How to Educate yourself about Homeschooling
As Pope John Paul II says: Do Not Be Afraid
Everyone who begins homeschooling has some type of phobia. Either afraid they won’t socialize their child or fear that they don’t have the brains to do it.
I had those same fears just as most do. What’s the old saying, the more you know the more you know that you don’t know! Get yourself some support friends, either through Catholic Homeschooling yahoo groups, websites, or your church. I can’t believe what a difference it has made in my families life.
Still don’t think your educated enough? If you can read and you like to learn, your educated enough. Seek assistance from those with positive homeschool experiences to help you.
Take a Grammar Refresher or Keyboarding online course from Ed2go they have a wide selection of Online Courses.Even though I have a bachelors degree, I have taken continuing education courses through this establishment. They are very reasonably priced. The experience was great. I never had to leave my home. Maybe you have a child in high school that may benefit from one of these courses or one that is college age but, not ready for college. In our area the price of a course runs approximately $99 – 105.00 and run every 6 weeks. You work at your own pace as it fits your schedule. There are message boards that share class discussions, emails, and other ways to communicate. Hold on to this motto: You are never too old to learn something new! It’s life changing!
Find the key to making through your first year without spending a mint.
Find out about a Catholic Home Study Program.
Learn about Scope and Sequence for each grade and where to find them.
Go to the library and read books like
Charlotte Mason Education is not a Catholic Curriculum however her vision for education was not one to be overlooked. So a number of women came up with a totally free Catholic Version of the Charlotte Mason Curriculum. You can find it at Mater Amabilis.
You can join their Yahoo Group, Mater Amabilis (which means Mother Most Amiable) to find out more about their style of homeschooling.
Another well known author in Catholic homeschool circles is Maureen Wittmann. She has written a number of books one of which is on my recommended book list, Catholic Homeschooling Companion, and another book called For the Love of Literature. She has also started Webinars help homeschooling families. You can visit her blogspot maureenwittmann
The best advice I received from a friend when I was investigating homeschooling was that I was already homeschooling my daughter; with all the schoolwork/homework she was bringing home because she wasn’t doing it in school, what difference would a few more hours on my time schedule make. That comment opened up a whole new world for us. I can’t say there aren’t days that my daughter wishes she were with the kids at school or I wish I had a bit more time to myself however, overall it’s changed our lives for the better - Especially with our Catholic Education.
Homeschooling With Gentleness: Catholic Discovers Unschooling
Editors Note: I have had personal experience with Fast Web, it really works. It’s not a gimick.
Telling Time
PharmaOmega Learn is designed for school-aged children who need omega-3 to help them focus and do their best in school.
Ambleweb has got lots of wonderful teaching aids. The link to their site is found on amblesideprimary.com
A teaching tool I like to use is their analog clock. It tells time from 5 minutes, 15 minutes and hour increments. It’s a fun way to explain time and for your child to learn with or without your assistance.
Showing kids Science
Even if you don’t live near a science museum you can still show your kids the wonders of life.
Video from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. Chick hatchery, see baby baby chicks being hatched from their eggs.
More from the Museum of Science and Industry:
Click here to learn how to construct a worm farm
2009 Free Day Schedule forMuseum of Science and Industry General admission is free on the following dates*: |
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|---|---|
| June | 1 2 3 4 5 19 |
| October | 8 9 12 13 14 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 26 27 28 29 30 |
| November | 11 |
* there is still a charge for parking and omnimax on Free days check the Museum of Science and Industry Website for full details.
Latin, Greek, Root Words
PharmaOmega Learn is designed for school-aged children who need omega-3 to help them focus and do their best in school.
Trying to decide on a homeschool curriculum for learning Latin can be difficult. Maybe you just want your child to learn what the root words mean.
I have discovered English from the Roots Up It’s a very easy conscept for children to pick up. It’s set up by using a 3X5 card system. Red borders around the cards mean Latin based word, green borders around the card be Greek based word. On the back of the card you write words that are associated with your root word. It seems easy and fun for even the most finicky child.
Memorare website also offers free interactive educational flashcards and lists associated with English from the Roots Up.
English from the roots up interactive activities
Don’t give up looking for great deals; search for used books on catholic swap group too. I was able to find my book for $5.00.
Also try Sacred Heart books for English from the Roots up.
School House Rock 3’s and Zero still lots of Fun.
PharmaOmega Learn is designed for school-aged children who need omega-3 to help them focus and do their best in school.
Music is such a fun way to learn math! Learn anything…
Did you know you can find old and newer school house rock videos on Youtube? It’s not the same as having your own collection but it sure makes you reminisce back to the days of singing these tunes. I am sure once you see some of these, like so many of us you will be hooked and want the whole collection. But if your strapped for fund at least you can be safe viewing these videos from this website.
I don’t recommend you sending your kids to youtube unattended by a parent. Parents should always search first and view first. That’s why I post good videos on my site. Don’t get me wrong, I love Youtube it’s got some awesome videos on it, anything you could possibly want. Yet therein lies the problem. You don’t have to worry about clicking the a video here and having it turn out to have inappropriate content.
School House Rock, Magic number 3:
Learn how to multiply and count by 3’s through songs.
This video is unofficially claimed as the first Schoolhouse rock video.
School house Rocks, My Hero Zero: Learn about multiplying by zero through music.
Find Catholic Curriculum with Free shipping
Looking at Catholic Curriculum for next year. I would like to recommend a company called Sacred Heart Books and Gifts.[singlepic id=17 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=right]
I found this company last year when I was looking for Saxon Math 2. I really like them, maybe it was because I have a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that drew me to the Sacred Heart Books website or maybe it was where they are located, having come from the Midwest. I recently discovered that they are now carrying materials for Catholic Charlotte Mason users. They also have curriculum supplies available for Mother of Divine Grace and many others. There website is dedicated to families and especially one single income families; they keep their prices low! You can find discount prices on Catholic Curriculum from their website all year long. They offer FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25.00 and less than $5.00 on all orders under $25.00. That is a pretty awesome deal for those concerned with purchasing books yet still having funds enough to cover the sometime high cost of shipping.
Before going to Amazon to buy your books check Sacred Heart Books and Gifts out. Their prices are very reasonable. You know the books are new and the best part is FREE SHIPPING with orders over $25.00. You are also helping a fellow Catholic Servant who is to helping Catholic home schoolers.
Scope and Sequence for 2nd Grade
[singlepic=3,320,240,,](Scope and sequence information was gathered from World Book Encyclopedia . It provides information for grades k-12 . This information and more can be located at http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Home on the bottom right side of the website)
2nd grade Scope and Sequence
what every 2nd grader should know before entering 3rd grade.
Social Studies
* Holidays and festivals
* Patriotic celebrations
* Communities in other lands: past and present
* Family and family history
* Families around the world
* Neighborhoods
* Community services and helpers
* Shelters, stores, and food
* Citizenship and social responsibility
* Interdependence of people
* Basic geography: oceans, continents
* Map skills
Science
* Useful and harmful animals
* Life cycle
* Birds and insects in winter
* Animal babies
* Animal defense of themselves and their young
* Plant and animal food
* Dinosaurs and other extinct animals
* Food chain
* Plant reproduction and growth
* Habitats and homes
* Weather and its effects on earth
* Effects of the seasons on the lives of people, animals, and plants
* Climate
* Water cycle
* Air and atmosphere
* Magnets and forces
* Gravity
* Earth and sky
* Sun, moon, planets
* Simple constellations
* Exploring space
* Scientific method and scientific inquiryLanguage Arts
* Reading silently for purpose
* Dramatizations and interpretative or oral reading
* Use and meaning of quotation marks in reading
* Story development: beginning, middle, end
* Simple book reviews
* Listening skills
* Organizing ideas and impressions
* Alphabetizing through second letter of a word
* Using dictionary guide words
* Vocabulary development
* Homonyms, synonyms, antonyms
* Methods of word attack
* Ways to study spelling
* Simple punctuation and capitalization
* Refining manuscript handwriting
* Writing independently in manuscript form
* Brief and simple letters and journals
* Narration, description, letters, poetry
* Increasing skill in handling books: table of contents, and indexHealth and Safety
* Personal cleanliness
* Dental hygiene
* Basic food groups
* Communicable diseases
* Preventive measures against disease
* Neighborhood safetyMathematics
* Counting, reading, writing to 1,000
* Counting by 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, 5’s, and 10’s
* Ordinal numbers to 10
* Zero as a place holder
* Using sets and number facts
* Addition and subtraction facts to 20
* Basic multiplication and division facts
* Multiplication and division facts as inverse operations
* Multiplication properties of 0 and 1
* Place value through 100’s
* Fractions in daily life
* Decimal numeration system
* Basic concept of ratio
* Geometry puzzles and activities
* Estimation
* Common customary and metric measures of time, weight, length, volume, shape, temperature
* Telling time and using the calendar
* Handling money (coins)
* Problem solving
* Charts and graphs
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