Homeschooling the Younger Years
This page contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support!
If you are homeschooling younger kids, this is the place for you!
April, 2007 seems like a long time ago now, but that’s when I started blogging and sharing our homeschooling journey with family far away. Our kids were 8, 6, 4, and 1.
As the years have gone by and our children have grown, my space here has grown with them.
Now I blog about homeschooling high school,
which is fitting because my professional education specialty and Masters Degree focus on secondary education.
While I no longer create content just for the younger years of homeschooling, you will always find the posts about our days homeschooling younger children.
Plus, I think you’ll find many of my new posts to include the younger set.
This page is dedicated to information you can find here at Blog, She Wrote about homeschooling preschool and elementary school.
Curriculum Choices for Homeschooling the Younger Years
Five in a Row was the foundation of our homeschool in the early years.
We used it in elementary school and for most of middle school as well (using Beyond Five in a Row).
- Five in a Row– the hub of all things Five in a Row related
- Before Five in a Row– the preschool level
- Math on the Level– math maturation is the hallmark of this program along with the 5 a day concept or doing just five problems each day. This post is an FAQ on the program and how we used it in the early years.
- Reading Made Easy– lovely phonics program
- Family Math– lovely math activities to teach number sense and applied math skills
- Start Write– my favorite handwriting software that we used to turn copywork and dictation into handwriting sheets for any age and stage
- Usborne Science Activities– early elementary science books which are easy to follow and come in three volumes. We used these with our Five in a Row lessons.
- Janice VanCleave Science– there are so many books in this series for kids, some on individual topics like plants and some are general
- Life of Fred– the elementary series came on the seen by the time our third and fourth kids were ready for them
- Beautiful Feet History of Science– programs for any age using living books
- Beautiful Feet Geography through Literature– lovely picture book units for geography
Reading in the Younger Years
- The Ultimate Guide to Establishing a Reading Culture in Your Home– All sorts of ideas on how to build into your family’s reading life. Start young and pay attention!
- How to Turn Emergent Readers into Super Readers– it doesn’t require special books and lots of workbooks. So, what do you do after reading instruction is complete and you are working on fluency?
- How to Keep Up with an Accelerated Reader– you know what I’m talking about if you have one! They read fast and they read everything. How in the world do you keep up?
- How to Make the Most of Your Read Aloud Time– reading aloud is one of the best things you can do for your kids. Let’s do it!
English Language Arts in the Younger Years
- Teaching Grammar Using Dictation– perfect for the young writer along with copywork
- Using Writing Conferences to Coach Writing– discussing your student’s writing whether they are first grade or twelfth.
- Free Writer’s Workshop– this truly is for all ages and even non readers with exercises you can modify. There are writing games and activities with each session. There are 6 sessions with 3 activities each. Join us!
Math in the Younger Years
- Math Journaling in Homeschool Math– incorporating writing into your math develops mathematical thinking and it’s a great method of using applied math
- The Making of a Wizard and the Crafty Side of Math– how to increase confidence in super creative kids
- Math Page– the home of all things math here (still a work in progress)
Science in the Younger Years
- 100 STEM Activities for Kids & Teens of All Ages– the home of many of our STEM projects for elementary through high school. Lots of younger kid science here!
- How to Teach Science through the Lives of Scientists– my kids love learning about extraordinary people and their accomplishments. For our youngest, this goes hand in hand with learning about their science.
- How to Teach Science with History & Beautiful Feet Books– this curriculum is a perfect relaxed and Charlotte Mason type approach to science
- How to Make Amazing Observations with a Microscope– this is the home of all our microscope studies. You’ll find tips for using your microscope for all ages.
- Entomology: The Science of Insects– Our youngest started collecting and pinning insects when he was 8. This series is all about how to get started with a serious study of entomology.
Social Studies in the Younger Years
- Geography Quests– these are short adventures in geography suitable for any age and multiple ages together. You’ll find them based on seasonal topics and other geography themes.
- How to Teach Geography through Literature– our experience with living books and geography
Art in the Younger Years
- Chalk Pastel Individual Video Courses– the ladies at ChalkPastel.com have courses for every season and educational topic. Try one to use with your studies!
- Chalk Pastel Artist Clubhouse Membership– inside membership you have access to all sorts of lessons in a forgiving medium.
- Masterpiece Society Membership– my favorite for art for all ages! There’s content for preschoolers all the way through high school and the whole family can enjoy projects together. I wouldn’t homeschool art without this resource!
- Masterpiece Society Individual Courses– membership is only open during certain enrollment times throughout the year, but you can always enjoy the classes a la carte.
