https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 28 Apr 2026 06:39:12 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297516 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 18:47:51 +0000 mrbee 2297516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks for all the tips and links everyone - will definitely go through them all!! We will be focusing on the secular side of homeschooling, so if anyone has any more links along those lines - we'd love to see them! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297485 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:59:35 +0000 Chuckles 2297485@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The common core standards by grade and subject can be found online in pdf form. Obviously this won't tell you how to teach something but it will give you a good idea of what kids in a typical public school will be expected to know starting in kindergarten.<br /> For how to teach in an exploratory, project, and arts based way for the younger kids, I *love* aneverydaystory.com. She's a homeschooling mom from Australia. And now that her son is kindergarten aged, she's been showing the links between this type of learing and the curriculum standards. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297481 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 17:47:41 +0000 Mrs. Tiger 2297481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Talk to Mrs Twine! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297462 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 16:35:33 +0000 honeybear 2297462@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: I thought about it some more, and if your plan is definitely to transition back into the school system, you might want to look at Calvert. I don't use it, but I recall that it was historically designed for people doing pretty much exactly what you're doing--moving abroad and wanting to keep pace with the school system. They offer transcripts just like any regular school, as I recall. </p> <p><a href="http://www.calverteducation.com/curriculum/lower-school" rel="nofollow">http://www.calverteducation.com/curriculum/lower-school</a></p> <p>If you think you might want to keep going with HS, then the Well-Trained Mind and Holt are excellent resources. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297445 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 16:11:36 +0000 Skadi 2297445@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All of these suggestions are secular.</p> <p>Our favorite online math curriculum for young kids is DreamBox. <a href="http://www.dreambox.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.dreambox.com/</a> I prefer RightStart Math for young kids as far as a physical curriculum (it uses a lot of manipulatives and the Asian method of grouping numbers together): <a href="http://rightstartmath.com/" rel="nofollow">http://rightstartmath.com/</a> </p> <p>For 3rd and 4th grade math (they're currently working on putting out 5th) I love Beast Academy: <a href="https://www.beastacademy.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.beastacademy.com/</a> So fun! And for older grades, we'll be using Art of Problem Solving, which is the same company as Beast Academy.</p> <p>For history in the younger grades, we'll be using Susan Wise Baur's Story of the World series.</p> <p>For geography, we like Leagues and Legends. <a href="http://www.veritaspress.com/legends-and-leagues" rel="nofollow">http://www.veritaspress.com/legends-and-leagues</a></p> <p>For reading and spelling, we like All About Reading and All About Spelling. <a href="http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/</a></p> <p>I really like Getty's books on handwriting. They're all on Amazon; here's a link to the first one in the series (each letter corresponds to a grade, A for 1st, B for 2nd, C for 3rd, etc.): <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Italic-Handwriting-Book-Barbara-Getty/dp/0876780923/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Italic-Handwriting-Book-Barbara-Getty/dp/0876780923/</a></p> <p>For writing (4th+), we like Writing and Rhetoric. <a href="http://classicalacademicpress.com/writing-rhetoric-book-1-fable-program/" rel="nofollow">http://classicalacademicpress.com/writing-rhetoric-book-1-fable-program/</a></p> <p>If you're looking for reading lists like Sonlight but secular, check out BookShark. <a href="http://www.bookshark.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.bookshark.com/</a></p> <p>A classical science curriculum you might be interested in is Elemental Science: <a href="http://elementalscience.com/" rel="nofollow">http://elementalscience.com/</a></p> <p>Let me know if you have any specific questions! Good luck on your search, I know there's a lot out there to look at. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297412 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:30:17 +0000 coopsmama 2297412@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: You know, the thing I do like about Sonlight is that the books they recommend/put in their cores come from so many different points of view - some religious, most not. I know what you're talking about with the distortion of American history -- and I don't think that's necessarily present in ALL of the books they recommend. I can't say that they don't do a bit, because it's been years since I was homeschooled, and I just looked at the cores and they have changed a bit from what I remember but it still seems like an excellent selection. </p> <p>My husband and I are considering homeschooling because the public schools around here are awful and private school will never be a reality for us. We've thought about this a lot and even though my oldest is just 2, I've already been researching and TBH I've come to the conclusion that there isn't one homeschooling curriculum that will meet all of our needs. We will likely have to mix and match a bit -- I know we will definitely incorporate some Sonlight because I credit them with my love of reading and my critical thinking skills. We will also (and do) incorporate some Montessori resources and will definitely be adding a STEM component. And that's what I love about homeschooling! It allows us to tailor the curriculum to what would be best for our students at that particular time while also allowing us to structure our days so that we can fit in extra curricular activities and socialization in various settings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297389 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:13:53 +0000 Torchwood 2297389@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@coopsmama: Good to know. Do you happen to recall how accurate the American history was? My family tends to glorify the religiosity of the founding fathers, etc, and I've read that some extreme religious homeschool curricula distort things quite a bit. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297380 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:06:06 +0000 coopsmama 2297380@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: I was homeschooled using Sonlight curriculum and actually there's been lots of controversy because Sonlight references Old Earth creationism quite a bit. They don't seem to side with the YE side. That said, they definitely favor creationism over evolutionism. I think the curriculum is very solid though and may be something worth looking into regardless of religious views - the focus on literature is incredible and that could easily be taught without the religious aspects.</p> <p>I'm also really impressed by a lot of the offerings on Timberdoodle.com - it has a cheesy website name but they offer a lot of great resources for all age groups. </p> <p>The Well Trained Mind forum would also be a great resource. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297377 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 14:58:04 +0000 Torchwood 2297377@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We plan to homeschool, so I'm interested in any responses here. If you're religious, my stepmom uses the Sonlight curriculum for my brother and sister. They're 13 and 16 now, and very advanced, and love that curriculum. I liked a lot about it, but I'm not really okay with teaching my kid young earth creationism. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297092 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 11:23:19 +0000 Mamaof2 2297092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: we don't but a few years ago when I was having 2nd thoughts about public school for DS I found this website</p> <p><a href="http://www.k12.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.k12.com/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2297018 Mon, 21 Sep 2015 10:15:09 +0000 honeybear 2297018@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We HS Kindergarten, so I'm just getting my toes wet, but I recommend The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. They lay out a solid classical curriculum and have good book choices. I don't care much for their preschool resources, but they basically say not to bother with formal preschool and instead to spend that time reading books, following the child's interests, and lots of play/exercise/exploration. I'm 100% in agreement with that. Their suggestions for science and math in the upper grades struck me as kind of weak, but for the early grades it's a generally good approach. It would probably be fairly easy to transition back into the school system after using most of their recommended resources, because the curricula tend to be pretty "school-like" with workbooks and such. </p> <p>I also really like John Holt's approach, but he's considered to be at the other end of the spectrum and he generally advocates a much more free-form approach. There are quite a few books by him available on Amazon. </p> <p>What resources have you already looked at? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/homeschooling-anyone#post-2293333 Thu, 17 Sep 2015 09:03:43 +0000 mrbee 2293333@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're going to be homeschooling when we move, until we can figure out the school situation where we're living. I've been researching it a lot, and am also going to meet with our son's elementary school for advice on how to keep up with the local NY curriculum. It's all new to me, and I've found the best resources so far to be a combination of blogs and books.</p> <p>But thought I'd check with the community too! Anyone homeschooling, or know of any good online resources to check out? </p>