With an overwhelming selection of homeschooling curriculum, choosing one, can seem impossible. But fear not, I promise, finding what works best for your family doesn't have to be oppressive.
Before you think about what curriculum or resources you will want to use when teaching your own children, you first need to discover your homeschool style and what is important to your family.
Once you discover the approach that works best for your family, learning becomes a joy.
"The best approach to homeschooling is one that suits our own personalities, our children's personalities, and how we best learn together. It should reflect not only our own interests but also the interests and gifts of our children." Ainsley Arment
There are many popular approaches to home education, and I'm going to share what has worked best for our family and what curriculum choices we have made as a result. I'm am not diving deep into the full approach of each of these styles, simply sharing what we have enjoyed about each of them. (For a full explanation of each of these styles and more, read book 'The Call of the Wild + Free' by Ainsley Arment, chapter 13.) https://www.bewildandfree.org/book
Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason was an English educator at the turn of the twentieth century who believed that children should be treated as individuals and given the opportunity to have a rich education. She believed in fostering children's imaginations by giving them plenty of time to play and enjoy hand-on experiences. Children should have access to living books & rich literature. Character-building and bible study is also important. Mason believed that children should be given time in nature everyday.
Waldorf
A Waldorf education is appealing because it focuses on child-led play, art, music & movement. The goal is to preserve childhood. It's believed that children have their entire lives for formal learning, but it is such a short window of time that they get to use their imagination and play. Waldorf educators include activities to nurture the heart, mind and hands.
Unschooling
I love the belief that "Living is learning and when kids are living fully and energetically and happily they are learning a lot." John Holt. True learning shouldn't be tedious or require coercion, rather it should be fun and meaningful. We should show our children how the information they are learning relates to the 'real world' rather than filling their day with busywork.
"Learning is about the journey, not the destination."
With those methods of learning in mind, we thoughtfully chose our curriculum for Preschool and Kindergarten.
My Father's World- Our Main Curriculum
Our main curriculum for teaching preschool & kindergarten offers a soft approach to learning phonics, math, science and bible with simple student sheets, beautiful children's books & poems, handcrafts, homemade play doh, music, daily time outdoors and character building through the bible. For this, we use My Father's World. This year, we have enjoyed 'All Aboard the Animal Train' for Preschool and 'God's creation from A-Z' for Kindergarten. There is also a second year Preschool we will be doing next year called Voyage of Discovery. We choose to order the Deluxe sets which include fun activities and wonderful books. We especially love the books 'First Virtues' and 'God's Amazing World'.
If you will be looking into this curriculum for older children, you will see that they sell the language arts and math curriculums separate, so you may choose from their suggested list, or explore other options elsewhere. They also have a "family-style" approach for teaching multiple children of varying ages over 2nd grade.
All Aboard the Animal Train Preschool for 2s & 3s https://www.mfwbooks.com/item/91051/
Voyage of Discovery Preschool for 4s https://www.mfwbooks.com/item/91101/
God's Creation From A-Z Kindergarten Curriculum https://www.mfwbooks.com/item/92051/
The Good and The Beautiful- Language Art & Math
We love The Good and The Beautiful for it's learning songs and nature inspired workbooks that emphasize family, good character and wholesome literature. This open-and-go curriculum has been an extension to our learning as we have paired the Pre-K and Level K Primer with our main curriculum (mentioned above) to help sharpen our Language Art skills. We appreciate that the website had a Level Assessment so you can decide which course is best for your child. We find the Language Arts to be a bit advanced so we chose to use the Level K Primer for our Kindergartener this year. We enjoy the early reader Beginner Books Box A for reading practice. My children also enjoy Math so we also chose to use Math K. These workbooks are not our main curriculum so we do not have an expectation of using them daily, rather weekly when time allows or an interest is shown. Once we are in 2nd grade and our main curriculum doesn't include L.A. or math, we plan to use The Good and The Beautiful for those subjects.
Language Arts Course Set Pre-K https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/products/pre-k-8-language-arts-course-set-pre-k/
Language Arts Course Set Level K Primer https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/products/pre-k-8-language-arts-course-set-level-k-primer/
Language Arts Course Set Kindergarten https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/products/pre-k-8-language-arts-course-set-level-k/
Beginner Books Box A https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/products/beginner-books-box-a/
Math Course Set Level K https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/products/pre-k-8-math-course-set-level-k/
Dash Into Learning- Early Reading Books
I can't say enough good things about this early reading program! These books are open-and-go and simple to use. Each book includes a short lesson page followed with a 10 page story. There is a sticker chart to track progress, finger puppets and digital activity packs. So far we have enjoyed set 1 and we will begin set 2 in a few months! The illustrations are darling and my daughter absolutely LOVES reading these sweet stories. We like to read a book each week during read-aloud time. When shopping, use code MACKENZIE25 for 25% off!
Set 1 First Phonics Books https://dashintolearning.com/collections/books/products/full-set-10-phonics-books-first-phonics-program
Exploring Nature With Children- Nature Schooling
This is a great resource to add extra nature study to your main curriculum. Filled with extension activities, poems, a book list, and themed nature walk ideas, all organized seasonally. Once or twice a week we take out our nature journals, go outside and talk about that week's subject while sketching. And anytime we are outside, we are extra observant towards nature relating to that week.
Exploring Nature With Children https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/
Conclusion
With those methods of learning in mind, we thoughtfully chose our curriculums. Ultimately, fostering your child's love for learning is what is most important. Know when to walk away when your child is feeling frustrated. Spend time getting to know your child's learning style and offer activities that invite your children to explore & imagine. To get started, really all you need is a library card, some basic art supplies and a place to play outside. Start there. See what you and your child enjoy and add one resource at a time. Happy schooling!
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