Fill in the blank support for new 1st grade homeschooler

[jtbuko]

I am drafting my notice of intent to homeschool my first grader in another window :) I am hoping my third grader will join in soon, but I do not want to force him. For now we are looking at this as a one year adventure. Please play my little fill in the blank game and give me a little support :) Thanks!

My favorite secular curriculum is ____ because _____.

My favorite source of online support for homeschooling parents is ______.

Homeschooling blogs I draw inspiration and ideas from include _______.

I wish I knew _________ before I started homeschooling.

[dogmom327]

What we're using:

Math: Right Start B, Singapore Primary (Standards Ed), and Minquon (I'm trying to slow down a math-gifted kid by giving him different perspectives--all of these are great programs but you probably only need one). We're also playing with Life of Fred for fun.

Language Arts: I really wanted to do Logic of English but I think we're going with All About Spelling, First Language Lessons, and Writing with Ease

History: History Odyssey

Science: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

Logic: Lollipop Logic for now

Art: Art classes at the local art and science museum (I'm terrible with art)

Music: Still working on this, hopefully lessons but probably not until next year (I just don't think he's ready)

PE/Sports: Soccer this spring

Foreign Language: 40 hours a week of speaking Spanish and reading books in Spanish with our new nanny (we are both self-employed) plus Rosetta Stone, plus all TV and videos in Spanish, plus academic Spanish lessons (language arts in Spanish) probably starting next fall maybe through homeschoolspanishacademy.com.

I tend to frequent the Well Trained Mind forum for ideas. Some people on there are secular although they are the minority.

[jtbuko]

Thanks for the response. I have been lurking over at a Well Trained Mind :)
 

[edwardsmom]

Originally Posted by jtbuko 

My favorite secular curriculums are BFSU and Life of Fred because my kids and I have so much fun with them

My favorite source of online support for homeschooling parents is here, Well Trained Mind is too classical/academic/rote memorization for us.

Homeschooling blogs I draw inspiration and ideas from included Almost Unschoolers, but she's stopped blogging.  Her old blogs are still a great resource.

I wish I knew that nurturing a love of learning is more important than learning any specific thing before I started homeschooling.

[onlyzombiecat]

My favorite secular curriculum is ____ because _____.

Sonlight curriculum can easily be used as a secular homeschooler. I like that it is literature based with history as the spine. I think the books are good quality choices. I like that all items can be ordered individually.

Math U See because it gets through to my math challenged dd. I like that it is focused on really understanding and not just memorizing.

We don't have packaged curriculum for other subjects and use a variety of resources.

My favorite source of online support for homeschooling parents is ______.

this forum

The Secular Homeschool Community

Homeschooling blogs I draw inspiration and ideas from include _______.

At this time I am not actively reading homeschool blogs.

I wish I knew _________ before I started homeschooling.

The importance of being flexible and relaxing. You don't have to do what a school is doing or what your neighbor is doing. You don't have to buy a packaged curriculum.

[jtbuko]

Thank you all!