Hi All, Well we are new to homeschooling.... I have an almost 8 year old (2nd grade level) and a 10 yr old (4th grade). We recently removed them from public school and are beginning the homeschooling process. I'm leaning more towards the "unschooling" ways, but I want to make sure they have the basics first. I can't seem to find my way to the best curriculum to use for the basics for them. Looking mainly at Math and Reading/Spelling/Grammar. The 2nd grader needs help in all of these areas - mostly because she "doesn't like" to do it. Not that she can't. The 4th grader is more advanced (on the last Harry Potter book & was starting Algebra in school). So I need things that will challenge her. We're moving off grid to a VERY remote location, so my resource opportunities are a little more limited than most. Can anyone suggest what curriculum you think might be best for these areas? The other areas we are going to attack as we go - as in - if they want to learn about weather - that's what we'll study. The 10 year old loves Ancient Egypt - so we'll probably start there for our History lessons. Any suggestions are very welcome! Thanks! Nicole
I personally like the Sonlight literature approach to reading and history. This is our 4th year doing it and dd loves it. As for Math I used Horizons for grades 1-3, challenging but dd enjoyed the colorful sheets and lay out. If that is too much of a program for your youngest you might want to check out Math U See which has more of a hands on approach. For your eldest I would highly suggest giving the Saxon placement test and using that. We are currently doing Saxon 76 with dd who is in 4th. It is written so that she is able to read the lesson on her own and then work on the problems. She only occasionally asks for clarification. For Grammar I would look at Easy Grammar. We have used that for the past couple of years. You might also look at IEW SWI-A as a writing program for both kids.
we use Math U See for math and LOVE it. We use Scott Foresman Grammar which can be found for free online. We use All about spelling for spelling. And we've been using the Magic Tree House books - both the fiction and non fiction companions as his reading and history/social studies topics this year for second grade. This has been working well for us. But every child and family is different - different learning styles, different teaching styles etc.
I don't think you said whether your choice would be Christian or secular. If Christian, I highly recommend Christian Light Education. Look them up at www.clp.org. There are samples. DO USE the math and LA diagnostic/placement tests (free for the printing at the website).
Thanks ladies! I'll definitely look into all of those... I recently heard about Life of Fred for math... any thought's on that? Also, we would be sticking with secular education...
I have friends who have really enjoyed Life of Fred, but more as something to read as supplement. They said they didn't think it would be a full math curriculum for them. Every family is different though. I'd recommend flipping through one before buying a set though.
Completely agree...especially for your younger child who 'doesnt want to do it'...I have one of those,7th grader, & Life of Fred is just what she needed! My 9th grader has confidence issues(previously public school student) with math & Life of Fred allows her to learn what she needs to know without seeming so 'full of instructions' & by the time she reaches the end of the chapter/story, she has been learning & really didnt even feel like she was learning...So both of my kids truly enjoy LoF. We tried Abeka & Math-u-see..Nothing wrong with either but they just didnt work for us. Abeka felt so 'public school-ish' & later I realized that it was written for a classroom setting, not for homeschooling. I have since learned to look for curriculum written for h.schooling. The complaint that both of mine had with MUS was that they were given more than one way to work the math & that got confusing. They watche their own instructional dvds. However if you, personally, plan to watch the dvds & do your own instructing then you could cut this issue out. We dairy farm so my kids are mostly self-taught as I am in the dairy barn 8+ hrs daily, 7 days a week. This works for us now that they are in 7th & 9th grades. Probably would be hard for your 2nd grader, I imagine that your 4th grader could swing a little self teaching, especially if ambition is high. God bless
