It is no wonder parents considering homeschooling for the first time get overwhelmed.
If you search Google for “homeschool curriculum” it turns up 1,590,000 results. At least, that was my experience.
Think about that for a minute.
Where were all these choices in 2000? I mean, other than the Rainbow Resource catalog, which I won’t lie…scared the bejeebers out of me.
Let’s put those results into perspective.
If you clicked one of those homeschool links every 60 seconds, it would take you 26,500 minutes to view all of them.
That’s about 442 hours.
Say you allotted 5 hours/day for researching homeschooling curriculum.
(Why are you laughing?)
You’d spend about 88 days.
And maybe you could only do this for 4 days/week.
Because, “Hello, you may work at home, need to do laundry, catch the occasional shower, AND feed the family.”
Not easy.
That’s 22 weeks, which is about 5 1/2 months (if it’s a 4 week/month).
And it’d get you nowhere because what could you really accomplish with only 60 seconds spent on each site?
Exactly.
Nothing.
We need to make this easier.
How are we going to make it easier for beginner homeschoolers?
We’re going to share the following three things in the comments. And then, I’ll spend several hours putting your thoughts together into a FREE downloadable resource.
Here we go:
1. What curriculum do you use for the basics – History, English, Math & Science. And yes, this may span multiple companies and cross over different homeschooling approaches.
2. Why do you use it? Many of us have spent a great deal of time honing in on what works best for our family. Explain it so others can benefit!
3. How many kids do you homeschool and what are their current ages? Giving our kids’ ages primarily serves those families with multiple children who are trying to determine what curriculum would work best for them.
I’ll start.
First, I’ll answer #1 and #2 together.
HISTORY/LANGUAGE ARTS: Sonlight – because we love to read and get more from these two courses with a literature-rich curriculum.
Sarita Holzmann, the founder of Sonlight, is probably the most well-read homeschool business owner ever. Seriously. She selects all the texts for each core AFTER reading them.
Plus, their IGs (Instruction Guides) are amazing.
SCIENCE: Apologia – because it approaches Science from a Creationist standpoint, which is our world perspective.
Sonlight also has IGs that correspond with Apologia texts, as well as the necessary science kits for labs, which means I can order them with my History/English curriculum making it a one stop shop.
WRITING: The Write Foundation – because it’s the best writing curriculum ever. I cannot say enough about it. I have taught multiple levels of this company’s courses because that’s how much I believe in it.
I’m pretty crazy about Becky Celsor, the mastermind and writer behind all The Write Foundation’s coursework. She is generous, kind and helpful beyond belief when you call or email with questions.
MATH: Monarch via Alpha Omega Publication – because it is online, so I don’t have to mess with updates, and the kids can do math ANYWHERE.
Also, the instruction is clear, including engaging videos. There are daily lessons, occasional quizzes, unit tests and semester exams. You can choose to use these or not.
The program self-grades, but the parent has full control over many aspects of the scheduling, grade assignments, do-overs, etc. until the child masters each level.
My kids appreciate that it isn’t babyish. I’ve taken Algebra this year with Meredith and have appreciated the teacher’s notes. When logged in as the administrator (not as a student), the teacher notes are found directly associated with each problem, so it saves me time.
Alpha Omega Publications responds quickly and efficiently to my questions. They are available for phone calls as well as email correspondence. I’ve been blessed to work with them this year, so I have to brag.
#3. I homeschool three kids, ages 18, 15, 12
See how easy that was?
Now, it’s your turn.
Remember what it was like when you first started?
Write to the parent you were THEN with the knowledge you have NOW.
Be THAT person that you wanted someone to be for you.
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Heather Sanders is a freelance writer who prefers to stay home and work while homeschooling her three kids. If you’d like to learn how to pursue your passions and earn an income while working from home, subscribe today.