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Large selection of curricula based on subject and skills.
Ezine featuring articles about eight home- skills: schooling, making, birthing, steading, cooking, discipleship, and hospitality. From a Christian perspective.
Action Phonics helps students who have fallen behind in their reading skills get ahead very quickly.
Free online foundational phonics classes for teaching or improving English reading skills. For homeschoolers, ESL, public and private schools.
University of Ottowa offers lessons on proper grammar and writing skills, with an emphasis on Canadian form.
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Videos

Unlock Your Child’s Full Potential with Homeschool Imagine what your child could do if the limits were taken off! Unlock your children's potential with the freedom, creativity, and ...
Unbox Homeschool in a Box ABC Study A-M Come join me in unboxing the Homeschool in a Box ABC Study A-M. Check back frequently to see each week unfold and learn ...
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News

The Starfish Country Home School aspires to be the best school in northern Thailand. The school will accept needy children without regard to their religious affiliation and national or ethnic origin and will provide them a quality education that emphasizes communication skills in Thai and English, technology, mathematics, visual and performing arts, international cultures and developing respect and compassion for others. The Starfish Country Home School Foundation will provide a safe and secure modern residence and personal guidance for all of its students as they mature. Those children that can achieve the required academic excellence will remain at the school until they are ready to attend university and will be further supported at university. The education will always be free, diversified and directed to meet the needs, interests and abilities of the individual student.
I'm really not making this stuff up, read the report about the PTA vice-president and mom seducing the teenage boy here. Your children are NOT safe in public school.  It used to be that you only had to worry about the male teachers, coaches, and volunteers around children.  Blame feminism, blame pornography, blame abortion... it doesn't matter.  All that matters is that your children are not safe in public school.  Even if you have only been considering homeschooling... start your home school now. The educational establishment in America really has pulled the wool over most parents' eyes. Almost every parent teaches their child to speak English or whatever is their primary language. They've done the bulk of the teaching of the basics. But the establishment has put this aura around education and (says) only certified teachers should be teaching. Those teachers are less qualified than you to teach your children. You know them... they don't. "What about socialization?" goes the establishment programmed response. "Do you think Americans are well socialized?" I always ask people who ask me the socialization question. They usually falter, especially after I remind them about the astronomical rate of family breakups, that workplace and school violence is escalating, that one in five high school students graduates with a sexually transmitted disease, etc.  Then I ask the inquirer what social skills he or she considers vital.  They usually cite the ability to get along with others or to communicate well with others. I ask them, "Do you think the typical public school teen can naturally have a meaningful conversation with a senior citizen – or with you?  And why not?  Could it be that being forced with people the exact same age as you all day, most days of the year does not mirror the real world -- where you need to adjust your social graces to all ages -- and actually produces a dysfunctional form of socialization?"  As a Christian homeschooler, I tell them, I can give my children consistent instruction on how to get along with others, and from the ultimate best source – the words of Christ such as "Do unto others..."  By the end of the conversation, the inquirer is often convinced that homeschooling can in fact be a great way to socialize children -- the right way. It's inevitable that you will receive criticism for considering homeschooling.  It's a spiritual battle, and the media has been used to turn hearts against the most Biblical form of education.  People are quick to tell you the negatives of homeschooling they have heard (and most of them are myths) but they don't know about the joys and good fruit.  By coming to our meetings, you can learn about the many blessings of homeschooling, as well as the actual challenges. Every meeting makes you more knowledgeable and confident.
[Editor: Considering Homeschooling is proud to present this special guest column by Michedolene Hogan of Unique Parenting.] By: Michedolene Hogan When parents send their children to school, they expect for their children to be taught the necessary academic skills appropriate for their age.  Yet, there scope of education is growing at an alarming rate.  Schools have begun to overstep their boundaries and assume the role of the home in many aspects such as the socialization of our children. According to the 2003 Webster's New World dictionary, to socialize means to make fit for living in a group.  This definition is similar to that found in the 1810 Merriam-Webster which states: To make social: especially to fit or train for a social environment.  In order to be properly socialized, children must be able to be sociable, having a disposition to associate and converse with others.  Children must have the ability to join in company or society and to unite in a general interest.  Children must also have the ability to work in conjunction with others in the community and conform to laws.  Children must exhibit respect for authority and an understanding of how the world works.  Observation and practice are the main tools that children employ in order to learn these social skills.  Based on the aforementioned necessary skills one would assume that the best place to learn such skills is in a classroom surrounded with peers and authority figures, right?  Wrong. What kids really learn in traditional public education settings Traditional public schools settings are not as idealistic.  Children may be surrounded by their peers but, these are not the best role models for social behavior.  In schools, children often meet peers who are involved in delinquency, low academic achievement and exhibiting behavior problems.  These are the children who get the most attention from their teachers and as a result, stand out to their peers.  In the end, our children learn an unacceptable concept of social behavior by practicing what they observe.  Despite this reality, the school continues to take the lead in training children for social situations. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, in their research on the validity of Early Childhood Education, determined that enrollment in formal schooling before ages 8-12 was not as effective as projected, but put children’s development at risk.  They presented evidence of a correlation between the following childhood problems and the increasingly earlier enrollment of students: Juvenile delinquency Nearsightedness Increased enrollment of students in special education classes Behavioral problems Early enrollment in schools interrupts bonds and emotional development that children form in the home with parents.  This damage, as found by the Raymond and Dorothy Moore, is not repaired in an institutional setting. Over 8,000 studies were conducted in the 1970’s by the Moores.  In the end, they concluded that, “Where possible, children should be withheld from formal schooling until at least ages 8-10” because, “children are not mature enough for formal school programs until their senses, coordination, neurological development and cognition are ready.” Another theory, developed by teacher John Caldwell Holt, stated that “academic failure of school children was caused by pressure placed on children in schools.”  He declared in 1980, “I want to make it clear that I don't see home schooling as some kind of answer to badness of schools.  I think that the home is the proper base for the exploration of the world which we call learning or education.  Home would be the best base no matter how good the schools were.” The school setting expects children to handle a whole new set of emotions as early as 3 years of age.  At this tender age, children do not even understand their emotions, much less know how to appropriately deal with them.  Children end up imitating their peers, whom as stated earlier may be involved in a number of behavior issues.  The impact of a child’s sociability is an absolutely harmful progression away from positive sociability and self-concept. This progression is best explained in When Education Becomes Abuse: A Different Look at the Mental Health of Children. Here is their explanation of the sequence of emotions experienced by young children in early childhood settings: Uncertainty as the child leaves the family for a less secure environment Puzzlement at the new pressures and restrictions of the classroom Frustration because they are not ready to handle the regimentation of formal lessons (unready learning tools – senses, cognition, brain hemispheres, coordination) Hyperactivity growing out of nerves and jitters from frustration Failure which quite naturally flows from the four experiences above Delinquency which is failure's twin Benefits of Home Schooling Learning in the home is the best option.  Home is the where true learning, exploring the world, takes place.  ‘Learning’ in this case includes not only academic education but also an understanding of the social environment of the world.  Teaching children in the home has countless benefits including: Home provides the proper atmosphere and value system to build upon.  Home sets the example of honoring and respecting authority.  Home teaches children how to be part of their community both physically and spiritually. Children with home as their base of exploration benefit from more time spent with warm, responsive parents, limited time with peers and free exploration under parental guidance.  The parents are in control of the social influences and the child isn't exposed to the whirlwind of emotions that come with early childhood education.  Children build a strong bond with the parents as the center example for proper social behavior and are given more opportunities to be among their community in a guided manner. The National Home Education Research Institute conducted a survey in 2003 of 7,300 adults who had been home schooled.  Their astounding results once again make a case for the home; 71% home schooled adults are active and involved in their community compared to 37% of U.S. Adults from a traditional education background.  76% of home schooled adults between 18-24 voted within the last five years compared to 29%.  The numbers are even greater in larger groups at 95% compared with 53% of traditional schooled adults.  The survey also reported that 58.9% of home schooled adults reported that they are “very happy” with life compared with 27.6% for the general U.S. Population.  73.2% find life “exciting,” compared with 47.3%. Socialization is to make social: especially to fit or train for a social environment.  Children best acquire this skill through the practice and observation in the home, not in the schools.  Raymond and Dorothy Moore recognized this need in their first publication in 1975.  That was just the tip of the iceberg in the research of socialization and teaching children.  Evidence abounds and grows continually to support the home as the best place to socialize our children.  Most recently, the NHERI statistics drive home the essential call to all parents to model their successful and productive adult lives with their children as the best social example to follow. About the Author: Michedolene Hogan lives in a quiet neighborhood of Yucaipa CA with her husband of 15yrs.  Her favorite activities include spending time with her family and crafting fun family activities.  She finds her greatest satisfaction in being a stay at home mom raising healthy children and publishes a bi-weekly newsletter offering advice for building strong families.
This weekend, I was at in a quandary at the library -- I had reached the 100 book limit on my card again, and this did not reflect the other books we had out on another card. The librarian, with a knowing smile exclaimed, "you must be a homeschooler!" We then got into a conversation about why homeschoolers are noted for reading a lot more than their schooled counterparts (as an aside – I do screen the books I get from the library for inappropriate content. There are still wholesome fiction books and accurate non-fiction to be found in libraries, if you know what you are looking for, and if your library has not been totally taken over by liberals). Why is it that home educated children are known for reading a great deal more than typical children? Looking at our own home, I can see several reasons. First, homeschooled children do not come in after a hard day of traveling to and from school and have to tackle a load of take home assignments. They do their reinforcement work as they learn their subjects and so their nights are not plagued with the burden of homework. And, since a homeschooler’s day is usually shorter in duration than a brick and mortar school day, homeschoolers naturally have more free time to read.  In our home we are building what we call a "generational library" -- stocking our shelves with classic and quality Christian books found at garage sales, on-line, etc. that cannot be found in the secular libraries. The library we have in our home is brimming with all kinds of edifying gems our children love to read again and again. In addition, our church has an expanding family resource room that is brimming with God-centered reading materials. And, we go to the library, on average, twice a week. Most homeschool families I know have unplugged the TV and are not engaged in the entertainment gamer craze. It is no wonder, then, that no one has to force anyone to read in our home -- whenever they get a free moment, our children grab a good book and that they are several grade levels ahead in reading. We are not anti-technology -- far from it -- my husband is a computer programmer, and our children will hopefully reach his level of expertise one day. But, technology can replace book reading in the lives of modern day children. I am convinced there are a multitude of skills such as vocabulary accumulation which are gained by old fashioned book reading that just cannot be obtained elsewhere. Here is an article in this regard that caught my eye today. Note that is states that among the children surveyed "almost a third take a games console to bed rather than a book, while a quarter never read in their own time". I guess we homeschoolers should be happy when we catch that child with the flashlight, trying to read under the covers!
This weekend, I was at in a quandary at the library -- I had reached the 100 book limit on my card again, and this did not reflect the other books we had out on another card. The librarian, with a knowing smile exclaimed, "you must be a homeschooler!" We then got into a conversation about why homeschoolers are noted for reading a lot more than their schooled counterparts (as an aside – I do screen the books I get from the library for inappropriate content. There are still wholesome fiction books and accurate non-fiction to be found in libraries, if you know what you are looking for, and if your library has not been totally taken over by liberals). Why is it that home educated children are known for reading a great deal more than typical children? Looking at our own home, I can see several reasons. First, homeschooled children do not come in after a hard day of traveling to and from school and have to tackle a load of take home assignments. They do their reinforcement work as they learn their subjects and so their nights are not plagued with the burden of homework. And, since a homeschooler’s day is usually shorter in duration than a brick and mortar school day, homeschoolers naturally have more free time to read.  In our home we are building what we call a "generational library" -- stocking our shelves with classic and quality Christian books found at garage sales, on-line, etc. that cannot be found in the secular libraries. The library we have in our home is brimming with all kinds of edifying gems our children love to read again and again. In addition, our church has an expanding family resource room that is brimming with God-centered reading materials. And, we go to the library, on average, twice a week. Most homeschool families I know have unplugged the TV and are not engaged in the entertainment gamer craze. It is no wonder, then, that no one has to force anyone to read in our home -- whenever they get a free moment, our children grab a good book and that they are several grade levels ahead in reading. We are not anti-technology -- far from it -- my husband is a computer programmer, and our children will hopefully reach his level of expertise one day. But, technology can replace book reading in the lives of modern day children. I am convinced there are a multitude of skills such as vocabulary accumulation which are gained by old fashioned book reading that just cannot be obtained elsewhere. Here is an article in this regard that caught my eye today. Note that is states that among the children surveyed "almost a third take a games console to bed rather than a book, while a quarter never read in their own time". I guess we homeschoolers should be happy when we catch that child with the flashlight, trying to read under the covers!
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