Posted on 07/15/2005 4:37:18 PM PDT by a.c.t.32
My husband and I are planning to homeschool our two sons in the coming school year. They have attended a parochial school for the past two years, and while they are probably better off than if they were in a public school, we think we can do better. They're very bored, and because my husband's work schedule is not the standard Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., family time is scarce. We are nervous, though, that we might skip something they need to know and would like to start with a packaged curriculum. Does anyone have experience with what's out there?
We homeschooled once before, but that was only for a few months in K and 1st grade.
Thanks. I received a ton of good advice last time I posted on this topic, but it's been a few years and I can't find my copy. I don't know if the post would still be archived somewhere.
Dear a.c.t.32,
"They have attended a parochial school for the past two years, and while they are probably better off than if they were in a public school, we think we can do better."
You can.
Advice: Well, we use the Calvert School curriculum. It's pricey, as homeschooling goes, but we like it.
sitetest
I also vote for ABeka
and have heard good things
about Calvert School:
http://www.calvertschool.org/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=CES1512
I have homeschooled for 12 years using the School of Tomorrow (ACE) curriculum because I also work. Either that or Alpha Omega, which is the same concept, costs less than 300 per year per child. And they are very easy to administer. VERY easy.
Because I find these two a bit weak in literature, I supplement their reading with the Sonlight Curriculum books (usually available used online or at the library) and at the higher levels, Abeka Literature books.
I also have the kids work in my office.
My kids are very well read as a result and their phone skills are great (wink).
Only half an hour?
The internet is a vast resource. Knowing what grades they are would be helpful, if u like, freepmail if you don't want to post it.
Wanna hear something funny about kids and Free Republic. Normally my kids know to go to favorites and click on a their sites. The other day I caught my three year old laughing at some of the pictures on Free Republic instead. He keeps trying to read it. LOL!
We're into our 4th year homeschooling and just ordered A Beka again - we've used it all along and like it well enough that we haven't seen fit to seek out changing our base.
I homeschooled my kids from grade school all the way thru high school. We used the ACE (Accelerated Christian Education). It is a program designed specifically for homeschooling, and I thought it was great. It's been over 5 years ago that my last child graduated, so I'm not sure on the current prices. It was very reasonable at that time, about $400 per year per student. Rose has just this past summer started her children on this program, she will be able to give you current prices.
Good luck in what ever you choose. Homeschooling has blessing you never even expect, and was the most wonderful thing. You can't imagine till you do it. I wish everyone would at least try. With a program like ACE, IMO, there is no reason for any parent not to be able to homeschool.
Becky
I used ACe also, and loved it.
I agree on the literature...but I supplemented by just reading alot to/with my kids. I got a list of required reading from the library, and choose alot from it.
We have our own business and my son worked with his dad from the age of 13, and was running the crew by the time he was 17, which was a challenge when the employees where older men.
My daughter went on to cosmotolegy school. She had to get a ged to get a student loan, and had no problems (which I realize isn't saying much:) passing the test her first try.
Becky
i know you'll get lots of advice as far as curricula goes, so i won't even try to suggest any to you... i do want you to realize that you will "miss something" in teaching your children... there is no way you could possibly cover EVERYTHING! and you may lay awake late at night sometimes wondering if you are doing "enough." most of us fall into that... institutionalized education is all most of us know, so we find ourselves comparing what we are doing to our own schooling experiences...
teach your children "HOW" to think as opposed to "WHAT" to think... teach them to how to learn, to love learning, and they will learn to learn on their own... this is what you want them to leave your homeschool with... then if you missed something that they need, or they want (and you will miss something) they will know how to find it, get it, learn it when they really need it...
i am all for alternative schooling, and i get excited when another family decides to pursue alternative education... my best to you and your family!
Thanks to everyone who posted. I should have included in my original post that we are in Michigan, where it is very easy to homeschool, and the kids are going into 3rd and 4th grades. We want to homeschool because they are both enthusiastic, independent learners, but they waste too much time in school waiting for everyone in the class to reach the same level. They also have specific interests they would like to pursue in a more in-depth way, but school leaves less time and less money for this. I work a very flexible, very part-time schedule, so I think this can be done. They can even go to work with me if necessary.
Thanks again, everyone.
Before you get too wrapped up in curriculum and trying to get a tremendous amount of book work accomplished, try to get a copy of "The Simplicity of Homeschooling" by Vicki Goodchild and read it. I always give new homeschoolers who ask my copy to read so they don't try too hard to reproduce traditional schooling at home.
If you are really willing to look at education in a totally new way, read Linda Dobson's book, "The Art of Education." It helped me realize that I cannot cover *everything* and that my kids are learning all the time, even when I am not teaching them - sometimes especially when I am not teaching them!
My two homeschool graduates are both in college on significant academic scholarships. We were not complete unschoolers with them but we were definately relaxed....
Before you get too wrapped up in curriculum and trying to get a tremendous amount of book work accomplished, try to get a copy of "The Simplicity of Homeschooling" by Vicki Goodchild and read it. I always give new homeschoolers who ask my copy to read so they don't try too hard to reproduce traditional schooling at home.
If you are really willing to look at education in a totally new way, read Linda Dobson's book, "The Art of Education." It helped me realize that I cannot cover *everything* and that my kids are learning all the time, even when I am not teaching them - sometimes especially when I am not teaching them!
My two homeschool graduates are both in college on significant academic scholarships. We were not complete unschoolers with them but we were definately relaxed....
We love the K12 curriculum and are starting our third year this fall (www.k12.com). It is pricey if you purchase it on your own, but if you are in a state with a Virtual Academy charter school they will pay for K12. There are minimal compliance requirements with a charter, such as, in CA, turning in quarterly work samples and participating in state testing. The other families in the charter can provide a good support group of similar families which might be helpful to someone starting out homeschooling. Just letting you know this may be an option for you to consider, depending on whether or not you wish to homeschool independently or would be interested in a charter.
Best wishes to you and your fortunate third and fourth graders as you embark on your adventure of learning together! Yes, you will learn from them, too, and discover that the schools to this point have certainly missed some important areas, so don't feel intimidated. My daughter has just finished her first year of schooling our 5th and 7th grade grandsons, and she found this to be true even though they had paid tuition at a pricey private school. Their year went so well that they are looking forward to doing it again this year. She used Saxon for math and Abecka for everything but Texas history. God bless Texas for giving parents the utmost freedom in educating their children as they see fit.
My parents did not use a homeschool curriculum when the homeschooled us (I guess I should say "do not use," because, while I am in college, I still have sibblings being homeschooled). Rather, they checked out books from our local library (my mom actually went over the 99 book limit at our local library once) and had us read those.
Some of the more major text books, such as those in high school, they purchased such as Biology, Physical Science, Chemistry, Geometry, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Advanced Mathematics (which is basically Pre-Calculus). The only discipline for which they ever really stuck to one group was math, for which we used Saxon Algebra 1 and up.
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