What's the best home schooling curriculum?
101452
abeka book\ni do the video curriculum, its nice.
687460
I most definitely agree with you. I have lived in the pacific northwest for over a decade now and the population of homeschoolers in this part of the country is on the rise. As a matter of fact, I still remain single to this day waiting for an educated woman who agrees with me on the subject because our public schools are failing our youth and our children are falling behind the rest of the world. Homeschooling is definitely a viable option as I have met many who have blown away their public school counterparts.
161268
Try Costco or Fred Meyers or any other larger retailer. They have great homeschooling products that could help you continue your education.
184352
here is info on homeschooling in your state: http://www.illinoishouse.org/index_b.html\n\nthere are no free programs that I know of... but you can homeshool for practically free, using the internet\n\nhttp://www.geocities.com/athens/8259/savers.html
555513
Try this group.  We used them when we were home schooling. \n\nhttp://www.connectionsacademy.com/portal/google.asp
147149
OK, it's not free, but it is a SUPER program.  www.readinga-z.com.  I homeschool my 5 year old and have been incredibly impressed with his progress.  You can check it out for free.  The cost is pretty steep (like $80/year), but it is SOOOO worth it.  Reading is necessary to every other discipline (science, history, even math).  Get behind in reading and you'll have a tough time keeping up in everything else.
8211
our daughter is homeschooled\nthe best one is  http://www.thejubileeacademy.org/\n\nWe just love it, it is the best ever
295361
I have used K12 through the Arkansas Virtual School for 4th, 5th, and now 6th grade for one of my 4 children. I like the curriculum and we will continue to use it next year with my then 12 year old son. It is rigerous and yet has nice variety. The delivery is mixed between book and computer delivery methods. The lesson planning and record keeping system is fully automated through the online school. It is excellent. It has saved me so much time.\n\nWe also homeschool traditionally. My oldest will be graduating to college next year. I have a 15 year old daughter homeschooling traditionally. Next year I will have a kindergartener. I have not decided whether to go traditinal or virtual with him yet.\n\nYou can learn a tremendous amount about homeschooling by perusing blogs at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com  There are over 3,000 homeschoolers blogging there.
1020384
Go to http://hslda.org  They promote LEGAL, RESPONSIBLE homeschooling.  You can find out what is required to legally homeschool your child in your state.  The laws are different in every one, but it is legal everywhere in the USA.  Especially find out what the "compulsory school age" is in your state.  That is the age that you need to either put your child in public school or offically home school your son.  You may not be required to do anything official until he is 6.  Then you can just keep up the good work until then.  Include your little one in the reading, but otherwise, simply allow your youngest to play quietly or nap while you have school time with the older one.  With homeschooling, your scedule is very flexible, so do what works for you!   \n\nIf you do need/want a curriculum, there is an ocean of curriculums out there, and it can be intimidating to wade through them.  I would recommend starting with a guide by either Mary Pride or Cathy Duffy.  They are experienced homeschoolers that review curriculums and publish their well-informed opinions about them.  Look for books and websites by them.  After choosing a curriculum, you can often get used books on e-bay, and several websites like www.christianbook.com have good prices on new curriculum.
532963
I would not recommend virtual school - basically because this would in effect make your children nothing more than computer-based learners of other people's curriculum and that is what you are trying to avoid by home-schooling in the first place (all my humble opinion, of course.) \n\nI would recommend using a combination of curriculums and then following the guidelines in the book, "Bringing up Healthy Children"  -  it basically outlines the homeschooling to chores to playtime ratio as they get older.\n\n Next - I would take the time to evaluate each of your children's personal learning methods (ie.: a reader, a doer, a copier, etc. --- A reader prefers to study the question and all of the information given. A Doer prefers to learn by manipulating the question and the possible answers, a copier will combine reading and doing to attempt to re-create the answer given more closely. ) The previous is a good reason why you should at least try to develop your own curriculum to match your child's needs the best.\n\n I wish you the very best of luck in your homeschooling. Think about signing up with a homeschooling on-line co-op to ask questions along the way. Check out the National Home Education Network for a lot of great information. the web address is: http://www.nhen.org/
111887
HERE ARE THE STATES STANDARDS http://sbci.cps.k12.il.us/curriculum.html\n\nHERE IS A SIMPLIFIED VERSION\nhttp://iirc.niu.edu/scripts/knowsb.asp?schoolID=9999999999999&grade=1&subject=READ
621224
Typically nobody asks who's actually doing the teaching. My sister homeschooled until she HAD to go to work, then she got a friend from church to babysit and homeschool her daughter, and it's working wonderfully. Take the advice of going th HSLDA, but chances are nobody is going to ask you anyway.\n\nI homeschooled a niece of mine in kindergarten through a charter,and there was no issues with that.
214558
The same way a child does. There is an excellent phonics curriculum put out by Abeka. I taught my children how to read at home using it. It's easy and it works!
1084154
Check out Accelerated Christian Education, or ACE.  Their curriculum is designed for the student to work at their own pace.  I graduated from high school as a homeschooler and loved it.  Actually finished a year early and got a free ride to college!  Definitely check it out.
711063
Home schooling is a wonderful opportunity for a child to learn at their own pace. Without the parents having to worry that the will be shot or exposed to people like the uninformed people above.My son is home schooled for medical reasons.People who have no idea what home schooling is should not respond to home schooling questions.
740492
These sites carry curriculum that does not include religious studies or that have secular/religious options:\n\nhttp://www.oakmeadow.com/\nhttp://core-curriculum.com/index.php\nhttp://www.secularhomeschool.net/\nhttp://www.angelfire.com/or/mtdewbydo/secularcurric.html/\nhttp://www.thehomeschoolplace.com/\n\nGood luck!  You may want to find out if there are any support groups in your area.  Many are not religious-based, I know in our area there are several non-religious groups to choose from.  If you find one then you can talk to other parents and get ideas from them also.
943889
I home school my kids and have had wonderful results with a book called "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" by Siegfried Engelmann.  I know several 3 and 4 yr olds who have learned with this program.  You can take it at your own pace and you see results very early in the program.  There are also some wonderful curriculum out there for preschool, some have been mentioned already:\n\nhttp://www.mfwbooks.com/\nhttp://www.sonlight.com/\nhttp://www.bright-beginnings.net/\nhttp://www.caitscurriculum.com/\n\nHere are some great links to websites dedicated to early childhood learning.  I use them often for great ideas for learning and fun!:\n\nhttp://www.handsofachild.com/2/\nhttp://www.preschoolrainbow.org/index.htm\nhttp://www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/index.htm\nhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html\n\nI hope that helps, if you are planning on home schooling after preschool I would recommend finding a home school support group in your area and get plugged in with other families who homeschool.  \n\nBlessings.