For anyone else that’s being thrown into the world of temporary homeschooling this year, here’s a thorough review of the Ultimate Homeschooling Bundle. Read about my favorite resources in the bundle and whether or not I think it’s worth the cost for those of us that are doing temporary homeschooling.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
Well friends, here we are in this impossible situation of choosing the “best” schooling option for our children amidst a worldwide pandemic. Everyone’s school, home, and family circumstances are so vastly different that there certainly no “right” or “wrong” answers here. The only thing we have in common is that the choice is incredibly difficult for all of us.
I have a 3rd grader, a Kindergartener, and a 2 year old, and our local public elementary schools have given parents the option of sending children to school every day (wearing masks and with social distancing in place at all times) or keeping them home and doing “remote learning” online in front of a computer. I can’t tell you how many times I went back and forth on what to do. Without getting into too many details, we ultimately made the decision to send my 3rd grader back to school in-person (for as long as schools stay open, anyway), but keep my Kindergartener home for homeschooling.
So, that means I’ve officially entered into the world of homeschooling…kind of. This is a temporary thing for us. Under any other circumstances, we’d be counting down the days until my son’s first day of school – the day where I would take his picture at the bus stop, smile and wave until the bus turned out of sight, then come home and have a good cry because my baby isn’t a baby anymore. But instead, that first day of school picture will happen in our living room, and his first bus ride won’t happen for at least another year. I have lots of mixed emotions about it, especially because we absolutely love our elementary school. Ultimately, I do think it will be a wonderful thing for us both – he’ll get focused attention and be able to go at his own pace through this foundational year, and I’ll get a chance to spend some precious one-on-one time with him. If I’m being honest, I’m actually pretty excited about it!
I know many of you are in a similar situation – being thrown into temporary homeschooling for the year – and so I thought it might be helpful to share with you a thorough review of one of the best all-in-one homeschooling resources that I’ve found – The Ultimate Homeschooling Bundle.
TEMPORARY HOMESCHOOLING RESOURCE –
THE ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOLING BUNDLE
I’ve been a fan of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle for a while now – it’s one of my favorite ways to get quality digital resources for a hugely discounted price. The folks at Ultimate Bundles have also been putting together a Ultimate Homeschooling Bundle for years, but I’ve never thought twice about it…until now. This year, I decided to purchase it for myself, and I’ve found it to be a wonderful centralized resource for me as I’m diving into this new world of temporary homeschooling.
For anyone else, like me, who is feeling a little lost on where to start, I think this bundle contains some really great resources that can help! I’ve had my copy of the Ultimate Homeschool Bundle for a few weeks now and have already started digging in. I’ve pulled the items that I found most helpful for me and reviewed them for you below.
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RESOURCES FOR HOMESCHOOLING BEGINNERS:
I’m obviously approaching this from a brand-new-homeschooler perspective. Even though I’m not planning for homeschooling to be a long-term thing for our family, I want to be prepared and purposeful don’t want to feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants through it. Here are the general “how to homeschool” type resources I found most helpful for me!
*5 Days to your Best Homeschool Years (eCourse) – $77.00 value
by Ana Willis from TheyCallMeBlessed.org
This course is EXCELLENT. I feel like I’ve been so scattered with my homeschool research and planning…but this course was so centering to me. It’s 5 “days” (which you can do all in one sitting or spread out as you want to) that really walk you through getting prepared for Homeschool. Each day has a video, some questions to answer, and links to a ton of related resources to that topic. Day 1 is all about your homeschool goals, vision & mission; Day 2 is getting to know yourself as a teacher and your kids as learners; Day 3 is all about curriculum and making the best choice for your family; Day 4 is about establishing a rhythm, routine, and time management; Day 5 dives into organization. This course is everything I was trying to piece together for myself separately, but it’s all in one place. The order is really important, too. For example, I was trying to pick curriculum before I’d made decisions about my homeschooling goals and really thought through my personality as “teacher” and my son’s learning style. This is my favorite resource in the bundle, because of how self-contained it is. Even if you only use this one course, you’ll be getting your money’s worth! This has been my favorite resource in the bundle that I’ve used so far.
*Lifestyle Homeschooling (eBook) – $10.00 value
by Elizabeth Kidd from ThisLittleHomeofMine.com
I am quickly learning that Homeschooling is a lifestyle, it’s not just something you do for a few hours each morning. In this phase of being “stuck at home” with kids for weeks on end, I feel like we’ve all become homeschoolers without even realizing it. This eBook was a really valuable read for me to think through how to purposefully approach this school year in our home. It includes lots of practical tips and ideas as well as “big picture” priorities to think through. This quote from the introduction really resonated with me: “It is not our goal to simply do school at home but to nurture a life-long love of learning and a natural bent toward serving others. Our days are not dictated by the curriculum we’ve chosen but by a passion to successfully equip our children for life.”
*Flexible Homeschool Planning (eBook) – $7.00 value
by Amy Roberts from RaisingArrows.net
I think this is another great resource for homeschoolers just starting out, especially moms who are not normally the pen-and-paper planner types. Although I am planning to use a printed planner (there are several printable planners in this bundle to choose from!) I still really appreciated reading about her approach. She walks you through establishing a daily rhythm – she calls it a “workflow” – and then how to plan for and add in your non-daily projects and assignments that aren’t always the same – unit studies, seasonal projects, crafts, field trips, etc.
*Simple Homeschool Planner (printable) – $7.00 value
by Terryn Winfield from JustASimpleHome.com
If you’re looking for a printable planner to stay organized with a pen and paper, there are several included in this bundle. My favorite is this Simple Homeschool Planner, because it’s pretty :-) Bright colors, appealing layouts, and lots of different pages to choose from. This is all digital, so you’ll still need to get it printed and either put it in a binder or have it bound, but that allows you to create your own “custom” planner by choosing which pages to use, what order to put them in, how many of them to print, etc.
Start Homeschooling Summit (summit/course) – $61.00 value
by Kelly George of FearlessHomeschool.com
I haven’t gotten the chance to watch many of the videos, but this resource has an INCREDIBLE amount of information for new homeschoolers! It’s a compilation of video workshops from 33 (!!) veteran homeschooling parents, including bloggers, authors, and speakers. You can browse through the topics and pick and choose which workshops to watch/listen to (there is an audio and video format for each so you can listen on-the-go if you prefer) or work your way through them all. There are links to accompanying resources as well. I’ll be honest, this kind of format of resource isn’t as appealing to me simply because it’s overwhelming and broad (that’s why I didn’t star it as one of my personal favorites), but it is definitely a huge amount of valuable information in one place.
PRESCHOOL RESOURCES:
If you’re planning to “homeschool” a preschool aged child, I’m not kidding when I say you’ll find everything you need in this bundle. There are several complete curriculums as well as a bunch of supplemental resources that are more than enough to keep you busy for the year! Since I’m not homeschooling a preschooler I won’t actually be using any of these, but I skimmed through these resources and they look really terrific. (And I may set them aside to use when my toddler is a bit older!) Here are a few of the titles that were my favorites, but you can browse the product list to read more about them.
Creative Littles No Prep Preschool by Laurie Shaw (Workbook) – $8.00 value
A multi-sensory curriculum that will teach your child through drawing, tracing, cutting and gluing, games, and crafts.
Phonics with Penmanship: A Full Year Preschool Age Curriculum by Misty Leask (Curriculum) – $29.99 value
A full year preschool age phonics program designed to help homeschool moms teach their children to read while having fun!
Teach Your Preschooler at Home by Tanja Mcilroy (eBooks) – $47.00 value
Teach your preschooler important pre-reading and school readiness skills with simple, play-based activities.
The Peaceful Preschool Farm Guide by Jennifer Pepito (Workbook) – $12.00 value
This will prepare your child for formal learning through engaging hands on phonics and counting activities, classic children’s literature, and delightful arts and crafts.
ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY RESOURCES:
While there aren’t any complete “curriculums” for the older grades, there are a bunch of specific unit studies geared towards older students that would be terrific supplements. There was only one that jumped out as something I’m planning to use with my Kindergartener, but it’s fabulous:
*Remember the Word: Training Up a Child Bible Memory Verse Bundle (eCourse/printables) – $30.00 value
by Forget Him Knot
This is an incredibly thorough resource that’s adaptable for a wide age range. I’d say you could use this with preschoolers all the way up through about 6th grade. Each memory verse (there are 6) includes an in-depth devotional with cross references (it reminds me of inductive Bible study in its approach, which is great for older kids); printable coloring pages, word art, bookmarks, and memory cards; word puzzles; and copy pages for primary, elementary manuscript, and cursive. You could easily spread out the activities to spend a week or more on each verse! The six verses and accompanying devotionals focus on training a child to know, understand and love God and His Word.
Here are a few more unit studies that look like quality supplements for older students (there are a lot! these were just my favorites):
*Big Book of Writing Prompts for Kids: 500 Questions, Story Starters, and Ideas to Get Kids Writing (eBook) – $9.60 value
by Sophie Agbonkhese from MyCupRunsOver.ca
These writing prompts are incredibly creative, thought-provoking, and fun! Perfect for establishing a writing journal. There’s a section for grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. If and when my 3rd grader ends up at home doing remote learning, I’m planning to have her start a writing journal with these prompts.
European Adventure: 10 Audio Stories (audio) – $37.00 value
by Tania Landin from Around the World Stories`
10 different 30-minute audio stories geared toward elementary aged kids that take them all around Europe. Each story includes a guide with discussion points, activities, recipes, printables, and more.
Light and Optics Science Activities (workbook) – $16.00 value
by Carolyn Balch
10 science labs/activities to explore light and optics that require minimal materials or prep.
Music Appreciation: Middle Ages Thru Classical Era for High School (eCourse) – $57.00 value
by Gena Mayo
A self-paced online course geared toward middle and high school students. I’m a former music teacher and found this incredibly thorough! It would be a great general music curriculum for a high school student.
BONUSES: As with any Ultimate Bundles collection, this one comes with some fun bonuses. To be honest, most of them were not my cup of tea, but the two that I loved and am taking advantage of are the Musik at Home subscription (I’ll be doing this with my 2 year old) and the Bookroo subscription (pay $4.99 shipping to get two beautiful hardback picture books, and then cancel anytime). You can browse all the bonus offers here.
ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOLING BUNDLE – IS IT FOR ME?
As with any digital “bundle” product, you probably won’t find value in every single resource in the collection. Some won’t really apply to you at all, and some may be of mediocre quality that may or may not be helpful for you. My rule of thumb when deciding whether or not to purchase a bundle like this is to look for at least 4-5 really good, quality resources that I will actually use. Then, I focus in on those and pretty much ignore the rest. If I can find 5 resources I love, that means I’m paying $6 per eBook/course/printable. That’s a terrific deal, especially if some of those resources are higher price items like courses or curriculums. The items I *starred* in my list above are my personal “top 6.” I may or may not use the rest. Even without touching the other resources or bonuses, that’s $140 worth of digital resources that I got for $30! I’d encourage you to look through the list of resources (there are A LOT more than the ones I listed above!), pull out the ones that sound the most helpful for you and your specific circumstances, and then decide if it’s worth it for you to purchase
What: Ultimate Homeschooling Bundle 2020
Contents: 13 eBooks, 8 eCourses, 22 workbooks & printable packs, 5 curricula, 2 membership sites & 1 summit
Value: $1278.79 + bonuses
Price: $29.50
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ULTIMATE HOMESCHOOLING BUNDLE – THE CATCH
Whenever I share a bundle like this, I always get the question – “what’s the catch?” The only “catch” is that all of the authors included in this bundle have only given permission for their product to be sold in this bundle for one week. That means that after this sale is over, you can only purchase these items individually at their original prices. The customer service at Ultimate Bundles is terrific, and they always have a 30 day money-back “happiness guarantee” in case you have any problems.
Ready to decide for yourself? Browse the Ultimate Homeschooling Bundle here.
But don’t delay, because the Ultimate Homeschooling Bundle 2020 sale ends in…
Questions? Leave a comment, or send me an email!
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I love how 2020 has resulted in a big increase in permanent homeschooling – definitely a silver lining. It’s also incredible how many great homeschool resources there are online, and for such amazing prices!