Can you help a new homeschooler out?

[mamakelly]

I have a friend who is just starting homeschooling her 3rd and 5th grade girls. She is with the same charter school I am with, but her facililitator is zero help to her. He is supposed to help her choose curriculum etc.. But he literally dropped CA state textbooks off with her and told her that their education her her responsibility, which is true, but she really needed help choosing curriculum.

 

Sooo anyway, we are allotted certain amount of money for curriculum that the school will buy for us. They will pretty much buy anything from Rainbow Reource that's *not religious*. I need some ideas for her, most of what I use is religious and pay for it myself.

 

Can someone help me come up with a plan for her that will work for a new homeschooler, who doesn't want to load her kids up with work but doesn't want to be an unschooler either? Her girls are 3rd and 5th. TIA!

[m0mmaBuck]

I have a 3rd grader but I use a mix of secular and Christian so some of what I use won't help. Here it is:

 

Math: I use CLE but if I wanted secular I would go with Singapore or Math Mammoth (I use them to supplement).

Spelling: Spelling Workout C

LA: Rod and Staff (Christian)

Penmanship: Draw Write Now as well as CLE's cursive (Christian) and A Beka's Penmanship program (Christian)

Health: A Beka (Christian) and Harcourt's Your Health (secular)

History: Story of the World with Activity Guide

Science: Elemental Science

Latin: Song School Latin

 

I also use some of the "Complete Book of" Series like the Complete Book of Maps and Geography and the Complete Book of American History for supplemental work.

[LunaLee]

Well, I'll tell you the same thing I tell the new parents who come into where I work when the charter school teachers do the same thing to the parents up here...

 

Honestly, she should read some books to find out what her homeschooling style will be. Because really, she can't begin to choose a curriculum path for her girls until she figures that out, IMHO. Now that being said, this is what I would tell/show her if she walked into my store:

 

Math-To get her started, I would recommend Saxon Math for the 5th grader and maybe MCP for the 3rd (and 5th) grader this year. Both are easy to implement, reasonably priced, provide teacher support and the school will cover it.

 

Language Arts-FLL 3 for the third grader and Saxon Grammar for the 5th. Or, Easy Grammar for both. For the third grader she can use the Evan Moor Write a Super Sentence for writing and the Saxon has writing in it. Or if she went Easy Grammar she could use Evan Moor's Daily 6 Trait Writing in the approriate grades. Then I would have her do lots of great literature for both and maybe for the 5th grader some study guides like the ones from Teacher Created materials. Those are fun, and cover literary elements. Also, seconding the Spelling Workout for spelling.

 

History- I would go with Story of the World. It's not going to meet standards, but it would be easier to teach them both. Actually, I believe 3rd and 5th grade is early US History, so for that I would suggest the Beautiful Feet Guide for Early US History Primary/Intermediate. Again, something she can teach them together. Unfortunately, the school will not cover the guide, but it is inexpensive and chances are they will cover the books needed to use the program.

 

Science-I would also choose something the kids can do together-REAL Science Odyssey Chemistry, maybe. Or to keep it simple a Spectrum workbook in the appropriate grades and a TON of science kits and library books.

 

I'm not sure what charter you are with, but the one I know of down there has a huge budget and an extremely extensive vendor list-ours includes not only Rainbow, but Oak Meadow, Analytical Grammar, Pandia Press, Peace Hill Press, Delta Education, and on and on...

 

Now, most of these things are not very classical, or unschoolerish, or school at home, but they are easy to plan, easy to do, and secular. I would also suggest that if she continues to have an issue with her facillitator, I would request a new one, as is her right.

 

HTH

[mamakelly]

Thanks so much! Actually we can order from more than Rainbow, that's just the only place I order from so I have no idea about who else we can order from. I guess I should check into that.

 

I did tell her she could request a new EF. It sounds like this guy is going to be nothing but a PITB.

[Rosy]

The books we use are in my signature. My 4th grader is ahead and my 3rd grader is behind, if that helps. If she can figure out what she wants to accomplish with homeschooling, philosophy of ed, etc., it will be much easier for her to find curricula that are a good fit.

[Closeacademy]

She may want to try Oak Meadow. It is secular, fairly inexpensive and a nice balance between textbook and unschooling. Lots of ideas for creative projects and such as well.:001_smile:

[mamakelly]

What is CW Homer? I don't recognize it.

[Rosy]

Classical Writing--Homer. We're just starting it, but I love the Classical Writing series.

[....]

I don't understand the reference to a charter school. Is this like a Virtual Academy or umbrella school? :confused: Why would some guy bring her textbooks? :confused:

 

Your friend needs to do some reading and research first. Has she read The Well-Trained Mind or Cathy Duffy's Top 100 Curriculum Picks? Cathy Duffy's book goes into learning styles and what kind of curricula match which learning styles.

 

Altho, I do have a 3rd grader...if you want to see what she's doing this year...but this isn't her first year homeschooling and we school year-round (disclaimer - lol).

 

Reading: McGuffey Readers, Independent Reading, Elements of Reading workbook from Rainbow Resource

 

Language Arts: CLE LA 300's, finishing Grammar Island Series, Writing with Ease 3

 

Spelling: Megawords

 

Latin: Prima Latina

 

German: Conversational German with variety of study materials

 

Math: Singapore Math 3a, 3b and CLE Math 300's

 

Social Studies: Sonlight Core 2 Read-Alouds/History, Coloring Book of the United States, IFF Map Skills 3, CHOW

 

Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Cursive 4th Grade

 

Science: Critical Thinking Co, "Science thru Literature" co-op class and RS4K (when we finish Crit Thi Co and co-op class in December)

 

I also agree with the other parent about looking at Oak Meadow. That might be easier for your friend than trying to piece together every subject.

[mamakelly]

In California we have homeschool public charter school programs. It's a charter school, but you are homeschooling. They allow you a certain ammount of money to spend on curriculum, classes, field trips etc.. per year.