How to Use Schoolhouse Teacher in your Homeschool

In my last post, I told you about how Schoolhouse Teacher has changed our homeschool and how it will get you out of the homeschool slump you are experiencing. I realized last summer that we needed to change from the traditional curriculum to a more interest-based curriculum. One of my top priorities in homeschooling is instilling a love for learning in my children. We had lost our spark for learning and we were able to reignite it with Schoolhouse Teacher. Today I am going to share with you how we use Schoolhouse Teacher in our homeschool and how to use Schoolhouse Teacher in your homeschool.

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There is a Schoolhouse Teacher Class for EVERY subject

and then some. . . .

I use Schoolhouse Teacher for almost every subject. All the core areas of study are offered and numerous electives including foreign languages, music, and technology classes. There are even preschool activities, seasonal classes, meal plans, and parenting ebooks. It is very comprehensive.

There are seven areas of our homeschool. These areas are:

1. Bible
2. Math
3. Language Arts
4. Social Studies
5. Science
6. Electives
7. Service

Step 1: What subjects will you teach

The first step is to decide what subject areas you would like to teach your children. If you are switching from a traditional curriculum, what subjects were you teaching with that curriculum?

For example, I was using ACE, which you can read about here. I was using it for all subjects except Bible. Here were the subjects: Math, English, Critical Literature, Science, Social Studies and Word Building (spelling). I wanted to continue teaching my children these core subjects, but also add some electives.

It is very important to write out the areas of study you would like to teach because there are so many choices at Schoolhouse Teacher you can become overwhelmed with the choices. Or if you are like me, you will start browsing through the classes and think that every single class looks fun and want to teach your kids everything. Don’t do that! Focus on the core subjects and chose wisely, keeping your child’s interest and skill level in mind.

Step 2: What topics will you teach within each subject

Once you have a list of core subjects written down, the next step is to decide what topics you are going to teach within each area. For example, Language Arts is a huge subject which covers: reading, writing, spelling, literature, grammar, etc. All of these topics are important. Schoolhouse Teacher provides a wonderful tool called Scope and Sequence to give you a guideline of what is typically taught at what grade level. It is not a hard and fast list, but it is a wonderful framework to use if you are unsure of what to teach.

The Scope and Sequences are arranged by both grade level and subject. It gives general areas covered and the corresponding Schoolhouse Teacher courses offered. This is an invaluable tool. It helps you not to feel like you are forgetting to teach some areas for your child. But also, don’t feel like you have to teach every area. For example, there are areas that I do not teach my children such as Drama and Speech.

Step 3 – Bookmark Classes, Download Lesson Plans, and Lessons

Now that you have decided on subjects to teach, now comes the fun part. Start choosing classes for your children. The way I did this was to begin by browsing by grade, then by subject within the grade. Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly what grade your child is in. (We are homeschoolers after all). There is usually a range of grades for each class. For example, Daily Grammar covers 1st through 9th grade, but within the class, there are grade levels. This may sound confusing, but as I said in my last post, watching the tutorials is extremely helpful. There are tutorials about scope and sequence, bookmarking classes, and choosing courses.

Are you looking for ideas about which classes to choose? Check out my future posts about what Schoolhouse Teacher classes we are using for our homeschool.

Are you ready to give Schoolhouse Teacher a try for your homeschool? I hope this article about how to use Schoolhouse Teacher in your homeschool has been helpful. Please ask me any questions you have in the comments below. I hope you give Schoolhouse Teacher a try and ignite the love of learning in your children. Still not sure? Read this testimony from another homeschool mom.