What is the best homeschooling curriculum in your opinion and why?

Question

I am going to be homeschooling my 7 year old daughter in the fall and am overwhelmed by the choices of curriculum. What is the best and most kid friendly?

Answer 1

I would recommend starting with the Elijah Company's resource guide -- it isn't only a catalog it has great synopsies of homeschooling method's and their main strength's and weaknesses. http://www.homeschoolmarketplace.com/ - once you see which method fits your family the best/you are drawn to the most (and don't freak if it's NOT the traditional school at home one!) then it's much easier to weed out curriculum choices.

For instance if you are school at home you will appreciate ABEKA, ALpha Omega, Bob Jones, etc. If you are not they will drive you insane!

Charlotte Mason fans will appreciate - Cindy Rushton, Karen Andreola, and others (http://www.amblesideonline.com is a free website based on her works by the way)

You get the picture...........

K12/Virtual Acadamies by the way are traditional school at home as they truly are just the ps giving you curriculum. What's wrong with this picture? Yes they do work for some but they also allow the ps a toehold in your home - and can be overwhelming.

Personally I don't beleive 7yo/1st Grade/2nd Grade require a canned curriculum. You can pick and choose just fine. Lots of reading aloud, nature study, play time, perhaps musical instruction and the basics of math, reading and writing are more than sufficent for this age. You can cover science, history, geography, etc just with life- a little creativity.You can also find great unit studies on the web for free easily for this age and utilitze your public library. One link is: http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/schoolroom/unitstudies.php - just search for unit studies or free unit studies.

http://www.timberdoodle.com also has great recommendations and they are cheap and fast. I would start there after the Elijah Company site.

Many homeschoolers start out with traditional and switch soon or use a mixture of materials.

You can do it!!!


ps--- you will also find that there may be several "sacred cows" in the hsing community. Ignore these if they don't work for you and move on. For instance - we tried Saxon for several years and finally ditched it last year. It just doesn't work for us! There are lots of other math curriculums out there. The biggest thing is to use what you have.

You might also check out http://www.homeschooloasis.com for articles on educating Mom - knowing what you beleive about education and school will help you make better choices.

Answer 2

All these responses to your question must be overwhelming too. I'd like to suggest that you figure out first how your children would learn best, and then if you want a curriculum that is extremely structured, or one that is a little less that leaves you with more room to do things you want. I can only tell you that I myself have done Calvert, and it tells you exactly what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. It will give your child a great education. It gave me confidence, but my kids didn't enjoy it, and inturn it was a misrible experience. My older daughter hated homeschooling, and I don't want my other 2 to feel that way also. I have 4 other friends who decided that the program was too hard and unenjoyable and are looking for other curriculums.

I re-evaluated what I wanted out of my homeschooling experience with my children, and the program that I found that best suited my children's interest and my structure is Oak Meadow Curriculum. It's structure with hands on activities, and more free time for field trips, etc. They looked thru the books and are real excited to get started. The only thing about this is that it gives you the material you need to cover for the week and you decide how and when you will do it. I love this concept, but I'm still in the process of making this work.

I found Oak Meadow by searching on the internet "homeschooling curriculums" reviews, or just "homeschooling" reviews. Also, the book "Homeschooling, take a deep breath - You can do this" by Terrie Lynn Bittner has a section using ready made plans or building your own. You can probably find this book at your local library, I did mine.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

There is no answer to this question. The best thing about homeschooling is that it can be customized to the students needs and learning styles. What is best for one student will not be best for another.

I would suggest you find a homeschool group or a homeschool homeschool fair and attempt to look at the various curriculum and decide which would fit your daughter best. I know that A Beka (http://www.ABeka.com) travels with material displays. They have EVERY SINGLE ITEM available for viewing and you can look it over before you order.

We personally use A Beka for our curriculum, although we have substituted or enhanced that curriculum with other materials.

Good luck homeschooling! My children are going into grades 4 and 2 and have been homeschooled from the beginning. We knew when our oldest was very young that we were going to homeschool and spent a lot of time researching. I am glad we did, because there is so much information available and options to choose from that it could be overwhelming!

Answer 4

2

Answer 5

I'm tempted like all the other mothers to say, "The best thing is what works for you and yours", but I know that that is not what you want.

What you want is for someone to give you a head start, cheaply, so you can figure out what is going to work. I was lucky, because the first child I homeschooled wasn't my own, and the mother gave me some books and I improvised the rest.

Seven is a wonderful age! Can your daughter read? If not I recommend A beka's "Fun with Pets". After you read that book a gazillion times with your daughter you will be able to start her reading anything and just point out the "special sounds" or "sight words" as you go. My four year old and two other kids I homeschooled learned to read using this book. My three year old even knows all the sounds the letters make because of this book. Her big brother 'teaches' her.

Any computer games by "The Learning Company" are great for teaching and re-enforcing age appropriate concepts, just don't leave them alone with the game or they'll learn to 'cheat'.

I also like A beka's math early grade workbooks, because they're colourful and engage the kids, gradually working them into every concept so that you rarely have to 'teach' anything.

Science and History can pretty much be done at the library with whatever your kids are interested in.

"English" can be done with a 'journal', where the date, your child's name and a short blurb about whatever happened yesterday or whatever can be written down and 'corrected' by you.

Spelling can be done by choosing words that are commonly used and that the child has trouble reading or writing. Months, days of the week, numbers and sight words are some very useful things to start out 'spelling'. Do ten words a week, have a 'test' at the end of the week and give checks and stickers for jobs well done.

Good luck!

And remember don't forget to love your child! (It's possible to get so caught up in goal setting and goal reaching that you forget to laugh and cuddle and do all the stuff mothers do with children to teach them the most valuable lesson ever, that they are loved!

Answer 6

The choices are indeed vast, and to new home school families they can be positively mind boggling.

Remember the only curriculum worth a penny, or for that matter "kid friendly" is the one that works for your child.
I do not believe in "boxed curriculum's", they are to prescriptive for us, but some families really need that kind of scheduled structure.
You will not know what works until you have found out through trail, and error what her learning, and your teaching style is.

When beginning to home school buy only the basics; math, spelling, grammar, and a writing workbook.
All other books can be borrowed from the library; history, science, and all those subjects.
If you spend $400.00 to $500.00 on a curriculum you may be tempted to make it work no matter what, and totally defeat the purpose of individualized home schooling.
Most parents are very reluctant to put such an expensive investment aside, and try a different approach.

Find a local support group, or visit a home school convention in your, or your neighboring state; these provide informational workshops, and vendors are there to show you their curriculum's, and books.

We do use Christian Liberty Press as our curriculum foundation, but have chosen an eclectic approach, meaning we pull from many sources, depending on the child's learning preference.
CLP won our vote for both solid academics, and price; they are very inexpensive.
We use the classical - unschooling approach; meaning relax, and let the schedule be a guide, not gospel.

http://ebiz.netopia.com/clpress/
http://unschooling.com/

Good luck.

EDIT:
Simonsays gave you a good web link; I forgot all about that web site, it has been so long since we searched for beginning materials.

Answer 7

I don't think there is a best, I think it's about finding one that works for you. Try to find a curriculum fair near you, or a homeschool swap-- somewhere you can browse the materials. Remember, also, that what curriculum suits your child for reading, might not be the best for math.

Just as an alternative option:

I create my kids curriculum. We've got a strict budget, by not buying boxed curriculums we leave a lot of funds for other things, such as classes, museum memberships, good science kits and art supplies, field trips, etc. By creating my own, I am able to really custom fit it to my child's needs, abilities, and interests.

We don't use tests or grades, we focus part of the day (anywhere from 30 min to a couple of hours) on learning basic skills-- phonics, math, language arts, writing, spelling & reading. We use book store workbookis, hand-me-down school text books and worksheets we print for free on the internet, as well as library books.

The rest of the subjects we learn through doing unstructured units, which the kids do sometimes as a team and sometimes individually. They choose a topic and then they can read books, magazines, do internet research, watch a video, play games, make projects or exibits or do experiments or go on field trips-- all revolving around the topic for a couple of weeks to a couple of months. They also take classes that interest them with our co-op and community centers, plus have some clubs and groups like library reading group and chess club.

Good luck!

Answer 8

I don't believe in boxed curriculums. They are like schools trying to do a one size fits all. I say look around and pick and choose. It usually takes trial and error before you find which one is best for your daughter. You can also put your own curriculum together for free if you have the time and will. You can find almost anything on the internet by doing the right searches.

Answer 9

It is an amazing array of choices isn't it? It is true that what is best and most kid friendly depends highly on what your family values in education and what style of learning appeals to your kiddo. So first step, take a deep breath and resist those impulses to purchase large amounts of curriculum until you have sorted some of those issues out. Next, go to your library, bookstore, or Amazon and pick up a copy of Creative Homeschooling for Smart Families by Lisa Rivero. It goes over many approaches to homeschooling (along with lists of resources) to help you decide what you think will fit your family and your child.

While you are sorting through these fundamental issues, I know you will be going crazy feeling like you need to get busy and get something school like done! Pick out a good math curriculum such as Singapore math - http://www.singaporemath.com/
or Right Start Math - http://www.alabacus.com/
or Kitchen table math - http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Books/AoPS_B_About.php
See which one appeals to you and your daughter and give it a try.

While at the library or bookstore, pick up the book Deconstructing Peguins. It is a wonderful book on how to discuss literature with children. Read some of the books it talks about with your daughter and discuss away!

Have your daughter pick a topic she'd like to learn about and pick up reading level appropriate books at the library to discuss, and then a few videos on the topic and related field trips if she maintains her interest. The children's librarian can be your best friend.

Now, you have some serious learning going on, and you've had time to begin to sort through what your expectations are for homeschooling. You've probably got a better idea of what your daughter likes, what kind of schedule she thrives on, and a bit more about her strengths and weaknesses. Now you can start adding on what you would like to do for handwriting, spelling/phonics, grammar, science, social studies, music, art, foreign language etc. Check out the homeschool buyers co-op for great free curriculum and group buy offers. http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool/

And of course, rule number one - Have Fun!

Answer 10

I am homeschooling my 11 y/o this fall and have been working over the past 3 months to get his curriculum together. I am against boxed curriculums, because one, they are usually religious in nature, and second, I refuse for anyone to tell me what I must teach my child.

Having said that, I needed a guideline to tell me what other 6th graders will be learning during that school year, and I got that information from my state board of education. I found a few texts at yard sales that reflected that information. I have found MANY books I will be using next year at http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php that I get for the cost of postage (website will explain it or I would be happy to answer questions). So with my textbook in hand, I found websites that provide lesson plans and worksheets. So we are doing Language Arts (spelling, grammar, writing, reading comprehension), Science (Earth Science including Oceanography, Astronomy, etc), Math, and Social Studies. In addition, we plan Health & Anatomy, Sign Language, and Computer Applications. I have included some helpful links below.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm
http://www.solutionsforhomeschool.com/tools.html
http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/onlineactivities.html
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/catalogs/bysubject-top.html
http://www.teach-nology.com/subjects/ (one of my favorites)
http://www.asluniversity.com/asl101/index.htm
http://science.education.nih.gov/ (NIH will send you science curriculum-I have received 3 workbooks already)
http://www.kidsnutrition.org/consumer/archives/

I have many more, but that is a start. There are TOO many resources out there to spend money on boxed curriculums!!