Resources

A homeschooling family’s best friend is resources. But it can take time to find them and build a list. We’ve put together a list of local and online resources that will help you on your homeschooling journey.

LOCAL:

NYS Homeschool Loving Education at Home (LEAH) – Two groups locally, Cortland and Ithaca.

Northern Light Learning Center – Ithaca, NY. Cooperative learning community for all ages that meets once a week for classes.

Lime Hollow – Cortland, NY, PreK and up, they offer 2 different programs. They host a forest school with multiple options for how often and how long you send your child. They also offer a one day a week homeschool program with Senior Naturalist, Peter Harrity.

Primitive Pursuits – Ithaca, NY, ages 6-16. They offer 3 different homeschool programs that focus on learning outdoors and happen one day a week.

Earth Arts – Ithaca, NY. They offer 2 different programs for homeschoolers that both focus on the outdoors and Waldorf-inspired curriculum. One is 3 days a week for any age, the other is 1 day a week for 4-8 year olds.

Some schools offer the ability for homeschool students to take electives (music, art, gym) and also participate in sports. You can ask the superintendent of the district you live in if your school offers that. Schools that have a program for this already:

Covenant Love Community School – Freeville, NY, Grades K-8, they offer a “hybrid-homeschool day” once a week.

Cortland Christian Academy – Cortland, NY, PreK-12, they offer students in grades 7-12 to take part time classes and they have the opportunity to play sports. They offer soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

Many businesses and organizations will offer classes and/or special days just for homeschoolers (with discounted price) so make sure you check their websites and social media pages. Here’s a list of places that have offered classes and/or special days specifically to homeschoolers in the past:

Ithaca YMCA – swimming lessons

Klein’s Archery in Dryden, NY and Legends of the Fall in Tully, NY – archery lessons

Cheerful and Creative Art Studio in Cortland, NY – art classes

The Wild Animal Park in Chittenango, NY – homeschool day

Wonderworks in Syracuse, NY – homeschool day

LEGOLAND in Yonkers, NY – homeschool week

ONLINE:

HSLDA Advocates for Homeschoolers – A nonprofit advocacy organization that aims to assist homeschool families in knowing their rights and protecting their family freedoms.

CK-12 – free online textbooks, videos, flashcards, etc.

Khan Academy – Instructional videos, practice exercises, etc.

Time4Learning – Online learning for PreK-12 including all subjects.

Facebook – Many groups are on Facebook and contain a plethora of homeschool resources. Just search “homeschool” and a town name.

AND anywhere that has an educator discount, you qualify for as a homeschooling parent! Simply show them your IHIP document and you can get the same discounts that teacher’s get.