Homeschool Resources

In our Intro to Homeschooling series, we have so far talked about:

to Homeschool?” href=”http://middlewaymom.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/why-homeschool/”>Why would you homeschool?
Homeschool Methods
Laws regarding homeschooling

Today we’ll cover some resources to get you started, or to supplement your existing homeschool. We’ve covered some already, and this is by no means an exhaustive list, but basically a starting point to get you started in the homeschooling avalanche. I have been able to find most, if not all the books listed her at my local library.

My favorite book, and I use it as my main guide in our homeschool is The Well Trained Mind. On their website you will find a very active forum also, which is a wealth of real life experience from fellow mamas and dads. This is a book I would not recommend getting on the Kindle because so often we are flipping to one page or another time and time again. Susan Wise Bauer covers every age from toddler and preschool up through high school. Almost no one follows the book exactly, but it is a great starting point! Care Bear has really enjoyed almost all the books on her literature reading list from TWTM, which is a stark difference than what books she was picking for herself from our collection of classics!

Another favorite, more for philosophy of education than actual book lists is Charlotte Mason’s Original Home Education Series. This is admittedly a bit hard to read because the English is from a different era, but the idea that children should should be outside daily and given time to explore resognates with many families. Charlotte Mason really was speaking to young children, younger than 6th grade, so this is a great book to start with a young child. I’m planning on reading this again as Little Miss grows.

I’ve also mentioned before Mary Pride’s book Complete Guide to Getting Started in Homeschooling and it deserves mention again. She walks you through thinking through your children’s learning styles, your goals for homeschooling, and the philosophy that works best for you. This is a large book, but it is easy to read one section and skip over ones that you may not need. Still, I suggest reading through most of it.

John Taylor Gatto’s book Weapons of Mass Instruction is admittedly a book against the public school system and has a air of conspiracy theory, but gives an eye into the public school system (Mr. Gatto was a public school teacher for most of his career) and gives ideas for bettering your philosophy of education. He leans more towards unschooling, so if this resonates with your family, this would be a good book to wrap your mind around why it works.

Currclick.com is a wealth of ideas for all ages. This resource is more subject based, so it doesn’t matter what type of philosophy you agree with, there are resources you will find useful. Currclick aims to make their resources affordable, so you aren’t spending endless amounts of money on resources.

Clickschooling.com brings ideas from all over the Internet to your mailbox! Signing up for their mailing list is where you get the most benefit from this website. Again, this site is valuable for all homeschool types.

Time4Learning.com is a subscription website that aims to provide homeschool, after school, or supplementary curriculum for Kindergarten to high school. Care Bear used Time4Learning two summers ago when she was at her dad’s house. I like that she could explore the topics she wanted and it was a fun and creative way to present each topic. At the time I didn’t think it was enough to use for a full homeschool in the Upper Grades, but I know they were always making improvements.