One of the Largest Homeschooling Sites Ever!

Jon's Homeschool Resources
Welcome

Thank you for visiting this site - a source of neutral, non-commercial homeschooling information for over ten years now. I am not trying to sell anything to you, nor am I advocating any position or methodology. I am a homeschooling Dad and you can find occasional references to what we do in this house scattered through the pages of this site, but I select resources on the basis of clarity and breadth, not politics or religion.

With over 140 distinct pages and over 1¾ meg of HTML text, this is one of the largest homeschooling sites on the Web. This site's size and ...Read More Here....READ MORE HERE

Free Sample Project From Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers

Follow this link for your FREE sample

http://www.cardamompublishers.com/mini-life-prep2.pdf

Why Homeschool Teens?

Why Homeschool Teens?
by Elizabeth Smith

When our children reach the high school years, we begin to question whether homeschooling can really provide them with what they need—spiritually, socially, and academically. But homeschooling is effective in high school for the same reasons it is effective in the younger grades. As a matter of fact, homeschooling in high school can yield great dividends in the life of your teen.

Here are 10 reasons why you might want to consider homeschooling your teen.

1. Continue the Family-Building Process

The teen years are a strategic time to cement relationships that last a lifetime. Parents can continue as the primary role models. You can make sure that your teen is instructed and discipled consistently each day with moral training and sound doctrine.

2. Cement Family Relationships

Relationships are the most important thing in family life. When teens are away from home for six-to-eight hours a day, subtle changes begin to erode relationships at home. Divided allegiance or "serving two masters" can shake their foundation. The result is weakened family ties and parental influence.

3. Provide an Excellent Learning Environment

Receiving one-on-one instruction is the most effective way to learn. At home, academics have priority, and there are no classroom distractions. Conversely, studies show that barely one third of the school day in traditional high schools is dedicated to academics.

4. Individualize Education Based on Needs

You can customize your teen's education to provide motivating opportunities to develop gifts and abilities. In areas of academic weakness, you can provide extra time and help. No classroom setting can offer this consistent and loving support.

5. Accelerate Academic Progress

Many homeschooled children are academically ready to do college-level work between the ages of 14 and 16. Additionally, researchers have found that age/grade isolation or segregation actually inhibits socialization. Available data demonstrates that homeschooled children are ahead of their public school counterparts in maturity, socialization, and vocabulary development.

6. Have Direct Influence over Peer Relationships

Homeschooling allows parents to fulfill their God-given responsibility to...Read More Here http://www.hslda.org/highschool/docs/TenReasonsHTHS.asp

FREE WORKSHEETS for Ages Pre K through Sixth

We're glad you're here!

Welcome to tlsbooks.com, where you'll find a variety of free printable worksheets for home and school use. Tlsbooks offers numerous worksheets to supplement your early childhood education program, home day care, elementary school classroom or home school. Parents love using our free worksheets to help their child gain valuable readiness skills or to reinforce material they may already be learning in school.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS WORKSHEETS

Homeschooling Teenagers?

Here is a great resource for all your homeschooling needs. This organization has high quality tools for every aspect of homeschooling Click Here

This is what the site offers:
Do you have a student approaching or already IN high school at your house?

Are you prepared? Overwhelmed? Don't let self-doubt, or lack of knowledge, rob you and your teen of these very exciting years!

All you need are a few basic "how-to's" and your high schooler can be well on his way to academic success and a very bright future. Plus I'll send you weekly assignments for the next three months that will help you step-by-step to turn these crucial years into the best possible experience for you and your teen!

Date: June 1, 2010
From: Todd and Terri Johnson

All around the country, parents are pulling their elementary grade children out of school because of the liberal agenda, worldly curriculum, low academic standards, overcrowded classrooms, lack of individualized attention, problems on the playground, harmful peer-pressure, etc. Choosing to homeschool the child in grades K-8 is becoming a commonplace decision, even considered acceptable and rarely questioned.

Why do they suddenly change course in high school?

Well-intentioned parents are returning their children to the classroom as soon as they reach their critical high school years. And often, all of their hard work in shaping and molding the next generation is erased and replaced by peer-driven behavior - self-focused, worldly and often times destructive.

The reason why most parents send their children to public high school is because of uncertainty and intimidation. We are unsure if we can provide them with...

all of the social experiences that the local high school can
the academic knowledge necessary to prepare them for college
the classroom etiquette and test taking skills required for their future education

In fact, we parents are usually convinced that our high schoolers are getting "too smart for us" and that there is no way we will be able to continue providing them with the challenging education that they still require. Our intentions are good, but our confidence level is low. Am I really capable of providing a high school education for my homeschooled student that is superior to what he would receive at the local public school?

I have good news for you! Yes, you are indeed capable!

What if I told you that there is an all-in-one resource that will raise your confidence level and give you all of the tools that you will need to provide an excellent high school education for your teenage child AT HOME, preparing him for college (if desired) and a productive future, without all of the trappings of the public high school? Would you consider giving it a try? What do you have to lose, really?

Join our Upper Level Homeschool class and get 13 weeks of step-by-step instruction - all the information and resources necessary to teach your high school level student - delivered straight to your email box!

Who should take this course?

Any parent with a middle school or high school student....Read More Here

Painting With Spices :)

I've done spice painting before with L, but I thought it would make a great group activity as well! So I told everyone to raid their spice cabinet for old spices (no hot spices) and bring a bottle or two of white glue. I poured a bit of glue into tiny plastic cups and..... Read More Here

Great Article If You Are Considering Homeschooling

Click Here 

When we made the decision to homeschool our children, we did not make it lightly. There were very concrete reasons for doing it including the lack of faith and security in the public school system. As serious as we were about doing it, we did not have a strategy either. I did not even know there were "different" ways to approach homeschooling. I had absolutely zero experience or knowledge of it. Montessori, unschooling and everything in between was very foreign to me. So, like any good homeschooling parent would do, I did my research.

We were originally blessed with the K-12 program. Then we found it extremely lacking. There was nothing wrong with the curriculum, it was well written and thorough, there just wasn't enough there. My children would blaze through a "weeks worth" of Language Arts in a single morning. We also were asked to use a pilot program called "Math-U-See". This, I thought after using it for six months, was a really good program. I never saw a K-12 math curriculum and have had nothing to compare the Math-U-See.

We had some communication problems with the State on the materials they were sending us compared to where my children "tested out" at. My 7 year-old who would have gone into the 2nd grade in public school performed as a 3rd grader. My daughter, who would be going into the 3rd grade performed at the public school level of a 4th grader. In the beginning I was proud of these statistics. However it did nothing but create a murky view of where we were supposed to start our children in the homeschool program. They sent us the books for a third and fourth grader. For example, history started at Julius Caesar, and I immediately had a problem with that. They had very little, if any, history taught to them in the public school system, and we were supposed to start at Caesar?

I say homeschool "program" because this is what I originally thought it was. I thought that you would teach the same subjects taught in public school at relatively the same pace. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. I searched out information on the internet and realized how huge and diverse homeschooling was. Montessori vs. Unschooling, competing curriculums and homeschooling groups; all with differing opinions or wanted your business.

I had been exposed to Montessori methods of teaching in the past, but had never heard of Unschooling. Through my own research and reading I really found them to be similar in many ways. Both have elements that I incorporate in my homeschooling and home. However, one-hundred percent child led learning was really a reach for me. I am a critical thinker and was falling into a trap of "deciding which philosophy I would teach my kids under," which seemed the opposite of what both categories preached.

Like most everything, I took from them what I wanted to incorporate. I am not on the band-wagon of either. My greatest fear when considering homeschooling was missing something. How do I make sure I teach everything they need to know? If you were to ask an "Unschooler", they .....Read More Here

Inexpensive Homeschooling Science Project Ideas

Science projects at home do not need to be expensive. There are great projects that can be performed using common household items.

1. Rocks and fossils:
Find some rocks and fossils around your yard or check out a book from the library. Have the students identify the rocks and fossils. There are also places where you can look at them, so you don't necessarily have to have them at home to study them.

2. Magnifying glass and binoculars:
Use binoculars and magnifying glasses on a walk through a trail at a park to study plants, dirt, rocks, trees and their bark.

3. Flashlights, batteries, wire:
Make simple electromagnets and Galvanometers.

4. Stove, refrigerator, kitchen sink:
These common kitchen appliances are the makings for a great laboratory for science experiments for children.

5. Magnet, cork, needle:
Have your homeschooling students create a compass. You can...Read More Here:

How to Keep Homeschooling Fun

The words "school" and "fun" are seldom used in the same sentence. In fact, once they get past kindergarten and first grade, many kids would just as well skip school. Homeschooling however is often referred to that way. Of course, if you are too caught up in creating a school environment at home, you will suck all of the fun right out of homeschooling. Here are some things you can do to keep the fun in homeschooling. Do hands on activities. Whenever possible, explore subjects instead of just reading about them. This is most possible with Read More Here

Tips for Homeschooling Your Preschooler- Preschool is a Natural Time to Begin Homeschooling

Preschool is a great place to start homeschooling for various reasons. First of all, preschoolers are generally curious and love to learn new things. Additionally, preschool is not mandatory from a legal perspective, so it is a great time to ease into homeschooling and figure out what works for you and your family, before the pressure of record keeping, testing and so on become required.
Here are some tips for homeschooling your preschooler.
Preschool Homeschooling Tip #1: Involve your preschooler in your daily life.
Preschoolers, as well as children of all ages, need to be taught in more than academic areas. For preschoolers, everything is a learning experience. Because of that, homeschooling your preschooler can and should be done throughout the day and should not be confined to weekdays only. For example, showing your preschooler how ...  Click Here For More

Get A FREE Sample Curriculum

“Far Above Rubies” is a classic unit study based curriculum for Jr. High and high school aged young ladies (ages 12-13 through high school)  based on Proverbs 31: 10-31, designed to cover all subjects (except for math) for a complete high school education. It is a “self-directed” curriculum, which can be customized by both parent and student to best fit your girls’ interests, goals and learning style. Students “pick and choose” the assignments they wish to focus on to fulfill their course requirements. Far Above Rubies has been used by thousands of families over the past 15 years as the core high school curriculum for their daughters’ education.
Today’s resource is an extensive, 78 page PDF Sampler of the curriculum, which includes:
Guidelines for parents and students
The philosophy behind the curriculum
How it can be used with students with different learning styles
Essential materials needed for the curriculum
A COMPLETE Sample unit study from the curriculum …and more!
Free Curriculum Ebook 

5 Tips for Free and Cheap Computer Access and Training

Finding These Resources is Easier Than You Think

Day Alexander, Yahoo! Contributor Network

Five Tips For Free And Cheap Computer Access And Training

Are you in a bind and need to find computer access or instruction without spending one red cent? Listed are five ideas for completely free or very low cost computer access and training.

1. See if a business, relative or a friend will allow you access during off peak hours to use their computer. Maybe you could do the person or business a favor in trade for using their computer. You could volunteer taking out their trash, vacuuming their floors or possibly babysitting their children. Anytime when you have access to one of these computers for free, you should always check to see if any of the programs include tutorials. Take advantage of using these tutorials to learn new skills that could be valuable to you at a later date.

2. Try volunteering for a group or an organization that has a computer. Use any tutorial programs you can find on that computer to add to your skills to make you a more valuable volunteer.

3. Go to the nearest library. City and county libraries have computers available for use for free. for more info Click Here