Hello, I am currently exploring options to start my kids in homeschooling. I am looking for a good christian based curriculum, and while my wife and I have found a few, I figured it wouldnt hurt to ask on here as well. Any tips/recommendations are welcome, thanks frens! And my kids are still young, so besides the current private pre school my oldest is in, they've never been to school.
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We used the Abeka Christian homeschooling program for two young children and it was awesome. I loved how they incorporated biblical teachings into every subject in a way that makes perfect sense. I highly recommend it.
We also use Abeka. One child graduated in May 2023 and the other has another year to go. It is a -fantastic- program. Online video classes with teachers so parents can be as involved, or less involved, depending on what you want to do.
After pulling them out of their far-left woke high school and moving them to Abeka, I told my kids to let me know if there was ANYthing woke being taught in their classes. During the first week, my youngest child came to me and said that the geometry class was teaching how to sight a rifle as an example of how to use angles.
I was thrilled and said, "carry on!"
Abeka offers accredited and non-accredited.
If you choose accredited, your child will graduate with a high school diploma and transcript to easily transfer into any college, trade school, or secondary education that they might want to do.
They also offer an in-person cap and gown ceremony for the homeschool grads in Pensacola on their campus each year. We went for our oldest child and it was an incredible experience to be able to graduate with their senior class, walk and receive a diploma. Graduation streams online too for any family that could not attend with us.
Plus, they get to meet their teachers in person and tour their actual, physical school where the video classes are filmed. They get to spend several days on campus enjoying all the amenities with other grads too -- huge rec center with bowling, skating, mini golf rock wall climbing, indoor pool, and lots of other fun things to do. Our other child can't wait for the same graduation experience.
Zero complaints. Absolutely outstanding program.
Very well stated.
Thank you. I know a lot of people have young kids starting with Abeka - we did private parochial school til high school age - tried to mainstream public school for high school and it just wasn't good for them.
Abeka has been the perfect thing for us - wonderful to have actual teachers they can email to talk to if they need extra help. And with the accredited track, their teachers grade all tests, projects, and compositions too (you mail them in.)
One great resource you can look into is the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. They defend the rights of homeschooling nationwide.
Also, when our children were school-aged, we were a part of a local Christian-based homeschooling organization. This group was extremely helpful in assisting us navigating the paperwork and etc needed to stay legally compliant. Also, it gives you instant community for both you and your kids. I hope you have something like that nearby! If not, maybe start one?!
Good idea, we have alot of home schooled kids around us. So it will be worth looking into, thanks!
Absolutely unconditionally agree, this organization has been leading the charges and helping families for a very long time, and has a great section for homeschool beginners.
I have no recommendations but just want to thank you for pursuing this and hope you'll update us a few times so other frens can benefit from your research.
It's incredibly exciting to know there is a large group of independent, unvaccinated, home-schooled children that will arrive to invigorate humanity in the coming decades.
Thank you, and I will send updates for sure!
Thanks you for the input! Will definitely take into consideration.
We currently use The Good & The Beautiful with supplementary education from sources like Connor Boyack.
Here is this entire boards collection.
To go back and forth just use the search bar on the top right and put in homeschooling. Lots of that has been discussed here. This is the link for all of the links!
Good on you and do not look back 😊🌻
https://greatawakening.win/search?params=Home+schooling&community=GreatAwakening
Thank you and there is no chance!
We’ve graduated 3 kids, with the last 2 wrapping up high school.
Join HSLDA and learn the laws in your state. Some states (PA) have onerous requirements, while other have no requirements at all (TX).
We decided to go with a more Classical education, and for that take a look at Sonlight. It’s Classical education with a Christian worldview.
Reach out if you have any questions!
Great thank you, and the law portion is what I really want to teach my kids as I will learn too. So easy to take away freedoms when people don't know the law! Really appreciate it
They mean the laws about homeschooling in your state, so you know what level of notification and reporting your state requires.
Oh gotcha, well either way it's what my plan is lol
Trump4NH is right - I was referring to the homeschooling laws in your state.
If you really want to learn the Constitution and original intent, check out Hillsdale college - they have a ton of free online classes, including ones on our founding documents
Yeah makes sense now, however i honestly don't care much about their laws. I will teach my kids to be smart, but thank you for clarification.
Good and the beautiful
Lots of free to download text books on their site too
This is the one we were looking at, thank you!
You will not be disappointed with this choice. Foundational level stuff without the fluff. Lots of good stories about right and wrong.
https://classicalconversations.com/
I love to teach reading. my advice is basic phonics & reading to them if they're young; a children's Bible, older fairy tales, stories about famous people form the past, etc.
Don Potter is a man who put together a lot of free phonics lessons, he has a simple website with printables. you can also buy them on Amazon already printed.
The Logic of English is fun. has an app and games to learn the 75 important Enlgish phonograms. Not sure if they're Christian, but they're very logical....learning to spell all the phonograms helps a lot.
one of my favorites is Explode the Code; teaches phonics with easy to understand workbooks.
I don't remember questionable stories with the above, but as with anything in education, read the material first.
Great recommendations, alot to look into! Thank you very much!
you're welcome! 🐸
teach them to love truth, and teach them to pray
Done and done!
We used classical conversations until the third year of "middle school" which is Essentials. It starts when they are 9 and they repeat the same doggone thing for three years. That's when we ended. Year 1 was frustrating and overwhelming, year 2 was better, but to do the same darn thing for 3 years was a big NO for us. Plus, the "challenge" years are rigorous with busy work, which isn't why we homeschool. We loved foundations, which is elementary type work. All listening to 1/2 hour of songs for 7 subjects (listening 7 times a day so we would know it then move onto the next weeks work). We left, and now one of my daughters is in a homeschool forging class, and we found an Ala carte homeschool program where they are learning homesteading, sewing, rocketry, Spanish and aviation. We LOVE it all. My advice is no matter what you do, even if you don't join a community, just get other homeschoolers around you. Find a homeschool park playdate that meets once a week and go. Do field trips through a group so you go with other homeschoolers. It's not about paying for a community but joining one. Do a LOT of field trips. Let other people do the teaching, they love to talk about what they do!! The zoo, museums (you'll be amazed at how many museums are around you!!) parks, walking paths with signs, whatever.
I drew numbers on our front walk and did addition with my kids walking to whatever numbers I called out, then having them add/subract/multiply/divide the numbers they walked on. Whatever works. Scavenger hunts. Nature walks. All school!!! We play "guess how much we spent" at the grocery store, and each kid has their guess and I do too, whoever gets closest gets bragging rights. They love to keep tract during the trip and argue over numbers, especially in Hobby Lobby with percent offs.... what a great way to learn percent off!!HA!
Just do stuff. Live life. Find other homeschoolers. Do field trips. Sing, travel, and enjoy the freedom!!
Wow thanks! So many choices this is going to be a challenge but fun and worth it imo!
Prayer University has a homeschooling curriculum, I believe.
I will check it out, thanks!
They probably meant Prager fyi
Here's a link to the big list of Homeschool Resources I was posting regularly during the covid years. You might find something useful on it.
https://greatawakening.win/p/17r9ISdsHr/its-that-time-of-year--homeschoo/
Good deal will look into it, thank you!
My kids a little bit older. We've been doing classical conversations. It's been great. My kids picked up on far more than I thought possible.
Probably the most important thing you can do is be in community with other homeschooling parents. Cc does a great job of that while offering a system that seems to work very well at a fair price.
Yeah both of my neighbors homeschooling their children too. I am going to reach out to them as well. Thanks!!
We use Ignite Christian Academy for our lil one. Cirriculum is very good and the online support from the teachers is also very good. When the lil one completes work on the weekends, her teacher usually grades it the same day. They have a very dedicated staff of teachers and they really want to help the student grow and learn.
Interesting, I didn't even really think they offered exact services like this. We were planning on just doing our thing lol, thank you!
My son is in Tennessee, very active in Christian church locally and he pulled his kids out of public school two years ago and speaks highly of the Christian based online service he uses for homeschooling my three grandkids. The name is Enlightium Academy. Hope that helps you.
Fantastic, writing it down thank you!
https://www.liberty.edu/lp/online-academy/?acode=D02539&subid=liberty%20academy%20online&tfn=8887539740&kwid=43700060312892204&device=m&devicemodel=&g_location=1015159&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&cq_pos=&cq_med=&cq_plt=gp&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAk9itBhASEiwA1my_60GFdedU64lCR0STg1eVVa6Tm4p1DLgto9tnzf8QHA0OxeWjyZOxwxoChgMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
$3,000 per year with online teachers.
Or https://www.lcaed.com/enrollment, which is 12 booklets per class per year...very easy, and only $1,000 per year. You can add your own worksheets to add difficulty and depth...and study for SATs, etc. We did this.
Will check it out, my fourth kid is on the way that may get expensive :) thanks!
I haven’t used this curriculum but it might be worth a look. Ron Paul was my rep for many years. I had no idea how much of a treasure he actually was. https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/
Interesting, will have a look, thanks!
For learning the Bible, not sure if you were interested in that, but I began listening to Dr. J Vernon McGee when I was 3. Daily conversational teaching that puts the information on a level for all. The teacher passed away in 1988 but his radio ministry continues on. The programs are free and there is an app as well. Link to the website- https://ttb.org/. App is free, no ads, called Thru the Bible.
Check to see if Classical Conversations has a satellite pod near you.
https://classicalconversations.com/
If you get them workbooks that have a theme that they are into they will be much more motivated to use them. Like Minecraft, Bluey, Thomas the Train, ect.
Classical conversations is a good place to start. You might strike out on your own after a few years or stick with it.
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)
https://hslda.org
HSLDA’s leaders, directors, and employees are Christians who seek to honor God by providing the very highest levels of service in defending homeschool freedom and equipping homeschoolers.
How to Get Started (Interactive Explainer)
https://hslda.org/get-started
Homeschool Laws by State (interactive map)
https://hslda.org/legal
List of other homeschool organizations (each State has them)
https://hslda.org/content/orgs/
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FIND HOMESCHOOL GROUPS NEAR ME -- US, CANADA, PUERTO RICO
https://www.homeschool.com/supportgroups
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Hillsdale College
K-12 at Home: An American Classical Education
https://k12athome.hillsdale.edu
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National Home School Association (NHSA, appears to be membership/dues-based)
https://nationalhomeschoolassociation.com
About:
About Us Aside from our many advisors and associates, we are a dedicated team of seasoned homeschoolers that are determined to maintain the NHSA's position as the epicenter of the home schooling movement. With a wide variety of talents and experience our team is uniquely positioned and qualified to take on the challenges to unify the millions of widely diverse and fiercely independent homeschool families across the country into a single voice to protect everyones right to homeschool.
Free E-Book
Terra Scholar - A Complete Handbook for Today’s Homeschooler E-book https://nationalhomeschoolassociation.com/terra-scholar-homeschool-ebook.php
What are Homeschool Pods and Co-Ops? (explainer)
https://www.homeschoolingsc.org/resources-page/homeschool-associations/
Other Resources, Activities, and Curriculum available on site.
Material.... Younger kids and free Math/english game prodigy online (simple search pops it right up)
BetterWorldBooks
Great source for older / out of print Textbooks.
https://www.betterworldbooks.com ....................
Ron Paul Curriculum
https://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com
"Absolutely the best CONTENT I have seen anywhere for subjects of Literature and History. My 4th grader loves it and is learning things I didn't know about until college and beyond. PhD level professors teaching in prerecorded course (180 lessons per subject per semester). Also have courses in science, math, etc and adult courses. By 4th grade students can work almost entirely independently with the curriculum (but you'll want to learn it too!) which is a big help especially for families with multiple kids."
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ABEKA (Christian Homeschooling Program)
https://www.abeka.com/homeschool
About:
In 1954, Dr. Arlin Horton and his wife, Beka, started a Christian school in Pensacola, Florida. But they soon discovered a problem. Textbooks and curriculum based on biblical educational philosophy were starting to disappear. Burdened to give their students the best education possible, they stood in the gap and began producing their own materials.
"my daughter taught piano to 3 boys who were using the christian homeschool ABEKA program and there all in college now! Both my daughters were raised on this program in private christian school."
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Seton Home Study School (Catholic)
https://www.setonhome.org
Seton Home Study School is a nationally accredited, faithfully Catholic private PreK-12 distance school located in the state of Virginia. We serve an enrollment of approximately 20,000 homeschooled students, and several thousand more families through book sales and by furnishing materials to small Catholic schools.
"Seton Catholic homeschooling is excellent. The program handles all the paperwork for the state or country of residence. They send a box of real books, computer use is minimal. We set up a fast pace with provided math course, so we can add Singapore US edition afterwards."
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Saxton math (but always check word problems... it's popular and used in private schools... always worried things could get snuck in and switched up. Never had this problem but always check)
Also chapter books Rush Limbaugh series
https://officialrushlimbaugh.com/rush-revere/
Education fun break learning series buy liberty kids School house rock
Back in 2005 I used Agora cyber charter for my son. While it wasnt about religion at the time it didnt stifle nor push agendas. Very good tech support
The Good and the Beautiful, especially the handwriting books! My son loves these books the most. I also use Abeka. Blessings to you and your new adventure!
Remember that every kid is different, meaning that brains create their connections at different times, pace, completeness, complexity etc... we have family on both sides who did four kids each and wound up with self-created curricula customized for each. Common collections of great readers were there, but math and science evolved for each child (Life of Fred, Saxon, Singapore...). But at the very beginning, not much more than workbooks and games, with lots of read alouds, were more than sufficient.
We've used Abeka, Sonlight/Bookshark, Charlotte Mason, looked at Classical Conversations and video courses, but enjoy the freedom of light schedules and opportunities to just play hooky on a nice day. Also bring able to take off-season vacations, when it's way cheaper. We're using Biblioplan right now, because you can do multiple levels of kids simultaneously, and it presents history holistically instead of countries in isolation. You can use any books from any other curriculum together with it- they've mapped the chapters on many major curricula. Apologia and Berean books have great creation science, and we're checking out Answers in Genesis as well, but we intersperse food science, CSI/forensics, and whatever young minds come up with, because we can.
Duolingo is a free and fun app for language studies, our whole family got into it and this year we bought the family plan (on sale). One is doing French, a couple Spanish, and they even have Latin. Start them young, so their brains get the sounds right from the start.
Join local groups for Mom Night Out, field trips, future sports, and to get to know the nearest families.
Join HSLDA if you can to keep protected and up to date with legislation and other actions going on basically and in your state. Use their free resources and information, regardless.
Cathy Duffy reviews of curricula are thorough and very useful, search filters are accurate and helpful.
Don't neglect art, art appreciation, music and music appreciation... Check out what local museums/ historical /science etc have to offer, especially if an annual membership gets you benefits like free entry at other associated places. We buy one membership at a state museum and get half off or free entry at a bunch of others. Check out what your libraries do, for free, also.
Even (cringe) Facebook has a lot of groups and info, but, like us, create a flat account that has nothing personal nor revealing. It's useful to keep track of local family events, get local specials (support local shops!)
https://classicallearner.com/
$15/mo. He's a former history teacher, current homesteader, Anon, and childrens author.
It's excellent. We started with abeka. Also use a little good and the beautiful i think it is for math cUse my oldest is above grade level.
But Brett is better at financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and history. We all know how important history is and i'm a stickler.
I have homeschooled my kids from beginning to end.
The best advice I have is to equip them with a laptop and a good connection. I have lots of respect for Roblox games. My youngest learnt to touch type because of them.
Are u serious? Lmfao
I am just saying as it is.
Lol your kids are who you teach them to be, end of story.
it's all good then.
That has the picture drawing app connected to strangers that can draw anything!!! Definitely a no
First of all, I am a long-time home-schooler (started in the nineties). We have a large library at home, and lots of art materials. Some of the older kids now hold degrees, and one is a regional manager for a fibre-company (and he did not go the tertiary education route, but was very agile on a computer, even when he left home at age 19, due to an 3D animation forum he administered. He now has four kids and owns his own house, and is still a gamer, but also dabbles in crypto-mining). We always encouraged our kids to cook for the family, always. So, in my opinion it is about strong family values, not HOW they learn, and which sites are LOL strictly out-of-bounds. The kids who are still at home also interact with neigbours, mowing lawns for old ducks, and clearing out garages, or baby-sitting for their sister etc. In terms of daily sit-down conversations, they will come and talk philosophy, and religion with us. But also regular stuff like "How do I get my driver's licence?" or "How do you do a hook properly?"
But - here is why I say roblox is good. Roblox taught my youngest kids to read and write, and touch-type. A lliterally observed my youngest, aged 8 at the time, rattling away at his keyboard while looking at the screen, talking to Spanish, and Lithuanian, kids on the chat. TBH the material we had for learning to read was just boring - "do I have to? " . In the nineties I encouraged reading via TinTin and Asterix comic books, but whatever. And before anyone starts up: There are thousands of games there, so your 'drawing app' is just one little blip, sorry. Most of those games are not even very interesting to adults - and the whole grooming thing is a dead duck in those games, IMO. there is no video chat, anyway. I bet that my kids haven''t even seen said app. They are too busy.
The popular game at that time (of touch typing observance) was Lumber Tycoon, a game where one harvests all sorts of trees and sells them at a depot to make money for building a bigger and better harvesting plant. quite, quite boring really, to adults. But, getting to the valuable trees requires knowledge which one finds out while playing. The point is that one can gain heaps of points when one collaborates with other players, so there was plenty of incentive to start reading already, and say more than just 'hi' on the chat. They also learn all the short-cuts related to 'power keys' - which was really just teaching the kids their way around the keyboard.
One of my teens is now building a Roblox game - which involves LUA language programming and 3D graphics- and yes, there are people who are playing that game. He spends hours every day programming. But, he also switches his computer off for many hours each day and does real life, and not because we nag him.
Thus, IRL we support their gym pursuits with diet, education, supplements etc. (We encourage them to find the best ones for all of us to take, online, for example) and by attending their classes etc. There are also boxing social interactions (one of them has an amateur bout coming up, and another, a professional fight), so they definitely did not turn into porn-gollums.