stripe Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Oh, yeah. I forgot IEW. Too expensive. Too many parts. Too many acronyms. I hate acronyms. I am realizing that if it was used heavily by homeschoolers in the 90s, then it is probably way too religious, procedural, or aesthetically unpleasant for me. :lol: I will never try Life of Fred, and I struggle to understand Michael Clay Thompson and those town books. They look very expensive for a few words on the page: There is a place called Grammar Island, made of words and dreams. There are ï¬sh and birds, and waves and wind, and beaches where kids can play. On Grammar Island you ï¬nd wonderful things, such as birds and language. Seriously? Grammar lets us think about our words. There are many words. I feel like it's all about the graphic design and the hype. Or the fact that there are only a few sentences per page. I must be missing something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Rod and Staff English...just the samples make me want to poke my eyes out. I love language arts, but it just looks sooooo boring! Since I have curriculum addiction, almost everything else I've tried. :glare: This would be me, too. Or seriously considered it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Anything that involves lapbooking or cutting and pasting. All the things with "pockets" in the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 A lot of things don't <currently> interest me, but the big ones that I never have to think twice about are: Math-U-See Handwriting without Tears Also, although I will admit to browsing the MCT site recently, I agree with Stripe who posted upthread, that I really feel like I'm missing something there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Hm, it's funny, I almost said "nothing religious" but we are reading the Children's Bible right now . . . and we've enjoyed LOF books . . . and then I almost said "nothing by a religious publisher" but realized I love CAP's Writing & Rhetoric, and some people might consider them a religious publisher . . . so I guess what I mean is any curriculum or materials that promote a religious worldview. Or are anti-science. No thanks. Nothing with overly complicated manipulatives required, or that I can't figure out what the heck to do with - Miquon and LTOW fall into this category for me. Nothing that is craft or activity centered. I can be persuaded to "do stuff" - heck, we made butter and cookies from Germany today - but I like to center education on books, not on doing sutff. That's just the way I roll. Nothing really repetitive or fill-in-the-blanky, like FLL And yeah, no all on a grade level things - neither of my kids are all on one grade level, and they never have been. I'd have no idea how to place the correctly even if I were interested. I've gotten sucked into lots of other popular things, though :lol: This is mostly me, too. The only things I absolutely refuse to consider are BJU and ACE/Alpha Omega. I can't take things with a million little pieces (I tried AAS and McRuffy LA and it drove me NUTS), and I'll use things from religious publishers, (we're using WP's Equine Science now, and used a couple of grade levels of CLE math), but I can't take a lot of heavy handed religion in my school stuff. For several years I looked and looked at Sonlight, but it never was quite what I wanted, and their upper level "cores" don't interest me at all. No desire to use MFW or HOD, either. I've dabbled with Calvert and OM, but I have found I can't use them as an as-is all-in-one package on a single grade level. Also, I don't like using really expensive things for a single elementary school subject. I just can't make myself pay $150 for 3rd grade history or 1st grade LA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 anything that wraps an orderly subject in a disorganized story (LoF, MCT Grammar) I love this! This is exactly how I feel about both of those. And the disorganized story ends up unnecessarily over complicating what shouldn't have been so complicated in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheApprentice Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Teaching Textbooks LoF MUS MFW BJU Singapore Math (too intimidating) Abeka Alpha Omega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 This is mostly me, too. The only things I absolutely refuse to consider are BJU and ACE/Alpha Omega. I can't take things with a million little pieces (I tried AAS and McRuffy LA and it drove me NUTS), and I'll use things from religious publishers, (we're using WP's Equine Science now, and used a couple of grade levels of CLE math), but I can't take a lot of heavy handed religion in my school stuff. For several years I looked and looked at Sonlight, but it never was quite what I wanted, and their upper level "cores" don't interest me at all. No desire to use MFW or HOD, either. I've dabbled with Calvert and OM, but I have found I can't use them as an as-is all-in-one package on a single grade level. Also, I don't like using really expensive things for a single elementary school subject. I just can't make myself pay $150 for 3rd grade history or 1st grade LA. Right! I forgot about Equine Science, we loved that, we just had to toss a single page and the rest of it was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Anything that involves lapbooking or cutting and pasting. All the things with "pockets" in the title. Oh, I so agree with you on this. Also Apologia's Elementary series -- I know so many people love it, but every time I see a sample at a friend's home I am just reminded! Why are there so many exclamation marks?! It is so exciting! And if we use frequent exclamation marks and TELL the reader that the God's creations are amazing then it will be more exciting and amazing!! (Or apparently, at least more exciting and amazing than we could conclude by just observing the real world around us and reading well-written books.) I think I'm just not meant for an elementary science "program" ...that's a big part of the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 FIAR. I have friends who just love it. Not for me, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Well there is lots of stuff I wouldn't consider out of hand because it is religious. But the one popular curriculum that I see lots of people liking but I know just isn't for us is MCT. I was on their listserve or yahoo group or something for a while because I was considering switching over. And even the people who had bought the material couldn't figure it out. I saw so many panicked posts from people with the books in their hands who just had no idea how to make it work. And it costs a whole lot of money for something that needs figuring out. I own BFSU and use it and like it, but it is a hate/love/hate thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Also, although I will admit to browsing the MCT site recently, I agree with Stripe who posted upthread, that I really feel like I'm missing something there. Did you look through *ALL* the components? I had originally been totally underwhelmed by MCT based on my looking through a friend's copies of just the 3 elementary grammar books and none of the other components. They seemed so superficial and it wasn't until I got the complete "town" level that I realized 90% of the grammar instruction at the elementary level is actually in the "writing" books (Magic Lens 1 is totally different in format and is "meaty" in itself). All the people who'd kept reassuring me that MCT was, in fact, "meaty" *IF* one uses *ALL* the components together were correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssavings Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Beautiful FeetElemental ScienceHO/RSO. MFWSonlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 All the people who'd kept reassuring me that MCT was, in fact, "meaty" *IF* one uses *ALL* the components together were correct. But then it's too expensive. My feeling is that if you have to use all these multiple books to make it work, put it all in one book and charge less for it. $200 for one level of an elementary LA program is, to me, silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prissygirls Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Oak Meadow Rod and Staff English grammar MFW AAS/AAR BJU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I'm pretty sure I've looked at everything and been tempted by many things. But there are a few that I know would not work here or just don't appeal to me...... Oak Meadow or anything Waldorf-y. I don't want to do handcrafts or do anything messy and super involved. I don't think it's rigorous enough for me (or at least in the way I perceive a rigorous education). ACE - It just seems like fill-in-the-blank and then move on as quickly as possible. Too many worksheet pages! Anything completely computer-driven or online-based or even DVD - instructed. I want real books and I want to be the one teaching it - or at least involved in the teaching. I might change my mind one day but I don't want my kids in front of a screen all day. They would not do well with it either. Sonlight - I don't love their booklist. I would choose different books - so I do - and I read them on MY schedule which does not include chopping them up into tiny pieces read randomly over different weeks. MFW - I can't do the packaged thing. HOD - Too many boxes - if one wasn't checked one day I would lose my mind. And I would tweak too much. MCT - It seems super complicated and super expensive and super time consuming. Abeka and BJU - I used some of them when I was in private school for middle school. They were just so boring to me. Rod and Staff - It just looks boring and it's not pretty at all! Singapore - I'm not a math person and it looks so complicated! Miquon - I know I wouldn't "get" it and I don't want to feel like a total idiot as I try to play with colored rods with my kindergartner. There are many others that tempt me but I just "know" they wouldn't work. But I keep looking. Help me! It's not even February anymore but it's still freezing outside and I think it's making me want to order something................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 But then it's too expensive. My feeling is that if you have to use all these multiple books to make it work, put it all in one book and charge less for it. $200 for one level of an elementary LA program is, to me, silly. And then, I'd make another claim -- any publisher of material for children that produces books/curricula that require a major leap of faith that, despite the fact that it looks like a slim and meaningless volume, it actually is the most fabulous thing ever that will result in genius children, seem to be modeling their sales pitch on "The Emperor's New Clothes." And I feel distinctly uncomfortable with that approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I wasn't sure I had anything to add to this and then I started reading. Lol. Here's my list: - Abeka anything - Singapore math - high school level Apologia (we actually love the elementary level though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Saxon Apologia Bob Jones Abeka MUS Rightstart TOG Complicated writing programs (IEW? CC?) LOF :iagree: :iagree: This is my list as well I would add in: Obscenely high priced math programs such as Derek Owens. I can get prealgebra through algebra II, for free (and he likes it!) and once DS gets into the higher level math I can pay for him to take the same course at the community college for LESS and he will get college credit for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 And I feel distinctly uncomfortable with that approach. I agree with you, but I also must say that I met MCT at a conference and spent almost 30 minutes talking to him. Although I didn't buy his stuff, he was a lovely, lovely human being and I never felt like a potential sales target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Obscenely high priced math programs such as Derek Owens. I can get prealgebra through algebra II, for free (and he likes it!) and once DS gets into the higher level math I can pay for him to take the same course at the community college for LESS and he will get college credit for it. Yep. The prices people charge are insane. There are excellent curricula out there that are free or nearly so. I just can't believe the quality of the instruction is worth the gigantic price tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 And then, I'd make another claim -- any publisher of material for children that produces books/curricula that require a major leap of faith that, despite the fact that it looks like a slim and meaningless volume, it actually is the most fabulous thing ever that will result in genius children, seem to be modeling their sales pitch on "The Emperor's New Clothes." And I feel distinctly uncomfortable with that approach. Are we still talking about MCT? I've never read that it was supposed to make your child a genius, just geared towards the gifted population. I LOVE MCT, the Island level anyway, which is all we've tried, because it works for my son. I'm sure it doesn't work for plenty but he loved it and it presented grammar in a way he understood and enjoyed. He begged for more. I'd love it if it were cheaper but I don't begrudge them for asking the price they do, it is only worth what people will pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 But then it's too expensive. My feeling is that if you have to use all these multiple books to make it work, put it all in one book and charge less for it. $200 for one level of an elementary LA program is, to me, silly. I *AM* annoyed that MCT revised the program to make the student books a required part of the program rather than the parent just being able to get the TM. With the earlier edition, the only student book needed was the practice workbook and even then, the parent could just write the sentences on a whiteboard. With the old edition and just getting the TM's, the price was not all that more expensive than piecing together separate programs for grammar, writing, vocabulary, and poetry. The total for FLL 4 TM + student book plus WWE 4 student book plus Worldly Wise 4 TM + student book plus IEW Grammar of Poetry TM + student book (no DVD's) would be $140 at RR. MCT used to sell the basic "town" level set without the student books for around $160 IIRC. So not all that much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Spalding/WRTR It just seems way too complicated for something that doesn't need to be that difficult. I feel this way about IEW, although I've considered it. The fact that I need a 9 hour (or whatever) video to show me how to use the program just seems ridiculous. Simplify, people. Simplify! LOL My poor Bob Jones is really taking a hit in this thread. LMBO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I *AM* annoyed that MCT revised the program to make the student books a required part of the program rather than the parent just being able to get the TM. With the earlier edition, the only student book needed was the practice workbook and even then, the parent could just write the sentences on a whiteboard. That's probably my fault. I straight-up asked MCT if I really would need the student book because all the information was in the teacher manual. He cheerfully agreed that it was. Maybe he was not so cheerful when he got back to his office ... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Are we still talking about MCT? I was talking in general about programs that are unimpressive yet supposed to cause the earth to shake after your child uses them. I am not aware of any claims of that sort being made by MCT, although they may be made by some of his devotees. I have a more generic beef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 That's probably my fault. I straight-up asked MCT if I really would need the student book because all the information was in the teacher manual. He cheerfully agreed that it was. Maybe he was not so cheerful when he got back to his office ... :D I think Royal Fireworks Press noticed that 90+% of homeschool sales did not include the student books so don't feel guilty, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcat Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Apologia science Classical Conversations MFW, HOD, SL, Winter Promise, etc. Don't do boxed curricula and avoid products that use religion as a marketing tool. The exception to that rule being that I do use some products from CAP and Memoria Press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I was talking in general about programs that are unimpressive yet supposed to cause the earth to shake after your child uses them. I am not aware of any claims of that sort being made by MCT, although they may be made by some of his devotees. I have a more generic beef.I feel this way about Art of Problem Solving after spending an hour last fall looking over a friend's copies of the Pre-Algebra and Intro to Algebra books. Not that it's an unimpressive program (it certainly looks very challenging). But I didn't feel like it lived up to all the hype about it being THE ONLY PROGRAM IN THE WORLD RIGOROUS ENOUGH FOR GIFTED STUDENTS!!!!! that it's devotees act like it is. I thought that the AOPS problems looked pretty similar to the harder Singapore Discovering Math problems (especially the ones from the DM workbook). Yes, AOPS is A great option for gifted kids, but it's not the only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 ACE paces...I was even offered a bunch of free paces for my kiddos and I turned them down. I used them myself in third grade, and never learned a thing. Just my opinion, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 MUS, Saxon, or Singapore MCT (except for the Poetics), AAS, FLL, or WWE Any 4 year History or Science cycle Rosetta Stone!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 So...the curriculum that I finally found that works for us is complete, comes all together, includes almost all subjects, and is rigorous and expensive. But I wish it were Christian. So, you'd think that HOD would work for us... BUT the curriculum I have no desire to ever try is HOD. I look at it and just get completely overwhelmed by the whole thing...the number of boxes to check, the fact that you have to add DITHOR to get a full LA program, the extra books required, etc. etc. etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Anything from a Christian worldview, and anything overly expensive. This pretty much eliminates all homeschool science curriculums except BFSU which I am too lazy to do. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Even if I were rich I would stay away from Rosetta Stone based on principle alone. Firstly they charge way too much money, and then they tell you not to re-sell YOUR material. All of that hooey about you not owning what is on the cd is just ridiculous. So do I not own the words in a book either? Maybe we should not be allowed to re-sell anything. Then anything that comes with a *fog* period (aka TOG) is more complicated than it needs to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 MCT Saxon Abeka TOG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie4 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 MCT LoF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froggiemomof3 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 MUS Calvert Oak Meadow Singapore Math Apologia Elementary Science books(tried and nope) Abeka MCT LoF Teaching Textbooks any online K12 based curriculum/school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I am pretty much in agreement with other posters. I have had no desire to use popular boxed style curriculum from Christian publishers. Sonlight, tog, mfw, abeka, bju, hod, and so on. Science like apologia or elemental make my skin crawl. Teaching textbooks has never interested me. And I agree about royal fireworks press books. Every time I look at them I think what's the point. I feel aas/aar may be too expensive, but I admit at being curious. Right start drives me batty, but the card games are somewhat tolerable. Art of argument is another popular thing that I have no desire to use. Mystory of history...Give me break. Anything that requires lots of parts and books and dvds ...IEW or certain art programs. Not a curriculum, but Audible and audio books in general annoy all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I thought of another one: Singapore math. Ironically, my reasons for not choosing Singapore originally were that I didn't want to spend so much money, and I didn't want to keep shuffling a bunch of books . . . says the girl who has spent hundreds of dollars on supplemental math books, and has a large stack of them to pull from on the floor beside the bookshelf . . . . :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Not a curriculum, but Audible and audio books in general annoy all of us. I have never once used an audio book or a Kindle book, etc. I have no desire to start. I should write a book entitled How to Homeschool like You Live in Little House on the Prairie Times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Rightstart Math The Latin Road Abeka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Also Apologia's Elementary series -- I know so many people love it, but every time I see a sample at a friend's home I am just reminded! Why are there so many exclamation marks?! It is so exciting! And if we use frequent exclamation marks and TELL the reader that the God's creations are amazing then it will be more exciting and amazing!! (Or apparently, at least more exciting and amazing than we could conclude by just observing the real world around us and reading well-written books.) :lol: Had to giggle at this. I was reading Apologia's Astronomy to my dd#2 & dd#3 the other day & dd#2 asked why everything was 'amazing.' There were three 'amazings' in one paragraph. I usually skip the superfluous paragraphs (pages) with all the God is Awesome! stuff when I'm reading aloud but my mind was wandering, so I was just mechanically reading without thinking. Thus, she noticed how Wonderful! & Amazing! everything is to Ms. Fulbright. This is our second time through. I'm editing even more heavily (except for that small set-back this week) than the first time. :driving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 TOG, CAP, WWS, all the religious boxed curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Any boxed sets requiring my kid to be at the same level for spelling, writing, and reading. Anything with a strong Young Earth basis. Most black and white workbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Heart of Dakota History Odyssey All About Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Tharp Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Any science with a creationist bias. History with a providential bias. Anything that is too crafty/lots of small parts/cumbersome to implement. IEW, Rightstart, AAS, probably Mbtp, Waldorf, MUS Used to be anything religious, until I found out that R&S works really, really well for my oldest. Never BJU or Abeka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGHEALTHYMOM Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Literature books / High School level I see the value since it is impossible to read everything... I do find that even if I don't like something, I will use it if it is working, especially if we are outsourcing, or having success where there was once a struggle. Learning Disabilites have to be worked on and I hate trying to figure it all out. Anything boxed :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Even if I were rich I would stay away from Rosetta Stone based on principle alone. Firstly they charge way too much money, and then they tell you not to re-sell YOUR material. All of that hooey about you not owning what is on the cd is just ridiculous. So do I not own the words in a book either? Maybe we should not be allowed to re-sell anything. Then anything that comes with a *fog* period (aka TOG) is more complicated than it needs to be. this made me laugh about the fog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 Just found this and thought I would add: Handwriting with Tears...so ugly! And any handwriting curriculum with a modern cursive Q, even if I love the program. I don't quite understand Sonlight...the cores are confusing to me. Math-U-See or Teaching Textbooks probably not Singapore either because I like a spiral Heart of Dakota I get drawn to a lot of box curricula, but it wouldn't work for me. I do like the idea of Tapestry of Grace though. FLL (duck) The Parents guide to reading or How to read in 100 lessons Apologia science (I hate the chatty writing.) Turned off by Mystery of History for the same reason...don't like the writing style. History or science from a boring textbook Memoria Press...I am sorry, but their curriculum looks so boring, and I like classical education. IEW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 IEW. I am so glad a friend had this and I was able to look at it for a week before wasting that kind of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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