Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Homeschooling Info

Homeschooling is a hot topic amongst me and my friends lately. Several of us have kids starting kindergarten this or next fall. Today we discussed reasons and philosophies to choose homeschool over public school...we were surrounded by running preschoolers so it was a fairly brief conversation...but so good to listen to different thoughts and opinions.

Here are a few links to resources I have found helpful (there are a plethora of websites available on homeschooling so this is just the tip of the iceburg...keeping it simple helps avoid becoming overwhelmed):

Heart of Dakota Publishing
- I use their Little Hands to Heaven for preschool

Sonlight Curriculum - this is what we are going to start using for Kindergarten

A Beka Book Curriculum
- plus this for math and writing

Lisa Whelchel on Homeschooling I have really loved her laid-back style of writing and common sense approach to choosing homeschooling!

Families for Home Education
- details on the Homeschooling laws in Missouri

Midwest Parent Educators
- this is the HUGE group based in Lenexa that sponsors one of the largest curriculum fairs in KC. Looks like it is April 25 & 26 for 2008. I believe membership is required to attend.

Discovery Homeschool Academy
- one day a week enrichment program at First Baptist Raytown

Raymore Home Educators
- local support group

All in all, I think the best thing to do is educate yourself about homeschooling...and then if it looks like it might fit for your family---jump in! There's no way to know w/o trying. And remember, if you've been home with your kids to this point, you've taught them all they know so far...so I bet you can keep it going longer!

1 comment:

Parkwood Stories... said...

so timely to see a little post about this! Thinking ahead with a full schedule thought I could learn a little bit at a time so just this past week I picked up a few books about homeschooling, I appreciate this one that seems to have a balanced overview of different methods and what it takes to get going. The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith. It is a bit dated but for now it is a free resource!
Pud