Emergency Curriculum Financial assistance

[sweetpea3829]

Hi everyone! We have had a sudden income crisis as my husband fell at home this past Sunday and broke his leg. He is a truck driver (home everyday) and will be out of work for at least three months.

 

Obviously, this is going to put a HUGE crimp in my plans to use part of our income tax return to purchase curriculum. I had Life of Fred, Horizons K (to supplement my struggling daughter), Horizons Pre-k, and AAS 2 on my docket.

 

I am aware of the scholarships through The Home School Foundation, but we do not qualify for any of them. The curriculum relief scholarship requires that you be an HSLDA member for six months prior.

 

Are there any other resources for emergency curriculum relief?

[mommymilkies]

What about checking out used curricula or trying The Book Samaritan?

[shinyhappypeople]

I'm sorry your husband got hurt :(

 

Math worksheets (K through 5) on Houghton Mifflin are pretty good (click on the grade and then "Leveled Practice"). For reading, progressive phonics is free. There are some other free programs out there, too, but the names escape me. If you feel like adding some spelling, ask which words they'd like to know how to spell. They'll probably come up with some cool ones. Make little paper letter tiles (or use scrabble-type tiles) and practice spelling them. Practice writing letters and doing simple copywork.

 

Other than that, make a weekly trip to the library and you're all set to have a fantastic year.

 

I deeply regret the money I wasted on K and 1st grade level curriculum, not to mention the time spent researching.

[sweetpea3829]

What about checking out used curricula or trying The Book Samaritan?

 

Thank-you! I've sent a request to The Book Samaritan for the Horizons stuff. I'm going to hold off on AAS2 and Life of Fred for now. They really don't *need* it and can hold off for some time.

[mytwomonkeys]

pm'ing u

[freeindeed]

So sorry to hear this. There are lots of freebies online. Here are some links:

http://www.amblesideonline.org/

http://oldfashionededucation.com/

http://www.wegivebooks.org/books#all

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

http://www.homeschool-how-to.com/index.html

http://thoughtsaftergod.blogspot.com/2011/11/merry-early-christmas-100-free-kindle.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FODvN+%28Afterthoughts%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/lapbooking-blog-roll/

http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/

http://budgethomeschool.com/

[GoVanGogh]

I am so sorry to hear about your husband's injury. Wishing you well. :grouphug:

 

Ambleside Online has an emergency curriculum:

http://amblesideonline.org/HELP.shtml

 

I deeply regret the money I wasted on K and 1st grade level curriculum, not to mention the time spent researching.

I also want to echo this.

I recently sold all of the K-3rd grade stuff and I was amazed at how much of the early stuff I really didn't use. :glare:

To make a comparison -- We had our child premature and didn't have any baby stuff yet. We ended up buying what we needed, as the need arose. We realized along the way that we really didn't need that much.

Later, in talking with friends who had babies around the same time I did, I realized how much money we had saved. My friends were selling practically brand-new baby items that they either bought in the dreamy pregnancy state or in the first crazy sleep-deprived months.

In hindsight, I think homeschooling is much the same way.

[KnitWit]

I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your husband's injury. My dh is just going back to work after an injury last fall. I just want to encourage you that it will all be okay. :grouphug: You've been given some good info!!

 

Praying for quick and complete healing

[eight_gregorys]

Sent you a PM.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Hi everyone! We have had a sudden income crisis as my husband fell at home this past Sunday and broke his leg. He is a truck driver (home everyday) and will be out of work for at least three months.

 

Obviously, this is going to put a HUGE crimp in my plans to use part of our income tax return to purchase curriculum. I had Life of Fred, Horizons K (to supplement my struggling daughter), Horizons Pre-k, and AAS 2 on my docket.

 

I am aware of the scholarships through The Home School Foundation, but we do not qualify for any of them. The curriculum relief scholarship requires that you be an HSLDA member for six months prior.

 

Are there any other resources for emergency curriculum relief?

 

 

 

I agree with what others have said. There is a TON free online. You can also contact Book Samaritan.

 

What grades are your kiddos? The library is a huge resource as well- even small pathetic ones like ours :glare: They have books on all kinds of math concepts (including advanced) Science and history can be done there- if you are a Christian just change millions to thousands in certain books. Check this out. It has an outline for what to study in each year. Homeschooling can be done very cheap if needed.

[FO4UR]

If you've been using AAS, The Writing Road to Reading would be a cheap way to continue on with the same phonograms & rules. If you make your own phonogram cards with 3x5 cards & and a sharpie, this will be super cheap.

 

 

MEP math is free and it's excellent. If your oldest is struggling in math, I would not hesitate to simply start at the beginning of year 1.

[CupOCoffee]

So sorry about your husband's injury. I pray he heals completely!

 

One thing I've learned this past year is that there really, really is a wealth of free information out there. It may not be what you *wanted* or *planned*, but if it does the job, then that's all that matters.

 

I wish I had some stuff to send you, but I did not do formal curriculum at those ages.

 

~coffee~

[Poke Salad Annie]

 

Obviously, this is going to put a HUGE crimp in my plans to use part of our income tax return to purchase curriculum. I had Life of Fred, Horizons K (to supplement my struggling daughter), Horizons Pre-k, and AAS 2 on my docket.

 

Are there any other resources for emergency curriculum relief?

 

Your oldest is ~ 6 years old? You could easily go through this school year and next on very little money. Webster's Speller is available online free for spelling. For math at that age, I would suggest this at Cathy Duffy's site: "Working Without a curriculum for math"

 

I would suggest getting several of the titles on the Ambleside Online Year One list from the library, and reading them aloud to all the kids. Use those books for copywork and narrations. They can draw narrations if they like as well.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Poke Salad Annie

[Mynyel]

You could also try curriculum share.

 

http://curriculumshare.com/index.php

[sweetpea3829]

Thank-you all very much for your help, everyone. This forum is such a wonderful place. :-)

[kwickimom]

:grouphug: pm'd you.

 

I hope he heals quickly!! I know it stinks, but enjoy having him home. That is a positive hidden in the negative!

[mumto2]

Another resource to look at is homeschoolfreebies (sorry I can't figure out how to do a link). They have a whole range of great stuff with a new item each day.

 

For math I would look at library books. Act out the book using simple manipulative. Multicolored duplos, scrap paper cut into whatever is required by your Dc. They will have a great time preparing their manipulatives. Supplement with worksheets from the web.

 

I'm praying for a quick recovery for your husband.

[Wabi Sabi]

Make sure you check your public library. Our branch owns every volume of SOTW plus the audio books, Ordinary Parent's Guide, First Language Lessons, Writing with Ease and just about every other Peace Hill Press book as well. They also have BFSU and numerous other popular homeschooling choices too. I currently have several "Come Look with Me" art books checked out.

 

For readers I get ideas from various sources like Sonlight, Ambleside, etc. Sure enough, the library has nearly all of them.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Wabi Sabi

[warneral]

For handwriting practice, currclick had some very inexpensive options.

[FO4UR]

Thank-you all very much for your help, everyone. This forum is such a wonderful place. :-)

 

 

:grouphug:

 

 

 

Take heart, your dc are all VERY young still. It might even be a blessing in disguise to have to scale back to bare bone basics right now, as far as HS goes.

 

Enjoy nature! Pull your dc up to the kitchen counter while you cook! Go to the library! Read and get dirty in the backyard! That is perfection!

 

 

Hey, while Daddy is healing up he can do some read alouds.:tongue_smilie: (Trying to see the silver lining....hoping he heals quickly and things get back to normal very soon!)

[sweetpea3829]

:grouphug:

 

 

 

Take heart, your dc are all VERY young still. It might even be a blessing in disguise to have to scale back to bare bone basics right now, as far as HS goes.

 

Enjoy nature! Pull your dc up to the kitchen counter while you cook! Go to the library! Read and get dirty in the backyard! That is perfection!

 

 

Hey, while Daddy is healing up he can do some read alouds.:tongue_smilie: (Trying to see the silver lining....hoping he heals quickly and things get back to normal very soon!)

 

LOL, I already have Daddy slated for helping out. :thumbup: I figure the kids can get reading practice in with him.

 

We have just had the hardest time even getting our homeschooling off the ground...lol. I started the oldest two when they were just shy of 5 and just shy of 4 in September of 2010. We did basic pre-k stuff for a couple of months, they were advancing well, started doing K stuff and then we moved from RI to NY. After the initial move, most of our stuff remained packed away while we temporarily rented a home and waited for a closing on a home we were purchasing. We ended up shelving pretty much all signs of formal schooling. Nine months after the first move, we completed our final move to our *hopefully* forever home. But because the house had some major repairs it needed, and I knew I was going to have contractors in and out for at least a month or two, I kept schooling shelved. And then the holidays were just around the corner and I was like, "this is not a good time to start, either."

 

I did start a few things back in December...mostly Hooked on Phonics for review. But we didn't really start formal curriculum until early January. And they've absolutely taken off, the both of them. Even my 6 yr old that struggles with math, is advancing through everything else very quickly.

 

We were really starting to gain some traction with scheduling, etc. It's alright though...I know the Lord has allowed this trial for a reason and I'm open to seeing where He wants to take us with this.

 

At the very least, I was telling my husband, this is a gift to him. He is going to have something that most dads never get to have. A good long stretch of completely uninterrupted time with his children while they are still young. Three full months to get to know them, and their personalities, in a way that he can't possibly do when he's working full-time and only seeing them for maybe an hour each evening and on the weekends. I hope he takes full advantage of it. :biggrinjester:

[FO4UR]

 

At the very least, I was telling my husband, this is a gift to him. He is going to have something that most dads never get to have. A good long stretch of completely uninterrupted time with his children while they are still young. Three full months to get to know them, and their personalities, in a way that he can't possibly do when he's working full-time and only seeing them for maybe an hour each evening and on the weekends. I hope he takes full advantage of it. :biggrinjester:

 

:001_smile: