations, food, politics, transportation, probably some geography ... all in one short book!

Enjoy!
Kim

Answer 3

The best (only?) way to "test drive" materials is to borrow some from homeschoolers or if they are available at your public library (I found a number of homeschooling resources there--books, of course, but things like The Well Trained Mind, Story of the World, etc.). So, find yourself a local homeschooling support group and start making some connections! And don't forget that library!

Warning: I've known people who planned to homeschool for "just until 3rd/4th grade" who ended up homeschooling MUCH longer than that. :) They had such a good thing going they didn't see the point in stopping!

Answer 4

Check to see if there is a support group in your area. Many homeschoolers are very willing to let you borrow materials to "test drive" and they're also good sources of what works and what doesn't and why (or why not).

Also, you need to acknowledge that homeschooling doesn't ever begin or end. Even (especially) at this age, your children are learning new things every day. Just keep doing what you're doing and they'll be light years ahead of their peers.

Answer 5

leapfrog learning makes some great educational games and toys.
I credit my son's early reading (he's 3, and reads at a second or third grade level) partly to Leapfrogs fridge magnets. each letter plays a little song identifying it and the sound or sounds it makes when you put it in the accompanying docking station.
the Core Knowledge (What your Kindergartner, 1st Grader, etc. Needs to Know) series of books give you curriculum ideas.
google "preschool" "kindergarten" "worksheets" and "homeschool" to find resouces online.
there are tons of educational websites online, too, many with kid-friendly games:
try pbskids.org
they have several educational games for each of their children's shows.
ictgames has lots math and reading games from k level up, some with really artistic graphics.
the scholastic.com site has some I Spy stuff for kids.
starfall.com has some early reader stuff... it's a bit stilted, repetitive "look, Jane, look" for my taste, but it's not too bad.

jigzone.com has colorful puzzles that can be done in as few as six peices (bonus: no cleanup!)

also remember that many zoos have animal cams on their sites, and that kids museums websites often have online activities, too.

a few more things we've found:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/home.ht...
http://www.everythingpreschool.com/...
http://www.preschooleducation.com...
http://science.howstuffworks.com/...
http://www.brainpopjr.com/
http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/...
http://www.billnye.com/
http://www.exploratorium.edu

Answer 6

Home schooling is definately the best way to go! I know several home schoolers and they not only excelled, they went beyond what regular schooling can give a student! Two of the people I know who home schooled were put into public school in high school and hated it and wanted to be back in home schooling. Now there are the best of both worlds combined. There are public schools that are online. It is kinda like home schooling, but there is the assistance from teachers and accredidation and a regular high school diploma. And being public schooling, they are free. Dont worry about social.....Home schooling provides tons of time for social acitvities with other homeschoolers. There is even prom!! Dont let others discourage you. I am enrolling two of my children right now. If you need assistance with anything, feel free to contact me.

Answer 7

While you can get the curriculum by the state, there are lots of other resources to utilize. Look up homeschool curriculum and you will get a mountain of info. If you do homeschool, get involved with a local homeschool group now and they will most definitely help you out in regards to what you really want/need. Also, look up the HSLDA (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) for info. Try "NHERI" as well..
Good Luck!

Answer 8

The best way is to borrow curriculum from others, check out books at the library, etc.

Try Amblesideonline.com -- this is Charlotte Mason curriculum free online with books,etc.

However don't go into the deal thinking it's only a year be open to what you need to do for your kids. The poster who says we can't educate the same as ps is right, I don't WANT to!

Blessings,

Holly

Answer 9

Home schooling your kids until the third grade may not be too good of an idea. They could get to attached to their parents and when they do start school they wouldn't have good social skills with other kids their age.They could also suffer from separation anxiety.And Kids those ages may have problems sharing or getting along with other kids besides their sibling when the are separated or together.

Answer 10

Since they are so young, and you're not sure if this is right for your family, then check out something like Rainbow Resource "www.rainbowresource.com" and get some manipulatives and workbooks, things like this.
Their prices are very reasonable and this will allow you to pick and choose a few things to see if this is what you really want to do.
Also look in to finding some books for yourself on homeschooling, teaching styles, things like that.
two good websites are "homeschooling.gomilpitas.com" and "homeschool.com"