Homeschooling

Question: Can someone show me how to start Homeschooling my 6 year old, in MI she'll be in the 1st grade?

I would like to homeschool my daughter next school year as it will be easier all around for us as I am expecting my baby in early Sept. We live in Michigan and I was wondering if there was a low cost way to do this..all the programs I checked (like Abeka) were quite a bit for the year... do I have to use their supplies? I really have no idea how to do this and would like to know how before Sept! thanks!

Answer: I'm assuming you already did this, but if not, do check your state laws. You can do this here: http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp, however, do not rely on this exclusively, but check the law yourself because you are responsible for it.

An all around very cool website to learn a lot of information about Homeschooling in general is: http://Homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

A very popular record keeping software is Homeschool Tracker: http://www.homeschooltracker.com/. They offer a free version that you never have to pay for and can use indefinitely, but some of the features are limited.

A free k-12 literature based curriculum, that also includes a link to a free (off-site) preschool curriculum is Old Fashioned Education:

http://oldfashionededucation.com/index.html

Your biggest expense will be printing up the books, however, you can minimize this by using the library or looking for cheap copies to buy. The program is very similar to Sonlight (already mentioned), however, OFE uses public domain books, while Sonlight (http://sonlight.com/) uses a combination of public domain and more modern books, but is VERY expensive. OFE has an excellent support group, and a very open community who will be happy to help you find all kinds of resources.

Other similar and inexpensive programs are:
A2 @ $99.00 for k-12

http://www.accelerated-achievement.com/

Robinson @ 195.00 for k-12

http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

and Ambleside, free k-12 http://www.amblesideonline.org/
however, you will have to buy some resources from whereever you can get them.

For a little different kind of curriculum, though somewhat similar in philosophy is Konos. http://www.konos.com/index.html
Not terribly expensive, but you will have to buy several books.

Now for a couple of free resources to use to supplement whatever program you end up using:

currclick: http://www.currclick.com/index.php?affiliate_id=15580 gives away a free e-book every week. It could be anything from their store, but it's always interesting.

and Hands of a Child http://www.handsofachild.com/shop/
gives away a free lapbook per quarter. If you are not familiar with lapbooks, this is the place to start. This is a GREAT way to get kids excited about learning.

As you can see from my links, I'm not a big fan of textbook learning, like A Beka. I did use A Beka for a while; it is really more like public school at home, but with God. I know that some parents swear by A Beka and other text book methods, but it's really not the best way for kids to learn. Of course, you have to determine what's best for your own children and use that method.

If you join the 3R group listed at the OFE website, you can ask all kinds of questions and we'd all be happy to help you out with links, encouragement, whatever.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

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