Dear cgk,
We've been using the Calvert curriculum for six years. It's very good. However, we've known homeschoolers who didn't like it because it can be more time-consuming than others. It's a bit old fashioned in that, for instance, in math, there's a lot of drill work. As one gets into the years past K-3, there's a lot of essay and composition writing. Diagramming of sentences this year for our 6th grader. Word problems in math. Lots of them. It's a very directed curriculum.
However, we don't mind that sort of thing, we're not the "unschooling" type anyway, so we've been very, very happy with it.
If you have any specific questions about the curriculum, contact me via FR e-mail. Any questions I can't answer I'll pose to my wife.
sitetest
Thank you! It was actually your post that made me aware of the Calvert curriculum. I don't mind trying a directed curriculum first, as our 3 year old needs a lot of structure. She's a "spirited" child, so my current thinking is anything that is directed and structured will probably be of benefit to her.
I admit I don't know much about the differences between home schooling and "unschooling" except a few articles I read pertaining to "unschooling" previously public-school educated teens. I'm quite the novice at much of this, but find these threads to be very educational.
Thank you very much! I appreciate your advice and assistance. If I have any questions, I'm grateful to have someone to ask who is using it! ;)