So, I have posted on other lines and gotten a bit of this and a bit of that. Next year I will be homeschooling a 4th and 7th grader. The elder is behind in reading and the younger advanced so my initial plan was to do both history and science together. Math at the same time but from different levels, Art with ds#2 when ds#1 is at band. Spanish together (although only ds#2 wants to do it) I am now also considering doing LA, mostly together. Again with even with the age difference ds#2 can write better than my older son. Here is the problem. I did not like MOH at all. We did a lot of filling in. We spent a huge amount of time on Greek Mythology because ds (#1 who is the only one I am hs this year) liked it, and there is not so much school wise that catches his attention. He LOVES reading...if I am reading. although I have found an occasional book he will read on his own. (Percy Jackson) I was considering SOTW... I liked the look of Beautiful Feet, but am I setting myself up for too much reading. How easy is it to find those books? We homeschooled for very little money last year, but I think it showed. (all I bought was 3 months of Time4Learning...MOH and a used Saxon math book) Our library is horrid...I tried to find a Louis L'amour book for our spring "survival" unit...they supposedly have 2 copies "in" but none on the shelf!! I am also thinking about doing Unit studies...but that seems a little hit and miss, I don't know if I trust enough for that. I also need some help with Science...I want a general Science with an emphasis on physical science... (we used Abeka 6th grade this year with LOTS of supplementation and we finished it in March) ds#2 wants experiments. I had narrowed it down to BJU 5th grade or Real Science 4 kids Physics. (maybe) I am at a loss for LA.... Maybe... Lightning Lit...but again, a whole bunch of reading for me...but I hate, hate your typical reading program with little exerpts from stories that leave you wondering who is who... I have two reluctant writers. (again at a fairly close level) I have found that although "English" has always been a good subject for me, that teaching it is VERY frustrating so I have to have everything laid out pretty firm... Ideas anyone??? (I don't care for Abeka.) I think I will try "How to study your bible for Kids" for bible...which I slacked on this year. And we have been blessed in using Spelling Power. (which I "borrowed" from a friend...but now I should buy it from her) Sorry this post is so long...it helps get my thoughts in order and I am sure you ladies will have great ideas for me. I don't have a specific budget...but I do like a good deal! Thanks, Kari
I think that doing History together would work quite well. We do that with a Kindergardener and a 3rd grader. I just give them different follow up work after the history lesson. Example a looking at a book and coloring page vs. reading a related book. We do Bible together. The lessons are short and the older one works the page in the workbook and the little one gets to color sometimes. We have separate math curr. obviously. I work with the oldest one first, then while they are doing problems I hit the K math with the youngest. When the oldest is reading, I do phonics with younger. We do spelling with the eldest alone. We do science together. I just ajust what part they take in any projects, and ask questions appropriate for ages. I explain concepts in an elementary fashion for the littlest. We are liking the BJU curriculums we have so far. We use BJU for Math, ENglish, Bible, and Spelling. I especially like the Bible. We use only the student book and we read the scripture each day then the little activity is just enough, short and sweet. The mix of puzzles etc is a big hit around here.
I found Beautiful Feet difficult. Lots of reading, books sometimes hard to get when you want them, and for me they seemed to spend lots of time over certain events, and totally ignore others (ie: skipped pretty much from the Pilgrims/Jamestown to the Revolution). Also, I was trying to do Primary with Faythe while doing Intermediate with Rachael, thinking I could easily combine. THAT was a BIG mistake!!!
Okay, I say for History, beautiful feet is a lot of work on your part yes, and the library would be your best deal order the books you dont find already there they can get them in! So if you want hands on go with that. You really could do the Unit studies someone on here hs a web site full of great history ones! And the ages your dcs are you could do it! I would give it a shot seriouslY! I am going to enhance mine with the freebies I got btw! They are awesome! I am also looking at one of the science ones to go with my SOS science work because ds likes projects that he can touch sometimes as well as the computer work. Okay for Science I saw Real Science 4 kids, I love that one! IN fact if we didnt already have SOS 7 Science I would order real science, and may still do that because my hs group may be doing the next course in it next year. We have been known to double our coruses just to do them with hs group as well as what we have planned out. Kids love it because it gives them group time and variety. Plus we make one priority and one for fun, so they get to choose what one is most what they want to focus on. Usually the hs group ends up being project classes so they go together sort of. Lanuage arts-- I did not do this one together with my kids they were same years apart, we did at the same time so I could keep my sanity. We did LP's and it was easy enough for me to keep up, plus did side reading. I think Story of the World would work for a dual history age cause it geos from 4th to 8th grade in some of it, and 1-4th in other parts, according to its reveiws. Plus its something they can work on together or seperate, ds could read the text and younger one could listen and discuss it, too! the BIble is that the Kay Aurthur one? YES YES YES! DO IT! IT is gereat We are doing those this year! Ds loves it most days! occasionally he gets frustrated because the version they have is not always as clear to what they are asking but thats the point, to study it and find out the answers from the scripture! Its great for teaching comprehensive reading of the word too!
You might check out Veritas Press for literature; even Progeny Press can give you good ideas for books to read with your kids. We use Veritas Press and use what guides we can from Progeny Press. They use whole books for literature rather than textbooks that include only a chapter or so from a book. The Veritas guides that you can purchase with the books often include projects that tie in with the chapter you read. For example, when we read the Little House books, we read a chapter describing the wagon and then we put together a covered wagon. If you read a chapter in a book with some kind of food, you're often given a recipe to make that particular item. I like Real Science 4 Kids. They're very hands-on and don't come across like a textbook at all. We alternate RS4K with Apologia's elementary science curriculum, though, because neither curriculum lasts us a full 'school' year. We use Veritas Press for our history. It takes history chronologically. It does, however, require you to do a lot of supplementing. So, although good, it can be a bit of a pain. Also, it includes craft projects and such that can be good for kids who like to build, draw, etc.
Hey thanks for all the ideas...keep them coming. I looked at lifepac's and pretty much ruled them out. What about Jensen's "Grammar land" ? Anyone used that? Colorado mom I did like your site... I need to go back there with the idea of unit studies for history maybe!? for example...How long should the Middle ages study last...would it work for an advanced 4th grader and a NOT advanced 7th grader? I am trying to do Rome right now by myself...not going so well. I seem to work best with a good spine that I can add stuff I find online to. Do you have tests? is there writing. I would sure love to see a sample page. I will look at Veritas.
Yes, you could easily do both grades. There is writing and each unit can last anywhere from 6 weeks (if done daily) to 12 weeks (2x a week) At the end are a bunch of hands on "final projects" that last about 2 weeks - here is how it works: Every (history) unit has 3 pages of text and 3 pages of worksheets that go with the text. It is divided into daily units - so one unit a day. You can do it anyway you want, but if you do one unit a day then Mon and Tues have easy worksheets - multiple choice, true false, and matching, Wednesday and Thursday have short answer/writing and Friday is a fun day where they do activities on the internet that are provided for you. Honestly I wrote it this way to make my life easy and so far my son loves it! We started ancient history all over again so he could use the curriculum and we are starting Rome Monday. The Middle Ages is my favorite because it has a bunch on the Vikings as well as an easy to understand and repetitive story of how Rome fell and the consequences of that. You can skip or add, do or don't with this curriculum, it is very easy to modify. I have tons of sample pages up here The science is a little different - I don't have any middle grades up yet - but I will have a middle school physics before fall because I need it for my son! I will also have an American History up before August as well. It will be heavy on the Constitution and Founding Fathers. Hope that helps! Julie
CMom I forget do you have anything Grammar wise? I think I am going with Voyages in English but amnot certain yet. I also can say I think your prices are comparatively good!
Language - Total Language Plus looks like it could be interesting. I'll be using that next year with my 4th and 6th graders. It's literature based, and the lessons are centered around the book. Each book takes about 6-8 weeks to complete, then you move on to another book. It looks like 4 to 6 books are covered in one year. And you get to choose the books based on your child's reading level. Science - Real Science 4 kids looks interesting, and I'll be going with that next year. You have to buy a couple of the studies because one alone will not last the entire year.
Real Science 4 kids - the co op here did the chemistry class and found it to be more difficult than they thought. I know they have younger and older ages, PLUS you can do the vocabulary lesson on thier site, and it will fill in a lot of space too! Id go through one first and see where it brought me. I was looking at it, maybe I can do SOS7 science then do one of those? The co op is looking at Apoligia this year and having ds do that at this point is not cool
I've used Total Language Plus, and while it's a good literature guide, it's rather weak in grammar. We might do two a year, but in addition to our "regular" language.
COmom, Thanks for the answer. How long does it take to get the unit...would I have time to do Rome if I ordered it now? I guess I could add it to our summer work. I convinced the guys that if they would do 2 (give or take) days a week it would give them much more flexability during the "school year" PLUS they would move ahead more quickly if we don't have to do any "review" at the beginning of the year. I lookedat Veritas...I have to remember who I am buying for...Them not ME. We explored Charlotte Mason but the dictation/copywork SOOO didn't work for us. As much as I hate them, the boys seem to really like worksheets. sigh. (I don't know if it is coming out of PS or if it is a personal deal.) I wish I had known about Heritage...We have done half of those books already...except I am not sure that 20$ for one book is reasonable...I am considering not working next year, so that seriously cuts into the money but not the time...so maybe I should do the book work myself. I am getting more set on Lightning lit...and I will get the books 2nd hand. (many we already have.) If we like it I can probable stomach 8th grade as well before I panic. for our "summer" curriculum I am going to use a few of the "complete book of..." books. Algebra and Geometry for ds#1 and just the general math for ds#2. We might start the spanish one. I am also trying to get them in the habit of journalling. I used to write myself everyday and have definitly gotten away from it and I miss it.
We are starting Rome today, do it with us! Want it for free to check it out? PM me and I'll give you a coupon code to get started. (I gotta go run to town for a few hours, so be back later) If you do the courses everyday - we do, it is SO easy - it takes about 5-6 weeks. I'm gonna have to make him do Middle and Renaissance through summer so we can start American this fall. He's not gonna like that - but oh well. I already told him he has to do a shortened version of RS Japanese this summer too - or else all that foreign language work will be gone in a flash.
we do apologia for science & love it. I bought the full course CD rom, so it is done on the computer. And the audio cd for ds, who is not a strong reader, so he listens and follows along. we are starting Diana Warings history curric. She also has CD's, which we listened to in the car, and they are fantastic. The thing I like about it is the choices - you pick & choose the parts that work for your kids. There is an article, about 10 pages, that needs to be read for each unit. But after that there is not any required reading. Recommended books, but you can use others if you can't get those ones. Or you can use none at all. Includes bible reading & bible history. has heaps of hands on projects to choose from. includes art history, appreciation and art making - so for ds who is not very artistically inclined, I am not doing any more art. It also includes some science experiments & music. I haven't had it long, but haven't yet found anything I don't like. It is a bit like unit study meets chronological history with all the mum's work taken out of it. It is designed to work with multiages too. I looked at most of the ones the others suggested...and just couldn't settle on any of them. They didn't seem to fit for us. So just thought I would throw another suggestion into the ring.
Carrie Austen has a book called Drawn into the Heart of Reading that might be helpful. it is reading program that is supposed to be able to used with her suggested books or books you choose on your own. i am using her curriculum with my young children from heart of dakota publlishing. Jenn D.
Hey thanks ladies...good ideas. I am pretty set on Lightning lit. I can get all but two of the books from librivox. SOOOO I don't have to do All the reading. We can get the rest at the used bookstores. (except maybe the short stories book) I think on science I will get a couple of good pages of contents, from texts, then we will just look those topics up online. The government has a few good websites (I found one on water that looked interesting) Our taxes may be going to a few good things. That is basically how we did science this year, although I actually had a text. It was so boring, we had to supplement a ton, but we had fun. I was set on Real Science 4 kids, but I had not realized that it takes all four units for the year. That isn't in the budget. (COmom - so far the Rome unit is great. The reading level is perfect!!! we are listening to Famous men of Rome on librivox and that is going along with your unit well.)
