Need to Know About Home Schooling a 5 Year Old

I've been a homeschooling mom for 17 years, and have graduated two, and this year will be three. One of my homeschool graduates just graduated from Georgetown University in Washington DC, and will be going to law school next year in Virginia. He has a $40,000 schlarship based on his grades!
For a five year old, I never worried about teaching anything except how to read. Once you get them reading, homeschooling is a breeze. With 10 children, I have been very easy on myself, the only thing we really learn from textbooks is Math and English, then we read, read, read. Someone told me I follow the Charlotte Mason method, I didn't realize that, this has just seemed right to me. And it has worked out well for us.
A wonderful book to teach your child to read with is "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons."

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I have been homeschooling for 3 years. I have an 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son. There is a lot of information out there. There is a homeschool book fair in May at the convention center in Arlington. It is great, but huge. I use the Charlotte Mason method and it works great for us. If you have more questions, please email me. You can look on www.simplycharlottemason.com

It's a great adventure to homeschool. Blessings to you as you start on this journey.

L.

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Hi G.,

We've been homeschooling/unschooling since my daughter was 5.5. She'll be 11 in June. It's awesome, and I'd never go back to public schooling of her. I have a baby on the way--due April 28th--and she'll never be subjected to public school.

Homeschooling is the wave of the future. It's safe, nurturing, and life-enhancing. Shows kids they are worthy of respect now, instead of when they reach that magical age of 18.

There are tons of homeschooling groups you can join to get help or support with whatever method of homeschooling you choose. I can personally recommend DFWSaFE, and dfw_hs or is it dfw-hs? I'm not sure, but look in the yahoo groups directory.

Good luck!

N.
Little Elm

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I could have written Mary's post! My 4 children learn exactly the way hers do (in that order) and my oldest is a girl and the other 3 are boys, lol.

Anyhow, we're on about our 7th year of homeschooling. It has been (and still is) an amazing journey and such an amazing lifestyle for our family. We do not plan on ever putting our children in "school" (until college).

It took us a few years to find our niche and work out what curriculum does/doesn't work for us, and for each child. Don't ever be afraid to change curriculum if you feel like it's not working for you or your children. Don't be afraid to be outside the box and be unconventional. Workbooks are nice, but real world learning is the best!

Try to be as free and flexible as possible. Take advantage of the good weather and spend lots of time outdoors, go on nature walks or the zoo. Don't be afraid to drop schoolwork if a playdate comes up. Don't be afraid to change your homeschool style/structure.

We've schooled-at-home, unschooled, child-led learning, been eclectic, using strict curriculum, used relaxed curriculum, done on-line curriculum, and through all our changes, we never saw it as failure, we just saw it as finding our niche in our homeschooling world, or adapting to our current lifestyle.

Join a homeschool group - in my opinion that is key! You and your children must have a group for playdates, outings and fellowship! And it's a great place for support, to ask questions about specific curriculum, to get tips and tricks, and so much more. Our family could have never been successful w/o the support of our homeschool group over the years!

Good luck to you and God Bless!

--S.
~~ Homeschooling Mommy to 4 Little Texans ~~

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I'm finishing up Kindergarten this year with my little boy. We did Abeka for math and Lifepac for language arts. I have already purchased the same books for next year. We are also doing Sunlight core B for Social Studies. I picked up a copy of Real Science 4 Kids' book Pre-level one Chemistry. My son loves it as a bedtime story. He runs around telling everyone that we're made of atoms.

I made my decisions on what to do based on the homeschool book fair last week, and also on what was available in homeschool curriculum stores. I like to be able to page through what I'm choosing and make a real decision. It's hard to do during the crush of the Book Fair, but much easier if you go to the book store.

My favorite curriculum store in The Book Cover in North Richland Hills. It's great! They have a wonderful play area for the kids and will pop in a movie for them. The people that work there know their stuff! I really recommend the trip.

K.

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Hello G.

I just wanted to tell you I think you would be doing a wonderful thing for your children. I was homeschooled and enjoyed it. Now I can't say much about teaching your own children because my husband and I are trying to adopt right now and a freind told me to get on this web site. However I can help out with any questions. First I would say YOU NEED TO GO TO THE BOOKFAIR next week in Arlington. If you have any other questions please feel free to email me. My parents have been one of the co-directors of the book fair for over 15 years. You can go to the website of www.homeschoolbookfair.org and find out so much more. You wouldn't believe all that is out there. Most 5 year olds love to do the hands on things. I can say if you are in to music and reading. Sing Spell Read and Write is the best program for that. It's more about how you feel your child best learns. And this book fair will help you find out your teaching style with your daughters learning style. You will also get to hear differnt work shops and see all the products first hand. Take care.

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The home-school book and cirriculum fair is being held in Arlington at the Arlington Convention Center in May. The dates are May 9-10 if I am not mistaken. Mothers day is Sunday May 11. It is always the friday and saturday right before Mothers Day just in case I have the number date wrong. THere will be a large number of vendors, speakers and homeschool kids. It will give you a chance to look and touch and see alot of things.
I have homeschooled our 3 sons. They have never been in public school. They are 13, 11 1/2 and 8.
you are welcome to email me off-group.
____@____.com
You can also go to the Texas Homeschool Coalition website to read up and find a local support group in your area. Anyone from the support group would be happy to help you also. Coalition website is www.thsc.org
hope all that helps. Since your dtr is so young, you might want to consider the book. What Your kindergartener needs to know, or Everything your Kindergartner needs to know. I can't remember the exact title. It is a collection of books that are very useful K-8 and beyond. we used them as loose cirriculum until we settled on something a little more formal. At 5 yrs old, you have some time to hunt for what you want but the Needs to know book, you can use right away so that she is learning something while you are hunting around. You can also use any workbook with phonics, math, etc. Like you see at wal-mart. looks like a big work-book with a bee or character on it. it will ge good enough to get you started for now.
good luck,
L.

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My kids have been home for several years. We had one year at public school. Kids wanted to come back home after that. We have changed curriculum many times as we've found what works. They all love books and love reading. I have an early reader and a late bloomer. What is nice is that I can tailor to their specific needs. At 5, I don't think you need to invest too much yet. Read. Read. Read. Books are you friend. Go to the library. Go to the park. Play with fingerpaints. Let her help in the kitchen, measuring and pouring. Take this time when she is learning to read to investigate different methods. There is a wealth of information online. I like www.thehomeschoolmom.com. Join a homeschool group. You'll get the support of other families and find some great ideas.

1 mom found this helpful

I am finishing up my first year of homeschooling my five-year-old daughter. We used Veritas Press (www.veritaspress.com) for our materials which features Phonics Museum as its reading program, and we were very pleased with the program and the experience. I especially liked how Phonics Museum taught reading along with familiarizing my daughter with great works of art.

For math, we worked with Horizons math and we have found that it has worked well. My daughter is not a big fan of mathematics so this program which is colorful and uses a lot of review has kept her attention and she has learned the math that a Kindergartner should know.

One of the best resources that I found for our first year of homeschooling was a program called Smoothing the Way (www.smoothingtheway.com), which is a support group especially for Moms in their first year of homeschooling. The meetings are once/month and center around a topic each month on some aspect of homeschooling. It has been fantastic to be able to ask experienced homeschool Moms some of those burning questions.

Some of the best advice that I was given was to remember that you are providing an exemplary education for your child even if you struggle at times along the way. Your child is getting one-on-one attention and guidance from one of the most important people in his or her life. There will be moments when you wish you could send your little person on the big yellow bus just like every other Mom does and have the day to yourself, but those moments are few when you get to see your child learning and know that you are the one who taught her. Also, a kindergartener does not need to be homeschooled for 8 hours like a public school kindergartner would be. There is a lot of time in school that kids have to do busy work while the teacher works with a struggling student or when the class is standing in line, going to lunch, etc. As a homeschooler, you can bypass all of those obligations and work at your child's speed. We fly through our reading and bible time, but I have to take extra time with math for my daughter. Sometimes a school "day" will take us about 2 hours to complete and some take 3 or 4 depending on the difficulty of the material and whether or not we are including a special project in our workday.

Homeschooling can be overwhelming and difficult at times, but it truly is rewarding! I wish you the very best of luck!!

We have not regretted our decision to homeschool. Our boys are 7 and 4. There are so many resources available. I didn't know where to start so I headed to the library. I read several books on homeschooling so I could decide what direction to take. I decided that I didn't want a rigid "school at home" approach (set curriculum for every subject), so I chose to make my own curriculum by picking and choosing different books. Now, I've been researching a method called "The Thomas Jefferson Education" and I'll be attending a seminar to learn more about it. I think the best thing to do is research what is out there, then decide what your family's educational goals are. Good luck!

This is our 1st year homeschooling and my kids swear they will never go back to PS. There are so many different curriculms', I would suggest going to www.rainbowresource.com , they have the best prices and a HUGE selection to choose from - they'll even talk with you on the phone if you have questions!

Also, you may wish to join Frisco HIS: www.friscohis.org . They offer a huge variety of fieldtrips and park days - you and your children will make new friends. You may, at some point wish to look into a co-op. Especially if you homeschool into high school. My oldest is currently in 4th grade and we were lucky enough to get into a co-op immediately. I am not an arts and music person, so may kids take clay, drawing, music and singing at the co-op. They've taken elementary physics and cooking too! The friends they made and the experience alone was worth any time investment on my part.

There are so many curriculm choices out there! Don't be afraid to try something and just stop and say "this isn't working for us". I used Veritas Press, Alpha Omega, Sing Read and Spell, Bob Jones University, IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) and found some of these worked for us and some really didn't. Right after starting one program we just put it in the "to be sold" box and purchased something else for that subject.

Good luck and I hope to meet you at park day soon!

I homeschooled my son through 1st grade. He was brilliant and I felt he'd be bored in a school environment. I also didn't want my son in a public school environment. Given that, I found homeschooling to be "easy" since he was such a quick and avid learner. Not all children are. When he got to 2nd grade, we both needed a break! Being Mom, disciplinarian, taxi driver AND teacher was too much for both of us! My husband works from home and the bickering between me and my son all day was too much for him to even get any work done! We enrolled him this year in a Classical, Christian school and are so very pleased. He has learned more this year than I ever could have taught him...including piano. Next year he will learn Latin. I was most scared about phonics because when he got to 1st grade, I had never worked with him on it once and it is very intense. He picked it up quickly and I am pleased with his progress. If he ever asks for help with it, he can't come to his parents, though! :) All those marks and coding blows my little mind! By 3rd grade, it would have become overwhelming for him to pick up, I think. Kindergarten is very easy. I worked with him mostly on math and reading/spelling. That's all they really need at that age.

I have homeschooled 4 children....2 are in or have completed college. I believe that ABEKA is by far the best curriculum. I've tried many....ABEKA is "drill" intensive and takes a little more teacher time, but I always come back to it....even with my boy.

Hi G.: I dont homeschool myself, but have many friends that do. In the DFW area, there are 2 Home School Shows where you can get advice, insight and also compare and contrast the products. One is at the Plano Centre and the other in Arlington at the Convention Center near the Ball Park. That one is coming up in May, you can do a search for it online I am sure. I have had a booth there in the past and they are very busy. You should be able to attend informational sessions also. Good luck with your decision, I think that you will know if it is for you or not.

I have homeschooled my son from a toddler and he is
in high school now. It was a huge challenge for me
at first to know what to use... but what I learned from
others who gave me advise.. try various styles of
teaching and find what you child excels in..we all
learn by different learning types. some are more visual
some more auditory..etc...didnt take too long to find
my son worked well from work books..rather than a set
curriculum.. we picked from here and there.I will highly
suggest for reading.. Hooked On Phonics!! it was great !!!
I couldnt get him to catching on at all and when I got that
he just took off and never read easy readers he went into
more advanced books. and he was good at spelling after
that also. One of the best things I ever got for us.
I would get a variety
of materials on what ever topic we were wanting to learn from.
I also got some great CDs for the computer. he loved those!
and really learned a lot there. Once I learned what he
did well using as far as materials then I knew what basic
direction to go in with him. later on our homeschool association
created a co-op and that was a huge help by the time he was
in about 3rd grade. we have done that for many years. gives
you a break and they get to learn from someone else which ads
a bit more varitey in thier life. this one we go only one day a week some I hear may go twice a week? But.It can be totally overwhelming
on curriculums now.. there is SO MUCH available from what
there used to be. They have a book fair in arlington twice a
year.. for homeschoolers and teachers...that is where a vast
majority of homeschoolers go to check what may be available and
get thier materials for the year. YOU HAVE to watch it tho..
can spend way too much money !! ha ha
but it is totally overwhelming at first...there is so much
there! If your interesed in the book fair email me and I will
do my best to let you know when the next one will be.. they
always have one in MAY and Aug..there is a small fee to get in
but well worth it!! ____@____.com

Hi G.. We have been home schooling for 11 years and have used My Father's World for the last 5 years and love it!! You can view it at www.mfwbooks.com.

G.

I love homeschooling! There are lots of reviews on curriculum and lots of websites out there, just google.

The best things you could do is go here:

http://www.homeschoolbookfair.org/

I wouldnt plan on buying that day, as you dont want to make a rushed decision. But take the time to look around at everything and see what interests you.

I do not know where in the metroplex you are, but we have a homeschool group at church that meets on Fridays. I am in Grand Prairie. There are lots of local groups, I am just not sure how to find them.

Hi G.,
We are finishing our second year of homeschooling and the choices are amazing.
I second the opinion about attending the home school book fair. I found it incredibly helpful to see different curriculums demonstrated. I also agree that at age five you don't have to worry much about a defined curriculum. If you plan to continue then the book fair will be a great resource. For now, teaching your child to read and just exposing her to art and music and nature, that's all you really need!
Good luck! After trying out a lot of different academic situations I think homeschooling is the best option out there!

Hi G.,
I realize you posted this long ago and have probably made decisions by now. None the less, I'd like to toss another option out to you. I am a licensed teacher with 13 years teaching experience. I will be opening a private school out of my home this fall. To begin with, I will take in kids kinder through second grades. I'd love to find a core group to work with at least until high school. I have an ad under Local Business Reviews Academics k-8 with a couple reviews and one under home schooling with another review, if you'd like more info. The School for Enlightened Learning is very child centered, and I hope to expand to a seperate facility in the near future. I offer quality education and I'm cheaper than a traditional private school! Best of luck in whatever you decide!

Homeschooling for our family was and is the best decision we have made for our children's education. As you can tell there are many others who feel the same way and I do hope if there are families out there who are on the fence and are thinking about it, that God will show them what is right for their family. We have two, our son 13 and our daughter almost 12 and we have homeschooled from the beginning. Yes we have had bad days but the benefits still out weigh any bad day. It has been an awesome journey and to know that within 5-6 years, they will have completed their academic schooling, I have to say, I am trying to enjoy every moment of their time here at home before its over.

There are many coops and curriculum out there. Someone else has mentioned to have you attend the bookfair in Arlington, that is an excellent idea http://www.homeschoolbookfair.org/. It is held in May and it will allow you to see many many curriculum. I have attended every year and plan to go again with my daughter this year. Once you decide what curriculum you would like to use, try www.vegsource.com. They have a homeschooling link on the left side (scroll down) which will allow you to purchase used curriculum. I have sold and bought many books from this site.

Throughout the years, like many, we have switched curriculum for one reason or another will continue to do that as needed depending our children's needs.

If you would like to view reviews on different curriculum, please view http://cathyduffyreviews.com/

Need to learn more on homeschool nationwide, go to http://www.hslda.org. They have an excellent 4 year high school plan that I am now looking at since our son is starting to take high school classes.

I'm sure you will receive much much more advice. It can be overwhelming. Sort through it, everything always works out in the end.

Look into My father's World for the young ones. I have heard that it is an excellent curriculum. That is one of many. Surre wish they had it when my two were young.

Any questions, feel free to email me.

Blessings
C.

Inspiring the Wellness In You!
www.pebblecrossing.com

I homeschooled all of our kids (4) for kindergarten. It was the some of the best times I had with each of our kids. It was especially sweet because it was time set aside for that child alone.
We used a combination of things because each child is different. You will find tons of resources out there but the trick is to find out what works for you and your child. You know what they like to do so play off that. And I do mean play.
Each of our kids were different in how they approached learning. I used the same curriculum with each of them but we came at it from different directions.
Oldest: Daughter: by the book, took to learning like a fish. Reading before October.
Next: Son: outside the box kid, had to touch and experience everything, so I made letter cookies and play dough shapes. We used tactile counters and had lots of large motor activities.
Next: Son: creative (most raw intelligence), however lazy learner. Everything came so easily that he tricked me for months and didn't show that he was not "really" reading phonetically until about February. Where was I? Anyway, we started over and he learned well.
Last Son: Memorizations King but not easily applied. He is seventh grade and still needs help overcoming some learning differences but if I can make a memorization of facts he has it down in no time.

They are ALL Different!
Find something you can use and adapt it to their particular style of learning. Get into a good support group and become a student of teaching. It will take you the rest of your life. Have fun.

One of the best curriculms out there is Abeka. It is wonderful and advanced. When I homeschooled my boys, that is what we used. They now go to a private school, and that is what is used there. The homeschool package will include an aide for the parent on how to teach their program to your child.

G.,

I began homeschooling last year and it has been the absolute best thing for our family. We began homeschooling our seventh grader and will be adding our 3rd grader next fall. I found a great deal of assistance from Creative Arts in Action on Watauga Road. They have a Welcome to Homeschool Class which will be held on the 24th. They offer great support, wonderful classes and awesome cirriculum.

I didn't start in a co-op, but joined this spring. It is an incredible blessing. We belong to Sonlight Enrichment Classes (sonlightclasses.org). It is an incredible support and wonderful families who are very willing to mentor and assist you. There are many wonderful co-ops out there and would encourage you to check them out.

My daughters have both had their core spelling, but have heard fabulous things about Shurley Grammer. We have had incredible success with Super Math by Dr. Miles Jones (I teach it at Creative Arts) and use the TLP (Total Language Program) which is literature based program. Beautiful Feet is a wonderful program as well.

There is soooo much. Creative Arts really helped me determine what to use with my daughter who has some special needs due to learning disabilities. I would encourage you to check them out.

In addition, the Homeschool Book fair is coming in May. I would encourage you to go for the seminars, and avoid the book store, because it can really overwhelm you.

I hope this helps. If you want to discuss, please let me know.

Deb Fadler

I currently home school my 9 year old daughter, and will be starting my 5 year old son this coming fall. Previously we spent hundreds of dollars a month to send her to a private school, and was not impressed with either the quality of teaching, or the behavior allowed by the other students. While homeschooling, so far I've had great success and have said I will do it as long as it continues to work for our family. We use Seton Catholic Home School. For about $500 for the year we get all of her books, which are ours to keep, the lesson plans, on-line and phone counseling/tutoring. They've been nothing but helpful and supportive, I cannot say enough good things about them. They are nationally accredited, and at the end of each quarter I submit her work (either my mail or on-line), and she gets a report card. They send out a California Achievement Test at the beginning of each "school year", to access the child's level, and as the parent/teacher I decide where she should be placed in each subject. She is offically in the third grade, but I have her in 4th grade reading and phonics since she's excells in those subjects. If she is serious about getting her school work done for the day and concentrates, we get through all her work in about two or three hours, and she has the rest of the day to herself. I hope you find my experience helpful in making your decision, please feel free to contact me if I can provide you with anymore information.

If you are a Christian I feel ABeka is the way to go. My (ex) sis in law home schooled her kids thru high school in this program. I only sent my kids to christian schools that used this program. It comes with DVD's and workbooks. It's a great curriculum. I am so glad my kids used it. I know my sis in law has always been very happy with it, over 10 years at least.

Hi! We have been homeschooling part-time while our son has been going to Kindergarten three days a week (all in Spanish). We've had a good time doing it. After all the advice and watching what other successful homeschool families have done, we finally chose our cirriculum for next year. Basically, you have to decide what kind of cirriculum you want - literature based, character based, project intensive, etc. We chose Sonlight because we LOVE to read and it is literature based. The website is good, but I highly recommend requesting a catalog. I felt like the catalog helped me understand all that was included and how it worked. www.sonlight.com This is a fun adventure! Have fun!

I have been homeschooling for about 12 years. I now have six children at home ages 4, 6, 9, 11, 14, 16. There is a lot of different curriculum to chose from, but with your 5 year old, just reading and hands on activities is what I have found to be the most beneficial. Children learn best by playing. We have learning songs, dvds, books on tapes, lots of problem solving games.

Good Luck

i homeschooled my daughter for high school only. I f i could have started earlier Abeka is the way to go. Also get involved with a homeschool group. google them in your area. We were members of the McKinney group. There were lots of possibilities. Carrollton has alot to offer too. Those were the ones in my area.