I know the Texas Law, but where do I start looking for Kindergarten?

Question

I am getting ready to homeschool my 4 year old daughter. She is ready for kindergarten however she has to wait another year because her 5th birthday is 30 days after the birthday deadline. I want to homeschool her this year and if we show progress and we enjoy it, I'd like to homeschool my oldest as well (who will be in 3rd grade by that time). If I wait to put her in public school and something happened and they held her back in any grade she will be in the same grade with her younger sister who is only 18mths younger. To me that would be a severe blow to her ego and confidence. I really want to give homeschooling a try but I am nervous.

I want to pick and choose affordable curriculum for her that will work. Where should I start? The obvious things are letters/sounds, shapes, colors, etc, but what else?

Answer 1

I started homeschooling with a "let's try it and see" attitude, and we absolutely love it.  I hope to continue homeschooling my children until they graduate from high school.

It is normal to be nervous at first because most of us are used to traditional education.  Here are some of the top homeschooling fears:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Here's some information on homeschooling preschool:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

For kindergarten, I usually recommend choosing a simple phonics and math program, and then reading books, going on outings and doing fun projects to fill in the rest.  We used Abeka for math and phonics ( http://www.abeka.com ), but there are many pograms available.  I tried to keep formal lessons fairly short and no more than 45 minutes per day.

Look for a program that fits your child's learning style.  Here's some information on learning styles:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

If you want to do a complete program, some popular kindergarten programs are:

http://www.fiarhq.com

http://www.sonlight.com

http://www.winterpromise.com

Here are some tips for making homeschooling affordable:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Good luck!

Answer 2

Start by asking yourself why you want to home school. Is it just because you think it might be a good idea? Is it because you want to give your children an education customized for their needs, strengths and weaknesses? Is it because you want to give them an advantage, academically? This is an important and often overlooked first step. If you're thinking of homeschooling only because it looks like a good idea, I guarantee you will quit eventually, because it is hard, demanding, full time work. If you don't have a firm conviction of why are you pursuing this lifestyle, you will have a really hard time sticking with it. So, start by clearly identifying what you want to accomplish by teaching your children at home. Why you want to homeschool will guide what you choose to teach and how.

For example; your goal could be to give them an academic advantage - in which case you might look into some simple workbooks in math, letters, shapes and colors. You can find these at Staples for about $5 each. At 4 years old your daughter should only do about 30 minutes a day of workbook assignments. Spend another hour or so (broken into 2 or 3 smaller sessions) reading aloud to her. We had great success with "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," too.  Go through that one or two pages a day. The rest of her time should be spent in exploring, playing, and discovering the world around her. Add a couple of small chores she is responsible for on a daily basis to help build a sense of responsibility and cooperation, and viola! you're doing kindergarten.