One of the things I hear a lot about our blog is that there is so much to take in, it can be overwhelming. That is especially true if you are a new homeschooler, just starting out. I’ve dragged my feet about creating a resource like this is because so much of what we covered is not “grade” or “age” specific. Not only that, but every family and every child has different interests! Keeping that in mind, you can use this free resource guide as a starting point to decide what you would like to cover in your homeschool!
I also suggest you take a look through our free Homeschool Checklists. I made one for science and one for history… of topics and units I hope we cover from K-8.
I have three kids. All three of my kids have had a different experience as they’ve come up through the grades. That’s partly while you’ll find SO many options on our blog!
We do most of our units together, so my 3rd grader and my 8th grader would have been doing the same units at the same time. The material might have been a stretch for my youngest daughter. A few years later, though, we would cycle around and do our units again so the kids will get the material again on a different level. The reverse is also true. Sometimes we would do a unit geared more for my youngest like the States of Matter that we did this fall (for Gr. 3). My older two kids participated/reviewed the material. Then we went on into more depth (in this case with the Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter unit), which was challenging at times for my 3rd grader.
What I hope to do with this series is give you a framework of what we did. You can look at what we did and pick and choose what might work for your family. That’s the wonderful thing about homeschooling, you create a curriculum path that works for you!
You can cover the material with purchased homeschool curriculum. Or, you can just borrow books from the library. You can do projects, lapbooks, or notebook pages. You can do experiments, crafts, posters, mini-research projects and all kinds of things to help your kids learn. You can read aloud non-fiction and fiction books. You can watch videos… anything from the Magic School Bus (for younger kids) to documentaries (for older students). In the right context, (fictional) movies can be very educational as well! You can go on field trips, to museums, and explore the online world. … and much, much more!
My highest goals have been to make the learning creative and engaging for the kids. I want them to have the skills they need to write well (and creatively), to think critically, to be able to learn new things on their own, to be polite, kind people. I want them to value education and to see what it will do for them. I keep the end goals in mind… And that’s *your* first step. Decide what skills you want the kids to have at the end of the year and at the end of this homeschool journey. Then slowly work towards those!
Unit Studies Science: By the time the kids were in Grades 2 and 3, we were doing a lot of unit studies. This worked for us because I did not want to spend an entire year on any of the 4 main sciences (biology, chemistry, Earth Sciences, physics). Neither I nor the kids had that long of an attention span!
Unit Studies History: Likewise, we didn’t spend an entire year on one region/time period in history. I wanted to cover world history, American history, Civics and Government, and geography… and touch on topics more than once. My vision of history when we first started homeschooling was to start “at the beginning” and go from there. But we wound up touching on topics that weren’t chronological, but made sense at the time. For example, we did a large unit on India. We ended that particular unit by talking about Gandhi… which led naturally into a large extended unit on the Civil Rights Movement. But, that unit would also have made a lot of sense after studying Slavery and the Civil War… See what I mean? You’ll find a logical path for your own homeschool!!!
Keep in mind that you will not and do not have to cover “everything.” If you purchase a homeschool curriculum (or any of our packets), you do not have to cover every page. If you look at a checklist of curriculum options… you do not have to cover everything. Use those as a resource, not as to-do list (or a ball-and-chain)!!
All that was kind of a disclaimer. I want to offer you a starting point (if it helps), but want you to know the YOU can and will create an amazing homeschool experience!! You CAN do this!! You know your kids better than anyone else!!
I highly recommend you take a look at the resource I made for Kindergarten – Grade 1. You can always cover those unit/materials as well! Again, let me mention that much of what we covered is not “grade” or “age” specific. If your child is interested in something specific, run with that!!
You might want to check out these related free guides:
Creating a Homeschool Curriculum: Kindergarten – Grade 1 Resource Guide
Homeschool Science Unit Checklist for Elementary and Middle School – Units we hope to cover K-8
I hope this was helpful! See you again soon here or over at our Homeschool Den Facebook Page! Don’t forget to Subscribe to our Homeschool Den Newsletter! ~Liesl
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.
P.S. We have a new Rainforest Packet coming out very soon (April 2017). Be sure to check that out. It’s now over 50 pages (haven’t yet corrected the picture below!)