We are just starting out. I am trying to get the best ideas of curriculum out there. Has anyone used Apologia Science? That was recommended to us. As well as, Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer for Social Studies. Lets see for spelling Sequential Spelling and Bob Jones for Reading material. Has anyone used these. If so please let me know what you thought of it good or bad. Thank you.
Hi there, welcome! We used Story of the World a few years ago and had to stop (not related to the curriculum itself, but life happens). We plan on starting it back again in the fall. When we used it before (1st grade) I read the story while the kids colored the maps and coloring pages. This time around (4th grade) we're going to also add 1 or 2 days of the activities in the activity book as well. Good luck with whatever you choose!
Apologia, SOTW, and Sequential Spelling are all very popular around here (I'm using 2 and considered a third myself). I don't know if anyone here is using Bob Jones, but that one is also reputable. Welcome to the Spot!
Yes I have a 9 year old and a 10 year old. We are considering 5th grade Science and Social Studies and 4th grade Math and Reading.
For science curriculum I really like Real Science 4 Kids. I haven't used Story of the World, but I did check it out from the library. It would work with one of my boys, but the visual learner would need pictures and the book had none. Plus I preferred more in depth coverage than the book offered. I am using Sequential Spelling and am pleased with it. Learning the patterns of words has been more effective than learning the rules of spelling for my son. I am using the Bob Jones English 3 program this year for my son. I really like the grammar component, but the writing didn't fit my son exactly in that he is more of a whole to part learner so going through the writing process in a part to whole manner was more difficult. Next year I am using Michael Clay Thompson's language arts program. It is getting rave reviews. I think you will find that what works well for one family may not work for another even if the curriculum is great. It helps to just get started and see what works for your children.
Thank you so much. My son is also a visual learner. Thank you for that point. I did miss that when going thru it. That is why this is so helpful for me and anyother beginner! What could you recommend for Social Studies for a visual child?
I don't know a specific curriculum that would work well. I choose what topics we cover and then choose books with lots of pictures that cover that topic. The library can be a great resource. I also do lots of projects and add in videos. You can follow the Story of the World format and even use their activity manual, but use books from the library with lots of pictures that cover that time period. I'm putting something together for ancient Egypt right now and there is SO much out there. If we just read the best books and watched the best DVDs we could spend months learning about ancient Egypt.
We used Considering God's Creation for science and my kid's LOVED it, it is very hands on and easy for the teacher. It was very thorough and it is made for 2nd through 7th graders, so it is adaptable for the family. We used Story of the World for our first year of science and started the second, but I felt like I was constantly having to make sure my kids understood that just because something was taught as fact didn't mean it was true, such as Islam. We are switching to Mystery of History this year, I have heard great things about it. I liked BJU spelling, but my kid's have gotten bored of it after 3 years, so we are looking for something else for this year. Have fun!
NOTHING. Housemom4 may have meant to write, "just because something IS taught as fact"....However, I think it would have been better for the verb to be kept in the past tense, with another example (Greek or Roman gods/myths, etc.).
We'll be using Apologia Zoology 1 (at co-op) come Aug, I've heard great things about it. Though I haven't actually used it yet. But I never really seriously considered anything else for science after I looked into Apologia. I really like that it is adaptable for various age ranges so both kids can do the same science, just on different levels within the same book and I like that it's Biblical based and that it splits it up into the days of creation. I have took a good look at sequential spelling (a friend uses it) and was very impressed, if I were buying a spelling curriculum, that would be what I'd buy. (I won a subscription to clicknkids, so we'll be using that for spelling) If your kids like computer based stuff, you can use http://www.spellingcity.com/ with any other spelling program (or word lists you make up) it's free and has games and they can take their test there as well. It says the word and can use it in a sentence and you can print out a report on their test results for your records. I'm thinking when my kids reach that age (actually starting in 2nd grade) doing spelling and vocab together and using http://www.wordlywise3000.com/ (click on the students link) with spelling city. They're both free and I really like wordly wise, I actually had planned on using it before I found out they had a free website, already had one of the books I had planned on using next year before I found the free site.
great! look at Horizon for math! and they have phnics and stuff too! AOP.com or CBD has that, We liked the APoligia sciences pretty much, we liked the Astronomy a lot! I even learned htings since they did not teach everythig they have discovered in the past few years back when I was in school!
