Recommending the best home education resources

[magicfarawaytree]

Can are I the those of you in the home education community where you get the best resouces to support your children through conventional and non conventional home education topics? DCS attend a conventional school but would like to supplement that knowledge without hot housing them. TIA.

[magicfarawaytree]

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[AMumInScotland]

What age group are your DC? My DS is 14 now, so I suspect anything he uses may not be relevant

[magicfarawaytree]

d cs are 6 and 5 in year 1 and reception respectively

[Runnerbean]

WHSmiths do loads of workbooks that supplement the NC.
There's also www.educationcity.com.

[tigermeow]

www.rainforestmaths.com is a lovely site for maths. DD also loves the previously mentioned educationcity.

[magicfarawaytree]

thanks all will go and have a look at all those.

[Tinuviel]

We used Schofield and Sims workbooks for KS1 as they were cheap and easy to use. We also started First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind because I am a grammar geek and The Story of the World for history!! Lots of fun activities, reading suggestions and craft with SOTW.

[Shona5678]

Was just about to post asking for resource recommendations as I am a new home educator. My son is 8.

We have used mathswhizz.com which I thought was good but my son didn't. We also use youtube, we have been learning about space and he enjoys that. Have been going on day trips places too.

Ideally I need things where he doesn't realise he is being educated. Just fun things as he is pretty resistant to sitting down formally and having lessons. So far we have only been doing that for maths and literacy, though we have recently started going to a weekly social communication lesson.

If any one knows any good magazines where he won't realise he is being educated that would be great. He likes reading. He would especially love magazines with free toys on it.

[GrouchyKiwi]

Very useful thread. Have just started home educating my 5 year old so will be great to have a list of sites & resources.

[fourlittlekangaroos]

First Language Lessons (Wise Bauer) and Story of the World both great.
Our Island Story (HE Marshall), age 7+
Noeo science is good
Schofield and Sims workbooks
Conquer Maths (online lessons)
CGP History and Geogpraphy workbooks
Hoffman Academy (online piano lessons, free)
Homeschool share - great for projects and lapbooks
Brave Writer - great writing resources
Jolly phonics and Jolly Grammar
Teach your Child to read in 100 easy lessons
Skoldo French books
Ambleside online has great lists of resources too
Hope that helps!

[LouiseA2010]

I have just started to home educate my 8 year old son does anybody have any ideas on were i can take him on trips. Thanks

[sportinguista]

We have just started on home ed too but we've found that anywhere can be an educational experience! We go to local museums and attractions many of which if you look online have schools worksheets and info which is useful. There are often events too, we've been to a load of British science week events this last week and taken home loads of giveaways. Historic houses are good too and they often have children's trails and activities too. Just going to the park can be a biology field trip. It is important to have freeplay time too I think and some groups are around for that. One of our group is doing den building and art sessions as well. There are sports activities laid on for home edders too. I've actually found my son has far more chance to do activities he would have never done at school now.

In terms of resources we are trying Khan academy which is free, we've found some of the museums websites have a lot of downloadable stuff. There is plenty of maths and English stuff online. Teach your Monster to Read is fab and free! This one is good too and has lots of links to other stuff www.before1066.org.uk. We are doing Mystery Science too.

[sportinguista]

Also recommend getting yourself to Poundland as they have some starter French, English and Maths books for a pound each, a great bargain as they have reward stickers which kids love.

[equitorial19]

I apologise in advance for this long post...
I have been reading through this thread and looking up what people have recommended but would really appreciate any insight into my questions...

I'm new on here and completely new to home ed. I have trawled through so many sites and forums that my brain is turning to mush.
I have removed my 12 year old daughter from the boarding school she has been at and together with her 5 year old sister, we would like to home school.
We live in rural Kenya, postage isn't very reliable and internet is temperamental. Tutors are not really an option. I would like both girls to be able to slot back into a British curriculum school in the future, if they wish to do so.
I don't think I can "wing it" like some mums. I am unsure of what she needs to be learning and I'm worried about her dropping behind her peers because of my lack of knowledge about the curriculum. I have spent hours reading through the Cambridge International examinations website until I seem to be more confused... if I buy the books they endorse for secondary 1 and listed on their site, will that be sufficient to guide us through the curriculum?
I have made inquiries with a number of home ed sites, a few don't respond at all, others seem to be very unbending in what they can and cant do, regarding our location etc. I did eventually get feedback from one where they send you an educational pack for the relevant key stage but the postage is almost more than the course. I then started searching forums for others opinions and there seems to be many who found the education packs to be lacking, especially considering the prices charged.
I was quite excited by the prospect of online classrooms but they require a lot more bandwidth than is possible for us.
I have looked and corresponded (they were very efficient in responding) with edplace. They tell me that whilst they are not homeschool as such, a third of their customers are home scholars. They offer the three core subjects as well, for all age groups, where as 1XL only offer Maths and English. Does anybody have more insight into either of them, does anyone use them? Do they need to be used in conjunction with other resources or are they sufficient as they are? Should I sign up for both or is that just unnecessary expense?
I also need to find other subjects like Geography, History etc. I looked at Oxford Home schooling, Cambridge Home School and Wolsey hall. They are expensive but could be used for an individual subject if I really have no alternative.
Acellus has been recommended to me, but it is American. I do not know how that relates to British curriculum. Its also more expensive than using Ed Place or 1XL. Does price give an indication of the quality of the course/education?
Does anybody know anything about studying art for Key stage 3 or IGCSE, what the requirements are? I haven't found any sites offering Art.
My 5 year old has been doing a free trial on reading eggs , not sure about it, she seems bored with the level she is on but she is not ready for the next level. We haven't yet tried the maths part.
For her, I have looked at e-learning and atschool... does anyone have any experience with them? E-learning is free and Atschool offer a good selection of different subjects but I couldn't find any examples and they don't offer a free trial. I have also glanced at Grammeropolis and Starfall. I looked at buying the online version of Hooked on Phonics as well. I could use 1XL or Edplace for her too...

Please, If anybody can offer me some advice, some reassurance, anything really, I would be so grateful!

[ShiningArmour]

I'm new to all this and this thread is really helpful

[Schoolsearch2015]

I heard conquermaths UK is good.