We finally took the plunge. For the last year and a half we have been homeschooling. We made the decision for a combination of academic and social reasons, and I'm telling you it was so worth it to see a once struggling student be successful and have confidence again.
Unfortunately, the investment of time into my children has resulted in a dearth of postings, and will likely continue to do so. But, lucky for you, I have decided to post a few of the awesome free resources we have found that have been helping us to homeschool on a budget. They include both secular and Christian resources, so hopefully you can find something that will suit your needs.
1. The Good and The Beautiful language arts curriculum. Jenny Phillips has created an amazing Christian curriculum resource available for FREE for families. Levels 1-5 of The Good and The Beautiful's language arts curricula are free in their .pdf formats. The links to the free digital versions are buried below the "what to buy" and "shop language arts" section on that page. TG&TB's language arts is a COMPLETE curriculum! That means it has phonics, spelling, grammar, composition, and some writing practice. We did find that we needed to supplement the handwriting, and provide good books for reading. Many other companies have all of these components in separate books and sets, so a full language arts curriculum can get pretty spendy. That is why I have loved TG&TB, especially for my older son. The curriculum is a little advanced, so make sure to do the placement tests to ensure you get the right level. We found that our boy's levels were one behind their public school grade level (so level 2 for a 3rd grader, 3 for a 4th grader, etc.), and that is OK. It isn't designed to be a grade, but leveled, so that students are able to work at their own pace.
Since it is in .pdf format, it will either need to be printed (which I have found to be cheap to do at home with our Cannon printer, which I love), or used on a tablet with a stylus and appropriate software. OR, you can only print the pages that require writing or cutting, and use the rest of the curriculum on a tablet.
2. Progressive Phonics is a complete, free secular phonics and handwriting program for pre-k through about 2nd grade level. Their Alphabetti program introduces letters and letter sounds, while the phonics program teaches, well, phonics. We have not used the Alphabetti program, but have used the phonics program, which is formatted as printable or digital books that are read together with the child. The beginning of the book is for the parent to read, to introduce the new sounds. Following is a story where the parent reads the regular print, and the child reads the bold, red words. As the program progresses, the child reads more and more of the book, practicing new skills and the ones they have already learned. Since The Good and The Beautiful's Pre K and Kindergarten programs are not available for free, this is a good option for teaching a child to read in preparation for TG&TB level 1.
3. Teach Your Monster to Read Developed by the Usborne Foundation, Teach Your Monster to Read is a secular game-based program to teach and reinforce phonics. Kids can play for free on computers, or you can pay $5 for the app to go on tablets and phones (occasionally they have it available for free). My 1st grader thought this was an awesome, fun game and it worked well as supplemental material, and they even have a free classroom toolkit with extra activities, printables, and games to reinforce what is being learned.
4. Easy Peasy All-in-one Homeschool was developed by Lee Giles, a homeschool mom who created a Christian curriculum using online sources and then created a webpage for the organization of those sources so her kids could get on the computer and do their work more or less independently. It is an awesome resource, and she just created a whole new site that also keeps track of where your kids are at in their lessons for you so that it is easier to homeschool as you travel, etc. We have not used the complete curriculum, but we have done, and loved, the Zoology unit for our science. You can select by grade level, or by subject, so it really is a great, adaptable curriculum.
5. Moby Learning is designed for use in schools as a complete curriculum, and they charge extra for all of their "assessment" package and "interactive" package, but Moby Learning is a completely free, secular curriculum covering Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. Some of the lessons are a little dry, but it is designed to work on a tablet or phone. My boys have liked their science and social studies lessons, but we mostly use this resource as supplemental, although you could theoretically use it as a complete online curriculum.
6. Idaho History Resources So this year we did some Idaho history. I know not everyone is in Idaho, but I just couldn't help sharing what I found. The Idaho Historical Society had some awesome resources for teachers posted for free online, and Idaho Public Television had a free video series for kids about Idaho History online as well. I just couldn't help but combine them all into a resource for my family to use. The Idaho Historical Society has since redone their webpage, and the printable are no longer available there, so I figured I would share the resource I compiled that includes them.
7. Libraries! Do not underestimate the potential of your local library. We visit our library at least once per week, and my boys check out books on everything that interests them. They also carry audiobooks, documentaries on DVD, and many carry educational resources and games. We have been able to check out complete sets of Hooked on Phonics from our library, BOB books, math games, and even a telescope! Every library is different, so go see what yours has to offer!
This is by no means a comprehensive list of free resources out there. I know there are many, many more that make homeschooling possible, even if you aren't able to buy the expensive, fancy curriculums out there. These are just the ones that I have personally used.
So, what do we do for Math? We are using Singapore Primary Mathematics. It is a pretty affordable program consisting of Textbook and Workbook. I love that I can use the textbook for multiple children and only have to replace the workbooks. A full year set (text and workbook) runs between $45-$60 new. I have been able to find the textbooks used at curriculum sales and online for between $2-$8 per book, so that has helped to keep our costs down. I am happy to pay full price for this one, as well, just because Math is not my strongest subject, and I like having a good resource to use for teaching.
What free resources have you used for teaching your kids? I would love to find more great resources!
Unfortunately, the investment of time into my children has resulted in a dearth of postings, and will likely continue to do so. But, lucky for you, I have decided to post a few of the awesome free resources we have found that have been helping us to homeschool on a budget. They include both secular and Christian resources, so hopefully you can find something that will suit your needs.
1. The Good and The Beautiful language arts curriculum. Jenny Phillips has created an amazing Christian curriculum resource available for FREE for families. Levels 1-5 of The Good and The Beautiful's language arts curricula are free in their .pdf formats. The links to the free digital versions are buried below the "what to buy" and "shop language arts" section on that page. TG&TB's language arts is a COMPLETE curriculum! That means it has phonics, spelling, grammar, composition, and some writing practice. We did find that we needed to supplement the handwriting, and provide good books for reading. Many other companies have all of these components in separate books and sets, so a full language arts curriculum can get pretty spendy. That is why I have loved TG&TB, especially for my older son. The curriculum is a little advanced, so make sure to do the placement tests to ensure you get the right level. We found that our boy's levels were one behind their public school grade level (so level 2 for a 3rd grader, 3 for a 4th grader, etc.), and that is OK. It isn't designed to be a grade, but leveled, so that students are able to work at their own pace.
Since it is in .pdf format, it will either need to be printed (which I have found to be cheap to do at home with our Cannon printer, which I love), or used on a tablet with a stylus and appropriate software. OR, you can only print the pages that require writing or cutting, and use the rest of the curriculum on a tablet.
2. Progressive Phonics is a complete, free secular phonics and handwriting program for pre-k through about 2nd grade level. Their Alphabetti program introduces letters and letter sounds, while the phonics program teaches, well, phonics. We have not used the Alphabetti program, but have used the phonics program, which is formatted as printable or digital books that are read together with the child. The beginning of the book is for the parent to read, to introduce the new sounds. Following is a story where the parent reads the regular print, and the child reads the bold, red words. As the program progresses, the child reads more and more of the book, practicing new skills and the ones they have already learned. Since The Good and The Beautiful's Pre K and Kindergarten programs are not available for free, this is a good option for teaching a child to read in preparation for TG&TB level 1.
3. Teach Your Monster to Read Developed by the Usborne Foundation, Teach Your Monster to Read is a secular game-based program to teach and reinforce phonics. Kids can play for free on computers, or you can pay $5 for the app to go on tablets and phones (occasionally they have it available for free). My 1st grader thought this was an awesome, fun game and it worked well as supplemental material, and they even have a free classroom toolkit with extra activities, printables, and games to reinforce what is being learned.
4. Easy Peasy All-in-one Homeschool was developed by Lee Giles, a homeschool mom who created a Christian curriculum using online sources and then created a webpage for the organization of those sources so her kids could get on the computer and do their work more or less independently. It is an awesome resource, and she just created a whole new site that also keeps track of where your kids are at in their lessons for you so that it is easier to homeschool as you travel, etc. We have not used the complete curriculum, but we have done, and loved, the Zoology unit for our science. You can select by grade level, or by subject, so it really is a great, adaptable curriculum.
5. Moby Learning is designed for use in schools as a complete curriculum, and they charge extra for all of their "assessment" package and "interactive" package, but Moby Learning is a completely free, secular curriculum covering Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. Some of the lessons are a little dry, but it is designed to work on a tablet or phone. My boys have liked their science and social studies lessons, but we mostly use this resource as supplemental, although you could theoretically use it as a complete online curriculum.
6. Idaho History Resources So this year we did some Idaho history. I know not everyone is in Idaho, but I just couldn't help sharing what I found. The Idaho Historical Society had some awesome resources for teachers posted for free online, and Idaho Public Television had a free video series for kids about Idaho History online as well. I just couldn't help but combine them all into a resource for my family to use. The Idaho Historical Society has since redone their webpage, and the printable are no longer available there, so I figured I would share the resource I compiled that includes them.
7. Libraries! Do not underestimate the potential of your local library. We visit our library at least once per week, and my boys check out books on everything that interests them. They also carry audiobooks, documentaries on DVD, and many carry educational resources and games. We have been able to check out complete sets of Hooked on Phonics from our library, BOB books, math games, and even a telescope! Every library is different, so go see what yours has to offer!
This is by no means a comprehensive list of free resources out there. I know there are many, many more that make homeschooling possible, even if you aren't able to buy the expensive, fancy curriculums out there. These are just the ones that I have personally used.
So, what do we do for Math? We are using Singapore Primary Mathematics. It is a pretty affordable program consisting of Textbook and Workbook. I love that I can use the textbook for multiple children and only have to replace the workbooks. A full year set (text and workbook) runs between $45-$60 new. I have been able to find the textbooks used at curriculum sales and online for between $2-$8 per book, so that has helped to keep our costs down. I am happy to pay full price for this one, as well, just because Math is not my strongest subject, and I like having a good resource to use for teaching.
What free resources have you used for teaching your kids? I would love to find more great resources!
Comments
Post a Comment