Choosing the Right Home School Material

One of the often overlooked area of planning and discussion when preparing to begin your homeschooling venture is how are you going to supply and fund your homeschool materials, and where are you going to locate your homeschool supplies, and how will you keep it organized?

Since many homeschooling parents live on one primary source of income due to the immutable fact that the other parent is a full time teacher, being penny wise and cost efficient is a must. However, with a little creativity and some practice you can put together a very effective homeschool resource and materials depot in your home.

The first decision is where to locate your homeschool materials area. If you have an extra bedroom or den in your house that you can do this, you are one of the fortunate ones. However you decide to get this done the idea is to have all of your homeschool materials and resources organized into one central spot. Not only does this make your homeschooling day more efficient and less stressful, but you will also find that this central organizational approach will be much more cost efficient as you will be to easily determine what homeschool materials you have on hand and what you need to purchase as they get low.

Without good organization of your homeschool resources you will find yourself purchasing duplicates and unneeded materials that will only drive up your costs. And remember the goal here is to keep your purchasing costs to a minimum!

Public libraries are a great source for books but they aren't always accessible. Buying new books can rapidly drain the budget. There are many resources available for homeschooling materials. Many homeschool groups have book fairs and other organizational event that are a great place to pick up slightly used books and materials.

Don't forget to mention to your family and friends that high on your list of needs are homeschool materials and resources. You'll be surprised how many of your friends will donate materials that they had purchased for their kids when they were younger, and there is always your birthday and other holidays that you can put homeschool supplies on your wish list!

Don't rule any source for you out! Be creative, and be frugal and you can put together a homeschool material and resource center that will benefit everyone.

Mary Joyce is a former educator, successful homeschool parent, and has written many articles on
teaching your child at home for the Homeschool-Curriculum-4u website. Please visit (http://www.homeschool-curriculum-4u.com) for a complete list of Mary's articles, resources on homeschool, ideas, and curriculum information. Also tips guides and how-to's to help you successfully teach your child at home.

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One of the most frequently asked question by home schoolers is : "What home school curriculum should I buy?"

It definitely is a hard question and perhaps you are asking that question right now.

However, I will not be giving you a simple answer so that you can purchase the correct home school curriculum for your family. Instead I will give you the tools and questions you need to ask in order to make a good choice.

Firstly, to choose home school curriculum that will suit your family, you need to work out what your
goals are for your family. Goals help you to set out the plan for your family, working within your family's value system, and take into consideration your children's needs and special interests.

When you have decided where your family is headed, it will be easier to make a decision about what sort of home school curriculum you need and also what you do not need.

Here are some important things to consider when choosing curriculum:

• Firstly, not every subject needs a curriculum. Often subjects can be taught simply by reading and discussing and writing. Homeschoolers can also be plagued by the idea that when it comes in a box or is created by an "educational expert", it will teach the subject better than themselves. Don't be fooled - things can be taught far simpler than what you think. We do not need to teach each subject for 12 or more years - adding snippets of learning a year at a time. Remember, we are homeschoolers and have the flexibility of our own choices - how and when we teach.


• Secondly, remember the Curriculum should be there to serve us, not rule us. Make sure whatever you buy that you remember who is in control. Often curriculum is written with many learning styles and optional activities included. These do not all need to be done and home school parents need to be able to pick and choose what will suit their family and not be driven by the home school curriculum itself.


• Cost is a factor which needs considering. How many children will this curriculum teach and what other alternatives are there?


• Time. How teacher friendly is this curriulum? How much time will it take for you to prepare before you actually teach the material?


• Independent learning. For some families, curriculum which encourages independent learning is a positive consideration so that other children can be attended to and so that the skills of independence are taught.


• Is the material consumable or can it be used by a number of children? Can you make it re-useable by using plastic overlays with whiteboard markers or asking your child to work in a workbook, rather than in the book itself?


• What sort of learning style does the curriculum use? Is this important to you?

As you read about different home school curriculum, it is a good idea to weigh the curriculum against others with these factors in mind. One terrific tool which would help you do this, and which I have used is called Choose It. Use this tool and in 5 easy steps you will be able to choose curriculum according to factors which you consider important.

In Step One you write the question your are answering (What history home school curriculum should I choose?)

In Step Two, you list the names of home school curriculum which you are interested in.

In Step Three, you list factors which need to be considered and how important each factor is to you.

In Step Four, you judge each curriculum according to your above factors.

In Step Five - you have your answer! The computer gives each curriculum a percentage which indicates the best choice which fits the factors you have chosen. Of course, you may not choose to go along with the decision, but this step by step decision making software helps you to work out what is really important to you. Give it a go.

Below are some factors you may wish to consider when using Choose It.

When choosing history home school curriculum - these may be some factors to consider:

• Does the homeschool curriculum cover all ages?


• Do I need to buy extra books? - cost factor


• What perspective is it written from? (Christian/Evolutionary basis?) Does this fit with your family's values?


• Is it teacher friendly?


• Does it teach using different learning styles? Projects? Reading? Hands-on?


• Does it use consumable workbooks?


• How involved do you want to be in teaching history? Does this curriculum suit your teaching style?


• Is it an integrated curriculum - covering more subjects? Is this important to you?

When choosing Math Home school curriculum - these may be some factors to consider:

• Does the material span across all ages and levels? Does this matter to you?


• Re-useable textbooks or consumable?


• Independent learning or teacher intensive? - How much time do you have as a parent?


• Cost


• Does it incorporate different learning styles? Hands-on, pictorial and abstract?


• Does it come with concrete materials or can you purchase them separately?


• Video or on-line learning? Would this style suit your child?


• Does this curriculum use enough review? or too much?


• Does the expectation of time needed each day for this curriculum suit your family?


• Does the curriculum have an answer key? Does it keep records or your child's progress when considering an on-line program?

Using the Choose It! tool and factors which are important to you, you can work out which home school curriculum would be best for your family.

Use the Choose It! tool here

Or read some more guidelines for choosing home school curriculum here


Written by Marianne V from design-your-homeschool.com


Here you will find a Guide to help you uniquely design-your-own home school to suit your family's goals, and develop your own individual approach that reflects these goals and complements your lifestyle and needs.

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Parents think of school supplies and textbooks when planning their child's education but seldom give much thought to the administrative tasks associated with teaching their child at home. Homeschooling materials should be of concern to parents who want to make sure they can give evidence of their child's learning and progress when required for college admissions officers and state officials. Parents need to take serious the many administrative tasks required of parents who home school their children.

Some of those tasks include maintaining a record of your child's attendance and the subjects being taught as well as the number of hours that school is in session. You also need some type of a portfolio of your child's work to provide to college admissions offices and state board of education should your child be selected for an evaluation of school work and progress. You may also need to show the type of literature your child is reading as well as writing samples. Again, there are various ways to maintain these types of information and you should select the method which works best for you and your child. The most important factor is that the information be maintained in a form which can be readily replicated.

Most states require that parents notify the local public school superintendent each year of their intent to teach their children at home and that certain subjects be taught for a certain number of hours or units. The burden is on parents to give proper evidence that they are complying with these state requirements. There are homeschooling materials available to help parents to do just that. Many of these materials are provided at no cost by homeschooling associations and some school supplies stores. Some parents forums also provide some of these materials for free.

If you would like more information about homeschool lesson plans as well as general information on homeschooling, please visit http://homeschoolingbasics.info

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Deciding to homeschool your children does not mean you have to follow what the brick and mortar schools do in terms of the delivery of your educational content. Online homeschooling offers some compelling reasons why you should consider this mode of course delivery for your children. And one of the leaders in the field warranting your attention is CompassLearning.

CompassLearning provides online curriculum for preschool through eighth grade under the rubric of Time4Learning. According to its website, Time4Learning has been voted number one by homeschool.com and provides a unique, interactive experience for students. "Time4Learning's software is easy to use and is web-based so there is nothing to download and you can access it from any computer."This means your children are not confined to home but can go to libraries and other sites with an Internet connection.

Time4Learning provides ease of use, portability, and some degree of record keeping. Record keeping is critical in those states where annual progress reports are required for all children who are bing home schooled. Time4Learning promises to make those chores less cumbersome and confusing. Also, its curriculum is designed to comply with state mandated teaching requirements.

One of the great benefits of online homeschooling is it offers an innovative approach to teaching which allows parents to vary their teaching style and methodology so that their children's interest is kept fresh and active. Your children are not just reading books. They watch videos, participate in interactive exercises and have opportunities to express their creativity.

Another important advantage of web based learning is the avoidance of constantly having to buy new textbooks which have been updated, usually with only minor changes. Here updates are quicker and less costly.

CompassLearning provides a "risk free" money back guarantee to parents wishing to give their software a test drive. So what do you have to lose? If you are looking for an innovative, interest building curriculum for your children, then Time4Learning is well worth considering.

If you would like more information about homeschool lesson plans as well as general information on homeschooling, please visit http://homeschoolingbasics.info

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You have decided to home school your children. Your next big decision is whether you will teach your children from a religious or secular point of view. Is secular homeschooling right for you and your children? You need not worry about sacrificing quality if you choose to go secular because there are some excellent choices available.

There are many reasons why parents might want to choose a secular over a religious curriculum. Depending on the age of their children, parents might want to delay exposing their children to religion until their children are old enough to fully understand the religious impulse and mature enough to think critically about religion and then come to their own decisions.

Some parents were force fed religion when they were children and such parents seek to spare their children such horror. Or, parents could just believe that faith is and should be a personal choice of each individual and they wish to respect the right to choose of their children. Thus, parents might delay exposing their children to religion in their earlier and formative years and then slowly introduce them to religion as they enter high school or perhaps even junior high school.

Whatever the reason for opting for secular homeschooling, parents need not fear that they are getting a less quality education for their children. Secular versus religious curriculum is about choice and preference and not quality of instruction. There are some excellent religious programs available as well as non-religious modes of instruction. Many parent forums sing the praises of Waldorf as just such a non-religious, high quality curriculum.

Click the link below to explore other choices for your home school instruction as you decide whether or not a non-religious educational experience is right for you and your children.

If you would like more information about homeschool lesson plans as well as general information on homeschooling, please visit http://homeschoolingbasics.info

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You have decided to teach your children at home. But which homeschool curriculum will you choose? Have you considered Waldorf Homeschooling? The Waldorf Homeschooling curriculum has garnered a lot of followers in recent years. One of the reasons for such increasing interest is the school seems to react to what many complain is a couch potato society and children who are far too dependent on technology.

What is the Waldorf method? It is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner and stresses the importance of educating the whole child. According to one parent's forum, Waldorf "emphasizes body, mind, and spirit. In the early grades, there is an emphasis on arts and crafts, music and movement, and nature. Older children are taught to develop self-awareness and how to reason things out for themselves." In this system, children play an active and critical role in establishing the contours and content of their education. Boredom and lack of interest are overcome because the children are studying what they have selected to study. Of course, this does not mean that children are free to ignore the basics, but rather that children breathe their own life source into those subjects and give them a vitality which stimulates and maintains their interest.

Standard textbooks are not used by children under the tutelage of Waldorf. Interestingly, the children create their own textbooks. In addition, children are discouraged from using computers and television for fear of stifling their health and creativity.

For those desiring more in depth information, click the link below. The school's site provides a forum where parents can interact with other parents and experts as well as many other resources.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. However, if you have decided to home school your children, then you will need to select a good track on which to run so you can avoid educational collisions. Waldorf homeschooling is well worth considering.

If you would like more information about homeschool lesson plans as well as general information on homeschooling, please visit http://homeschoolingbasics.info

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