Getting Started
- The Illinois State Board of Education’s homeschooling page - Answers to frequently asked questions about registration, requirements, resources and more.
- The Home School Legal Defense Association - Advocacy, education and support to parents who want to homeschool their family.
- Homeschool.com - Find out what a beginner needs to know.
- Homeschool Buyers Co-op - Low-cost homeschool curricula and resources.
Homeschooling Books
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Homeschooling For Dummies
Homeschool with confidence with help from this book
Curious about homeschooling? Ready to jump in? Homeschooling For Dummies, 2nd Edition provides parents with a thorough overview of why and how to homeschool. One of the fastest growing trends in American education, homeschooling has risen by more than 61% over the last decade. This book is packed with practical advice and straightforward guidance for rocking the homeschooling game. From setting up an education space, selecting a curriculum, and creating a daily schedule to connecting with other homeschoolers in your community Homeschooling For Dummies has you covered.
Homeschooling For Dummies, 2nd Edition is packed with everything you need to create the homeschool experience you want for your family, including:
- Deciding if homeschooling is right for you
- Developing curricula for different grade levels and abilities
- Organizing and allocating finances
- Creating and/or joining a homeschooling community
- Encouraging socialization
- Special concerns for children with unique needs
Perfect for any current or aspiring homeschoolers, Homeschooling For Dummies, 2nd Edition belongs on the bookshelf of anyone with even a passing interest in homeschooling as an alternative to or supplement for traditional education.
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Homeschooling Gifted Kids
The prospect of homeschooling gifted and advanced learners isn't daunting anymore!
Homeschooling Gifted Kids gives parents a great deal of practical support and confidence to meet the academic needs of their bright and twice-exceptional learners.
Written by a veteran homeschooler, this book clearly and concisely teaches parents how to homeschool their advanced learners, focusing on special considerations that often go along with gifted children such as providing challenging curriculum, offering outlets for artistic and creative talents, accelerating students into college courses early, and finding them true intellectual peers.
Homeschooling Gifted Kids covers everything from curriculum choices and learning styles, to integrating technology and online courses, to finding social support for both children and parents. From making the decision to homeschool to planning for the transition to college, this book has the answers parents need to help their children succeed!
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Home Learning Year by Year, Revised and Updated
A comprehensive guide to designing homeschool curriculum, from one of the country’s foremost homeschooling experts—now revised and updated!
Homeschooling can be a tremendous gift to your children—a personalized educational experience tailored to each kid’s interests, abilities, and learning styles. But what to teach, and when, and how? Especially for first-time homeschoolers, the prospect of tackling an annual curriculum can be daunting. In Home Learning Year by Year, Rebecca Rupp presents comprehensive plans from preschool through high school, covering integral subjects for each grade, with lists of topics commonly presented at each level, recommended resource and reading lists, and suggestions for creative alternative options and approaches. Included, along with all the educational basics, are techniques and resources for teaching everything from philosophy to engineering, as well as suggestions for dealing with such sensitive topics as sex education.
Now revised throughout with all-new updates featuring the most effective and up-to-date methods and reading guides to homeschool your child at all ages, Home Learning Year by Year continues to be the definitive book for the homeschooling parent. -
The Brave Learner
A joyful and accessible approach to homeschooling that harnesses children's natural curiosity and makes learning a part of everyday life, whether they're in elementary or high school
Parents who are deeply invested in their children's education can be hard on themselves and their kids. When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. How do parents nurture a love of learning amid childhood chaos, parental self-doubt, the flu, and state academic standards?
In this book, Julie Bogart distills decades of experience--homeschooling her five now grown children, developing curricula, and training homeschooling families around the world--to show parents how to make education an exciting, even enchanting, experience for their kids, whether they're in elementary or high school.
Enchantment is about ease, not striving. Bogart shows parents how to make room for surprise, mystery, risk, and adventure in their family's routine, so they can create an environment that naturally moves learning forward. If a child wants to pick up a new hobby or explore a subject area that the parent knows little about, it's easy to simply say "no" to end the discussion and the parental discomfort, while dousing their child's curious spark. Bogart gently invites parents to model brave learning for their kids so they, too, can approach life with curiosity, joy, and the courage to take learning risks.
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The Independent Learner's Guide to Successful Home-Schooling
So, you have thought about home-schooling before, but have no idea where to start--or what it really is.
Do I have to be from the upper-class to be home-schooled? Or is it for drop-outs? Is it just for prodigies? Or low-achievers?
Can an adult be home-schooled? What about sitting exams?
Am I even allowed to home-school where I live?
The truth is, home-schooling can be for everyone: no matter what your background, socioeconomic position, or the direction you want to take in terms of your academics.
And this guide is your official starting point to your journey.
Written from the perspective of a long-term successful home-schooler, The Independent Learner's Guide to Successful Home-Schooling will help you cut out the middle man--no matter where you are in your home-schooling journey--and be your helping hand in the intricacies of independent learning. Whether it be how to sit exams, how to construct a sustainable, productive routine, or whether home-schooling would actually suit you and your lifestyle in the first place, all your questions surrounding home-schooling are answered here--all with goal of helping you become the best version of yourself.
Your new beginning starts here.
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The Homeschooling Handbook
The mere thought of homeschooling can be overwhelming. What curriculum do I choose? What if we can’t afford all the books? How do I schedule our time? Will my children become socially awkward recluses? What if I screw up my kids’ education?! Lorilee Lippincott, a seasoned homeschooling mom, shows just how simple homeschooling can be. She and her husband taught their two kids in a one-bedroom apartment before picking up and moving the whole family to China. They’ve discovered that they don’t need rooms full of books, educational toys, and other teaching tools, nor do they need schedules packed full of extracurricular activities, field trips, and social events. Perhaps even more importantly, they don’t need to panic about making sure their kids turn out okay. It’s actually all pretty simple, she tells readers.
But homeschooling well does require some planning and dedication, and a book like The Homeschooling Handbook to be your guide. Here you’ll find all your questions answered in Lippincott’s straightforward, warm, and witty style. Topics covered include:
How to instill curiosity and a love of learning
Types of homeschooling
Your socialization fears assuaged
How to create simple schedules and stick to them
Tips for keeping costs down
Teaching kids with disabilities
The benefits of play time
Legal requirements
How to avoid burnout
And much more!
Full of anecdotes, interviews with other homeschooling families, and wisdom, this is a must-have for any family considering the homeschooling life. -
Homeschooling for the Rest of Us
Homeschooling parents are under great pressure. Besides trying to balance teaching responsibilities and family life, they often face unrealistic expectations from relatives, churches, other homeschoolers, and society at large. Even parents considering homeschooling sense the need to be perfect.
Sonya Haskins doesn't want any more families to give up on homeschooling. In this book she shares affirming stories and practical ideas from dozens of everyday families who successfully deal with cluttered schedules, academic struggles, sibling squabbles, and other real-life issues. Instead of learning a one-size-fits-all approach, readers will discover how to evaluate their own family's strengths and weaknesses and set their own goals for success. -
Homeschooling Essentials
Ready to begin homeschooling? Let hundreds of experienced homeschoolers help you on your way!
This practical guide will:
- answer the questions new homeschoolers ask most often
- help you navigate through legal issues, academic requirements, record-keeping, and testing
- describe various schedules, including typical (and not-so-typical) homeschool days
- discuss different homeschooling methods, ranging from a structured, school-in-a-box approach to a very relaxed, child-directed style
- provide reviews of favorite resources
- help you with high school, from creating a course schedule to assigning grades and granting credits
- and more!Whether you're a new homeschooler, or just looking for a better way to learn with your children, this guide offers the answers and encouragement you need to succeed.
Dianna Broughton is the director of Carolina Homeschooler and Traveling Homeschoolers, organizations known for their field trips, rail journeys, road trips, retreats, river cruises, and group trips to Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, Disney World, Italy, Alaska, France, England, Ireland, and beyond. She has homeschooled her four children for over 25 years, with one still learning at home.
For more information about Carolina Homeschooler visit carolinahomeschooler.com, and for Traveling Homeschoolers, visit travelinghomeschoolers.com. We'd love for you to join us!
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The Homeschooling Book of Lists
The Homeschooling Book of Lists is a comprehensive, authoritative, and user-friendly resource for homeschoolers or anyone considering teaching their child at home. Written by Michael and Mary Leppert, two experts in the field of homeschooling, this easy-to-use book is filled with information, tips, and resources that will help you give your child an outstanding education. Lists include:
- Homeschooling support groups, both religious and non-religious
- The top 100 homeschooling websites
- Homeschooling FAQs
- Who's who in homeschooling
- The top magazines and best books for homeschoolers
- Specific resources for each type of homeschooling: non-religious, Christian, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, and Mormon
- Special needs homeschooling resources
- Recommended homeschool products and vendors for teaching: reading, language arts, math, science, spelling, geography, foreign language, P.E., and more
- Homeschool-friendly colleges
- Businesses with homeschool-friendly hiring practices
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The Homeschool Guidebook
There's a lot going on in the world and I see and hear more parents looking for the best solution for their child's education. Many are exploring or turning to homeschooling to fill a void in the educational system, better support their students, take their child out of a negative social environment, or all of the above. Beyond personal consideration such as work restrictions, the greatest barriers for parents taking the leap to homeschooling is not knowing where to start and how to build out their program. This book aims to change that.I am a homeschool father with a successful homeschool program for our three students. I also began just where you are now, clueless, wandering, doubtful, and even scared. I wasted countless hours trying to figure things out and then countless more on things that didn't matter or could have been done much more efficiently. This book gives you the process and knowledge I had to learn and earn the hard way so that you might have a much easier time and have a much more effective homeschool program from day one.Whether you are searching for ways to augment your student's schoolwork due to reduced time in school or looking to implementing a full-time homeschool system, this book will help you reduce stress and be more effective.
Curriculum Ideas
- 826 Digital
- All About Learning (curriculum)
- Brave Writer (curriculum)
- Epic
- Explode the Code (curriculum)
- Spelling City (paid)
- Write Shop (curriculum)
- NASA for Students
- STEAMsational (store)
- Special Needs Homeschooling
- SPED Homeschool
- Time 4 Learning (curriculum)
Museum Passes
Check out passes for local museums and attractions including the Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Research
American History Online
Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history to cover the American experience. Primary sources, maps, charts, videos, and curricula included.
Daily Life through History
Explore the lives of ordinary people in the ancient world, medieval world, 15th-19th centuries, and the modern world. Learn about family life, food, work, sports, languages and social customs.
eLibrary
Designed for students in high school and college, full-text content includes books, magazines, scholarly and trade journals, newspapers, photographs, transcripts, and videos on a variety of subjects.
Encyclopedia Britannica Library
Comprehensive encyclopedia with separate sections for kids, teens, and adults. Articles, images and biographies on thousands of different subjects included. Find trusted content for school projects or just to learn something new.
LOTE4Kids
Help your kids learn a language and engage with reading. Choose from thousands of picture books in 70+ languages.
Modern World History
Modern World History offers a comprehensive look at world history from the mid-15th century to the present.
Stream & Download
Flipster
Read full-color digital magazines on your computer or download the app. Featured titles: Consumer Reports, People, Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, and Bloomberg Businessweek.
Freegal
App available. Log in with your library card to instantly stream or download millions of songs. Download up to 5 items per week, and everything you download is yours to keep.
Hoopla
App available. Stream or download TV episodes, movies, ebooks, audiobooks, and comics for all ages. Even check out magazines (search Binge Pass). Check out up to 20 items per month. Note that the Library currently has a Daily Limit.
Kanopy
App available. Stream classic films and documentaries on-demand on your computer, tablet or mobile device. Check out up to five items per month. Kanopy also includes children's shows and movies in its "Kids" section.
LOTE4Kids
Help your kids learn a language and engage with reading. Choose from thousands of picture books in 70+ languages.
Overdrive / Libby
App available. Download and enjoy ebooks and eaudiobooks on your computer, tablet or mobile device. Check out fiction and non-fiction ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and comics for all ages.
Scholastic BookFlix
Pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction eBooks to build a love of reading and learning.
Scholastic TrueFlix
Pairs short videos and ebooks on a variety of social studies and science topics to help students build literacy skills.
TumbleBook Library
An online collection of animated, talking picture books for kids. Books are also available in a read-along format and in Spanish and French.