PrincipledMom™

I have my favorites, aside from the fundamentals (Bible, Red Books, Rudiments Handbook and 1828 dictionary). There are things I think no PA homeschooler should be without. Of course it was hard to narrow it to just ten!

1. Dr. Rose's A Guide to American Christian Education--can't say enough about how great it is. It helps me plan my lessons, gives me source suggestions and encouragement from other homeschool parents.
2. The New England Primer--amazing little (really!) reprint filled with wonderful materials. Included are prayers, Bible questions (that would stump most parents!), catechisms and alphabet scriptures. Even small children can memorize the alphabet this way.
3. The Book of Life--volumes that expand the scriptures and give great details.
4. Intrepid Books--wonderful American Christian History series that expands the 7 principles each year
5. Ray's Mathematics--my favorite mathematics curriculum
6. Encyclopedia of Bible Truths (4 volumes)--provides hundreds of scriptures on every topic you can think of. This helps me focus on presenting the topic and not so much on trying to find the right foundational scripture.
7. Isaac Watts' Divine and Moral Songs for Children--get the tape and the book. The poetry and the melody are invaluable. The moral themes teach children not to fight, to choose Christ and to share, along with many other concepts.
8. Blue Backed Speller--Noah Webster's speller for elementary children
9. Arnold Guyot's Physical Geography--Christian view of geography beautifully written and illustrated. ACHI also offers a helpful set of map outlines for mapwork. These are very helpful.
10. McGuffey Readers--reprints of the 1800's series. Excellent readers with beautiful etchings.

With these selections you can teach all the subjects with excellence. I could add more but I tried to keep it to ten. And I didn't mention all the great literature because that would take too much room. What are your must-haves for elementary kids?

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