I have a 3 yr old and a 15 mo old, we do many learning activities (of course) but I am wanting to homeschool officially so I want to know where to start. We live in the states and I also would like to know of any curriculum recommendations. Anyone know of any websites with info on homeschooling in Washington state. Thanks!
Hi!
Welcome to the boards and I hope that you’ll find HomeSchool a good fit for your family and have many happy memories and experiences with it. I think that Homeschooling is great, but then again, I was homeschooled so I may be biased. 
I dont know if you are already using a Baby learning program, but see the master list that was created by TeachingMyToddlers of DVD’s and pretty soon it will be expanded to include the CD’s also.
For phonics and reading:
Progressive Phonics
Star Fall
The Reading Lesson ← A book $30 dollars, you can try the first 2 chapters for free to see if you like it…
[color=red]Funnix <-Normally $250 dollars, now you can get it totally free for a limited time from the official website. I strongly advise getting this, even if you have to save it, though your 3yo might be able to benefit from it now, or else pretty soon.
I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old. And we are using a modified version of the Robinson curriculum. The Robinson curriculum is a very back to basics type of schooling that focuses on reading writing and math. With the reading incorporating history, science as well as classic literature.
The way we use this curriculum for my 4 year old is:
He starts the day with math:
- He counts to 100 by ones, 5’s, 10’s (he is now working on adding in 2’s)
- He does his flashcards. He is currently working on addition and has mastered up to the +8’s (we are aiming for all operations up to the 12’s)
Next he does writing - He does one lesson out of his Kumon word writing books or spelling workout (he has several books so he feel like he has some autonomy
in what he chooses to do. - He does one lesson out of his kumon math book (he also has several of these, he is currently on the addition, but he also has telling time
and money versions)
Eventually, we will transition him to copywork from whatever book he is reading or free writing of about a page a day.
Finally he does reading.
He is reading at about a 5th grade level so right now he just reads aloud to me from whatever book is next on his list. Previously we were working through “The Ordinary Parents guide to teaching reading”
The list I created incorporates books from many book lists, not just the robinson book list. It includes many classic as well as science and history books. He just reads down the books, they are organized in increasing level of difficulty (roughly) based on lexile values.
Other things we do include me reading asection from the children’s encyclopedia set “The book of knowledge” each night and allowing him an hour of free reading each night before bed.
This is working great for us.
Linzy, that’s pretty similar to what we’re doing, although I haven’t started him memorizing sums or step counting. I’ve been thinking of doing that, but the problem I’m up against is his resistance. I don’t want to force him to do much at this stage. I’m going to have to blog about this soon: unless you’re a hard-core unschooler who says no child should ever be forced to learn, at what age or developmental stage is it appropriate to demand that he learn something? I don’t have any good answer to that question.
One great tool for teaching the step counting is the school house rocks songs which you can get on you tube. Think “three is a magic number”. My son loves that one and the counting by 5’s one.
As far as forcing learning. That’s a hard question and one I’ve asked too. We try to make it fun or at least acceptable by using a sticker chart where we put a sticker next to each thing as he completes them or doing them together or offering options between activities. That being said if he was not happy or consistently resistent I would try to find a different way to accomplish our goals.
Force/Insist on Learning: It depends on the individual child and their emotional and physical intelligence/development, but I’d say if your child is raised up having “learning time” from a young age it shouldn’t be a big deal, you might have to take learning off the page in various ways, but there shouldn’t be any reason you can’t insist/redirect
If your child is able to:
a) Not throw tantrums and clearly communicate what they want.
b) Dress themselves from naked to ready within 10 minutes or less.(picking out their clothes is optional)
c) Put their dishes away
d) Pick up their toys with 2 or fewer reminders
e) Perform grooming tasks (brush teeth/hair, wash face, bathe with supervision, wipe their own hiney)
f) Collects any sort of allowance. (Earning treats, money, toys etc…)
g) If your child can offer you deals for what they want…
They are most likely at the stage where they can have a daily checklist of obligations and with your guidance take care of it and be punished for not having completed their list.
Punishment needn’t be severe, they can lose privileges or be scolded and try again the next day.
Try to keep book learning to a minimum. Set a timer and adhere to the bookwork timer strictly, when the bell sounds, change subjects or close the book completely. Perhaps your child can do more verbal math lessons and spelling to keep the pen and paper work to a minimum. Reading Time could be non negotiable, if its just built it into your day, either in the morning after breakfast or at night when everyones winding down. If your child is too old for naps, require that they sit quietly on their beds for 30 minutes anyway and read, after wards they can tell you about what they read.
First of all Welcome to homeschooling. The very first thing you need to do is see what the state laws are regarding homeschool. You don’t want to start homeschooling then realize that you are doing things against the law, second you need to decide which type of learning style your child is, this will take some trial and error, if the child is an audiotory learner or hands on, etc, third you need to see which type of curricula that you are wanting to use not the brand name but the type like internet interactive only, workbooks, cd’s and so on, fourth you need to feel around to see what your child likes to learn with like hands on toys or the computer before you decide to buy curricula, and then there is more. Remember to consider your child’s needs and likes before purchasing a curricula. If you would like to take a course in homeschooling 101 from me PM me and I will tell you about it, it is a online course that is FREE!
I have homeschooled 18 children and I am currently homeschooling my 3, 2 and 5 month old along with 12 other children. So if you need help let me know. I will be glad to help you.
I would reccommend Jumpstart Preschool CD, the website www.abcmouse.com for both, www.hubbardscupboard.org, and workbooks that are published by American Education Publishing a comprehensive curriculum for preschool. You can find these at www.half.com or www.amazon.com for cheaper price then in most stores.
As far as the rewards thing (forced learning) we use a daily schedule with smiley faces, when an activity is completed then the child colors in the smiley face, when all smiley faces colored in then a reward is given like a computer game, a lapbook game, swinging on a swing outside, etc. You don’t need to force learning on a child or they will hate it, then you will see signs of pushing the worksheet away or crayon throwing, but if you can find the right interest to the child like cars or bears then make the curricula to fit to the childs interst. Now don’t get me wrong I do believe that a child needs to be guided or redirected but totally forced to learn no, and call me a hard core unschooler then that’s okay but there does come a time where some discipline is needed. I have seen a lot of this when helping others homeschool or as I call it home educating their children where the child pushes the worksheet away, throws a crayon, or rolls the pencil away. I specialize in making this type of curricula or theme units as some call them. Believe me I created a years worth of homeschool curricula based on cars, then the next year we were fine and doing good without the car or anyother theme. Once a child gets into a schedule and or a routine the child knows what is expected of them and they in return start following the rules.
I like to start home educating my children at 6 months old, however, with my 5 month old she seems to be more interested in things and is able to hold onto things so I started home educating her already.
As far as punishing the child in my school we don’t use that word at all, if the activities are not completed then the reward is not given at that time, we will move on to something else then come back to finish the activity and then the reward is earned. Sometimes the activity doesn’ get completed after 2 attempts so on that note I ask the child why if able to talk, sometimes the child doesn’t like something to do with that page or activity like the color, or the picture or the worksheet may be to busy. Finding out why and stopping to understand your childs behaviour may be the key to unerstanding why the activity wasn’t ocmpleted. Having patience when working with toddlers is another important issue, not everything for them is easy to understand so things need to be repeated if needed until the child gets the hang of things, and don’t talk to fast, slow your speach down. And yes the tantrums do come and the whinning and then the word no, but consistiency is the key word on those things, and trial and error as well.
Learning comes in all forms not just worksheets, books, computers, and flashcards, learning can also be just hanging out with mom and dad learning to follow directions, like for instance I am teaching cooking to my LO’s, washing the dishes, etc. They love this and they are learning as well. Not forcing them do to it but they like doing it, sometimes you just have to stop your daily routine or schedule and just chill out and have fun. Kids get ‘burned out’ as well right along with the parents/teachers.
Like I said if you would like to take my basic course for FREE PM me. And I hope I haven’t offended anyone so if I have please forgive me. My intentions were not to do that but just o give my opinion.