Favorite Homeschool Links
CopyCat Press: Really nice, free downloadable worksheets. http://www.copycatpress.com/NavArch.htm
Lindon Character Connection: Free, quality character education curriculum. These have been a great resource for homeschool and Family Home Evening. http://www.thecharacterconnection.com/
Unit Study Directory: This replaces my previous favorite 'Homeschool of Fish' which has vanished from the internet! This new site has plenty of unit studies, although a few of them are dead links. It's a great resource, though: http://www.thefourwheelers.com/units/
Revolution to Reconstruction: An amazing free resource for American History. http://odur.let.rug.nl/usanew/index.htm
Choosing Liberty: Another history site. You can read famous documents like the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and more! http://www.choosingliberty.com/
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government: Government lessons for kids, divided by grade. A great free resource! http://bensguide.gpo.gov/
The Baldwin Project: Yesterday's history stories for children (online stories you can print - free!). http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=pratt&book=ahs1&story=_contents
The Educator's Reference: A huge compliation of lesson plans! http://www.eduref.org/
Homeschool Fun: An online homeschool magazine with great articles. http://www.homeschoolfun.com/?pc_id=2
Timberdoodle: One of my favorite homeschool material resources. http://www.timberdoodle.com
Latter-Day Family Resources: Another one of my favorite homeschool material resources (and this company carries LDS resources!). Tell them I sent ya! http://www.ldfr.com
Homeschool World: More terrific homeschool articles from well-known authors. http://www.home-school.com/Articles/
Home Education Magazine: You can read articles from their magazine free online! http://www.home-ed-magazine.com/
If you find a dead link, please email me: marigren@yahoo.com
Homeschool Articles
Homeschool Beginnings
(C) Marie Greene, 2004
I had tossed around the idea of homeschooling my children from the time they were babies. The very thought of sending my little ones off to the harsh realities of public school... Well, it made me shudder. I did my best to read about homeschooling, and I bought a stack of resources. By the time my oldest son was 4.5 years old, I felt competely prepared.
As the deadline drew near for kindergarten registration, something happened inside of me. I wasn't sure if it was a prompting, letting me know that I was incapable of educating my own child, or just a bad case of the jitters. I called the public school and asked about the teachers, and even went so far as to schedule a visit and see the school. I was tempting fate.
What began as a mere weak moment, became a head-first dive into the world of public school. I felt unprepared to home-educate, and was so afraid I would ruin my children's lives that I just plain chickened out. I enrolled my oldest son in public school, and continued the tradition with my younger boys (when their time came).
I went on over-drive, becoming the world's most selfless volunteer mom. I became PTA president, and spear headed every possible activity I could get my hands on. I figured if I wasn't going to be actually teaching my children, at least I could be part of the education process. I devoted many hours at the school each day, planning fundraisers, luncheons, Red Ribbon Week and more. I got all wrapped up in the giant package of public school, and it wasn't as neat and tidy as I expected.
For all of my devoted service, I realized that my children were still getting a second-rate education. My donated hours really had nothing to do with the learning process. I was just decorating everything. It was an awakening to discover that my noble efforts had been nothing more than mere catering and party planning. Was that what I hoped to achieve? Not even close.
The transition from PTA mom to homeschool mom was abrupt. I had never lost the urge to homeschool, it had merely gotten lost in the trappings of mainstream education. Once I finally slowed down long enough to realize where we were headed, it didn't take me long to acknowledge that we had changes to make. Being heavily involved in my children's school had an unforseen benefit. It gave me an up close view of the educational system, and it was frightening.
All of the fears and myths of homeschool weigh heavily on the new homeschool parent. Which curriculum do I choose? How do I set up our school? How do I get my kids to listen to me? What if we fail? What will everyone think? Sure, there are things to be considered, but there's really no way to figure it all out until you actually take the leap. I knew exactly how I was going to do everything until we actually started homeschooling, and then all my well-meaning plans were re-written. I'm still writing them, in fact.
Our Volcano Unit Study
(C) Marie Greene, 2004
When I first heard about unit studies, I was immediately excited. What a terrific idea, and what a way to streamline the children's education so that they are learning information in a fluent fashion! It was right up my alley.
I asked my children to jot down lists of things they would like to learn about. From those lists, I chose the hearty topic 'volcanoes'. What a terrific introduction to earth science!
I spent hours, literally HOURS, online looking for resources. I went to the library, checking out every worthy volcano book and video. I formed an outline, created folders, printed off worksheets and gathered art supplies. I was armed and ready!
A unit study on volcanoes could literally take a month (or a year!), depending on how in-depth your interest is. I found that I had gathered far more information than we could cover! Our unit lasted only one short week, but it was a terrific week! The highlight was certainly the volcano model we created out of a 2-liter soda bottle and playdough, with an actual eruption! The kids talked about it for weeks.
Families love unit studies, but parents should be prepared to devote a large portion of time to creating the unit. Preparation is essential! If you like to research (which I do), then you will love it! I felt that the children absorbed the information readily, which was a very welcome experience.
My suggestions:
1. Keep your information in folders so that you can access it again in the future if interests continue. You will likely find more information than you will have time to cover. Save it for future use. Use manilla folders and create a file for your unit studies. Share them with others!
2. Let your children help choose the topic. It will be much more fun if they are already interested!
3. Find creative ways to link a variety of educational experiences to the main topic. If you are learning about volcanoes, you can write poems in the shape of a volcano, write stories about what you think it would be like if a volcano erupted in your town, study history related to famous volcanic eruptions, learn geography based on locations of volcanoes around the United States (or around the world), even visit an extinct volcano in your area! Don't forget to include hands on activies and crafts whenever possible. Children love to get their fingers gooey!
4. Don't feel like you have to have everything perfect before you begin the unit study. If you keep putting if off, because it isn't perfect yet, you will never get around to doing it (or you will burn yourself out before you have a chance to use it!).
5. Use the library. It is amazing how many resources are available there to augment your unit studies.
Here are some fun websites we used in our volcano unit:
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_models/strato.html
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_models/shield.html
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/kids/fun/volcano/volcano.html
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/tervolc.htm
Take the plunge!
Involving Extended Family in Your Home School
(C) Marie Greene, 2004
One of my newest, favorite ideas for our homeschool is involving extended family. We have decided to create a monthly calendar based on our studies, and send it to family members each month, along with a newsletter about things we have accomplished over the past month. This not only encourages the children's writing skills (as they each have an 'article' to submit to the newsletter), but gives extended family the 'heads up' regarding what the kids are learning.
Including extended family is helpful for two reasons. First of all, those members of the family who are critical of your decision to homeschool are more likely to take your efforts seriously when they see that you actually are teaching your children (or at least you have a plan). This, alone, would not be a good enough reason to involve them, but it is a fringe benefit. The second reason is that often times family members want to participate by sending educational materials or news articles. Well-meaning grandparents love to send 'school stuff', but it's much more helpful if they are able to send materials that coincide with what the children are learning. Not only that, but when they know you are studying a particular topic, they are more keen to notice articles, magazines, and other resources that relate. (I have been amazed at the extra resources that pour in when a grandparent discovers that we are studying geology!)
We are formulating a school year calendar, and then breaking it down into units. Each extended member of the family will get a year calendar (so they can see the whole year at once), as well as the monthly calendar and newsletter. The monthly calendar is more specific than the yearly calendar and breaks down the lessons by each week. Family members love the chance to be involved and to have tangible access to what the kids are learning. When the family members are encouraged to participate, they are more open and accepting of the concept of home education (perhaps because it is less of a mystery to them when they can see it in print!).
As soon as I have a monthly calendar finished (which will be closer to when we start our new school year in August), I will publish it on this site so you will have an example.
I know what you are thinking... Planning a calendar and a newsletter sounds like too much work, right? Not everyone loves to write, I realize that. However, a little extra planning at the beginning will pay off all year long. You don't have to have every detail figured out, but having a general outline of your studies will only improve your home education experience. It can be as specific or as vague as you like, as long as you have a general course of study that you can use as a guideline. Creating the newsletter each month allows the children to 'brag' a little bit about what they've been learning and to share their favorite experiences. Family members will love to hear these reports! The calendar sets the stage for the learning, and the newsletter is the natural follow-up, which allows family members to see the cycle in action.
In regards to planning the calendar, I am simply taking my resources and dividing them up by how many months we want to have 'school', and then by weeks. That gives me a good idea of what we would have to cover each week in order to get through the whole subject area. I am certainly not a textbook junkie, and I am very eclectic in the materials that we use. I combine a little of this and that, which is even more reason why organization is essential. If you do not set goals, how will you know if you reach them? This is critical, even if you intend on educating in a very relaxed atmosphere. I try to plan in a way that allows room for spontaneous field trips and creative learning. It is important to me that my children's education is more than textbook learning, but I do not believe that learning in a completely unstructured environment is beneficial.
Homeschooling is a family endeavor. As members of the Church, we know that the family is more than just those living under our roof. Extended family has much to offer in the way of knowledge and experience. Your children's education will be better for their involvement!
(These articles are not to be reproduced in any form, electronic or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. For permission, email marigren@yahoo.com).
