I was asking this question 4 years ago, so I'm writing the post I wish I'd had. 🥰A little background: Our family began officially homeschooling when our oldest son was entering kindergarten. I wasn't homeschooled and only knew a few homeschooling families, so I had a lot of questions (and trepidation) about choosing a curriculum.Here's what I've learned along the way:+ An open-and-go, boxed curriculum can be very helpful for your first year. We used Sonlight (with no regrets!) and I have many friends who love My Father's World. You go to their website, select your child's grade level, and order the materials. All you need for the year - the instructor's guide, books, and supplies - arrives at your doorstep. You're ready to homeschool! This helped me feel confident that yes, I was doing enough, and had advisors ready to help me if I needed it.+ A trusted homeschool mama in your community is an invaluable resource. If there's a homeschooling mom in your church whom you admire, ask her all your questions. How did she get started? What curriculum would she choose (or stay away from) if she could do it all again?+ Start simple, as it will take a while to find your rhythm. For example, all that a kindergartener *really needs* is a reading/phonics program, a math program, and (for Christian families) a morning Bible/devotional time. If that's all you do for your child's kindergarten year, great! You can add history, handwriting, science, and other electives as you grow more confident.+ Remember that you may not land on your favorite curriculum or educational philosophy your first year. And that's ok! If you're interested in finding your homeschool style, I've linked a helpful quiz in my profile.+ After you've narrowed it down to a handful of curriculums you're interested in, I love Cathy Duffy's review site (cathyduffyreviews.com). Her reviews are straightforward and very helpful.
Is homeschooling free? Yes, it can be! Here's a list of my favorite homeschool curriculum that you can find online for FREE!
What makes successful homeschoolers? It all starts with habits and discovering what is best for you and your kids. These habits are...
The Internet is filled with so many good things we can do for our homeschools, that we often neglect the BEST things. Here they are in one post.
If you're new to homeschooling, you might think you need to know all about everything. Here's what first time homeschool moms need to know.
This ultimate list of free homeschool printables has the best resources for all ages. Fantastic ways to save money & make learning fun!
fun and simple ways to learn all about herbalism in your homeschool.
Freedom Homeschooling lists free homeschool life skills electives for all grades. Home economics, personal finance, auto repair, and more!
Download a Daily Homeschool Schedule developed by a Teacher & current Homeschooling Parent below OR use it as a template to create your own!
The best free online homeschooling websites, resources and printable worksheets recommended by 2,000 homeschoolers.
Preparing to homeschool but not sure where to start? This 5 step method has been my go-to for years and it totally works, you guys!
Quarantine homeschool is a new reality right now for us. Having a quarantine homeschool schedule, rules and printable pack is saving my sanity right now.
Homeschooling families tell you what is unschooling and why it's the best way for children to learn.
Strewing is an amazing way to inspire your child’s natural curiosity. Did you know you may already be doing this unschoolish habit? It’s a practice that can provide amazing learning opportunities regardless of your homeschool method. Plus, it’s easy! So, I’ve put together 100 strewing ideas for your homeschool! This post may contain affiliate links. […]
Take a trip with your homeschool students grades 3-8, and notebook across the USA with these states unit studies. There's a FREE unit study for all 50 states.
Survival Skills are a great way to get kids off the couch and into nature. Learning basic survival skills builds confidence, fosters a love for nature, and encourages an adventurous spirit. Keep reading to learn how we plan to include Survival School in our homeschool this year! Interest-led curriculum Normally,…
Cooking, card games, coloring, and chores!
100 Activities to do with your kids - that are Free!
Want to take your kid's knowledge to the next level in your homeschool? 16 old-fashioned or vintage skills to boost your homeschool experience.
Enjoy this project with your little one to help teach them address memorization and geography concepts.
Science curriculum doesn't have to be expensive. A good portion of what we've used for science over the years has been free resources!
Winter is fading away and spring is upon us. Hooray! This time of year brings with it some unique opportunities for homeschoolers to create new learning experiences. All around us there are trees in bloom, birds swooping in to feed their hatchlings, and critters running to and fro. So, to […]
Never planned to homeschool, now wouldn't trade it for the world
Just a bunch of useful links! There are so many more sites than I listed but these are my favorites. Everything listed has something for free and most of the sites are completely free resources!
Hey fellow unschooling families! As we eagerly prepare for another enriching year of child-led learning, I can’t help but feel a rush of excitement and curiosity for the journey ahead. Unschooling …
Freedom Homeschooling lists free high-quality homeschool science and nature study curriculum for all grades.
If you're stuck indoors for whatever reason, try these educational activities to crack boredom from easy science experiments to fun activities.
Three years ago if you would’ve told me I’d be here talking homeschool rooms - I would’ve had no clue what you were even talking about. Turns out there is a whole community of homeschool rooms and moms and I absolutely love it!
Deschooling definition: planned period of adjustment a child needs when transitioning from public school to homeschool. Understanding how long it takes and why the deschool process has major, necessary benefits in helping a child decompress and successfully prepare for switching to home school and formal school work. Get tips for de-schooling, learn how to start homeschooling with deschooling, the difference between deschooling vs. unschooling and more!
I just love using online resource to supplement our homeschool! My favorite is YouTube. YouTube has built up an amazing library of amazing content. Homeschool families often overlook the awesome content they can find on YouTube to supplement their homeschool Below are ten to get you started!
How does unschooling spelling work? Learn ways unschooled kids pick up on spelling naturally, resources if they don't, & lots of reassurance.
It is the end of May, which here in Idaho that means we are done with school! This year has been a whirlwind to say the least. If anything, we truly have learned that as teachers and parents, we can do anything life throws our way. I have grown by leaps and bounds, and watching educators, parents
Suddenly homeschooling your struggling learner? Check out these free online resources that are easy to use at home with your children.
FREE HOMESCHOOL DISCOUNTS PRINTABLES
I've made a list of 100 field trip ideas for homeschoolers to provide inspiration and help you plan your homeschooling. Don't miss the free printable at the end!
Homeschool elective classes made easy with these fun online art classes, music resources, and more!
Have you heard about The Good and The Beautiful controversy? It is a hot topic in homeschool circles and I'm sharing my thoughts here.
If your kids are techie, then they will love these cool geography apps. Intrigue your kids with these engaging ways to discover the world..
These 40+ free STEM websites: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are for grades 6-12; middle school and high school. Hands on science
Take a trip with your homeschool students grades 3-8, and notebook across the USA with these states unit studies. There's a FREE unit study for all 50 states.
You won't regret adding these ten important life skills to your homeschool before your kids leave the nest to start a life of their own. They will thank you later!
This post may contain affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Sisters, What! I've recently went down the rabbit hole of home school resources that you can buy and that are also available to download for free. There are so many talented home schoolers these days and they have used their amazing art skills to create such beautiful unit studies and they're quite affordable. I thought I'd share both some that you can buy and that you can download for free. You may also enjoy: Homeschool Gift ideas Favorite Home School Resources to buy on Etsy (skip to second part of the post for free resources) *You can find a full list of my favorite Home School Etsy Favorites HERE and my Etsy Profile of Favorite things HERE This is a favorite Charlotte Mason Quote digital download that is perfect for any home school room Honey Comb Shop is one of my favorites, they have so many different mini unit nature study and the art is beautiful. Raising Wild Things Shop also does some great and beautiful nature unit studies printables I love all these life cycle physical prints from The Rewild Shop And more life cycle prints (printables) from Lovely Wild Sunflowers Shop Pretty Nerdy Press makes some really beautiful graphics for home school and for the home. Such great quality too. So many great simple Charlotte Mason unit studies from CM Simple Studies. MATH HOMESCHOOL PRINTABLES TO BUY Know It All Shop offers not only beautiful ABC prints but also so many great, colorful math printables you can download at a great price. This shop, Artsopomc, also contains some fun multiplication printables and if you're Korean, some Korean printables as well. I love all these very bright and colorful prints from Petunia Be Designs. They also come in black and white as well. Home School Resources to Download for Free First of all, I have created a few free printable resources here on this blog. Free Printable Coloring Reading Bookmark printable Free Printable Reading log/planner (perfect for summer) and free home school planner printables And these free printable Writing and Number Charts. Also these garden journal/books you can download for fre And from around the internet: Jessica over at Simple Wonders has created so many great printables to get your home school started. Much is aligned with Charlotte Mason Philosophy. Along with a great reading and spelling list to download. She even has created a great curriculum outline for you to download. Everything is free or pay what you can. She only needs just enough to keep the site maintained, any profit she donates to a non-profit. She has been so generous at what she offers. You can also find free artist studies to download for free HERE I love all the Humble Place has to offer. She has created so many great artist study units. Most cost a little something, but she offers a few of them for free. I love This Reading Mama. She offers so many free printables, especially for preschool and younger elementary age. I have used her Learning to Read Printables for so many of my kids. Life Abundantly Blog has so much to offer and has some great printables that you can download for free like this nature collection journal Silo and Sage has created some great printables and even has some free ones, but you should also check out the ones for sale. The Measured Mom is another great blogger that offers so many free home school resources like these Math printables and these Free Handwriting Pages which I have used for all my kids. Those are what I have for now. I'll probably keep updating this resource list as I come across others that I think are great!
History of Earth for Kids: The Montessori Second Great Lesson. Interdisciplinary. Story of Life, Clock of Eras, Earth, Water, Botany, & more.
