Homeschool and Textbooks

My advice for families starting to homeschool is to select textbooks for Reading, Math, History, and Science.  Well regarded schools have a solid core curriculum.  What else?  Have your child read a book and do a book report every week.  Alternate between written book reports and oral reports.  Keep a reading log with titles, authors, and dates finished.  Set goals.  My advice is to set aside a block of time each morning for lessons.  The amount depends on the child and his age.  An hour for a little one is a lot!  After lunch, spend time reading.  The afternoon is the time for projects, time-lines, job shadowing with a vet, keyboarding, piano lessons, soccer practice, library visits, volunteering at the SPCA, field trips to the Discovery Museum, bike rides, chalk murals, American Heritage, 4-H, etc.  

At the beginning of each month, dedicate some time to plan a special family project.  Like what?  How about building a vertical wall from recycled pallets?  Canvas panel art?  A backyard bird lapbook?  A topic like birds can lead to building a bird house, posting a backyard bird list, mounting silhouettes to reduce window strikes, bird feeders--even research!  Take on a project your family loves.