Here we go!!! I'm going to attend a homeschooling, excuse me, "home education" fair next week. My neighbor is going, so I am going to tag along in hopes of getting my feet wet. There will be booths for various curriculum styles and, I'm sure, enough information to make my head spin. I was up in the air about going since I have a year or so before I need to pull things together for Isaac, but Georgia came to my door this morning with the pre-registration form in hand. I'm in.
My super nice neighbor gave me lots of names and organizations to look up before I blindly walked into the fair. She said when she first attended this fair she spent the first eight hours walking aimlessly from booth to booth overwhelmed by the volumes of homeschooling information. So, I have homework this week.
The sites she said to look at were:
Math-U-See
Rainbow Resource
Horizons - for math and language arts
Abecka (or Abeka)
Bob Jones BJUP.com
Explode the Code - for phonics
Sonlight
My Father's World
The Charlotte Mason Approach
Tapestry of Grace
Konos
Whew!!!
Okay, so, all you homeschooling moms - where do I begin??? Any suggestions? Are there some sites you'd like to recommend? What approach do you take in your lessons? Text book with teacher guide or more free form? I think I will go for a split between the two, but I do like the idea of having the various subjects related together by theme. This is how I learned to teach ESL and it worked well with my students - and gave me a little creative license as well.
Ah, so much information. I think it will take me a year to wrap my brain around homeschooling - so good thing I'm diving in now!!!
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4 comments:
Talk to Suzette, she has done a superb job!
Your children will rise up someday and call you blessed for doing this for them.
Your a wonderful mother! I see it every time I see you with the kids.
I think you should take it slow and enjoy it. The first few years it takes a few hours a day. You should use the method that is easyest for you and you can change it as you go. We will talk later. Any questions you have please ask away.
Suzette
As a Homeschool Alumni, I have to say... Abecka was always the best curriculum, in my opinion (unless I was picking my own books for literature or what have you.)
It excites me that you are homeschooling! You'll do a GREAT job, and I know you'll never regret it!
-Jessica
All I can say about homeschooling is that the only person I became very close to that was homeschooled taught himself everything from his books in high school. He had a scholarship to Lehigh (his brother to Harvard) and both swam for their school's swim team.
That family completely changed my mind on how I viewed homeschoolers.
The possibilities are indeed endless. School no longer is 30 kids to one teacher and each subject TREID to be taught during a 45 min time period.
Hey, great for those that find a good school and their kids get a lot out of it (I mean, we turned out okay, right) ... it is work for the "teacher" I know it will be worth it!
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