rawbanana Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 My friend is going to start home schooling this up coming year. Her dd's will be 5th and 1st grade and she wants to do it on very little money...suggestions?? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 If she has a library card, then she could do it cheaply with following the recommendations in The Well-Trained Mind. If the 1st grader hasn't had phonics, I would buy The Ordinary Parents Guide which is non consumable (and her library may have it), or use Blend Phonics, free on Don Potter's Website. For history, Story of The World is inexpensive along with library books for the 1st grader, and The Kingfisher Encyclopedia for the 5th grader. For writing, if she buys SWB's audio lectures on writing for the elementary grades and the middle grades, $4 each, she will have a plan for teaching writing she can follow, by incorporating it into their content subjects. She can purchase inexpensive spelling workbooks- Spelling Workout or Rod and Staff. There are also some free spellers on google books. Hopefully someone else will comment who remembers the exact titles. Dictation can be a cheap way to do spelling with a natural speller, if her 5th grader is strong in spelling. Grammar- First Language Lessons 1&2 comes in one book and is very affordable for two years of grammar instruction for the 1st grader. She could purchase Rod and Staff English for the 5th grader, which is reasonably rpiced and non-consumable. It's pretty easy to find free handwriting worksheets online for the 1st grader. Science would be easy to do with library books for the 1st grader, following the recs in the WTM book. The book will also have less expensive science recs for the 5th grader. Math- less expensive options are Christian Light Education math, Math Mammoth, Rod and Staff, Singapore, and Miquon (for the 1st grader). I would be more concerned with what would work best for the girls in this subject though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 She could check this out. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109114&highlight=free The worst part is everything costs something and going this route would cost time.:tongue_smilie:I think CLE is one of the cheaper routes for a complete, put together type curricula. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 There was a fabulous post a while back about this very topic. I believe that Karen in CO started it--if you search for posts under her name, you will find it. I remember that there were lots of links, and many folks added their 2 cents of help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Printer and free online resources. They are every where out there! Also search out as much used materials as she can, use the library as much as possible. There is a free spelling site. spellingcity.com free handwriting http://www.zaner-bloser.com/zbfontsonline/index.htm math worksheets -just do a search they are everywhere. history http://guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html'>http://guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html'>http://guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html'>http://guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html free science http://eequalsmcq.com/ http://guesthollow.com/homeschool/curriculum.html then there are these sites, they are free. http://www.theheadoftheclass.com/SplashPage/SplashPage.aspx http://www.lessonpathways.com/ There is more I just have to go through my bookmarks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 I know that book Samaritan will give away free curriculum to those in need, or those who do not have money to homeschool. All you have to do is email/mail them and tell them about your need and what grades your kids are in. Here is the link to their website : http://www.thebooksamaritan.com/p/how-does-it-work.html Hope this helps your friend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crl Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Another free phonics resource is Progressive Phonics. http://www.progressivephonics.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawbanana Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 I searched Karen in CO and didnt see it..... I DO remember seeing that thread a while back though....any other ideas on what I can search for to find it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 We homeschooled during a 7 month period of unemployment. :glare: Your friend can do it! Here's what we did. Sonlight Core 1: We bought the Readers (the books the kids read independently). I got every one of the Read-Alouds for free from the library. Most of the History selections I was also able to find at the library. I did buy a couple of them - like From Akebu to Zapotec. It cost us maybe 100 bucks (probably not even) to do Core 1. Language Arts: We used CLE and it is very good. It can include handwriting and spelling. It's also like 4 bucks a workbook and it takes a month to get through one workbook. Math: You could also use CLE math - it's extremely cheap and a really good, solid program. We did Singapore with one kid (maybe $40 for a year of Singapore) and Horizons with the other kid (expensive $90 for a year). Spelling: BJU Spelling. BJU (no pun intended) can be great. :tongue_smilie: The Spelling workbooks are 12 bucks and they last an entire school year. The words are also grouped into families, which I really like. It's similar to the spelling we did at school when we were kids. Science: We used Apologia's elementary textbooks - they were 25 bucks per book and it took months to get through one book. You could also put together your own Charlotte Mason-type science program, though - using a library card and lots of planning. :glare: BJU also has science textbooks. If I were in a situation where I did not have much to spend on curriculum and still wanted to cover everything, I would probably use CLE as much as possible. You can use the library to supplement. I hope this helps you. We've been there!!! :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I searched Karen in CO and didnt see it..... I DO remember seeing that thread a while back though....any other ideas on what I can search for to find it? I did an advanced search using "free homeschooling" as keywords and Karen in CO as the thread starter. I'd just link you to it, but my links are cursed. Really. ;) Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FawnsFunnyFarm Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 She could check this out. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109114&highlight=free The worst part is everything costs something and going this route would cost time.:tongue_smilie:I think CLE is one of the cheaper routes for a complete, put together type curricula. AWESOME thread!!! Wow!! I just bumped it up because it's amazing! I have TONS of free resoure links but this makes my collection look small ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 The worst part is everything costs something and going this route would cost time.:tongue_smilie: :iagree:This is where I am now, money vs. time. Also check out http://mainlesson.com (books online, including history readers like SOTW) -- free history readers. And then go to its sister site - Yesterday's Classics (printed books) -- it's better organized, and if the title isn't on Main Lesson, see if its in Google Books (even though the prices are quite reasonable). And http://www.amblesideonline.com has a "low budget / must buy" list for every school year, as well as many public domain books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Love Ambleside! Also http://www.oldfashionededucation.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelanieM Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Free language arts for grades 1-6 at McGraw Hill. Free math using MEP. Free science using Mr. Q's Elemental Life Science or Nature Study or try before you buy units at Pandia Press. There's a great free history curriculum out there that I can't find my link for at the moment. It uses SOTW or CHOW (I think?) as a spine. You could easily do history the WTM way with a good world history encyclopedia as a spine and books from the library. For that matter, you could skip purchasing a spine and just choose library books based on whatever timeline you're working with. The same with science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 If I had to, I could do it. Here is my list of free stuff. I have been collecting and gleaning for 8 years and as of January, every link on it is active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khall Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Nobody has mentioned paperbackswap.com yet. If you don't have your heart absolutely set on certain materials, you'd be surprised what you can pick up there. If you aren't familiar with it, you join for free and post books you are willing to swap. You search the listings and request the items that you want and they are mailed to you. All you pay is the shipping when you mail to someone else. I just received the 3rd and 5th grade editions of LLATL on there. Not my first pick for next year, but they didn't cost me anything and I'll add to them with library books from the lists on Ambleside and Sonlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen_and_Company Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Recent WTM thread on Free Resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 When my kids were little, we just got books from the library to read and listen to on tape and CD. We didn't do math or handwriting (or phonics), but I'm sure we could have gotten materials for those from the library, too. People used to just use the Bible to learn, right? So we really don't need all the things we have now. They're just fun extras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Nobody has mentioned paperbackswap.com yet. If you don't have your heart absolutely set on certain materials, you'd be surprised what you can pick up there. If you aren't familiar with it, you join for free and post books you are willing to swap. You search the listings and request the items that you want and they are mailed to you. All you pay is the shipping when you mail to someone else. I just received the 3rd and 5th grade editions of LLATL on there. Not my first pick for next year, but they didn't cost me anything and I'll add to them with library books from the lists on Ambleside and Sonlight. :iagree: I have found great gems there. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Nobody has mentioned paperbackswap.com yet. If you don't have your heart absolutely set on certain materials, you'd be surprised what you can pick up there. If you aren't familiar with it, you join for free and post books you are willing to swap. You search the listings and request the items that you want and they are mailed to you. All you pay is the shipping when you mail to someone else. I just received the 3rd and 5th grade editions of LLATL on there. Not my first pick for next year, but they didn't cost me anything and I'll add to them with library books from the lists on Ambleside and Sonlight. I think that the part I bolded is the KEY to homeschooling inexpensively. Keep an open mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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