I'm so glad it helped!

Take a deep breath and know the first 1-2 years will be "adjustment" years. You will be learning your "individual" child's learning types (ask your child what they think) and what works best for whom. They will be learning how you will do things (your routine), and I refer to it as your "tweaking" years. By the third year, you have usually learned what works best for your family and things flow better. So hang in there during the first years, a little bumpy at first, but there is light at the end and you will feel more confident.

You're welcome, when I started this homeschool journey the length of time was one of my biggest questions. Thanks for the compliment, they're my world!

Thanks, I'm so glad! The 4th level workbooks are almost complete and I can't wait to get them both. The workbooks really are so helpful. We've had school at the park with the workbooks and it's so relaxing to step back from the computer and enjoy each other and the outdoors while schooling.

I absolutely recommend them for pre k! My son was reading at at least a 2nd grade level by the time he officially started kindergarten with the help of EP. We have since moved on from EP simply because, at least for my kids, the lessons were a bit too text bookish. EP is definitely a great resource!

You're welcome! We love EP too!

You're welcome!

I absolutely love it!

We will be using reading, language arts, and Math from them this year. How does everyone use the other subject?

You can choose a year section as well and they contain history, science, art, music, PE, and a bible study if you want to use it. I print all the papers I need at the start of the year and divide them with dividers for each child and write the day used in the top right corner. I keep them in a 4 inch binder and pull them out the papers needed for each week the weekend before. The L years are for 1st grade to 4th grade and the M years are for 5th grade up to 8th grade, although my 5th grader is doing an L level with my 4th grader so you can always adjust however you'd like. The lessons are very thorough. I don't know where you stand on creationism, I'm not a creationist but the author of the curriculum is and when we get to anything talking about creationism I just let the kids know why I believe what I believe and why the author believes what she believes and I let them decide for themselves either way. That's the only thing that some people don't like about some rare portions of the science and history sections. It hasn't really been a problem for us at all though and it may not be a problem for you either. I just thought I'd mention that though in case you hadn't already seen it.

Thank you so much for explaining it. This year we are using the 4th and 6th grade workbooks. My 6th grader is working in the 5th grade level math. We have something else for History and Science, art. Mainly because I just found this. But now I know it’s there. Wish I had known sooner.

@@hiphomeschoolers How do you know which papers to print? If you order the preprinted workbooks do you still have sheets to print?

Thanks! I try to keep it as organized as possible for my sanity and to keep the kids on a smooth flow for the day.

Lol.

simply simpkins I love how you think

little lady Hi this Rachel from HopeFilledJourney. I also have a channel. Would you mind cking it out and subscribe? We can get to know each other

Staying organized helps, you just need to find out what kind of organization works best for your individual family.

You're welcome! How old are your little ones? We've since changed over to a much more relaxed style of education. We are very relaxed Charlotte Mason homeschoolers and have been so for the past few years and it seems to work best for us. I really loved Easy Peasy but it was a little textbookish for the kids.

@@hiphomeschoolers 2nd grade and Kindergarten. We started using it for supplements for several subjects, and they are loving it so far. I would say we kind of combine Charlotte Mason with very old school methods. (I was raised by my grandmother who graduated high school in 1933 so that’s probably where I get that from lol.) Kind of Charlotte Mason with a fair amount of memorizing if I had to describe it.

@@Seashellsbytheseashore21 I’m so glad that this has helped! Kindergarten and second grade are such fun years. Enjoy your sweet babies!

@@hiphomeschoolers thanks! Yea it’s a lot of fun at this point. 🥰

The one book I could definitely recommend possibly using an audiobook for is Swiss Family Robinson in level 4. The language was a bit tough for my kids and I've seen many others mention that it was pretty tough for theirs as well.

Do you mean this one? kzfaq.info/sun/PL_rYdffwG5JNGWNhj0iaCYXKT2CVrxpyJ or did u mean another version? Let me know as I love to help homeschool mamas :)

Yes!

Thank you!

Hi! I got that at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon!

No problem at all. I like the workbooks because they allow for more offline time. Each book stands on it's own so it doesn't list out the subjects like the site does. They have 180 days of worksheets in each workbook that corresponds with the day's lesson vs the printables that don't always have work for each day. They do not have the links listed for online activities though. I usually just open the webpage for the day an also get the books out for them to work in. In level four it starts having a bit of copywork but I don't remember any copywork in the younger levels although I might be drawing a blank. Last year I wanted to work on my daughters handwriting so I bought a composition notebook and would have her copy a sentence or two that I had chosen from the reader to copy.

Thank you! This helps so much!!

Yes, as a matter of fact I've just recently changed up a bit of how I do things. I may post a video to explain what's working for us because homeschooling evolves so much for families from year to year. For the littles I'd let them play in the same room but join in on hands on activities if they want. The 4 and 5 year old can really do many things together. My son and daughter do the same science, history, and electives, and my younger son has his own lessons to do. I write down all the lessons for the week in my planner so I get a quick recap on what we're doing and make sure all supplies are ready that are needed each day before school starts. I used to look for different videos sometimes that were a little more interesting for my kids or videos I felt explained things a little better and I would save those video links in my google drive to use throughout the week.

You don't have to have any sort of subscription or pay any fee to use allinonbehomeschool.com . When I did prek with my son I did purchase the workbook which is $6.49 ( www.amazon.com/Getting-Ready-Printables-All-One/dp/1724630776/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542374847&sr=1-1&keywords=getting+ready+all+in+one )but I bought it because at the time I didn't have a printer. You may have a printer and not need to buy it or you may decide it's cheaper to buy it then purchase ink cartridges. Depending on how far along your little one is you may be able to double up on days in Getting Ready 1 so you get to Getting Ready 2 faster. When you get to GR2 I recommend purchasing the Getting Ready book because it was easier to teach my son to read using a book than a computer screen. My youngest is now in kindergarten and he knew his numbers and very basic math so I started him on level one math using EP and he's done really well. We have used buttons, rocks, beans, etc to learn addition but after using the manipulatives he doesn't need them anymore and easily answers his math problems. GR1 doesn't focus on math except very rarely and I followed this program closely and he's doing great in math so don't worry of you don't see a ton of math in the lessons. The creator of the curriculum feels it's important to have a base of reading before moving onto other things. My son is able to read just about everything and he hasn't even completed GR2 yet so it's definitely a great program to use.

Our state doesn't require hours, but exploring outside is hands on science, going to the grocery store can be hands on real life math, reading any sorts of books and magazines is reading and language arts, so much of what the kids watch is educational...the list can go on and on. I think it's crazy when they attach a certain number of required hours because there's just no way a child is going to sit still for that many hours without tuning out. Even in public school they pass out coloring pages and turn on the tv for the kids as busy work. Just focus on all the ways they're learning other than bookwork and document what subjects they're learning. Hands on learning can leave such a huge imprint that sticks with them!

Lee Giles has her curriculum for the state of Pennsylvania, where she lives. They have some of the highest standards in the nation. I provided a link on another reply so you can check your specific state's requirements. The HSDLA are lawyers that keep everything up to date on their website. If your state has hour requirements, going to field trips can be hours counted too. Same if they are watching documentaries or learning shows on tv. Discussions on topics, doing experiments, extra reading books they do on the side. It is all learning and can be counted in the hours. Hope that helps.

I can't rave enough about how incredibly thorough this curriculum is! I highly recommend it! I would definitely do the EP Pre K before the EP Kindergarten, so that would be to complete Getting Ready 1 before starting Getting Ready 2. GR2 starts out with quite a bit of reading but the end of GR1 teaches the children to read. We combined 2 days into one day when doing the letter portion of GR1 because he didn't need to really spend that many days on each letter so if your little one already knows letters you could do it that way. I wouldn't skip the letter portion though. It has bits of math sprinkled in here and there and is honestly a little more fun than the second portion of GR1. The second portion is sight words. I have seen a lot of mixed opinions on teaching sight words before phonics but I have been really impressed with it. My son will be 5 in May and is already a pretty great reader and surpasses some kindergarteners by starting out with sight words. I have been surprised that the sight words have taught him phonics as well because he can sound out and read words that he hasn't learned using the tools he's learned about words with his sight word lessons. The sight word section says to complete one lesson a day but that just didn't work for us. We usually complete a session in two days, sometimes three depending on how fast he learns the words. We start Kindergarten with him in July (we start a bit early because it's so hot here no one wants to be outside and then we take lots of breaks throughout the year) and I have been making my own science and social studies curriculum for him since our state requires those things taught in kindergarten. They aren't included in GR2. I will definitely share it once I have it completed. I'll be focusing on community, emotions, how our bodies work, countries and cultures, animals, and physical science. I plan on posting a video describing it and then just sharing a google drive link to the lessons if anyone wants to use it. As far as the older grades, my kids were public schoolers originally and I can tell you that this curriculum is much more advanced than public school curriculum! I really love it! If you haven't joined the EP facebook groups I would do that, even if you end up going with a different curriculum later. It's a great place to post questions and receive answers and everyone is extremely kind and helpful. Good luck on your homeschool journey! It's pretty exciting!

simply simpkins THANKS SO MUCH!!!! I really appreciate u taking the time to reply!!! This is soooo helpful!!!! Last question: can we do this curriculum offline? I rather do it offline. Thanks!!!!!

We do a mix of online and offline. Most of our day is spent offline but I have them do the math games listed for the day and I have them do any vocab games if they're listed. We always do science and history online though but we do it as a group. The creator of EP has created an offline curriculum called Genesis and some people swear by it. From what I've seen it looks interesting but I'm a little confused on how to use it. For Pre K doing mostly offline would probably work. Right now with sight words my son hasn't done any work online for school in a while. I asked my kids if they'd be interested in doing all offline but they really love the learning games and things so we have decided to stick the the EP version. If you're starting with pre k GC Steps is where you'd start with the Genesis curriculum. Here's a link to the curriculum. www.genesiscurriculum.com/

simply simpkins thanks so much!!!!!! 😊👍🏽

You're welcome!

I have definitely changed how I've done that over the years, but now I just check off days. In our state we also have to keep a log of some kind and for that I print out my lesson plans for the year and write the date next to each completed assignment.

How's it going so far? Also...be sure to deschool if you haven't already! I wish that we would have done that!

@@hiphomeschoolers it’s going Amazing! I wish I had made my decision sooner. My son has improved so much just in a few weeks. A mother told me about unschooling or school detox lol. So we have started to do so too. Thanks so much for checking on us.

You'd really have to check into your state laws because each state's laws are so different. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, and even when you homeschool you're technically still contributing to the local school with your tax dollars so they would have to accept your child if you wanted your child to enter public school again. As far as entering school at the grade level they are at in EP I just don't know if they would do that, but you could ask your local school how they would handle that if they scored high enough on standardized tests.

Here is a link to the new preschool book in black and white. There is a color version for $10 or so more as well. : EP Preschool Workbook B & W Edition: Part of the Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool a.co/d/eeF3pPg

Here is the color version : EP Preschool Workbook Color Edition: Part of Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool a.co/d/c1rC5OC

No and yes.

I would look at Lee Giles (same author) Genesis curriculum.

Easy Peasy can be a little advanced in some things. Since he is only 6 you can start him as early as you need. You may check the getting ready part 1 Primer allinonehomeschool.com/days-172-222-mcguffey-reader/. Depending on where he is at. And then go on from there to the getting ready 2. (This course was designed for younger children so you could do probably 2-3 lessons a day, if he can until you get to where you feel he needs to be. If anything it will just go quickly and then you can move onto level 1 ect. He will have so much fun! And it's already planned for you. Also there is a handwriting book I believe in getting ready part 2! You can do it! And he WILL thrive. You care for him the most. :) After level 1 is complete he will be at what most states consider a 3rd grade reading level!!! With math you may be able to start right a way with level 1 allinonehomeschool.com/math/ I think she tells you what they need before you start. Anyway I hope I am of some help. Many blessing to you and your son!

I bought mine from Amazon since I have prime shipping, but you can also purchase them from the allinonehomeschool.com website.

Awesome Thank you so much

I prefer to buy the books. It ends up costing less than ink cartridges and paper. The Pre K book includes kindergarten as well so you only need the one book for a while and with the 4th grader they offer the math, reading, language arts, and reader workbook and I personally like having them in the book form. It helps to not read from a computer screen and you can take the books on the go with you. You won't need the pre k book until you get to the primer section which is the second section of pre k.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

You're welcome! I was thinking after I responded that at the beginning of prek there is a workbook available but we barely used it because my son doesn't really enjoy coloring. If I were to do that part again I would end up printing only the sheets where you search for letters unless you know your child will actually color the pictures. Also, there are two reading books for level four and I forgot to mention that, but the good thing is you can hold the reading books for your younger child so you can get two uses out of them.

Hello again, are these the only bad I’ll need for my 4th grader as far as the requirements in California? Thanks again

It looks like it. We're not in California, but when I looked it up on the hslda site it looks like that everything you need is included. The creator of the curriculum created it for Pennsylvania state guidelines and theirs are pretty intense.

Yes, we've actually already started our school year. We start in mid July and we are still using EP.

hip homeschoolers thank you so much. we are new to EP and I'm apprehensive. I'm printing worksheets now but plan on buying books next year if it works out for us. My daughter has always been above in reading so this curriculum works well for us. I hope y'all have a wonderful year. Thank you for your helpful videos. new subscriber :)

Thanks, I think you guys will really enjoy it. I know we have!

I started this program with him when he was about 3 1/2. He's now in kindergarten and can read just about anything and can spell most things on his own.

The parents give the kids a homemade diploma-most colleges take it the same as a formal diploma! In most states homeschooling is considered to be a form of private school. 🙂

@@leahpeterson11 okay thank you so much!

There are also companies that can make them really nice for you as well.

We use allinonehomeschool.com and he is already reading fluently. I paired it up with the workbook from a grocery store in the video and his schooling doesn't take more than 30 minutes a day. I highly recommend you check it out! We love it!

The requirements vary by state.

Easy Peasy is completely free. You can print all the materials needed at no charge from the website. I use a black ink Brother printer that I buy replacement cartridges for (2 for around $14 on Amazon) and the cartridges last for thousands of pages. Here's the printer I use www.staples.com/Brother-HL-L2320D-Monochrome-Laser-Printer/product_1074269 I print the science and history but buy the workbooks for all other subjects. The workbooks are extremely reasonable. For 3 reader books, 2 language arts books, 2 math books, 1 Pre k & Kindergarten reader book, and 4 parent guides last year it was around $96. The reason I like the workbooks is because there are worksheets for 180 days vs not having a worksheet for each subject each day. I like to have the readers so the kids are not reading from a screen, plus we can do school in the backyard or the park or on the go. I purchase the workbooks and readers from Amazon because there is free shipping and it arrives quickly. www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00OQBEHR6?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=author-pages-popularity-rank&page=1#formatSelectorHeader The computer is not provided because Easy Peasy is a homeschool curriculum. There are some programs that offer free rental computers based on income requirements but those programs are through the public school system. You and your child answer to the school system and his/her teacher. You also must attend live lessons at designated times. I had actually looked into K12 and Connections Academy when I first decided to pull the kids out of public school but I'm so glad I didn't go that route. Homeschooling gives you as the parent say over your day and schedule, your school year calendar and when you take breaks. It also gives you the say over what is taught and how it is taught so your child can learn at a pace and in a way that works for them.

I encourage you to check out your local homeschool laws. hslda.org/content/laws/ Last year I spent around $96 on books and a $25 homeschool association registration fee because in my state we must join an association. This year I paid somewhere between $60 to $80 on the books because I could reuse some of them and the association fee was only $20 this time. Homeschooling really can be cost efficient and I've found that it's actually much cheaper than public school. I did have to buy basic back to school supplies as well but bought crayons, pencils, paper, etc when they were on sale and didn't end up spending much.

Cris Bowers They are upgrading and moving servers, it will be back up in a day or so!

Courtney Wiseman you can google homeschool diploma and it will pull up tons of homeschool diplomas that you can order. HSLDA also sells diplomas. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states so you don’t have to apply for anything for them to graduate since you’re homeschooling. Here is some more information that might answer your questions and get you ready for graduation. hslda.org/content/highschool/diploma.asp

I made my son his transcript from there n purchased his diploma i also have my not seeking state approval letterhe's done. Now on to my daughters

That's all I have to do? Seems so easy

hip homeschoolers ty

Now the transcript part is something I don't know anything about and I know you'll need that as well, but it looks like you have that covered. Really, if you think about it, that's all public school does. They mass order diplomas from a company and personalize it with the needed information, then the principal signs it and they hand them out. You are the "principal" so it's not all that much different. The only main difference is the fact that homeschool diplomas are not accredited simply because each personal family is not an organization that submits requests for approval to become accredited like schools do. You do not have to have an accreditation to graduate though and many colleges do not require it for entrance either but will focus more on the SAT or ACT exams.

One great benefit of Easy Peasy is there isn't much lesson planning needed other than kindergarten, and really that's optional to lesson plan much for that. Me personally, I like to look over what is planned a few weeks at a time in advance to find videos that go along with science and history lessons but I don't pair a video with every lessons, only some. I also like to grab books that go along with whatever is being covered in science and history for the week. I pickup attention grabbing books that easily break down whatever the subject is so they end up knowing even more about the subject. As far as writing out the lesson plans, I definitely still write them down at the start of each week in my lesson planner because in my state it's required to keep some sort of written journal or lesson book of what is being taught. You just pick out whatever reading, la, math, etc and pair it up with a year section. The year section includes science, history, music, art, and PE. Is that what you were asking?

She's using xtramath.org It's a math site that let's you customize learning to which level they need and updates you on their progress. We actually ended up not using xtramath anymore because it became a chore instead of a fun way to learn. We use Easy Peasy's list of games now located on this site allinonehomeschool.com/math-facts-practice/

Great

It depends on the workbook that is needed but they range in price from around $5 to the most expensive one, which is the preschool/kindergarten reader book that is just over $14. I bought them on Amazon or you can buy them on the allinonehomeschool.com website.

As the instructor that is up to you.

The purpose of a report card is to inform parents about a child's progress. In a homeschool, that isn't necessary. Credits as measured in a particular way are up to the school giving the diploma. Which in this case, in the homeschool. If you're concerned about college, the parents create a transcript with portfolio, courses taken & where, achievements in those courses, test scores, same basic concept as any school.

@@dragonfishxx yes but evaluators at the end of the year have to say you completed the work. They need the proof

I appreciate your question and I know this is a common question that people have when they aren't quite familiar with homeschooling. I homeschool for about the same cost as sending my kids to school. In our state each child, on top of taxes already paid, must also pay a registration fee of $40 each which goes up in price when they enter middle school and high school. On top of registration fees are school supplies including things like hand sanitizer, hand soap, paper towels, zip lock bags, 20 pencils per child, 20 glue sticks per child, etc. which usually end up costing around $200 to $300 for all three kids when you include clothes, a new backpack if the previous year's backpack is unable to be used, and other necessary items that are specifically for the child. On top of that cost is the fact that the school supplies that are sent in are then dispersed to the class by the teacher at his/her discretion. The children at our local schools are not allowed to keep all the supplies we send in. The teacher takes everything up on the first day of school and in my experience when the child does eventually end up needing some of the additional pencils that were sent in I have to go out and buy more because they aren't given additional pencils from their original supply that was brought in. Additional costs are lunches, because at home I'm able to reheat last night's left overs for lunch which is something that isn't possible at school. I purchased Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool workbooks to go along with the courses and for three kids the books added up at just under $100 in total. You can also use a printer at home and print what you need and not purchase the workbooks at all if you'd prefer instead of spending money on the books. As far as the reading books, you can save the reading books from older children to pass onto younger children to save even more money over the years. As you can see, you can easily homeschool for the same amount out of pocket as it costs to attend public schools, but at home you can receive a better education. My elementary aged children are receiving a much higher education than what is offered at our local schools. Recently at an elementary school near us a child brought a gun to school. There was a shooting at another school nearby during a school event that was taking place after hours. There are multiple violent fights taking place at the local high schools that are video taped and then shared repeatedly online. There was a janitor here locally that just went to jail for having an inappropriate relationship with a child at the school. A teacher at a middle school in our area recently went to school and left her 2 year old in the school parking lot all day on accident because she forgot them in the car but she's fit to watch our children? These are incidents just in my small town alone. These are the people and the situations we're supposed to be subjecting our children to. Not only can I provide a better quality education at home for the same price, but I can ensure that my children are not subjected to that learning environment. Honestly though, even if it did cost more to homeschool, I would pinch pennies to make sure we could do it because the situations in our schools are not getting better and as a parent I need to make sure my kids are provided with the best that I have to offer them.

@@hiphomeschoolers I recently decided to homeschool my children 6th and 7th grade. They were just released from public school Monday. Although I'm so confused on where to start I know for a fact public schools can't provide them the education they will need later in life. I can give my kids one on one attention which I feel will help them have a better understanding of what they're being taught. Also, what they're learning and what they're being taught is the worst compared to when I was in school. In the world we live in today everything is technology and computers are teaching our children in schools. If I could send them to private school I would, but who has money for that, homeschool is the next best thing. Amongst other things kids can learn from their peers yea I rather homeschool my children. Hopefully I can get everything in order by this Monday.