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More Frequently Asked Homeschooling Questions
by Harriet Yoder
Welcome to
Frequently Asked Homeschooling Questions Page 2! The following questions are linked to answers on this page:
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These questions are
linked to answers on Frequently Asked Homeschooling Questions Page 1 at
Lamp Post Homeschool Store:
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Unless
you live in a state which provides textbooks (for example Pennsylvania) and
you don’t mind using secular material, you will be purchasing curriculum. If
your budget is really limited, you can pray about it and the Lord will show
you a way whether it’s borrowing from friends and the library, purchasing
used books, or some other marvelous way.
If you purchase individual
textbooks and Teacher’s guides for each subject and each child for each
grade, it can be expensive. However, at Lamp Post Publishing our philosophy
is that if you use a "real books, multi-level family" approach to
teaching your children, you can save money and spend it on lasting resources
to build your homeschool library. With this approach, you purchase those
resources that you will use most and use the library for real books that you
need occasionally. It is a multilevel family approach because you are
teaching several children with the same book at once. Top of Page
By using the multi-level
approach, you can teach several children the same subject. We think reading
and math programs should be individualized. Science and history are
wonderful multilevel subjects. You will teach the lesson to everyone and
individualize the written work. The activities and oral discussion will be
geared to the individual. One advantage to this method is that the younger
children are exposed to higher levels of language and thinking skills.
While it seems that younger
children may not understand a more complicated lesson, you are planting
seeds for the future. I remember hearing my father tell my older brother
about square roots. I had no clue about what a square root was but when I
heard about them in my math class, I perked up and paid attention.
Top of Page
There are several approaches to science and history in the
elementary years:
Traditional Textbook Approach
If you are in your first
year of teaching at home, you may feel that you need more structure. You will
probably be more comfortable using a textbook approach for history and
science. Having a student text, a teacher's edition, and the
supplementary materials can increase your confidence in your ability to
teach your children at home.
After using a traditional curriculum for
a year or so, you will have learned what you like and don't like about that
curriculum. This information makes it easier to move into a less
traditional type of teaching: unit studies, real books approach, etc.
Most elementary history and
science textbooks were designed for use in a traditional classroom setting.
In addition they tend to be graded readers. Also, most of the material
which is covered will be repeated in junior and senior high, so you may want to
try a more loosely structured curriculum such as a unit study.
Homeschool
Unit Studies
The needs and goals of the homeschool setting are very
different from a classroom setting and therefore many homeschoolers use products
that were created by and for home educators. If you decide to go with a
science or history unit study, it is wise to invest in resource materials that
you can use both now and later on in the secondary level. Unit studies
tend to be guides with suggested reading--library books or books to purchase for
your home library. Usually the guides have daily or weekly lesson plans
with suggested questions, activities, and/or projects that appeal to a wide
variety of learners.
Real Books Approach
Using the real
books approach is great for families who are teaching several children of
different ages. Simply choose a science topic or historical event or time
period and start reading! You can make individual reading assignments or
choose books to read aloud to the entire family. It is helpful to have a
guide to historical fiction (Choosing
Good Books). With this approach you can purchase books for your home
library or borrow them from the library.
Top of Page
Today Christian homeschooling
parents can choose from a variety of creative new unit studies, history
study guides, grammar workbooks, and literature guides as well as
traditional Christian school textbooks and curriculum. Many multilevel
resources have been written specifically for home educators by experienced
home educators who weren’t satisfied with what was available. The Lord
has really blessed the homeschooling movement with the tremendous talent of
these authors. These products not only save you time and money but
make the learning process more interesting and motivating.
 Revised
03/20/08. |
Lamp
Post Homeschool Store