A Co-Op that I teach in is doing SOTW 3 this year. We were supposed to be doing american history. But have chosen SOTW and are really happy with it. It helps show other places at the same time of American history and how it affected the american history. nancyt.

I read all the posts. I can quite agree. There was just something there inside me that kept saying NO!!!NO!!! NO!!!, I have used some of sonlight books in our reading and have enjoyed them. However, I want a christian based curriculum. I want them to learn a Christian worldview,And as one person remarked, the innocence doesn't need to be stollen away too young. nancyt.

Hi, I started my dd in latina christiana in 3rd grade, there was no previous Grammar study for her. We had done basic things for language arts, but nothing tremendious. She loved doing her latin. God bless, nancyt.

Wow!!! I am impressed at everyones organizational skills. We are going into 5th grade, I am getting better but i still have a long way to go. I have a hearts desire to do my own lesson plans, and use books the way i want, but I am just not organized well enough, or knowledgeable enough to put it together in a sensible manner. Thanks all of you, nancyt.

Hi For SWR try to find someone selling the entire set. or if you can afford it, buy the entire set. You will recoup your money because you use it for several years. It is an awesome program. God bless, nancyt.

If you have the time and money the kits are excellent. however, I never seem to have the time, getting through the reading and the notebooking has been basically all we do. I am sure my dd would enjoy doing the experiments and such. but time is a big factor at our house. hth. nancyt.

If you are good in english you don't need the teachers manual. however, I am not good in english so I always get it. Just to make sure I am giving my dd the correct answers. I have been known to be wrong. It also makes it alot easier to check the answers. However, being tight on money. try buying a used teachers manual, That way you save money. Someone is always selling one on one of the forsale boards. God bless, nancyt.

My dd thinks saxon is terribly boring. She likes the bright pages of the Abeka, and it goes into detail teaching the work right on the student page. I like the curriculum guide for the arithmetic because it gives you other helps to do for drill work and such. However Saxon, Abeka, and most of the others were made for a school setting and busy work. If your child knows the material, move on, dont drill drill drill if they are good at it, move on to a new lesson. I know some friends who use saxon and do every other problem. I know some who do that with abeka. You rule the curriculum it doesn't rule you. God bless, nancyt.

I have found the majority of the time, if it is close to the current edition, that the teacher books work just fine, even if it is not the same year. Most of the student books when they are updated are just picture updates. some words here or there are changed. But majority is the same. For instance, My daughter is in a co-op using Abeka, we are 5th grade, So this year 5th grade was all updated. Well, I had to buy new student books, But I compared the Student pages to an older version teachers book and it worked fine. The only time it did not work as well as i would have liked was last year with the Language arts. They set up the 4th grade language arts in different order than the year before. However, if you looked for the units and sections, they were the same, just in a different part of the book, I hope this helps. God bless, nancyt.

I am right there with you on the spelling. Professionally, it does detract from their credibility. It does make people look ignorant. I know a little spelling error here or there is one thing. But professionally, well that's just crazy. :)

We use R&S penmanship, english, math, spelling. Latina Christiana We also use Teaching Textbooks History between veritas press, and Sonlight. Science we use Apologia I try to have all our work as christian because i want to build a christian worldview and have my daughter understand God is the creator of everything including math being an absolute, English as he created language, History as HIS story, Science, he is the maker of all things, and so on. :)

I see you have alot of children, I know i would not be done by lunch when i was schooling that many. How I am homeschooling only one, if we start at 830 or 900 we are done by lunch, unless we get into something really interesting and we will go over, or if my dd daydreams a little to much then we will go over. but with just the two of us. it is generally done by lunch. I know it would never be done by lunch if i had several children. God bless, nancyt.

Oh Please don't worry, taking your dd out of public school is probably one of the greatest gifts you could ever give her. My two oldest went to public school because i was a single mom. They turned out great as far as the world is concerned. but their beliefs are much more worldly. My youngest is in 4th grade, she has never seen the inside of a public school. BUt God definately has a sense of humor. I personally went to public school. I learned nothing. i was a socializer. I put my books in my locker at the beginning of the hear and took them out at the end. I was interested in boys and partying. If you asked me the definition of academics, i would have said What is that? We are having a wonderful time homeschooling, and guess what, I am in 4th grade.... you heard me, that is right I am in 4th grade. I am learning Latin, I am doing Rod and Staff Grammar, and I am actually getting it. I am doing rod and staff math and teaching textbooks, and i am really catching on. We are having a great time. You can do it. dont beat yourself up. your homeschool IS NOT a public school. you learn through out all of hometime. especially alot of home=ec and character building. Science could be planting a small garden or herbs. HIstory could be reading living books, doing it together. growing a relationship. it is AWESOME> but there are still times i could pinch my daughters head. but it is still worth it. We love homeschooling. I hope this has encouraged you!!!!! nancyt. :)

I would first have to say what are your beliefs? I have three daughters, my older two who are almost 26 and 27, started in a private school, then in 3rd and 4th grade i took them out and put them in a public school. I would personally say that is probably one if the biggest mistakes i have ever made. my oldest daughter was a honor student from k5 - graduating with her bachelors degree. my middle daughter dropped out at 16 and finally got her diploma in 2009 at 25 years old. By the worlds standards they both have good jobs and are doing well for themselves. However, their values and worldview is totally opposed to what I had taught them at home. The older I got the more my views changed. My youngest daughter who will be 10 yrs old in June, has never seen the insides of a public school. and Will never go to one. I love my two older daughters with all my heart, but the oppose me coming and going on the school thing. Their view is much more geared toward what is going on in the world, instead of what I wanted them to have as separate unto God. The values the teachings in Public school is not that just evolution is a theory, all their books talks about millions of years ago as if it is a fact. That is a belief. and that is not our belief. If it is your belief, then you should be fine. however, if you want to raise your child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, then it is totally opposed to anything God's word has to say about the way we should raise and teach our children. It all boils down to do you want your child to live a secular life style with secular and evolutionary values. Or, do you want your child to have a Christian Worldview with Godly values. I do have people i know that are christians and send their kids to public school. My opinion is i disagree with this. because I have already done it. . Been there and see the results. nancyt.

I live in Pensacola, Fl where they make the Abeka Curriculum. So many homeschoolers in my area use it all the time. My two older daughters actually went to their private school. Pensacola CHristian Academy. I loved their books. We still use their readers. They are extremely traditional. Teaches like a public school but with Christian values and scriptures every now and then. It is a great Phonics program that Well trained mind has recommended, their grammar is good also. I find their math is a little too hard for 3rd grade. but that is just a personal opinion. The one thing i dont like is having so many books to go with each subject. I would tend to get lost. I like simplicity. nancyt.

We are starting 5th grade we use Advanced reading and reasoning skills using the Bible: walking with Jesus by the Noah Plan. Rod and Staff Grammar 5 Teaching Textbooks 5 Latina Christiana 1 Noah Plan Literature IEW for Writing History is eclectic. doing american history this year. using Principle approach/charlotte mason for this. Rod and Staff Spelling 5 A reason for handwriting e nancyt.

I would say Rod and Staff also, for easy basic days i use easy grammar, but it is like an extra since it is really easy. Rod and staff goes into much greater detail. I think it is very very thorough and deep. nancyt.

I live in Pensacola where they make the Abeka Books, We have a school called Pensacola Christian Academy and PEnsacola Christian College, the college is where they make the books. It is a textbook approach just as a public school would have, but it is with a christian worldview. Their phonics program is great it is recommended in the well trained mind. Their grammar program is really good too. I have used alot of their material. I really enjoy their readers for each year, they are Character based training. History stories. and are very enjoyable. For Grammar i prefer Rod and Staff, it is also a textbook approach, but being a mennonite based program, it is not colorful like Abeka. however, it is very thorough, and much cheaper to buy. living in Pensacola, I am not able to purchase the curriculum guides from Abeka. not allowed unless i live more than 50 miles away from the school. I can however buy the texts and tests and answer keys, but i have to sign a paper saying i wont show it to anyone especially who goes to the school. Having the Abeka program here, and the private school here, Their school is the most inexpensive private school in pensacola, and one of the best. nancyt.

Hi, Being very advanced is great, I saw alot of great advise. I like the principle approach, however, it can get teacher intensive, but with a very advanced academically child, she could do all the research and this is great for the logic stage. take a subject. no matter what curriculum you are in. Pick out key words. then use the 1828 dictionary to look up the definitions and then a bible commentary to look up the same words choose scripture that would apply to your subject you are using. this is the RESEARCH STAGE. then the REASON STAGE is next. this is your logic stage. you reason from the definitions finding principles and leading ideas. THen you use the RELATE STAGE and relate this to your own life. Relate it to who you are studying whether history, science language arts, literature, math. THen you record it all down and you have now a permanent record of your learning. You can do this with any subject because it is a methodology This will definately challenge any child, especially an academically advanced child.

I love the principle approach. I think it is awesome. However, from studying the book by Mr. James Rose. (one of the big red books) Principle approach is a methodology. The Noah Plan does have history from the beginning of time. The chain of Christianity starts with creation, Moses and the Law, Christ, Paul, The Bible in English, Christopher Columbus, expansion and erosion, and rebuilding. The literature for example using pinocchio teaches about italy. Heidi teaches about Switzerland, and where they are all on the chain of christianity. You could use just about any curriculum and 4r it, using research reason relate and record get the basic vocabulary of the subject, look it up in the 1828 dictionary, then look it up in the bible concordance. and discuss any subject any topic using this method. Certain people in history you could discuss if their choices were of God or self. by using the cause and effect. internal to external. Once you study it to learn it yourself you could use just about anything. But the mom has to do the work and learn for herself. its not just opening a textbook and not working first. The one great advantage of this is how much you will also learn. i hope this helps. nancyt. :)

I am not planning on doing a state history like the government schools do. While we are studying American history I will go over each state. but not mine in particular. I just feel that is to much social studies. I am not a social studies buff, i would rather learn the foundations of our history in our country and how it relates to each state in particular. nancyt.

I would have to say the Principle approach is the most biblical approach I have seen. However, it is not an approach of teaching that you just open the textbook and go. You have to train yourself first. It reasons EVERY subject, including math from a biblical perspective. You start with the vocabulary of every subject. You look the words up in the 1828 dictionary, you then use your concordance and find scripture that refers to the what you are teaching. Everything under the son is God's, every subject is God's, history is HIS story. God is the one that made numbers that is why they are absolutes. 2+2 is always 4. It teaches a Chain of Christianity, using a timeline, with specific points on the timeline. This is to show God's hand in all of history, he is sovereign. you use a notebook approach with the 4 r's. RESEARCH, REASON, RELATE, RECORD. This way you have a permanent record of your work. It is not just workbook pages, fill in the blanks, it is excellent, You can use your own curriculum, or you can use the Noah Plan, or for History there are others out there that are great. especially from the Pilgrim Institute. I have never seen one so thorough, however, it is a methodology, its just the noah plan has done the work for you. k-3rd grade has the actual books, 4th = 12th grade has an overview cd. I have to say i got the 5th grade overview, and it did not help me at all. So i got a previous year book, and used it as a guide. They are so advanced that you could use the K book for 6th grade, you would just substitute the reading and math for more advanced. the history and literature would be just fine. nancyt.

I would say of all that I have looked at which definately doesnot include every curriculum out there. BUt the Principle approach or I should say biblical principle approach which is more a methodology than a curriculum. has everything based on God's word. you give the definition of the subject for example mathematics. you get the 1828 dictionary since it is a Biblically based dictionary. you look up mathematics and get its definition then break that down. Look up the vocabulary in the bible comentary and teach the principles and leading ideas. internal to external. Noah Plan is a great curriculum for that. But it is labor intensive for the parent, because you are the example. you do the research. It is based on the 4 r-s research reason relate record. It is very good.

I like what Susan Wise Bauer said in one of her writings. I am paraphrasing. She is a wife of a pastor. She does not consider her books non-christian. She believes that teaching our children is the parents responsibility to teach from their on doctrinal views and not have the textbook insert those views. So, if you were using her history curriculum, you would from a fundamental baptist standpoint. Insert thoughts on the wars, the leaders, their character from your own doctrinal standpoint. If you were "calvanist" then you woulde insert God's sovereignty into the picture. These are examples. Which I think is a Good idea. Interestingly enough as i have studied God's word, and the line between baptist and calvanist. (Now i know there are extremes in both) but surprisingly, I found that there are more simularities than differences. Yes baptism is a difference. But for salvation it is the same. I think what is most important is teaching our children daily as deut.6 tells us to do. when something objectionable comes up in the text. Explain it to our children. Living books curriculum is a christian literature based curriculum that I do not believe has a Reformed slant. I found most classical is more on the reformed side. But teaching about the reforms i think is a positive thing. They did some very important work for christianity. Living books curriculum is literature based but it is a totally CHarlotte Mason approach. I have found things i really like on all sides of the christian spectrum for homeschooling books. The Rod and Staff which is mennonite, Veritas which is reformed, Abeka and Bob Jones which is Fundamental baptist. At least I know Abeka is because i Live in Pensacola, our President of our homeschool league is a college instructor and sunday school teacher at the college. I think like so many others have said picking and choosing out of the curriculum what you want to say to your children. When reading books. Always add your personal slant on what you want your child to learn. If they dont know about other things now, eventually they will, I believe it is best coming from us first. Explaining our feelings and differences than them finding out in the world. I pray you find what you like in homeschooling as far as curriculum goes. I just remembered one that wasnt mentioned i dont believe, That is Landmark Freedom Baptist Curriculum. It is more worktext and workbook i believe. I have never used it. But i do believe that is a fundamental baptist curriculum. God bless, nancyt.:)

living books curriculum has some great living books for science for all grades. even if you do not want to use their curriculum guides, you can check on their website and look at their titles under science. They are great. hth nancyt.