Beginning Homeschool Curriculum
Before looking at prices for full-blown homeschool curriculum, see what interests your kids. Go to the children’s section at the library and see what they’d like to read about. When I first started, I made the mistake of plunking down money (which I really couldn’t afford) for “curriculum” (that had been barely used).
Costco and Sam’s Club have inexpensive books if you want a workbook. I get the Learn At Home book (at Sam’s) and supplement it as we like (or I feel a need to). Some might call it a ’spine’ - basically a starting off point.
Money is better spent on museums, zoos, aquariums (most offer homeschooler discounts or a discount where you get a pass for one place and receive similar discounts at other locations - see the discount page for info on the ASTC Passport Program - if your nearby locations are not listed, you can always call and ask too), etc and if she chooses a favorite animal head back to the library and read about it, search for free craft projects on the net - www.enchantedlearning.com is a cool place to start.
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Beginning to Homeschool
The best advice I got when we first started homeschooling was ‘read, and read some more’. What I did before that was drop a lot of money on a curriculum package (which wasn’t worth it and we hardly used). You may find that it’s as easy as helping your child learn to put on their shirt. Just a natural progression. Some days may seem trying but you may both just be figuring out how your child learns.
Some people may set up ‘centers’ in their home (as one would find in a preschool). If you’d like to try that and don’t have the room, an idea would be to use a tote or bin of some kind. Example: Say she or he really likes cars - put some toy cars, books about cars, a coloring page of a car, paper model to make of a car, homemade game with a car design (like matching 1 car with the numeral one), etc in a tote (I prefer the clear plastic totes), a tracing sheet spelling the word car, car cookie cutter to use with playdough, and as my kid just told me - a book about mechanics. You could even label the outside with a sticker that says the word Car, and your child could decorate the tote with car stickers.
Homeschooling preschool page on the website: http://www.homeschoolingonashoestring.com/preschool.html
Tags: beginning, homeschool
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