As a previous preschool teacher, I can tell you that homeschooling can be a overwhelming at first. However, it's mainly because of the anxiety of not knowing what to do, or feeling as if you're not qualified to teach your kids.
But, YOU ARE!
Although I have prior teaching experience and I knew how to implement a school schedule, it wasn't until about a year ago - when the kids had to start learning grade school subjects - that I realized, I needed way more help with an actual curriculum.
Don't get me wrong, there's no ONE way, or PERFECT, or WRONG way to do this. There are many homeschooling moms and dads that implement their routines differently.
For us, our schedule varies. We love to travel. We love to explore our neighboring cities and some days, we love to sit back and do what we choose - even if that DOESN'T include learning something new.
The days that we actual 'have' school is when we get down to business.
RELATED POST: Time Management Tips For Homeschool Moms
RELATED POST: Time Management Tips For Homeschool Moms
For me, I like to plan our schedule into days. Not your typical Monday through Friday - but Day One, Day Two, type of thing.
As I said before, you may catch us traveling - so instead of pressuring myself to get things done on a certain day - I can catch up on Day Two on a Thursday, if we've been away from home since Monday.
Hopefully that makes sense.
So what homeschool curriculum do I use?
I am no expert here. But I love walking to the beat of my own drum. That's what homeschooling is all about. It's about the freedom to be able to do whatever you want, when YOU want to do it.
It's about being able to help YOUR child actually retain the information. So take as much time as you need.
Study subjects that interest your child the most. If they love crafts, find ways to introduce math, science and reading into a craft.
If they love to read, find interesting books on every subject to help keep the excitement going.
Again, there's no one size fits all.
I love using a variety of free homeschool curriculum because it gives me leverage to implement different aspects of learning, all at once.
One day we may spend more time on the computer. While the next day, I may want to implement more hands on activities. So having a few homeschool resources is key!
RELATED POST: 10 Free Educational Websites For Kids
The first homeschool curriculum I use is Easy Peasy Homeschool.
Easy Peasy Homeschool is literally a gold mine for DIY homeschoolers. They break down every lesson from preschool to high school! Plus, they have every subject for each grade level already planned out for you.
It's truly Easy Peasy.
They also give you the option to buy the subject workbooks through Amazon (at an insanely low price), or print them for free.
Because they offer most of their curriculum online, I use their curriculum as a guideline to what my kids should be learning for their particular grade.
If I feel that they need more hands-on lessons, then I search around for other free homeschool resources to implement throughout our day.
K5 Learning
Again, some days, I may want to implement more hands on learning. So I take some time beforehand to find free homeschool printables.
I love using K5 Learning's website for math and reading worksheets.
They also have vocabulary, spelling and grammar worksheets available too, all for free!
They even break their worksheets down by grade level - making choosing the appropriate lessons even easier!
Education.com
Education.com has a ton of ideas. You can get free printables, educational online games and even science experiments - all in one place. They even have a lesson plan, which acts as a guidance for us parents.
This is a great resource for introducing new concepts like word problems, or multiplication. Education.com does a great job of explaining what YOU need to do as the parent to teach these concepts - which can put you at ease.
A literal play by play on exactly what to do. I found so much relief in using this website for homeschooling. You have to create an account to get access and download the lesson plans, but don't worry - it's still free.
This site definitely keeps us going! I also love how they update the site with seasonal activities.
Printable Paradise
Their slogan literally reads 'Free Printable Everthing.' I like visiting Printable Paradise for printables for things like multiplication charts. This makes it easier for my kids to keep in their personal binders.
Or printables of coins, so they'll always have a guide for counting money.
I also love using this site for printables to use for geography.
Mix this site with Easy Peasy's curriculum and you've saved yourself a ton of time trying to plan this stuff yourself!
Again, I highly recommend Easy Peasy, but the online aspect at such an early age isn't as effective just yet. So having free printables and hands-on material helps them retain the information a bit better.
Plus, by keeping all of the printables in a binder and organizing them by subject, the kids can always reference them later.
DIY Homeschooler
This website if perfect for homeschool history lessons. It also breaks down seasonal and geographical activities, which I love.
There are lessons about states being created, a craft for each state and even recipes. I mean, how fun? I use this in our homeschool curriculum often.
So there you have it.
These are just a few, or many free homeschool curriculum that you can choose from.
As I mentioned above, I don't follow any particular regimen or schedule. I usually plan my days a few weeks ahead and instead of labeling our activities by the days of the week, I label them by day.
So instead of saying on Monday, we'll be doing this activity for math and science - I'll put it in my planner as Day One.
That way, if we skip schooling on Tuesday, we can pick up where we left off on Wednesday, to continue on Day Two. If that makes sense.
I feel like this method takes so much pressure off. Plus, we frequently visit our libraries, children's museum, beach, etc. on a whim - so picking up where we left off, instead of trying to get things done on certain days - makes it much more doable.
Again, there's no right or wrong here. Do as you please. Some moms make a weekly routine and do well sticking to it - so do their kids. After all, a routine is great for the kids!
However you decide to do it, these free DIY homeschool curriculum websites will help you navigate through your school year. Good luck!