Robin5kids Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Okay, I have been hsing the lower grades and am finally starting to feel comfortable. We just decided that due to a very bad school district and the cost of private high school, we are going to hs our ds next year. He will graduate from 8th grade in a month and will start 9th in Sept. as a homeschooler. I am to say the least obsessed with looking at high school curriculum. At first we wanted an on-line school with everything planned and graded for us. My problem right now is that they all look like such a waste of money. I either don't like the curriculum, but like the lessons they assign, or hate the lessons they assign, but like the curriculum. Also I really want Saxon math, but if we do online, most have their own math. We thought that with a 2nd grader, 7th grader and preschooler, that it would make life easier if everything was taken care of. My problem is I just don't know how good all these programs are. Has anyone used an on-line program? If I do not use an on-line, can you share what curriculum you do use. I am very weak in science and English/writing. (I could assign good books to read, but never know what is an appropriate assignment, questions for each chapter.) My goal for our son is to prepare him for college. If he chooses not to go, fine, but we want him to be able to if he chooses.:001_smile: Please help me end this obsession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 I'm sorry, I have graduated one, and have an upcoming 11th grader.... and I am obsessed with curriculum as well. Ok, together, my name is ..... and I am obsessed with curriculum!! :) If you are in a place that has a curriculum fair, go with your older kids and look around. Talk to people at the tables, linger with the books. There will be definite things you like and don't like. I always narrow to 2-3 choices per subject and let my kids pick. If you like Saxon math and your ds does, stick with it. Get DIVE or Saxon Teacher to go with it. For science we really like Apologia, it runs well at home. Apologia has a few dvds out to go with some of their programs. For English, I like BJU. I am considering doing IEW for writing, but still not sure yet. Hope this helps and welcome to high school!! Online classes vary greatly. The complaints I have heard are that the work is just assigned with little support, and the kid's don't always do the work. Get information from this forum about what online classes you want to use. We do one that is free for science, virtualhomeschoolgroup.com We loved doing Biology this year with them! I prefer to be the one doing the grading, but that is just me. If the class is awful, I don't want dd stuck with a bad grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Confessing that I'm curriculum obsessed too. :tongue_smilie: Are you looking for secular or religious and if religious - what religion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Are you looking for secular or religious and if religious - what religion?I was wondering that as well. That helps to know if we want to suggest curriculum ideas that will be useful for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemMommy Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 TOG lets me combine 4 kids on the same page, so planning is a breeze. It does NOT give you a day-by-day breakdown of what to do, but even my 3rd grader can understand "read pp. 24-40 in such and such a book this week". She needs me to prompt her to stay on task, but she can read her to-do list and get it accomplished. You might need to train a younger kid to do this if this will be their first time homeschooling, though. TOG has wonderful parent notes that tell you what to discuss with your child in lit or history (and what the expected answers are) and has lots of options to go deeper in history or literature. It is pricey but you are buying all of the lesson plans you will ever need to teach any age child that level in history. I think it is weak in writing and it does not cover math or logic, so you will need to supplement that. HOWEVER, at the high school level, it does cover fine arts, philosophy, and government. You can download the 3-week trial and use it to see if you like it and see how it is laid out. If you are not interested in keeping all of your kids together, you might consider Sonlight. They have daily lesson plans and notes for the parent/student. However, the support they supply for the parent is FAR less than TOG does. Best of luck, girl!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2paul Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 We should start a support group for curriculum addicts. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 It sure is fun to look at all the possibilities! As long as you realize there are way more wonderful options than you will ever have time to use, you can stay sane & not go broke. :-) I have to put in a plug for my favorite online lit classes--I am also not a writing teacher and my dc have taken classes from Mr. Turnbull at Alexandria Tutorials for several years. They do not include grammar and the only vocab is a "word of the week" so you may want to add workbooks for those topics. The kids are kept accountable for their reading and writing assignments and have great discussions every week. www.alexandriatutorials.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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