I am new to the homeschooling world. My oldest is just about 5 (I have 3 boys total) and I am starting to work on what I want to do next year with him. I am just so overwhelmed with all the options out there! I was wondering if you all could help point me in some sort of direction! My husband and I always knew we wanted to home school. Neither of us loved school and wanted to do something that our kids would enjoy! More hands on per say. The thing is, I want something with a curriculum already planned out. Having to come up with it all on my own seems way to much for me. I am afraid of forgetting something or just my sons ended up behind. I am also worried about when we get to the point of needing to turn in evaluations to the state/school district. I have read the PA has really strict home schooling laws. We also want to be able to travel and school on our own schedule. My husband works a swing shift so we want to be able to school while he is at work and have fun when he is off. Is there a program that would work for us? I already know my oldest is hands on learner while my 3 year old is one who can just look at something and learn it. I have been doing some looking into cyber schooling but am not totally sure how I feel about it. I have read some things that make me leary of it. Students being behind, eventually spending all their time doing work on the computer, which I wanted to avoid. Sorry to make this so long. I am just so overwhelmed with all the options and so unsure as to what I want/should be doing. So any help would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!!
PA laws have way more bark than bite I'm in NEPA as well I need to have a few minutes to collect my thoughts here.... but for now I want to say welcome
Ok.. I will probably post several replies, because it's lunch time here and the monkies go insane if I don't throw their bananas to them at the right time..lol First, PA laws.. visit the site www.askpauline.com it breaks the laws down to where they aren't so scary. You do not have to register each child until they are 8 at the start of the school year... that means most kids won't need to be registered with the district until they are going into 3rd grade. So don't stress over that just yet. (though I do keep a log and portfolio for my kids below reporting age, it's just a cover your butt kind of thing). Fun and hands on already planned. Hmmmmm.... I prefer to go my own way with most things, but for math McRuffy Color Math (and really their Language Arts and Science as well) can't be beat for hands on and fun. Thinking on more...
Hi! I'm from NE PA too! Don't worry about following the laws or doing a portfolio before you need to. I'd also like to gently suggest that you NOT do a curriculum at this age. Here's why: there are NO obligations at this age, so you are free to explore at this age to figure out what will likely work best for your child. If you invest in a curriculum, you'll want to stick with it even though it might not be working the best for your child. So, visit the library a lot, go on field trips a lot, read aloud a lot to all the kids. I fondly remember the days when I had a child on each side of me and a third one breastfeeding (eventually when the fourth one came along someone would go on the "upper deck" - my shoulders and the back of the sofa). I also used a few cheap things like cards where you matched upper case and lower case letters, Bob books, math games. But I mostly was a mother at home with my children who were learning. The sandbox was learning. A walk in the neighborhood was learning. Library activities were great. We did activities with other families (homeschoolers and otherwise). My other concern about a curriculum at this age is the fact that you have the younger ones. It's easier to be flexible without a curriculum and when the kids are so young, you need to be flexible. Have you read Homeschooling Matters by Gutersen? It's my favorite homeschooling book.
I have to completely agree with Karen's post. I'm currently doing kindergarten with my second son. I focus on teaching to read in this year. That's my primary focus. I actually have a blog post scheduled for tomorrow on how our kindergarten year this year has evolved. We're currently doing: explode the code 1 - two or three pages a day reading a short story together - he reads to me, I help with harder words he doesn't know, math games, living math, etc. It takes about 20 - 30 min a day to accomplish these things and that works for me. For other subjects like science and social studies etc, we do those as a family. This year we're piggy backing on the topics my 2nd grader has decided to study with the magic tree house books, next year we're going to travel the USA (not literally but in school :lol. I really prefer to keep kindergarten low key. They are already learning so much from every day life and play at this age that I really don't think it needs to be a high stress thing. I get a bit more formal in first and increasingly formal in the grades to follow as their maturity grows to accommodate it. If you're absolutely set on laid out curriculum these are some options: they are all Christian options just FYI so disregard if that isn't something you want. My father's world strong in science and phonics but light in math in kindy (I tried to use this with my oldest) Hearts of Dakota - I have a TON of friends who LOVE this curriculum. I tried the preschool one and just did not click with it. Sonlight - very literature intensive Oh Five in a Row might be a good option for you if you're willing to try the more laid back route. You read a classic book for five days in a row and each day you learn different things from the book - whether you tie in living math or science or geography or art from the story. I love literature based units and this has various lesson ideas laid out for you for several stories, there are I think 3 volumes of FIAR. There is also Before Five in a Row that are more simple books and geared to the preschool level. FIAR can be done with the Christian supplement but is in and of itself not a Christian curriculum.
lol.. I was coming back to suggest some more, and the ladies before me took much of my words out of my mouth. At that age I only focus on basics of math (which I used and use McRuffy for) and learning to read (which I use Hooked on Phonics and readingeggs.com for). Science and social studies comes from just reading books, going places, exploring our world, and following any interests the kids have. Five in a Row is a great program too.
You also might want to think about attending a convention this spring. There is the CHAP convention in Harrisburg http://www.chaponline.com/2013convention/ or you might want to think about the NYS LEAH Conference in Rochester, NY http://www.leahconference.com/# depending on which one is closer for you. Conference is a great place to check out the curriculum and get a hands on feel for it. There are also great speakers and information at them.
Thank you everyone for your replies! Looks like I will have plenty of things to check out. I am glad to see the first year or so is so laid back. Gives me time to adjust! And I am really happy to hear PA laws are as bad as they come off to be. When I have more time I will sit down and check out all the site and post a longer reply. Time to start dinner here!
I am sure you will get lots of good advice. I just want to say - take a deep breath. See if you can find some home schoolers in your area. He is very young. You are teaching him all the time as you read to him and talk to him and answer his questions and expose him to new things..... The main thing you will want to do is to find a good phonics program and begin to teach him to read!!!! Everything else can come later. Even the reading can wait if he is not ready. Jody
