How many of you home school?

[mom-from-missouri]

I am wondering how many of you on here home school and if you would share any frugal home schooling ideas that you have??? My daughters have always been in a Christian School but since I am now a SAHM and we have 1 less income, we are going to start home schooling.

(Maybe if there is enough interest, we could get Jeffrey to start a new discussion heading even for home schooling and education).
I have been to several home school websites. Some offer interesting and good ideas and such, but they are sometimes expensive. Since we are all on the "frugal" page, I figured I would ask for some ideas here.

For my 2 that will be going into 4th grade, we are using some of my 6th graders old text books (Bob Jones). I have found several teacher websites where I can download worksheets.

I still am having trouble finding a list of what each grade should be learning. I am really wanting this for the math areas. What concepts should 4th grade and 6th grade be learning in math? What concepts should they have already learned?

[PrincessPerky]

I homeschool, and I am lazy...for 'scope and sequence' IE what they should learn I borrowed 'what you X grader needs to know' from the library. The kids really liked the history stories. (though they raised more questions than answered, but that is what the library is for)

But if you can't find it (or don't like it) my personal answer to what your kids should be studying, is the next step past what they know...

First you learn to recognize numbers then you start to add, then subtract, then...you get the picture.

Now for 4th and 6th grade, by then if you have a math liking kid you prolly already know all the 'basics' but there is a world of math out there...ask em what they want to know...algebra, accounting, geometry, physics...find a sample page of each and let em see which problems seem more interesting or useful. Closer to highschool graduation look up a GED prep test and see which topics they have to know, (I just saw one, and plan to put the link up, soon as I remember where I put it.)

Dime Ed.com has a list of free stuff, much of it is worksheets. (school like section) not trying to plug, just if you want to know where I get mine that is the list.

Another trick I use to make sure my kid knows around about the right stuff, is find a 'test' or game online for the grade I think he is at...then I get him to take it...if he passes enough of them and starts to think they are easy I move up a level. (he likes tests...it is in my lap time, and when he doesn't know we talk about it, or go get manipulative's to figure it out, no pressure, fun)

Or games, reader rabbit, jumpstart, they all have grade based games..if you can beat the game, you are well on your way to knowing what you aught to know. (library, or gma gifts)

Course not only am I lazy I am goofy, I am more interested in a kid who is continually learning and liking learning than one who knows exactly what his age is required to according to the government.

[rduell]

I don't homeschool now, but did for 10 years.

As for math...my absolute favorite math curriculum was Saxon. Once you buy the hardback textbook it can be used over and over again. I liked it because each lesson taught a new concept, but previous concepts were also reviewed.

For history, we borrowed biographies from the library and read them and kept a Konos timeline on our dining room wall. As we read about a person we would add them to our timeline. The kids could see how everyone fit into history.

[zakity]

We homeschool. We pretty much unschool (child-led). We use the worldbook encyclopedia site (
World Book Encyclopedia | Free Encyclopedia | Free Dictionary | Free Atlas | Homework Help) to find out what they need to learn.

We use Singapore Math. I found a free grammar site on hillbilly housewife's homeschool section of her site. We also use some workbooks that I found at the dollar store.

[mom-from-missouri]

I just signed us up for Pizza Huts "Book It" Reading program for next year. Home schools can now join. Basically, if your child reaches the reading goal set (by pages, # of minutes read, or # of books read), they can get a free personal pan pizza every month October thru May. Go to PizzaHut.com — Contact Us
Enrollment for the upcoming school year is May and June. You will receive your kit in the mail in September. This is a free program.

[catlinye_maker]

You may want to check out this blog: The Common Room. It's chockfull of frugal homeschooling tips.

[PrincessPerky]

awesome, I meant to look into Pizza hut, but forgot, thanks for the reminder.

[mom-from-missouri]

I just found out the public library 2 towns over has programs during the school year every Tuesday for home schoolers. Different topic every week. They are still working on next school years schedule, but topics from last year included gardening, visit from an author, all about earthquakes, butterflies, dog clinic, bring your pet day, bike safety... Every Tuesday morning for preschool thru 12th grade. We will be checking that one out.

[rob62521]

Here in Illinois, the state education site has what we call Illinois Learning standards or frameworks broken down grade by grade what is to be taught. It's a good guide on what each grade should know. The site in IL is isbe.net and you could then search for the standards and either save them or print them out. I would imagine most states have the same or something like them since federal legislation of No Child Left Behind is pushing for stricter standards.

[PrincessPerky]

Oh yeah, some states are required to share learning materials (reusable ones) with homeschoolers, some schools are just nice enough to do so. never hurts to ask...(well ok if you don't take rejection well it might sting, but practice helps, and one of these days I will try again)

[mom-from-missouri]

From what I have been told, Mo will, but you have to be registered as a home schooler for them to do so. Everyone tells me not to register, so I am not sure if they will.
Have any of you registered with your states??

[PrincessPerky]

No I haven't registered...and I understand the legal issues involved....I totally understand if you choose not to...I plan on reevaluating later on as the kids grow, but for now I don't see a need to register my kid....you might find a school that doesn't know or doesn't care about registering..

[LuxLiving]

I did homeschool but mine have all finished. I never did register them anywhere as it wasn't required in my state and even if it had been I doubt I would have anyway!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I just want to make sure you know that tonight at midnight is supposed to be the deadline for signing up for the state's "virtual classes" for next school year. I don't have any other info on that for you, not even a website.

But I advise you to be careful if you sign the kids up for virtual classes. In some states (I'm not sure if this is the case in our own state of Missouri), you lose your status as a self-directing homeschooler and are really a public schooler when you sign into such programs. That can have consequences when you wish to have more discretion (or your kids to have more discretion) in their studies.

Somewhere floating around on the internet someone has a sample homeschool records page I designed. I don't even know where that is, but I can look for it if you like. It was what I came up with to comply with MO law about record keeping when your "curriculum" is changeable, non-traditional, and tailored by the month-to-month and day-to-day interests of your child.

By the way, I never met a Missourian who registered their homeschooling with the school district. There is no advantage to it. Most districts do not even have a form for it or even have a file to tuck away letters in which parents declare their intentions to homeschool. The state is very hands-off here. And even though you are required to keep HS records, there is no one who is going to review and certainly not to approve/disapprove your schooling.

If you are going to HS, I wish you the very best. We absolutely loved it.

[shelbylovesmelby]

Not planning on homeschooling. Though I do have a few workbooks I go over with them for preschoolers.

[zakity]

We didn't register. They are all on PDP's (homeschool version of IEP).

[FrugalTexan75]

Obviously I'm not a homeschooler since I have no children. Although in my fondest dreams I am.

But I wanted to throw out a good resource for you - If you go to the Hillbilly Housewifes website on the top of the page it has a link to her Homeschool website. On it are a ton of free books (text and non-text) books, along with a graded sequence plan from Kindergarten through 10th grade (she's working on 11th and 12th).

[five2one]

We homeschool. We are required to register with the state and provide a list of curriculum as well as scope and sequence. We are also required at the end of the year to submit standardized test scores or an evaluation done by a state certified teacher (that we have to pay for)

The last 5 years, we used an online charter school which is a public school, but they provided the complete curriculum (we used K12), computer, and a reimbursement for internet access. I liked it well enough, but with all the travelling we've been doing this year for my business, their requirements about logging attendance/progress just didn't work for us, so we decided to return to the traditional variety.

I'm planning to use Switched on Schoolhouse for my DDs this next year, simply b/c I need them to self-direct more than the book-based curricula do. They both have some special needs (were on IEPs) and both do much better if they are learning on their own with my help on difficult concepts. It's not cheap, by any stretch, but once we have it, I can "hand it down" to the younger one.

[cschin4]

Since you have one less income, keep in mind that you already are paying for school. You are paying for public education. If you home school, you will obviously have to buy materials needed to do this though I would think the library would have all you need.

[mom-from-missouri]

Originally Posted by cschin4

Since you have one less income, keep in mind that you already are paying for school. You are paying for public education. If you home school, you will obviously have to buy materials needed to do this though I would think the library would have all you need.

I am glad you mentioned the library. That is a cost I forgot to put on my budget list. Our county has no library, so we have to go the next county over and pay to use the library there. $20 per family member per year to check out books. Internet, classes and everything else are pay as you use. Our current library cards expire in the fall. (I tried to get just one card, for me, and to use it to check out books for the kids, but the library wouldn't let me-cards are for personal use only. Plus, the school the girls went to last year had them get a card for part of their reading class.) For me to get cards for the entire family will be $140. But, DD1 and DD2 are on their own now, so I won't need to get theirs. I am planning on trying to use the public school library. I was told by law if you pay school tax (which we do) that they have to let you. Guess we will find out.