Along with many other families, we unexpectedly got thrown into homeschooling this year!
The decision was pretty easy for me, as I had (and have!) no interest in doing a hybrid or virtual approach, and I didn’t want my kids going back in person full-time… basically school wasn’t happening for us this year – so homeschool was the only option for us! (I did feel torn because I didn’t want our public school to lose funding when we withdrew, but I didn’t see any way around that.)
At first I was going to opt out of school altogether. I have a preschooler and a kindergartener, do they really need school?! No, probably not. However, my kids love more structured learning (in small doses) and Clara is an older kindergartner, so I want her to be confident in her knowledge going into first grade next year. Plus, I was pretty excited about the opportunity to teach them at home for a year!
For all of these reasons, I decided to commit to doing some sort of homeschool for the 2020-2021 school year and wanted to share what materials we’re utilizing in case you need some additional resources / inspiration!
Homeschool Resources for Kindergarten & First Grade
+ Overall Approach: Charlotte Mason via AmblesideOnline
+ Math: Lessons For A Living Education
+ Language Arts: The Good and the Beautiful (the content for the younger grades is free via PDF format, but I opted to purchase the bundle for Level 1 instead of printing it myself)
+ Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears
+ Foreign Language (Spanish): PBS – Salsa
+ Devotional: Leading Little Ones To God
We’re doing a lot of reading from the books recommended through AmblesideOnline for both curriculum and free reading. We also read books suggested by Read-Aloud Revival.
What I’ve learned is that there is sooooo much content and resources out there! I did purchase the workbooks, but AmblesideOnline is free, and we get most of our books from the library.
I also want to mention that we were lucky enough to have the option to send the girls to a fully outdoor school for two days a week, so they’re attending that. I feel like we have the perfect balance of homeschool, nature time, and socialization. Phew! Every once in a while (and this is one of those times!) I hit a spot in parenthood where I truly feel like I’m doing what is absolutely best for my family, and it feels like sweet, sweet relief!
How is school going for your little ones this fall?! Let me know if there are any resources out there I should know about!
