Monday, August 29, 2011

FREE Spanish Printables!

I've found another great website with free Spanish printables!  My boys will be making alphabet books this year.  We'll use printables for one letter per week and bind them together with binder rings.  By the end of the year they'll have a whole book.  Now that I've found the Spanish printables they'll each have an English alphabet book and a Spanish alphabet book.  So check out the website below!

primeraescuela.com

Thursday, August 18, 2011

FREE Readiness For Kindergarten Test and Worksheets



In my search for free or affordable quality curriculum resources I came across this website.  It has a little test you can take for your child to see how ready they are for kindergarten.  They also have two free books to download and tons of worksheets.

So check it out!

http://www.schoolsparks.com/

Thursday, August 11, 2011

FREE Spanish Curriculum!


So in my search for a Spanish curriculum I was finding only curriculums to teach Spanish as a second language.  They were mostly for high school and I wasn't finding much to choose from.  Since my children are already bilingual I wanted something a little different.  So I began searching for curriculum from Mexico and came across a website that allows you to download material that is being taught in Mexico's public school system.  And it's FREE!

Flipping through it I found plenty to edit out.  Things that just wouldn't be appropriate to use in our Christian homeschool.  But even after the editing I still have what seems to be a good amount of material to use.  I will probably use more of the first grade material with my 4 year old because it's seems more appropriate.  But if you are a bilingual family looking for an affordable Spanish curriculum I'd check out the website.  They have a downloads for all grades and teacher book downloads also.

Check it out HERE

FYI  This website is a Mexican website so if you don't speak Spanish you may have difficulty using it.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Our September Calendar

So we'll be starting in September and I've put together a little calendar and overview to keep us on track:


Monday, August 8, 2011

My FREE Book!

Well I'm back from my first homeschool conference.  I've learned that there are two main things I need to know while getting started.

1.  How do my boys learn best?
2.  How can I teach them best?

It seemed everyone I spoke to had "the best way to teach" what ever subject their curriculum is for.  I seem to favor a more hands on / understanding concepts approach.  I found our Pre-K science curriculum!  I can't wait to share it with you.  I'll blog about it soon.

As for figuring out how my boys learn best a friend of mine recommended I read The Way They Learn.  So I picked up a copy for free!  Here's how:

I found a used copy on Amazon for $3.95.  I have free 2 day shipping with Amazon Mom (If you're not an amazon mom you should be!).  And I had a free $5 Amazon gift card I got from Swagbucks!  (If you're not searching through swagbucks you should be!  Enter the code AUGUSTBONUS during registration and you'll get an extra 50 swagbucks!)

And there you have it.  Free book!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

My FREE Way To Make Sure We Are At Or Above The Level Of Public Education



One of my (and my husband's) biggest questions in beginning to homeschool is how do we know we are teaching what they need to keep up with public school education.  


Here's what I'm doing.  I searched for public school curriculums in my area.  I couldn't find our district's curriculum.  Not sure if it's available or not, but I easily found and printed out a neighboring district's kindergarden curriculum.  My only "expense" was paper ink and 4 $0.50 folders to keep them in. 


Now we are doing preschool but I'll try to loosely follow the kindergarden curriculum anyway. 


Reading through it has really helped me solidify my husband and my decision to homeschool.  They address drugs, family relationships, and several other topics with kindergardeners.  These are subjects I'd much rather address from a Biblical perspective at home than having a public school teach my children about them from a worldly perspective.  I also noticed that the entire six weeks term where halloween falls, everything is focused on halloween, especially in Science (they study pumpkins, bats, and spiders). Considering the Truth I know about halloween, I'd rather not have my son participate even for one day, much less an entire six week term!


I'd encourage you to do a little searching on the internet if your children are in public school or you're in the decision making process about their education.  Find out what they are being taught.  The information could be just a google search away.






Learning as we go! 


Thanks for joining us in this homeschool journey.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Welcome to The Sanchez School!

This will be our first year at The Sanchez School homeschool.  We'll be starting with pre-school for my 4 year old and 2 year old.  You can follow our journey here!  I'll be documenting what we are learning and how we are getting started.