What have you learned from your curriculum flops?

[kaxy]

I'd rather make NEW mistakes than repeating old ones, know what I mean? While I'm in planning mode for the upcoming year, I'm reflecting on what has worked well and what has been a belly-flop-off-the-high-dive at my house. My aim is to pinpoint reasons why I made the choice initially, and where it all went wrong. For you, maybe it is curriculum, an approach, an outside activity. Care to join me?

 

1.

 

What: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU)

 

Why I chose it: I was attracted to the inquiry aspect of exploring many topics and seeing and making connections, the potential for going deeper, and how it didn't seem like any other elementary science curriculum on the market.

 

Why it didn't work for me:  I found that the prep was too time-consuming and I was just plain overthinking it. I have the Kindle version which is fine and searchable...but my Kindle is glitchy so sometimes I would look at it on my computer. A physical copy probably would have fared better. I think if I stuck with it, I probably would have figured out a way to make it work but...

 

What I did instead: The free trial of Mystery Science was perfect. Engaging, encouraged inquiry, involved little/no prep, and required NO mental energy on my part. I bought a subscription when it was on sale. We'll keep it going and may go another direction later, but it really helped out this year for me and my kid enjoyed it.

 

2.

 

What: Morning Time

 

Why I chose it: It just sounds so lovely, the three kids and I piled on the couch/around the able soaking up truth, goodness, and beauty. 

 

Why it didn't work for me: We started out strong, probably too ambitious. It quickly faded away to nothing. I want to rekindle it, and maybe do 1-2 things consistently rather than planning to do several things and ending up with nothing at all. Also, my youngest child just is a bit disruptive and loud right now (yes, I know all of the toddler tricks for morning time) but it just wasn't a battle I was going to fight. I could blame the toddler, or the middle kid who miiight want to participate some time, or otherwise just run off and hide. I could also blame my poor parenting of allowing them to watch an episode of something on Netflix in the morning while I have my coffee and try to wake up. (Just sayin'. Just reflectin'. Don't be hatin'.) ALSO, we have had a bit of out-of-the-house activities this year. Most did not overlap, so while I don't feel that we were spread too thin, it did have an impact on the rhythm of our morning and our day.

 

What I did instead: Yeah, it just got dropped. Read-alouds still happen at various times with various kids, but it wasn't exactly Morning Time and it didn't pull in some of the varied, beautiful things I would love to enjoy with my kids. I was very good about keeping our audio books and music varied and interesting for car rides. It just ...it wasn't a thing like I had hoped. 

 

What I'm going to do next: I am going to try adding ONE Morning Time type of thing and be consistent with that. Probably over breakfast or lunch where I have a captive and perhaps quiet enough group of kids. I want to have achievable expectations for myself and family. One thing.

 

 

3.

 

What: certain pdf files

 

Why I chose them: Typically they are a lot cheaper than a physical resource; in some cases a pdf is the only format available.

 

Why they aren't working for me: I don't have a tablet. I have a phone, desktop computer, and an annoying Kindle that isn't even mine anymore; it is my kids'. Following curriculum on any of those devices is kind of annoying and limiting *for me* and I would do better to either print it out (and hope my printer cooperates) or buy a physical version in the first place. Some things I like being able to physically flip through. Perhaps I could do that with a tablet, but I don't really want one right now.

 

The exception: I will continue to purchase pdfs of files meant to be printed in the first place, such as copywork or our Right Start student sheets. Some pdf ebooks meant to be read aloud are ok and I will decide what to do with these on a case-by-case basis. But really? I think I will opt for the physical resource. 

 

I'm sure there are more. This post is long enough. :) What about you?

[HomeAgain]

I have learned...

 

-We need structure in writing.  Open-ended work like Writing Strands is frustration here.  A clear rubric and scaffolding is important.  LLATL failed for a similar reason.  It was poorly planned with no calendar to go by and work that would have taken a minimum of the school year and half the summer to complete.

 

-A good scope and sequence is important.  I'd really like for large programs to lay out their entire scope on one page, marking what is covered in each book.  FLL was a bust because it looked good, and then was so gentle it frustrated my child.

 

-printed pdfs burn out over time.  We would have enjoyed Mr. Q more, maybe, if I didn't feel like I was printing a ton and trying to flip back and forth between student and teacher books.

 

-We prefer discovery-based science to demonstration science.  Learn, learn, learn, and apply what you know to a lab.  Noeo uses Young Scientist Club kits and they're worthless.  The first page tells you what to do while telling you exactly what you'll see and on the next page it tells you why.  We could have skipped doing them all.

 

 

 

 

[regentrude]

All my curriculum flops had one thing in common: unnecessary busywork.

Fill-in-the-blank worksheets, vocab drill, oodles of repetetive practice problems...

 

TIP King Arthur study, LLLotR, Saxon.

 

What I learned: make up my own stuff, carefully design own assignments, choose mastery math program with fewer, but well designed, hard problems.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2017 by regentrude

[goldenecho]

So far the only curriculum flop has been Math U See.  It is a GREAT program, and I love the manipulatives (which we still use) and the way it teaches place value. 

 

But I it took me FOREVER to read the chapters and translate them into a lesson (back when we had access to a video player my son had trouble focusing the the videos...he really needed a PERSON teaching him in person, and I had time trying to watch the videos until our video player stopped working).   We were putting off going to the next chapter because I WAS taking too long to prep...it slowed my son down. 

 

So I learned that I needed my math to be like All About Spelling.  A simple script that I read as we do that activities (not a lengthy explanation of how to do the activities that I have to take time to translate into a simple script).  I actually like the explanation, but it needs to be separate from the script.

 

Also, I tried to follow the MUS advice about getting the addition facts really solid before teaching the subtraction facts, but subtraction is helpful for some addition (+9s for instance - I brought it in there) and I feel like in general it put off learning subtraction longer than necessary and it might have been helpful to learn those early addition/subtraction facts together.

 

  I've gotten Addition Facts that Work and Subtraction Facts that work and am going to try that, overlapping addition and subtraction. 

Edited March 25, 2017 by goldenecho

[nansk]

Things that did not work here include BFSU, MCT, and PDFs that I planned to read directly on the tablet/Kindle.

 

What does work are original WTM recommendations, curricula that I can condense/skip as needed, and PDFs that I print and bind in advance.

 

What I learnt that trends come and go, and what's in today is forgotten tomorrow. I learnt not to get swayed by threads where several posters gush over a curriculum. I realized that many of these people have not used the curriculum for long and are as likely to give it up and do something else soon. I found out that many US homeschoolers get money to buy curriculum and they have a thriving market for used curricula if it doesn't work for them. I learnt that simple, low-cost, get-it-done books that I can condense/skip as needed will work equally well for my dd.

[Ruthie in MS]

Mastery does not work here. What can be easily done today will be forgotten next week.

 

Easy Grammar works wonders for myself but for my oldest dd it was too mastery-based and moved too quickly to the next lesson. She didn't have enough time to practice the new skill.

 

The fix: I haven't figured that out yet. I haven't found a grammar curriculum that has enough built in review but isn't so rigorous (like A Beka, BJU and CLE).

 

Science is also an issue here. It doesn't seem to get done most days and my middle dd would rather have her teeth pulled. ::sigh::

[deerforest]

All my curriculum flops had one thing in common: unnecessary busywork.

Fill-in-the-blank worksheets, vocab drill, oodles of repetetive practice problems...

 

TIP King Arthur study, LLLotR, Saxon.

 

What I learned: make up my own stuff, carefully design own assignments, choose mastery math program with fewer, but well designed, hard problems.

 

This. Absolutely this.

[MyLife]

-A good scope and sequence is important. I'd really like for large programs to lay out their entire scope on one page, marking what is covered in each book. FLL was a bust because it looked good, and then was so gentle it frustrated my child.

 

 

I love looking at scope and sequence charts. I wish all curricula had them. I'm a big picture planner. I like to know where we are heading.

[MyLife]

We haven't had any major flops. A Child's Geography by Voskamp was a flop because my boys just do not enjoy listening to all that flowery language. Just the facts, please ma'am. We are also morning time drop outs. It just doesn't work for us. It sounds fabulous, but it isn't an enjoyable way for my children to learn.

[73349]

"Just say no to anything with an audio component."

 

I read him SOTW? He's delighted. Put on the CD and let Jim Weiss read it? No.

Watch a Spanish DVD? Sure. Listen to the same thing on CD while eating lunch? Nope, can't stand it.

Work through a book of kids' songs, even though we're both beginners at reading music? Fun. Listen to a CD with somebody singing those songs? No.

Borrow fifty library books on the American Revolution? Woohoo! Listen to a recorded lecture on the most interesting battle? No, definitely not.

 

I mean, I don't love audiobooks myself, but DS's aversion is much stronger.

[waa510]

Everything that hasn't worked out has been nebulous without much structure or continuity in presentation. I can't handle opening up something and being befuddled as to how to really implement it, long-term, anyway. If I'm 3 months in to using it and still feel like I can't get a grasp on what's going on...we have to ditch it. :(

 

 Things for creative, out-of-the-box people don't tend to work well for us (maybe b/c I can't wrap my head around it ;) )

 

I hate pointless busywork and have learned to cut that stuff out of an otherwise great curriculum. I didn't like things constantly repeating material for oldest but youngest seems to need that a little more so I'm appreciating that now. I hate things that jump from step A to step D (like a Math book) and expect me to fill in the blanks. I shouldn't have to youtube how to find this or that in Math b/c you didn't explain it to my kid and I don't remember b/c it's been 15 yrs.

 

Anything that has no spine going on leaves us feeling like we're floundering and we have a hard time staying consistent with those types of curriculum.  

 

So, I feel like I've come a long way in the curriculums that I can work with, but I still need *something* to work with. "Make it up as we go" doesn't work for me! 

 

 

[Maryam]

- any and all textbooks (Holt Earth Science and World History)

- will do Logic stage elemental science instead.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MeaganS]

If it takes a lot of daily-prep work or gathering of materials, no. For me, it needs to be more open and go, or at least can be made that way. I don't do tons of frills and have very little patience for busy-work. 

 

BFSU: no. Mystery Science: yes

MEP Reception: no. Singapore Essentials: yes

Five in a Row: no. A reading list: yes

Hoffman Academy pre-2.0: no. Post 2.0? Yup!

 

Also, no crafts. I can do them if I want to (usually don't want to), but they shouldn't be an integral part of the program.

 

I've managed to make AAS very open and go with very few pieces and frills. It works wonderfully for us. I do need to be careful about teacher-intensive, though. The more independent it is, the better, although I'm willing to have more teacher-intensive for core subjects.

 

Oh, and I hate reading aloud. Homeschooling blasphemy, I know, but that's the way it is. SOTW audio is a must. Any program that has reading aloud as a core component just needs to be skipped by me.

 

Oh, and if it has a video or computer component, it better stream.

 

There are things I've learned about each child, but these are more me-centered issues.

[Wheres Toto]

Anything with video or audio lessons is a flop.

 

BFSU - I have the book and it still was hard to plan.  I loved the idea, just couldn't get it to work.

 

Anything that requires multiple books at a time.

 

Anything that requires too much pre-planning.  We do much better with open-and-go.

[Seeking Squirrels]

Too many moving parts and we won't follow through as often as we should or do it all. RS was exhausting for both of us, despite it being a great program that we wanted to love. But this also varies; AAS has been great. But it's always the same pieces and pattern, so maybe that makes the difference. 

 

Repetition drives DD crazy. She doesn't want to review a concept over and over; once she's got it, she wants to move on. FLL and MUS were busts for her. 

 

I have to be able to see a clear plan of what to do next.  I've looked at BFSU several times and have the book on Kindle, but I just can't handle the format. I've been tempted by MCT but I'm afraid I would feel the same and I'm not investing that much just to have it sit on a shelf! 

[MamaWho]

Growing with Grammar and Spellwell were both flops in my house this year.  Like a few other posters, I realized that DS passionately hates busywork feeling worksheets as well as anything with a lot of repetition.   He loved WriteShop for writing this year, but I think I am going to try the whole MCT town level next year.  We really need to find something for grammar that he is willing to do. 

[5hskids]

When I first started homeschooling,nearly 4 years ago, I only knew two other people who homeschooled (years ago)and they only knew of two curriculums available.

 

USED: ACE

 

DUMPED: We hated that it is literally read a passage then fill in blanks verbatum ex. Read: Ace will run. Run Ace run. He will run and run. Then fill in blanks: Ace will _____.(choose from list) run ran ron

Run Ace ____. run wun like ____ will run and run. He Hi Ho

 

Mastery math is a definite NO in our house. We just can't handle staying on one concept for soooo long! And then leaving with no review to help keep things fresh.

 

 

I got a hold of a smart phone with internet and cannot believe all the stuff available. I searched all over creation and found

 

Christian light Education: which I use for math reading and language arts. My daughter grew in math so much this year. She is so confident and has retained everything! I love the gentle building approach and the built in review! It moves at a speed which she can keep up confidently but not get bored with!I love that it shows my dd step by step and how it is scriptedish for me. I am not extremely organized and with 5 kids, 3 homeschooling, and a 3 and 1 yr old, I just dont have time to plan and love how its all planned out for me!

 

I have found Beautiful Feet Early American history and Im literally in love with everything about it! I love history and I love how instead of some black and white textbook. History just comes to life with stories that really make you feel like you were there when it happened. My kids love being read to and I love how this is such meaningful and educational reading!

 

Sassafras Science Adventures by Elemental Science.

 

I love how they are packed with all the facts of a textbook in an interesting story. My kids are going to really love it as they will listen to read alouds for hours! I love the guides which tells me daily what I need to do!

 

So I guess my main points were: No mastery based programs, or anything requiring too much planning.

What works for us: Anything with daily plans and spiral based maths.

 

P.s Sorry if this is too long. I don't actually know anyone else who homeschools and so forums are usually the only place I can talk about anything I use or how my kids are progressing lol.

[Guest]

Growing with Grammar and Spellwell were both flops in my house this year. Like a few other posters, I realized that DS passionately hates busywork feeling worksheets as well as anything with a lot of repetition. He loved WriteShop for writing this year, but I think I am going to try the whole MCT town level next year. We really need to find something for grammar that he is willing to do.

You might check out Fix It grammar by IEW.

[eternalsummer]

If I am not personally really interested in the subject, it must be either written mostly to the student or require almost no preparation on my part.

 

BFSU did Not Work.  TOPScience is great; Mystery Science is great; the Prentice Hall bio book with the dragonfly is going fine.

 

Treasured Conversations works really well for DS8 but I am just so darned lazy about printing it off -we use the printers for our business all day and it is the last thing I remember to do.  It is taking longer than it should just because of accessibility.

 

So I guess from that I have learned that I need either an online program or a physical book already printed and bound for me.

[coastalfam]

The perfectionist in me has this strong need to use a "boxed" curriculum, or a full curriculum plan. In the past we used Sonlight, but I couldn't force all of it into each day. Now we use Wayfarers, which I love even more, but still can't seem to force into each day for our personal situation. They would work great for me if we lived in a vacuum where we had no other co-ops, sports, therapies, or commitments in the afternoons. So finally, I have learned I can still use them successfully if I use them like a weekly menu instead of a daily checklist. I have a daily lesson planner (like a "real" teacher ;) ), and I shuffle the weekly schedule from Wayfarers to work with our personal situation. That means math and LA each morning as scheduled, and History, Geography, Literature, Bible, Art, Science, Music are still consistent week to week, but we do them when we have time. So, Monday afternoon is co-op day, Tuesday is ALL the history in one afternoon, Wednesday is Therapy and more co-op classes, Thursday is ALL the science in one chunk, and Friday is Art and/or Music, bedtime is when we do our read-alouds, and lunch time is when we cover Geography or Health. Also, we make substitutions sometimes. I think I still buy the guides to satisfy the perfectionist-self, but my reality-self knows making my own schedule and substitutions is the real reason we are successful with this program.

[alisoncooks]

I've found that we are very much do-the-next-thing, workbook/textbook lovers. Seriously, my kids don't care how much creative or fun stuff I come up with -- they just want to get it done and go play.

[UnlikelyHomeschoolingMama]

I've found that we are very much do-the-next-thing, workbook/textbook lovers. Seriously, my kids don't care how much creative or fun stuff I come up with -- they just want to get it done and go play.

 

 

We call that "skip the fun and get it done."  ;-)  

[Insertcreativenamehere]

Mastery does not work for us.

 

Stick with what works even if it's not shiny and new.

 

Don't succumb to the latest curriculum fads.

 

No PDFs. They don't get used.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RenaInTexas]

Because it (the curriculum) works best for me, doesn't mean it will be best for them. I have more ability to adjust my style that dc does, so they win.

 

[knitgrl]

MUS has been a disappointment here. Part of that is the program, and part of it is me being a newbie. We did Primer, Alpha and half of Beta. I'd watch the videos with dd, and she would fly through the worksheets, getting almost everything right almost all the time. Well, we got to this year, and she was getting most of the problems on adding with regrouping right without understanding what she was doing. So this year, we have been working a lot with solidifying her addition facts so that she is faster with them (ie flash cards) and trying out MEP. The thing with MUS is that the worksheets seem to be just additional examples of the single concept taught in the lesson, without any variation. MEP seems to show a single concept in a variety of ways. Regardless of whatever math curriculum is used, what I know now is that you need to practice those math facts in addition to whatever is going on, whether is through flash cards and/or games and/or drills.

[cintinative]

A few I was reflecting on today:

 

1) buying too far ahead assuming if we like book 1 we will like book 4, etc.

2) buying pdfs (either because I hate printing them or because they get buried in my computer and I forget I own them)

3) I have extremely high expectations of a science curriculum. I *need* to supplement it. This year we had a lot of health issues and that didn't happen and I'm just so disappointed in our science year. It just doesn't feel complete to me unless I have tweaked it somehow.

4) Sometimes it is not the curriculum--it's something you are using as an add-on, that is negatively affecting the curriculum.  For example, we were getting a lot of tears here over math with my DS11. I stopped having him play Prodigy (which was taking longer than I wanted anyway), and mysteriously the tears have stopped. It was just too much math in our day. I was blind to the fact it was plain old math fatigue. I thought it was a comprehension issue. 

5) as mentioned previously--fill-in-the blanks, word searches, crosswords, etc. ONLY if they successfully reinforce the material somehow. Otherwise, I substitute with something else that will reinforce the material.  

6) My boys hate lapbooks or anything involving lots of cutting and pasting. They have been this way since year one of homeschooling at age 6 and 5. 

7) I love the idea of morning time but we just don't do it.  I do read aloud to them, we do Bible, we do artist study, and we read poems, etc. Just not all in one time chunk.  

 

 

[goldenecho]

PDFs actually work really well for me.   I've gotten a good system for storing them and since I often misplace stuff its great to just be able to print out another copy.

 

Cheap workbooks I do well with -  I can just tear pages out of without thinking of the cost.  Though I still misplace pages occassionally, so it's helpful if there's several practice pages for each subject (ie, not books where every page is necessary).

 

But expensive workbooks that you're allowed to photocopy pages from?  Those are the worst.  Because of the cost I think to myself "I really should photocopy and print this, not just use it out of the book, so I can sell the book later"   But I really hate scanning docs cause they never come out straight and it's a time suck.  Those books just sit on my shelf. 

Edited March 28, 2017 by goldenecho

[2_girls_mommy]

I have learned to really think hard before shelling out big bucks. I often have when not necessary. I have paid for more than one expensive Apologia text because co-op is using it, and my dds like to do science with co-op. It is ok for that reason for me because I have decided them doing it at co-op is best for our family for now. But it annoys me so much that we have often done the same activities using very inexpensive WTM suggestions and blank composition notebooks.

 

I have paid big money for a Spanish curriculum after researching and researching for which would be right for us. And it was a major flop. I tried it for multiple years. It didn't work for us. What did? free online resources and a .50 textbook from a used book sale, library picture books, dollar tree CDs of songs, etc. 

 

I bought all new books to move up into the WTM rhetoric stage history this past summer. When my books arrived, all the WTM recs, I realized that the suggested encyclopedia wasn't a higher level encyclopedia than the red Kingfisher we have been using for years. I think it was just a newer suggestion. I could have just kept using what we had been along with the high school books and saved a few.

 

Things like this are going to happen, but I am learning that I can get by with what I have in a lot of cases or to wait and see if I really need something before buying everything suggested sometimes.  I also really try to look at the WTM suggestions as they really do  keep price in mind. I got dd's rhetoric/writing books used on Amazon for next year based on WTM's recommendations. I spent less than $20 on them for a full credit. They are easy to follow, and will work fine for us. WTM usually does for me. They are actually quite simple to use. But then I start reading the posts and looking at MPs catalog and feel that maybe there is something wrong with teaching high school writing for $20 when everyone is buying expensive curriculum or paying for online courses. But there isn't. I can teach this using these materials. 

 

So I have learned to save some money over the years. Some. I still have the new encyclopedia, lol. But it will last us for years. Our old red KHEs (yes multiple copies) are getting pretty worn.  

[goldenecho]

MUS has been a disappointment here. Part of that is the program, and part of it is me being a newbie. We did Primer, Alpha and half of Beta. I'd watch the videos with dd, and she would fly through the worksheets, getting almost everything right almost all the time. Well, we got to this year, and she was getting most of the problems on adding with regrouping right without understanding what she was doing. So this year, we have been working a lot with solidifying her addition facts so that she is faster with them (ie flash cards) and trying out MEP. The thing with MUS is that the worksheets seem to be just additional examples of the single concept taught in the lesson, without any variation. MEP seems to show a single concept in a variety of ways. Regardless of whatever math curriculum is used, what I know now is that you need to practice those math facts in addition to whatever is going on, whether is through flash cards and/or games and/or drills.

 

What is MEP ?  (Not familiar with that acronym).

[knitgrl]

What is MEP ?  (Not familiar with that acronym).

 

MEP stands for Mathematics Enhanced Programme. It's a British curriculum that is available online for free.

 

http://www.cimt.org.uk/projects/mepres/primary/index.htm

 

I am just starting to use it, so there are probably a lot of other people on the forum who can give you a better overview than I can. I find it intriguing because it's not worksheets full of addition problems. We have been working on Year 1 and there have been several problems that I could not just look at and come up with the answer, I had to figure them out. I guess you can just do the worksheets, but there is a lot in the lesson plans that also help to teach and reinforce concepts. They can be a little intimidating, but as with lots of things, I have found it is just a matter of sitting down and doing it.

[Homeschoolmom3]

The biggest thing for me is not to have a curricula own you.  I use it and tweak it to fit my philosophy of education and not the other way around.  It took many years for me to overcome this and it has been freeing and we have seem much fruit when I gave in! It's okay if you don't finish a whole book in one year!  :-P  I always tell new homeschoolers figure out your goals and educational philosophies before even looking or talking about curriculum!  :-)  Also everyone's homeschool will look differently and it really should not be compared to one another.  There are so many dynamics and different situations!  Uhh I could go on...:-P

[Guest2]

Never buy to "invest" . What works for oldest usually did not work for next one, ect. I wish I would have spent a lot more time figuring out how each one learned, and it would have saved a lot of time, effort , and money. Co-ops, Classical Conversation type things, and two day schools with set curriculums were huge fails: massive time suck,inferior materials and lots of push back when I tweaked to make it fit my kids. Although individual classes outsorced have been great, I wish I had avoided the others.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Silver Brook

[Bluegoat]

I also find pdfs don't work well for me if I have to print off much. If I'm tempted, I take into account that I will send it to staples to print and bind for me - so it has to be worth that cost and trouble.  So far, only MM has made the cut.

 

Singapore Math was a failure for me.  I liked it's basic method, but even with the HIG, it didn't have enough instruction for me.  I need a program that tells me how to explain things fairly clearly, preferably right in the text, and I am much more comfortable deciding to skip unnecessary repetition than figuring out what I need to add. 

 

I also figured from this that I hate games and don't want to play them, even if it is educational for my kids.

 

I couldn't get BFSU either.  Too much do ahead time.

 

More recently, I've found I need to be less adverse to things like worksheets.  They work really well or my son who seems to need very tageted practice where he can clearly see what he will need to finish.