Hi guys! Hey Mama, you can do this (or dad…)! If you’re new here, hi! If you’re used to my ramble, welcome back. I heard that some people are curious about starting with homeschool, therefore, I finally decided to put together a rough post about it. If you’re interested in more details, let me know and I’ll try to cover what I can. We have been homeschooling since 2011 and I was teaching in a Classical Christian Education cottage school and tutoring reading before that. I’m a mama of five, under eleven-years-old and we are a big book-loving family. My husband is my Enginerd and he helps keep us balanced. My students are advanced and behind in places but all progressing forward on their own tracks. I have been blogging our entire homeschool journey and most recently share the most on my Instagram @CherryBlossomMJ. Let me know if I can help you in any way to find what you need.
Questions about Homeschool?
There are so many options for homeschooling and the trick is finding what works best for your family situation. The first thing to do is to find out the regulations and requirements in your state or territory. HSLDA is a good place to begin and find out the rules and guidance where you live.
While there is a local teacher’s store that I like to support, sometimes my budget needs me to go online and one of the main sources that I can often find a bargain if I am watching for it is Amazon, especially with school supplies and the random book. We also use a Kindle for reading eBook purposes, as well as Audible books for audiobooks and I’m constantly watching for sales there. My influencer link is www.amazon.com/shop/cherryblossommj while your price doesn’t change if you use my link, my family will receive a little blessing in pennies through affiliate change and I’m glad to share with you any bargains that I find if you are interested. From time to time, I use my Teacher’s Discount to buy physical books from Barnes & Noble, but I spend a lot of time finding well-loved and deeply discounted books from ThriftBooks (When you provide your unique code to someone who has never made a purchase on Thriftbooks.com, they’ll get a 15% off coupon* and you’ll get 50 bonus points when they make their first qualifying purchase.).
In addition to what we buy and own on Audible, I am constantly checking ebooks (to send to my Kindle) or audiobooks to use in the Libby app from our local library system’s agreement. We use reads.Overdrive.com for this, but we also use the Hoopla app for something similar. This is a great way to “read” and save a little money. The only problem is waiting for the books to be available to check out, but we are mighty passionate about placing that hold for the next wishlist read. As I mentioned, we have always been buying from Audible but right now during this odd time Audible has made available many stories for free for children at stories.audible.com. If you need help setting any of these up, just ask!
How do I keep it all straight? Well, from year to year I use different things and one of the things that I am loving this year is returning to my tried and true Motivated Moms. Actually, if you’re interested in starting a membership with Motivated Moms, use the coupon code cherryblossom, it is case-sensitive and will take $3-off from your first year. This code is good for all of 2020. Over the years, I have tried many other planners — paper and digital — and they can fit any need. If you need some more recommendations, I can fish up a few of those posts to share with you.
RELATED: What We’re Reading in Our Homeschool: January 2020
After you know you have access to good books and you have researched what is required for you to homeschool where you live, then I’d suggest you decide what you will study. This is where my review backlogs could help you if you know a general direction that you want to go. What I always say is to cover the R’s first. Some people talk about the Three R’s but we have four including Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Religion. You need to find your Language Arts, either in pieces or as a whole with writing or composition on the side. Find a mathematics program that will work best with your student’s learning style and your teaching style. Then find the best way to instill your family’s moral values, character traits, and faith. After these basics, we add the frosting…
The concept studies, as I call them, can look different for every family dependent upon your needs and requirements. For us, we have Latin as a classical language, Ancient history studies, Geography, American history studies, and Science. Each year, things change and everything we study depends upon my students. We may even be adding French as a foreign language in this year with my oldest. Sometimes, we even also have Art, Music, and more.
A few things to check out:
RELATED: What materials do you use to teach reading?
Institute of Excellence: Fix It! Grammar The Nose Tree (IEW Grammar Curriculum) {Review}, Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW): Teaching Writing, Structure & Style {Review} and Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization (IEW) {Review}
Logic of English: Logic of English: Essentials 2nd Edition, Volume 1 {Review}
Home School in the Woods: Home School in the Woods Á La Carte Hands-on History {Review}, Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Rome {Review} and Project Passport World History Study: the Middle Ages {Review}
RELATED: What is a relaxed American History morning in our homeschool? (Ages 10 and under) and American History Resources, What are your favorites?
If you’re looking for science, there are a lot of programs I recommend, but I’m proud to promote Apologia. You can see all sorts of reviews on the blog including Astronomy, Human Anatomy & Physiology, Marine Biology, What We Believe (Apologetics), and more to come.
RELATED: Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition (Apologia) {Review}
We had the opportunity to review The History of Art: Creation to Contemporary and for the older set The Master and His Apprentices: Art History from a Christian Perspective. I know this works!
RELATED: The Master and His Apprentices {Review}
Literature can be overwhelming, but it can also become cross-curricular. Over the years, we have had great success with Progeny Press Study Guides, Memoria Press Literature Guides, and Veritas Press Literature Guides. Each of these I am happy to promote and return to with my next student and I also have affiliate or referral links for all three.
RELATED: Critical Thinking, Bible study, Reading Literature Curriculum (Progeny Press) {Review}
Classical Christian Education Kindergarten: Memoria Press vs. Veritas Press
Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten {Review Part I}
Memoria Press Junior Kindergarten {Review Part I}
Memoria Press First Start Reading {Review} Classical Curriculum
D’Aulaires’ Greek Myths (Memoria Press) {Review}
D’Aulaires Greek Myths now available as an eBook! and Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw Coming soon to a Kindle near you!
Use our link, or the coupon code “cherryblossom” to let them know I sent you!
Traditional Spelling 1 (Memoria Press) {Review}
RELATED: Any advice for someone about to start Memoria Press First Grade?
Memoria Press Second Grade {Review – Part I}
Teach Classical Poetry & Short Stories: American Literature (Memoria Press) {Review} and Classically Homeschooling Poetry for the Grammar Stage (Memoria Poetry) {Review}
Learn Latin at Home with Second Form Latin (Memoria Press) {Review}
Iliad & Odyssey Complete Set (Memoria Press) {Review}
The Book of the Ancient Romans & The Aeneid Lesson Plans {Review} and The Book of the Ancient Romans Curriculum from Memoria Press {Review}
RELATED: Top Ten Places I search for our next Read Aloud (Book Lists)
All of this is just a start and I’ve probably already shared too much, but I could talk your ear off if you let me and help you find what direction you might want to go. And… I haven’t even talked about the computer or online supplements and tutoring products yet…
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