Fun and Effective Home Learning Activities for Every Subject
As a homeschooling parent, you're always looking for new and creative ways to teach your child the basics. Look no longer! Inside this innovative helper, you'll find kid-tested and parent-approved techniques for learning math, science, writing, history, manners, and more that you can easily adapt to your family's homeschooling needs. And even if you don't homeschool, you'll find this book a great teaching tool outside the classroom. You'll discover fun and educational activities for kids ages 3 to 12, including how to:
·Create maps based on favorite stories, such as Treasure Island or The Wizard of Oz
·Make letters out of French fries as an alphabet learning aid
·Explore architecture by building igloos, castles, and bridges with sugar cubes and icing
·Review spelling words by writing them on the sidewalk with chalk
·And many more!
This comprehensive collection of tried-and-true—and generally inexpensive—ideas provides the best-of-the-best homeschooling activities that can be done anywhere, anytime, and by anyone.

This ambitious reference guide lives up to its name. Practically three inches thick--and we're not talking large print here--it's packed with titles, ordering information, and Web site addresses. From where to send away for a kit to make your own Chilean rain stick to how to order a set of Elizabethan costume paper dolls, the book connects families to a world of learning possibilities. Book titles, short synopses, authors' names, publishers, and years of print make up the bulk of the guide. Classics such as The Cat in the Hat and Curious George share billing with lesser-known titles like Stone Fox, the story of a legendary Indian dog-sled racer. Every entry appears with recommended ages and an icon that shows whether the item is a book, computer disc, or video; an outstretched palm denotes hands-on materials. Most of the resources seem to have been test-driven by the author and her three homeschooled sons. Rebecca Rupp, a former scientist who has been teaching her kids at home for more than 10 years, peppers the guide with anecdotes about her children's experiences in various subject areas, much of it drawn from the family's extensive journals. Along with books, magazines, and kits for reading, math, writing, science, and history, a considerable amount of space is given to computer and television resources, as well as "life skills," a broad category that includes everything from etiquette and carpentry to sewing and sex education. Like a Yellow Pages guide to knowledge, The Complete Home Learning Sourcebook belongs on the shelf of anyone looking for new ways to spark a child's imagination. --Jodi Mailander Farrell

The key to successful home education is determining your educational philosophy and linking it to your child’s learning style. Then you can make an informed decision in choosing the right educational curriculum for the child. Homeschool guru Cathy Duffy can help you accomplish these critical tasks, with her top choices from every subject area, approaching everything through a Christian worldview perspective. 

You have decided to home school your children. You have been thinking and praying about it for some time. As September approaches you know it is time. Where to start? The choices seem overwhelming.

Although you want to jump right into your curriculum search, it will benefit you to slow down and take a good look at your expectations and goal in choosing a curriculum for your family.

Need a homeschool preschool curriculum? Have you thought about homeschooling your child – but aren’t sure you have what it takes to persevere? Homeschooling during the preschool ages is a great way to try everything out and see if it’s going to work for your family. Homeschooling preschool children also has many side benefits. It gives you something constructive to do during those long daytime hours while your husband is at work. And it will help you bond with your children in a way that nothing else will. Watching your preschooler learn and grow is a wonderful experience – and one that you and your child will both enjoy. You can purchase a great homeschool preschool curriculum that is all ready to go, if that’s what you’re interested in doing. Or, you can come up with activities on your own.

Finding suitable curricular materials can be frustrating as periodicals, in general, do not review K-12 educational materials. Here are several suggestions that will help in your search to find K-12 materials. Note that this page is geared more toward finding individual materials.

You've made the decision to homeschool, so what's next? These suggestions can make choosing a curriculum a bit smoother.

This veteran group of home educators from around the blogosphere joins together to spread the word about their favorite curricla to help you make informed decisions for your homeschool. Their methods and philosophies vary, which means you will find curriculum reviews for an amazing spectrum of materials. You'll find reviews of curricula, books, games, and more.

The thought of homeschooling your children may seem quite overwhelming at first. There are so many questions going through your head. Where do I get curriculum, what curriculum should I use, can I really do this, and of course what about socialization? Let me put your mind at ease. It's not as difficult as it looks.

The homeschool shopping season has begun. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you select materials.

Online message boards and support groups are great ways for homeschooling families to share information about curriculum and teaching methods. We all like to go beyond reading the paid advertisements or professional reviews to learn from the experience of "real families." But in doing this, it's important to realize that there are as many different opinions of the best curriculum and methods as there are homeschooling families. Think of all the variations: personalities, income, number and ages of children, strengths and weaknesses, backgrounds, goals and philosophies. No wonder we don't always agree.