Rookie of home schooling (DCs 4 )

[enlightenmequick]

Apologies if this topic has been done to death!

First time in this section.

I understand that I don't have to follow the National Curriculum, but I am someone who prefers structure and would be happier with a check list of topics to be covered at each age/stage.

Any sows etc?

Any ideas of what textbooks/websites etc would suit me?

Does the gov/local authorities have packs?

Just looked on Amazon and I have no idea where to start.

thank you

First off, how old are your DC?
Whare do you live?
Have DC been in school at all?

I have 1 DD she is 7, never been to school. She does reading eggs and math seeds on the I pad and she reads to her dad after tea. That is as much structure as we have.
Many parents new to home ed buy in a curriculum up to£200, only to find they never use it.
Most home ed groups have resources you can borrow, there is the library, second hand shops and swapping with the reast of us.

Sorry, the dcs 4 in the title, meant my dcs are 4 years old- twins. (realise it could be mistaken for 4 dcs)

I live in the North west. They should be starting school this Sept.

Hello enlightenmequick

Every H.edder does things the way that suits them.
Some are fully structured with plans that follow the NC, others use a combination of structure and autonomous (child lead) activities.

When we first started off I has sow, plans, level descriptors etc as I had previously taught.
It really isn't needed, even if you are going for fully structured.
Needless to say, I never used all the plans etc and spent a lot of time I needn't have done getting prepared to start

There are lots of work books available, in fact more than you would ever need. We use a mix of the fun type and the more serious dry stuff, depending on what is required at the time.

You don't have to follow the NC or any set timetable and you can work whenever you like. 6pm - 8pm if that suits you.

There are so many free resources on websites and tes is a good source, especially if you want curriculum based stuff.

Sorry, just realised you asked about topics.

You can find all of these on tes. Go to resources KS1, then the subject and a list will appear for the topics for that subject. You can then look at what you like and print them off.

I don't think you will get much joy from the LEA as you will not be registered so in effect refusing their services of a school place.
Sometimes, they offer a list of websites but we found these were out of date and some were unsuitable/told us what you'd know already.

There are no government packs, though the National Curriculum is freely available online if you want to use it as a guide. As morethan said, government and other agencies tend to have quite out of date information on resources, it's just not their area. I've been given sites with gushing recommendations that haven't been in use for years.

Amazon is a good place to get lost down the rabbit hole, but for finding curriculums you don't know about. Currclick.com, thecurriculumchoice, freelyeducate.com are good starting off points, I find, though often have a US tilt to them which is fine for some subjects though obviously not others. That is part of a larger problem of finding systematic programmes as most focused on home education are from the US and the British ones tend to be more aimed at schools and need to be adapted for home use. I tend to break it down subject by subject.

For maths, I recommend CIMT, which goes from reception to A-levels, and has the sort of systematic programme you sound like you are looking for. There are free lesson plans on the websites as well as the work pages (though I recommend buying the books, good quality and inexpensive and no worries about printer settings for the measurement sections). There is a yahoo CIMT group that will give the password access for the secondary answer sheets and tests (primary is all open I believe). We've really enjoyed and had great progress with it.

We use piperbooks for early reading, another systematic programme, they have small decodeable books. Some people use them from the start, others use them after single-letter phonics instruction and writing to build up skills, confidence, and to avoid guessing habits.

Science - msnucleus.org/curriculum/curriculum.html, thehappyscientist.com/next-generation-science-standards give suitable tick boxes that you call fill in as you or your kids want.

History: General historical reading is a good start, for middle/latter years worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/ is a solid spine

These are obviously just mine, there are really a lot of options to pick from. Essentially, consider what you want to teach and explore your options to find a fit for you and yours. You may prefer the systematic approach or finding a grounding may put you in a different direction.

morethan thespork

Thank you very much for your information. I will look into it all.

Much appreciated.