Homeschooling Bookmarks

 

I'm only homeschooling my middle child this year. We were planning on sending them all to school, but we decided to let the kids choose if they wanted to go to school this year or be homeschooled. We still don't think that public school is an ideal environment, but we feel the children will all be alright in school. I do know that the blessings to our family from the time I homeschooled have been great, and I don't regret them for a minute!

I will only share links with you that I think are exceptional resources. These are some of the same links that were on my previous website, plus a few new ones I have found. I hope you will find them as useful as I have.

 

Books on Homeschooling:

Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series --This is DEEP. I haven't read through the whole series yet, but only read a little at a time. There are many people discussing these on the Charlotte Mason e-mail lists, though, so there is discussion and help available!
For the Children's Sake --I hate to admit it, but I haven't finished reading this book either, but I have really enjoyed what I have read of it.
A Charlotte Mason Education --A small book, that really helped me get started using Charlotte Mason methods.
A Charlotte Mason Companion : Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning --This one is on my wish list. I have read so many wonderful reviews of this book.

State Laws:

HSLDA --Home School Legal Defense Association

E-mail Lists:

LDS CMers Subscription Site and List Archives --You have to be LDS and using or interested in Charlotte Mason's methods.
CM Loop --A large group of Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. To subscribe to the CM Loop, or to the digest, send a blank email to cmason-subscribe@egroups.com .
This is a very inspiring and informative. The only drawback is that there is so much e-mail that you may not have time to homeschool if you read all the messages! I had to set nomail several times to get caught up.
PUO Email Lists --There are several lists, and they are really good!

Message Boards:

Latter-day Family Discussion Board --A discussion board that is part of Latter-day Family Resources.
Charlotte Mason Message Board
Kaleidoscapes --A huge homeschooling site with message boards on a variety of topics.

Grade Level Guide Books:

The Three R's by Ruth Beechick --These 3 little booklets are all you really need for teaching reading, writing and math from Kindergarten through 3rd grade. The booklets are full of good advice, and a wall chart is included that has the phonics sounds and a 1-100 chart.
You Can Teach Your Child Successfully : Grades 4-8 by Ruth Beechick --Another book by Ruth Beechick which offers practical advice on teaching reading, writing, math, spelling, grammar, history, social studies, science, health, music, art and Bible studies to your child who is in 4th through 8th grade.

The Core Knowledge Series has these books:
What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know
What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know
What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know
What Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know
What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know
What Your 5th Grader Needs to Know
What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know
The Core Knowledge Series books do contain a little evolution and some of the history is too "politically-correct" for me, but overall I think they are good resources.

Curriculum Requirements and Standards:

The World Book Typical Course of Study --This is extremely helpful! It lists in detail for each grade a typical course of study used in schools. It could also be used to describe your curriculum if you need to report to a school district what your course of study will be. I did't feel obligated to follow it exactly, but just used it as a guide.

My Favorite Homeschool Home Pages:

Hilltop Homeschool --A really neat site with free online unit studies
Eclectic Homeschool Online --The Magazine for Creative Homeschoolers
Parents' Union School Online --This is a site that I'm really excited about. The site was created by Susan and Fred Craven, who started the site after researching the original Parents' Review Articles. They and some friends decided to try to plan a Charlotte Mason curriculum and make it available for free online. I am not using the curriculum, but will use it as a guide of some of the books, composers and artists that we can learn about together. If you have more questions about PUO Online, you should read their Introduction/Orientation and join one or more of their e-mail lists.
The A - B - C's of Charlotte Mason --The on-line version of the FAQ offered to all newcomers to the Charlotte Mason Study Loop. This is very good if you are just hearing about Charlotte Mason and want a summary of the way she taught.
Homeschool World --This site has some great articles, and particularly some about using Charlotte Mason methods.
A Charlotte Mason Education Will Benefit You and Your Children --A good site with lots of CM links.

Articles:

The Kossor Education Newsletter --Great education articles!
The Education Reporter --The Newspaper of Education Rights
Homeschool World --Has some great articles, including CM Homeschooling

My Favorite Places to Buy Books:

SECONDHAND STORES!!! --If you frequent secondhand stores such as Goodwill, look through all their books. I saved a fortune on books this way, and I now have a huge library of books. I have paid as little as 10 cents for a paperback, and 50 cents for a hardback. The only drawback is the time it takes to look through the books, but you will occasionally find a book you've really wanted for a fraction of the retail price.

Amazon.com --Good prices, and it gets to you FAST!
Latter-day Family Resources --Good prices, and their shipping is LOW!
Key Curriculum Press --Mathematics, algebra, and geometry workbooks
SchoolSource on VegSource Curriculum Swap --Huge volume of used curriculum. Buy and sell used books. The ads are FREE! :-)
ebay --Online auctions. FUN, FUN, FUN! and addictive, but you can pick up good bargains. Browsing is dangerous. Shop only for what you need and can afford. Decide on a maximum bid and stick with it---there will be other chances! ;-)
Beautiful Feet Books --They carry Genevieve Foster books, plus they have package deals on Holling C. Holling and D'Aulaire books!
abebooks.com --The world's largest source of out-of-print books
Greenleaf Press --Good study packages that include many books for studying history chronologically.