So I haven't even started day 1 of homeschooling, nor have I purchased anything yet, not even a pen, and I feel crazy already lol. I've read on a lot of different sites and discussion boards that there is no need to go out and buy any "curriculum." That all the learning can pretty much be done for free through the library, online worksheets, etc., which I'm sure it can be, with experience. My problem with that is that my son will be going into 3rd grade next fall and I really have no clue where he stands with math, writing assignments, what he's learned history or science-wise. And I think having some curricula for each subject would help guide me at least in the beginning. I don't have any problem with a semi-structured curriculum. I know that I don't want to do "school-at-home" or "unschooling." I'd like to use some curricula and try out some unit studies and lapbooking (that sounds really fun)! I've been doing nothing but researching homeschooling, checking discussion forums, reading the laws, learning styles, teaching styles, methods, outcomes. I already have some sites saved for future reference for materials. I literally have half a notebook FILLED with information lol. In looking at curricula, I got pretty stuck for social studies. It seems that would be a subject better taught as unit studies. I liked Mystery of History and Saxon/Harcort Horizons and Beautiful Feet, but Beautiful Feet is far too expensive for me for one subject. It seems like in 3rd grade I could just get by with unit studies and do some lapbooking in there. Just from LOOKS, I like Rod and Staff for LA, Math-U-See for math and Apologia for science. I think I remember ordering Alpha Omega (I think) for social studies for my older DS when we "tried" homeschooling 4 years ago, and I hated it! The reading seemed dry and there were too many workbooks. Any experience or advice on first year homeschooling curricula, Rod and Staff, Math-U-See or Apologia?
hahaha I remember being there! I am still always looking at things and taking down notes. For history when my oldest was in 3rd grade, we used The Complete Book of United States History. It gave a good order to follow and we enjoyed it a ton. I added in "living books" and some hands on crafts and took 2 years to get through it. Totally fun.
Our first year was a lot about trying and changing. lol. I have done Rod and Staff English and Math. The math is traditional and so is the English. We found R&S dry and my kids just did not do well with it after coming from public school We went with something from Zaner Bloser called GUM Grammar and it was a better fit. Your child may love R&S. Mine did not like all the copying from the book. In 3rd and up, it is all hardback and you have to write a lot. Some people do the English on dry erase board to make it seem less daunting. I have never tried Math U See. We did Apologia Zoology 1 and 3 with the kiddos. I loved it and liked the notebooking journals. Lapbooking always looked great on people's blogs. We tried it. It is time consuming and tedious to cut it all out. If you want it done in a decent time frame, you will be cutting out everything beforehand. I have 4 kids so I decided lapbooking was not for us. I will tell you that we liked the Evan Moor history pockets instead and found them more doable than lapbooking. Some people love lapbooking though. I was tired before we ever started after printing and cutting. It used a lot of ink too. I think some of it is just finding your niche when starting.
Thanks for the info! Another one I saw was Shurley English. It looks pretty thorough. I'm sure it'll take us a while to get in our groove. Evan Moor history pockets look good and not too complicated. I didn't do well in any history/geography/government classes I ever had, so that's a tough one for me. The Complete Book of U.S. History looks pretty stress-free too. I wish there weren't so many options, but I guess it's a good thing - a wide variety for every interest, teaching type and learning type. I just have the 1 DS for now. My older DS, who is 14, lives with his dad now and attends public school. My DD is 2, so I have a ways to go with her, at least in looking into anything "formal."
When I started, I didn't know of all the options. I didn't search a whole lot. I read our state laws and it said I had to teach: "At the elementary school level, the following courses shall be taught: English, to include spelling, reading and writing; arithmetic; science; geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and art." So that is where I started. English to include spelling, reading and writing.. I used Comprehensive Curriculum workbooks and looked for a spelling list online, I used a list from some teacher, and real books. My son LOVED Bailey School Kids and read almost all of them between 2nd and 3rd grade and I made him read a few books of my choice.. Charlotte's Web for example. Arithmetic also came from the CC workbook. Science, Geography and History of the US all came from The Complete Book of books (US History, Science, and Maps and Geography). History of our state came later like 5th grade... I bought him books I knew he would enjoy.. things that had to do with ghost stories around the state (then I made him mark the town on a map after he read), and we visited the state museum to learn the common history. Everything else just kind of "happened". Oh.. I also remembered a set of books from when I was a kid errr well my sister had them, she was much younger than me, from Southwestern called My Fun with Learning. These rounded out our history and science and health. It's always an adventure, I miss the old days when things were simpler for me, I didn't worry so much about what others were doing. And really before I found another message board, I didn't worry too much either.. when I just came here. I didn't go looking for the next great thing, and that is what I have learned is the biggest key to homeschooling success. It will be a bit of trial and error to find what works for YOU and your kids, but once you find it, stick with it, don't worry what anyone else is using as long as what you have is working and covering what YOU want covered then relax and enjoy the ride!
Thank you so much! I really am looking for something (curricula, lessons, etc.) that are more laid back for this first year. I would love to have some experience, more hands-on stuff (field trips, etc.), and get to know my son a little better (it's crazy how much you DON'T know about your kids when they're in ps), before I get too crazy on curriculum and schedules. I really appreciate the ideas! I'll definitely look into those.
I prefer laid back schooling with my young son but I'm with you...I can't do it on my own. I need some guidance. So I definitely use curriculum! We've been through several things because some stuff just does not work with my little guy. He's very hands on and hates...and I do mean HATES seatwork. We've come to an agreement. He does seatwork for a couple of minutes and then we get up and do something fun. That way I can get the bookwork that I feel he needs done without a major battle. Here's some things that seem to be working pretty well for us right now: Hooked on Phonics Horizons Math Science, I just buy little experiment kits because he loves that. Even though he is only 5 we are doing some chemistry sets that say they are for 8 and up. I don't allow him to do it alone. It must be done with me and I'm teaching him to be cautious, we must put on gloves and eye protection before starting even though the chemicals are relatively harmless. Social Studies, we haven't really gone there yet. Although I did get him Little Passports and we are having fun learning some geography. We have a globe and he has learned all the continents. When we get our Little Passports we find that country on the globe and get online and look up extra things about the country such as what the people look like, what they eat, animals of the region, etc. I'm very analytical and do a lot of homework but even with all that, we've still been through several things that we just have to scrap and move on because my learning style and his are so different. I had a tendency to pick what would work for me at first. I've learned from that mistake!
I think your approach is great! Research, research, research! For SS this year (3rd grade) we're doing living books. I hated SS in school, it wasn't until I graduated that I realized I really liked history, I just didn't like the very dry presentation in textbooks. You can find a TON of free living books on http://archive.org/ and http://oldfashionededucation.com/ has a list of books by grade or subject to help get you started. We're using this book and this book for SS this year. Both the boys love them. The living books are so fun for history, to read about real people and real experiences are so much more interesting than memorizing dry facts and dates. We love Apologia here. We used their science our first year (for 1st grade) and we might be using Apologia again next year (I haven't decided yet) My 3 favorite publishers are Apologia, Master Books and AiG This is our first year not unschooling. Until now we've done unit studies based on interests and living math. I added a bit more structure this year. But we're still very relaxed. And I've used mostly free resources the entire time. (Even most of the not-free resources I've been able to get free by winning giveaways and twitter party prizes) Next year we'll be adding even a bit more structure because I think both my kids are ready.
We are new to homeschoolig too. We use Total Language Plus for English, and teaching text books for math, and totally love those programs, especially the math. I don't have any math pages to correct each day or math lesson to teach, because it's all done on the computer and my kids love it and often ask to do more than one assisgnment a day. For history/science, we don't have a set curriculum. We bought a subscription to discovery kids magazines for like $20, and my mother in law bought them a subscription to Cobblestone magazines, so we use those, plus, I have an idea of what I want to teach this year, so for everything else in history and science, we just use the internet or the library. It's free and I like free. For bible study, we read the bible and discuss what we read, or work in a character building workbook. Most of their work can be done independently, and doesn't require too much from me, which is great, since we also have a baby. However, they do require me to oversee them, as they tend to goof around when left unattendend.
Speaking from experience, you will try a hundred different things before you find what you like, no matter what anyone tells you is the greatest!!!! After several tries, this is what I like: Bob Jones for history Easy Grammar Aplogia Science IEW for composition(start with Student Writing Intensive A)(pricey!) Math is the hardest one - dd uses Math U See and I love it For reading, interest driven! There is a website called Book Adventures that has comprehension quizes for lots of books. (Like an A/R quiz in public school) You just have to make sure he is comprehending what he reads. Good luck and don't forget to have fun!!!
