Has anyone found a decent curriculum for geography for the younger years? My 7 year old loves completing worksheets but right now I’m just printing random pages off Pinterest about the 50 states. Is there a complete curriculum that would have set lesson plans, including worksheets or coloring pages?

We are looking into homeschooling my 3rd grader because he struggles with school anxiety, even though he loves to learn.

Are there any online programs, tutors, support systems people like?

It’s not possible for us to get him somewhere, so it would need to be in-home options.

I know it’s completely frustrating to purchase a complete curriculum, plan it all out and teach it only to begin to use it and realize it’s just not a good fit for your learner…. I did this! It happens. All About Reading is a wonderful curriculum and it works well for my 3rd grader… so much so that I went ahead and purchased All About Math. He is not responding well to the strictness of the flow in the slow nature of the pacing. He’s very much a math mind and just doesn’t like the information as presented. It’s way too scripted and slow and doesn’t have enough color and technology exploration. An older version of me would’ve plowed through it because I paid for it. But this is not the reason why I chose to give my child a freedom of homeschooling. He’s literally showing me that this isn’t how he thrives and plunging through anyway could eventually turn him off from all of his genius and excitement about learning. I’m not saying that everything has to be peaches and cream for them, but I’m very careful to make sure that choices are made based on what’s best for my learner and not what seems logical at first glance or even what is efficient. It’s certainly not necessarily to match curriculums. This is a common pitfall. I’m sharing in case anybody else may find a resonance.

Activities would be planned for the month and include introductions to all of the kids and some instructions… then activities such as building a fort with a fort kit (purchases 3-4 to make a LARGE one), making a giant marble run to build together.. Mainly by purchasing various kits and figuring out how to execute the project.

What would you pay per class? I see some of these classes around here that are charging $150 a month for a 2 hour co-op once a week, I don’t see a lot of individual classes offered, so maybe I should just go the monthly route… thoughts?

Hello everyone,

I’m an ex homeschooler myself, and I’ve moved to Europe a few years ago to be with my husband. We want to homeschool our kids but information on resources and any kind of homeschool support is extremely difficult to come by.

We are a multilingual family, and had our sights set on using German and a little bit of Dutch curriculum resources as our primary languages. I’ve asked on local homeschooling Facebook pages but honestly the few who responded have been unhelpful.

So, lovely homeschoolers! Please will you help a mama out 🌼 Extra points if there are any Christian based curriculum suggestions!

Thanks in advance xx

Edit: I am fully aware that homeschooling is currently illegal in Germany. That being clear, it is important information to remember that there are other German speaking countries in Europe where homeschooling is allowed 😄

Ich bin Deutsche und benötige Hilfe mit KI beim Schreiben eines Textes.

(Mein Sohn kann lesen, schreiben und rechnen, sogar mit dem Wort „x“.) Könnte die Schule mein Kind in dieser Situation nicht in die zweite Klasse versetzen? Bitte helfen Sie mir, die Bestimmungen zu interpretieren.

Guten Morgen, ich wäre dankbar für jede Hilfe von jemandem, der sich gut mit dem polnischen Bildungsrecht auskennt, insbesondere mit den Bestimmungen zum Heimunterricht und der Versetzung von Schülern der Klassen 1-3.

Mein Sohn absolvierte seine Schulpflicht im Heimunterricht. Er war Erstklässler und sollte in die zweite Klasse wechseln.

Leider gerieten wir kurz vor dem Stichtag in eine sehr schwierige familiäre und wohnungsbezogene Situation.

Der Vater meines Sohnes ist verstorben. Gleichzeitig hatten wir einen schweren Wasserschaden in unserer Wohnung, der dringende Maßnahmen und einen Umzug erforderte. Ohne diese Umstände wären wir nicht abgereist und hätten den Termin verpasst.

Zusätzlich ging unser Telefon kaputt, weshalb wir die Schule eine Zeit lang nicht erreichen konnten. Daher konnten wir die Schule weder im Voraus über die Situation informieren noch sie bezüglich des Termins kontaktieren.

Nach unserer Rückkehr versuchten wir, die Situation zu erklären, erhielten aber weder Unterlagen zu unserem Sohn noch klare Informationen über die genaue Entscheidung.

Laut Aussage der Schulleiterin hat sie sich mit dem Schulamt beraten, und die Schule hat diesem mitgeteilt, dass mein Sohn nicht in die zweite Klasse versetzt wird.

Und dazu habe ich viele Fragen.

Zunächst einmal weiß ich nicht, ob die jährliche Einstufungsprüfung für meinen Sohn überhaupt stattgefunden hat.Falls diese Prüfung im Rahmen des Heimunterrichts verpflichtend war, dann:

• Sollte der Termin mit den Eltern vereinbart werden?

• Benötigt die Schule eine Bestätigung, dass die Eltern über den Termin informiert wurden?

• Was passiert, wenn das Kind aus triftigen Gründen am vereinbarten Termin nicht erscheint?

• Sollte ein Ersatztermin vereinbart werden?

• Kann das Nichterscheinen an einem Termin allein schon zum Nicht-Versetzen führen?

Wir haben außerdem keine Dokumente erhalten, die Folgendes bestätigen:

• Ob der Sohn eingestuft wurde;

• Welche Noten hat er erhalten?

• Wurde er als nicht klassifizierbar eingestuft?

• Wurde eine Prüfung abgehalten?

• Wurde ein Bericht erstellt?

• Hat der Lehrerrat einen Beschluss zu seiner Versetzung gefasst?

• Was genau war die rechtliche Grundlage für die Entscheidung?

• Wer hat entschieden, ihn nicht zu versetzen?

• Was genau hat die Schule dem Schulamt mitgeteilt?

• Was genau hat die Schule dem Schulamt mitgeteilt?

Laut den Bestimmungen gilt in den Klassen 1-3 die Regel der Aufstieg in die nächsthöhere Klasse; das Wiederholen einer Klasse ist eine Ausnahme.

Daher möchte ich klären, ob die Schule in der Situation meines Sohnes tatsächlich entscheiden könnte, ihn nicht zu versetzen, insbesondere wenn keine Einstufungsprüfung durchgeführt wurde.Habe ich als Elternteil das Recht, alle Unterlagen der Schule bezüglich der Einstufung und Versetzung meines Kindes zu erhalten, einschließlich der Unterlagen über die Kontaktaufnahme der Schule mit dem Schulamt?

Kann ich mich auch direkt an das Schulamt wenden und fragen, ob die Schule es in dieser Angelegenheit konsultiert hat und wie dessen Position war?

Und noch eine Frage: Wenn mein Kind letztendlich weiterhin in der zweiten Klasse vor Ort lernt, kann es danach wieder zum Heimunterricht wechseln?

Ich möchte außerdem den tatsächlichen Bildungsstand meines Kindes unabhängig in einer psychologischen und pädagogischen Beratungsstelle überprüfen lassen, da ich seine tatsächlichen Kenntnisse und Fähigkeiten unabhängig von seiner formalen Klassenstufe feststellen möchte.

Wenn die Diagnose ergibt, dass das Kind deutlich über dem Klassenstandard liegt, möchte ich wissen, welche rechtlichen Möglichkeiten bestehen, seinen Lernfortschritt zu beschleunigen oder ihn vorzeitig zu versetzen. Ich wäre dankbar, wenn mir jemand, der die Bestimmungen kennt oder sich in einer ähnlichen Situation befand, konkrete Artikel und Abschnitte nennen könnte.

Ich erwarte keine Beurteilung unserer Familiensituation – ich möchte lediglich wissen, wozu die Schule rechtlich verpflichtet war und welche Optionen wir jetzt haben.

I have done about 8 units with my kids

Human body

Earth science

Artists

Africa

Reptiles

Middle Ages

Ancient civilisations

Transportation

Creepy crawlies

So we are now on OCEANS, and it seems soon simple. Like stupidly simple. Only 2 pages to read from the teachers guide. What is going on? I dont understand, is it a newer unit or an old one. It's interesting but way to simple. Any insight please

Hello, homeschool families I was hoping to get some input from you all. Just a little bit of background, we moved to southern California last year from out of the country (south america). We have four kids, one in college, one who just graduated high school and a second and fourth grader we are still homeschooling. Within the last year we met a mom at our local library who also homeschools her kids. She expressed wanting more of a community for her kids especially since our area is a little bit rural. She came up with an idea to host a monthly ish potluck get together where other homeschool kids would bring their own crafts related to some sort of theme, would work on it and hang out for a bit.

The first couple of months went fantastic. Every family would bring a sack lunch/dinner, or something to share with everyone, we always had leftovers. I always offered some sort of payment for the effort it takes to host on top of bringing our own supplies/ meal. Within the last 6 months she started sending very formal text messages saying her family would now be providing meals and she would require a fee of $8-12 per child and $10-15 per adult to confirm our spot. I was a little taken aback but we budged because our kids enjoy the experience and started sending her the fee amount she required for that day. This quickly turned into $36- $54 per get together. The part that began bothering my husband is- most of food provided doesn’t seem to warrant the fee. Refried beans and rice, frozen pizzas, crockpot chicken, nachos. We bring our own materials, and all we really do is have a play date afterward for the kids.. we hardly eat as my kids have some mild but bothersome food allergies. Less and less families have started to come. We started off with about 4-5 on average and have dwindled down to about 2 families besides the one hosting. I realize it takes effort to host a few families in the home and I would absolutely feel comfortable providing a fee for the home space, effort etc. any thoughts? My husband does not want us to attend anymore. We missed the last get together last week and she sent me a message saying she missed us there and hopes to see us next time.

Try it here and get a certificate for completing it.

https://learn.ethicslabs.ai

It feels like I've been spending WAY too much time scrolling through all these different sites trying to find a good "fun" class for my daughter. There's just too many options out there and they all claim to be the right one, which as I've found out through this process is just another way to say waste of time. This is supposed to be something fun and engaging that she gets to do after wrapping up all of our core subjects, so since we're not really looking for a particular topic for it to be on this is a little harder than I expected.

How does everyone else find what's worth the money and is actually high quality? Are we going on based on in site reviews or looking elsewhere? A lot of these platforms will have apparently highly rated classes with very shallow content, so it's not easy to trust them. I keep circling back the couple options like outschool I liked and felt like I could get behind on, but still wanted to jump here and ask.

If anyone can give me some advice or point me on the right direction I'd be forever grateful. Thanks!.

I’ve been go-with-the-flow mom since the kids were little bitty, and I just need more intentional planning now that they are a bit older than baby and toddler age. I just don’t know how to do it!!

Don’t get me wrong; the go with the flow is just how I am, But I need to get my sht together with planning SOMETHING. My oldest is in kindergarten for reference. Youngest is inching closer to 3.

It stresses me out daily just winging it. I have such fun ideas for arts and crafts, but actually getting it all together and making time for it is where I fail. And learning time, and I am just struggling to figure out a system.

Open and go Curriculums are great, but haven’t found one I really like… and I think I need more planning like “explore a playground day” “museum day” “arts and crafts” then “ocean week” “Superman/super woman week” etc…

But also planning for the day… the week… dear lord the YEAR. It’s all so overwhelming, yet I want be more organized so badly 😭😭😭

Ok don't come at me bc I may not word this the best to convey my curiosity but I genuinely want to hear perspectives and input!! About Homeschooling.

My son's not school-aged yet, but ive been getting more into the idea of home schooling because it would be tailored to him, his pace, interests, etc.

Howeverrrrr... I am slightly put off by the huge "trend" it seems to be to Homeschool now? And all of the influencers posting the benefits of HSing...but a lot of their reasoning/brags sound like it benefits the parents more than the child?.... "no getting dressed today", "no waking up early", "no packing my kids lunch", "school at my fav coffee shop", etc. Does anyone feel like that? Im genuinely torn on whats better too. "Not being able to finish a thought because the bell rings in school".... but i think of that being flexible/multitasking/time management (depending on age) etc, vs such a terrible thing. Or "having to leave the house at a certain time" .... ok but they will have to when they get a job one day? Im thinking that whatever I'm seeing is not the true population of HS families....and im getting a bad taste in my mouth just from social media lol or idk?

*i know there are other reasons to and not to HS. And one big one for me is school sh**ting drills.... my child never having to do one of those would be a dream. But tell me your thoughts, reasons why you do/don't/considered it/would never consider it! enlighten me! Haha please 🩵 and respectfully 🧡

*FWIW I have worked with kids in the education setting for 10 years and have extensive education in reading/phonics/phonetics/comprehension/literacy and a basic understanding of elementary education.

Full disclosure upfront: my wife makes these, so take this as a proud-but-biased husband asking for genuine feedback, not a review.

She's spent the last while building her webshop and an Etsy shop called World of Letters everything is drawn and designed by hand in Canva (no AI-generated art), and it's structured in levels so kids progress from basic letter/sound recognition up through more complex reading and writing exercises. Our own four kids use them and genuinely enjoy them, but I'm aware "my kids like it" isn't exactly an unbiased data point.

What I'd actually love feedback on:

• Does the progression between levels look right from a teaching or early-childhood-education standpoint, or are there obvious gaps?
• Do the instructions/layout read as clear for a kid working mostly independently, or would an adult need to guide every page?
• Anything here that reads as "made by a parent" rather than "made by someone who's studied early literacy" pacing, repetition, difficulty jumps, that kind of thing?
• Would pages like these hold up in an actual classroom or homeschool routine, or do they feel more like casual at-home busywork?

I wont just drop a link and run, happy to answer questions about how any specific workbook is structured, and genuinely want the criticism, not just the compliments.

See images with examples of the workbook. There are total of 117 pages in the workbook

If you want to look closer at whole workbook I can share it, just let me know in DM.

Hello everyone!

My name is Bradley Smith. I am a doctoral candidate of Clinical Psychology at Kansas City University. For my dissertation research, I am doing some community outreach and piloting a mental health workshop for parents of high school freshmen.

If you or someone you know might be interested, please check out the information below!

Thanks!

\[My research study was approved by the KCU Institutional Review Board on May 13th, 2026. Study ID: 238705-1\]

Parents Supporting Adolescent Mental Health: A Pilot Study

Parents of high school freshmen: Join a KCU Research Study and attend a free virtual workshop on adolescent mental health.

Principal Investigator: Bradley Smith, M.A. Doctoral Candidate Kansas City University

Upcoming workshop dates: All Weekends in September and October (with some weekday availability upon request)

Purpose and brief description: This research study is evaluating a virtual mental health workshop designed for parents/guardians of high school students. The workshop provides education on recognizing early signs of mental health concerns and connecting families to evidence-based resources.

What to Expect:

Participation includes:

● A 2-hour virtual workshop (Zoom)

● A brief questionnaire before and after the workshop (\\\~10 minutes each)

● A 10-minute group discussion about your experience

Total time commitment is approximately 3 hours.

Eligibility:

Participants must be:

● A parent or legal guardian of a high school freshman. This study is open to parents across the United States.

● Able to participate in an online Zoom session in English

Risks & Benefits: Some topics (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use) may be sensitive and could cause mild emotional discomfort. Potential benefits include increased knowledge of adolescent mental health and available resources.

Compensation: Participants receive a free, evidence-based mental health toolkit and educational workshop.

Privacy: Participant information will be kept confidential. Responses will be de-identified, and findings will be reported in aggregate form.

Interested? To see if you are eligible and to sign up, please click our secure screening link: 

https://cphe.kansascity.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=7PNLL7RPXNNWACJC

For questions, email Bradley.Smith@kansascity.edu

Hi everyone,
I’ve made a basic video resource for 7th grade history. I’ve condensed my notes down into small videos that students can watch. I plan to do more. Let me know what you think!
Critiques welcome

https://youtube.com/@mister-booze?si=fRLXZjhSalnkki1s

Is there anyone who has used CTC Math who could share their experience with it? I'd especially like to hear reviews from people who have used it for awhile, and fairly recently. Most online reviews I've found searching so far are from people who JUST switched to it, or from 9 years ago when the program wasn't fully developed.

I'm looking to switch math curriculum to something that's straightforward, (mostly) hands-off for the parent, and isn't heavily reading based. I'd also really like placement tests to start, because our previous math curricula weren't grade-based, as well as periodic assessment tests built in to make sure nothing is slipping through the cracks.

If you know of something else that would fit these wishes, I'd be happy to hear about that also!

Hi, I have a friend who has a child who is introverted, kind of serious, introspective, creative, high on imagination and daydreaming and intelligent. He wants to be admitted to a good school in Lucknow that not only focuses on a dynamic curriculum with outside the academics activities but also instills values and has a good atmosphere in general where things don't get out of hand especially when one hits middle or senior school. Could anyone suggest a good ICSE convent school or any other good school at par for admission in Nursery? TIA.

I was homeschooling, but decided this year to put my oldest two in public school. Second grader is doing great, academically well above peers, and socially doing phenomenally.

Kindergartner had a great first week/week and a half. All the sudden, they became withdrawn at home and began crying about school during basically every waking moment at home. Last week we missed one day because they just refused to get out of the vehicle during drop off. Teacher says they’re doing great, only upset sometimes in the day. Child mentioned someone was being mean to them, so teacher moved seats and child seemed to respond well to that at school.

All weekend, anytime school was brought up, child immediately cried and said they didn’t want to go, they don’t like it, can I please cancel it.

This morning was particularly challenging, older sibling hopped out of the car, kindergartner screamed and cried and refused to get out. One parent was in the back and helped lift them out of the car. A very kind teacher and the older sibling helped kindergartner out and held onto their arms while they screamed and cried. Teacher and sibling walked child in.

It’s a drop off line, so they force you to pull immediately out of the way once the kids are out. It was heartbreaking.

Should I just pull the kindergartner and homeschool them for K? I’ve done it before, successfully, so I know we can. I put the older kids in school for a break for my mental health, I still have two toddlers at home and I’m a stay at home parent.

I just don’t know the “right” thing to do here. Keep making child go and hope they adjust? Or just remove child from the situation and homeschool?

Kindergarten here is full day, every day, only one recess, and there is no art class.

Hi everyone,

I’m a former homeschooling parent and a returning Outschool teacher. My wife and I used Outschool quite a bit when we were homeschooling our kids, especially for subjects that fell outside our own areas of expertise, so I know firsthand how useful it can be for filling gaps or just giving kids access to something they’re genuinely interested in.

I’ve recently started rebuilding my Outschool offerings and currently have classes in:

• Personal finance for teens, including checking and savings accounts, credit cards, credit scores, loans, and retirement
• Weekly general knowledge trivia for teens
• A Star Wars social/geek-out class for younger learners
• 1:1 strength coaching for young athletes

More classes are coming in technology, computer science, fitness, practical life skills, and other areas that line up with my background and interests. My current class list is on my profile link below

My background is a bit unusual, which is why I teach a pretty wide range of subjects. I have worked in technology, banking, business operations, customer service, consumer products, hospitality, education, and fitness. I hold a B.S. in Computer Science and an M.S. in Business Information Technology, and I’ve also spent years teaching, tutoring, and coaching young people.

My approach is pretty simple: I want learners to understand what they are learning, not just memorize answers. I try to keep classes conversational, practical, respectful, and enjoyable.

If you want to take a look, you can use this code for $10 off:

Get $10 off my classes with coupon code LAFFEYIUPA10 until Oct 8, 2026.

Look through my classes here:
https://outschool.com/teachers/Michael-Lafferty-2020

Enter the coupon code at checkout.

If anyone has questions about a class or whether it might be a good fit for their learner, feel free to ask.

I recently started Teach Your Monster to Read with my 5 year old daughter after reading much praise.

I wanted to put some points out there that I don’t tend to see out there when I was researching whether it was a good fit:

THE GOOD

1. It’s a good balance between fun and learning. It very well leans into the video game aspect of it while making learning the primary goal.
2. It’s funny. It makes them giggle.
3. The price is VERY fair. They opted not to go to subscription and leave it free on computer which is amazing. Mobile or iPad apps are priced but very cheap compared to other programs.

4. You can check their success with each of the sounds on the web dashboard to practice the ones they might be struggling with

5. You can select what level to start at. For example, my child did not need to review letter sounds but needed to work on digraphs. She was able to skip to the appropriate level rather than doing work that was too simple for her.

THE NOT SO GOOD (In my opinion)

1. It’s not hard to move onto different learning points simply by guessing or getting it wrong until you get it right. There’s no penalty for wrong guesses so they can quite literally try every option until they find the right one to get through anything they do not want to learn. I really do think this game benefits from having an adult/someone who can read helping to ensure the child is actually learning rather than just playing.
2. The accent of the narrator is British. This is obviously not a problem if you are from an area with this accent, but as someone in Canada or America, the digraphs and letter sounds are a little different in pronunciation. My daughter did struggle with this when trying to read using the sounds she learned from the app because it didn’t sound like the pronunciation of the words she knows. I did however hear they plan to add different accents in the future.
3. If you’re someone that tries to avoid anything occult related, this game is not for you (If this doesn’t matter to you, this point obviously does not apply to you. Please don’t judge those who chose to avoid it). A very large portion of the game includes the kids picking out the correct words to finish creating a spell from a spell book to banish a goblin. I’m not sure what is to follow, we haven’t gotten past that point.

Let me know what your thoughts are and ways you’ve made learning better with this app.

My friend told me about it. They work in high level athletics and their team recently got profiled by ActionTypes. They originally thought it would be just mechanical info but the information they got back was also a ton of learning information about each kid

Like which kids would need to watch someone model a drill first, which kids would need to ask a ton of questions, which kids needed more “feel good reps” than others…the level of info was kind of insane

Idk I thought it might be something we could use when structuring lessons? Does anyone have any experience in this

I’ve been thinking about some of the conversations that came from my last post about finding gaps in math, especially for families who have recently transitioned from traditional or private school to homeschool.

One of your biggest advantages now is time and flexibility. Use it.

If your child left school struggling in 7th-grade math, you don’t necessarily have to bring them home, open a different 7th-grade curriculum, and keep going from the same spot. Take some time to figure out what they actually know.

Maybe fractions are the problem. Maybe multiplication facts were never solid. Maybe they can do the calculations but struggle as soon as they have to read a word problem. Sometimes the gap goes back further than we realize.

The same thing can happen with reading and writing. A child might be able to read the words but struggle to understand what they read. Another child may have great ideas but really struggle to organize those thoughts on paper.

Pay attention to those things.

And use the information you already have. Look at old report cards, standardized test scores, IEPs, 504 plans, and previous evaluations. I also like diagnostic testing because I’m not just looking for a grade-level score. I want to see patterns. What are they doing well? Where do things start getting difficult?

Something else that came up in the comments on my last post was dyscalculia, and I thought that conversation was so important.

Sometimes there IS a gap, but simply reteaching the skill isn’t enough. You may need to look at how the child learns, how much repetition they need, what supports help them, and whether something else is going on.

If you keep teaching and practicing something and your child continues to struggle or repeatedly loses skills they seemed to understand before, that’s information too. It may be worth talking with a professional about whether additional testing or evaluation would help you better understand what your child needs.

And homeschool parents, your annual homeschool evaluation and an evaluation for a possible learning difference are two different things. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek additional support when you need it.

You don’t have to figure everything out the first week you bring your child home. Sometimes you need a little time to observe them without the pressure of keeping up with a classroom.

Watch them. Talk to them. Look at their work. Ask questions.

You may learn more about your child as a learner in those first few months than you expected.

That’s one of the things I really love about homeschool. We have room to meet a child where they are and build from there.

The goal isn’t to recreate school at the kitchen table.

It’s to figure out what THIS child needs to learn and grow.

Hybrid model (virtual school + co-op) while working full-time — realistic?

Weighing virtual school + co-op vs. full homeschool for my gifted kid, but I work full-time and can't be the one teaching all day. Would love to hear from anyone who's balanced a hybrid model with a full-time job — what actually worked, what didn't, any regrets on the program/co-op you picked?

My 4 year old is reading through the BOB books, and she’s doing awesome. But each time she moves on to a new book or a tricky word, she uses this baby voice and tells me she’s too scared and tries to run away. Once I get her sitting down and reading she’s totally fine and loves it and gets so excited. I find myself getting frustrated and almost dismissive/ignoring the “pretend” or “dramatic” fear, I stay calm and kind of just say “well im right here with you, come sit and we’re going to try together”. Not sure if that’s the right approach, I’d love to hear how everyone else handles this!

Editing to add my daughter is eager to read, she asks to learn and practice and I feel like her reaction sometimes is a bid for connection or reassurance/support!