warriormom Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I am new to homeschooling. I have been on this forum to research and find out what I am going to do next year. My son is in Pre-K, and we just finished TYCR100 easy lessons. I looked into PR and AAS as possible choices for LA. I was wondering why people choose new, expensive curriculum over free/inexpensive classics like Webster's Speller and McGuffey's Ecclectic Reader. Genuinely, I want to know if I am missing something:glare:. What is your opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 My personal opinion is that you're not missing anything. My feeling is that you can be just as comfortable using the wonderful *free* classics just as well as other programs. Then again, I am a big proponent of using exactly this kind of resource. If you try the free resources and find they are not working for you, there is no monetary loss. If I invested in anything at all to homeschool, the three things I would purchase would be: *The Well Trained Mind *Marva Collin's Way *big dry-erase board/markers (cheap from Home Depot or Lowes) BTW, there are some other readers which others here like as well as the McGuffey. One series that comes to mind is the Harriett Taylor Treadwell readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Poke Salad Annie, you find the best things!:D Any hints on searching on google books? When I search that author, everything BUT her books come up.:bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 My feeling is, do what works for your child. There will be plenty of time down the road for pricey curricula. (HS science!) Unless there are learning difficulties, reading and spelling can still be learned the same way as when kids learned from the webster's speller years and years ago. Also, curricula has to fit you as a teacher. If mom ain't happy.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Poke Salad Annie, you find the best things!:D Any hints on searching on google books? When I search that author, everything BUT her books come up.:bigear: Well, it would help if I spelled the name correctly. :blush: Try *Harriette* Taylor Treadwell. They should all show up on google books. Sorry for the error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I think some of it is teaching/learning styles. As homeschoolers we have the unique opportunity to custom fit everything! Some people also like more current examples that their children can relate to better. Personally, we stay pretty simple here, but I still do buy all of our curriculum. I've just found that curriculum I buy has the "easy to use" factor which is nice. Schedules are done and sheets are pre-made. That means school gets done for 4 kids and mom stays sane! :D I don't think you're missing anything... like a PP said, try it.. if it doesn't work no loss! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelissaMom Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Well, it would help if I spelled the name correctly. :blush: Try *Harriette* Taylor Treadwell. They should all show up on google books. Sorry for the error. That worked like a charm;) I'm a downloading fool these days! Hoping ebooks don't take up much space on my iPad.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) I moved from more expensive, modern things to Webster's Speller! I used PP and several other modern programs for 15 years, now Webster's Speller is my favorite. The first thing I found at the time I started was actually a phonics book from the 1950's, though, and it worked great, I still have it and use it occasionally with my younger students. I can see why people use something like PR, though, I used to do my history on my own when I was just teaching 1. Now that I have to juggle 2, it is much easier to do MFW, it is all planned out what to do when and integrated for multiple age children. PR sounds like it integrates all your Language Arts, which would save you time if you were doing all those things separately. Also, while I know all the rules, for someone who doesn't know all the rules, AAS seems to teach them well and in a manner that is hands on and easy to use. (I have only looked at samples of AAS and PR.) Once you get started, Webster's is easy to use, especially if you just do a certain number of words or a certain length of time each day. I think that one downfall of some more heavily scripted and scheduled phonics programs is that they don't work well for a child that moves very fast or very slow. Edited March 28, 2011 by ElizabethB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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