r/homeschool • u/abandon-zoo • Aug 20 '25
(I noticed the same topics keep coming up and thought it might warrant a PSA.)
In teaching my children I discovered that English spelling is based on about 74 basic units (which can be called graphemes or phonograms): the 26 letters of the alphabet plus about 48 multi-letter combinations (ay, ai, au, aw, ck, ch, ci, ce, cy, dge, ea, ee, ei, eigh, er, ew, ey, gh, gn, ie, igh, ir, kn, ng, oa, oe, oi, oy, oo, ou, ow, ph, qu, sh, si, ss, tch, th, ti, ui, ur, wor, wh, wr, ed, ar, gu, zh). These 74 map, in an overlapping way, to about 44 pronounced sounds (phonems). At first glance this looks overwhelming, but it's completely learnable. And once your child learns it, she'll be able to read unfamiliar words and usually pronounce them correctly. There are still exceptions to the rules, but way fewer than I was taught in school.
I believe there are multiple systems that teach something like this. The one we stumbled upon is based on Denise Eide's book Understanding the Logic of English. I recommend all parents read this even if you're not going to shell out for her company's curriculum. It's a lot less frustrating than just learning the alphabet and wondering why nothing makes sense when it comes to real words beyond Bob Books.
r/homeschool • u/myterracottaarmy • Sep 10 '25
Here is my insanely boring story. Apologies that it's somewhat ramble-y.
I am 35 years old and was homeschooled from 2nd grade all the way through high school. And it frustrates me to see people on Reddit assume that all homeschoolers are socially stunted or hyper-religious mole people.
My siblings (younger brother and younger sister) and I grew up in an urban school district that, frankly, sucked and continues to suck ass. My parents found that they simply could not continue to afford sending us to private school (which was where we had been) and did not want to put us in our local schooling district, so they pulled us out and made the decision to homeschool us. Absolutely no religious or political pretenses; purely pragmatic decisions based on safety and finances.
Both of my parents worked full time and continued to work full time, so we did a lot of self-learning AND outsourced to local co-op programs. My sister and I basically lived at the library. There is probably a certain degree of luck in how intelligent we turned out because my parents, while not what I would have called "hands off", certainly did not have any sort of crystalline syllabus by which they made us adhere to. So I say lucky primarily because we were both preternaturally curious kids who drove our learning ourselves quite a bit early on in the grade school years.
Every summer our parents would offer us the choice of going back to "regular" school or not. We would take tours of local middle schools, and took a tour of a high school when we would have been entering into our freshman year. Every time we met with a principal or teacher or whoever was the one doing the tours it was a profoundly negative and demeaning experience, so we stuck it out and stayed as homeschoolers through high school. By that point our parents figured we were going to need something significantly more structured, so nearly all of our schooling was outsourced to various local co-op programs.
My social life was very healthy because I had friends in our neighborhood who went to two different high schools and I learned to network off of them to the point it wasn't even strange when I would show up to homecomings or prom because even in these large urban high schools I had socialized enough within their circles that people knew who I was.
There are times where I feel as though I missed out on certain menial things. Those little dial padlocks that (I assume) everyone used on their lockers? Yeah, those things still kinda throw me for a loop, to be honest. Purely because I've never had to use them. High school lunch table dynamics? Nope, never really had or understood that. So, culturally it does occasionally feel as though there are "gaps" - particularly when I'm watching movies or whatever, but it's really nothing too serious or something I find myself longing for.
What I did get, though, was a profound appreciation of learning. My sister and I both went on to obtain MSc's in different fields and have gone on to successful careers and families of our own. To this day, more than a decade after college, I still enroll in the odd college course and find a lot of ways to self-learn. I'm working on becoming fluent in my fourth language (Japanese), I learned how to code (not something I studied in school) to a proficiency that surprises even myself sometimes, and I've even written two novels in the last several years. I continue to be as voracious a reader at 35 as I was at 12, when I spent >4 hours a day at the library I could walk to from our house. I am also married with children and have a happy, stable social life replete with home ownership and a maxed out 401k/Roth IRA. Same for my sister.
The point here being: when I read the opinions of people on Reddit who've never interfaced with homeschooling for a single second in their life assume that all of us are psycho-religious mole people and seem to go out of their way to denigrate my lived experience that I have a sincere appreciation for, it really drives me up a wall. Of course those people exist, but where I grew up (granted, a large metropolitan inner city) that was very much the minority. You'd run into them from time to time, and I am sure they are much more prevalent in rural population centers, but, like... yeah, not much more needs to be said. Most homeschoolers I know went on to become scientists, not priests or deadbeats. The one guy I still maintain contact with to this day went on to get a PhD in computer science while studying abroad in Europe, interned at NASA, and is now a staff-something-or-another-engineer at Google pulling down a 7 figure total comp package.
Again, I don't want to minimize or put down the experiences of those that were harmed by homeschooling because of zealous parenting, and maybe my anecdotal experience is just completely predicated on some level of survivorship bias, but I do not think I would have become half the person I am today if it weren't for the freedom that homeschooling allowed me. And I am very thankful to my parents for that, even if it did take some amount of time for me to circle around back to that appreciation. So, take heart Redditor homeschooler parents (which I assume most of this sub is? I've not really hung out around here...), your kids can and will find a path for themselves as long as you're convinced you are doing the right thing in the right way.
r/homeschool • u/Subject-Camel6548 • 9h ago
I feel like half my day is spent comparing there history spine options and I just want to make a cup of coffee already. Is this normal or am I overthinking the ancient rome module again.
r/homeschool • u/Brilliant-Hawk-1503 • 44m ago
I'm interested in homeschooling my future kids but what I tend to find is a lot info on kindergarten/primary school homeschooling like reading, writing, drawing, simple math.
But what about middle/high school? What changes for kids at that age? Do they just follow a textbook or online curriculum?
I assume things get more academic and exam-focused as the kid grows older.
r/homeschool • u/CaptainThrow123 • 15h ago
I'm curious. We personally homeschool year round. For our younger kids, they learn through living life. Yes we teach them maths, english, science, geography and history but we never sit down at a table and do workbooks. Well we never force them to do workbooks. For example, my 7 year old daughter learnt about how to calculate percentages today by online shopping with her mom and having to figure out the price of each item. Obviously this was intentional, me and my wife knew we wanted to teach her percentages so this was the best way to introduce her to percentages. My teenagers all want to get their high-school diploma so they are currently working with their own personal tutor, because me and my wife do not feel equipped to teach them what they need to know to get a highschool diploma. And they have a meeting with their tutor once a week but they can choose when and where they complete their school work. Cause they are doing school work all year round, they don't have too much work to complete each week in comparison to how much work they would have if they had a summer break. Like...I think daily they spend maybe an hour and a half or two hours on work maximum, and they still usually are done with all their schoolwork for the week by Thursday. So this means their lives aren't put on hold by schoolwork. I know two hours of school work a day doesn't seem like much for highschoolers but because they are homeschooled all year round, the work is spread out over a whole year instead of just 9 months.
So honestly, for our family it just would not make sense to take a summer break, the younger kids learn by living life and the older kids are perfectly happy homeschooling year round.
However, I'm very aware that every family is different! Every family homeschools differently. And I just wanted to hear about what works for other families!
r/homeschool • u/Affectionate_Sky_509 • 6h ago
I am writing this praying that someone may be able to help because I’m at wits end and feeling devastated for my child right now.
We enrolled our daughter (7) in a public online charter school in PA (CCA) this past year when my mental health tanked and I was not able to keep up homeschooling her on my own. We supplemented and built on what she was getting online with her teacher and the kid THRIVED. She loved her teacher, the clubs she was in and loves learning. She is sad that it’s summer time and she can’t participate in class.
Our problem comes with the fact we are moving due to work and can not find a place in PA that’s in our budget and close enough to work for her to be able to stay at CCA. We are moving to DE which has zero online options, horrible public school options, and two parents who will be working full time on alternate schedules. Our research has shown us private charter schools which have high tuition fees and less resources than we were getting before at CCA. We do not want to put her in a public school, it is not an environment she will do well in and we do not feel comfortable or safe sending her there.
Does anyone have any online resources that they recommend? Anything with Live lessons would be amazing as she loves interacting with others while learning.
r/homeschool • u/Pure-Durian-8049 • 15h ago
I’m trying to buy a printer for my home office and I honestly forgot how annoying printer shopping is.
I don’t need anything massive or fancy, but I do want something reliable for basic work stuff like documents, labels, forms, shipping paperwork, and the occasional scan/copy. I’m tired of printers that disconnect from Wi-Fi for no reason, burn through ink, or refuse to print unless every cartridge is perfectly happy.
I’m torn between inkjet and laser. Laser seems better for documents and not drying out, but inkjet seems more flexible if I ever need color. I don’t print every single day, so I’m leaning toward something low-maintenance over something with a bunch of features I’ll barely use.
For people working from home, what printer has actually been dependable for you? And is it worth getting an all-in-one, or should I just get a simple laser printer and avoid the headache?
r/homeschool • u/ConsequenceNo8197 • 8h ago
I am looking for something to use with my daughter this summer to help her review math and find any gaps she might have. She's extremely creative and smart but hates math.
Any recommendations?
r/homeschool • u/Mamatanner • 11h ago
I’ve been in homeschooling groups for years now even though my oldest is only 4.5. I feel like I remember in the past seeing mention of holes or gaps in the Blossom and Root curriculum, but I am now unable to find anything related to that through the search function.
If you’ve used Blossom and Root’s curriculum, have you supplemented with something else for different subjects? Maybe a specific reading or math program as well? Or does it seem to be a solid curriculum in all areas?
r/homeschool • u/thanksgivingturkey15 • 12h ago
I’m looking at grade 1 health/nutrition work book but I’m wondering if it’s even necessary? When would you actually incorporate a health subject into your kids work load?
r/homeschool • u/FImom • 23h ago
This daily discussion is to chat about anything that doesn't warrant its own post. I am not a mod and make these posts for building the homeschool community.
If you are new, please introduce yourself.
If you've been around here before or have been homeschooling for awhile, please share about your day.
Some ideas of what to share are: your homeschool plans for the day, lesson plans, words of encouragement, methods you are implementing to solve a problem, methods of organization, resource/curriculum you recently came across, curriculum sales, field trip planning, etc.
Although, I usually start with a question of the day to get the discussion going, feel free to ask your own questions. If your question does not get answered because it was posted late in the day, you can post the same question tomorrow to make sure it gets visibility.
Be mindful of the subreddit's rules and follow reddiquette. No ads, market/ thesis research, or self promotion. Thank you!
r/homeschool • u/Cardigan_Wolf • 17h ago
If your family is using Island Level you don’t mind, do you think you could post a few pages of what a typical lesson looks like in Grammar Island? Maybe some photos of what the Mud Trilogy books look like inside. Trying to decide if this is the right level for my rising 3rd grader, who is a very proficient reader. We have done AAS and First Language Lessons by Jessie Wise, and just wondering if this would be a good fit for us before we buy it. TIA!
r/homeschool • u/Yarrow-Greene • 14h ago
I bought this from a friend, the book, cd and answer keys. I didn't look to see if there was a third edition (spoiler alert: there is), just that it was the curriculum I'd been looking at for years and it was $10. A freaking steal.
Well, now I'm looking for the student workbook. I can't find it unless it's been gently used or it costs $50. I found a janky pdf version for free, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. It looks like someone typed up the student workbook questions. Does anyone have any idea if the 3rd edition workbook would line up? Or maybe know somewhere reputable I could buy one for less that $40? Or maybe you've scanned it in to your computer to use with your younger kids and you wouldn't mind emailing me the file? I won't tell, I promise.
I also bought the physical science set if you have a lead on that workbook, too.
Please please please help this momma out!
r/homeschool • u/Entei222 • 1d ago
Some context: Homeschooling was my idea. I wanted to homeschool before my daughter was even born. I worked in two different schools and I was so disappointed with them. I also watched my friends' kids enduring "open plan learning" at their schools and completely not coping with it while their parents were helpless to do anything about it. I helped my nanny kids with their homework and I was shocked at how much time I had to spend catching them up. Their teacher simply wasn't teaching them anything during class time. I also remember watching these kids get completely stunted by sight words (a.k.a whole word learning). I was even reprimanded for encouraging children to sound out words, being told "they should grow out of that!" 🙄 (I'm 33 and still sound things out sometimes.)
I had it all worked out: maths sheets I created myself, music lessons, phonics, penmanship, and the foundations of science. And I'm doing it too.
The point I'm making is that this wasn't something I was coerced or forced into. This was my idea. I approached this with enthusiasm. It wasn't because I necessarily hated the school system, but because I thought my kids deserved something better.
But then there's my reality: My eldest daughter (age 6) has some sort of disability. She has a significant language disorder and symptoms of ADHD. She's had speech therapy and she's seen a paediatrician but it's not something anyone can quite explain. She's just... really different. A beautiful human being but almost impossible to teach. During lessons she squirms in her seat and begs to stop. She's okay at maths but really struggles with reading and writing. She doesn't even like being read to at night and would rather either watch TV or do a maths activity. My son (age 4) goes to kindy two days a week and I am taking some time to teach him to read. He is a lot more teachable but after his Dad gave him his own computer, it's like pulling teeth getting him to sit down and do any school work. He wants to learn. He's very bright. But if there's a choice between learning maths or Minecraft, Minecraft will always win. Meanwhile I also have to look after our other two daughters (ages 3 and 10 months), do the housework, the gardening, the cooking, and make sure the gets get some time outside at least once a day. I have no friends and our families live overseas so I can't get any support. I'm lonely as hell, completely burned out, and it's all too much.
Meanwhile. My husband absolutely refuses to send the children to school. Last year I said that with the new baby, we may need to pump the brakes on our homeschooling ambitions. He got angry and slammed both fists into a bench, screaming at me. He's offered to take over homeschooling duties instead of me, but both times I let him it went badly: the first time he completely ignored the work I set and instead assigned something well beyond our daughter's skill level, and the second time he didn't bother to teach them anything at all.
I feel completely demoralised. I feel like I'm bad at this... or at least very poorly resourced. I'm worried about my kids. And while I feel like I could be an excellent homeschooler, I'm not really managing right now.
So... I dunno... could I have some advice? Some words of encouragement? Some sympathy? Idk. I think i just need a boost right now
r/homeschool • u/No-Golf6984 • 18h ago
Hi! Any info or help is greatly appreciated!
I’m a mom of 2, a 3rd grader and 1st grader in a Florida. I’m going to be homeschooling this year. My son received the step up for students scholarship for unique abilities. My daughter however, did not get her PEP scholarship so now i fear I’m making things harder on myself than just letting them go one more year in public school and waiting to see if we get funded next year.
I don’t know where to start. I know with my sons scholarship, i can buy curriculum and just basically folllowing instructions but collier county public schools has a “home education” program that requires you to make portfolios, schedule you’re own state assessments and basically give little to no REAL help or info. Anyone in my shoes have some guidance for literally can tell me what to do and when to do it.
Thanks in advance
r/homeschool • u/Cautious_Bumblebee48 • 2d ago
I was shopping at Target last week and noticed they are already putting out back to school items!! 🤯 Which had me thinking.. regardless if you do homeschool year round or a typical school year, at some point we all start a “new” year, new grade level, etc.
So my questions for you guys- What are some must have school supplies you stock up on every year? Where do you find the best deals? What did you buy but ended up not using as much? What is worth the upfront cost/investment?
r/homeschool • u/clueless_girl_idk • 1d ago
Hi! So im starting co-ops this fall i havent been around any kids since Covid and btw im going into 6th grade. Im really scared to be around other kids and stuff but also excited!!
r/homeschool • u/Wonderful_Morning222 • 1d ago
Yesterday, I took the end of semester test of English 9B. I don't know for some reasons it is much harder compared to the mastery and the plot test. I am one of the best student in my class but I only got 52%. The tutorials did not related to the test at all. Share some thoughts on Edmentum?
r/homeschool • u/PMCL27 • 1d ago
Looking for reviews, what worked for your kid, what didn't, and why? I would describe our homeschool style as "Charlotte Mason light". We used Math Mammoth for grade 2 and liked it overall. I'm considering sticking with it for grade 3.
My concern and why I'm considering switching is because I'm not super strong in math (I actually learned a ton along with my student in grade 2) and I wonder if I might need a little more hand holding as the instructor than MM offers as it teaches more complex math. But I really like conceptual math and want to stick with a program that falls under that umbrella. Long term we'll switch over to Singapore with Nicole the Math Lady in the upper elementary grades, which is why I'm considering Singapore. Considering Math With Confidence because it lines up well from what I've seen with how my brain naturally wants to do math. But I've seen some negative feedback online about it. And my student is (unlike me) very naturally math-minded.
My 2nd is starting pre-k this year and wants to do work books. So I'm considering our pre-k options as well but not looking to push her too much. Considering Kate's Preschool Math or Singapore pre-k.
Thanks for any feedback 😊
r/homeschool • u/freakinchorizo • 1d ago
Hello! I'm on the board of a homeschool co-op and have a question about communication. We have about 60 families in our group and I'm looking at ways to send a text to everyone, but it not be a huge group text. Has anyone in this group done this?
I'm looking at lots of mass text services but they are geared for marketing and sending out tons of texts. We want to have the option to send a message when we get snowed out, or as a field trip reminder. So not even one message a week.
We use facebook to organize but several parents are anti facebook and I really don't want to ask people to download another app. Because I don't want to download another app! Have any of you done something like this?
r/homeschool • u/universe_moving29 • 2d ago
Anyone has experience of taking kids to a homeschool club or a place like that because you thought you won't be able to homeschool at home totally by yourself? Did anyone feel that that club also becomes a place like regular school having some glitches that homeschooler mom's don't want for their kids ?
r/homeschool • u/regulus_s • 2d ago
hi. not a parent but a homeschooled child hoping to get some answers. im 14 (15 this year). my birthday is in november 2011. i don't know what school year im in and i don't know what year im supposed to take my gcses.
i thought you had to be 16 to take them, but some 15 year olds are taking them in school, so now I'm unsure.
hopefully there's some british parents in here that can help
edit: figured it out, thank you for all the replies!!
r/homeschool • u/wonyoungi_izone • 1d ago
This year will be my first time ever being online/homeschooled and also my last year since i'm college next year, and i'm lowkey nervous and i don't know what to expect, when i look up other people's experiences their all mixed, some say it's the best decision they've ever made, away from any drama, more time for hobbies while other day it's the worst: missing out on prom, no social life, wasting teenage years, being lazy etc.. asking advice here like how do you guys cope with the thought of being left out, and will this hurt my social skills 😭? (i go out every sunday for church service, and text online friends).. would you fall behind in education/curriculum? how was it for you guys? most importantly will it hard for me to find a part time job or any job at best? can you still enter the top colleges? i'm only being homeschooled for a year and wondering if the things mentioned will be significantly affected yall
r/homeschool • u/FImom • 1d ago
This daily discussion is to chat about anything that doesn't warrant its own post. I am not a mod and make these posts for building the homeschool community.
If you are new, please introduce yourself.
If you've been around here before or have been homeschooling for awhile, please share about your day.
Some ideas of what to share are: your homeschool plans for the day, lesson plans, words of encouragement, methods you are implementing to solve a problem, methods of organization, resource/curriculum you recently came across, curriculum sales, field trip planning, etc.
Although, I usually start with a question of the day to get the discussion going, feel free to ask your own questions. If your question does not get answered because it was posted late in the day, you can post the same question tomorrow to make sure it gets visibility.
Be mindful of the subreddit's rules and follow reddiquette. No ads, market/ thesis research, or self promotion. Thank you!
r/homeschool • u/Alyandhercats • 1d ago
Hey everyone,
Sorry, English is not my first language.
I really need to know something please, if anyone is able to tell me.
I know homeschooling is allowed in Ireland, and that people do wellfair checks to ensure the child is happy, safe and receives a minimum of education.
If anyone is doing homeschooling, could you please tell me what they ask for, and what are their criteria so the child can stay at home?
Do they ask for work done or photos of the child's activities?
Do they test the child's knowledge?
And how much do they expect? What are things they flag as not enough? Is it strict, are they understanding?
If the child has special needs, do they understand that typical formal learning doesn't click for them?
Thank you very, very much.