Using the Library for Homeschooling
by: Lorraine Curry
Where can homeschoolers get unlimited educational
materials and not spend a dime? The library, of course!
What a blessing to be able to bring home stacks and
stacks of books, all for free. The library makes
homeschooling an option for parents who could not afford
it otherwise.
According to various experts, and proven by our own
experiences, reading aloud is the very best educational
activity. The library is the place to get the books for
doing this. When reading aloud you will be able to skip
over really objectionable parts of books; or discuss
world views. An example of this was the book that we
used when studying slavery and the Civil War. We checked
out a book of the slaves own words. Rather than pass
over such interesting and accurate history, I passed
over the few passages about nudity.
Scope and Sequence
A good place to start is with a plan, your scope and
sequence. The scope and sequence gives details on what
you will be teaching (scope) and in what order
(sequence). The scope and sequence is usually written
for one year at a time.
There are guides available that are quite helpful for
writing the scope and sequence. One is World Book's
Typical Course of Study. I thought it overwhelming and
simplified it for the Course of Study in my book, Easy
Homeschooling Techniques. Even a text's table of
contents can be used as a a guide for a subject.
As well as helping with choosing resources from the
library, a scope and sequence will make it easier to
plan your daily schedule. You will also be able to see
at any point during the year, what you have covered and
what needs to be learned next.
Begin
Begin a rough draft. As main points (I, II, III, IV,
etc.), list the major subject areas you will cover, such
as Bible, Math, Language Arts, Health, Science and
History. Leave plenty of room between your points, so
that you can list subordinate topics beneath the main
points. You may add Music and Art as well. (You could
study the art and music of the time period you are
covering in history.)
Now, pick and list the topics (from the guide) that
you would like to cover. Get your children's input . You
may end up with more than necessary. Remember, this is a
rough draft! Look at grades around your child's grade,
so you can have a continuity from year to year in
subjects such as history. (See sidebar for an example of
a history plan.)
Put some order into the jumble of science topics in
Typical Course of Study when writing the scope and
sequence. Choose one field of science (chemistry,
physics, biology, etc.) to focus on each year, or spend
the year studying scientists and discoveries from the
same historical period you are studying. Tobins Lab's
catalog has science topics arranged in an orderly
fashion.
If you have children in several different grades,
perhaps you can combine the topics or pick one that all
can learn at the same time. I did this frequently with
History, Science, and Health. Teach your children who
are close in age the same Math and Language Arts. Look
through several of the grades and plan ahead to achieve
a continuity from year to year.
Choosing Books From The Library
Once your scope and sequence is completed, you have
the easy job of picking out armfuls of books on a
regular basis to fulfill the learning goals of your
plan. With so many libraries having computerized card
catalogs, this is quick work. Type in the era or topic,
such as "civil war."
With this method one thing leads to another and soon
you will read in one book about a person whose biography
you can then borrow. Many homeschoolers favor the old
Landmark, Signature or the We Were There biographies,
which your library may still have. More eloquent writing
was done by authors like G.A. Henty, Oliver Optic or
Horatio Alger who wrote about various historical
periods. We used the children's section of the library
almost exclusively for many appropriate non-fiction
books on a wide variety of topics when our children were
younger. We also found some wonderful classic novels in
the adult section, such as a fragile copy of the
Christian colossus about slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Other Ideas
For foreign language, check out videos or cassette
tapes. Do an intensive study during the time you have
the tapes. Then in a week or so check them out again and
do another study. Keep doing this until done with the
course.
Most libraries have computers for public use,
sometimes with good quality learning software. Have your
child work on one of these while you are looking for
books. Keep track of progress made each visit.
Use the library's newspapers for current events
classes.
See more easy tips, including detailed planning how-to's
in EasyHomeschooling Techniques
http://www.easyhomeschooling.com/frtechniques.html
About The Author
Lorraine Curry is the author of 5 Star Easy Homeschooling books. See
and link to more articles, FREE copywork,
subscriptions, ebooks and more at
http://www.easyhomeschooling.com |
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