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Free Curriculum Resources
Homeschooling can cost as much or as little as you like. Free is always good, right? Here is a list of free resources that I have found to be very valuable.
Curriculums:
Supplements:
- Spelling City
- Education.com
- Kinder Printables
- File Folder Fun
- The Crafty Classroom
- Lapbook Lessons
- Learning Page
My Kinesthetic Learner
For years I have been in search of just the “right books” for our homeschool curriculum. I have been homeschooling for 11 years now. You would think that I had it all figured out. One can only wish.
I will say that over the last three years I have been quite happy with just about every book I have purchased for my children.
Maybe I am slow, but I had never really paid much attention to the articles I would come across from time to time regarding different learning styles. I knew each of my children were unique. I knew each of my children had different passions. But I never really stopped to think about how they learned differently.
I have one child who doesn’t seem bothered by anything, she reads whole novels in a hour, and she retains information like a sponge. She hated lapbooking the few times I tried doing them with her. She loves math and spends hours drawing, cross stitching, and reading.
I have another child who is very creative. She loves reading, creative writing, drawing, and music. She hates math and has a difficult time processing equations. She needs the room to be very quiet so she can concentrate because she is easily distracted.
My youngest child is only six and just now beginning to do regular school work, but as far as I can tell, she will be much like the first child I mentioned. She spends hours drawing detailed artwork, loves to paint and sketch in her nature journal, loves to sit down and read aloud to me.
I have another child who is fascinated by nature – anything to do with the living world around her. She collects bugs, and toads, and mysterious seeds like other people collect stamps 0r figurines. She hates handwriting, likes to draw, but never takes her time and she just cannot sit still for any length of time. She hates having to sit down and work on phonics because it is “soooo borning!” Yet, she is a whiz at math. She loves any kind of adventure such as camping, obstacle courses, and roller coasters. She likes “action!”
This child is a Kinesthetic Learner. You can read more about this learning style here. She loves lapbooking but can’t stand cutting stuff out. Instead of having her cut and paste all of the mini books and pockets, etc. I am now doing it for her! Talk about a freeing experience! She has for the first time enjoyed making a lapbook! Our first lapbook that I cut out for her was on Owls. Like I said earlier, she loves anything to do with nature. She loved the Owl Study that I found over at Lapbook Lessons. We are now working on a study of Australia and will be completing a lapbook for that unit as well. One thing that really help her focus is to take frequent breaks. She just can’t sit still for longer than 10 minutes at a time. And that’s okay!
I am on the hunt for great products to help me teach my Kinesthetic Learner. Do you have any suggestions?
Finding the Perfect Curriculum…
Even though our current school year is in full swing, I’m already planning ahead for next fall: curriculums, schedules, planners, start date, etc. I’ve also noticed the array of catalogs that are piling up in our mailbox each week from many different homeschool vendors. I LOVE browsing through the catalogs, seeking out that “perfect” curriculum. But you know what? I haven’t found the “perfect” curriculum and I probably never will. And that’s okay. Our family is unique and not every curriculum is going to work with how my children learn (or how I teach).
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the six years we’ve been homeschooling it’s that we’re not a static family. We are constantly changing and growing and adapting. Our interests change, our horizons broaden and we adapt to new circumstances, situations and learning ideas. What worked for us this year may not work for us next year and what we used last year may be something we want to try again in two years when my children are older. And, what works for my family may not work for yours. And that’s okay, too. The beautiful thing about homeschooling is the fluidness of it – like changing curriculums mid-year if the children are so frustrated that their eyes pop out of their heads at the mere mention of the subject.
So, as your family considers curriculums and schedules for next fall take it all in stride. Throw stress out the window and kick its partner, worry, to the curb. No matter what curriculum you choose or what schedule you plan, place it all in God’s hands. As the superintendent of our school (my hubby is the principal), God is in control. When we honor God in our school and place Him above all else, the rest just falls into place.
Learning to Read
I just came across a new reading program that is totally free and looks awesome! Progressive Phonics has free downloadable/ printable reading book along with handwriting activity books!
The program is free for registered members!
I have probably mentioned it before, but another great phonics website is: Starfall.com. My daughters enjoyed using this program online last year. For those of you with young readers, these programs are a “must”!
The One Year Adventure Novel
Have you seen this curriculum? I was looking at their website tonight and really, really, want this for my girls. My daughter Sarah especially wants to do this instead of our planned curriculum Learning Language Arts through Literature. Emily, doesn’t really care as she really doesn’t care for writing. However, everything I have read suggests that this curriculum will make even the reluctant writer excited about writing! Plus, the TOS Crew loved this curriculum!
My problem? For two children this will cost $224.00. Yikes! My budget for ALL of our books for all four of my girls this year was only $200.00. Obviously, if I am going to be able to buy this curriculum for them, I will need to come up with some more money. I am going to try to sell some of our used books that we don’t need anymore. Hopefully, we will be able to purchase this. It sounds so much fun! School should be exciting right! I think so.
If you have not seen this curriculum, visit their website and watch the info video on the main page. Just watching the video inspires a feeling of adventure – making you want to sit down and write something exciting! You can download free sample lessons here and even get a free demo DVD here.
Back to Homeschool 2009 – 2010
It’s that time of year again. Time to decide what to learn this year….
I am very excited – I love buying the new books each year and making plans for our studies. I was very pleased with most of our curriculum choices from last year, so I will be using many of the same publishers and resources.
We have been using Math U See. I may use it again this year, but I am considering a new curriculum for math called Teaching Textbooks.
Mystery of History – Vol II
Learning Language Arts through Literature:
Apologia Science – Land Animals of the Sixth Day
Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America: Fourth Edition (Peterson Field Guide Series)
A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide Series)
Draw Real Animals! (Discover Drawing Series)
Books on My Wishlist…
Creating Nature in Watercolor: An Artist’s Guide
I also found this resource that I hope to be able to use not only with my own daughters, but with the young girls I work with in our church and community:
Future Christian Homemaker’s Handbook – free download!
We will be using Homeschool Share again this year, quite extensively for my youngest children. This is a wonderful resource!
Our love of nature study continues. We are currently raising three Ringneck Snakes (with four eggs waiting to be hatched!), two Fowler’s Toads, one Skink Lizard (Red Headed Scorpion), have found two bats in our house this week which we watched and then released, and spend hours every day watching the myriad of birds who dine at our feeders.
I think this is what brings me the most joy. Spending quiet moments wrapped up in the beauty of God’s creation enjoying all of the sights and sounds and tastes alongside of my children.
Each of the girls received really nice art sets for their birthdays this year. Each set included an easel, watercolors, acrylics, oils, oil pastels, colored pencils, watercolor paper, and more. We will continue to use these and I hope to spend more time this year on our nature journals. I want to begin using the Outdoor Hour Challenges – you can download these wonderful guides free – look on the sidebar at Harmony Art Mom’s blog!
I will also be re-reading Pocketful of Pinecones: Nature Study With the Gentle Art of Learning.
I have handwriting workbooks that were given to me and lots of wonderful Bible Readers from years ago that we will be using. I also want to focus more on Church History and the Martyrs this year. Also, we are about to begin a read aloud of “Blessings” by Jerry D. Thomas, adapted from “Mount of Blessings” by Ellen White’s original writing. The book is a commentary of sorts on the Sermon on the Mount. Really good stuff!
Something different I will be trying this year for our record keeping is “Homeschool Journaling.” I am going to journal our learning each day rather than plan actual lesson plans for my younger children. My oldest two will still have their lesson sheets that they must complete and mark off.
I will be adding all these links to my sidebar. As I change my plans and such, you can find the updates there.
The Ringstaff Family – Homeschool 2008 – 2009
- The Bible Story Books
- The Mystery of History
- Map Library
- Learn Language Arts thru Literature
- Apologia Zoology 2
- Apologia Marine Biology
- Seashells, Crabs, and Sea Stars
- Burgess Seashore Book for Children
- Math U See
- A Reason for Spelling
- Sketch Tuesday
- A Bowl of Moss and Pebbles
- Draw Horses
- Ambleside Online
- Economics in One Lesson
- Homeschool Share
- Poetry for Copywork
- Alfred’s Basic Piano Library
- Keeping a Nature Journal
- Sibley Field Guide
- NG Bird Field Guide
- Projects for the Birder’s Garden
- Home Economics
Planning Homeschool 2008
I am so excited about this coming school year! I pretty much have most of my curriculum picked out … just need to start purchasing!
Here is my plan so far…
- Tapestry of Grace – If you are interested you can download the first three weeks of year one here: Go to Egypt.
From their website: Tapestry covers the humanities: history, church history, literature, geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing & composition. Tapestry does not include a phonics program, science, math, grammar, spelling, or foreign language. Lampstand Press does, however, recommend and sell complementary logic, spelling, and grammar programs.
- Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day – from Apologia. We LOVED the Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day this past year!
- Math U See – You couldn’t ask for a better math curriculum for homeschoolers!
I am a big fan of the Charlotte Mason Method… So, we will continue our nature study journals and nature walks. We will continue to do copywork and notebooking with our science and Tapestry of Grace.
And we will incorporate some of the resources from Ambleside Online:
From other sources:
I am currently taking piano lessons and will continue to teach my own children with:
We use the Sibley Bird Field Guide and the National Geographic Bird Field Guide – wonderful resources! We do a lot of bird watching and are working on creating a Bird Friendly yard with feeders and bird houses. We are doing some of the projects from: Pojects for the Birder’s Garden – a wonderful book!
We will incorporate lapbooking into our studies as well – and something I like to call “folderbooking” kind of like lapbooking and notebooking all rolled into one.
Anyway, there is my plan – now to just get all those books ordered! I can’t wait for them to come in the mail!
I am so excited I can hardly wait for this school year.
The Ringstaff Family Homeschool 2007-2008
Deciding what curriculum is rarely ever an easy decision. I spent hours and hours planning and even then I am not always 100% happy with the choices I make. Here, I am sharing with you some of the books and curricilum that we are using for the 2007 – 2008 school year.
Curriculum List
- Home Study International
- Bob Jones University Press
- A BEKA
- Sonlight Curriculum
- KONOS
- Five In A Row
- Christian Liberty Press
- GREENLEAF PRESS
- Writing Strands
- How Great Thou ART Publications
- Homeschool Huskies and Ponies
- Science Labs In-A-Box
- A Reason for Writing and Spelling
- Sing ‘n Learn
- Open Arms Magazine
- Foundation for American Christian Education
- The Teaching Tank
- KidsArt
- Saxon Publishers
- Explorer’s Bible Study
- Pioneer Clubs
