SOFTWARE

Homeschool Elementary

Choosing the Right Homeschooling Programs

For a variety of reasons, many American families are choosing to homeschool their children these days. Reasons that your family may choose homeschooling include dissatisfaction with your local school system or assigned school, religious reasons, special needs of your child, or just personal preference. Whatever the reason you choose this path, there is a wide variety of homeschooling programs to choose from.

Before you begin to homeschool your child, check your state's requirements. Some states don't even require that you notify them of your plans to homeschool. Others require that you submit detailed attendance records and test results for your child, or even have a certain level of education yourself. Most states fall somewhere in the middle. Once you've determined that you may legally homeschool your child, you're ready to set up your curriculum.

Homeschooling programs are available for children of all ages, and at all price levels. Some are available online, some are on CD-ROM, and others include printed workbooks. For preschoolers and early elementary aged children, programs that allow you to print worksheets multiple times or ones with erasable printed worksheets are your best choice for the money, as a younger child will need to practice certain things multiple times.

Many homeschooling programs are based heavily on Christianity. However, if such a curriculum is not right for you, there are also many programs that make no mention of religion. Most programs give a timeline in which they should be finished, but in reality you and your child can go through the program at your own pace, unless your state requires otherwise.

Remember that "homeschooling" doesn't mean "stay at home". Look into social opportunities for your homeschooled child as well. Many areas have homeschool groups you can join. Your child could join the Scouts or play Little League. Plan educational field trips that go with your curriculum to enhance your child's learning experience.

 

About the Author

Homeschooling is a full time job, but the rewards of a one on one, personalized education are many. Take the time to plan your child's lessons and he or she will reap the benefits for life.

More information on homeschooling programs can be found at http://www.homeschooling4you.com/

What is a great elementary math software curriculum for homeschooled daughter?

My almost 9 yo visual learner daughter is needing comprehensive math software curriculum. She just started refreshing her addition and subtraction skills on ZooZillions. She is great at concepts, visual problems, reading problems. Not so good at rote memorization, drilling facts, etc. We need something that is interactive but thorough. No online freebies for games, please. We are a homeschool family with a teaching background. Thank you!

Try these:

http://www.bigbrainz.com/index.php

(the "z" instead of "s" drives me nuts!)

These two are sites, but not "just fun" sites:

http://www.mathsisfun.com/

http://www.aaamath.com/

Cosmeo has NutShell math which is awesome! It makes the subscription price ($9.99/mo or $99/yr) worth it alone. Plus, they have on-demand video from series like the Standard Deviants (my son learns a ton from there!) and other educational videos. The entire Cosmeo site is awesome for visual learners! (I'm one of them!)

http://www.cosmeo.com

(They have a free, one-month trial.)

Someone suggested Aleks and I second that one.

Teaching Textbooks is rolling out their lower grades this year. We're doing Algebra and it's GREAT! I hear the lower levels (Pre-Alg, Math 7) are even more fun! Some is done via the CD-roms, some in a workbook, so you get a good mix of learning styles - especially still practice with pencil and paper, not just the pc (where my son would rather do all of his work). You can view sample lectures, problems, and pages at the TT site:

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/

(The levels don't necessarily match with the grade - i.e., I know many 3rd/4th graders doing Math 7. You'd just need to give the placement tests.)

You could also look into AOP's Switched on Schoolhouse program. You didn't list a grade level, but I assume she's at least 3rd, which is where SOS starts. I'm personally not impressed with SOS, but many people like them.

http://www.aop.com/sos/

My favorite math program for K-5 is K12, which is what we use as our base curriculum.

http://www.k12.com

HTH!

Homeschool: Spelling Curriculum (Elementary Level)