We've been using Abeka, which works fine with my daughter. However, my son is bored. To tears. Literally. So I'm looking for something more hands-on, "fun", less worksheets, etc. Suggestions?
Is Abeka a full curriculum or one particular subject? I don't follow any set curriculum, so I'm not quite sure what's out there. Nor do I know the slightest thing about them or how they work. Maybe what I said didn't even make any sense. *shrugs* If the subject is math, I get the Life of Fred series & my children get extremely excited about it! My daughter was eagerly jumping up & down just this morning asking for the next book in the series. The day before last, I let my (public school) second grade niece borrow Life of Fred - Apples. She struggles with math & her teacher doesn't do anything but make it worse for her. I told her that learning can be fun & I was, naturally, greeted with an unblinkingly blank stare. Haha! It's a magnificent series & it also touches on other subjects like science, grammar, history, & literature. It's super awesome! This morning I received a text from her mom saying that my niece really likes LoF & was asking to do some this morning before she went to school! I was beaming! I get so giddy when children "get it" & it ignites the fire for learning! "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity!" -Dorothy Parker
What grade? Are you using textbook or dvd's? Are you willing to mix and match or do you need a boxed curriculum? I have always mixed and matched. Teaching textbooks for math is AWSOME! Easy Grammar is what we finally settled on for grammar. Apologia science. We use Bob Jones for history at our co-op. IEW for writing.
Tracey, While boxed may be neat and organized, it can be wrong for many kids/families. While it may work for one child, it might not work for the other. While it works for one year or many years, it may not work for all of the "school" years. Basically I am saying this: What we like and what works for our children can be two very different things. If it is not working, you may want to at least try changing things up some. You don't have to do every worksheet, every quiz, every test or every project. You don't have to keep grades (especially in elementary/middle school.) Homeschooling can be done is a many different ways. I wish I had explored the different ways when I started (my son was in 7th.) I would spend some time researching different methods. Also, if some of them seem "way out there", don't totally dismiss them. Give it some time to sink it. The modern day educational system is what we all grew up with (or most of us) and it is ingrained in us. However, it is not "the" answer for most kids. If we use the same kind of system at home, it may not be the answer for them either.