homeschool curriculum... starting out

Question:
As some may recall, over the years I have worked on the idea of homeschooling my children. I think this would be the best for all of us, especially the kids. So we may actually be doing it this september. My questions for your homeschoolers is, did you purchase a curriculum? Did you follow your own scene? If the latter, how did you give structure to your day and choose activities and such? The state package of info included a list of resources which was badly out of date. So how would I find coops and such in the area? That one I am less concerned about... But I would like to hear what you all have to say.

Answer:
-1. Find out local laws. 2. Decide if you want a church based curriculum or secular. 3. Find websites on the web that compair the choices.

There are many learning styles to choose from. Some people unschool, some people do strict lessons from books and do not stray from that. Most people go between the extremes in some way. We are going to be using Alpha Omega, which I do not believe is the *Best* choice for our family, but it was the one we agreed on.

I do not know much about secular programs but I do know you can sometimes get free ones from the local school district or online. I can not think of the site but I do know it is a LOT of keeping in touch with the school. I had actualy concidered them as a viable option but we decided against it within the last few months.

Anyway I hope you find the answers you are looking for. I have been researching homeschool options since my Bonnie was just a baby and we will start kindergarten next fall. -I don't know which state you're in, but many states post detailed grade-by-grade curriculum objectives on their websites. That can give you a good idea of what your state expects students to learn at each grade level, and you can check other states to see how they compare. It's not the same as buying a set of lesson plans, but it can at least give you a set of general goals to aim for. -There are, as you are probably learning, a number of different philosophies and approaches to homebased education. Part of that is driven by the laws in your state/country. Research those before you set your heart on a particular method and curriculum as they may preclude it, or at least strongly guide you towards another.

If you are in the US consider subscribing to the Homeschool Legal Defense League at least for one year to learn what is going on in each state around legal issues and to give you a leg up on how to address them should you encounter them. They have a very helpful web site that, iirc, also contains links to all the US states' laws. http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

As to finding groups of homeschoolers, they vary widely by location. When we were in Florida there were *several* large and well attended groups within a relatively short drive of our home. Some were closely affiliated with either a particular church or formed around a particular curriculum, others were quite eclectic. When we moved to VT we spent quite a bit of time before hand researching group availability via posting on websites and on yahoo type groups, looking for some. It didn't take long before we found several, although far flung throughout this rural state. I would suggest starting a search on yahoo groups as you can narrow it down geographically relatively easily, and then take it from there.

We have been homeschooling for seven years now and have found it to be a constant challenge, fun, frustrating, and stretches our parental skills often. We have met some interesting folks in the course of this journey which we probably would not have otherwise had the joy of encountering. I swear that it, and DS, keeps us young [we are both older parents]. We have obtained our materials from numerous web based sites [there are some great ones out there for science and math activities, for example, for a broad range of interests and grade levels], through the school district [discarding text books, microscopes, and such that worked just fine, thank you], and other homeschoolers. Since we unschool we have often found items wherever we may be. There are also numerous workbook and other materials in your larger bookstores [like Booksamillion] as well as avail. through on line purchase. Really, the choices can become overwhelming unless you've already at least settled on a type of item you are looking for.