Homeschooling: Getting Started

Interested in homeschooling this year? Not sure where to get started? An important resource for homeschoolers is the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. First find out what the homeschool laws are in your state. When I first started, I wanted support. I did not want to go on this journey alone. So I found my local support groups. You can do a web search, yahoo or google groups search or search here. Another wonderful resource is the library - borrow books for the kids or for homeschooling Moms and attend story hour. I am a lover of the library! Find out what is available at the local library.
When we were first getting started with homeschooling, I bought a magnetic board and magnetic letters. We practiced letters and sounds. We attended story time at the library and borrowed loads of books from the library. I eventually found the Leap Frog DVDs, which I highly recommend: Letter Factory, Talking Words, Talking Words 2 and later Learn to Read.
I attended used curriculum sales to get ideas and make some purchases. I ended up with too many workbooks! I started a wish list for books and educational toys in Microsoft Word for holidays and birthdays. We were learning every day all day long - many teachable moments from manners to letters to sounds to questions about God and nature.
For kindergarten, I purchased used What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. For writing we initially used lined paper, then I found lined dry erase boards. I found them in Walmart for just a few dollars. For Math, we had our own counters (pennies, M&Ms or buttons) and we added and subtracted with them. For Science we learned on our own about nature, hands on. We went out and studied it. When we come upon something, we look it up online or get books out of the library on the subject. For Art, we bought all sorts of supplies and the Draw Write Now Series.
We moved on to reading anything else in the house and some Abeka readers. For Read a louds, we read The Boxcar Children series, Magic Tree House Series and The Little House Series. We added the Explode the Code Series for reading and writing.
This year we have added the Story of the World for history. It has a workbook companion. I've also discovered Edhelper.com is another resource. Some information is free; it is $20 a year for a membership.
Homeschooling is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your kids - quality time. Read, read and read to them! Tap into some resources (I've listed many above) and find tools that work for you and your children. You will be amazed at the teachable moments you encounter on a daily basis. Enjoy the journey!