If you had to use a "box" curriculum...

[ondreeuh]

A truly boxed curriculum is going to be either ahead or behind your child in some area, requiring tweaking.

 

I actually think it would be less work to choose open-and-go programs that are at your child's own level. CLE workbooks require no prep and are not teacher-intensive. You could have your 12 year old reading SOTW to the little ones and provide them with the coloring and mapping.

[Lovedtodeath]

I was going to recommend Curriculumservices.com but if "love of learning" is a high priority you might not want all worktexts in which case I would go with HOD, or just buy a separate fully scheduled program for each subject... One for history, one for science, etc.

[StephanieZ]

Sonlight

[Karen in CO]

Sonlight. Especially if you have book-loving kids.

[Medieval Mom]

CLE

 

:iagree:

[mommatomany]

Sorry but what is CLE?

[susankenny]

Sorry but what is CLE?

 

Christian Light Education (http://www.clp.org)

[birchbark]

Are you looking for something that is just well-organized? Or are you looking for something that is non-mom-intensive? Generally I don't think the lit-based programs are the best bets for overwhelmed moms. Even if they're beautifully organized, they still take time and attention to pull off. I love them though!

 

My favorite boxed is HoD. It is truly open and go, and has the best of all worlds. The older levels (CTC and up) are written to be pretty independent so that might work well with the ages of your children.

 

If you're looking for a lighter year in general though, I'd recommend CLE for the 3R's and some good booklists with an occasional library trip to flesh it out.

 

Congrats on your upcoming addition!

[FloridaMomTo5]

Are you looking for something that is just well-organized? Or are you looking for something that is non-mom-intensive? Generally I don't think the lit-based programs are the best bets for overwhelmed moms. Even if they're beautifully organized, they still take time and attention to pull off. I love them though!

 

My favorite boxed is HoD. It is truly open and go, and has the best of all worlds. The older levels (CTC and up) are written to be pretty independent so that might work well with the ages of your children.

 

If you're looking for a lighter year in general though, I'd recommend CLE for the 3R's and some good booklists with an occasional library trip to flesh it out.

 

Congrats on your upcoming addition!

 

Thank you. This will be our first "surprise" blessing ;) We are thrilled and shocked at the same time lol.

 

Can't I have the best of both worlds? lol ;) If I had to prioritize those two I would say the organization first. I think the "mom involvement" will be less of an issue if everything is well organized kwim?

 

What do you mean by "lighter" year with CLE? Is this a less challenging program for the student?

[walkermamaof4]

Just a warning if you go with BJU. One year I had to work a fair amount of hours and we were moving to another state. I decided to use BJU 3 on dvd's and I was very uninvolved. That was not wise! That was 2 years ago and I realized that basically the year was a wash, and an expensive one. Because I wasn't watching the dvd's and helping my kids complete their work well, they retained about nothing, even in math. We've had 2 fabulous years since then. But I wish I had known better. I should have, I just think I hoped that glean more than they did with little involvement from me.

 

Our family didn't prefer Sonlight on its own. We own prek through core 5. I love the books, but found that for us some of them were better suited for my kids at later ages. And the workload/amount of reading was too much for us when doing the cores at the ages suggested. We will be using MFW next year and I think it sounds like a great fit. My kids can also do Math Mammoth on their own almost entirely. I am totally available for their questions, but even my 8 year old can do it with little intervention from me.

[mom4him]

Christian? BJU, hands down. I really like their materials. I have no idea what I would use if I were seeking a secular curriculum.

 

I like that BJU has a great online program too. It is cheaper than Abeka's online and they give you 13 months to complete the year, not 9-10 like Abeka :)

:iagree:I have gone to BJU just the last 4 months and we are loving it. It is the first time that both my kids have made comment that they really like something.

I have used MFW, HOD, CLE, and like BJU without a doubt the best.

[birchbark]

What do you mean by "lighter" year with CLE? Is this a less challenging program for the student?

 

No, lighter as far as mom-involvement.

[kolamum]

I think your final choice might be based on a few things:

 

1. Will you be requiring official "school" from your 5 year old?

 

2. Will you be aiming to keep your 12 & 9 year old together for the core of the learning and just separate for math and LA?

 

 

If the answer to 2 is yes then you might want to consider something that can cover more then one age/grade at a time or you're financial output will be great. Then again, that might not be an issue for you.

 

Are you looking for something well scheduled or are you just looking for something with less parent involvement incase you're busy with baby{ies} and incapable of keeping children on a normal school routine?

 

There are just sooooo many options out there! I went through MANY of them this year while I debated what to use in our own homeschool. My main goals were to obtain something that wouldn't have me needing to buy "extras" all year long. Something that I didn't need to add lots {if anything} to. Something that came with a premade schedule because I was/am feeling burnt out and needed that break.

 

HOD was on the list, but I felt in order to best accommodate the gap between children I'd have needed to buy more then one year. I wasn't keen on that. I was also worried it would be very drastically different to what we'd been doing. The other problem was we'd used the Preschool/K level and while I thought it was fantastic my student didn't. Then again, he was a big wiggle worm!

 

FIAR was another one, but also labor intensive if I wanted to add notebooking or anything "extra" to it. All though for a much younger student then any of mine it would have been a perfect fit with no need for extras.

 

MFW simply didn't appeal to me, and after looking at so many I can't honestly remember why. :confused: I just remember thinking.. Nope, and I think {but can't be certain} it had something to do with the age/grade gap again.

 

I also looked at two different graded/aged curriculum with a heavy CM slant to them and not only were they horribly priced {imho} they also had the age/grade gap problem for me. My goal was to keep my kids as together as possible. This was a huge must for me.

 

SL -- I loved this, I mean really loved this. All though for the pack I was going for I was unhappy with simply two book selections and considered just trying them and if I was truly unhappy removing them. The pros of SL were that I could easily keep the kids together without having one straining or one lagging in an effort to keep up kinda thing. I also liked that you could use 50% or more of their curriculum and if you're unhappy with it you can return it. That was a huge buying factor for me. At the same time I was worried there wasn't enough to "show". As in, I felt I'd need to make/gather up notebooking pages or lapbooks. Still, I was really set on purchasing it and was about 2 clicks away.

 

 

I nearly went with TOG too, but ended up hearing from many sources {reviews, word of mouth, etc.} that it was labor intensive for parents. That bugged me and unless I bought the eversion it was going to be super pricey before books. I couldn't imagine going through so many pages on a computer!

 

WP -- This is similar to SL and I noticed that people either liked it or hated it. I also noticed if they hated WP they liked SP and vice versa. {That is not to put everyone into a neat tidy row, because it wasn't 100% true in all cases; just generalising here so} The difference here was that 1, WP seems to have some customer service issues. They still sell from their home and sometimes need prompting to get things to you. I also took the hint that purchasing the manuals or wp made stuff from them was okay but to purchase the books via another source so that I wasn't waiting and wanting. 2, They include notebooking pages, crafts, & videos right in the manual. 3, they also include a schedule you can give to your child to help them work independently. The bottom line was people who were okay with doing crafts and had children who had that passion enjoyed this curriculum, those who didn't enjoy crafts or didn't have "craft inclined" children drew away from it.

 

I also considered going "light" and using one of the mega studies over at Cadron Creek {Anne Of Green Gables, Narnia {the one I was going to snag}, &/or Prairie Primer} I figured if we went with Narnia we could spend a year learning about WWII a current passion for my kids & I thought I could tie in a few history packs from over at Homeschool In The Woods. Bottom line, though, was that I felt I'd probably have to be pretty well planned in advanced, and I'd heard negatives on this particular study. As in, some people felt it was weak, and I wasn't sure my kids would enjoy spending 6 weeks reading the same book when we can normally read an average chapter book in 1-2 weeks. Plus, it only covered one small area of history and I wanted to cover more American History then that.

 

In the end, based on my needs & wants I ended up going with WP. I have a child who simply can not get enough arts/crafts in. I figured this was a way I could fill the need, obtain what we needed, cover the age/grade gap, & also cover the things I wanted for the year. As for the age/grade gap.. for the American History you can purchase a package that covers 1-7 grades. That was a HUGE seller for me. If I'd had a highschooler I could have also purchased a highschool expansion to cover the other grades as well. The only downside was that they don't offer the "money" back deal that SL offers and they request that you do not resell their Instructor Guides or WP made materials.. Hmmmm

 

 

All that to say, the easiest way to pick a curriculum, and i'm sorry but I just don't know that it's easy! :lol: , was to have goals/ideas in mind and find something that can best fit into that area. :D

[mommatomany]

I think your final choice might be based on a few things:

 

1. Will you be requiring official "school" from your 5 year old?

 

2. Will you be aiming to keep your 12 & 9 year old together for the core of the learning and just separate for math and LA?

 

 

If the answer to 2 is yes then you might want to consider something that can cover more then one age/grade at a time or you're financial output will be great. Then again, that might not be an issue for you.

 

Are you looking for something well scheduled or are you just looking for something with less parent involvement incase you're busy with baby{ies} and incapable of keeping children on a normal school routine?

 

There are just sooooo many options out there! I went through MANY of them this year while I debated what to use in our own homeschool. My main goals were to obtain something that wouldn't have me needing to buy "extras" all year long. Something that I didn't need to add lots {if anything} to. Something that came with a premade schedule because I was/am feeling burnt out and needed that break.

 

HOD was on the list, but I felt in order to best accommodate the gap between children I'd have needed to buy more then one year. I wasn't keen on that. I was also worried it would be very drastically different to what we'd been doing. The other problem was we'd used the Preschool/K level and while I thought it was fantastic my student didn't. Then again, he was a big wiggle worm!

 

FIAR was another one, but also labor intensive if I wanted to add notebooking or anything "extra" to it. All though for a much younger student then any of mine it would have been a perfect fit with no need for extras.

 

MFW simply didn't appeal to me, and after looking at so many I can't honestly remember why. :confused: I just remember thinking.. Nope, and I think {but can't be certain} it had something to do with the age/grade gap again.

 

I also looked at two different graded/aged curriculum with a heavy CM slant to them and not only were they horribly priced {imho} they also had the age/grade gap problem for me. My goal was to keep my kids as together as possible. This was a huge must for me.

 

SL -- I loved this, I mean really loved this. All though for the pack I was going for I was unhappy with simply two book selections and considered just trying them and if I was truly unhappy removing them. The pros of SL were that I could easily keep the kids together without having one straining or one lagging in an effort to keep up kinda thing. I also liked that you could use 50% or more of their curriculum and if you're unhappy with it you can return it. That was a huge buying factor for me. At the same time I was worried there wasn't enough to "show". As in, I felt I'd need to make/gather up notebooking pages or lapbooks. Still, I was really set on purchasing it and was about 2 clicks away.

 

 

I nearly went with TOG too, but ended up hearing from many sources {reviews, word of mouth, etc.} that it was labor intensive for parents. That bugged me and unless I bought the eversion it was going to be super pricey before books. I couldn't imagine going through so many pages on a computer!

 

WP -- This is similar to SL and I noticed that people either liked it or hated it. I also noticed if they hated WP they liked SP and vice versa. {That is not to put everyone into a neat tidy row, because it wasn't 100% true in all cases; just generalising here so} The difference here was that 1, WP seems to have some customer service issues. They still sell from their home and sometimes need prompting to get things to you. I also took the hint that purchasing the manuals or wp made stuff from them was okay but to purchase the books via another source so that I wasn't waiting and wanting. 2, They include notebooking pages, crafts, & videos right in the manual. 3, they also include a schedule you can give to your child to help them work independently. The bottom line was people who were okay with doing crafts and had children who had that passion enjoyed this curriculum, those who didn't enjoy crafts or didn't have "craft inclined" children drew away from it.

 

I also considered going "light" and using one of the mega studies over at Cadron Creek {Anne Of Green Gables, Narnia {the one I was going to snag}, &/or Prairie Primer} I figured if we went with Narnia we could spend a year learning about WWII a current passion for my kids & I thought I could tie in a few history packs from over at Homeschool In The Woods. Bottom line, though, was that I felt I'd probably have to be pretty well planned in advanced, and I'd heard negatives on this particular study. As in, some people felt it was weak, and I wasn't sure my kids would enjoy spending 6 weeks reading the same book when we can normally read an average chapter book in 1-2 weeks. Plus, it only covered one small area of history and I wanted to cover more American History then that.

 

In the end, based on my needs & wants I ended up going with WP. I have a child who simply can not get enough arts/crafts in. I figured this was a way I could fill the need, obtain what we needed, cover the age/grade gap, & also cover the things I wanted for the year. As for the age/grade gap.. for the American History you can purchase a package that covers 1-7 grades. That was a HUGE seller for me. If I'd had a highschooler I could have also purchased a highschool expansion to cover the other grades as well. The only downside was that they don't offer the "money" back deal that SL offers and they request that you do not resell their Instructor Guides or WP made materials.. Hmmmm

 

 

All that to say, the easiest way to pick a curriculum, and i'm sorry but I just don't know that it's easy! :lol: , was to have goals/ideas in mind and find something that can best fit into that area. :D

 

 

Oh my word! I could have written this post! I really needed to read/hear all of that. I'm still in the decision process but reading your thoughts was so encouraging. Did you look into BF at all? Just wondering your thoughts and how you processed that?

[my2boys]

Thank you. This will be our first "surprise" blessing ;) We are thrilled and shocked at the same time lol.

 

Can't I have the best of both worlds? lol ;) If I had to prioritize those two I would say the organization first. I think the "mom involvement" will be less of an issue if everything is well organized kwim?

 

What do you mean by "lighter" year with CLE? Is this a less challenging program for the student?

 

We're HOD users here. We've used all three guides through Beyond (will be finishing that up soon) and plan to continue on with HOD as long as we're homeschooling. The guides just keep getting better, IMHO - so we're sticking with what's working for us. That's not to say that I don't tweek them here and there and add a few additional things along the way, but with HOD I know that on those crazy days when I don't have time to prep and don't have time for the extras, I can just "open and go" for that day. If you're more concerned with having everything organized for you than "mom involvement" time, then HOD would meet that particular need. I haven't done the higher guides (although I've just received Bigger for next year so I'm looking through that), but my understanding is that they get more independant as they go, so your older child will probably be doing some thing on his own. BTW, we've also done MFW K twice - but as a gentle PRE-K program. For us, it just wasn't enough for K - but we've enjoyed it for the year between LHTH and LHFHG. Early on I did consider MFW, but ultimately ended up deciding that HOD went in the direction that we wanted to go. Also, I have done a different program for phonics than the ones recommended by HOD and there was no issue at all. And we also do AAS alongside HOD's spelling. For us, HOD has been very flexible with those things - and from what I can tell, it would be just as easy to swap out math and English if you preferred something else. HTH. And congrats on your newest blessing. :001_smile:

[Lovedtodeath]

I know that on those crazy days when I don't have time to prep and don't have time for the extras, I can just "open and go" for that day. If you're more concerned with having everything organized for you than "mom involvement" time, then HOD would meet that particular need.

HOD also takes less time overall IMO, so you are still saving "mom involvement time" even for those activities that are not independent. They schedule very little reading to do and average of 2 pages for history, 2 pages for science (but not every day) and only 5 pages in your read aloud. That is tons, tons, tons less reading than what is required for TWTM method and Sonlight. But the kids really retain more, IMO, because they aren't saturated with reading and also because there is some type of activity to draw out and review the information. HOD takes what is best of CM and really works it. :)

 

I dream of writing a secular HOD.

[kolamum]

Oh my word! I could have written this post! I really needed to read/hear all of that. I'm still in the decision process but reading your thoughts was so encouraging. Did you look into BF at all? Just wondering your thoughts and how you processed that?

 

I did look at BF! I'd heard about it from another homeschooling mamma and thought, "Maybe this is what I need!" I don't remember fully why I declined it, except that at the time I looked into it I was in denial of needing to make a curriculum switch!

 

I've never used an "out of the box" curriculum before. While I knew it was the right avenue to pursue I just wasn't convinced I wanted to spend that kinda money or that we'd enjoy working "in the box" kinda thing.

 

I also think when I made the choice to not go with BF I was basing it on book selections. I really liked most of the choices with SL and in fact they were books I had on the shelves and wanted to read with my kids anyway. Having a prescheduled idea of when to do them was HUGE. Having said that, I still really like the looks of their Geography pack from BF

 

In the end it came down to SL & WP and the choice was based on book selections and activities. I'll also say that while I went with WP, I also looked into both SL science and SL read aloud package. Due to excessive shipping to me {overseas} I didn't end up purchasing the Read Aloud package from them, but have gathered the books up for myself.

 

I decided to obtain most of them in Audio format {audible.com} so that we can listen to them while crafting, playing games, doing puzzles, or riding in the car. I figured I'd feel less overwhelmed considering we'll be doing a significant amount of reading with our normal studies anyway.

 

I didn't end up purchasing their science package from them either. Merely because I thought I'd see if I could find it used first to avoid the steep shipping charges. Plus, I did pick up a WP science that fit needs we had.

 

Seriously though, I think the only way one can navigate curriculum water is to have a few "musts" on their curriculum needs list. Otherwise it'll be too hard to stay afloat!!