Unboxing: The Best Beginner Homeschooling Curriculum
I am starting my first official year of homeschooling!! We will be doing Kindergarten with my eldest and I found what I believe is the perfect curriculum for a fun and easy beginners homeschooling year.
Last year was a very slow introduction with Pre-K. We were just having fun learning together and experimenting with the idea of homeschooling. I wouldn’t consider it my first year homeschooling. For one, I didn’t have to register anything with the state but also because it was a very laid back year and included many weeks where we did not do anything formal. Looking toward this year, my daughters have been eager to start school. They want structure so I am going to take the next step in my homeschooling journey and add more structure, creating a weekly school rhythm. They are so excited!
My Homeschool Method
I am still learning what my method will be. But my approach this year is to gently ease into learning this process together, my daughters and me. I was once a high school teacher and am used to a standard learning approach. I have a knack for curriculum building, lesson planning, and coming up with educational opportunities on the fly. But, teaching in the classroom is different than teaching at home. And I was a school teacher before I was a mother. Since becoming a mother, I have changed in many ways and I no longer feel bound to a standard teacher led learning approach. As a homeschooling mother, I am a beginner again. So, as I begin this new experience of learning and teaching and observing my children and their specific learning styles, I am steeping myself in research, looking up all the methods, seeking advice from all my homeschooling friends, and reading a bunch of books.
I have learned a lot through reading about the Montessori approach. I am intrigued by the classical style. I love the concept of play based, nature learning, especially in these early years. And I have a stack of books on my end table to teach me all about the educational philosophies which I honestly know nothing about : Charlotte Mason and Reggio Emilia. Also, what is Waldorf??
Where will I land? I don’t know.
But, I do know where I will start.
With a little “Homeschool Educational Charcuterie Board” if you will. We will spend this year taste testing the various home education philosophies. But I will lean on one curriculum which falls in the middle with a balanced approach to all of them. This program is super simple and approachable for beginners. And bonus, their books are beautiful. My girls are getting excited for school just by looking at the pictures.
The Best Beginners Homeschool Curriculum
I have chosen to start homeschooling with The Good and The Beautiful.
I trialed some of their Pre-K books last year and loved them. Most especially, The Little Hearts and Hands Science books. If you order nothing else, I say get these books. They are applicable to kids ages Pre-K through 2nd grade so it makes homeschooling a wider range of ages simple as well. They are so fun we even brought them on vacation with us to the beach this summer. These books gave us fun activities to do out in nature that were beach specific. The Little Hearts and Hands books gave my 3 and 5 year old a great introduction to science concepts like gravity, atoms, biology, and much more! The stories that go along with the lessons were such a hit with my girls, on a few occasions, they even picked to read their homeschool storybooks for bedtime stories.
This year, I will be continuing with The Good and The Beautiful for Kindergarten and I have decided to use their books for other subjects as well.
Unboxing The Good and The Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum
Heres a peek into the books, a little unboxing through photos:
This was everything that came in my order.
and a few items from The Preschool Bundle for my other daughter
Oh and the Drawing Birds Book, because how fun is that?!
Now, if all that was a little too much for you, I suggest you start by downloading their free resources and give them a try. And if you want my personal recommendation, I say order one of the Little Hearts and Hands Series Sets to start out with.
As always, its a journey learning together and I plan to adapt as I go. But, I am thankful to have an easy and all encompassing option to start with. The Good and The Beautiful takes the overwhelm out of beginning homeschooling for me. Their curriculum has little to no prep work and involves brief lessons which is perfect for my children’s ages.
It is great because I can follow their curriculum step by step while I continue to trial various home education methods and find the most natural fit for me and my sweet little learners.
Where Did You Begin?
Are you just starting out homeschooling? If so, tell me in the comments, where you plan to begin with homeschooling?
And if you are a more experienced homeschooling mom, let other newbies know in the comments what your favorite curriculums are!!