Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Educator, Coach, Life Strategist

Welcome to homeschooling! Now go get yourself a book.

Welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling!  On behalf of the global community of home educating families, let me be the first to say we’re glad you’re here!

What?  You’re asking what to do now?

You mean — you haven’t done any research?

Oh my.

Well, no worries.  I’m here to help.  Really.  I wrote a book about how to start homeschooling for people just like you.

But I need to be blunt.  You need to take that first step.

After all, homeschooling is all about doing things yourself.  Your way.  With your kids.

So…if you’re really planning to do this thing…start now.

Go get yourself a book.

I suggest buying a good, getting-started, how-to, or what-the-heck-is-this-all-about type of homeschooling book.  One that speaks to you.  One that comes recommended by friends you admire.  One that is packed with new, modern, up-to-date information.  One written in a style that matches your way of thinking.  Or, maybe one that matches your budget or has a pretty cover.  However you want to do it.   The choice is yours.

You’ll find the homeschooling book I published HERE.  It tells you exactly what to do the first two weeks.  Or, shop the marketplace to find others you prefer.  There are many good ones out there, each offering a little something different.

While waiting for the book to arrive, start —

  • following a couple of homeschool blogs that appeal to you;
  • subscribing to homeschool newsletters you think you’ll enjoy reading;
  • studying different homeschool models and educational philosophies that sound interesting to you; and
  • getting to know homeschool laws that apply where you live.

Jumping in feet first is the quickest way to get wet.  On the other hand, it can be awfully helpful to have a guiding hand or supportive reference to give you a general idea about what to do — or help get you rescued in the unlikely event you start drowning.

A good homeschool book can do that for you.

You’ll read it again and again.   You’ll refer to it over and over. You’ll pass the name on to friends who are getting started, too.

Digital downloads are fine, but something about homeschool paperbacks is just comforting.   A quick grab wherever you are.  An old friend waiting patiently on the shelf.

Whether you are just beginning or have been homeschooling for a while, books like these can have that effect.  There may be something you missed the first time around, or something you’d like to revisit because the time has finally come to apply that little bit of information.

The gift of preparation and knowledge is priceless.  Whether you get a book now, or buy one eventually after homeschooling a while, having a homeschooling book on the shelf is always a great idea.

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Plan Your Own Homeschool Curriculum

 

Purchase this title in our e-store

Gathering homeschool resources is easy and fun!

Who doesn’t love shopping for new materials and fresh supplies?

But…pulling them all together is a different story.

Once that box of goodies arrives by mail, well…that’s when the hard work begins.

 

Which one of the books should your kids start first?

How long will all those lessons take an average kid to finish?

Is there enough material to cover all the subjects you wanted to teach this year?

Should you assign all of the chapters in every book — or just some?

Do any of the resources overlap?  Should any be combined?

What other supplies do you still need to buy?  When do you need them by?

How much work should you assign every day? Every week? Every year?

 

Every parent faces the same challenges at the beginning of a new homeschool year.

 

Reviewing materials, planning lessons, and scheduling the year is no small task!

 

Sure, buying a comprehensive curriculum makes things easier.  BUT, it doesn’t always guarantee the system and schedule will be exactly right for your family.

 

Choosing materials from many different sources means you have to develop a schedule and lesson plans entirely on your own.  That’s a time-consuming process, too.

 

That’s why I developed Plan Your Own Homeschool Curriculum — the solution for creating a well-planned and cohesive homeschool year.

 

This is NOT a calendar.  It is NOT an ordinary planner, either.

 

What is it?

 

It’s an e-book that acts as your personal guide for planning an entire homeschool year.  You’ll receive a step-by-step system, including all of the forms you’ll ever need, to gather all of the books, worksheets, lesson plans, DVDs, web links, educational games, flash cards, MP3s and anything else you want to use during the homeschool year.   AND, you’ll receive a guided system for organizing everything into one giant set of lesson plans that work for YOU!

 

By the end of the e-book, you will have developed an organized plan for the ENTIRE HOMESCHOOL YEAR.

 

Buy it now

 

Plan Your Own Homeschool Year offers a system for:

  • Taking inventory of homeschool materials for the year;
  • Getting familiar with each specific resource, and how each should be used;
  • Determining how many lessons to plan and how much material to cover each time;
  • Deciding how to schedule the year and when to take time off; PLUS
  • Writing up a set of lesson plans to last the whole year.

In Plan Your Own Homeschool Year, guided instruction is used to:

  • Give parents a jump-start on what is covered in each homeschool book or product
  • Help parents organize the year into manageable chunks, avoiding last-minute planning and frustration
  • Explain how to calculate the number of lessons or number of chapters to assign every day/week
  • Demonstrate how to write lesson plans to keep the year running smoothly
  • Leave parents with a sense of confidence and readiness for an outstanding year!

 

ALL reproducible worksheets are included.

 

DETAILED easy-to-follow instructions make following the guide easy.

 

This system works for ANY family using ANY kind of homeschool resources.  Whether you’re a curriculum user, an eclectic resource family, or anywhere in between, you CAN have an organized homeschool year.

 

I’ll show you how!

 

Listen to what this parent said:

“…thank you so much for putting together an ebook about planning out a homeschool curriculum.  I have been searching the internet for a long time trying to find EXACTLY what you have put together.  I am grateful, that you took the time to create this ebook.”

~ C.T.

 

Approximate length: 35 pages

 

Are you ready for a well-planned homeschool year?

 

You can purchase this book in our e-store.

Click here for pricing and purchasing details.

Curriculum shopping like buying a car

With so many products on the market today, it can be very difficult for homeschool parents to figure out which ones to try.  Particularly in the major subject areas, the constantly growing list of curriculum options can make the selection process completely overwhelming.

To top it all off, because every family and every student is just a little bit different, there are no “right” or “wrong” curriculum decisions either.  What this means is that homeschoolers must decide completely on their own which products to use for every single subject and for every single student in the homeschool.

Sound difficult? It doesn’t have to be.  By changing the way you look at it, the task instantly becomes more doable.  Not easy, but less overwhelming than before.

Think about the last major purchase you made.  Maybe it was a new or used car, or perhaps you bought a home computer.  Or maybe it was something a little bit less expensive, like a microwave, a golf club, or a blender.  How did you approach the purchase?  Probably not by running out to the nearest store and buying the first one you saw.  More than likely, you did some research, shopped around, read the consumer reviews, and talked to friends and family members first.  Then, and only then, you plopped down the money and took the item home.

Shopping for homeschooling curriculum is very much the same process.  Like buying a car, purchasing decisions do not always come easy.  Expecting to choose and order curriculum in a couple of hours may be possible, but just isn’t realistic for most people.  Neither is expecting to make a single phone call to a homeschool veteran hoping they’ll tell you what to buy, either.  Choosing can take time. Finding the most appropriate product takes research.   Locating the best price may take even longer.  And decisions made in a hurry do not always work out.

In my book Suddenly Homeschooling, I offer several chapters worth of suggestions on how to accomplish this task and find educational materials in a hurry.  But even with a time crunch, I suggest taking a couple of days.  Rushing through the job in an afternoon can work, but having more time is obviously preferred.

That’s why the comparison to car shopping is a good one. You’d never want to buy a car that is too small for your family, since trying to squeeze a family of 9 into a 5-seater simply won’t work.  You wouldn’t want to purchase a gas-guzzler either, if you knew you’d never be able to afford to run the thing.  You’d never want to buy a truck when what you really needed was a car, a sports-car if what you needed was a conversion van.  Collecting information, taking notes, talking to people and reading product reviews are all part of the process.  And just like you’d never buy a car without so much as looking at it, why assume it’s alright to buy curriculum without looking at some sample pages?

Sometimes, new homeschool parents expect quick answers.  A quick phone call to a curriculum supplier or sending an email to an experienced homeschooling parent just isn’t enough.  Understanding that curriculum decisions are at least as important as making other major purchases is the first step.  Realizing that curriculum decisions may be even more important (these are your kids, after all) than other major purchases is even better.

Getting started – new book plus other tips

Making the decision to homeschool is one thing.  Starting to do it is another thing entirely.

Parents have described the learning curve as being awfully steep during the first weeks and months of homeschooling.  Some express confusion and frustration over not knowing what they don’t know, and then having to learn it all in random order, often in a fairly short amount of time.

This does not have to be the case.

Beginning to homeschool can be easy!

Having the right tools is the key.

There are many resources available to new homeschooling families to ease the transition and make the learning curve more gradual.  Modern families are fortunate because they can benefit from the experiences and writings of both the original homeschooling pioneers and the most recent homeschooling veterans.  These are the folks who have learned the hard way, done all of the experimentation and have fine-tuned and perfected the practice of home education.  And now, they’re willing to help new families just joining the homeschooling community — and there is no greater gift to newcomers than hearing from those who have done it before.

Help for newcomers comes in many, many forms.  Store shelves are lined with books about teaching, education, learning, homeschooling and more.  The Internet too is a resource, boasting thousands upon thousands of web pages and blogs ready to explain even the tiniest bit of minutiae to anyone interested in reading about it. Local and statewide organizations can also help.  Friends and neighbors who have homeschooled have more information still.  Plus, there are homeschool conventions to attend, co-ops to join and consultants you can pay, too.

Perhaps the only problem remaining for today’s homeschoolers is navigating this vast universe of homeschooling information and knowing exactly where to begin.  As homeschooling becomes more and more mainstream, it can be hard to decide exactly where and how to jump in and whose advice to listen to, at least at the very beginning.

In my book, Suddenly Homeschooling, I outline a fool-proof series of steps that can be used to enter those first few weeks of homeschooling with ease.  I chart a course for new families to follow, making it easy to identify what needs to be completed when, explaining every little step along the way.  Parents who read the book will be legally homeschooling in no time at all, and will have gained the knowledge and confidence they need to continue entirely on their own.   The book tells homeschoolers exactly what to do using an easy checklist format, so that nothing is left out, and everything is done in the proper sequence, too.  It’s a one-stop solution to starting to homeschool, so there is no need to buy anything else.

New homeschoolers don’t have to go it alone.  Even the most independent and resourceful individuals sometimes need a hand when entering unfamiliar territory.  Taking advantage of the wisdom and experience of those who have come before will lessen the learning curve and end the confusion of navigating the homeschooling universe of information, too.

Whether opting to purchase a homeschooling book, taking the advice of a great homeschooling friend, or using any of the other available methods, modern homeschoolers have no reason — ever – to go it alone.  Get some help and make the transition to homeschooling as joyful as it was meant to be!

A good calculator

Dollar-store calculators can be loads of fun.  In a pinch, having an inexpensive calculator in the car or in your briefcase is never a bad idea.

But there comes a time when your homeschooler needs a better one. That time may come sooner than you think — usually somewhere between 2nd-5th grades, depending on the child and the level of mathematics you teach. 

During the elementary years is when your child will need to learn 2 things: how to properly use a calculator, and how to check work.  Because  dollar-store calculators cannot do everything that kids need to do in math, and they are usually unreliable anyway (expiring at the most inconvenient times), it’s important to have a good calculator ready at home.

Buying a calculator early is a good idea since there is no sense in having to learn twice — have your child learn on the calculator she’ll be using throughout the remainder of her school years.

Families and teachers seem to agree that Texas Instruments (TI) makes a good calculator.  With calculators for every application in all price ranges, homeschoolers will always find a TI calculator to meet their needs.

For the lower grades, something in the 30+ range will usually do the trick.  A calculator like this one will probably do through most of middle school:

For high schoolers, particularly those who take honors, AP or college dual enrollment math, a more sophisticated model is needed. A graphing calculator in the 80+ range and upwards will probably be sufficient:

Texas Instruments has a chart available on the web site to help you choose the right model for every level math course that homeschoolers are likely to take.

Plan to spend $20+ for lower grades and $100 or more for upper grades.  Despite the price, this investment proves to be well worth it as these last a long time and can be used by multiple children for many years.

Finally, keep calculator instructions in a safe place. You’ll never know when you or your student forgets how to input a certain type of equation or cannot locate a function.  While the instruction manual isn’t usually needed in lower school, it can be a life-saver once the kids get older.