Please Help!

[amandaps]

:confused: Hello. I am having trouble starting homeschooling with my daughters Paulina 7 and Suzanna 5. We have just been using different books that were given to us as gifts. The favorite is Teach You Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. Also they were each given School Zone Interactive Big Preschool and Kindergarden books that they flew right through. I don't know where to go now. I have had 2 consistent recomendations for Classical Education and A Beka. What do I order? How do I start? Do I start them both on the same curriculum? Do I hold back the 7 year old or delay the 5 year old? Have I completely screwed up their education?
Thank you for the help! God Bless you.
Amanda

[classical4mom]

First of all, welcome to homeschooling. In no way have you "screwed up" your children's educations, in fact, you are doing the best thing possible by homeschooling.
Abeka and Classical are both wonderful options. On this board you will find much support for classical. Abeka may have a support board as well.
If I had one piece of advice that I wish you would take is: RELAX! The early years of homeschooling are such a joy (and really easy academically!). Homeschooling is about being there for your children, not a particular curriculum.
Even if you spent the year just reading to your children a lot every day and doing some basic math without even deciding on a particular "style" your children will be getting a great education. Take that time to research the options.
And remember, you are not "stuck" or "locked into" any one particular way of schooling. In our 7 years of homeschooling, I have switched several times, due to different factors: financial, adding a new baby to the family, etc. Do what you feel comfortable with and what works for your family. Don't feel you have to try all the recommendations in either classical or Abeka at once. You will get burned out and frustrated. Transition slowly, and enjoy your children.
I say this as a mom who panicked just like you. My oldest started reading when she was 4, and I thought to myself "but I haven't even picked a reading curriculum yet" How ridiculous is that! :p All I had done was read, read, read to her and spend lots of time with her.
I also had lots of pressure to "perform" from my public school teacher in-laws. But I just learned to keep giving it over to the Lord, and He always led me. Many times it was just like you, just using books that someone had given me.
Blessings to you in your journey...
Nanci

[Pam]

My biggest recommendation ................ breathe. Long, deep breaths. You will not ***** up your kids.... I've been doing it for 4 years now and my kids aren't screwed up...... much :p Just kidding.

Calmly look at the websites, think about what you want to accomplish with your kids in the next year...... and start. I have changed some things every year....and some things stay the same.... and it's all good.

[crblomquist]

I hope you find something that works for you, Amanda. I am in my 2nd year of homeschooling and remember well how scared I was to start! I didn't know what to do, either, and didn't even know how many curriculums and other homeschooling products there are out there. I just picked up the first book I saw at the bookstore--The Well-trained Mind--read it, and decided it sounded good. So, that's where I started. But then over the course of the year, I followed little tips and pieces of information I picked up and did a whole lot of research on the internet. In doing so, I not only discovered all the different approaches and products available to me and figured out the best one for my family, but I also gained a great deal of confidence. Joining chat groups helped, too.

I decided that classical education was best for us for now, so that's what we went with, but there are lots of interesting approaches. I have a strong distaste for A Beka and would never use it, but I know a lot of people like it, so it's worth checking into (if you are not Catholic or Orthodox, that is; it's not friendly to those churches). Anyway, here's some other approaches to check out: Charlotte Mason, unschooling, notebooking, neo-classical, Latin classical (like MP), computer programs, completely workbook programs, unit studies, umbrella school programs, Waldorf, Principle, Robinson, Montessori, and others. But the main thing, I think, to remember, is that there isn't one magic curriculum, and if you choose the "wrong" one for your kids, you haven't ruined them. If something you try doesn't work, just try something else! No matter what you pick, they will get their basic education somehow.