Congratulations on choosing to homeschool your son. You will not regret it.
We homeschool our 6 year old son who is in 1st grade. The first thing you need to do is find a curriculum.
CURRICULUM:
If your child is young, homeschooling really only takes a couple hours a day, this includes breaks. 5, 6, 7 year olds can usually only focus for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, then they usually need a break. It's okay to let him take breaks when he needs them.
I did A LOT of research before we began. I also was hell bent on staying away from woke curriculum. We decided to use The Good & the Beautiful (TGTB) curriculum. It is open the book and go. It has instructions for both you as the teacher, and your child, so it's very easy to follow for both of you. It's Christian based and there is no leftie bs. It’s laid out and organized very well. It uses a combination of worksheets, games, and online activities via their apps. I can’t say enough good things about this company and their curriculum. They make the lessons really fun – not boring and mundane. They offer different ways to teach the same concept in case your child needs a little extra help.
https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/
If your child is very young, you'll want to focus on handwriting, Math and Language Arts (LA). You can have your child take a placement test for each subject if you're not sure where they fall in grade level. The placement tests are on the TGTB website. Here is a link to the Math placement test, as an example:
https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Math-Assessment-K-6.pdf
TGTB offer FREE Math and LA downloads for the full curriculum. You can print it yourself. You can also purchase the lessons and they will mail you the workbooks. We purchased a color printer and printed them ourselves. We put each lesson in a separate binder to stay organized. Each day we pull out 1 lesson from each binder, and complete them. We’re on track to finish each subject 3 months early.
Whatever you decide to go with, make sure it's NOT common core. Even some of the homeschool curriculums are being infiltrated.
A SAMPLE DAY:
Your school day can be any time you like and can work around your schedule and when your child tends to have the most energy. A sample day for us begins around 9 am depending on what we have going on (we’re flexible.) We're usually done by 11 am. We do Math which takes about 20-30 minutes, then break. Then LA which takes about 20 minutes, then break. Then we do reading boosters (which comes with the LA package), which takes about 10 minutes. Then we finish with handwriting. I found a handwriting font that displays how to write each letter. We print the lyrics to our son's song of choice because he loves music. He listens to the song while he handwrites the lyrics, looking at the sample font which shows him how to print each letter correctly. I read books to him at night before bed. The rest of our son's education comes from our daily activities - cleaning up after ourselves, cooking, taking care of our garden, not being a commie, going food shopping, home repairs, etc. Once or twice a week, we do a Science lesson which we purchased from TGTB:
Eventually we’ll add history once a week but honestly, there are some great free shows - Leo & Layla on Prageru and Tuttle Twins in angel.com - that teaches accurate history and is not woke so that’s probably enough. Educational shows can be a great resource.
prageru.com/series/leo-and-laylas-history-adventures angel.com/watch/tuttle-twins
SOCIALIZATION/ACTIVITIES:
When you tell people you're homeschooling they'll go right to the socialization aspect. It’s irritating. Our son participates in more activities now than when he was in traditional school and socializes with all different ages and people, not just 20 kids his own age. When he was in school, he would come home and be completely exhausted and we'd have to drag him to the one activity he was involved in each week and he hated it. Now we do martial arts, roller skating, music class, parkour (obstacles courses) and meet with other kids at the park and playground.
A lot of companies offer special homeschool time slots for activities and they are usually discounted. Our parkour offers a 2 pm class each week. It's $40 less and we get 2 additional sessions than their regular packages. Our roller skating offers a discounted homeschool skate on the third Friday of every month. There is a 2 hour homeschool rock climbing session that is discounted and offers a room for the kids to do their work. There are athletic organizations for homeschool kids or he can just join a regular sports league. Look around for activities to get involved in.
I was able to obtain library cards in other better municipalities for free because I homeschool. Depending on your library system, you can rent free museum passes that you borrow and then return. It allows you and a few guests free admission to many local museums and activities. Field trips.
STATE LAWS:
We have no homeschool laws in our state but some have a few requirements. Once you start homeschooling, you’ll quickly find many other families who also homeschool. We’re everywhere. And we want to network with other families. We are the best resource to go to for information regarding your state’s laws. Find the OG homeschoolers. They know it all. I’ve heard mixed things about HSLDA so I’m not sure about using them as a resource, as suggested by others. I would talk to other families that you meet. They know what to do and would be happy to help you.
UNWOKE TV TO SUPPLEMENT:
It’s helpful to have some educational media resources to use that you trust. I have vetted these:
Streaming Services
Angel Shows (free): angel.com BYUtv (free): byutv.org PragerU Kids (free): prageru.com/kids Pure Flix & Yippee (not free but have a lot of kids shows): pureflix.com & yippee.tv
Shows
Leo & Layla: prageru.com/series/leo-and-laylas-history-adventures Tuttle Twins: angel.com/watch/tuttle-twins Friends & Heroes: friendsandheroes.tv/stories-about-heroes.html Jungle Beat: angel.com/watch/jungle-beat Bluey: bluey.tv/watch Others: How It’s Made, Primitive Technology, Berenstain Bears, Curious George, Wild Kratts
Stay the hell away from PBS, Disney & Sesame Street.
CONCLUSION:
Homeschooling is one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Once you’re out of the traditional school shackles, a whole new world opens. Homeschooling is all about the family, nurturing, being together. Our son is so much happier and well-adjusted now than ever before because we homeschool. Best of all – no homework and NO COMMIES.
Congratulations on choosing to homeschool your son. You will not regret it.
We homeschool our 6 year old son who is in 1st grade. The first thing you need to do is find a curriculum.
CURRICULUM:
If your child is young, homeschooling really only takes a couple hours a day, this includes breaks. 5, 6, 7 year olds can usually only focus for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, then they usually need a break. It's okay to let him take breaks when he needs them.
I did A LOT of research before we began. I also was hell bent on staying away from woke curriculum. We decided to use The Good & the Beautiful (TGTB) curriculum. It is open the book and go. It has instructions for both you as the teacher, and your child, so it's very easy to follow for both of you. It's Christian based and there is no leftie bs. It’s laid out and organized very well. It uses a combination of worksheets, games, and online activities via their apps. I can’t say enough good things about this company and their curriculum. They make the lessons really fun – not boring and mundane. They offer different ways to teach the same concept in case your child needs a little extra help.
https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/
If your child is very young, you'll want to focus on handwriting, Math and Language Arts (LA). You can have your child take a placement test for each subject if you're not sure where they fall in grade level. The placement tests are on the TGTB website. Here is a link to the Math placement test, as an example:
https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Math-Assessment-K-6.pdf
TGTB offer FREE Math and LA downloads for the full curriculum. You can print it yourself. You can also purchase the lessons and they will mail you the workbooks. We purchased a color printer and printed them ourselves. We put each lesson in a separate binder to stay organized. Each day we pull out 1 lesson from each binder, and complete them. We’re on track to finish each subject 3 months early.
Whatever you decide to go with, make sure it's NOT common core. Even some of the homeschool curriculums are being infiltrated.
A SAMPLE DAY:
Your school day can be any time you like and can work around your schedule and when your child tends to have the most energy. A sample day for us begins around 9 am depending on what we have going on (we’re flexible.) We're usually done by 11 am. We do Math which takes about 20-30 minutes, then break. Then LA which takes about 20 minutes, then break. Then we do reading boosters (which comes with the LA package), which takes about 10 minutes. Then we finish with handwriting. I found a handwriting font that displays how to write each letter. We print the lyrics to our son's song of choice because he loves music. He listens to the song while he handwrites the lyrics, looking at the sample font which shows him how to print each letter correctly. I read books to him at night before bed. The rest of our son's education comes from our daily activities - cleaning up after ourselves, cooking, taking care of our garden, not being a commie, going food shopping, home repairs, etc. Once or twice a week, we do a Science lesson which we purchased from TGTB:
Eventually we’ll add history once a week but honestly, there are some great free shows - Leo & Layla on Prageru and Tuttle Twins in angel.com - that teaches accurate history and is not woke so that’s probably enough. Educational shows can be a great resource.
prageru.com/series/leo-and-laylas-history-adventures angel.com/watch/tuttle-twins
SOCIALIZATION/ACTIVITIES:
When you tell people you're homeschooling they'll go right to the socialization aspect. It’s irritating. Our son participates in more activities now than when he was in traditional school and socializes with all different ages and people, not just 20 kids his own age. When he was in school, he would come home and be completely exhausted and we'd have to drag him to the one activity he was involved in each week and he hated it. Now we do martial arts, roller skating, music class, parkour (obstacles courses) and meet with other kids at the park and playground.
A lot of companies offer special homeschool time slots for activities and they are usually discounted. Our parkour offers a 2 pm class each week. It's $40 less and we get 2 additional sessions than their regular packages. Our roller skating offers a discounted homeschool skate on the third Friday of every month. There is a 2 hour homeschool rock climbing session that is discounted and offers a room for the kids to do their work. There are athletic organizations for homeschool kids or he can just join a regular sports league. Look around for activities to get involved in.
I was able to obtain library cards in other better municipalities for free because I homeschool. Depending on your library system, you can rent free museum passes that you borrow and then return. It allows you and a few guests free admission to many local museums and activities. Field trips.
STATE LAWS:
We have no homeschool laws in our state but some have a few requirements. Once you start homeschooling, you’ll quickly find many other families who also homeschool. We’re everywhere. And we want to network with other families. We are the best resource to go to for information regarding your state’s laws. Find the OG homeschoolers. They know it all. I’ve heard mixed things about HSLDA so I’m not sure about using them as a resource, as suggested by others. I would talk to other families that you meet. They know what to do and would be happy to help you.
UNWOKE TV TO SUPPLEMENT:
It’s helpful to have some educational media resources to use that you trust. I have vetted these:
Streaming Services
Angel Shows (free): angel.com BYUtv (free): byutv.org PragerU Kids (free): prageru.com/kids Pure Flix & Yippee (not free but have a lot of kids shows): pureflix.com & yippee.tv
Shows
Leo & Layla: prageru.com/series/leo-and-laylas-history-adventures Tuttle Twins: angel.com/watch/tuttle-twins Friends & Heroes: friendsandheroes.tv/stories-about-heroes.html Jungle Beat: angel.com/watch/jungle-beat Bluey: bluey.tv/watch Others: How It’s Made, Primitive Technology, Berenstain Bears, Curious George, Wild Kratts
Stay the hell away from PBS, Disney & Sesame Street.
CONCLUSION:
Homeschooling is one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Once you’re out of the traditional school shackles, a whole new world opens. Homeschooling is all about the family, nurturing, being together. Our son is so much happier and well-adjusted now than ever before because we homeschool. Best of all – no homework and NO COMMIES.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions about this info.