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The single best curriculum you ever used


podoba01
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This was a great question as it made me think of what curriculum I used with my 2 olders that I will absolutely use with my youngest. My favorite is R & S for grammar (starting in grade 4). I used FLL for K-3 and will stick with that as well!!

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I have so many:

 

Definitely CLE Math is #1!!

*CLE LA & Reading are also fave's and my boys still love all of these too - I would think they would have become bored by now, but no!

*Liked MC a lot until we ran out of books.

*Like AAS pretty well. My son liked WWE - I have trouble finding time to do it though.

*We love America the Beautiful!

*My oldest loved all of his curriculum this year (in my sig.)!!!

 

:001_smile:

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I'm not that excited about CLE Reading 1st grade. (I really like the math). We are jumping over to Memoria Press for reading next year. Maybe we should revisit CLE reading in the upper grammar years?

 

Yes, My dd started CLE in 5th grade and it was perfect. We did the 4th and 5th grade reading that year and she just GREW. it was wonderful.

 

My ds's used CLE reading in the younger grades, and while we all love the stories, we did most of the light unit work orally. There was just too much writing, and my littlest guy was really rebelling against school.

 

Otherwise, I LOVE CLE and will have him begin again in 4th grade.

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Story of the World. I am so sad we are finishing up volume 4 this year.

:iagree:We still love and listen to the CD's- no matter how irritating I found J.Weiss' voice, my kids LOVE them!!

We are reading the History of the Medieval this year for Hx and my 9 and 12 yo are totally tracking with it-thanks to SOTW.

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*MCT here, too. That would be my single best.

 

But, we also love:

 

*Beast Academy

*Lively Latin

Story of the World (agree the Jim Weiss recordings are key)

Miquon

*Greek Code Cracker/Greek for Children

*Story of Science and the Johns Hopkins workbooks

 

And we love to read:

 

*OUP's World in Ancient Times

The Story of Life

 

In particular, all of the starred items tie together "Great Conversation" topics, and each references topics from one or more of the other curricula on my list. That's become something I look for, and it immediately won me over to Beast Academy when it came last month.

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Hmm. I can't decide! Math U See or Sonlight reader packages. But I also love AAS and it has made a dramatic difference in my kids' spelling in only 1 level. Explode the Code is also great.

 

It depends on if you mean most effective for the money, or most enjoyed, or what. lol

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*

*Story of Science and the Johns Hopkins workbooks

 

And we love to read:

 

*OUP's World in Ancient Times

The Story of Life

 

In particular, all of the starred items tie together "Great Conversation" topics, and each references topics from one or more of the other curricula on my list. That's become something I look for, and it immediately won me over to Beast Academy when it came last month.

 

Hakim's Story of Science? We like that if so, but I didn't know about any workbooks for it. What are the Johns Hopkins workbooks? Link?

 

And what is "OUP" and what is The Story of Life?

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My best is free and was first written in 1873! Webster's Speller. I do like Don Potter's retyped versions, though.

 

Here is how I used it for K with my son:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208407

 

It has been especially helpful for my remedial students, but I like it for beginners as well, it teaches to such a high grade level.

 

There are plenty of things I have spent money on that I like a lot, but my vote for best curriculum still goes to free and old.

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Miquon (creates strong number sense, no one's afraid of math here!)

 

Singapore 1A-2B (clear mental math teaching)

 

Sonlight (Real books, a schedule, and no planning!)

 

The Writer's Jungle (gave me a road map for where we heading and helped my relationship with my dd)

 

SOTW Audio CDs (dds can listen to them over and over while playing - gets lots of history in that way!)

 

http://www.librivox.org (dds can listen to classics while playing - saves my voice and time and gets them used to more difficult vocabulary. Plus it's free!)

 

 

I'd like to add Beast Academy to the list, but since we've only finished the first section of the first book I don't think I'm qualified to add it yet. It sure seems like it's going to develop the thinking skills in my kids that are so important, IMO.

 

I also really like MCT, but, since I don't think it's totally NECESSARY, I didn't add it to the list.

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I don't know that I could say I have a single favorite over and above everything else. I can list a few that I consistently get warm fuzzies over, though:

 

Right Start Math A & B, especially A. It made my young child love math! Who knew math could be fun?

The Writing Road to Reading - I think this was one of those "right thing at the right time" because if I'd attempted to do this when I first started to home school, I probably would have signed Ariel up for PS the next day. As it was, I had to read it a couple of times before I felt comfortable enough to use it, 3 years after I first started HSing. It got her phonograms cemented, though, and improved her handwriting (Bonus!).

Galore Park Jr. English - very solid, I like the reading passages, it covers grammar and comprehension in a thorough way, it's challenging, and the composition lessons are like a breath of fresh air compared to WWE. Ariel likes the color/illustrations and the stories, too.

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I love all the votes for Miquon. It's one of the first purchases I made for my oldest when he was 1st grade age and I have never regretted it. It really makes him think. (it makes me think sometimes!). He's going to be done with it by summer and I'm a little sad. I hope we like the next math we do. At least I have my younger kiddos. I'll be using Miquon with all of them hopefully. I just love it.

 

I also can't say enough about Sequential Spelling. Spelling is tricky, people either love or hate this program. But my ds asks to do it first each day. We also really loved Easy Grammar this year. Again some don't like this program, but my ds had a lot of fun with it and I could see that what he was learning was carrying over into his writing assignments and free writing.

 

ETC and HWT are also books I would probably consider homeschooling essentials.

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Hakim's Story of Science? We like that if so, but I didn't know about any workbooks for it. What are the Johns Hopkins workbooks? Link?

 

 

I think these might be the associated workbooks (they have both teacher's and student's quest guides):

http://www.amazon.com/Students-Quest-Guide-Aristotle-Science/dp/1588342549/ref=pd_sim_b_3

 

http://www.amazon.com/Students-Quest-Guide-Newton-Science/dp/1588342557/ref=pd_sim_b_6

 

 

According to the Smithsonian Books website, Teacher’s and Student’s Quest Guides are in development for Einstein Adds a New Dimension. Here's the link for that information:

http://www.smithsonianbooks.com/usersection/Default.aspx?content=Einstein

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My best is free and was first written in 1873! Webster's Speller. I do like Don Potter's retyped versions, though.

 

Here is how I used it for K with my son:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208407

 

It has been especially helpful for my remedial students, but I like it for beginners as well, it teaches to such a high grade level.

 

There are plenty of things I have spent money on that I like a lot, but my vote for best curriculum still goes to free and old.

 

Don Potter's website has some wonderful resources. I've just been looking through it recently.

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Hakim's Story of Science? We like that if so, but I didn't know about any workbooks for it. What are the Johns Hopkins workbooks? Link?

 

And what is "OUP" and what is The Story of Life?

 

So sorry! I just saw this.

 

Somebody posted the link to the Story of Science workbook already. OUP is Oxford University Press. I use their World in Ancient Times series with my logic-stage student. The Story of Life...wow, did I type that? I meant The Way Life Works. It is a science book by Mahlon Hoagland.

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Seascape Private School - All inclusive, they send a complete curriculum and daily schedule, plus teacher help. They use a lot of different publishers since they tailor each program to each student but I love what they've chosen for us and for my friend's son (who's also homeschooling with Seascape) too!:001_smile:

 

 

 

I'm thinking about my curriculum order for this year. What do you think was the single best curriculum purchase you ever made and why? It can be for any grade/subject. I'm just interested in your opinions. Thanks!
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  • 1 month later...
I looked at the Weaver curriculum, but I thought I might have trouble using it. It looked like it hasn't been updated in a while, so I was concerned that it might use a lot of out-of-print books. Is my impression wrong? How are you making it work for your family? Is it something that you can use the library and make substitutions? Sorry for all the questions :blush:

 

Oh my God, these threads crack me up every time!!:lol::lol:

 

Weaver nearly drove me to throw in the towel and never look at homeschooling again....ever!!

 

Isn't it hysterical how one family's treasure is another family's nightmare??

 

I still stand by my "click" theory of curriculum. A program has to click with a kid or kids in order to work. That same book that gave you those big eyes filled with tears, can work wonderfully with the next kid....or even the same one a few years down the line.

 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE CLE for reading, Math and LA! This program is a match for my 8th and 4th graders. They love it. They retain the information. They don't cry when it comes out:D. .....HOWEVER, my 2nd grader would rather have sharp sticks poked into his eyes than see a CLE workbook comingbtoward him, Yet....he loves A Beka Math and grammar.....ONE PAGE LESSONS. OK!

 

 

Anyway, it is always good to read what others like, and what others hate....and then find out why....and if their kids learn like your kids....and if they teach like you teach in that given year....because every year brings with it a whole new set of obligations and a new jive to your homeschool....different mix of grades, independence levels, outside activities, online classes etc.

 

Thanks for the giggle!

Faithe....who just pulled out her TOG year 2 and perused it again...and chucked it back in the closet:lol::lol: because it still will not jive....OY!!!!!

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There must be something in the air .... I pulled my TOG Classic out of the closet this week too (all four year plans are floating around in there) .... and said "Nope!". Banished back to the curriculum wasteland! :tongue_smilie:

 

Hahaha!!!!

 

Curriculum wasteland......oooh....is my wasteland bumpy....:lol::lol::lol:

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SOTW - all four books along with activity guides and audio books. Truly the best that we've used in our house and I'm so very excited to be going thru them again. Next year we will be on SOTW3 with my oldest on her second time thru and my two youngers on their first time thru. I have all of these little notes in the AG from the first time thru to help with planning, but truly very easy to use and can be customized to whatever your family is really into. We personally love the cooking projects and the maps but I also love the extra history and literature listed for each chapter as well as the student activity pages. This year I ordered copies of the pages to save myself time in photocopying for notebooks. My oldest loves to use the Kingfisher to go deeper into history along with her siblings and it's all spelled out in the AG. Love SOTW!

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Hands down for my oldest daughter the best thing ever was Teaching Textbooks Algebra. She wasted a full school year trying SOS, Aleks and Lifepacs and even a personal tutor before it clicked with Teaching Textbooks.

 

For my younger daughter the miracle has been CLE math. We tried MUS and it was too distracting for her. She just wanted to play with the manipulatives lol.

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