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23 Homeschool Resources ‘We Can’t Live Without’

By September 13, 2023No Comments

Homeschool resources can span a wide range of items: curricula, educational objects and tools, places, and even people!

Here are just a few resources that our area homeschool community has found most helpful:

Curricula

  • Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Use this step-by-step program to teach your child reading in 20 minutes each day.
  • IEW Phonetic Zoo Spelling. The Institute for Excellence in Writing has many high-quality resources, including this phonics-based program that allows students to work independently for much of the lesson.
  • Easy Grammar. After all, who said grammar had to be hard? This course uses the prepositional approach to teaching grammar and adds cumulative review to ensure subject mastery.
  • Saxon Math. For more than 30 years, homeschool families have used this course that emphasizes continual practice and review, as well as incremental development.
  • Math U See This K-12 skill-based, multi-sensory program is a favorite among Kansas City homeschoolers and a regular vendor at our annual conference.
  • Mystery of History. Established in 2002, this company publishes a comprehensive study of world history from a Christian worldview.
  • My Father’s World: Exploring Countries and Cultures. Designed for grades 3-8, this unit study teaches Bible, geography, science, art and music while traveling around the world.
  • Five in a Row (FIAR). The Lambert family in the Kansas City area created this program “to teach children the joy of learning while exposing them to the vast world of information that’s so important in building a solid educational foundation.”
  • Tapestry of Grace. This curriculum uses a guided unit study approach to help parents provide a Christian, classical education.
  • Ambleside Online. Another free curriculum, this uses Charlotte Mason principles for its inspiration, along with a digitized collection of Charlotte’s materials, and support forum.
  • Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool. Lee Giles created this popular website in 2011. Since then it’s expanded to include all grades preschool, K-12, and a separate sister site for high school courses. While there is a suggested donation for using “My EP,” all of the reading materials are free and online!
homeschool resources in Kansas City and beyond

Objects and tools

  • The Internet (including Amazon.com). If you use Amazon Smile, you can choose us as your nonprofit to support!
  • Math manipulatives. These visual tools are great for making abstract concepts simpler and easier to grasp. Whether an abacus, hundreds board, blocks, or other item, many homeschoolers have found these effective in teaching mathematics.
  • Timers. Trouble keeping students focused and on a schedule? Timers made the “top 10 list” among many families for effective homeschool resources to move school along in a way that benefits everyone.
  • Refillable dry erase markers. If you’re using boards often to explain concepts, make sure you can use writing tools again, again, and … again.
  • Music. Never underestimate the power of a school playlist, especially if your kids are kinetic learners!
  • White board. Because blackboards are so 1900s…
  • Atlases, timelines and maps. These time-honored reference materials help build general knowledge in some of the least painless ways possible.
  • High-quality pencils. Not all pencils are created equal, and it shows … especially if your child is in high school and writing lots of essays. The Ticonderoga brand is legendary among homeschool circles!
message from 1996 homeschool graduate

Places and people

  • Your area library. Libraries provide not only books, but also audiobooks, CDs, movies and Internet access. If a particular book isn’t available in your area, try requesting an interlibrary loan.
  • Homeschool conferences. Many families find that conferences (such as our April 5-6, 2024, conference) and conventions offer some of the most invigorating homeschool experiences imaginable! You’ll find rest and refreshment in a place with hundreds, if not thousands, of your fellow homeschoolers milling all around you – checking out curricula, discussing speaker topics and workshops, and also meeting in smaller groups for one-on-one networking and encouragement.
  • Facebook homeschool groups. We have a thriving community of homeschool groups and pages on Facebook, especially in the Kansas City area. Check out the following (the first is our own!):
  • Our mentor moms. Mentoring moms allow you to ask any questions in the comfort and privacy of a one-to-one, mom-to-mom heart-to-heart!  Simply fill out a form so we can match you to one of our volunteer moms, who have a heart for helping fellow homeschoolers. Everything is kept confidential between you and your mentor, and you can change mentors at any time.

We have updated this post, originally published in June 2015, for timeliness and detail.

Can’t find your favorite homeschool resource on this list? Check out our webpage dedicated to homeschool resources or add it in the comments below.

Shanxi Omoniyi

Shanxi Omoniyi (@ShanxiO on Twitter) is MPE's online content director. A homeschool alumna, Shanxi graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in journalism and English. Her company, Wordspire Media, helps businesses and nonprofits share their stories through content marketing, social media management, and email marketing.

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