Homeschooling Elementary School

We offer several options for all grades, depending on what your needs are. The Basic version of our curriculum kits contains math, language arts, and thinking skills. It’s the most economical choice and works for families who supplement history and science from the library, borrowing from friends, sharing with a sibling, etc. The Complete version contains everything in Basic, plus science, history, and hands-on learning tools. The Complete kit includes everything you would need for an entire year. The Elite kit contains everything in the Complete version, plus more fun add-ons. Elite is an outstanding option if you want all the bells and whistles!

For each of our kits, we also offer a classic (Christian) option and a nonreligious option. Usually families who receive funding for homeschool through the public school system will need the nonreligious option. It’s also possible to customize our curriculum if you need to make adjustments for any reason. The kits come with parent/teacher handbooks and access to our customizable online scheduler.

FAQs

“What level should I order?”

We offer placement tests for various subjects. This will help you determine the appropriate level for your child.

"What school supplies do I need?"

The simple answer is you wouldn't actually have to have much beyond your basic pencil and paper, maybe a pair of scissors and some glue or tape for most of our kits. Chances are you will likely find a few extra supplies do come in handy, so we compiled a list to help you with your planning and back-to-school shopping.

"How much time should school take?"

We asked the families who used our elementary level kits how long their students spent on "school." Most of the families worked on academics 4 or 5 days a week and spent 1-4 hours a day specifically on Timberdoodle materials. It is common for families to spend more or less time than that, so don't stress if your schedule doesn't exactly match up. And, of course, the time you spend will be greatly impacted by how in-depth your student takes their studies, their learning approach, how distractible they allow themselves to be, and much more.

Younger students will almost never sit down and do all the work at once. Instead we suggest doing it in multiple short sessions throughout the day.

"My 7 year old hates writing, how can I make it more enjoyable for her?"

The starting point would be to find out why your kiddo hates writing. Does she not have the fine motor skills to form letters easily and properly yet? Does she struggle to sit still (a kinesthetic learner)? Are the assignments/workbook pages more difficult than are appropriate? Are you learning too many things at once (letter formation, sentence structure, parts of speech, spelling, grammar, etc.)? Once you can evaluate why your child dislikes writing so much, you will likely have a clearer path forward to make writing less disIF tasteful for her.

"Is there an easier way to teach history?"

You can definitely make it easier by focusing primarily on reading the text or using the audiobook and only adding activities when if fits your schedule. History doesn't need to be rigorous at this age.

"Any suggestions for ways to make history come alive, hands-on activities, etc? There’s so much hands-on for science, would love some kits or activity ideas for history!"

For the lower elementary grades we include the Story of the World activity books and Famous Figures as hands-on activities for history. Another option would be to create a timeline that you add to throughout the year.

"I have a kindergartner and 2nd grader and our days seem really long and sometimes we still don’t fit everything in. What subjects do you recommend combining?"

Our kits include materials for the full school year. We don’t recommend trying to do some of everything every day. We try to hit math, language arts, and critical thinking every day and then fit in extras as we have time. Science, history, and geography usually are appropriate for a range of ages so your kids could easily work together for those subjects.

"If ordering for kindergarten, first, and second grade, are there any items that would be duplicates?"

Yes, a few, such as the math integer blocks and the All About Reading tiles. You could order one kit as-is and customize the others to leave those items out... or you might want separate sets for each child. Feel free to email us with specific questions and we'll be happy to help you put this together.

"At what age can I let my kids independently read their own history/science?"

As soon as they are able!

"How do you suggest helping a six-year-old build confidence in her reading? She is good at it, but always beats herself up if she makes a single mistake."

Lots of practice! One suggestion is to have her read aloud to a pet or a stuffed animal, who obviously won't be a bit critical of any mistakes she makes. Or perhaps have her read aloud to you while you are "busy" doing something else (folding laundry, cooking dinner) and when she makes a mistake and wants to falter, just casually brush it off, "Never mind that! Keep going! I want to find out what happens next!"

Articles

How to Homeschool Multiple Ages at Once

Your First Year of Homeschooling

If You Have a Reluctant Reader

Tips from Our Blog Team

Join Our Facebook Community

Also, we'd love to have you join our elementary grades community group on Facebook! If you’re using Timberdoodle Curriculum Kits for 1st through 4th grade this year, the Grades 1-4 Community is the group for you!

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