What curricula do you use

[StartingOver]

Quince - Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading, Saxon Math 1, Sonlight K & Science, First Language Lessons, Mudpie to Magnets, Aesops Fables, D'Aulaire Greek Myths, HOP Books, Fun Tales, I See Sam, Handwriting Printouts, Reading, Reading, Reading, Games and anything else we find interesting. ( Just trying to delay starting a new level till Fall, going wider and deeper. ) ( I don't buy Sonlight IG's anymore, I just love the BOOKS ! )

 

Emma - Slow and Steady Get Me Ready, Saxon K Math, Sonlight P 3/4 and P 4/5 Science with Handle On Arts to go along, and listening in to everything big brother does.

 

Both - Nature study, growing plants, birds, bugs, and anything else we come across !!

 

Everything Secular.

 

Almost Exclusively TWTM since 1999.

Edited March 21, 2010 by alatexan68

[bluemongoose]

You can see most of it in my siggy. We are mixed. Some is religious and some is secular. I tend to pick based on fit/rigor etc and if it happens to be religious so be it.

 

Most of the curriculum that we are using right now is just filler to keep us going until fall. We will be starting Phonics Road and Tapestry of Grace.

[jujsky]

We have used K12 for everything this year and I love it! It's secular, and as we're not religious we don't add anything to it. It's a very solid, rigorous program. It's not for everyone, but we like it :001_smile:

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay, I will give you a run down of what I have used with DD by age:

 

3: Accelerated Achievement demo disk. Great phonics and math, she was done with K requirements by the time she was 4. Some of the books were okay, but we like picture books better. Enter tanglewoodeducation.com: their reading selections are perfect. Wishing I had done the core book and the health curriculum.

 

4,5: Horizons K for Math: I didn't like the lack of instructions in the TM or the incremental, spiral approach; it made very little sense. Tried MFW K but I felt that it was way below her ability by a long shot so I stopped using it. The phonics were very similar to what the AA disk already had me doing. I think that I would have been much happier if we would have stuck with it. The extra books, lauri letters, and music were wonderful. The science with scriptures is a very sweet homeschooling memory. The math is integrated into the activities. The phonics includes writing and spelling. I really should have kept this. Started OPGTR and ETC but quit due to health concerns with me and new baby. Put her in PS K, going in reading at 3rd grade level and done with K math.

 

6: This year was basically a bust. MUS Alpha seemed to work at first, but she couldn't learn her facts and was extremely bored. She forgot everything she learned before this year and we had to start over. Tried to finish OPGTR but she fought it because it was too babyish and because she had learned bad sight word habits in PS K and from ETC and didn't want to sound anything out. Besides that, the stories are boring and printed in the book along with the instructions. Not very many kids enjoy this. Tried Sonlight core 1 and hated all of the read alouds. Did about half of the Sonlight 2 Easy Readers but balked at the others. Sonlight Science activities were "stupid". How to Teach Spelling: good program, but we weren't ready for it. WinterPromise Science; Shoot and Sprout, Buzz and Bite: We had fun for a couple of weeks, but mom can't keep up that pace and juggle so many books and activities. FLL: Yes, we like this one. The poems give Emily a confidence boost, the stories are fun, it teaches name, date, address, etc.

 

7: Abeka Arithmetic 1: Yes! Math that makes sense, has an excellent teachers manual, is colorful it is working! Uh, oh... she doesn't understand place value? time to add Math Mammoth, which is working better than anything; we will be keeping this one. All About Spelling: very good! Now mom can teach spelling at the level we need. She is learning to sound words out again! Phonics Road: The ultimate Language Arts curriculum! We are now doing this instead of AAS and it will be replacing all LA. Orton-gillingham (phonetic and rules based) spelling, handwriting, writing, grammar, literature... I will be using this with Jake from the start! FLL, WWE: Not necessary with Phonics Road, but we started out with them. Hard to juggle doing both of them. They are different styles by different authors. Excellent programs. I like stopping at the end of FLL 1 and then doing WWE alone. WWE pulls in literature in small doses, which is perfect for us. If I could only recommend one program, it would be WWE. Ancient Explorations:She loves the books in this and reads most of them independently. Yes! Getting her to read was a real struggle before this. She doesn't have the patience for some of the more involved activities, but remembers mommy doing some of them. The Egyptians Kid Kit from Usborne was the best. She really enjoys ancient history. Star Spangled States, Wonderful US History workbook that really stretches Emily in her abilities but she enjoys it, so happy to have this resource. Chemistry: RS4K and Elemental Science, Science that gets done. RS4K has wonderful explanations. Elemental Science requires some work in the student pages. I really like both of these. Sonlight readers 2 Intermediate: Mom loves the guide with questions and maps. DD starts out cooperating but gets really bored. We are still trying, but this usually doesn't get done.

 

With my son 3: Six Little Ducks: music CD and activities, easy peasy and he enjoys it. So do we! Slow and Steady: perfect. One activity per week, very age appropriate, teaching words and concepts for ages birth-5.

[mom4him]

so the title says it pretty accurately...what curricula do you use? Do you blend secular and religious curricula, do all curricula from one source, etc. DD is a youngin' but I am trying to start my research now so I can follow developments and such in the various programs.

We have used a lot of different ones but have just this winter transfered to all CLE. It was difficult for me to give up the living books for history and science but I realized that we really needed something more structured probably as much for myself as for the kids although they seem to really like the workbook type curr.

If I had it to do over again and knew what I know now I would have started them both out with CLE as first graders. The math, LA, reading, Bible have been great hits for both them and myself. We are enjoying the Science also. The SS I have had to split them up a bit more but I do think that it will work out well for them.

Happy hunting.:001_smile:

[Cammie]

We do secular and stick close to TWTM.

 

For 5th grade:

FLL

WWE

MCT - Island Level

Singapore Math- Standards Edition

NEOE - Physics and Biology

Lively Latin

Mind Benders

Spelling Workout

SOTW - Ancients

Mapping the World Through Art

Hindi

Violin

[Lightly Salted]

Sonlight for

 

Bible

Reading

Language Arts (but not in the future - want to do FLL/WWE or R&S)

History/Literature

Science

 

We also use

 

ETC

Growing With Grammar

MUS

Singapore (switching to Math Mammoth next year)

Artistic Pursuits

Handwriting Without Tears

A Beka cursive

[zootle]

Sometimes I think we have used about everything. Right now we have Saxon for math, Rod and Staff for english, Bob Jones for History, and Apologia for science. We read for literature. (8th, 10th, 12th)

Cindy