When starting out home schooling, you may be absolutely overwhelmed by the huge variety of curriculums available, as well as the number of philosophies of home education. Curriculums can range from fairly affordable to very pricey. When I was home schooled, nearly twenty years ago, the availability of home school materials was extremely limited. Today, we have the internet, and our options are nearly boundless, from unschooling to school at home. Thanks again to the internet, there is an incredible amount of free material. Between the world wide web and your local library, you could educate your child without ever spending a dime on a formal curriculum program. The sky is literally the limit.
Toddlers to Kindergarten
Preschool and kindergarten levels are fairly simple to find and very basic. Children ages 3, 4, and 5 don’t need a lot of heavy-duty instruction, and their sit-down school work should be a minor part of each day. Educators today press for longer school days and weeks for these young children, but not all children are developmentally ready for that kind of intensive instruction, and home educators are allowed the freedom and luxury of setting their own parameters for their child’s education, based on what is best for the child. Children in this age group can learn a great many things outside of an organized setting, so it is not absolutely necessary to have a set curriculum. A parent can read to their children, emphasizing the sounds each letter makes along with the sounds of blends. They can assist their child in counting when putting away toys, sorting colors, adding candies, finding patterns in every day items, etc.
Websites catering to this age group are plentiful, often offering both printable worksheets as well as online games. While the games may need to be rationed out, much as one would ration out sugary treats, the worksheets can be fun and interactive.
Starfall.com is a “learn to read” site with games and printable worksheets. First-school.ws/ has printables, activities, crafts, and themes. Primarygames.com is exactly what the name suggests – games for the under-6 set. Hubbardscupboard.org is a great site, geared towards Christians, with good information, assessments, ideas, and resources, as well as Bible studies.
Handwritingforkids.com helps kids work on their handwriting skills. Learningpage.com has lots of worksheets as well as links and monthly lesson plans.
Snacks and Activities
Parents may find their creativity waning when it comes to choosing snacks or activities for their children – of any age. Thankfully, there are even websites out there devoted to that! 123child.com has oodles of activities for the preschool set. NHI:Snacks has recipes for snacks and meals at their website, msucares.com/home_family/nhi/lessons/mealsandrecipes/snack.html (you will also find other good information in their “lessons” section). Familyfun.go.com has tons of fun ideas, activities, and recipes for the entire family.
Music and Art
Music and art curriculums may seem a little hard to come by, but even they exist in free form in the virtual world. Kinderart.com claims to be “the largest collection of art lessons and art education information,” and it’s easy to believe it. From multicultural and recyclable art activities, to art appreciation lessons, you will find whatever you want here. Even if you don’t want to do a formal art class, this site will give you a wealth of hands-on activities to keep your child(ren) busy and engaged. Mamalisa.com has a large number of songs and nursery rhymes in English, French, and Spanish for you to enjoy with your children. Kids.niehs.nih.gov/music.htm is a wonderful source of oodles of songs – children’s songs you’ve long forgotten, songs from musicals, even patriotic songs.
Language Arts and Math
Children today need a solid foundation in reading and math. Brightly Beaming Resources hosts letteroftheweek.com for children in grades 2 through 11, as well as home schooling information. Createdbyteachers.com/freematerials has printables, puzzles, and more. AAAstudy.com has math activities for a variety of math levels, from kindergarten through some of the higher maths such as algebra and geometry. Beestar.org offers math and reading printable activity worksheets, and RobinSunne.com has a simply gorgeous idea for a “multiplication clock.
Science and History
Science and history websites are plentiful and rich in information. Exploratorium.edu is a fascinating science site, with all sorts of links to help you explore, learn, and watch (using the digital library). Jefferson Lab operates education.jlab.org, with lots of good information and games for older students. Getting lost in the ocean is actually fun on the US government-operated website oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. This site has galleries with gorgeous pictures, interactive multimedia exhibits, and lesson plans, as well as technological and historical information, cultural heritage, and maps – all excellent for older students.
Epa.state.il.us/kid/fun-stuff is operated by the state of Illinois and has fun, elementary-level lessons about pollution, the water cycle, and fun project ideas.
Guardians.net has everything Egypt. It’s a fascinating website that would be fantastic for unit studies. Learn about pyramids and mummies, gods and goddesses, and explore the kids’section. DocSouth.unc.edu is a huge collection of “texts, images, and audio files related to southern history, literature, and culture.” It’s really interesting to explore and worthwhile studying.
Anthro.palomar.edu/tutorials/ has both biological and cultural anthropology tutorials for your high school student, including links to more information, a list of vocabulary words, and flash cards for study purposes.
Comprehensive
A few sites even offer comprehensive education materials. Free.ed.gov offers a wide variety of resources for all subjects, all grades. It’s really a collosal gem of a site for any home schooling parent (indeed, any parent). SI.edu is the website for the Smithsonian and contains a wealth of information. Scholastic.com offers lesson plans for K-12, as well as message boards for educators. Toytowntreasures.com has worksheets and lessons for students as well as home schooling information for parents. BBC.co.uk/learning/ offers a number of courses, from foreign languages to environmental studies
Special Needs and Fun Sites
There are many other sites for parents to use. Dotolearn.com is a fantastic site for special needs students, with games, songs, and activities. Funschool.kaboose.com has a large assortment of educational (and fun!) games for kids of all ages. Funbrain.com offers games, online books, arcades, and blogs for the elementary and junior high set. Godecookery.com contains recipes from the Middle Ages and Rennaisance – great for unit studies on these periods! Ciakids.com (Culinary Institute of America) has recipes from around the world – good for learning about the cultures of different countries.
MIT
MIT has something unlike any other site – OCW.MIT.edu. You really have to see it to believe it. Free lecture notes, videos, and exams are available for 1,800 courses offered at MIT. These courses do not count as college credit, but they will give a definite boost to any college-bound student, as well as allow them to dig more deeply into the subjects that interest them.
Just For Parents
There are even free sites just for parents. Vegsource.com/homeschool has a forum dedicated to sell/swap/buy home school curriculum and forums for home schooling parents. Besthomeschooling.org has free links, resources, and tons of advice from “been there, done that” home schooling parents.
Summary List
Finally, it’s helpful to have a list of these sites all in one place. Below I’ve compiled a summary of all these sites. Print it off, highlight the ones you want to use now, and bookmark this article for future reference. And have fun learning with your kids!
Starfall.com
First-school.ws/
Primarygames.com
Hubbardscupboard.org
Handwritingforkids.com
Learningpage.com
123child.com
msucares.com/home_family/nhi/lessons/mealsandrecipes/snack.html
familyfun.go.com
kinderart.com
mamalisa.com
kids.nieh.nih.gov/music.htm
letteroftheweek.com
createdbyteachers.cin/freematerials
aaastudy.com
beestar.org
robinsunne.com
exploratorium.edu
education.jlab.org
oceanexplorer.noaa.gov
Epa.state.il.us/kid/fun-stuff
Guardians.net
Docsouth.unc.edu
Anthro.palomar.edu/tutorials/
Free.ed.gov
SI.edu
Scholastic.com
Toytowntreasures.com
BBC.co.uk/learning/
Dotolearn.com
Funschool.kaboose.com
Funbrain.com
Godecookery.com
Ciakids.com
OCW.MIT.edu
Vegsource.com/homeschool
Besthomeschooling.org
