I've seen a lot of topics on this site involving different curriculums people use for different subjects. I am completely new to hs and I am overwhelmed by all the names people have been throwing out there. Do most people NEED to use a curriculum? For only certain subjects but not others? Any 'unschoolers' out there? I think after doing some research, that I will be more of an 'unschooler' but I don't want to make things too hard for myself, especially in the beginning. And what exactly does the homeschool tracker do?
Personally, I use a charter school. I need a little big of guidance and get some great ideas from our mentor teachers. I do however, pick out our textbooks and what type of things we will use. The first year was hard, it was like going to the candy store for the first time and seeing so many different things that I wanted to take them all home and try them out. We've tried some things that just don't work for our family, like the Spectrum anything. Boring according to my kids and some of it was. I still have them do the CA prep test book just for some extra boosting, the rest we don't even bother with. We don't have a science text book because the girls couldn't stand that either, so we supplement with a hands on science class at our charter school and other experiments at home. Math-U-See was another dud for us. It just didn't go over the material enough to really set it in for my kids. And when it did go over a new method it was many lessons down the road. We just recently dumped that one in the last two months. Switched on Schoolhouse, while it can be beneficial to those that choose to include religion in their studies, it's not for those who don't. Also, my kids find it boring, they can't understand the sounds and words that are said for language arts and get frustrated. So that scores low with our family. So far that's it that I can remember. Things that have worked for us... Write Source, I like it because it's got a good guide, things are short and it makes sense. Story of the World good for most ages and again, short, but to the point. The work sheets and what not are a little juvenile but it depends on how old your child is and if they will like that stuff. Vocabulary from Classical Roots, we started this to just go over things they should know because it is for younger kids, but I wanted to make sure my kids knew this stuff. They don't mind doing it. I would say for younger kids this is really great as a learning tool. Daily Grams...I love this book, easy quick and goes over things kids should know. Wordly Wise... we use this as our spelling instead of the spelling I like it because my kids know what to expect and it teaches them words they may not use every day. That's all I can think of for now. If you need ISBN numbers to any of the books to look them up, let me know and I'll dig them up. Right now they are put away for the holiday.
Exciting, but overwhelming - I agree! I would say start with the basics - reading/language arts, writing and math. Those are the foundation IMO and spend a lot of time researching those. Everything else can be added on through books, the library and the internet if need be. I am not sure the ages of your children and if they have been in school before or not. Sometimes that plays a role in which curriculum might work for them.
Hi Skye, Welcome, I think the short answer to your question is No. You don't NEED curriculum. Lots of us choose it, b/c we like it, and it works for us and our kids and our learning/teaching styles. I didn't use any formal curriculum our first year, with the exception of a phonics program. We spent lots of time reading together, cooking, planting a vege patch, drawing.....you get the idea. We really needed to get to know each other again, and learn to be together, and un-do the damage that was done while they were in school. I choose curriculum for many subjects now, as both mine are in secondary school (grades 7 & 8). It is more structured, and means that I don't have to know everything myself. But not for every subject. Some things I put together myself using a whole bunch of resources, which is pretty much how we did everything until about a year ago. They way you educate your kids is entirely up to you. And it will depend on their ages, learning styles, your values and preferences. HTH.
You absolutely don't need to use curriculum. There are many ways to learn and curriculum is just one of them. Mine were unschooled for until my oldest was eight and I can only see that as a benefit. I sometimes wish I hadn't switched to a more formal approach. It just a matter of trying things out and seeing what fits. Also of recognixing that what fits at one point of time may not work later. If you're considering unschooling then Homeschool Tracker might well be useless. It demands a lot of information that you simply won't have. One of the best methods of record keeping I found when I unschooled was to simply keep a journal, something I still do sometimes. Here are some sites with excellent articles on unschooling: http://www.sandradodd.com/unschooling http://www.unschooling.com/ http://www.lifelearningmagazine.com/read.html(PDF downloads of past issues are availible for free!)
I didn't start out with much in the way of organized curriculum. My background is in special ed, and when I was in the classroom, there was little-to-nothing to meet my kids' individual needs. So I became accustomed to "doing my own thing", and it kind of carried over. But I could never be an "unschooler'; to me, to unschool well requires MORE organization than following a curriculum. I use to sub at an "informal" alternative school, and know that style is NOT for me!!! Each year, I seem to become more "formal", using more and more curriculum. But I am usually rather flexible with them; I feel free to change and tweek them to make THEM fit ME. I refuse to be held in their mold!!! Some of that is that now, having one in high school and one in middle school, I feel the need for them to have transcripts, etc.
Hi I don't have a formal curriculum at this time. I am still overwhelmed at all the choices. This is my second year homeschooling my son (age 8-2nd grade). I also have a daughter who just turned 5. I use a combination of public library resources (books, dvds, videos, games, audio books), internet websites for ideas, games and print outs and rummage sale finds. Last summer I was at a rummage sale of two former teachers and I bought a whole bunch of learning games, unused math workbooks and creative teaching idea books for phonics, kitchen science, earth science etc. In my town we have an educational/teacher store that I go to to find math manipulatives and some other learning items. I also use a couple of school district's websites as a guide of what each grade level does. One site that I use has a weekly spelling list for 2nd graders. Here is another website that I use as a grade level guide www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum
Curriculum I have been using http://www.internet4classrooms.com as a guide to what benchmarks I want to hit. It may help!
I don't use a curriculum really.. we do off and on, and will use some specific programs for some subjects next year for my oldest... but how I started was by going to http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum and trying to hit all the topics it said I should..... then after a while of that, I ditched it too and have just followed our own path. I'm sure by the time my kids are done with highschool, they will have learned everything they need to. We do use lots of workbooks from companies like American Education Publishing, lots of television, videos, internet resources etc, but really we just follow the wind. I would love to be an unschooler... but my oldest would sit and play video games 24/7 if I didn't say "you have to do x, y and z BEFORE you can touch that game today".
I have a somewhat eclectic approach, I started with odds n ends, then went to AOP cause it had everything I needed in the box, teacher book ten booklets for the kids to do, andthat made it obvious to me when we were on schedule, That was important to me. I did not want to miss teaching them a thing, in fact my goal was t teach more than the public schools. We did AOP for many years, 8 or so? Then I learned of so many new things that last year and this we have totally gone wild wiht different things. I always have used Library additions to the lessons I used as well but now I am doing more video and books to go for Science, and History I add to STOW to make it right for my child. we try to watch videos that match the time periods my dc are learning in. Plus the books we use: Horizon Math6, English 6 bju , Considering God's creation and lyrical science. for life science. Story of the World Medieval times - history, and Art by a book and self taught instruction for the most part. We follow a set scheduel for the most of hte year and do oru own thing other parts. Thus I call us eclectic, we do things strickly but flexibly? HA! Is that possible? YEP! I also have a high schooler doing SOS. And Math U see geometry which is perfect match for her! I would follow a few of the links the people up there have placed and check out what your state requires and create your curriculuim ( which to me even unschoolers have its what you teach after all, some of us use a book some use life?) Look at what works best for your child or children individually. That is important! Each one of mine (3) have all learned differently. I am so glad I home taught them because another teacher may not have caught on to thier diferences!
Another approach is to just READ!! Silly as it can sound http://www.amblesideonline.org http://www.oldfashionededucation.com http://materamabilis.org/ma/intro/ < - a catholic Charolette mason approach. You just add math and a lot of the books can be found online for free or at the library
http://www.joyfullyrejoycing.com/unschooling/unschoolingphilosophy.html Some unschooler friends of ours usually recommend the above site for info. They follow the unschooling method for schooling but not for discipline issues, etc. The tabs on the left side of the site are very useful in answering different questions. We're eclectic at our house and have specific times that we lean towards unschooling (like now....when we're sort of between semesters or in the summer).
Rhonda, Thanks for that website...I might read more later. I guess I am not as much of an unschooler as I thought. (he he) sigh. Well, We might have to work into it. On the curriculum question. I am using no box's. I am using some textbooks. I am trying this year to figure out where we are. We have made some good purchases, and some less than stellar. I really want to go to a fair to actually get to look at and touch the books. I guess I am a hands on kinda gal. Talking to folks has really helped. We are using Spelling Power, I had borrowed it from another hser...I like it, and will most likely get it...I like that it should work for both my good speller and my struggling speller. But many haven't liked it. We tried dictation...and that sure didn't work. Although, I am considering bringing it back for typing. Count your first year as practice. They won't learn nothing...and you will learn a ton. Just try stuff out. (much easier to do online and used...less of a commitment.) We have dropped stuff and added stuff and spent more time on what ds liked, and skipped stuff he didn't. We even stopped reading books in the middle. We stopped reading Cheaper By the Dozen with only 2 chapters left. What can I say...ds loved the beginning, but couldn't care less about the girls dating. Just remember...there is no WRONG way to do it.
We use a variety of curriculum. Some books can't be classified as actual curriculum but we use the books as guides to put some of our own lessons together.
I think you are wise to be wary of purchasing curriculum too quickly - I think that is the single biggest mistake that new hmeschoolers make. They feel pressure to purchase and end up buying something that won't meet their needs. About unschooling - I think unschooling is awesome if you do it because YOUR KID is an unschooler and not because you think the method suits your teaching style or your own personal learning style. It would be a huge mistake to project the parent's learning style onto the kids, especially with the unschooling method. That said - I always wanted to be an unschooler! I even wrote this article over at Ezinearticles about it last month... http://ezinearticles.com/?Your-Child-Might-Be-an-Unschooler-If&id=1742201
Thanks everyone for your input. I had a lot of fun looking into all the various websites people posted and checking out everyone's blogs. We do read...a lot. So I definitely like that idea. And even though its early, I think my dd does have unschooling tendencies....though I doubt we'll unschool exclusively because I need structure in my day and do have an agenda of things I would like for her to learn when she gets a bit older (like a second language....anyone know anything about the Rosetta Stone?) She is only 4 1/2 at the moment so I just try to have a lot of different educational things around the house and when she shows an interest in something we *play* with it and then I try to keep up with her questions. So I figured I could get by for at least a few years without any sort of official curriculum but the way everyone was talking about it, made me nervous that I was missing something big and I was overwhelmed by all the different choices. Now I've calmed down a bit and figured I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and if I get to a point where I'm having trouble teaching her a particular subject then I'll look into the different curriculums.
Yeah, at 4 or 5, you REALLY don't NEED a curriculum! Let her be a kid and enjoy life around her--just like you're doing now! She has PLENTY of years of schooling coming up, so let her learn from you reading to her, and from play mostly!
