Recently I was asked what I use to homeschool. Well, due to financial restrictions out of my control … I use lots and lots of freebies! But, I do also invest in some add-ons, however … I’m very particular about what I actually spend $ on! I want to be up front with you all and let you now that I do not get any money or any kind of compensation for any of these recommendations. I’m only sharing with you what I personally use.
First has to be Hands of a Child. (http://www.handsofachild.com/2/) I LOVE Lapbooks and they make the easiest Lapbook Units around!! You can check out a free (yup, I said FREE) Lapbook Unit on their site. Look down on the left hand side and you will see a freebie button, click that and you can get a FULL Lapbook Unit for FREE!!! Make sure and sign up for their newsletter too. That way you know when all the sales are! Another thing this company offers is a Membership Page. They call it Super Memberships and man is it a good deal! A brand new Unit every month plus all the extras on the Membership Page …very well worth the $. We are using HOAC for both our Science and our History curriculum this year. We love it!
Hopefully you have a lot of space on your computer, cause you’ll need it if you sign up for The Erskine Family’s “LIVINGBOOKS FOR THE EARS” Newsletter A free service of www.homeschoolradioshows.com This is a great site, and make sure and sign up for the weekly FREE downloads!!! They also have a Membership site which I invested in … and already, within the first month, have gotten more out of the site than that which I put into it! Jim Erskine is a wonderful homeschooling dad … I love reading his little adventures and such! And wow, are his kids talented!!! I’m impressed!
At my first homeschooling convention, I saw these wonderful drawings that went with the History curriculum we were looking at. The curriculum didn’t work at our house … but the Historical Timeline Figures are still a hit … 5 years later!!! You can see them by checking out http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/timeline.htm and don’t miss out by not signing up for Amy Pak’s newsletters:
http://www.hands-onteachingtips.com/newsletter/current.htm They are AWESOME!!! Each of them is a Unit Lesson all there for you to teach! So informative and now her kids are starting to write some of them! Oh, she’s just one of my fav’s!!! A real homeschooling mom and a real artist too!
Of course, HSLDA is a must for us independent homeschoolers. You can check out their site at: http://www.hslda.org Seriously, do NOT try to homeschool in the US with out being a member of this. They are lawyers and are here for you and your kids. They are awesome.
The final site I’d like to mention today is ABC Teach. Oh my goodness! I took years to finally join them, but once I did, I realized how much I could use and how it’s not just a bunch of worksheets!!! It has all sorts of helps for Ian in learning phonics … wall words, sort words … on and on and on! Go check them out … but remember … they are SO much more than just worksheets! http://abcteach.com
One very interesting note on all of these sites is that they all offer freebies! If you just don’t know and want to make sure before you buy … these are the sites you want to check out! They work for me!