Hello everyone

[Donna66]

I'm new here My name is Donna My husband and I are thinking of homeschooling our daughters.Ive been looking on line for days now trying to find curriculum for first and second graders ughh there are so many choices.I must admit I'm a little worried about teaching them at home any help you all can give me would be great.I hope to make new friends here who can guide me in the whole homeschooling thing before I go crazy lol.We live in Michigan and I want to make sure I cover all my bases and give my girls the best education I can. Thank you all so much I'm glad I found this site. Donna

[teachermom]

Hi, Donna! this is a great site to figure stuff out. We all have our preferences, so we can tell you first hand what we like and why.

I'm a teacher - no, not just of my son but an actual teacher, lol. I work part-time with teen parents now though.

My son is 13 and special needs. We use time4 learning.com - it's great and covers all the bases and I know some use ONLY that. He does better with hands on math, though, so we use MATH-U-SEE also. We also like Story of the World for history, and we've used Easy Grammar, too - as much for the fine motor aspect of writing things down as for the grammar - he gets that in t4l.

For first and second graders I know lots of people like Five in a Row. The main focus in the early grades is language arts - READ and READ and READ!!!!! (because after all, if they can read and ENJOY reading, they can teach themselves anything else they need to know, right?)

I'm not sure what the "rules" are in Michigan - I'm lucky enough to live in a state with NO rules for homeschoolers. But there are some Michiganders here, so they can help you with advice and explanations if you DO have to follow or report anything.

glad to see you here!

[TamieJP]

Hi, I'm Tamie. I live is SW Michigan & would love to meet with you if you live nearby. We can discuss that in a PM if you are close enough to consider it.

I have one student that took his GED and is now married. He spent 2 years in High School, otherwise he was homeschooled all his years. I have one student that should be finishing up her GED before July (I HOPE!!!!) She visited a school for two weeks. Otherwise she was strictly homeschooled. My youngest will be 13yrs old in a couple of weeks. She is doing 8th grade work.

I LOVED the Five in a Row, Beyond Five in a Row and tolerated Above & Beyond Five in a Row. Math has always been Math-U-See. We are JUST STARTING with Beautiful Feet. She does not like it yet but she just started her second lesson today. We add to that Grammar & more reading. Oh AND Math-U-See. We might add other stuff, we might change curriculums. We just do not know yet.

My oldest two children also used Switched on Schoolhouse. My son EXCELLED with it. My daughter hated it but she hated school no matter how I cut it up and served it to her....

WELCOME and stay around a while. Many people are likely to respond to this thread over the next few days.

[MAC]

Welcome!

Another shout-out for FIAR!

[MAC]

Here is some GREAT advice!
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=73

[MaryEllen]

Hi, Donna. I DO NOT live in Michigan, nor did my daughter like FIAR
Since she was already reading fluently when we started, and we found FIAR didn't work for us (I found several free-to-download samples) I chose to go with stuff that had worked with my son.

We used Learning Language Arts Through Literature and Math-U-See, plus free units we found on-line for various science and social studies topics. Most of what she did though was through play outside - even a lot of the math was done as she jumped and bounced.

[Donna66]

YAY!!!!! I think I love you all already let me correct one thing when we do decide to Home school their grades will be second and Third Grade,we plan on finishing out the school year.I just went today to a parent and teacher store and spent over 50 dollars hehe I couldn't help myself........I am sooooooooooooooo glad I came here.I am so Excited right now!! Thank you all Donna.

[Donna66]

Tamie hi we live in wayne county...I tried to send you a message but it says im not aloud to.I cant wait to talk to you more as well as everyone else you are all so helpful.

[TamieJP]

Wayne County is way East of me (I think). I go to Novi, Mi for doctor appointments otherwise that is just too far for me. It cost me $85 in gas to go to the doctor!!

You will find that we can get to know one another quite well on here. Just keep visiting and you'll see.

We have many other forums to talk in. Look at the Kitchen or Home & Health forums. We have Prayer & Praise forum...

[Barbara]

Welcome Donna. I am a homeschooler who has finished the race after homeschooling my kids all the way through their education. My dd just graduated (12/2011) from college with a teaching degree. She is currently doing a long term sub position for 2nd grade. My sister was asking her after this experience if she going to send her kids to ps or homeschool. She said she was going to homeschool because there is just too much wasted time (standing in line for 20 minutes to go to the bathroom, etc.). I have two boys currently in college, one a senior and the other a junior who will be engineers when they finish.

It has been too many years to give you any advice on curriculum but Jeri's comment "READ and READ and READ!!!!! (because after all, if they can read and ENJOY reading, they can teach themselves anything else they need to know, right?)" is so true. When you do this, they will stand out in college because of their knowledge of so many things that others just didn't have the time to pick up.

Good luck. I laughed at your purchases. If anything, the hardest thing about homeschooling is not to buy too much.