What do you consider the best curriculum that is the least time consuming?

[Guest BookLover]

need some input for a dear friend of mine - thank you

[Sue G in PA]

If single-subject...which one or ones are you asking about?

[Donna A.]

What are the ages of the children?

 

Does "least time consuming" mean for everyone including students, or does that refer to the parent's direct involvement?

[WTMindy]

Honestly, I have found that the best things all take work because they require interaction and that requires time. Maybe I'm too picky, but I am always tweaking stuff to make it work better for our family. I just can't do a "hand the book to the kid" type of curriculum.

[Mandy in TN]

Time required often depends on the student.

 

However, if you can make it to the local Kumon center 2x/wk, Kumon Math and Reading can be completed independently by the student. Kumon Math is similar to MUS in that it focuses on one topic at each level and mastery must be attained before moving to the next level. The material covered in Kumon Reading varies in focus from writing individual letters to reading comprehension to literary terms.

 

To round that out-

 

If you have a child that works well independently and likes to read/ write, maybe Robinson Curriculum or A2 would be the least time consuming (requiring the least face to face time) for the parent.

 

Without Kumon-

 

If you have a child that likes workbook style work, then maybe AO Life Paks, PACES, or Christian LightUnits would be the least time consuming.

 

If you have a child old enough to read/ type, any online program (K-12, etc.) may would be time efficient.

 

Also, if the problem is planning or over-planning, any traditional curriculum that comes with a check box style Teaching Guide can be less time consuming. Sycamore Tree offers school-in-a-box curriculum with a guide. Even Calvert can be time efficient when compared to putting together a program yourself or an activity-based curriculum like KONOS.

 

These are just some vague thoughts that come to mind. Without knowing anything specific about the situation, it is about the best I can do.

 

Just remember that (no matter how trim/ efficient the curriculum) children will need guidance/ teaching to stay on task and on track. Well, unless you decide to unschool, but sometimes this can be even more time consuming that curricula! LOL

 

HTH-

Mandy

[Beth in Central TX]

In my experience, the best curriculum is usually the most time consuming. Of course, the way I define "best" and "time consuming" is going to be different from someone else.

[sunflowerlady]

ACE gets my vote for ease of use, flexibility, and fostering independent learning.

 

Rita

[Kim in Appalachia]

I use that for math and English. I do not hand the books to the kids and expect them to just do it. I teach it, but it is well laid out. I find the oral reviews very helpful, and the lessons are outlined for you. (in the teacher book, which also has a smaller copy of the students page).

 

SOS is also easy, but I do just let me kids do that without anything from me (for science 3rd grade-6th). But the result is the kids don't learn as much as they could, nor is science their favorite subject.

 

Kim

[Dayle in Guatemala]

it's not necessarily the curriculum that's time consuming, it's my style and method and how I want to implement it.

 

I can pick a curriculum that is supposed to be easy, and I will invariably make it more than it needs to be because I want something more from it.

 

That in mind, I would say the least time consuming things for me have been those things that really 'fit' our style and method. LLATL and Apologia science are good examples of this. I haven't had to 'tweak' anything much and so it's been really easy and less time-consuming than other things I've tried.

[Txmom]

bju for higher grades

[Christy B]

need some input for a dear friend of mine - thank you

 

I have a lot of "issues" that mean I have to school differently than a lot of the ladies on this board. Yes, the "ideal" curriculum probably involves a lot of work, and a lot of one-on-one instruction, but there are a lot of us homeschooling in less-than-ideal situations.

 

Here are some materials that have worked well for our family:

 

Mystery of History

This is great for late elementary to junior high. A very complete history curriculum, with reading, maps, projects, questions, reviews, etc, contained in one (large!) volume. You can do this as a stand-alone program (no need for lots of extra reading, etc). If time allows, you can always through in a video or historical fiction book (there is a list of suggestions) but you would not NEED to.

 

Abeka Science -- every level -- we find these textbooks engaging and appealing. Read and answer questions. Simple, to the point.

 

MCP Math -- K - 6th

Workbook curriculum; mastery program

 

Teaching Textbooks Math -- we've only used level 7; the advantage for us was the instant feedback, my dd could see instantly if she had the problem wrong (no grading papers for me!) We plan to use level 5 this year for my youngest, who is between 4th and 5th in math.

 

Christian Light Education language arts and math -- workbook based; I've used a couple of the workbooks when I needed to fill in some gaps; there are a couple of ladies on the board who highly recommend these

 

Christian Kids Explore . . . (Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space) We found the Chemistry book to be a great intro to the subject at a middle school level. Very little input from me was needed.

 

Calvert Spelling CDroms -- love, love, love these! Spelling and vocabulary.

 

Hope this list helps. I understand needing less parent-intensive materials. If it is any help to your friend, I graduated from a school that used a "self-directed" curriculum. I'm happy and well-adjusted. :tongue_smilie:

[Mom0012]

I agree that most of the programs I find effective are very teacher-intensive. However, I think the Story of the World audiobooks, Rod and Staff Math, http://www.sheppardsoftware.com for geography, and A Reason for Handwriting for penmanship all take very little of my time but work well for my children.

 

My kids are in 2nd and K by the way.

 

Lisa

[Carmen_and_Company]

Oak Meadow

[mcconnellboys]

Any curriculum can take forever to get through if the child does not like it, does not understand it, is resistent to it for any reason, etc. Likewise, a complex curriculum may be whizzed through if the child working through it loves it, so I think it's really a matter of trying to match the curriculum to the child and their particular learning style. Some publishers offer placement testing for their curricular materials, but a parent would really have to read about the curriculum and look over it in order to decide whether it would be right for their child in terms of content.

[mom2three]

x

[Oakblossoms]

SOTW, Mystery of History if you don't do extra projects. Just read and move on.

 

Math U See-Watch the DVD, do student pages till you understand, do a test if desired and move on.

 

A mix of online/computer stuff might help. Like doing Jumpstart cd-roms when they are younger.

 

Teach the kids to use the library online catalog to search for subjects they are interested in and they can reserved themselves.

 

I might consider Sonlight (Christian) or Oak Meadow (Secular) if I was just really busy.

[Guest]

OM in the K-4 years is parent intensive. 5-8 is written to the student and outside of needing supervision/direction for crafts and labs, can be done by the child. The parent will have to read/grade the child's papers, though.

[Unicorn.]

Yes I have to "teach" it, but they make it sooooo easy!! As Kim said, it is very well laid out, and the easiest/least time consuming, (for me) to implement.

[Guest BookLover]

I am helping out a friend and this has been helpful for her. :)

[BizyPenguin]

need some input for a dear friend of mine - thank you

 

CLE for language arts and math...ABeka for science

[Carmen_and_Company]

OM in the K-4 years is parent intensive. 5-8 is written to the student and outside of needing supervision/direction for crafts and labs, can be done by the child. The parent will have to read/grade the child's papers, though.

 

I agree. OM in the lower grades is parent intensive, but not time intensive, and the OP's question was regarding time. OM k-2 takes less than 2 hours a day once a family discovers their daily & weekly rhythms, and OM 3-4 no more than 2.5 hours per day. My youngest attends a 2x week charter school & can complete OM4 in about 2 hours 3x a week. This includes the 4th grade syllabus, OM 5 math, and reading the read a-loud selections. I specifically chose OM due to the program taking less time to complete. OM 5-8 significantly decreases in parent involvement while increasing in depth of material and student on task time requirements, but I cannot see OM taking the slowest student more than 4 hours per day through grade 6.

 

If quick & easy is what is needed, I would not discount Oak Meadow in the lower grades. By 4th grade, however, I would add in a solid math program once the dc mastered the 4 operations.

 

Here's a link to Oak Meadow samples of each grade k-8 for the OP to pass on to her friend: https://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/samples.htm