I just read a comment from a new homeschooler on a limited income who was concerned about money and their own educational level. What I want to address here is my favorite homeschool resource that will allow a homeschooler to teach their child for very little.
I really believe that for someone who can read, follow instructions, and do a little internet research, all you really need to teach your child and keep them up to grade level is a workbook series called Summer Bridge Activities. Sumer Bridge Activity Books costs less than $12.00 each online.
Using Summer Bridge Activities, which covers everything from Kindergarten through 8th grade, your child can learn everything they need to know. The main purpose of these books is to review schoolwork from the previous year and then introduce new concepts that will help in the following year. My experience however, is that if a child properly uses the workbook then they will be able to learn enough to pass any test related to that upper grade. I know my daughter in particular used the grade 5-6 Summer Bridge workbook at the end of last year, she then took a math placement test and was placed in 7th grade math. Since I know we did not do any 6th grade math curriculum outside of this “review book”, I can attribute her success to Summer Bridge Activities. In addition to math, the summer bridge workbooks cover language arts, history, geography, science, and spelling. The only thing else you will need is a library card.
Since the Summer Bridge workbook is made to be utilized over the summer, it only takes 3 months to complete the course work. You could call it a “crash courts to the (insert grade here)”. Because this book is so straightforward and fast paced, you as the parent can choose to slow it down a bit, and perhaps complete it in six months. In addition, your child will have plenty of free time to explore their personal and academic interests. They will have time to read to their hearts content, play educational games, keep a nature journal, learn a foreign language, or anything else they choose.
Another (and my second favorite) inexpensive one-book options that you can use to homeschool your kids (with the help of the internet) are “What Your (insert grade here) Grader Needs to Know”, available for grades K-6.
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