Comments on: Homeschool Hubbub: What Curriculum?

By: Homeclynn

Homeclynn — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:26:22 +0000

Just a note about Spanish. I have a degree in Spanish and I really love http://www.studyspanish.com You can use much of it for free, but the whole thing cost less than $100 a year. It teaches classical Spanish. You could use it for 5th grade through college. I do not like typical “conversational spanish” curriculums because they are too situational. For example, unless you are sitting at a red table on a sunny day and want to order a latte, you will be lost. What if you are at a yellow table on a cloudy day and want to send back the bad fish? You get the idea.

By: Janet

Janet — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:15:16 +0000

There are definitely widely varying approaches represented in the comments section here.

My Father’s World and KONOS are what we call unit studies. A theme is used to pull all the subjects together, and all preK to about 8th grade study together. For example, if the theme is courage, then Bible stories, biographies, writing assignments, art projects and activites revolve around that theme. The assignments are tailored to the abilities of each child.

The Charlotte Mason (CM) approach means a little less structure, a lot of reading aloud together, and a lot of learning through life experiences such as gardening or nature walks.

Sonlight and Ambleside seem to me to be someone’s attempt to make the Charlotte Mason approach into curriculum. I could be wrong about that, but they both involve a lot of reading aloud together, and at least Sonlight (I haven’t used Ambleside) then has worksheets over the material.

Bob Jones, A Beka, ACE, and Alpha Omega are traditional textbooks that Christian schools might use.

Then there is classical, delight directed learning, and unschooling. Most families do a combination of methods. The only way to choose what is best is to discuss it with your husband, take it to God, and make the decision that seems best for your child and family situation. You will make mistakes, and waste money on curriculum that didn’t work for you, but that’s okay because in the end it is not the curriculum that is teaching your child, but you, through a living, loving relationship.

By: Tia

Tia — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:29:01 +0000

I have a 3 yr old and am just beginning to consider what type of schooling we will do with her. I am open to homeschooling, but want to make an educated decision on what to do when the time comes. I am overwhelmed at this point with all the various kinds of curriculum. How do you choose what is best??? Are there different kinds of approaches with these textbooks?

By: Tammy

Tammy — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:13:27 +0000

I’ve been reading this post and all the comments with great interest. My son is in 2nd grade this year, and I put together my own curriuculum for him in kindergarten and 1st grade, but this year I want a more structured curriculum for him. I’m going to check out all the ones mentioned here. :)

By: Roan

Roan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:44:27 +0000

I am interested in your procedure for combining the two different cores..how do you make your own plans? Do you buy the separate instructor guides and use them to combine…or do you do it all on your own? I am using Sonlight for the first time with my K student this year. She has a younger brother 2 years younger. I am interested in putting them together in a couple of years. I also have a 10yo, 12yo, and 14 yo. I used KONOS with them for the last 8 years, but I am not going to do KONOS with the younger two. Sonlight seems to be the path I want to take with these younger ones.
I am using a variety of textbooks and All Through the Ages literature guide for our literature based history.
I am enjoying reading your blog.
Joyfully,
Roan

By: Gail Tuckey

Gail Tuckey — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:46:13 +0000

This will be my first year homeschooling I will have 9th, 6th & 4th grade, we are pretty excited about it, we are going to try the Lifepac so far I like what I see

By: Lois

Lois — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:19:14 +0000

We use KONOS, which is a great hands-on character-building curriculum. Some people find it overwhelming in the mom dept. but I sort of like to plan and choose which activities we will do. This year my daughter will be doing their History of the World for high school, and my 6th grade son and I will try their on-line coop for a semester and see how it works.

When they were younger, we did all the Five in a Row volumes, which led to unit studies which led to KONOS. I miss the simple days of FIAR! I have always used the reading list from Sonlight and check the books out of the library. I have even found some of the “specialized” books at library sales and thrift stores! God is so good to provide what I’m looking for.

By: Kika

Kika — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:38:12 +0000

This year I’ll have kids in grade 8, grade 5 and a preschooler (4yo). It is getting harder to study together as the age gap ( 9yo and 13yo) seems bigger now re: maturity and ability to comprehend/discuss. But still, we share many read-alouds, and study history and science together (largely) although I need to work hard at not forcing my middle child into the same work-load as her big brother. I love pulling resources together from all over and sense that God directs me to a new focus each year (ex. an area that we need to concentrate on). I have a strong dislike for packaged curriculm (apart from math; we use Saxon) as it steals the joy of planning from me :) Once I find a resource we love I am likely to repeat it for the younger siblings and I am slow to buy “new & better” materials no matter how many people rave about them. I believe in simplicity in all areas of life – including in our homeschooling.

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:15:46 +0000

I have used 3 different curriculums since I started homeschooling my son in kindergarten. We started with PACES from the School of Tomorrow. We didn’t care for that, so we used ABEKA the next year. That didn’t seem to work for us either. Then, we found Sonlight. We love, love, love it. This will be our 3rd year using it. I love that it is all inclusive and has my lessons planned for me. It makes my life much easier and school so very interesting.

As for Taryn’s question about foreign language – Rosetta Stone is awesome. I’m not sure if they offer Hebrew, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. It can be pretty pricey, though.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:46:17 +0000

We just started this year with my son who is almost 5 (named Asa). We started 2 weeks ago to get a jump start before I go back to school next month. Anyway, we are using a mix of curriculum. Our primary is Five in a Row and we are loving it! Math is Bob Jones, Explode the Code (Phonics), Reading Made Easy, CM Scripture Memory and Right Choices (Bible/Character). We also plan to incorporate Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study into the mix. We did our first (official) nature study today and it was great!