School starts back this month for a lot of us, even those of us who homeschool! I remember back when I was contemplating the idea to homeschool or leave my son in public school. It was NOT an easy decision to make because I did not look on homeschooling favorably. It took me pretty much the whole second half of my oldest’s kindergarten year plus maybe a good bit of the summer of researching and praying before I could say “I’m ALL in!”.
If you’re just starting out or just thinking about it you most likely have MANY questions. If you are looking for videos and pictures to see WHAT homeschooling looks like for some families, this post is for you!
I hope you find the following posts helpful – even if you figure out a few things you do NOT want to try for yourself.
For those wondering about the history behind homeschooling and why parents choose to do it I will include some links to address those. All posts linked below are in some way or form on my site. What I mean is, I use to be a homeschooling contributing writer for the Prime Parents Club so a few of my posts are written entirely over there while just addressed over here.
Introduction to Homeschooling
Here’s a bit of history on the American Homeschooling Movement.
Reasons why parents choose to homeschool their children. <— Will also lead you to a couple lists of famous homeschoolers.
Keeping it Simple & Fun
Easy tips for making your own homeschool unit study and notebooking.
Easy tips for making your own United States Geography unit study.
Free resources for making a unit study on the Water Cycle and Weather.
Free resources for notebooking or making a unit study on Simple Machines using Legos.
How We Homeschool
Where to look for free homeschooling printables and information when you’re just starting out.
Combining different homeschool objectives to get the most out of your time. (VIDEOS of my kids included).
My favorite library-borrowed Math dvds for young children.
My 10 Tips for Using the Local Library for Homeschooling.
My homeschooling resources for teaching the Human Body <— there and cheaper here.
Free Maps and Timeline resources to print at home.
Making edible Earth Layers – YUM! (Our Video)
What happens to Ivory Soap in the microwave? (Our Video)
Opportunities to learn surround us daily! One of the best things you can do as a parent is watch for these opportunities and take advantage of them. Here’s some ways I did this at home:
Hairyee the Tiger Moth that morphed in our care.
A post about with some of the wild things we’ve had.
How I raised tadpoles into frogs.
Some of the incredibly cool ocean critters we found and observed while at Myrtle Beach this year.
We’ve had a trapdoor snails and Beta Fish, too. Lately we’ve had triops and hermit crabs.
More on Homeschooling Resources and Life
I suppose every year I do change something about how we accomplish homeschooling. In fact, I have made changes for this year, our 6th year of homeschooling, that I still have yet to write about. I do plan on doing that soon! School starts for us August 24th. Below are some posts from our earlier homeschooling years. I hope you’ll find some helpful tips and resources in there for your younger children and enjoy some of the adventures we had in those days.
The curriculum I planned to use my very first year of homeschooling my First Grader.
Forgetting my shoes and the dust-bunny slug.
My 2012 Homeschooling Tour
Part 1: How I Organize
Part 2: The Goals and Chart for My Boys
Part 3: Eclectic Homeschooling Math
Part 4: Eclectic Homeschooling Reading, Writing & Language Arts
Part 5: My easy, laid-back way of homeschooling Science
In 2013 I fixed up my bookshelves and tried a modified work-box system.
Different Reading/Chore Charts I’ve used to encourage my boys to read:
Homeschool organization
My homeschool room tour almost 4 years ago, video included. (We have since moved).
Tips for organizing the kids’ puzzles.
Specialty binders and page protectors for special cards like Veritas Press History (video included).
Tips for making a homeschool binder.
5 Steps to Organizing your Homeschool Environment
Field Trip Ideas & Staying Social
Information on finding the best zoo and science museum memberships.
How we started a homeschool Lego Club.
How we served others together.
Historical homes/ museums like this one we visited: Thomas Edison’s Birthplace.
Dig for real fossils for FREE like we did in Ohio. Yes, there are places.
If you homeschool in Ohio THIS post is for you.
Things I’ve made for our Homeschooling
DIY Laminated Dry erase workbooks
My new DIY Homeschool Planner – I really like how it turned out!
The boys’ new DIY Homeschool Planners. Similar to mine but way more simpler. There’s only a calendar page and planner pages inside.
We are doing some things different this year in our homeschooling and I plan to share about that soon. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss that post if you are interested.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Stefanie. Maybe you can squeeze in some good-times here and there during the fall!
Wow what a great round up to get this weary mom motivated! I honestly feel like we didn’t enjoy much this summer. I can hardly get myself into gear to start in sept. Thanks for posting.