Best Boxed K Curriculum??

[Homemaker]

I will most likely be starting homeschooling next year and I think to not get overwhelmed my first year of homeschooling, we will probably go with a boxed curriculum. Can you reccomend a good one? Has anyone used Covenant Home or Vertias Press?

[OK Family]

I don't know about any boxed curriculum(actually sonlight is a good company), but I know about being overwhelmed. If you don't find a boxed curriculum I would focus on the three r's. Teaching reading: The parents ordinary guide to teaching reading. Writing: I had my son copying sentences. Math: We used horizon math for kindergarten. We also checked out alot of library books for K.

[Lovedtodeath]

I plan to use McRuffy with DS, because I did my own curriculum with DD and I don't want to do it again! It includes math, language arts and science.

 

Are you wanting something for Bible as well? If so then FIAR could cover literature and Bible. We loved it when we used the FIAR christian character supplement.

 

So now you know what I would do! :)

[Beach Mom]

I've used both of those (use neither of them now). Our first year we made a late decision to homeschool and I used Covenant for my first grader and VP for my 2nd grader (he was coming out of a school that used it so it was an easy first year transition). I needed a box for these two while I put together the curriculum for my oldest. Now I put together all of our curriculum but those boxes made our first year so much easier. Here are a few of my thoughts.

 

Covenant has an easier schedule to follow in my opinion. It is laid out day by day, book by book. It is easy to look across a day or a week and see where you are and what you are supposed to be doing. VP's schedule is a seperate schedule by subject so I found it harder to put the week's schedule together.

 

Covenant uses McGuffey which I really liked, and my DS really liked the phonics workbook. We did not use the MCP Math which comes with Covenant because my DS was very advanced in Math and we chose Singapore. All in all we were happy with Covenant as we got our feet on the ground.

 

VP allows more customization than Covenant. If you have a child who is at different levels, or you already have some of the books you need (which we did from another child) VP is great about helping you choose only the books you need at the right levels for your child. VP uses Phonics Museum for K and 1. My DD learned to read using Phonics Museum and really enjoyed it, it was a good fit and she liked the readers, some kids find them dry. I find VP to be more worksheet/workbook based than other curriculums, but it can be great material if implemented properly. We followed the outlines, but did not use many of the worksheets and tests. It felt a little more like school at home than I wanted.

 

We still use many of VPs materials for literature and history, but we adapt them.

 

The bottom line if you are starting with K is the boxed curriculums are more money and less work than if you put things together yourself. That said, when doing it again, I bought Teach your child to read in 100EZ lessons and Saxon 1 and that was the core of our K year. We added in crafts, handwriting, lots of reading on the couch, some songs and Bible stories and had a great year.

 

My real lesson learned is that Kinder is a year for establishing good habits, spending lots of time with books and at the library, lots of fun field trips, nature walks and adventures. I look at my 6th grader now and wonder where the time went. Enjoy every minute of your little one and don't fret too much about structure when they are so little.

 

Hope that helps!

[Mesa]

1. Sonlight

2. Abeka

 

 

Those are my 2 votes.

[Pata]

We used Sonlight for K and loved it.

[lovinmomma]

For a 1st year teaching boxed curriculum I say Sonlight.

[LAmom]

 

My Father's World K is a good curriculum.

[Homemaker]

Thanks for responding!

 

I am struggling with even doing a box curriculum, or just focus on reading (We are already doing 100 EZ) a little math and lots of field trips and playing.

 

Thanks again everyone!

[Lovedtodeath]

Thanks for responding!

 

I am struggling with even doing a box curriculum, or just focus on reading (We are already doing 100 EZ) a little math and lots of field trips and playing.

 

Thanks again everyone!

Yes! Skip the box and go with that instead. I used books of our own choosing and informal reading and math lessons (from Accelerated Acheivement, it was informal for the first couple of years). It worked great. Everyone was sure she was a genious.:tongue_smilie:

 

Someone on here has everything you need to teach the Ruth Beechick way free for download.

[Dinsfamily]

I don't know about any boxed curriculum(actually sonlight is a good company), but I know about being overwhelmed. If you don't find a boxed curriculum I would focus on the three r's. Teaching reading: The parents ordinary guide to teaching reading. Writing: I had my son copying sentences. Math: We used horizon math for kindergarten. We also checked out alot of library books for K.

 

:iagree:We're using Sonlight P4/5 as a gentle read aloud program for K (not overwhelming AT ALL!), but focusing on the Three Rs. I say start simple (3 R's and some RAs) and then add more fun subjects IF you want. We just recently added art, science experiments, and geography. I'm now looking into adding in even more science (P4/5 already includes some) because my ds wants more. We might try Spanish later in the year. If I'd tried to start with all of that the first week or even month of K, I would have gone crazy.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

:iagree:We're using Sonlight P4/5 as a gentle read aloud program for K (not overwhelming AT ALL!), but focusing on the Three Rs. I say start simple (3 R's and some RAs) and then add more fun subjects IF you want. We just recently added art, science experiments, and geography. I'm now looking into adding in even more science (P4/5 already includes some) because my ds wants more. We might try Spanish later in the year. If I'd tried to start with all of that the first week or even month of K, I would have gone crazy.

 

I totally agree with this. Start small and add more when and if you want more. We started school in August and we are finally getting into a good groove. We've slowly been adding in more activities/subjects, including some for the youngers. Art is big here. We do it almost every day. We are not super artists but it works well to include all of the kids and it's lots of fun.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

I will most likely be starting homeschooling next year and I think to not get overwhelmed my first year of homeschooling, we will probably go with a boxed curriculum. Can you reccomend a good one? Has anyone used Covenant Home or Vertias Press?

 

Wow, if this is going to be your first year homeschooling and you only have a child in Kindergarten, I would *not* buy a boxed curriculum. "A good one" is very different for each parent and child. I would spend the K year teaching your child the beginnings of reading and, if they are ready, to read; numbers and math, handwriting and good books. You can get free K booklists from Ambleside Online or Simply Charlotte Mason. You can also look at the booklists from the Sonlight, Heart of Dakota, MFW, FIAR and pick a few to start.

 

If I had it to do over again, I would have done research for me and educated myself on the styles of homeschooling and what I thought would work well with me and my kids before I purchased any box from anyone. I bought Sonlight P3/4 and P4/5, liked it, but I think it took the imagination out of the early years; bought another box, returned it; bought a complete used, sold it; bought another IG, shelved it.... I thought I was X when I really was Z.

 

Just my .02, feel free to ignore if it doesn't help! :D

Edited October 29, 2009 by Cindie2dds

[StartingOver]

I love Sonlight, I don't use the IG really, at least not in P3/4 & P4/5 but most of the book selections are awesome !!! I did buy both complete cores. I plan to continue to buy the cores, but use them in a WTM kind of way ! By Core I mean just the basic set. I also own everything from TWTM PreK and K suggestions.

 

I am a literature based mom though. We use Handleonthearts.com to suppliment some hands on activities. And tons of play !!!!

[blessedmom3]

Please don't make the same mistake as me . A box curriculum is more money and time consuming , unnecessary for K. Read THE THREE R's by Ruth Beechick . Focus on reading and for math I would suggest Singapore or Horizons ( you don't need the teacher's manual at this age) .

For reading , I used with great success my 1st son and still use it with my 2nd son ,

Adventures in phonics + their Phonics readers--. My 1st one is reading at 5th grade level and my second is progressing very well . Not colorful or fun , but it's excellent to teach reading and it's very affordable. That's all you need for K + a library card for lots of great books for science &history .

[mama2cntrykids]

I'm thinking of starting Kindy with my dd next year and taking two years to do it. She will only be 4, so therefore preschool age, but I think she'll be ready for it. She's already learning letter sounds and trying to write. *If* we go that route, I will be using MFW K. We use MFW for my 1st and 3rd grade boys and we love it! Another option that I've considered is using Happy Phonics. I've heard really good things about it! So, I guess I don't know what we will actually be doing, lol. Sorry, hope I didn't confuse you!!

 

I guess what I'm going about saying the long way is, we'll either do MFW K www.mfwbooks.com OR Happy Phonics (with other stuff added in) www.lovetolearn.net.

 

Good Luck with what ever you decide to do!! Just enjoy the time spent together!

[motherdear]

It looks neat!

[Georgiana Daniels]

I second the vote for A Beka. It has a solid phonics program. (The only things we got were the phonics/reading and math.) We don't do all the activities in the teacher's manual (in fact, I don't really use it) but dd has cruised through with much more thorough understanding than I would've imagined so early in the year (maybe because there is plenty of work to re-enforce marking vowels and blends and special sounds, etc.)

 

If your child has any background in math then the 1st grade might be more appropriate because K math is pretty simple. But if you have a young K-er then the K will probably be fine.

[LadyAberlin]

Little Hearts for His Glory

[Kate CA]

Thanks for responding!

 

I am struggling with even doing a box curriculum, or just focus on reading (We are already doing 100 EZ) a little math and lots of field trips and playing.

 

Thanks again everyone!

 

I wanted to tell you to do exactly this but I didn't want to offend you! K for us was always focused on reading and a little bit of numbers. Last year was my last K student (out of five children) and now that I have done five K years, I still believe that reading and a little bit of numbers (with lots of reading good stories) is really all that is needed.

 

I will tell you that I like VP, but I would not use their K year for any amount of money. It is just overkill. Enjoy your first K year, have fun, explore the world, and read good books.

 

:001_smile:

[Aussenfay]

I hope this makes sense, I'm rattling off a few thoughts in a hurry :).

We love Heart of Dakota's LHFHG.

 

I tried A Beka, but couldn't stand the cheesy games and twaddle. Great academics.

 

We lasted about a week with My Father's World. Neat program, but I didn't like chasing down the right books (our library is awful and can't reserve ahead of time). It was also a pain to make sure I had the right materials on hand, copies made, etc... Reading instruction was very slow and built into the program (couldn't skip ahead). Really, their K program is better suited for k4. Didn't try 1st grade. Despite the fact that it did not work for us, it was a great program.

 

Tried focusing on just the 3 R's but my daughter was bored. If I don't plan the fun stuff, it doesn't get done. My k dd is our oldest so she couldn't follow along with older siblings for fun subjects (history, geography, etc...).

 

We landed on HOD and it is PERFECT for us. It is truly open and go, which is what I need. You pick your own math and phonics programs, so you can work at your child's pace rather than be boxed into the program's pace. We love the rhymes and games that go with the lessons. I'm not sure they help her remember the lesson any better, but she enjoys them. They are simple, but things I would not think to do on my own. The lessons so far have not been tied to seasons--that bothered me in some programs because it always felt like we were falling behind (who wants to do projects with Turkeys in December?). Now we just do the next thing. Bible is great--actual devotionals and not simply Bible stories. Literature selections are great (love the Burgess books!). It works perfectly for our family because I also have two preschoolers and another on the way. We use Phonics Pathways, Singapore math, and throw in Ambleside's book selections when we feel like it. HTH!

[SilverMoon]

A library card, writing tablet and Phonics Pathways would do it, IMO. :) Kindy at my house is phonics instruction, making letters, writing your name, counting, and lots of reading.

 

(I did get a big chunky workbook for my workpage lovers, like Comprehensive Curriculum from Costco.)

[Homemaker]

Wow! Thanks so much for all the responses! It helps to hear what other people have done. My instinct tells me to keep it light, but the idea of having a "currirculm" really sounds helpful. I am so not into unschooling, so I don't want to do that, but I also know that this is Kindergarten.

 

Thank you again!

[KrissiK]

I use A Beka for LA and Math. I did their whole K program last year and thought it was really well done. Yes, they do have cheesy little games, but my kids did enjoy some of them (we didn't do them all) and I felt they received an excellent foundation in Phonics. I think their math is solid, too. I love A Beka (at least for LA and Math). It's the most visually appealing curriculum I"ve seen and my boys really respond well. I've used some of CLP's stuff. I hate their math, but like their Bible.

[JenniferB]

As to your original question, what is the best box curriculum for K, I choose K12. I am using K with my 5yo daughter and it is excellent. The phonics is thorough, the math covers concepts I would have never thought to cover without a curriculum, the Language Arts has wonderful classical books and fairy tales complete with questions to ask your dc to engage them in the story and also includes concepts I would not have covered without a curriculum such as "what goes together" "in, out, up, down, middle, between, first, last.." things like that. The Science is excellent also with many projects. I don't know about the K level History or Art, because we are doing 1st grade level on those subjects with her db, and we're not doing Music either because my state doesn't cover that subject, and I'm going through the state.

 

If you want to fill your day with plenty of learning I recommend K12. If you want to be more relaxed for K, I don't recommend it.

 

My 2nd choice would be Sonlight.

[...................]

Stick with 100EZ and add Sonlight. Sonlight 4/5

[Lovedtodeath]

Oh, actually, most of our reading selections came from tanglewoodeducation.com.

[Kirch]

I'll add my vote for HOD's Little Hearts for His Glory. Very easy to use, lots of fun, hands-on activities (similar to what I would plan for myself, but it's already planned for me), easy to customize and adapt to your needs, and inexpensive enough that you don't feel like you're wasting money if you don't do everything in it. It's also light and flexible enough that you can add other things here and there if you want to without it being overwhelming, but the days that you just do it as written, you know you've covered the basics plus some. And it only takes about 1 1/2 hours (assuming your kid doesn't get hung up on one of the games and wants to keep playing it FOREVER :001_rolleyes:).

[MommyJo]

I have bought and subsequently sold many boxed programs. I thought it would be easier in our first year but ended up researching different curriculum on the WTM boards and put together something that fit both me and my sons' better. It just seemed impossible to get the math we wanted, as well as reading, etc. since my son learns different subjects in different ways. These are the ones we have tried and our opinions:

 

*Covenant- No offense to Covenant users but I could NOT stand this curriculum. I started by purchasing their preschool curriculum and I cannot stand their day by day books. Sonlight has way better teachers guides than this "booklet" they sent me. Also, their customer service was horrible! By far, the worst company I have ever bought from. Again, no offense to covenant users, this was just my experience.

*Sonlight- GREAT FUN, however, it wasn't academically rigorous enough for us. We have talked about buying their read aloud and readers programs though because we LOVED the sonlight books. I don't care for the K program and their language arts is missing...badly. I also had language arts for 1st grade and it IMO was more for a K student.

*BJU- LOVE LOVE LOVE BJU. Their Math is very great and my middle son has actually paired this with MUS and loves it! Maybe it's the fact that I was a teaching major and love the way their guides are set up. They are FULL of information but I don't like the K program too much. I think some of it has to be that my son is gifted in certain areas so I usually have to mix and match grade levels. I do have some K items from them that I will be selling or giving away soon as I have no use for them. I actually have the series on VHS as well which is pretty cool but I think for my middle son next year we are going to try Abeka.

*Hewitt- Bought Preschool Plus and this was by far my FAVORITE preschool program in the world. I know they also had Training Wheels (which is really cheap and it's their older version of the K program) and the newer K program. They have so many fun ideas and my children really loved it!

*Abeka-I have bought items here and there from them. I have my likes and dislikes about them. They do a great in depth job of the teaching but for some reason most of their items just don't "click" with me.

Those are about it but my suggestion would be to look around the boards. It may seem easiest to purchase a boxed curriculum but you really have to take a look as to what your child's learning needs are. It may be hard at first but you can find tons of programs with really great teachers guides and if you use a planning software such as EduTrack (you can purchase the already planned lessons that are input into your computer so no typing for about 1.50 a piece) it's a little easier to track. It may be overwhelming in the beginning but my best advice is to read, read, read about homeschooling. I was lost in the beginning and these boards really helped me know what I needed to know to succeed this year.

Good Luck!!:)