We have recently decided to homeschool our 2 children. They are 8 and 10. They have been in public school until now. We are looking for a full curriculum that will guide us through the school year. So far we have found 2 that we are interested in. Oak Meadows and Saxon. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.
I suggest that you read a book by Cathy Duffy. She reviews curriculum and more in the book. Sorry I don't know the name of the book. Also, look at the ads in homeschool magazines. Ask homeschooling companies as in Abeka to send you catalogs. Rainbow Resource puts out a huge catalog with brief descriptions of 100s of products. I don't have any suggestions of full curriculums. I am not familiar with Oak Meadows. I am only familiar with Saxon as a math program. This may not be what you are talking about.
Here is the site for the book mentioned by Sue May Good luck and welcome to homeschooling and the spot!
I liked the looks of Sonlight but couldn't afford it this year. Sorry I don't know about the ones you mentioned. This will be our first year too. Welcome!
I do not know about Oak Meadow. I do like Saxon though for grades 4 and up. Younger than 4th grade I like Horizons. We also used Sonlight here. It is a great curriculum and lays pretty much everything out for you but since you are implementing it yourself there is still flexibility. It is a Christian curriculum and I am not sure if that is what you are looking for.
I'm like Mschickie! I use Horizon until Grade 4, then switch to Saxon. Only this past year, my LAST child had to throw a monkey wrench into the equation! Saxon simply did NOT work for him!!! We threw it out mid-year, and I'm trying now to decide what to use for next year. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE "The Mystery of History". It's chronoligical Biblically based history. You can do it with both of your children at the same time. Vol. 1 covers the Ancient World, Creation through the Ressurection. You can also do science with your kids together. Check out something like Considering God's Creation, or Real Kids Explore series. There are others, too!
Welcome to homeschooling and to the forum! I don't know of any full curricula that I would suggest, we're very mix/match here. What works for us in 1 subject doesn't always work for us in another. And I'm constantly trying something new. Good luck with your search!
Hi and welcome to homeschooling and to the Spot! If you're looking for a boxed curriculum to start with, and you're looking at Oak Meadow, I'm guessing you're wanting secular rather than Christian? You might want to look at Calvert. It's been tried and true for many years, and it comes in a box by grade. It might even have been the original "curriculum in a box", I'm not sure. There's an option for either do-it-yourself or have their consulting service on the phone. I've never used it but it's been around for a long time and gets good reviews. It might be a good place to start while you're becoming acquainted with other methods and curriculum for the future.
Go to www.homeschoolreviews.com and check out all the great reviews on curr by actual homeschoolers! I have spent hours on this site before.
Even as terrified as I was the first year I put my own curriculum together... and most of it wasn't even curriculum-ish things. Now I buy/use some things that are sold as curriculum for specific subjects, but have never bought/used an all in one thing, so I'm not much help.... but if I were to go that route, I think I would go with Oak Meadow or Calvert (but then we are a secular family and there aren't many options for those of us who are and don't want to have to work our butts off to make something secular that is meant for the religious homeschoolers).
Last year was our first year hs'g my 9yr ds. He went to ps up through 3rd grade. We used Time4Learning for 4th grade and it was great for us. It had all subjects to the states standards and it allowed us to get into a routine and "deschool" him while still keeping on track with his grade level. I started supplementing (spelling, vocab, cursive) after learning what he needed to work on but it was our primary curr. He did great on the ITBS this spring.
Welcome to homeschooling! Checkout CBD.com if you want christian stuff, you can enter what grade and what subject etc and it will pull up a list where you can see inside most of the books. We used Alpha Omega when I had more than one kid doing school it was easy to keep track of and get used to schooling with. Horizon Math is an excellent math! ( Jackie why not continue with that this year it goes to 6th grade?) you can find them at aop.com There are so many things out there the best questions I can ask you are what kind of learning do you want.. there is the kind that repeats what you learned and continues on with a new thing, I think they call that spiral? Then there is mastery where you learn all there is to know about one subject matter then go on to the next. Do you want to do your home schooling like an actual classroom or do you want to be free to do a little bit here and there and wherever? We have done both in our 13+ years, Jackie and Deena and several others have been schooling at least that long and can help with some great ideas too! Chica, and Autumn I think have kids your kids ages? Anyway this spot is the best place to get answers to your questions so fill us in on what you need and we can all work with you to find the answers.