I’ve been asked a few times about homeschooling resources, and I thought it’d be useful to put it all in a post to share out as needed. This is by no means an exhaustive list! If you know of a great resource, feel free to comment and share. Thank you!
The Law
If you are new to homeschooling (either just starting or considering), the first place to start is checking in with your state’s laws.
- Texas: www.thsc.org
- National: www.hslda.org
Educational Resources
This is a collection of sites/places we use or have used. Do not look at this list and let your head pop off. It’s easy to get overwhelmed! Relax. It’ll be ok.
- Homeschool Buyers Co-Op (Free to join.) – Tons of great deals on various educational programs. I wrote about them here. I also recently started using their online planner, Homeschool Planet. (If you join with that link, I get some points. Thanks!)
- BrainPop (Freemium) – There are tons of engaging videos & games for science, health, and more.
- Education.com (Freemium) – I use this mostly for supplemental worksheets to reinforce skills the kids are struggling in. There are periodic sales on lifetime membership – watch for them. It’s worth it!
- Easy Peasy All-in-one Homeschool (Free) – This is an ENTIRE curriculum, but we only use it for reference.
- AOP (Not free) – This is the publisher of our “main thrust” curriculum. We use the LifePac system. As a whole, I’m very happy with their curriculum. They offer many other curriculum choices for other styles of teaching/learning.
- Simply Charlotte Mason – I love this style of teaching, and I try to incorporate it where I can. There are a ton of great resources and info on her site!
- Our Local Library – My kids love the summer reading challenges and our regular trips to the library.
- Children’s Museum – They play and learn for HOURS. It’s a great day to take a curriculum break, but still make it a school day. Field trip!
- Zoo – same exact reason as above.
- Museums, in general! – There’s so many to choose from: science, history, print, bicycle, prison, art, art car, and more.
- Notebooking Pages (Freemium) – I love the vast collection available to liven up the kids’ reports & write-ups. I have a lifetime membership (watch for the sales!) and it’s awesome because I don’t have to keep the files on my hard drive. They’re always there on the site to use as needed.
- DuoLingo (Free) – Learn foreign languages. This is for older children with solid reading skills. You can even set up a teacher account to help you keep tabs on your students. Security alert: Watch out for the “chatting” element on the comments section that pops up after each question. Mostly harmless, but definitely be aware it is there.
- Khan Academy (Free) – Learn anything. It started with math. Security alert: The videos are YouTube embeds. I haven’t checked them all to make sure the “suggested playlist” doesn’t lead the children where they shouldn’t go. Be vigilant!
Do Not Go It Alone
Find a local homeschooling group to be a part of. There are also several homeschool groups on Facebook as well. Here are just a few that I’m aware of (or a part of):
- KACH – Katy Area Christian Homeschoolers
- Journeys 4 Special Needs – A Katy/Houston/Cypress homeschool group for parents of special needs children.
- LCMS Homeschoolers – A Facebook group
- Your local church might have a group, or a line on a local group that you can get plugged into.
- Look for a homeschool convention near you and try to attend. They are very educational and uplifting events!
- Cub Scouts, then Boy Scouts
- American Heritage Girls
Shopping!
Be wary of buying stuff because it looks educational. Are you really going to use it? Are you going to use it more than one time? Seriously. Ask yourself these questions and you’ll avoid a lot of homeschool clutter! For what it’s worth: My absolute favorite tool is the heat seal laminator. We use it all the time!
Be sure to sign up for emails/texts and/or follow their social feeds from the stores where you like to shop. You’ll be able to capitalize on some great deals.
- Mardel
- Michael’s (you can get a teacher discount with your free homeschool id card from the homeschool buyers co-op)
- The Homeschool Store
- Lakeshore Learning
- Teacher Heaven
- Amazon.com, of course! *considering using Amazon Smile, a program that benefits various charitable organizations*
Reading Corner
- Lies All Homeschooling Moms Believe is an exceptional book. I cannot recommend this book enough!
(amazon link, not affiliate) - There’s others, I’m sure. I’m just not thinking of them at the moment!
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. I’m happy to help when I’m able.