GETTING STARTED WITH HOMESCHOOLING FOR THE PRESCHOOLER

When I first decided that I wanted to start my daughter on a homeschool curriculum she was 2 years old.  I had no idea where to start and it was so overwhelming to look at things online.  When she turned 2.5 it seemed that many of her friends were starting preschool.  I knew that I need to make up my mind on what I wanted to do with her.  We had already been working on the basics; colors, ABC's, numbers and shapes.  But, I was needing something more structured.  I wanted to share with you a wonderful website that I have found with everything that you need and best of all it's FREE!  At this stage of her education I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on her curriculum.  I know that eventually I will have to, but not at the moment.  Before I tell you the website I just want to tell you that I get no payment for posting this and promoting their website.  I just think it's just a great resource and people need to know about it.  The website is called www.easypeasy.com  The curriculum can be started as early as 3 years old.  It's called "Getting Ready 1".  Everything you need is laid out and ready to print.  I wish I would have had someone to tell me about it when I was looking.  I hope that this post helps you as you start your homeschooling journey.  :)

WHY WE ARE CHOOSING HOMESCHOOLING FOR OUR CHILDREN

After speaking with my husband we have decide to homeschool our children.  The more we look at how the school system is being ran it was very clear to us that the morals and values being taught didn't go with our own.  Being a christian household we want our children to learn about God and not have other influences tell our children otherwise.  We are very strong in our faith and of course teach our children ourselves.  But, we want a curriculum that has learning not only academically, but also spiritually.  It seems that the school system wants to teach about every religion with the except of Christianity.  If our children decide later on that they would like to try a more traditional schooling then we would be open to that also.  But, they would be attending a christian school. 

One thing that I have learned over the last year or so is how the homeschooling community is growing.  Religious families are realizing that the best interest for their children is to teach them at home.  To me this is wonderful news!  Not only is there homeschooling co-ops, but local parks and recs are actually starting to have sports just for the homeschooling children! I grew up playing sports and it was a huge part of my childhood.  I want to make sure that my children have that opportunity and now they can.  

There is also the concern with school violence.  It seems there is constant reporting on shootings.  The horrible feeling those parents must having not know if their child is safe or not.  I couldn't imagine those feelings and hopefully will never have too.  It seems to be a reoccurring trend and I want no part of it.  

Lastly, as most of you know if you have read previous blog post we are a military family.  Our family will be moving around every few years and homeschooling our children will make that easier for not only us, but our children.  There will never be a delay in their education while we are PCSing.  

I know there is lots of stereotypes of home schooled children.  But, it seems those are slowly starting to fade away.  The research is there and below I have listed just a few reasons why it's great to homeschool if you can.  

 There are about 2.2 million home-educated students in the United States. There were an estimated 1.73 to 2.35 million children (in grades K to 12) home educated during the spring of 2010 in the United States (Ray, 2011). It appears the homeschool population is continuing to grow (at an estimated 2% to 8% per annum over the past few years).

• The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests. (The public school average is the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.)
• Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.
•  Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges
• The home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem
• go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.