Okay, I have been on here a few times regarding BJU Press. I am a plan ahead person. I know I have bearly started this year but, I wanted to get some feed back on the course and or curriculums you LOVE. I want to be able to make a educated decision for next year. We will be heading into 5th and 6th grade. I have to say I heard wonderful things about Saxon Math. We are doing it this year but it seems way to easy for my kids. I did give them the admissions test to find out where they should be and that is the level I purchased. I just hope it get harder through the year. Apologia, I hear great things about that as well. So of course that is what I purchased for my children. But, I have to say I am finding it hard. I am not sure what to teach each day. Very confusing to me. Maybe, because I have BJU walking me through everything else step by step. So, I would covet any input you can give me. Negative or positive! I want to be able to make a educated decision for next year. Thank you
I agree with Saxon being very easy in the beginning, I finally had to just have the boys take the assesments every day till we found a level that they missed more than one or two questions. We are about a month and a half into Math and 3/4 of the way through book 1 of Saxon math 2. As far as curriculum we love, so far I haven't found too much that is just perfect but we do Love Mystery of History, it's format is perfect for my boys!
I love Christian Light Education for reading, LA, and math. I'm also liking Rod & Staff for English (when I'm not doing CLE), science, and history. I'm trying to branch out more, and we're going to try lapbooking/notebooking, and some elementary geography units, later this year. I'll let you know how it goes. I second the motion on Saxon -- give the tests one at a time until they get to a spot where they're not getting a passing grade, and start there.
I like putting my own things together using living books and activities. I like Real Science 4 Kids, Sonlight, Signs & Seasons, Sequential Spelling, and Explode the Code.
Mystery of History, all three volumes!!! Teaching Textbooks for math Considering God's Creation worked well for us as an elementary science, too! And I second R&S for Language
Maybe "each day" is the problem. I do science 2 days a week. The first day is the bulk of the chapter. The second day is the rest of the chapter, a quick review of the previous day, and any labs we want to do (we don't always do all of them, especially if it's something we've done in the past w/o a curriculum). If you're doing just one book a year, I'd go with just one day a week for science. I'm doing 2 books per year (one per semester). That gives us 28 weeks worth of science in a 30-something week school year, so if we have a busy week with field trips or something, science is the subject we drop. Same with history. We're using Mystery of History vol. 1 and doing it 3 days a week (2 science + 3 history = 5 day week).
We're using Apologia Zoology 1 for my 1st grader. The notebook (I think) has the lesson plans in it in the front, tells you what to read, what notebooking pages to do and when to do the hands-on activity. I think it's plans for a 2 day a week year long study. (hubby is doing this with him-but I did look over it-though we are doing it in 16 weeks and doing the 'try this' or 'experiments' or whatever at co-op classes....) But we'll (most likely) do Zoology 2 next semester (also in 16 weeks) at home and drop co-op classes...
Singapore Math. We struggle with it, sometimes put it aside, but we always come back and always come away from it with a better understanding of math. Getting Started with Latin. Just a pile of unexpected fun! Dancing Bears and Apples and Pears. Just what my son needed for reading and writing.
I talked about Apologia and then forgot to mention the things I love. As others have said, I like MoH and Sequential Spelling. I like Handwriting w/o Tears. Um... Miquon for math, but that's only for grades 1-3. I like all of the Classical Academic Press stuff for Latin, and I like Reading Comprehension from Varied Subject Matter for reading comprehension.
Bummer I was going to do sequential spelling but was talked into BJU spelling. urg..... As far as the Apoliga I did pick Botany. I guess my choices weren't the best. Some of the others you guys have told me about I haven't heard of. I will start researching them out today.
Is Teaching Text Books just Math?? That is all I can find. We have a home schooling group here that starts in 7th grade. They will teach "class room class" so they are accredited. I know they use Saxon. So, I think for that reason at this point I will stay there for math. But, the other ones I am extremely open. I can't say I am loving the handwriting and or the english that we are using now.
Yes, it is. And it might be a bit hard to use with an entire class, but in that situation, I would assume the teacher knows the subject. TT for the upper maths were written under the assumption that there is NO ONE there who can help the student. So it was written TO the student, not for a teacher to explain to the student. IT HAS BEEN A LIFESAVER IN MY HOME!!! And then last year, it became VERY clear that Phillip and Saxon were NOT a match! So we switched to 5th grade TT this year, and he's really liking it!
Jackie, That is good to know. Becasue I can handle the math now. But, at some point I won't be able to teach it to them. That alone would be a cause for me to switch! Thanks
Has anyonoe ever used "Bring the Classics to Life Series"??? I just saw that one and it looks interesting
Love Saxon especially for High School. The material is really well laid out and their solutions guides go step by step through the problems. Sonlight!!!! I love the literature based approach and the way everything is laid out for me. Apologia for science all the way through. Progeny Press guides for literature studies, especially in high school. Movies as Literature for a high school English class Bluestocking Press for Economics and Governement (What Every Happened to Penny Candy and What Ever Happened to Justice, and their other books that go along with them) Elementary Math: Horizons Grammar: Easy Grammar
