Enter Why Homeschool Giveaway Below!

Why Homeschool After 18+ Years?

I’ve homeschooled now since I first attempted it in 1997 with my ADHD child, whom I homeschooled for very specific reasons. We homeschooled only off and on for the first few years, It was a struggle. Then I found confidence and success in 2003 after adopting a Charlotte Mason philosophy and approach. We’ve been homeschooling exclusively ever since. Homeschooling my artistic and gifted children was something I simply HAD to do.  

But why keep going after 18+ years? Things have changed greatly over the last 18 years, my homeschool too. I’ve had to redefine and reinvent things over and over again. And as I enter into a new season of my life I find myself adapting once again. I’ve already graduated two children, both have completed their college and trade schools. Ahhhhhhh, sweet success. What a feeling of accomplishment- but no easy task. We had many good days and also bad ones.  Homeschooling is not perfect. It’s a labor of love.

Having purchased 19 years of curriculum over the years, I’ve tried a lot of what’s out there. I learned to homeschool by trial and error, adapt programs and create my own. But I’m not done yet. I still have a 7th grader this year to educate.

The dynamics have changed once again. Renewal is in the air. I’m seeking a fresh approach and thinking as much as I can about letting my homeschool approach evolve and be right for the now. I don’t want to be  “stuck” in the past but I I also want to allow myself the opportunity to revisit what has been a success.

However it may look in the specifics, Homeshooling is the right choice for us for these five reasons:

1. I get to choose what my child will learn. It’s up to me to choose what is academically appropriate and best for his learning style and ability. I get to decide what is best; I can make sure it is in tune with our values and beliefs. This is so important.

2. It’s academically effective. It’s hard to compete with one on one instruction and supervision. Though it’s not a fix all for everything, homeschooling is a strong form of education when executed.

3. It’s flexible. I try to be constant and true. But it’s important for our family to have flexibility; it’s great to be able to adjust fire, take breaks and vacations and family time when needed! And it’s wonderful to have total control of the schedule. As a military family, this aspect has been so beneficial for us.

4. It’s faith based. Most of my program is written by Christian authors. Some subjects are written by specifically Catholic authors which is extra wonderful so that we can incorporate faith into our child’s education.

5. It’s Affordable. Homeschooling can be expensive if you’re not disciplined. But there is also a range of affordability as well. It’s much cheeper than Catholic school tuition fees and you can invest your money in what is high priority and find so many other resources out there for free!

For More Why Homeschooling Inspiration, Visit the Posts Below!

Why I Still Choose to Homeschool After 18 Years – Harrington Harmonies

Should I Homeschool? – Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Why We STILL Homeschool – 1+1+1=1

10 Reasons to Homeschool – True Aim

Why Homeschool Giveaway!

We want to make it easy for you to start homeschooling! So, enter to win with the Rafflecopter below! The first 5000 people will get a FREE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP to Lessontrek.com and more exclusive freebies & discounts! The Grand Prize Winner will receive a Kindle Fire HDX 7″, 16 GB; a $50 Amazon Gift Card, and a choice of one curriculum package below! 2 other lucky winners will be drawn for the remaining curriculum packages!

If you prefer NOT to use Rafflecopter, but would still like to enter to win, please subscribe to the Why Homeschooling Newsletter (1 entry).

PreK & K Prize Package ($338 value)

Timberdoodle – Tegu Excursion

We Choose Virtues – Homeschool Kit

Blue Manor Academy – Preschool Curriculum eBook Set

Usborne – Start to Read Pack

$50 Amazon Gift Card!

Elementary Prize Package ($646 Value)

Sing’n Learn – Math to Music 4 Book Set

CTC Math – 12 Month Family Homeschool Membership

Simply Fun – 3 Game Set; Dinosaur Challenge, Star Gazer, Global Ranking

Character Concepts – Kids of Character Curriculum

Math-U-See – New Complete Set of your choice

See The Light – Bible Story Art Projects DVD Boxed Set

WriteShop – Your Choice; Writeshop Primary or Junior Set

Geography Matters – Desk Atlas Bundle

Middle Grades & Up ($250 Value)

Math Essentials – No-Nonsense Algebra

Sing’n Learn – Kingdom’s Hope Audio Book 3 Disc Set and 1001 Writing Projects for Students

Masterbooks – Principles of Mathematics

Alpha Omega – LifePac Elective Course

$50 Amazon Gift Card

*For full rules of entry, view the Rafflecopter “Terms & Conditions”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Why I Still Choose to Homeschool After 18 Years appeared first on Dymphna's Song.

What is an eclectic homeschool program? It’s a homeschool program deriving from various homeschooling styles, methods, philosophies and tastes. Basically, it’s a bunch of different homeschool curriculum and ideas woven together in a complimentary way. I design my own homeschool program based on the needs of my child, the basic subject areas and our interests. The Educational Philosophies that have most  influenced our eclectic homeschool are Classical and Charlotte Mason.

Why go eclectic?

I began homeschooling because of our ADHD child. Early on I realized we needed  more creative materials and a more flexible schedule than a boxed curriculum could provide. After all, that’s the whole reason I started homeschooling! There is absolutely nothing wrong with a boxed curriculum if it works for you. But we became VERY frustrated early on because the work load was too much. In addition, it got very expensive very quickly trying to find “the right fit”.

Costly advice:

Buy used. I found most of these at our local curriculum sale and spent around $100. Later, I spent about $50 at another curriculum sale. Now, I just need to buy a few additional readers as we go.

Our 6th Grade Curriculum for 2014-2015

• Catechism-57 Stories of the Saint
• Math- Teaching Textbooks
• English-(Tan Book)– Learning Language Arts through Literature
• Science-Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics
• History- The Story of the World: Vol. 1
• Geography- Around the World in 180 Days
  

These are my main curriculum for the year. However, this is an eclectic homeschool so there’s more to tell.

I’ll be adding a bit of the culinary arts to our homeschool with Raddish . My child loves to be a part of cooking and preparing foods. This year we got the Food for Friends box. I know for a fact that this will tie in nicely with some of the service projects we plan to do.

The box we used last year was kitchen science. It not only had some great science experiments to do but recipes and cooking skills as well. Read my full review on The Curriculum Choice.

Apologia and Our Co-op

We do our science at co-op. Last year we did Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. This year it’s Chemistry and Physics. He reads the text independently and then does the experiments with co-op. He’ll also getting speech and debate and an engineering class too!

The co-op really blesses us. It takes a few subjects off my plate while my child receives extra classes that I wouldn’t be inclined to teach.  It also provides us a wonderful community.

Books, Books and More Books…

The image above is not our full booklist. He’ll read six chapter books and several living books to compliment  Ancient History. We’ll do art projects and actives for most of these civilizations and time periods:

• Prehistory
• Ancient Egypt
• Sumerians
• Assyrians & Babylonians
• Phoenicians
• Ancient Greece
• Persians
• Ancient China
• Ancient India
• Ancient Africa
• Ancient Rome

How will we use the curriculum in our eclectic homeschool?

1. We don’t use every page of every text. Instead, I use these products as tools to meet our goals for the year. I am the teacher and not the books. They serve us and not the other way around.

2. We set the pace.  For example, we are still finishing up Math 6. When we are ready we will go on to 7. It’s gotten really stagnant but I have my reasons why I am sticking with it. His math has gotten a little rusty over summer, so in a few weeks I’ll test him. If he can pass into seven we will move on to seven. If not, we’ll keep working in six.

3. Many subjects are integrated.  Art, Ancient History and Literature are all interconnected this year.

In addition to on line resources, we use lots of reference materials in our homeschool. Sometimes I create my own notebook pages and supplements to achieve a complete program. This year it’s my goal to make and use :

• Art History Timeline Figures for Ancient History- Cave Paintings to Fall of Rome
• Saint Notebooking Pages
• Book Report Pages
• Nation Notebook Pages- Similar to my State Notebook Pages but  for World Geography.

Some of these will be subscriber only freebies. If you don’t want to miss them  subscribe to Harrington Harmonies now!

How do you stay on track?

Routine, routine, routine. This is the mantra I  have to tell myself  each day. I follow an order of events as opposed to a time schedule.

I don’t plan exactly what page we will be on each day. But I do write up a scope and sequence for the whole year. This way I know how far I should be in my plans at any time and can make adjustments.

I mainly use my planner as a record. Usually, I record what we do as we go. I always write things in pencil. This year, I’m using The Ultimate Homeschool Planner. It has wonderful scripture reflections and quotes in it so it will be the perfect thing to start each day with.

Another way to measure success and stay on track is by writing educational goals and objectives for your child.

 Our 6th Grade Goals and Learning Objectives:

• Catechesis- Study the lives of 6 new saints in depth. Accomplish a service project inspired by each. Learn the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Do a small study on the beatitudes during Lent.
• Math- Become proficient in multiplication and division facts. Follow Teaching Textbooks 6 and 7  course objectives.
• English- Finish Seton English 5. Attend semester 1 Co-op program for speech and debate. Complete 6 book studies with book reports. Do one major research paper. Cover 4 literary genres to include poetry. Practice writing with dictation selections from each of the 6 book studies.  Work to improve handwriting skills weekly using copywork. Develop and improve research and writing skills.
• Attend  Co-op for Science and Engineering.
• History-Explore and expand understanding of Ancient history and civilizations through art and literature. Record ideas and inspirations in handmade journal. Cover 12 different civilizations and add them to a timeline. Write a major report at the end of the year on a civilization of choice.
• Geography- Research facts on 10 new countries. Research and learn about the major continents  to include: topography, animals, economy, demographics, major countries, natural resources.   Write a report at the end of the year on a country of choice. Learn new geography vocabulary terms.
• Art-Explore art through Ancient History and experiment with at least 10 different media applied to 10 different projects inspired by ancient art.

Share with me your goals for the year by entering this awesome Apologia Basket Giveaway!ends 8/8/14

Linked up for the Not Back to School Blog Hop: and Ben and Me

The post What is an Eclectic Homeschool Program? appeared first on Dymphna's Song.

At the beginning of the year I had my homeschool area just the way I wanted. But somehow I’ve worked myself into a rut and it’s time to review my plans, goals and purpose. It’s helpful in knowing how to go forward to see where I have come from. Seeing how much we’ve accomplished is encouraging; then I can decide where I want to head with our homeschool vision.

We used these materials this year and LOVED them! They are gently used but still have much life in them. I am so happy to be able to share them with you, my reader. Please enter below!

Let me tell you briefly about each item and, if you like, you can read the reviews on them to help you decide if they are a fit for your homeschool.

(Text Only) Apologia- What on Earth Can I do? Biblical Worldview Series:

*notebook pictured above is not included in this giveaway

I reviewed this series earlier this year and have been greatly blessed by having it in our homeschool. It is a Christian Worldview program. I plan to continue to mix it in with my son’s Catholic catechesis during middle school. Chrisitan Worldview is a much need topic of education for our children.

As a Catholic, I also found it complementary to any good catechetical program. We read it together as a devotion. That way I could add our Catholic traditions into the discussion verbally. He is going into 6th grade so he has a good Catholic foundation. Nothing in the program was ever in conflict with the Catholic faith, rather it was very rooted in solid scripture and approached from a biblical, not doctrinal, approach. Read my full review here.

(Text Only ) Apologia Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day:

*notebook pictured above is not included in this giveaway

We had such a great experience with this program! We used it in our co-op this year and frankly, it was nice to have a subject mechanical man could do on his own. It was so wonderful to see a good Christian text for science that was also very scientific- just packed with scientific knowledge. He read the reading assignments during the week and then was able to do discussion, experiments and activities with the homeschool group. I can’t say enough good things about this program. It’s flexible and can be used with multiple ages. It mostly covers study on birds but also insects, bats and flying pterosaurs. Really, if you have several children and want one program for all their science instead of one for each, you should give Exploring Creation a try.

(CD) Homeschool in the Woods- Time Travelers

This is for all three CD’s:

1. The Early 19th Century
2. Industrial Revolution to Great Depression
3. WWII

If you’re wanting to know more about these, please enter the giveaway and then take the time to read a very extensive review I wrote on this program. It has tons of wonderful hands on exploratory style learning for a tactile learner or a child who loves making lapbooks and or notebooking. However, it CAN be adapted as I did for my auditory learner. In that case you just need to pick and choose the activities you want and not overwhelm your learner.

(CD) Homeschool in the Woods- Hands on Artist Activity Pak

I really loved this one. We made the lapbook together and it really enhanced our art study on the artists. He liked it too. You can read my full review here. This CD is all hands on so there is really not much text to read, only learning through the projects.

(CD Program Only) Sequential Spelling Revised Version 2.0 Level 2

We loved using this easy spelling program that approaches spelling from a word building style. It was easy and effective for my son to do. This was the first year we did this one the computer. You can read my review on how the program works and it’s teaching approach; it’s the same program except with the CD Rom it’s completely usable by your child independently. It was an excellent time saver for me which taught him some good middle school independent learning.

And now the Homeschool Curriculum Giveaway!

What questions do you have about these curriculum? I’ll be happy to share my homeschool experience with you- just post your question and if you like enter the giveaway below!

The post Curriculum Giveaway! appeared first on Dymphna's Song.