Home Education
Whether you are new or experienced in homeschooling, we want to encourage you and ensure you have all the tools and support you need. Signing up for Portals can have you ready for the year in a few minutes. We provide an on-call hub support team, curriculum selection and design, flexible daily lesson plans for K-12 in all subjects, and engaging weekly project and activity ideas in order to save you time and allow you to spend it where it matters most, discipling your kids. Follow the steps below to learn more about each of these services:
Hub Support
Have questions, or want additional support while you are homeschooling? Call our hub support team to talk with an experienced teacher who can help! Our team is available Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Below are just a few examples of the ways we can help:
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Additional Project Ideas: Did your student show strong interest in a subject area this week? Contact hub support so they can research and provide you with additional content and project ideas to explore the topic deeper.
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Lesson Plan Content: Have questions about the content in tomorrow's History lesson? Call hub support to get it answered.
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Teaching Methods: Is your child having a hard time understanding a particular concept? The Hub Support teachers can advise you on alternative ways of teaching the concept so that your child understands.
Curriculum
Most states have a homeschool conference you can visit to look over curriculum, and there are lots of web sites ready to give you suggestions. To make this part easier, Portals offers a full program so you can explore homeschooling for a year or so before making curriculum choices. After a couple years, you'll discover you have preferences and you know what you're looking for. As you choose curriculum, or trust Portals to help with your lessons, we encourage parent led discipleship over online content. Your interactions with your child are central to great education. Below is our basic philosophy of curriculum selection and preparation:
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Christ-Centered: All Truth, wisdom, and understanding starts with scripture and faith in God’s plan for the world and our lives.
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Scope & Sequence: Lesson plans include all primary subject areas for K-12 students.
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Learning Level: If you need help determining which learning level is most appropriate for your student, we would be happy to help. You can reach out using the contact information listed at the bottom of the page.
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Book Lists: Provided on the website so you can see what reading content will be covered during the course of the school year for each learning level.
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Philosophy of Learning: Each lesson plan has content from great classic literature (READ); conversation prompts (THINK) to assess learning with students, and project ideas (DO) so they can apply what they learn.
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Flexibility: Effective curriculum is ready for your changes. As you know your child best, you should be able to extend or shorten time on any given topic and focus on their interests and passions.
Registration
Portals is designed to save parents time so they can spend it discipling their kids! If you choose to let us help get you started on your homeschool journey, you'll need to register. You can do this by clicking on the link below or navigating to the homeschool registration page of the website.
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Purchase Hub Support: Once you've determined the learning level(s) that are the best fit for your family, you will purchase the respective hub support products on the registration page.
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Login: Once you purchase hub support, you will have access to lesson plans, on-call teacher support, an educator training series, as well as a forum to connect you with other Portals homeschool families.
Reading and Project Materials
Finally, the materials! For those that want to keep costs down, you can find the books at your local library or search for used books online. If you would like to save time, you can simply click a button and Portals will order your books and have them all delivered right to you.
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Library: Many of the books selected for use in the Portals Program are classic literature that can easily be found on the shelf or by request at your local library.
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Online Retailers: Order some or all of your books through online retailers. Upon registration, you will receive a book list with recommended ISBN numbers and links to publisher websites.
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Portals Book Order: Want to save time? Order the full set of reading materials for your student(s) through the Portals website, and we will ensure you receive all the books you need. Portals book orders are fulfilled and shipped to you within 7-10 business days.
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Project Supplies: Lesson plans include a supplies list for each project. Stock up on a few basics and keep a small budget for other projects that your students are interested in.