There are many wonderful new materials on the homeschooling market today of which we are not familiar. Our family began homeschooling in 1987, when resources were scarce. We found a few basics that worked for us, and just stuck with them. We are still using them today with the last of our students.
Christian Service
We try to make sure serving in Jesus' Name gets plugged into the schedule first. For little children, learning to take care of their own things (put their own toys away, make their own beds, etc.) comes first. Then beginning to serve others around the home (feed the dog, set the table, put dishes away, etc.). As they get older, we begin looking outside the home (a senior or widow at church to give a hello and a hug each Sunday, or visit a senior in our neighborhood, or take food to a shut-in, or visit a nursing home). We didn't do much serving outside the home when all the children were little as they needed to be trained and slowly exposed to people outside our home whose needs were greater than their own.
Click here for a list of other serving ideas.
Math
We used either Bob Jones or A Beka Math for K-3. We purchased these new from their websites, with the answer key (just easier), but not the teacher's manuals. If we had two children about the same age, we used one from each company to discourage comparison and competition. www.abeka.org, www.bjup.com
We then switched to Saxon Math doe grades 5/4 and up. We purchase these used from www.rocksolidinc.com or put an ad in the Titus 2 Newsletter or looked online.
Reading/Language
Phonics Solution: www.questforlearning.com/phonics.htm (easy, computer-based phonics and spelling)
Winston Grammar www.winstongrammar.com (I did not do so well with this one as it required more consistency than I could give, but it is good program).
A Beka Readers for every grade level all the through their high school literature texts. We purchase these new. www.abeka.org
Typing Practice ~ Typing Tutor
History and Science
Bob Jones or A Beka Texts Gr 2-12. We just have our children read through the books, not do any of the tests. This has given them a solid Christian worldview background in history and science, and they get through one text a year pretty quickly.
Reading
Reading is a huge part of our lives, and our lighter "school" schedule leaves room for more exciting reading like Christian biographies and autobiographies (such as Heroes of Faith and Heroes of the Faith), historical fiction (such as the American Adventure Series), and classics (such as Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, Johnny Tremain, etc). We try to keep each child's bookshelf stocked with good reading materials each month. The "rules" of reading are that you must find the most comfortable place in the house to curl up with your book, whether it's snuggled up in Mom and Dad's bed, flopped into a hammock, or with a doggie as your pillow. It's that child's time to go far away, perhaps to England or India or the South Seas and experience a new adventure. Once they are reading well, we ask them to read about one hour each school day, from any book on their shelf (which we have stocked for that month). Younger children can break down their reading into 15 minute sessions each day if they like. Once they complete their hour from their bookshelf, they are free to read other approved books they find around the house or from the library. We didn't let our daughter read Christian romance novels.
P.E.
Typically, we have tried to have some type of exercise program going two or three days a week, which consists of the exercises on the Presidential Physical Fitness Challenge. The younger ones like to track their progress online. Our boys who are still in school now like to run, and joined the Florida Track Club. Running two to three times a week, and working out with weights once or twice a week has now replaced the older one's exercise routine.
They have also been members of the Civil Air Patrol, where they were tested in physical fitness once a month with their squadron.