Advice for Home Schooling

You are facing a wonderful, yet challenging time ahead of you. Remember Philippians 4:13 and Galatians 6:9.

Two excellent sources of Christ-centered homeschool material is A Beka through Pensacola Christian College (Abeka.org) and BJU Press through Bob Jones University (bjupress.com). They both offer several methods for schooling at home. When you call, you can ask them what subjects you can teach together across grade levels. They are very helpful.

I have been homeschooling my 3 boys ever since they began school, and they are very close in age to your boys. They do Language Arts, Math, and Bible separately, but we all do science and history together, and it would be very possible to do Bible together as well. I highly recommend The Mystery of History, it is an incredible world history program that has Biblical history intertwined with other world history. All three boys have learned so much, and so have I! It has activity suggestions for all age groups for each lesson as well, and the lessons are short enough for your younger one, but expandable enough for the oldest. For science we use God's Design curriculum and we like it, but I've also heard a lot of good things about Apologia Science and we may try that next year ourselves. May God direct you on your exciting new homeschooling journey!

If you haven't already checked into it, I used a curriculum called Abeka. It is Christian based and we used it until our daughter was in the 8th grade (at which time she opted to go to public high school). She always tested out in Basic Skills at least two grades ahead so in 8th grade, we were working with 9th, 10th and 11th grade books. Altho I credit her for being a willing student, I also credit the curriculum. One year we did try another company but she did not like that system. The Abeka books were structured so it was good for both teacher to teach from and student to learn from. I did not have to really buy answer keys until she was in the junior high levels. There is also a Teacher's Manual whereby you can prepare lessons accordingly. I personally didn't use it, but it did look like a great way to be guided. Check out their website at abeka.com and find out where they would have Displays near your area - you can touch and feel at these events.

Feel free to message me if you have specific questions.

T.,

I use My Father's World, a complete curriculum intended for several children to be taught at once that are at different levels. It is a biblical curriculum that does incorporate Bible as a subject as well as stories of christian heros and memorization of bible verses.

It is a collection of books from several sources as opposed to some that (like Abeka and Sonlight) are by the same publisher.

I have found the staff to be amazingly helpful. There is a conference in the cities coming up with Dave Hazell speaking (I copied the info at the bottom). We checked out several different curriculum possibilities before landing on this one. I also know 6 or so families in the area that are using the same with large families.

Just remember, you only need to think about what your going to do one year at a time, and if you don't like what you've chosen, you can always change!

I hope this helps!

God Bless

M.
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My Father's World invites you to join David Hazell in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN for a home school conference on Wednesday, April 16.

- Renew your vision for being a family of eternal purpose

- Get re-energized as home school parents

- Connect with other home school families in your area

- Browse My Father's World curriculum – preschool through high school

If possible, come as a couple and renew and refocus your family’s vision and commitment for Kingdom living.

HEAR FROM DAVID'S HEART (a few of the sessions to be shared)….

How to Become a Family of Eternal Purpose

Drawing from the rich experiences of ministering as a family in Russia, Sweden, and the U.S., let us share with you how to broaden your children's knowledge of God's world and how to incorporate children of all ages in ministry. As a family we have served lunch to the homeless, enjoyed regular visits to nursing homes, participated in English camps for non-native speakers, raised large sums of money for missions, and much more. We know from first-hand experience that children can affect the world, often without leaving their neighborhood.

Help, My Homeschool Is Chaos!

Is your homeschool day made up of demanding toddlers and emotional teens, six subjects to prepare for each child, co-op demands, music, sports, falling behind, tears, chores, skipping chapters and you wonder, "Where is God in all this?" Learn to work together as a family to achieve attainable goals with a fresh outlook and easy-to-implement organizational ideas. Bring sanity and success back to your home, and enjoy the process.

What Should 21st Century Christians Be Teaching Their Children?

Classical education is often defined by what was taught to children long ago. Should we not rather ask the question: What did classical tutors intend students to know once they were educated? Five key questions help us interpret what these tutors would teach our children today if they were in our homes, in our culture, with our language, and with 21st century knowledge.

Exposed, Isolated, or Insulated: How Should We Homeschool Our Children

In our world it is very difficult to protect our children from the influences of those who seek to pollute our children’s minds. Some respond by giving up and just leaving it to prayer; after all, it is a tough battle, and we got through it okay when we were young. Others withdraw, seeking to protect their children from the world. Is there a better way? Learn how we can insulate our children from evil, and at the same time equip them to battle against it, spreading God’s Kingdom into a dark world.

David Hazell has been involved in homeschooling since 1987. During several of those years he was a stay-at-home dad directly responsible for educating his children. For eight years, David and his family lived in Russia where he served in Bible translation in Siberia and helped coordinate Bible translations in 80 languages. His six children often ministered with him as he traveled throughout Russia and Europe. David and his wife, Marie, now devote the majority of their time to the development of My Father’s World curriculum with the dual goal of providing support for Bible translation and raising up generations of families that see the world through God’s eyes and live according to that knowledge

Here are a couple of links that I hope will help you out.

http://homeschooling.about.com/

http://homeschooling.about.com/od/usaia/Iowa_Homeschoolin...

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Iowa.htm

On my website I also have a page that is full of links for parents. It includes websites that are teaching resources that have printable books and worksheets. It also has links to websites that have great educational games.

http://www.yourfunfamily.com/links.html

I am in the process of adding ebooks today. I just got some great classic novels that I want to add to my site for older kids and parents. I am still working on that section so I do not have a link yet. I should have it up in a few hours.

M.
____@____.com
http://www.yourfunfamily.com

I have some wonderful books that a friend of mine who homeschools uses. You can check them out at www.ubah.com/T2427

Hi T., I too am preparing to homeschool in the fall. I plan to practice this summer, and hopefully work out the kinks, get materials. I am depending on our local group of homeschooling parents to guide me through the curriculum process. I have a 12 year old daughter and hope to have additional children in our home by fall. We have applied to adopt more. I would be very interested in what responses you get.
A little about me:
I am a stay at home mom and wife. I have 5 kids, the oldest is 37 and our youngest is 12. 2 homemade and 3 adopted. I am a Christian and being a mother is my profession.

I know of two women that use Tapestry of Grace and Sonlight curriculums. They like them. I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get. I've been in search of a good Christian curriculum because I've been thinking of homeschooling as well.

I use Tapestry of Grace, a classical Christian curriculum which covers history, literature, writing, geography, art, church history, and, for older kids, government. Each year you cover one period of history with all of your kids. The material is laid out so it is really easy to see what to emphasize with the various aged kids. It makes recommendations as to what type of science to cover, also. www.tapestryofgrace.com. I only need to add math and spelling, both of which, as far as I can tell, really need to be taught individually.

Hi T.,
I Homeschool my kids to, and love it.
Unit studies are the best for working with more than one kid. I love Amanda Bennetts Units at www.unitstudy.com.
and at www.currclick.com. Also My father's world is wonderful for that to at www.mfwbooks.com. I use mfw in the school year and unit studies in the summer.
God bless you for raising up men of God.
R.

I am sure you will get TONS of advice after your post... I am also starting the process of homeschooling and am looking into Sonlight. I love the books they have. A lot of the material can be used for all 3 of your kids and you can buy additional items such as math, science, etc. for each childs current level. You also have the advantage of having the ability to let you older children read to your little one. Good practice and allows you a little downtime!

I also joined MACHE (mache.org) Minnesota Association for Christian Home Educators and they will set you up with the necessary paper work you need to submit as well as info on local support groups and co-ops.

Another good resource is Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for HOmeschool Curriculum. LOTS of good info there. :)

For your kindergartener I would recommend Sing Spell Read and Write. It's a fabulous curriculum for learning to read.
For your 6th and 4th graders I would definitely get the game Rummy Roots. It teaches 42 Latin and Greek roots and it is wonderful for being able to figure out meanings of words just by knowing their roots. It also helps with spelling and pronounciation.
"Math-it" is great and all your kids can use it.
I know these are not all curriculum (except the first one I mentioned) but are wonderful supplemental tools.
My sister used Switched On Schoolhouse for her kids and loved it.
Good luck!

I use MY FATHER's WORLD. And we have just about completed kindergarten. This curriculum goes through High school. We chose it because it was a unit study and multisensory...hand-on which is perfic for boys. You can visit their website at www.mfwbooks.com. I highly recommend this curriculum.

I know that lots of homeschoolers use Usborne Books to supplement their curriculum, and add some fun! Check out my website at http://www.ubah.com/g2687 or contact me for recommendations. I would specifically suggest that you look at the Learning Palette series of products and the Ten Terrific Weeks programs (also great for bored kids in the summer!). Good luck!

I am not a homeschooler yet, but I have looked into it a few times. I like Lisa Welchel's site cause she has homeschooled all thru her kids schooling years and she's done all the research. It's www.lisawelchel.com At the top of page is her tab for homeschooling. It's great that you are wanting to homeschool and just being there and showing them your Godly character and morals is the best lessons they could learn.
Blessings

I was home schooled for most of schooling. I used Abeka when I was younger. It is based in Florida and is a private christian school that offers a home school program.

Hi T.,
I have been homeschooling my son since birth, he's 13. I am actually on several homeschool e-mail lists that are very helpful. Feel free to e-mail at ____@____.com and I'll e-mail you the link to one in particular that will connect you with others. You might also look up Christian homeschooling to get info. I know a number of them use a program called sonlight. It's very literature based and what I have seen I like. We actually don't follow a specific curriculum.

Happy Learning,
S.

A little about me:
Homeschool Mom, president of local homeschool group and homebusiness owner.

We have used My Father's World with my 2nd grader and really love it. I know as they get a bit older you can do loup teaching and combine subjects with all your kids and reduce your teaching time. I have several friends that have done that and says it works really well. God Bless you, I know being home with a part job and teaching is alot of work. I do the same exact thing!
R.

Focus on the Bible and the Classics for his/her studies.

A Thomas Jefferson Education, by Oliver DeMille, and other similar books can be found on amazon. They teach an "unschooling" method. READ! READ! READ! When a child develops a love of learning, there is no stopping his progress! Read, discuss, write about it. Read, discuss, write. Let the child develop a love of learning and he will be begging to learn more! That is the best way to prepare him for the future. This is how the great leaders of the past learned and became the great thinkers and men that they were.

(This works well for all ages, no matter what ages they are. Focus on the same story, at the same time, with the whole family, including you and the other parent! Each will learn at different depths. For those younger, have them draw pictures, etc to explain the story. Those older- Ask questions. Have them think. Have them write.)

T.,

We homeschooled our 3 children through highschool and when they went to college they were all at the top of their classes. I too, am a Christian, born again, and I believe that the key to their success was/is the Word of God. We had a scheduled time every day that we did our Bible memory work and they would quote their verses to their dad when he got home from work every night. They memorized books of the Bible eventually. We used Bob Jones' curriculum and ABeka some and eventually went to Saxon math, which all the kids preferred. You can't really teach them math at the same level or some of the other basics, as they have to reach a physiological development before they understand certain concepts. However, you can teach life values and memorize the word together. If you think about it, about everyone graduates from highschool with just the basics, knowing how to read, write and do some math, maybe you'll remember some history and art or a few books, I had advanced biology, but - the point is, what do they need to go on it life? The 3 R's and a desire to learn. That being said, I will say that our family stressed curriculum more than most homeschooling families we knew and we wanted our children, as I am sure you do, to be sharp academically. However, even more important, is to teach character qualities that cannot easily be molded into older people - truth, honesty, dependability, punctuality, kindness, diligence, resourcefulness, frugalness, respect, etc. So - we taught the Word and having a good conscience and morals together. As adults, we are pleased that all our children have married and love the Lord and have happy families.

Sonlight is a Christian curriculum that is literature-based. It is a complete curriculum that comes with lessons already planned and scheduled. You could possibly have your 4th- and 6th-graders working on the same level, and your kindergartener on another. The K curriculum is not too intense. This is a good curriculum if you and your kids like to read (although the books are so good that you may convert your non-readers into readers!)

Check out their online catalog at www.sonlight.com. You can order their paper catalog online, too.

I don't homeschool but might in the future so I often visit the Homeschool forum in the discussion section of mothering.com Lots of resources and tons of people with experiences with different curriculum and what works best for different learning styles. It is very important to figure how your kids learn best and then pick a curriculum that will complement that.

I would recommend getting involved with a local or state home-schooling organization and finding out when/if they hold curriculum fairs. It's an opportunity to find out what's available and get feedback from other parents who have used various curriculums.

One note: If any of your boys are in forth grade or higher, Saxon Math is probably the BEST math curriculum there is.

:0)

I am a homeschooling mother as well. I use time4learning for my 2 sons (6th and 3rd grade). There are many different websites out there that you can research and see which one you would like to use as a supplement. You can visit time 4 learning at www.time4learning.com. Another website is edhelper.com. Edhelper is 19.95 annual yearly fee and there is a fee for time 4 learning as well.

T.; i have seen homschooling be done in a bad way , and in a good way, i am all for homeschooling the right way, where you follow as closly to the schools in your area, some schools offer books and stuff that can help, one mom i knew could get the books from administrators office, as long as they were returned, however there are some stores that carry curriculum books for each grade, they are usually hidden in the halmark bible stores, but not all of them, or in learning centers stores, ive also seen others homeschool very poorly, and let their kids sleep in and do homework when they want,which usually results in lazy adults , which ive seen happen, so i applaud you on this adventure, and im sure you will be a good teacher, as parents it is our responsibility to teach our children, so enjoy your kids and be a good teacher, as well as the mom as you are , D. s

Check out the book "The Well-Trained Mind" by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, if you want to follow a classical education. "The Homeschooling Handbook" by Mary Griffith also has great information.