Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School Kindle Edition

When we first started educating my son at home, we used a "school-in-a-box" complete religious-based curriculum, which included DVD lessons, texts, workbooks, tests and teacher's editions for all the core subjects. While academically rigorous, this did not seem to be the best option for our son's learning style.So I went searching for resources to help design a curriculum that would better suit our family's needs. One of the resources I found was Rebecca Rupp's "Home Learning Year by Year", which is a comprehensive outline of the public school curriculum in a surprisingly concise book. The curriculum that Dr. Rupp has put together is a "synthesis of the public school curricula of all fifty states, as well as from proposals from private sources and innovative educators".Dr. Rupp is well known in homeschool circles for educating her three sons at home for more than ten years, and for authoring several books, both fiction and non-fiction, including several that are related to homeschooling. She also writes a monthly column for Home Education Magazine."Home Learning Year by Year" covers all of the core subjects and many elective subjects that are taught in the public school system. Notably missing are references to Bible study and courses in religion, so readers seeking a strong Christian basis for their curriculum will not find it in this book, though may find it a useful reference for non-religious parts of their educational program. And non-Christians who may want to deviate significantly from the public school system are not likely to find this a very helpful resource, either, since it is a synthesis from the public schools' curricula.But for those home educators who want to generally follow the same material and progression as the public school system in the United States, this is an excellent resource for curriculum design. It is well written, complete and easy to follow. It gives a good outline of knowledge and provides some resources and textbook recommendations to aid in teaching the material. I would suggest, though, that this book is better viewed as one of a set, paired with Rebecca Rupp's other invaluable resource "The Complete Home Learning Source Book: The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents and Educators Covering Every Subject from Arithmetic to Zoology" (Rebecca Rupp, 1998, New York: Three Rivers Press). This volume has much more in depth resources which complement her curriculum outline nicely.Overall, this is a clear, comprehensive and secular overview of the public school curriculum in the United States, written for home educators to use in their own curriculum design. It does what it sets out to do, and I highly recommend it.

I purchased this book because I plan on starting homeschool in January for my soon to be 3 year old. From the title I assumed that there would at least be some gentle guidance on how to prepare your child for kindergarten but there really isn't any at all. There isn't anything listed that your preschooler should know (ie nursery rhymes, alphabet, a few numbers, how to share, parents names...) So if you're looking to start homeschooling your soon to be preschooler this is not the book you want to investin just yet. I gave the book 4 stars because of that issue, but I looked ahead at the kindergarten chapter to see if the book would be of any use to me in the future and it is jam packed of things for your child to learn, book suggestions, websites for learning materials (though a couple are no longer in use), etc. The chapter is broken down into subjects (language arts, math, science, ...) and for each subject it has specific things for your child to learn and tells you the hows and whys. Thumbing through it can be a bit overwhelming because there is A LOT to the curriculum but if you think about your child learning it step by step over the course a year then it makes it a little less intimidating. Since ive already purchased the book I plan on looking at what the a child needs to learn at the kindergarten level and backtracking from there to prepare him for what is to come. Long story short, dnt buy it if you plan on using it as a guide for preschool, if using it for k-12 then go for it I highly recommend this book and the cost of the book is extremely resonable (im surprised it isnt at least $30)

This book has so many great features, it's hard to know where to begin. Probably the best feature is that it is well-organized. The book is divided into grade levels, and within each grade level chapter are subdivisions for the various school subjects. Within each subject section are suggestions for topics to study that year, along with suggested resources. The organization made a lot of sense to me, and made it easy to use.Another nice thing about the book is that the proposed learning topics for each grade level build upon one another in a cohesive manner, year after year. This makes it a book that really could be used throughout a child's educational career, without becoming boring and repetitive.Finally, the book merely suggests things that your child could be learning, and resources to go with them, rather than being prescriptive. Other learning guides that I've read, such as "What Your ___ Grader Needs To Know" by E.D. Hirsch, give exact things to teach your child. I like how Rupp's book suggests topics and resources, without feeling bossy.The one thing that annoyed me about this book is that many of the web links are out of date and no longer exist. If you are wanting it for the web resources, skip it. But if you have any proficiency at all with the internet, you can search and find web resources on your own. However, it would be a lot more useful if these links worked!That being said, I would still not hesitate to buy this book again. It is an invaluable guide.

Really useful book. Many homeschooling books talk in general about life as a homeschooling family but this one sets out what children should be learning and gives helpful resources. With each year it shows how what they should be learning is an expansion of what they were learning before. Its very useful for parents who want a little more structure and to know roughly what to be helping their child learn at what stage.

A straightforward list of what a child could or should learn at each age. It is a bit intimidating for the new home educator, and doesn't really tell you much about how to start, so would be of more use to an experienced home educator who wants to teach using Unit Studies.

Some good info but as its American it's not all helpful, however I got it as a starting point in my research into home schooling and it's an interesting read.

The author makes it sound very familiar.Lots of information and ideas, websites and books. It provides year by year Curriculum information and requirements.

great book and great service. thanks a lot