wendzu Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 What have you loved and what have you ditched in K-4 curriculum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 With my first 3 kids I used Saxon math, and it was fine, but as I add more kiddos into the schooling mix, this is no longer going to work. Saxon in the early grades is just too time consuming. So this year I am going to give Singapore a try with my rising 3rd ds, rising 1st ds, and rising K dd. My older two dd though, are thriving on Saxon and enjoy it, so will continue with 7/6. We'll see how it goes. :) We also tried Calvert one year, but found that it was too hard to schedule in a 4-day schoolweek. I am not really a curriculum junkie, so I generally shop around for a bit before committing to a new program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 (edited) Calvert- was not a good fit for us though my 2nd daughter learned to read well from their program. So we're ditching that after this year. The Reading lessons -worked well for my older two daughters and not so well for my 3rd. I think though after she is done with Headsprout we'll go through it again. Headsprout- is an awesome program and my 6yr old loves it. Handwriting Without Tears- was okay. I just don't care for the style of writing but it did help my oldest when she was struggling with handwriting. Writing Tales-a good fit. My daughters enjoyed it. Just wished there was more then 2 levels. Edited June 16, 2009 by TracyR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: Starfall.com Peak with Books Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding K-2 MCP Math Miquon Math Let's Read and Find Out Science series (big hit here!) Italic Handwriting (Getty-Dubay) Not best, but not worst. We like it: Spectrum Phonics Grade 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: Right Start Math Miquon Math La Clase Divertida First Language Lessons Kinderbach All About Spelling Five in a Row Worst: Math Mammoth 1st grade (I think the content is great, but Ariel kept getting overwhelmed by the amount of work on each page) Calvert Pre-K - I could have done just as much on my own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 secular hits: Growing with Grammar Story of the World history (includes a few bible stories but is generally considered secular) poetry memorization Singapore math the 'meh, okay' secular list: Singapore science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: Singapore Math Math-U-See Explode the Code Alpha Phonics Sing, Spell, Read & Write Handwriting Without Tears Sonlight (not secular, but it's not hard to replace a few books we choose not to use) Worst: Saxon Math -- the upper grade levels aren't bad but it's just overkill for younger ones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: Singapore Maths; SOTW (make your own decisions about how secular it is); Galore Park Junior English; Handwriting Without Tears. No really useful disasters: we didn't like SL LA3, but that was an older version. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best:Right Start Math Miquon Math La Clase Divertida First Language Lessons Kinderbach All About Spelling Five in a Row Worst: Math Mammoth 1st grade (I think the content is great, but Ariel kept getting overwhelmed by the amount of work on each page) Calvert Pre-K - I could have done just as much on my own I thought La Clase Divertida was Christian? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 BEST: RightStart Math Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding Latin Prep (though I must note this isn't really designed for K-4, we just used it anyway, at a slower pace.) I can't think of anything that I would call "worst", though we were not all that impressed with Singapore science. BFSU is much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacalm Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 What worked: Saxon Phonics K and 1 Singapore Math Alphaphonics Calvert K12 First Language Lessons Saxon Math up to 5/4 (fourth grade) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Thumbs up: FIAR (just don't use the Bible supplement and it's secular) Little Otter's Science Miquon Math Mammoth (but I do agree with Aurelia that it can be overwhelming, I have cut pages up to make them short and sweet) Golden History of the World (this is an OOP from the 60s and I just love it) Pathway readers (they're Amish, but don't have any religious content, they do have a Little House on the Prairie feel with very traditional families) Thumbs down: Rightstart didn't work for either of my kids, it was just too manipulative centered Okay: Calvert, it's not very flexible but their reading has been a nice change of pace for both kids and their writing is surprisingly classical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: Singapore Math Getty-Dubay Italics Sequential Spelling WWE Reading Reflex Trying for first time but wish I'd found it for my older kids: Mr. Q Classic Science Wanted to like but sat on shelf: English for the Thoughtful Child Intermediate Language Lessons Mudpies to Magnets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Bests: Math: Saxon. I should have stuck with it instead of switching around. Bottom line is that it worked for ds, and the fact that I didn't like it shouldn't have got in the way of that. Spelling: SpellWell. Actually goes from grade 2-5. The daily pages are fun exercises, puzzles, games. It groups words by rule or sound and includes some of those words that don't quite fit the rule, too. Learning to Read: LLATL Blue kit & Red Kit. These are both secular. There might possibly have been one or two references to God in there somewhere, but nothing that made me cringe, and I'm very picky about that stuff. It was a fun programme and the readers were very cute. Ds enjoyed these very much and they gave him a really solid reading foundation. Worsts: Math-U-See: It was one the things I tried. It was so very, very dull for ds. It made math a chore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: SOTW AAS WWE R.E.A.L. Science by Pandia Press I'm still looking for grammar that I LOVE for Grammar stage. GWG was a nice, straight-forward program that we used last year. My 2nd grader will use it this year, since we already have it, but I think I'll try FLL for 3rd grade. The only K-4 curriculum that I would never use again is MCP math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 (edited) I don't have a best yet, unless I toot my own horn lol. We enjoyed FLL when DD first started it, but she is bored with it now. FIAR did not work for us. Worsts: Math-U-See: It was one the things I tried. It was so very, very dull for ds. It made math a chore. :iagree::iagree: Abeka math is working wonderfully and I have found nothing Christian about it so far. Edited June 15, 2009 by Lovedtodeath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best: Song School Latin (99.9% secular!) Right Start Math First Language Lessons All About Spelling SOTW (may or may not be secular "enough" for you, it is for me) Worst: Saxon - made math ZZzzzzzz Spelling Workout - busywork at the A level Living Learning Life Science - I got the pattern after a few animal units, the human body section was too simplistic for us, and worst of all they have no Earth/Space teacher samples online and never responded to my inquiries. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Best OPGTR FLL 1 & 2 (3 nor 4 were released when dd was done w/ 1 & 2) Miquon AAS The Elements SOTW Writing Tales (there was one story in WT1 that had, I felt, some 'religion' mixed in, but it was very slight, we discussed it for a moment, and moved onwards, especially since it was in a 'traditional tale.') Worst Spelling Workout - this was a horrible fit for my 'bad' speller R.E.A.L. Science - it just wasn't what she or I either one needed for 1st or 2nd grade science Developmental Math - I wish this was a better fit for dd, but it just wasn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Our Favorites History Odyssey level 1 REAL Science Odyssey Teaching Textbooks Is working but isn't secular CLE Learn to Read CLE math 1 Worst Saxon, it just didn't do it for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Loved MUS, R.E.A.L. science, Handwriting Without Tears Hated Writing Tales I like, kids not so thrilled with GWG, SOTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeinfl Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) Winston Grammar Explode the Code Megawords Used FIAR for a short time Reading Reflex SOTW (used with an older child, though) MCP map skills books-love 'em! Spelling Plus Dictation book Math For Your First and Second Grader (Steve Slavin) The Complete Book of Time and Money WWE level 1 (will start level soon 2 and see if my son is ready) Cursive Connections Modern Style book A (we love this!) There is more, but I can't remember it all, and some of it is for the higher grades. I'll update if I remember the rest... Okay, after reading a few of the other posts, I remember some of my worsts and they were: Saxon Math Spelling Workout Modern Curriculum Press Math made my son cry Blessings!!! Dee Edited June 16, 2009 by deeinfl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Best: K12 Science, SOTW, Singapore Math, Growing with Grammar Worst: I'm not thrilled with Spelling Workout, Explode the Code, or Saxon Math Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I don't have much to say yet, but the most baffling book I've seen recently has been Nebel's Elementary Education. I just...don't get it. What is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 We love: Montessori Read and Write All About Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Best: Singapore Primary Maths, with CWP and IP Michael Clay Thompson LA Lively Latin 1 and 2 (we've quit LL2 only because new chapters aren't coming out quickly enough) Primary Grade Challenge Math Megawords The Elements Learnables Spanish Snap Circuits Pretty Good: My Pals Are Here Science -- all levels History Odyssey Level 1 Ancients History Odyssey Level 2 Medieval (though we've morphed history into a reading course, we still use HO as a jumping off point) R.E.A.L. Science Life Getty-Dubay Italics Puertas Abiertas Minimus OK: NOEO Physics I Worst: Spelling Workout Calvert Spelling CD-ROM (the new one) Unspeakably Bad: Power Glide Elementary Spanish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Unspeakably Bad: Power Glide Elementary Spanish :iagree: Didn't try Spanish, but the Latin would have been laughable if it weren't so unspeakably bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.