I finally made the decision to go back to homeschooling my young dude. I did so for kindergarten and it was pretty easy to find everything I needed, but now that I'm looking for computer based, secular curriculum for 5th grade and up I'm running into a few walls. What I need is 100% computer based (no textbooks) that will allow him to self-teach and work at his own pace. What I'm finding ... well, isn't that. So why not ask here, I figure. Any suggestions or links will be greatly appreciated. Or even hints and tips, cos man I'm not as sure about this as I was 5 years ago.
You might actually check into your state. Our state (poorest in nation), but we have what is called connections. Total on line and paid for by the state. They even provide the computer. It is very much for the motivated student. There are live teachers for help and such. We tried it, and it was too intense for my special needs boys. Connection Academy
Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm in that boat as well. My young dude has a string a letters that follow him around (ASD, ADHD, AD, SPD ... I could go on but you get the idea), and he's never been able to fit into the school board standard. I did have him in a private school that was pretty awesome, but even that got to be too much for him, so ... not many options left after that.
@blueberries you can go the eclectic route. this is like a buffet for school. my now 14 and in 7th grader came to us in 2nd grade, they held him back and he still had so many holes, school was a struggle every day. I took him home to school and we started Kinder Math and 2nd grade english I used Math U See and Easy Grammar and Spelling (Soaring with Spelling/Vocab) he flew threw it, and we did 6 years of school in 2 and half years, we schooled over the summer and I added Science and History of things we wanted to learn. Searching for curriculum was addicting to me! Lots of experiments, hands off, just fun things. You tube videos and laughter. He started public school this year, he could have gone into 8th grade, but we wanted him strong and confident. He is straight A's, and LOVEs school. My other boys, I threw up my hands and sent back to public school, as they had no initiative to try. I couldn't do that. One is now in a treatment center, and the other is doing pretty good in public school. He is actually doing better than before. **there is also this totally free all in one HOmeschool called Easy Peasy. It is mostly on line, and once you get into it, is great. My brain took a bit to wrap around. I did it for kinder and help in reading for my now 10 year old.
@AnneofAlamo Man I'm really looking forward to the addicted to searching part. Right now I'm at the really frustrated part :-D Big thanks for the suggestions.
We're secular! But we're unschoolers so I don't have any curriculum suggestions. I can suggest not jumping into anything. That was one of the most frequent bits of advice I heard when I was immersed in homeschool discussion groups and attended the annual homeschoolers' convention. You don't have to have a curriculum in place to homeschool and so many people regret the money they spent on sets that didn't work out. Visit the library and museums and watch videos and do experiments, etc, for the first few months while you research and figure out what you want to do. p.s. My always unschooled kids are 17, 15, and 12 now.
@michelepixels oh wow, unschooling is really more aligned with what I'm after (which is basically just putting things in front of him and letting him figure it out on his own), but I surely didn't think I'd find anyone here taking that path. So having said that, any tips/links/suggestions you'd care to pass along would be gratefully appreciated.
I have been homeschooling my daughter for six years now. We started in Kindergarten and she is in fifth grade now. We have gone through so much different curriculum over the years finding what fits best for us. Seeing what you're looking for, I wanted to recommend Khan Academy. This is a FREE online math curriculum for grades Kindergarten through 12th grade. We began using it three years ago. At first, I made my daughter did it alongside our Horizons math book. However, she was getting so much more out of Khan Academy, so we switched to it exclusively. She is learning tremendously and is enjoying it as well. She is completely in charge of the learning and I get an email on her progress, what she has worked on, and what skills she needs work on weekly. They actually offer a lot of other subject areas on here as well, but this is the only part we use exclusively. My daughter also enjoys doing the grammar on there for fun.
@GlazeFamily3 - thank you so much for that. I've seen that site in several of my searches today, finally popped over to take a look. A quick glance is showing amazing potential (the computer classes!!). Also love that your daughter does grammar work for fun, that's a kid I can relate to :-D
This was one of my favorite unschooling websites in my early days. I think it's probably still awesome, but have to admit I haven't looked at it in a few years other than when I'm pulling up up to copy the link. https://www.joyfullyrejoycing.com/unschooling For more practical ideas (the website above is more on the philosophy of unschooling; not a lot of specific ideas, if I remember correctly), I'll try to list some off the top of my head. One of my kids' favorite ways to learn history was from Crash Course History. And the channel has branched out into lots of other topics likes sciences and theater. Have you looked for homeschool groups in your area? That's a great way to go on field trips and their might be co-op situations in which parents offer classes to groups of homeschoolers. Get real books on topics of interest. Much better than textbooks. I'm in an active FB group called My Unschooler Is Interested In. . . which is a good resource for ideas. See the learning in everything. Talk about why things are. Discuss what you watch and things you see. Welcome questions. Help him get what he needs to make or do what he wants, such as build something or put on a production. Talk to experts in the field if possible. I have often felt like a secretary for my kids, as I monitor opportunities coming our way through online groups and social media, offer them to my kids, and schedule them. Best advice I ever heard: There are no educational emergencies. We also don't have to excel at every subject. It's okay to spent more time on some and none on others. For example, some people might be shocked that my high school daughters have not done algebra. But they excel at the performing arts, and one is also a writer. I've never used algebra again after high school myself (beyond the basic concept of solving for an unknown), even though I graduated from college and became a teacher. And now I'm starting to philosophize instead of giving practical tips! I'm sorry. It's really individual anyway. That's the point of homeschooling, and especially unschooling. In schools they try to standardize everyone and they teach to the average. When you're mentor to one (or a few) children, you can personalize everything to what they need, and they become strong in a few things instead of just okay with the basic subjects school deems important. Ask your son what he'd like to do. Plan some activities, outings, experiments, etc based on that. Be open and one thing will naturally lead to the next. My 17 year old daughter came down while I was typing that last paragraph and I asked her what advice she'd give to someone starting out unschooling with a 5th grader. She says to find a good balance so you're not being pushy but also not leaving them up to their own devices. Feel free to ask questions!
@michelepixels no need to apologize, I tend to wax ecstatic about things myself, including my contradictory/paradoxical feelings about the pubic school system :-D Many thanks for the links. Crash Course looks to be a solid winner, considering how much time he spends on YT. Looks like this might be the thing to drive me back to Facebook, too; most of the secular groups I found years ago are no longer around, or no longer quite secular. Thanks most of all for this: There are no educational emergencies. That's something I really need to remind myself of, and frequently. It's way too easy to let worry and negative thoughts spiral into flat out panic that I'm ruining any chance he might ever have.
Just remembered another group I'm in. Definitely still secular. https://www.facebook.com/groups/Secular.Homeschool.Families/ Heading to bed now, but will be happy to talk more tomorrow and beyond!
@blueberries I came across another favorite unschooler blog and remembered our conversation. The writer is a young adult who was unschooled so it’s a great opportunity to get that perspective. https://yes-i-can-write.blogspot.com/
