Getting a Good Start in Home Education

If you are new to home education and are wondering where to start, this is a great place to begin.  

After you have reviewed helpful resources such as 103 Top Tips for Home School Families, Educating the Wholehearted Child,  or even The Three Rs, most families find their next step would be in the area of the basics - Language Arts and Math. A great beginning for first year home school families is one of our Complete Language Arts Curricula, such as Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLAL), Logic of English, Essentials in Writing (EIW), Language Lessons for a Living Education, and others. Start here and add the many other activities home education families are involved in as you feel comfortable. 

Are you looking to put together your own Language Arts program? Choose from the different Language Arts strands: Phonics, Spelling, Grammar, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Handwriting.  We have added many sample pages throughout the website for you to peruse and get that hands-on experience online. Some publishers, such as the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), recognize that students are often at different stages for the different components of Language Arts and so each component is available separately to provide for the student's unique abilities.

•    If your child is in early elementary age, begin with Phonics. Choose from either the Phonics Workbooks Category, Phonics Teaching Tools,or Phonics Kits.

•    Next, add Spelling. You may want to check out popular programs such as the hands-on All About Spelling or a Building Spelling Skills workbook. 

•    Grammar can begin as early as grade 2 with Daily Guided Teaching and Review Grade 2 (Easy Grammar) or earlier with the Explore Language Series by Ruth Heller. Fix It! Grammar has students immediately applying the grammar concepts they learn in daily sentences that cumulatively tell a story. 

•    Reading Comprehension can be as simple as having your child narrate, or tell back what has just been read, either by you or your child. You could also incorporate some of the excellent Reading Comprehension materials available.  

•    Have your child write every day or try using WriteShop, Essentials in Writing, Institute for Excellence in Writing, or one of the other great Writing curriculum available from CHER's online store. 

•     A Reason for Handwriting and Handwriting without Tears are two of the many effective Handwriting programs available through CHER.

Older children may want to use a Novel Study Guide such as Progeny Press or Total Language Plus for their year's Language Arts. Use 4 novel studies a year and add Grammar and Writing.

These are just some of the suggestions that you may use. If you are in Alberta and you are Aligned, always check with your facilitator first. If you are in Alberta and are Traditional, you have choices in your curriculum selection. If you are in BC and are enrolled or registered, you must order through your school board to get your funding.  CHER accepts Purchase Orders from most home education school boards in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as many school boards in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. If your school board is not registered with us, we would be happy to have them use our easy application process.